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The Small Business Website:
Access the vast opportunities of online marketing
Why would I
want a website? You might be asking yourself that question right
now. In this article I would like to show you the advantages of
having a website for your business.
There's GOLD in those streams!
On January 24, 1848, gold was discovered at Sutter's Mill.
As news of the discovery spread, some 300,000 people rushed to
California. In a few short years, gold worth billions of
dollars today was recovered, which led to great wealth for a few.
However, the majority of the “forty-niners” went home with little
more than they brought. The peripheral effects of the Gold
Rush, on the other hand, were more long-lasting. Companies
like Levi Strauss, Armour Meats, Wells Fargo Bank, and many lesser
known businesses got their start in the California Gold Rush: not by
panning for gold, but by positioning themselves to profit from the
new-found economy.
The Internet is the new Gold Rush.
Google, YouTube, Facebook, and MySpace (to name a few) are all
household names of companies that “struck gold” on the Internet.
In a few short years, Google alone has created a market cap of over
200 billion dollars, and how do they make their money? They
help people find things online. Amazing! I
am sure that in the future more companies will make fabulous strikes
like Google has, but that is not what this article is about. I
am here to help you determine whether you can use this 21st-century
Gold Rush to your advantage.
The Internet is all about convenience.
In today's
world everyone is pressed for time. They want and expect instant
results. That extends to their choice of providers of services and
products. Increasingly, people are using the Internet to find
sources for things that they need and want. Even if an individual
does hear about your business via word of mouth or print
advertising, the knee jerk response is often to see if you are
online. Simply having a website listed on your business cards
and communications lends some credibility to what you are
presenting. Imagine the amazing ability of having someone on the
other side of the world use a search engine to locate your website
and literally in seconds be reading the information that you have
posted.
"But I don't sell to people on the other side of the world," you
say.
That may be very true, but the other side of the world or the
other side of town, the same principle applies. According to
recent surveys the internet is on par with Newspapers and Yellow
Pages as a source for consumer business sourcing, and the trend is
only going one direction. You may have seen headlines recently
of newspaper circulation shrinking. It's a big problem (for them).
The Internet is taking the clout of national, no, worldwide
advertising away from the privileged few and putting it into the
hands of the little guy.
A website can be your own personal 24 - 7 promoter.
What sales
person or customer service agent is willing to work 24 hours a day,
seven days a week, 365 days a year? Even holidays are no
problem, since your website will be right there doing what it does
best. Unlike print advertising which literally can be outdated
as it rolls off the press. Your website can be updated anytime
you want, even in real time, (if your business moves that fast.)
A website can be your most affordable “employee.”
It will not require a desk, phone, car, healthcare or even a
paycheck! You can literally get online with a website for less
than $100 with ongoing costs of about $10 per month. Compare a
website that can be viewed by hundreds simultaneously to a
salesperson that can only make one presentation at a time.
With the low cost of entry, getting your own website may be a
no-brainer.
Staking your claim online is relatively painless.
Think about all those “forty-niners”
who rushed many perilous miles and risked life and limb to stake and
hold onto a claim in the Great California Gold Rush. Then
think about how easy you have it, with just a few clicks of the
mouse you can have your online presence established. Who
knows, maybe what you start today will grow into the next Google!
At the very least I hope that you can see a bit more clearly the
great opportunity that having a website for your small business can
provide.
Email the Author -
Brad
Hochstetler
Visit the Author's Website -
www.agapeinternet.com
Copyright information - This article may be
reproduced in its entirety only and this copyright statement must
remain intact.
© 2009
www.agapeinternet.com
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