In our last post, we introduced how you should set up your company website and blog to leverage on visitors who find you via social media or search engines. We will now pick up from where we left off. Read part 1 here.
Engage your network: Family, friends, and current as well as past colleagues in your network must be engaged. Ask them to follow you on your LinkedIn or Facebook profile, ask them to comment on your posts, and post them on their own pages.
Also, try to find related quality sites that can make you an authority and syndicate some content to them. That will help you gain search engine rankings.
Use e-mail marketing: Your site must be configured with forms in visible places and use calls to action that ask people to browse deeper content after they provide their e-mail, to build an e-mail marketing list. Make sure you configure your forms adequately, so you can already qualify your leads when they enter their details.
After you build the list, don’t forget to send frequent messages to them, so they receive regular updates.
Getting press coverage for your project is an essential step toward getting investors’ attention. Large and credible media outlets can spread the word about your company to potential stakeholders and serve as a source of credibility to your business. Here is how to do it:
Issue press releases: Press releases are the first step to garner media attention. Bear in mind that journalists want information, not story tips. Provide them with good information and you will likely be cited in media outlets.
Tell a good story: Everything successful in our world has a good story behind it. Think of movies, songs, and big businesses that have a strong character behind them. Packaging your company in a good story, explaining your motivations, the difficulties you faced to get to the point you are, and, especially, how your business will generate sound returns to your investors, based on your past performance, must be present in your press communications.
A reminder: Tell a big story. If you are launching a startup, emphasize the returns will be many times the amount invested. If you are doing a real estate crowdfunding, emphasize how safe the investment can be while generating double-digit returns.