Welcome to episode 295 of The Solopreneur Hour! Ladies and gentlemen in this very actionable episode, I walk you step by step with how I set up all of my solopreneur ventures.

I cover every stage of the process from email to account setup to wordpress to branding, etc.

It’s all here for you, listen in, take notes and apply it to your next solopreneur business.

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The first thing I do when starting any new endeavor for myself or my clients is to search for the new domain name. You’ll need email, and new accounts for hosting.

The second step is to check the availability of all the social media outlets with that new company name. You’re just checking availability at this stage.

So I make sure Twitter, Facebook, Instagram and the rest of the usual suspects are available. Sometimes I’ve had to get creative and come up with abbreviations or shorter versions of the business’ name. Like with this show it’s Twitter account is @solohour and so is its Instagram account.

The next stage of this is to go to gmail and get the email account for that biz. This will be your general catch-all acount, make it simple and keep in mind you’ll be handing this off to a VA in the future.

Fourth is to actually lock down those social media outlets we talked about in step two. You know they’re available so sign up and acquire those accounts for your business.

This next step is a big one: you need a brand. And the best way to get it is to define your avatar, your target market, and write up a creative brief (google it to find an example). you’re going to hand the creative brief off to a designer and they’ll create a logo for you. The logo is just one aspect of your brand but it’s important to nail that aspect along with all the others.

Sixth is your web site and your web site’s hosting. There are lots of options out there but I use HostGator because of their malware removal, automatic back ups and overall great protection at a great price. See the resources section below for some options.

Now we’re getting towards the finish line – once your web site is up and hosted you’ll need an email provider and a way to capture the emails of your visitors. There are loads of options here again. I like Aweber for my email provider and I use LeadPages right now.

You can choose from Mailchimp, Constant Contact, Aweber, Infusionsoft, and others for your email provider.

And I also recommend OptimizePress for lead capture.

The final step is to pick your platform. You can’t be everywhere and communicate with everyone – nor should you.

But you should pick one platform to focus on and let all the others be ancillary. Are you going to podcast or use video to connect with your tribe? What about social media or public speaking? Maybe blogging is your thing, or self-publishing or even traditional marketing.

Choose one, get great at it and build your audience there. You can branch out but let that one platform be your primary focus.

And that kids is how I start my a new solopreneur business! It’s also how I recommend my clients start theirs, those exact steps I walked you through above. It is labor intensive and there is much to do at the beginning, but it pays off huge dividends down the road.

So dive in, get started and ask me any questions; I’m here to help! See you next time on The Solopreneur Hour.

QUESTION OF THE DAY: What stage are you in or what step are you doing next for your latest solopreneur business? Let us know in the comments below!

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