Seven Reasons Why Everyone Needs a Website

Cisco Innovators Forum guest blogger Audra Hajj finds that the world is moving fast! Retailing and online marketing is moving faster and burning new paths. In the past, we bought things that we believed our clients wanted to buy. We bought them, stored them, positioned them, repositioned them, cleared them out and started over. We marketed by spending our money on direct mailers and expensive print advertising. We watched as our return on investment through our Yellow Pages ads got smaller and smaller. We marketed in all the old ways to the people we thought wanted to buy our products or services. Then, we waited for the phone to ring or the people to flood into our stores.

Does the “old way” still work? Just look at the number of empty storefronts you see in your own communities and you will know that it doesn’t. Even Yellow Pages has jumped on the online marketing advantage train.

Today, the selling world has turned upside down. As an online retailer, you now can buy your stock after you sell the item. You can have an unlimited number of products; you can have your products seen by whomever searches for your keywords. Imagine your business being visible to people actually looking for your products and services in their moment of greatest interest, rather than having to blindly market your business to random people who may or may not be interested. And yes, you and I both know there were times, and there still are times, when someone totally opposite of your demographic walks in and buys your products.

Let’s really take your business to the next level, let’s stop being the best keep secret and broaden your exposure.

What are the 7 reasons why everyone needs a website?

1. The internet levels the playing field.

A professionally designed website with the right online marketing can be as good as a big company’s; in many cases even better. Smaller companies have better customer service and handle each client with the kind of attention your customers want and need. The small to medium business is king on the internet!

2. Offer your products and services 365 days a week 24x7 with fewer headaches.

You now can sell your products and services on your website 365 days a week. Your new store hours? 24 hours a day and 7 days a week! Your new “sales person” never calls in sick, never complains about working long hours or holidays, always remembers to up-sell and never misrepresents the value, your product or service. This new sales person is also able to report to you a wealth of information not just about the people who became customers, but also about the people who looked but didn’t buy. This information allows you to better market to the “ones who got away” and allows you to constantly increase your sales numbers!

3. Reach a larger market focus - local, regional, national or global.

Your website is a powerful marketing tool that gives you the ability to market directly to the customers looking for your products and services. You can use techniques like SEO, PPC and affiliate marketing to target these new markets.

4. Exponentially increase your products and services overnight.

You are not limited to a square footage, working capital, or even your own skills and knowledge. You can sell an unlimited amount of different products directly from your manufactures and have them drop-shipped to your customers with your business name on the box. You can also offer services that accent and add value to your business by partnering with others who offer complementary services or products.

5. Test market your new products and services.

Your website gives you the ability to present new services and products to your customers without investing huge R&D dollars. You can quickly launch new ideas and solicit customer feedback. You can also immediately change copy, features and track who clicked on and viewed what and for how long.

6. Educate, validate, and sell for higher margins.

Your customers can educate themselves on your products and services before they call you. You can educate them in the media that best suits their personality - text, video, images all cater to a different personal preference. Testimonials and product reviews validate your products and your company. Also, with a ready customer list, use automatic emails to remarket to your already happy clients and skyrocket your sales.

7. Your competition is forcing you to.

If you build it in a shopping mall, they will not come. To grow your business and branding within your marketplace you have to create a website and market it before your competition does. If you feel it is too late, you are wrong. Every day, more effective ways of online marketing are being developed. If you work with a professional, you can outrank, out sell and beat the competition.

So what am I trying to say with these seven points and how do they relate to you and your business? Your business started out in the beginning with a specific purpose. You saw a problem or need and you felt you could deliver a solution or fulfill that need. Then, once you got the business opened, you found yourself putting out fires and wearing too many hats. Funny how owning a business was not what you thought it would be. People look at you and say, “Wow I wish I had my own business. I want to set my own hours and make lots of money like you.” If they only knew… your spouse and children might see how hard you have to work; but to the outside world you are a hero.

The truth, you and I both know, is that you are the first to go without a paycheck, work double and triple hours with no guarantee of a paycheck at the end on the week. In the beginning it was all so clear and it was supposed to be easy and straight forward.

The problem is that with a brick and mortar business there are so many things besides just “selling your products” - the necessary evils pulling you away from your real passion and drive: accounting, employees, taxes, insurance, vendors, customers, changing market and the new education level of your clients due to the internet. You have to stay on top of all of this and that requires a lot of work.

Many brick and mortar business owners have also discovered that even when things tend to work well when they are onsite, as soon as they leave for lunch or take a day off, productivity falls way off! You can’t get your employees to do just what you tell them to do in just the way you tell them to do it… What comes to you as second nature is hard to replicate in your employees.

Experts estimate that out of an 8 hour work day, the typical business owner is able to spend less than 2 hours on revenue-generating activities…having an online business can change all of this!

Having a great website is like having an army of perfect employees working for you… Your store is always clean and neat and arranged the way you want it. You are open for business 24/7. Your products or services are always presented to your clients in the best possible way. With drop-shipping, there are never any inventory issues… If the product comes in 50 colors or sizes, you can show your clients all of them without having to stock any of them. Your sales figures are collected automatically and can be dropped into QuickBooks with a few mouse clicks. Every client is greeted. Every client is offered up-sell products. Every customer gets a thank-you note and can automatically receive your sales notices, newsletters or any other marketing material you choose to send them; all with very little effort on your part.

Having a well designed website (through the right online partner!), frees you from the little things and allows you to concentrate on the big things. The right website allows you to spend more time on those things that make the greatest impact on your bottom line. A great website designed and marketed by professionals, with an automated attack plan to fix the follow-up failure most businesses face, can help you double your sales without doubling your staff. The right website won’t just help you make money – it will give you something even more valuable… a good website will give you more time.

Finally, a great website doesn’t just help you make money online, it can invigorate your brick and mortar store too! Your website can be a fantastic selling tool for your staff. Imagine your customer asking for a product that is out of stock or in a color that you don’t carry in your store. Instead of saying “no”, your employees can say “Yes!” and show the customer the product they are looking for right on your website and order it for the client while the customer is standing right there.

Yellow Pages is a great example of times changing! They now have a great program online for their listings, if you don’t have a strong web presence, how do you think people are going to find you?

It’s not too late if you start today!