Hey, fellow business marketer –
Today I’m answering a question from one of my clients, Jim T, who asked if he really needs a small business website.
Jim is a local, self employed, handyman who says he doesn’t like to travel more than an hour for work; so he doesn’t see the need for a website because all his business is local.
Believe it or not, I still hear that statement from a large number of local business owners.
So, I decided to write this short post, just in case you’re still sitting on the fence about it.
The short answer is “yes” your business should have a website.
Your small business website doesn’t need to be fancy, and it doesn’t need to be expensive… But it does need to exist!
The two most common excuses I hear for not having a small business website are…
1) – “I don’t need a website because my business is a local brick and mortar business. And besides, I already have a Facebook page.”
The fact is… Even if you run a local brick and mortar business, to be considered legitimate these days, you need a website.
More than 90% of people look online to find a company to do business with. And while the people down the street might know who you are, potential customers 20 or 30 miles away, might not.
That’s an awful lot of potential customers looking online, only to find your competitors website instead of yours.
And that’s a lot of money going to your competition instead of you.
As for social media: Social media is great for staying in touch with people, (Facebook, Twitter, Linked-in, etc.) and they can also be good marketing tools, but your own website adds a solid foundation to let people know you’re for real.
And when people know you’re for real, they’re far more likely to trust you, and do business with you.
2) – The second most common excuse I hear is… “It’s too expensive to put up my own website.”
The fact is… A website is one of the most cost effective marketing tools you will ever use.
It only costs about ten dollars a year to register your domain name. And, an inexpensive web host is only around ten dollars a month.
Do the math… If you can’t afford less than 150 dollars a year, for a complete advertising and marketing platform that runs 24 hours a day… 7 days a week… 365 days a year…
Then you don’t own a business – you own a hobby.
The bottom line is… If you own a small business, and you don’t have a small business website yet, it’s time to join the 21st century and get with the program.
Because the days of people looking in the phone book, to find your business, are long gone.
In future messages I’ll go into how you can improve the usability and performance of your website, to make it work better for you, and convert more visitors into customers.
But I had to start with this message, because if you don’t already have a website for your business, then none of those future messages will do you any good.
Well, it’s getting late, and this message is getting a bit long. So…
Until next time,
To your success…
All the best,
SARubin
Direct Response Copywriter
Advertising and Marketing Egghead
www.sarmarketing.net
P.S. If you have any questions or comments, you can reply directly to this message, and I’ll try to respond as soon as possible.
And always remember… Not every marketing idea will work the same for every business. But every proven idea has already helped other businesses grow.
So even if you don’t think these ideas apply to you right now, it’s still something you may want to use in the future – as your business grows and evolves. That’s why it’s always a good idea to keep your eyes and ears open for good, proven marketing strategies.
