Pro Tools: Making Your Business Look More Professional When You Don’t Know How*

*This is a collaborative post*

We are overly concerned with our business image at every step of the way. When you are starting a business you have to remember that it's not just about the product you have or the people you hire but it's about the image you present overall. When you work at home or you don't have much of a budget it can be very difficult to show that high-quality brand or top-of-the-line service. So what can you do to ensure that you make your business look better than your modest tools?

Hold Your Meetings In Person

If we run a remote business it's so easy for us to hide behind our webcam or only hold conference calls. But you can very easily use a function room or a venue hire to get your point across. Holding your meetings in person is a far better way for you to step up to the plate and to show people what you're made of. Holding your meetings in person is going to give you that opportunity not to hide behind your image. When you want to make your business look better than it is it's about that sleight-of-hand but it's also ensuring that you don't look like you are hiding things.

The Importance Of Mailboxes

When we are working to promote our business to clients or customers that professional image is crucial. Mailboxes may seem insignificant but when people look at the bottom of the website and see a residential address what does this communicate to them? Having a professional mailbox in a centralised location makes your business look far more professional than a random home-based start-up. There are many companies that can set up a physical address for you and redirect all your post. It's that little thing that adds an extra edge of professionalism

Hiring Virtual Assistants

Similarly hiring virtual assistants through numerous companies can help you to build up that professional air. If you are always picking up the telephone, clients and customers will get to know you directly but this may communicate to them that you don't have much custom. Virtual assistants provide that extra barrier between you and them.

Create An Online Presence

With the majority of us using the internet to search for business these days it's vital that you have a strong online presence. You don't need an overcomplicated website, a basic Wordpress web design will suffice. The bottom line is if you want to attract customers given the current economic climate then no matter your business or it's size, you need to utilize the internet and get your brand seen.

Outsource Where You Can

It's all about making sure that everything looks professional. If you are someone who's set up your own website and done everything in-house you can't expect it to look 100% perfect. It's important to outsource where you can so that you know that something like your website or your product design is done as professionally as possible. Many people don't like the idea of outsourcing because it's not a way to hire good quality workers and keep them in-house, but it's a cheap process if you do it right and it helps your company to understand it's failings. If you're not able to design a professional-looking website it's far better to hire a designer to do it for you.

When we are in direct competition with other small businesses it's these little things that can make us leap head and shoulders above our competitors. To make your business look better is partly to do with the professional image but it's also about delivering where it counts.