Why Should Your Company Have a Website?

The answer to this question is neither short nor easy. With a little research you can find hundreds of reasons, but there are a few general statements that may help you realize your needs.

1. Your competitor has one! People refer to the internet as the first source of information, so chances are, if you have a website new potential customers will find you.
2. Presence on the web. A website can reach millions of people that might otherwise not be available for you. Peoples’ habits are changing. People move to a new area and very often rely solely on the Internet to learn about the new area, research and find out who to go to for what.
3. Selling tool. Customers can view products, services, or whatever you want to share from the comfort of their own home. No matter what type of business you are in, there are ways to grow and make money on the web for you.
4. Most people expect that any professionally run business will have a web site. With a well-designed site you can make an impressive first impression; thus potential new business.
5. Add your Web Address to your stationary; business cards, other advertisements and you’ll have visitors knowing exactly where to go for answers to their questions and where to send their friends to for great service.
6. The more people know about you and your company the greater the chances you have for attracting new customers.
7. More Advertising for Less Money. With a web site you can have pages of full-color advertisements that run 24 hours a day and 7 days a week. You get to present yourself and your services to your customers using many descriptive pages, images, etc. This tends to build peoples’ trust, which in turn, makes them more likely to purchase your products and services.
8. Bolster Your Current Ad Campaign. Include your web address in your current ad campaign and people will turn to your site for more information. Gathering more data is often a first response to a well-run ad campaign. With your site address listed in your ad, you will have people coming to you to get that information and your services. A better return on your advertising money is a great reason for a web site.
9. Save Time with Answers to Frequently Asked Questions Online. Do you spend time answering the same types of questions for each of your clients? Well that may never stop but there may be some hope! With a web site you can put the answers to these frequently asked questions online and ask your new customers that you have begun working with to visit these pages. You can even email them out a link to these pages. Your customers will appreciate the knowledge that you will be providing them.
10. Educate Your Customers. The first step of any sale is getting the client familiar with what you are selling. In this day and age more and more people are looking on the Internet to get the information they need to make educated buying decisions. Include articles of interest telling your potential clients about your services. When they call you to discuss your services, half the sale is already done; you’ve already given them your “pitch”. You will even save time (and money) because the ones who do call are interested, warm (and sometimes hot) prospects, not just someone calling to gather data.
11. Get Referrals. Referrals are a number one way for small businesses to get new clients. On your web site you can add a “refer to a friend” link where your current clients (or just visitors) can send your link to a friend who may be interested in your services. This will increase your number of referrals.
12. Create a New Customer Base. Many people are turning to the internet rather than the traditional sources of information (newspapers, yellow pages, etc). With a web site you will be able to reach a whole new segment of potential clients that may have missed your current ad campaigns. A good, informative web site will attract many people who may not have heard of you otherwise.
13. Get Email With your web site you will also get email addresses for your business. On your site will be a link where people will be able to email you for additional information. This is a fast and effective form of communication that enables you to get the answers or information needed for the client at your convenience and send it along.
14. Establish a Relationship with your Clients. People generally prefer to do business with people they “know.” On your site you will give people the opportunity to get to know your business (and perhaps you) and feel more comfortable with you. Once this is established they will be more likely to want to do business with you as compared to the other, similar company about which they know nothing. A picture or profile of you or your associates will make you more real to the client and make the client more likely to contact and communicate with you.
15. Gather Contact Information. A newsletter can be an expensive promotional action. With printing, postage and time spent, the costs can add up. With a website you can have people who would like to receive your newsletter send you their email address. You can then email your newsletter to all of the people in your database. You don’t need to pay for printing or postage for these newsletters. Continual contact with prospects leads to more clients.

This list should get you thinking. A website is a great invesment in your business and knowing how to do a website, what to add and how  to keep it current will pay back in the form of more sales.

Here are the recordings of the class for members of ChiefExperts.com Seminar on Websites. 

Check out this great software for creating a website called XSitePro. If you can type a letter you can create a website. You’ll see XsitePro and other solutions you can use to create and maintain your site.

Another great product that is true;y WSSYWIG is Xara Web Designer

To Your Success!

Dan Baumann

Great Post Card Marketing Help

If you’re looking to jump start your marketing in 2009 (and who isn’t), there’s a company that I want to tell you about – Postcard Mania.

We first identified them as a resource for direct mail marketing for contractors. They offer outstanding industry specific marketing pieces, free post card samples, free marketing newsletter, free marketing advice like this: “Ten Ways To Grow Your Home Improvement and Remodeling Business Using Direct Mail“, website design services, and really interesting weekly emails. I mean it, they send a great email. This is where I discovered their post card design critiques. 

I really enjoy watching and have learned a lot from their post card design critiques. Anyone can send them a sample post card (or marketing brouchure) and ask for their critique. They are very honest about what they like and don’t like about the design, pictures, wording, logos, etc. Watch the post card design critique videos here. You do need to register (for free) on their site to view them, but it’s very easy and you get access to tons of other marketing information.

You can learn a lot by watching a few of these and then apply that same critical eye to your own marketing pieces or you can always send them your piece and see if they’ll critique it for you.

You should check out Postcard Mania, whether you’re looking for a direct mail service, marketing advice, marketing ideas, or an honest critique of your marketing pieces. They really seem to know what they’re talking about and in these tough times, we all need to be smarter in our marketing.

Good luck with your marketing!

Caron
ChiefExperts.com

Website Review Webinar

Last Friday was a great day at ChiefExperts.com.   We hosted a webinar addressing the new world of marketing and how critical websites are to your marketing efforts.  We had a very informational session with over 100 people enrolled.  Dan Baumann led the discussion on marketing as it evolves from the traditional 4P’s of – Product, Price, Place and Promotion to the new world of social marketing and the 4R’s – Reveal, Reward, Respect and Retain.  He also discussed all the mental triggers that your marketing efforts, especially your website, should address. 

We also offered to review your websites and offer our advice on areas of improvement.  Wow – we were overwhelmed by your response!  We had over 50 requests to review your websites.  We loved it and have really enjoyed visiting your sites and giving them a critical eye.   We have seen some excellent sites and some not so great sites.  We talked about a few during the webinar, with much more to come.

There is so much contractors and designers can do on your website:

• highlight amazing galleries and portfolios, 
• promote your awards,
• video testimonials from clients, subs, employees,
• photos and bios of your staff,
• private client areas,
• your contracts,
• education for your clients,
• your community involvement,
• & blogs, of course. 

The list keeps growing every day, it’s really exciting.  Your website is a great place to differentiate yourself in the competitive construction industry.   

If you want to hear the whole webinar, current members can check it out at ChiefExperts.com, it’s very interesting and will get you thinking about how you can adopt these new marketing strategies and enhance your website to make it more effective.

Good luck!