Essentials in 2025 for an online business

2025 definitely is off to an interesting start! With so much going on in the world (and the fact that this "excitement" isn't likely to end soon) persons are trying their best to take stock, become more financially secure and, prepare for the waves coming in.

In comes having an online based business! It can be anything from: creating a online sewing circle to creating courses on how to move abroad to becoming a fractional COO! There will be an audience waiting for exactly that thing, THE THING your mind can create. Heck, I have even seen someone make a living out of making jewelry from loved ones' ashes!

Regardless on where ever you decide to direct your talents, all of these business need to establish these 5 things if they want to be successful (from a Digital Marketing perspective):

1. A brand

2. A website

3. A social media presence

4. An email list

5. A task management system

Your Brand!

Most everything around us has a brand, intended or not. In its simplest terms, branding is what make up a business' personality. For instance, if I were to run a Sewing Circle, I would love people to feel like they are visiting their favourite, cooky friend who is an amazing listener and always offers solid advice.

Think bright colours, lots of yellow. Hidden jokes and obscure movie references to Disney or Acme cartoons everywhere. A space when you feel like you can feel free to excitedly share your creations without fear of judgement or discrimination. When I read messages, they feel like friendly, warm and informative.

Figuring out your business' personality sets the basis of everything you do in your business. This can look like: what you prioritise when creating offers in your business, what platforms you prefer to do your marketing on, how you choose to communicate with a disgruntled client, who you think aligns as a sponsor or partner. And just like people, your business' personality will evolve... and make shifts in how it is expressed, but at the core, you know what defines it.

A website!

There are many different ways you can make use of a website (and I'll get into that in another article at some point), but a website is major in cementing your footprint in the online space. A website is not just a flashy set of pages on the internet designed to sell an offer. It is your home on the internet. To create a website, you need to purchase a domain: a memorable web address you selected to help persons find you on the internet. To take this another step, your domain is a immaterial asset you've invested in that Google and other search engines use to prove you are real and thus, improves your credibility. Think: purchasing a plot of land in a suburb and then going to the bank to list it as an asset for a mortgage. With that, all of a sudden it is a lot less hard to prove you are a real person and are serious about building a house.

Social Media Presence

I know, I know.... social media is HARD. Most of us don't have the capacity to be recording, editing and posting daily, researching the best hashtags and following up on what Zuck or Elon are going to do next. I will be the first to say I am not the most consistent with Social Media... but let's take our business owner selves out of the equation and think about how impactful social media is in our day-to-day lives.

Often when I wake up, the first thing I do is take up my phone. I go get some water... I scroll IG ... I go to shower... I play a song on Youtube... I make my tea... I am checking out Facebook for news posts. Not the best... but this is pretty accurate. I probably take in at least an hour of social media before my work day properly starts! Often the posts I see are from graphic designers, marketers and coaches and when done right, they grab my attention and earn a follow. For our online businesses, followers means a regular audience, a regular audience means warm leads, warm leads means sales opportunities and eventually... income.

Through Social Media, people get to know your buisness, your content and your offers over time. The parasocial relationship builds and persons fall in love (or hate) the personality your business presents (*hint hint*). And when your really think about it, people are more willing to spend their money on what is familiar, what appears reliable and when they feel well-informed. Social media offers you an 'in' with your audience most other platforms do not.

An Email List

If Social Media is an "in," the email list means you are best friends. Email inherently is more intimate and intentional. On social media, most passively consume, but when persons open an email... it is a choice. Is the content you are offering worthy of their attention.

The feedback you get from an email list is very telling. Usually, when persons join your email list, persons opt-in through an offer you provided or due to the interest you have built up. The trick is to try to keep persons' attention. Here are some of the key factors that give you a great indication on if you are dialed in with your audience:

• Open Rate: what percentage of people on your email list are actually opening your emails.

• Click Rate: how many times has a link you have provided in your email been clicked

• Unsubscribe Rate: how many persons chose not be receive emails from you anymore

There are more but I will probably cover email marketing in another article as well. These are the essentials. An active and engaged email list mean consistency in clients, consistency in sales and that you are in sync with the audience you want to serve.

A Task Management System!

We are now at the sexiest part of this article! Task management is something that is overlooked but is something that can make or break your business! Sustaining a business means you have to keep tabs on alot of moving parts:

• Post that new reel 10 am EST on IG

• Remember to record that other reel

• Draft newsletter emails

• Create SOPs

• Hire a VA

• Respond to that sponsership email

• Review feebie funnel

• Reach out to speakers for my summit

• Create intake form for onboarding coaching clients

I can spend hours going on... and all it takes is a couple minutes for the list to start feeling overwhelming. Task management is all about managing yourself and all the moving parts within your business. And a mile-long todo list is NOT IT. Creating a system (and probably working with a task management platform) is the first step to not losing your mind when you are in the thick of it.

So here are some questions to ask yourself to figure out what works best for you:

• Where are my strengths in my business eg. concept creation, talking to clients, designing the graphics

• What do I like to do in my business eg. designing the graphics, working on SOPs, developing client programs

• What do I take the longest doing? eg. designing the graphics

• What would I rather not deal with? eg. Meeting notes

• Do I like information shown to me in a list or in a chart?

• Do I prefer to keep things black and white or do I like colour?

• Do I lose my sense of when I am deeply engaged in an activity?

This is an exploratory exercise meant to point you in a direction on where your preferences, strengths and weaknesses lie when it comes to getting organised. The next step is researching on systems you can use in your favor.