Are you a small business on the Internet? I have this for you…

I regularly spend time trawling the Internet looking for artisans or other skilled persons in various fields. I’m quite comfortable with ordering stuff online, or looking for people to commission to do stuff, either for personal use or for work, based on no more than online portfolios of work. Time and again I’ve found video editors, producers, animators, furniture sellers, etc. on the Internet.

By Tolu Ogunlesi

Here’s my brief advice to artisans, small businesses on the Internet. (I’ll try to update it over time, as more things come to mind).

1. Maintain a business page (Twitter, IG or Facebook) that’s wholly focused on what you’re selling or offering. Strictly business. Don’t use it for politics, or Big Brother, or random useless hashtags.
2. In your early days you may not require a website. Focus on social media instead, it’s less expensive than developing a website your business may be too young or too small to take full advantage of. The principle of “meeting people where they already are” means that social media platforms should be your first priority. No need for a fancy, expensive website in the beginning— unless you can afford it (and afford to maintain it) or your line of business absolutely demands it). Most of what you need to showcase can be done on IG, FB, Twitter.
3. You don’t have to be on all social media platforms, as a small business. Find the one that works for you or your business and focus on it. And take the time to learn about the platform you’re using. How do people consume information on it, what kind of info do they consume, what are the best times to post or not post? A lot of it will be trial-and-error stuff, but that’s why social media is great. You can post the same thing in a dozen different ways, and see which one people engage with the most, and try to figure out why — at minimal/no cost. Try doing that with even half-a-dozen newspaper adverts or TV commercials, LOL.
4. Ensure that you have an extensive online portfolio of work. If you’re a furniture maker, for example, I want to see actual samples of your work. Not 3D images, not random images taken from the internet. Your actual work. Invest a bit of money in professionally-taken images — photos and videos (where necessary). Or at the very least invest in a phone with decent image quality, and learn how to shoot presentable photos and videos.
5. Ensure your business pages on the Internet conspicuously display the most important information people are looking for: A working contact number (email alone, sadly, no longer cuts it), operating hours/days, an office/store address if you have one. There are few things more annoying than a displayed phone number that’s switched off or not available, or a business whose office address has to be ‘dug’ out by protracted online sleuthing. Or a business whose advertised address has since changed.
6. Getting attention on the Internet takes time, and hard work. There are no short-cuts. It’s fine if you’re not seeing quick results, just keep at it. Don’t be desperate for followers or attention. Don’t jump on trending hashtags for visibility. It’s annoying, and likely of far less value than you imagine. Consider that several other people are doing the same thing, and it suggests (at least to me) laziness, desperation and greed.
7. Be careful about how you use ‘DM for price’. In most cases it’s off-putting, seriously. Who has time to be asking for prices and waiting for a response, especially when decisions need to be made quickly?
8. Offer useful information to your audiences, share relevant links to information. If you’re a furniture maker/merchant for example, articles about choosing designs, or matching colours, or the various kinds of sofas that exist. These can be articles you wrote yourself, or links to articles by others online. But one thing, never try to pass off someone else’s work as yours. If you sell cooked food, maybe share short videos of the behind-the-scenes processes in your kitchen (Be careful though, no one wants to see unhygienic practices or a dirty kitchen captured on tape!)
9. Support other small businesses, especially those in the same/similar line or value chain. Symbiosis. Synergy. You gain their audience and they gain yours. Groundnut sellers should hype their garri counterparts, while fish pepper soup / suya maestros should be in the business of pushing cold drinks merchants. That sort of thing.
10. I’ll be back to share Number 10, as soon as it occurs to me. Or maybe you could drop an idea in the comments.

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