7 Ways to Make Your Remote Business Appear More Professional
Waking up and being able to work in your PJs may be the dream, but it doesn’t always make you feel like you’re running a serious operation. While what you wear to work on your remote business will only affect how confident you feel, there certainly are things you can do to ensure your business looks professional to clients (present and future) online.
When your business looks (and acts!) polished online, people are less likely to question your expertise, pricing, and boundaries. With the right appearance and systems, you’re much more likely to land respectful clients, with the right budget, who match your ideal customer avatar.
So, with all this to gain, how can you make your remote business appear more professional? Read on to find out my top tips and what I do for my clients.
1. Have professional headshots
If you want people to see you as an expert in your industry, you can’t use a photo that’s cropped from your last holiday. While headshots taken by a professional photographer will always get you the best results, setting up your phone in front of a window pointing at a plain background will give you headshots that will show people you’re serious about your business.
2. Have a professional email signature
While people may not notice if you don’t have an email signature, people do notice if you have a great one. Your email signature should at least state your name, title, company name, telephone number, and website address, so anyone contacting you knows exactly who they’re talking to.
To take things to the next level, include any social media accounts you want to promote. You can also include your tagline or mission statement to enhance your branding.
3. Have professional bios and taglines that match across platforms
When was the last time you updated your Instagram bio? Your taglines and bios should be up-to-date and reflect what you do with as much clarity as possible. Your bios should match closely, with some minor tweaks for each platform. Make sure your bios and taglines give your value proposition.
4. Make sure your LinkedIn shines
If your business is purely B2C (business-to-consumer), you may be able to skip this step. However, all B2B business owners should have a polished LinkedIn profile. LinkedIn is the only social media platform designed exclusively to connect you with potential clients, so your profile should do a lot of talking for you.
Make sure you’ve got the right headshot, title, and a bio that focuses on what you offer clients. While your LinkedIn profile should include your history and achievements, potential clients are more interested in what you can offer them.
5. Make sure your website is up-to-date and on-brand
Your website is your online always-open storefront. It’s where your clients go to first learn about you and, if you do it right, start selling themselves on your services. All the information on your website should be up-to-date and speak to your ideal customer. The design should be modern and on-brand, and the better it looks, the more professional your business will appear.
You can buy some beautiful templates for all the major website builders that will give you a great start, but you should work with a professional as soon as you have your ideal client nailed down. A designer will not only be able to make your website unique to you, but they’ll be able to ensure it appeals to the ideal customer you want to attract.
I do Squarespace website designs, refreshes, and other edits and tweaks, so if you know your website could do with an update, don’t hesitate to reach out to me to discuss.
6. Have a professional background for Zoom calls
This is a simple point, but ensure the background you use for Zoom calls is on-brand and professional. You don’t need to create a set, but if your desk is set up in the corner of your bedroom, consider getting a tapestry to hang behind your chair during Zoom calls so people aren’t staring at your bed. If you have a dedicated office space, consider how your background could be more aligned with your branding.
7. Have an active (and SEO-friendly) blog
If you’ve got everything else on this list nailed down, you may not notice how much of a boost an active blog can give you. While all of the other points on this list will tell people about your business’s professionalism, an active blog will show them. Your blog is your opportunity to show off your expertise and start educating your clients about what you do and what you have to offer them.
A blog that is also SEO-friendly will help you to attract new traffic to your website. While there’s a lot that goes into making blog posts SEO-friendly, the key is to make it something people will actually want to read (not just stuffed with keywords!) and searchable. For example, people wondering how to choose a VA can find my blog post titled with the same phrase.
Make Your Remote Business More Professional with a VA
If you want your remote business to stand out online, you can’t afford to drop any balls when it comes to having all these things set up and maintained. You should also think about systems you can set up so the entire customer experience is as smooth as possible, and that’s something your VA can help you with.
If you feel like there just aren’t enough hours in the day and you’re always trying to play catch-up, I’m here to help. I’ll help you reclaim your time so you can actually take time to breathe at the end of the workday. To find out more about me and how I can help your business, click here.