"Makin’ on Main Street”    Word count:  811
    You need to know the territory if you
    expect to do business online
    “But, he doesn’t know the territory!”
            
    That famous line from “The Music Man” is as valid for virtual marketing
    (Internet) as it is for marketing on Main Street.   The success or failure of a
    small business website depends on how well the owner or manager
    understands the framework of the “virtual territory” of the Internet.
            
    Here is what “knowing the territory” means when it comes to constructing a
    business website that works (spurs someone to act):
        
  • Your opening (landing) page needs to be crystal clear as to what your website
    is about and should also provide a darn good reason for someone to venture
    further into your virtual store.  A “darn good reason” is all about language
    (words) describing what is in it for ME to keep your site on my screen for more
    than 5 seconds and light on glitz (pop-ups, banners, etc.).
        
  • Effective business websites contain quick, simple navigation systems.  They
    have a bar of buttons (menu) at the top, side or bottom of the web page that
    tells the visitor where to go . . . in a nice way!  

  • Resist getting sucked into the “World of Links” (other websites) unless you have
    a valid reason to link.  Linking can be beneficial but always be sure whomever
    you are linking TO links back to you. Your site visitor hitting a “link,” is akin to
    their leaving your store for another store.  They probably will not be back!

  • If you are selling something (products or services), make it easy to buy by
    investing in a “shopping cart” system.  If you are not selling something, think
    very hard about why you are investing in a website at all.  

    A “brochure” website is pretty much the same as a printed brochure.  Think
    about the business meetings you have attended where you were simply handed
    a brochure.  What did you do with it?  Now guess what people do to most
    website brochures?

  • Be sure your website loads rapidly . . . on a 13” monitor with a DIAL-UP
    connection.  You or your web master might own a super-duper lighting fast
    computer set-up but understand that a large portion of computer users do not.   
    Ask someone with a dial up connection to access your site before you publish it
    to the world.  Slow load means NO load.  Speed counts.

  • Look before you leap regarding a service provider (host) for your website.  
    Every one of them will promise you the moon.  Many do not deliver.  Before you
    sign on the dotted line ($20-$50 month) with a web site host, take the time to
    check out other sites the provider is hosting.  Bring these sites on line at
    different times of the day and on different days of the week.  Pay attention to
    how they load and what the sites look like.

  • Examine the look and content of the Top Ten sites in your area of expertise that
    come up on the first page of different search engines (Google, Yahoo, MSN,
    etc.)   Delve into the tricks of the trade that will get your site on the first page.  
    Clue:  it will cost you some bucks!

    Careful here!  “Seeing” does not equate to staying, buying or taking action of
    some kind.    Many people SEE your newspaper ad but few if any will take any
    kind of action unless your offering incites them to do so.  Ditto websites.

  • Setting up a successful website is much like baking a cake.  It is the icing on the
    cake that whets the appetite.  “Icing” on a website is nothing more than
    effectively creating opportunities for interaction between your prospect (site
    visitor) and your business; i.e.,  establishing a discussion group (blog), setting
    up a topical bulletin board, signing up for a free report, etc.

    It is vital you understand that when you create any kind of website you will still
    have to seek out your customers.  They will not seek you out.  Think of winking
    at someone in a dark room.  You are the only one who knows you are winking.   

    If you think your local bricks and mortar marketplace is getting crowded,
    competition in cyberspace makes your “Main Street location” seem like it’s
    on a desert island!    The sheer number of websites make our national debt
    look like pocket change.  Think “gazillions!”

    Just like Harold Hill in River City, Iowa, you better “know the territory” if you
    expect to construct a business website that works.   Remember that a website
    will cost you money to build and money to maintain . . .  and you will still need
    to conduct your traditional marketing program.

     If you do decide to enter the online battlefield, prepare and organize in
    advance.  That means decide what you specifically intend to accomplish with
    your website and then set up a budget and a plan to make it happen.

           
           Marketing Emporium  
                   636 Horizon Drive, #604   
         Grand Junction, CO  81506
          Direct telephone:  970-210-8648
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