Getting Your OwnWebsite: An Essential Ingredient to Your Company’s Growth
In the old days, brick, motor, and paper were thefoundations of all business, but times are changing. Even the smallest businessneeds a website these days, because it’s pretty much guaranteed that yourcompetitors will, too. If someone looks for the service you offer in a searchengine, and your business doesn’t come up, you’ll be throwing away a potentialcostumer. Getting your own website is essential these days.
“But a Web Site isToo Expensive”
This something I hear often from friends and clients. Apersonal website might have been out of reach in the old days, but now awebsite can be built to fit almost any budget. Not only that, if you were toget just one new customer a month fora year, wouldn’t that be worth the relatively small fee for a website?
“But I Don’t KnowMuch About Computers”
This is another one I hear often. The good news is, even ifyou don’t know a lot about computers, you can find someone to train you and helpyou set up your site. Here’s a real world example for you:
I recently had a conversation with an acquaintance of mine,a man named John who owns a distribution business. John is 70-years-old and isready to enjoy the retirement he’s worked hard his whole life for. However, toretire, he needs to sell his distribution business, and sell it for a healthyprofit.
He has a potential buyer for his business, but this buyerwon’t give John the price he wants unless he’s able to get three or four moreclients. I’ve been telling John for a while now that his business needs awebsite, but he’s been resistant. I understand his hesitance, because he hasrun his $50,000 a year business out of his basement for years without the helpof a website. Not only that, since he isn’t a web user, he doesn’t reallyunderstand just how many people could potentially learn about his business ifhe just put the information online.
However, he did recently buy a computer, so I decided to tryto convince him once again that he needs a website if he wants to get moreclients in a quick and cost effective way. So I offered to go ahead and make asimple webpage for him for free (he would just have to pay $10.00 a month forthe hosting fee), but he still wasn’t sure.
“Why do I need a website?” he asked. “What will it do?”
I told him how a website would allow him to advertise hisbusiness all over the Internet, and get his business grow quicker and moreefficiently than was possible in the days before the Internet.
“Well, can’t I just hire a salesman for that?” he said.
I admit it. I laughed out loud a little when he said that. Irealized I needed to explain myself more, and teach him from the ground upabout the reasons some companies are not surviving this failing economy, and aboutthe fundamental economic changes the Internet has rendered on the businesslandscape.
After explaining all of this to John, and that using theInternet and having a website is a must to earn a decent living into today’seconomy, he agreed to let me make his site. He admitted that he didn’tunderstand the Internet, but he believed me when I said it was necessary tomake a business more profitable these days.
I’ve been working on it, and it’s set to launch next week.Here’s to hoping that John gets to enjoy his retirement soon!
About Donna Gaeta
Donna Gaeta is the founder of (http://gaeta.ws),a unique service specializing in helping small businesses establish their ownwebsites. Gaeta.ws also offers free website training to clients who wouldlike to learn how to build and maintain their websites in order to help theirbusinesses grow.
