Three Reasons Why Every Business Needs a Web Site

Slash marketing costs, Stay in Touch with Existing Clients and increase revenue -- these are just three of the many ways a web site can contribute to the bottom line success of your business.

Do I send samples, a media kit, or just the postcard, brochure and/or sales letter?" When you are trying to reach new clients or stay in touch with old ones, how to approach the contact can be a sticky, confusing, discombobulating journey. Having a web site can solve all of these situations. How?

Outlined below are three ways a web site can contribute to the bottom line success of your business.

1. Slash Marketing Costs: When prospecting for new clients, instead of sending an entire media kit and/or samples, simply direct your target to your web site.

A simple postcard can list the services you offer and/or products you sell. For samples of your work, direct prospects to your web site, which can do a better job of selling. A web site can list client testimonials, special deals and discounts, awards -- the possibilities are endless.

If a client is interested enough from your initial postcard/letter to look at your web site, then you have a better chance of them contacting you. One could argue, the less you spend up front, the better. This weeds out the tire kickers from the serious buyers.

Can you do business without a web site? Yes. But, consider the following first.

2. Increase Revenue: Would you like to make money while you sleep? Essentially, a web site allows you to do just that. Proof?

After launching a Web site, 41 percent of small businesses report an increase in their sales volume, and more than half (55 percent) with a website say their sites have generated a profit or paid for themselves. SmallBusinessComputing.com, Internet Future Bright for Small Businesses." January 14, 2003.

This does not mean you dont have to do all those things necessary to drive potential customers to your site, i.e., market your site. A web site is simply another avenue, albeit a powerful one, for you to increase your bottom line.

Providing such info as location, photos, testimonials, price, hours of operation, et cetera, somewhat pre-qualifies clients without you ever having to meet them. This greatly increases your chances of making a sale.

A 2001 study from Cyber Dialogue reveals that 86 percent of U.S. adults who were online have either clicked on e-ads or gathered product information online and then made an offline purchase based on the web ads or data.

3. Stay in Touch with Existing Clients: Via your web site you can alert clients to special deals and discounts, announce new hires and promotions, advertise feedback and company awards, showcase media outlets where your business has been featured. The possibilities are endless.

As postage increases, adding some type of listserv* software to your site to collect names and address of visitors is not only smart business, its essential. Staying in touch puts your business foremost in a customers mind when it comes time for them to purchase the type of product/service you offer.

*Listserv is a computer program that allows you to create, manage and control electronic mailing lists. It makes sending email to groups of people fast, easy, and cost-efficient.

In conclusion, having an Internet presence speaks volumes about your firms professionalism. This is especially important for small businesses. It adds another measure of credibility, while contributing positively to your bottom line.

Yuwanda Black is a serial entrepreneur, small business columnist and author. She provides a full range of writing, editing and copy editing services for small and medium-sized businesses. Contact: 646-557-0931; columnist@EntrepreDoer.biz; www.EntrepreDoer.biz.