In the early 2000s, as early birds, all businesses that went online enjoyed benefits of positioning online through keywords on Google search. As new social media came in, it was easy to create and test various media in those early years.

Then 2012 came … and everything changed forever, for good.

Focus from volume moved to value… search engines started rating and ranking sites based on website content rather than keywords, social media introduced interactions to judge visitor reactions and with eCommerce – buying intent became real value. Things got REAL from the virtual days gone by. AI bots replaced linear software programs.

To add to that specialty websites, portals, online services started creating their own space in the markets e.g. Instagram, Snapchat, Pinterest, Quora, etc..

With all this, businesses needed to adapt to this expanding (options) yet shrinking (value) marketplace. True value began to get counted.

Businesses spread their wings around and created their presence all over the web (whatever they could get their hands on or heard about). This was to opportunities weren’t missed. No one really knew who the next big winner was? least realizing that their business was suffering because of it? How?

• Businesses created content for all platforms – from websites to social to blogs to articles to videos to everything available.

• Every new avenue was scouted. New profiles created and content was distributed, shared or created.

• With multiple team members working on same business goals, ton of profiles were made for the same platform by all these individuals and kept managing them separately.

• As they traded jobs, these profiles were either lost in the oblivion or not attended too.

• As new media arrived, new skills were required. These included designers, developers, written content generators, social media managers, website managers and strategic SEO consultants.

• As a business, handling all these skilled resources meant extra time, extra money and extra effort. Many businesses didn’t bother and either scaled down their efforts or just dropped it altogether. Years of online value created by them was eroded.

• Reason – Instead of focusing on their core business, they needed to manage their online admin teams and work. All those investments and tireless effort devalued…

ARE YOU ONE SUCH ONLINE BUSINESS?

If yes, there are some quick tips for you:

a. Take stock and assemble data

• Find all your online profiles (can be simply done by searching in Google or using sophisticated online tools) and record in a spreadsheet.

• Log into the profile (if you have access information too)

• Evaluate the property and decide whether you need to keep it or toss it? Make a decision. Don’t hold it back for another day. It will make things even more complex.

• Try to restrict one official profile for one business per media. e.g. one FB official page (I remember a business that had 4 FB business pages created by different business team members. This dilutes your brand). Keep the best ones. Try to merge multiple into one (if possible or as per the media’s policies).

• Build your final list of all online entities (with full access) that you want to focus for the next 2 years. I.e. your entire strategy will revolve around this list.

Note: 2 years is a massive timeline in the online world. There will be new platforms coming in, old ones may get disrupted or closed, technology changes will come in. Hence, periodic review of this list needs to done and updated accordingly but in line with a longer term vision for your online business.

b. Manage It The Right Way

• Assign one manager or management firm to administer this list. Define strategy and goals with them and set accountability.

Note: Use this person/firm as administrators – not as all skill experts. Their job is to strategize the online promotion and ensure upkeep of this media list in line with set goals and objectives. This will reduce your load immensely.

• Jointly hire the right skills for various online goals. E.g. hire specialist writers for press releases and blogs, technical writers for SEO and copywriters for Ad copy and Web copy. Let the manager/firm administer them.

Remember – you need to build value and consistency for long term online success.

c. Measure And Grow

• Setup evaluation mechanism for all platforms and the management of your online activity. Ensure goals are being met or progress is happening. Dont shy away from taking tough decisions if needed (with correct safeguards ofcourse)

• Monthly review and Quarterly re-strategize would be a good approach. We don’t want to change too fast nor we want to wait too long.

• Invest the right money. This is why strategy is important. By trying everything and in generic manner, we tend to lose more money, effort and valuable time. An organized way may seem expensive but will more than pay for itself in the long run.

Hope this helps you put in you in control on your online business management? This is extremely important because we always say:

Your brand is not just online, it’s on the line….