Are you getting ready to embark on a new move? One that involves moving your business? If you’ve been following along, you know we are about to pack up our home and move back to Jacksonville. So, I’m breaking down what I’ve been doing to prepare my business for the move and share tips to effortlessly move yours as well.
Whether you are a location-specific business, or one like mine, where geographic location doesn’t matter, these tips will help you get settled into your new city in no time. In today’s world of technology, I’m fortunate to be able to do business with clients in various cities and states. With clients in California and New Jersey, and people reaching out from places like Holland, I’ve been able to build a business that truly allows me to run it from anywhere.
But, there’s a huge benefit from being able to also work with so many awesome business owners right in my own backyard. From personal connections and referrals building a business locally becomes a *little* easier. Not to mention, being connected with other creative business owners, and creating connections and friendships in any new city is a major plus!
If you know you are going to be moving to a new city well in advance, leverage that time to build your awareness before you even arrive. We haven’t officially made the move yet, but I’ve been taking advantage of these tactics for the past 6 months.
3 TIPS FOR MOVING YOUR BUSINESS TO A NEW CITY
1 | Update Your Website To Incorporate Keywords for The New City
This is an easy, but very effective way to help with the Google search. Update your site title to incorporate the new city you’ll be moving to.
For instance, my site title is “Simply Sianne | Marketing + Branding strategist, educator, designer in South Florida”, updating the last two words to say “Jacksonville” is an easy switch that will help when someone in the new city does a Google search for “Jacksonville Marketing and Branding Strategist”, however, since I will continue to split my time between the two cities, I decided to simply add in “+ Jacksonville” instead of replacing it.
This is also a good time to update your About Page to incorporate the new city you’ll be moving to.
2 | Leverage Your Social Media Presence
Similar to the changes above, update your bio on social media to incorporate the new city. For me, I simply added in “+ Jax” so people know that I split my time between the two locations.
Start utilizing hashtags for the new city in your posts, as well as tagging the new city in “add Location” before hitting publish on your Instagram posts.
Don’t be afraid to talk about the upcoming move in your social media. Letting customers know you are moving is a great way to spread the news, and gain potential new clients.
3 | Get Connected with Other Creative Entrepreneurs
Rising Tide Society is an amazing network of creative business owners. Initially, there were tons of wedding professionals (photographers, florists, planners, etc.), but the movement of community over competition and the helpful resources they provide extend well beyond the wedding industry and so many other amazing entrepreneurs have joined the online group. Luckily, this network of 75,000 entrepreneurs has monthly meetups in cities all over the world.
Before making the move, join the local Tuesdays Together and start connecting with others! I did this for the Jacksonville group. It allowed me to network online first, and then when the timing worked out, I was able to actually attend in person.
a journey of a thousand miles must begin with a single step
– Lao Tzu
Those are the 3 biggest takeaways that can help you build up your presence before moving to a new city. Of course, depending on your industry, there are additional things you can do. Like reach out to vendors and introduce yourself to build up those connections and establish a presence early on.
Good luck with the move, you’ve got this!
xo,
Sianne
