  Peoples' habits are changing, more and more they are looking for products and
services online, and this trend is increasing as the coming generation ages into the marketplace. When people
move into a new area they very likely rely on the Internet to research their new surroundings and
resources. The Internet is used to find homes, jobs, stores and recreational activities. In fact, many people have come to expect that any professionally run business will have a web site. With a well-designed site your small business becomes a real player in this new advertising world. Adding your unique ‘dotcom’ to your business cards, stationary, newspaper advertising, directory ads, and flyers will invite customers to visit you online and learn more about your products and services than any paper advertising can offer.  And you’ll save money with a web site. Instead of paying for full page paper
advertising cramming in all you can in a small space, you can have pages upon pages of full-color
advertisements that run 24 hours a day and 7 days a week! You present yourself and your services to potential
customers using many different descriptive pages, images, etc. The more they know about you and your business
the more they tend to trust you, which in turn, can make them more likely to purchase your wares or enjoy your
services. Bolstering your current Ad Campaigns by including your web address will have people turning to your site for more information. A well thought out site often contains a FAQ page virtually eliminating many time consuming phone calls answering the same type of question over and over again. With a web site you can put the answers in an easy to understand format and even answer questions they didn’t know they had!  Educating customers is rule one in customer service. The first step of any sale is
letting them know what you are selling and why they need it. In this day and age more and more people are
looking to the Internet as their information source in order to make educated purchase decisions. Including articles of interest informing your potential clients about your services creates incoming sales calls that are already half-closed! When they call you to discuss your services, they’ve already been given your "pitch", they’re already interested and ready to do business, not just gathering more data on the phone. And if there are aspects about your business that are complicated or complex you can refer them back to the site for information you would usually spend money stuffing in an envelope and mailing out!  Referrals are also a fabulous way for a small business to get new clients. On your
web site you can add a "refer a friend" link where your visitors can send your link to a friend who may be
interested. Catching them in the ‘heat of the moment’ instead of hoping the subject comes up in conversation
will drastically increase your number of referrals! With your web site you will also get email addresses for
your business. Email links, contact forms and newsletter lists are all invitations to interested parties to
ask more questions which will give you the opportunity to talk about specials, new products and promotions!
Opt-in emailing is a great way to establish a relationship with your clients saving time and
money! A hard-copy newsletter can be an expensive promotional action. With printing,
postage and time spent, the costs can add up, yet an online newsletter can avoid all of these costs.
Your visitors can opt in for your newsletter in a few keystrokes, giving you the ability to email your
newsletter to all of the people in your database, continuing contact with prospects leads to more paying
clients! |