Best practices for growing your startup

1. Get a business line  
   There’s nothing worse when you call a business and a child picks up the phone and yells “mommy! I think it's for you!” If you don't have already have one, get a business line. You can find so many great inexpensive options for under 10$/month. You don’t need a new phone. It's usually just an app. When the call comes into your line you will see that it’s a business call and you can answer the phone accordingly. It’s a small expense that will give your small business a more professional feel. Check out this great article comparing all your options. https://smallbiztrends.com/2017/10/second-phone-number-apps.html
2. Make your ads specific
   Many businesses will place ads that are general and don’t speak to a specific targeted audience. These ads usually drive very little traffic or receive next to no engagement. Although they may be okay for brand building and awareness they aren’t great for lead generation. If lead generation is what you are after, create ads that are targeted to a specific audience and have content that recognizes their pain points and shows that you provide the solution. Create an offer that will speak to them. This may mean that you need 5 or 6 different ads or even more if you have several services or products that target different types of customers. Once you create a more specific ad, then create a great landing page, see the next tip.
3. Create customized landing pages for your ads
   When you place an ad whether in a newspaper, on youtube, social media, search engines or anywhere else, make sure you link the ad to a customized landing page.  Most people make the mistake of making a great ad but leading it to the homepage of a website. Only to find out that, although people clicked, they had no idea what to do next. You want to control the behavior of your leads as much as possible and to do that you need to create a pathway for them that has a clear call to action at the end of it. Lead them to a simple landing page that reiterates your offer (see the last blog post that talks about offers here), gives a little more information and has a short form to fill out or phone number to call (CTA - call to action). You will convert many more impressions into form fills and calls this way. Try it!

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