Why You Must Have A Web Site For Your Business!

Your Competitors Are Online!
Your competitors are online and if you are not, you are missing out on the power of the Internet and losing sales to your competitors.

You`re Always Open For Business!
Your customers want to do business with you when it is convenient for them.  Let them buy from you when they are ready, right off your Website.

Your Customers Need Information!
The number one reason why consumers will go online is to get more information for future purchases.  You need to provide this before the competitors do. 

Your Customers Need Directions!If your customers travel to your business, you need to provide a road map and directions for them to find you. 

Your Customers Are Guessing!
Don`t make customers guess when you are open.

Your Customers Expect Support!
Provide online help, manuals and documentation to support the products and services you provide.

Take your business to the Net! 

The Internet continues to change the way Americans buy and sell goods, and if you`re not yet on the Net, your competitors are taking money right out of your hands.

Small businesses throughout the country are confronting this issue of making best use of the World Wide Web. Many are just getting started on the Web; many others recognize they are underutilizing it. But an increasing number see the potential to increase revenues and cut costs.

They also know that if they don`t take the Internet seriously, their competitors will. The Internet is an expanding highway of commerce.  By 2008, the research company expects that 44% of all retail transactions will be virtual.  This is B2C transactions they are talking about.  This does not include all of the B2B transactions!

Today we are seeing the first generation of digital natives-the PlayStation generation that has no qualms about grazing in a virtual retail world.  At present, their spending power is limited, but in the coming years these digital natives will being to earn salaries of their own.

What are you waiting for? 

• sales continued their strong growth in 2007
• each month, over 275 million people search the Internet for products and services
• are growing comfortable with click-to-buy
• relatively cheaper cost of doing business over the Web meant that 85% of online retailers were profitable in 2006, up from 79% from 2005
• time savings and selection are the big reasons given for online shopping 
• repeat customers account for a growing portion of online sales, and these same customers are typically spending more each time they buy online
  (comScore Networks and the U.S. Census Bureau) 
  

U.S. online retail sales increased 2006, as vendors on average improved their bottom line, according to a survey conducted by Forrester Research Inc. on behalf of Shop.org, the Internet sales division of the National Retail Federation. There was solid growth across all retail categories, particularly travel, home and office and computer hardware and software, according to the survey.  

84% of all online retailers were profitable in 2006, up from 70% in 2003.  The revenue growth was strong in 2006, and the profitability is coming along nicely. Helped by strong sales in areas such as health and beauty, apparel, and flowers, cards and gifts, U.S. online retail sales are expected to grow past the $235 billion mark in 2007.

These figures, however, don`t reflect the impact of the online channel on overall retail sales. Survey respondents said they believe that 45% of off-line sales in 2005 were influenced by the Web, up from 27% in 2003 and 15% in 2002. Thus, retailers continue integrating their online and off-line channels by, for example, letting buyers return products bought online at a physical store and promoting their off-line stores at their Web site and vice versa.

What you sell online may represent a small, but growing portion of what you sell overall, but your online presence and how you educate customers may affect up to 50 percent of all retailing because of lead generation, generation of traffic into stores, selection of products, and shopping around for products before walking into a store and buying.

With eCommerce taking on an important role in day-to-day business functions, it`s a good time for you to re-evaluate and revamp your Web site for the coming year.  Online customers now expect professional appearances and smooth surfing. 

The growth of local paid search services, such as the one Google offers, can direct valuable local traffic to your site and, from there, to your brick-and-mortar store.  The Kelsey Group, a marketing research firm, estimates that 25 percent of local searches are made with the intention to buy something.  For Internet advertising, those are pretty good odds. 

An informative, well-designed Web site will be key to turning surfers into buyers. To fall behind or not to fall behind Industry analysts say the message is clear: You need a Web site for your business, and you need to use it for more than just providing your address and phone number. If you haven`t considered using your site for business, now is the time.

"The way I view it, virtually all commerce is going to someday be e-commerce," says Mark Anderson, a technology consultant and founder of Strategic News Service, a business newsletter. "That doesn`t mean that brick-and-mortar stores will go away. It just means that a majority of transactions will someday be technology-based. "As we develop these technologies, both wireless and wired, companies without a Web presence will fall further and further behind."

If you don`t have a Web site at all, you`re already missing out on customers. People routinely go to a Web site just like they do the phone book, and type in www.nameofmybusiness.com to get a phone number or to check out a company and its products. If your business isn`t there, they`ll type in some competitor`s name.

Even more serious is the fact that if you don`t have your company`s name registered as an Internet domain name by now, you may never get it as a "dot-com" name. (And it may not be available through ".biz," ".info" or one of the other new endings.) "I`ve had a few customers come to me in the last few months, and say, `I`ve been looking for your Web site,`" Bill Griffin admits, who runs a Bellevue, Wash.-based environmental specialty products company. His workers have Internet access, and he plans to have a company Web site at some point.

Why? He`d like to make it easier for fire departments, government agencies and other customers worldwide to order his products, which treat air pollution, diesel spills and the like.  "We`d like to expand," Griffin says, adding, "but we`ve been procrastinating (on getting a Web site). It`d be much more cost-effective for us to have one."

But just getting a Web site is no longer enough in today`s changing times, he and others agree. "You not only need to be on the Web; you need to benefit from the Web," says Jesse Berst, a technology pundit and former editorial director of ZDNet AnchorDesk, a technology news site. "Putting up a Web site just gets you into the game. If you want to win the game, you`ve got to invest more time and effort to take advantage of the business opportunities the Web offers."

Kim Boyer, whose ornamental iron fencing company does have a Web site, seconds that. He plans to use his Web site for more than just describing his company and its product line. If Boyer could auction his company`s security fences, railings and other products on the Web, it could help sales during the cold-weather months when the seasonal construction business slows, he says. "I`d love to be able to purchase (online) from my suppliers," he adds.

If you have a Web site, says Michael Murphy, editor of the California Technology Stock Letter, you need to be thinking about these three things: What can you do over the Web to increase your revenues?

What can you do to reduce your production costs? 

What can you do to reduce your internal costs, such as your employee costs, office-supply costs and so on? "For all three, you need to be thinking outside the box," says Murphy. "But there is just a lot you can do." "It takes some real thought," analyst Anderson agrees. "But the key question is: How can you use the Internet to better serve your customers, whether they`re local or national?" 

At the very minimum, most companies could save some money by posting frequently asked questions, or FAQs, about their business, Murphy says. The savings will come in reduced time on the telephone — you can refer callers to the Web site for answers to the same old questions. The Web`s effectiveness as a local medium 

Certainly, many small businesses may not be interested or financially able to develop fulfillment and credit card payment systems allowing them to sell goods to customers worldwide. 

Doing business on the Web doesn`t mean transforming your entire selling process. How about allowing your local customers to order online? How about using the Web to order your supplies? How about providing helpful information over the Web that will deepen the relationship between your business and your customers? Maybe you`re a dentist. Obviously, you`re not going to clean people`s teeth through the Internet. But you could make it easy for your customers to make appointments using the Web, Berst notes. Likewise, a foot doctor can`t examine feet over the Internet, but he can educate people about foot ailments and how to treat them. 

My friend, a  sporting goods dealer, could provide information about the running shoes he sells or soccer clubs in the Pennsylvania area, or schedules of the local high-school sports teams. "These are the kind of services that get people to take notice of your business and want to come and visit," Murphy says. "In other words, you`re offering something beyond your service or product line. You`re developing a community among your customers." 

While the World Wide Web has gained its stature by connecting people worldwide, the "great untold story" is its local impact, says Anderson. "You are seeing political candidates and political activists making great use of the Net to raise money," he says. 

"Small businesses are using it the same way to generate business." Murphy seconds that, saying he knows of an island restaurant off the coast of Maine that posts its menu on its Web site and e-mails daily specials to those who sign up. Despite its remote location, the restaurant thrives, with the Web helping give it an image of sophistication. 

"You can use the Web to compete globally," he says, "but you can also use it very effectively locally." But if you aren`t using it much, or not at all, the time is now to start — unless, of course, you`re not interested in new customers. 

Where do I sign up? 

Each Business has its own unique needs.  We will customize a Web Site Package uniquely your own.  We need to know more about your business and online goals.  For your convenience, you can call us at 866.864.2836 and speak with any of our friendly client representatives.

Ed Kundahl