Some days I just have to shake my head. Some days I just can’t believe my eyes. Here’s why I say that.
A couple of years back, an associate of mine forwards me an article that says “some small businesses still skip website”, which explains that 55% of small businesses don’t have a website according to a 2013 survey of 3800 small businesses conducted by Google.
If the number is accurate (3800 small businesses is a VERY small sample) that’s one thing, but what makes me shake my head and rub my eyes is that having a website or not is only a small part of the overall problem.
The real problem presented in this piece is that the writer suggests: “It’s cheap. It’s easy to do. And it can take less than 20 minutes to set up.” What they fail to tell readers is that having a website without a plan to market that site means NOTHING.
In one of my reports I shared that one of the major mistakes businesses make is to think that if they just had a website, they’d get a lot of business.
Some bought one and nothing happened.
Think about it – You’re buying a spot in cyberspace. Where is that anyway? It’s a fact that in cyberspace no one can hear you scream. The reason is that there are two ways for people to find you on the Internet.
Because someone has the address to your website. Usually someone who has your web address or URL already knows you. Maybe they got your business card or you handed them a brochure or flyer somewhere.
Through search engines.
Here’s the truth (as I see it anyway). Before you spend money on a website, get a plan to market your business in place first. If your ideal client is on the web, then by all means have a website for them along with a plan to make sure they know your site exists.
In his famous book “Crossing The Chasm”, Geoffrey Moore talked about the technology adoption life cycle and said that every innovation has these characteristics:
- Innovators – they pursue new technology aggressively.
- Early adopters – buy into new technologies early in the life cycle
- Early majority – when it becomes practical to own/use the technology, they get in
- Late majority – they wait until the technology has become established as a must have
- Laggards – don’t want anything to do with new technology
If you’re in business and don’t have a website at this stage of things, either you KNOW your market won’t be looking for you there or you’re a laggard.
Perhaps you’ve been listening to some of those I refer to as “designer zombies” who talk to businesses about building something beautiful with just the right colors and a perfect font. To them, your site needs to win awards, even if it doesn’t generate sales for you.
It’s possible that you’ve been taking advice from the “Sgt. Schultz zombies” who “know nothing” about how the Internet part of your business is supposed to work, but can dutifully repeat what they learned in that e-Book they bought last week which makes them an SEO expert.
Maybe you accept information from the “writer zombies” from famous publications who give advice about Internet marketing suggesting that it’s cheap, easy and takes only 20 minutes.
A better idea is to kill those zombies before they kill your business. If you want to know more about working with my company, take 2 minutes to tell me about your business here; if there’s a fit we’ll both know and we can then put together a plan to turn your website into a money making machine.
