14. Deliver Improved Customer Service

With powerful electronic tools at your command you will now provide your customers with better, faster, more sophisticated levels of service.

15. Foster Customer Loyalty

Now you will be able to get closer to your customers, cosset them, spoil them on occasion, and reap the dividends of your most priceless asset: consumer loyalty.

16. Research Your Competition

No more looking over your shoulder in the offline world. If they have websites, you can visit them, scrutinise what they’re getting up to – and pinch some of their best ideas ...

17. Source New Merchandise Lines

The internet is awash with valuable up-to-the-minute information on merchandise, deals and special discounts – even on a local basis.

18. Source New Suppliers

If you are unhappy with current supply sources the internet provides you with carte blanche on locating alternative providers.

19. Keep Up To Date With Market Trends

What’s in today is out tomorrow in many trades. Keep tabs online on what’s happening offline.

20. Offer Online Ordering Service

Offer your customers the option of buying online. Chapter 29 shows you how.

21. Collect Subscriptions And Create Future Customers

Can you think of a better, faster, cheaper way to build a list of targeted prospects? Chapter 24 will show you how to do it.

Why You Still Need A Website Even If You Do All Your Business Offline

You currently do all your business offline and you’re doing very nicely, but you still need a website ...

Why? Just this:

• If you choose to ignore the potential of online marketing you are also choosing to miss out on a valuable extension to your existing customer base;
• What’s more, you are also missing out on the opportunity of getting closer to your current clientele.

 

You might think that the internet, and more specifically your own little website, offers few opportunities for businesses with a customer base clustered in a small geographic area. After all, the Web is worldwide, a global medium. And you would have been fairly correct up until recently. But matters have been changing rapidly. More and more, your potential clients are forsaking those heavy Yellow Pages paper books for Google and other search engines. It’s easier and faster to do an internet search when you need to find a supplier in a hurry.

Why The Internet Is Such A Dynamic Marketing Tool

We all know the Web is a resource for fun and information, but have you ever stopped to really think about its potential for dynamic marketing? If you already use a website to market your business, or are considering doing so, the following concepts may give you something new to consider.

1. A Website Is A Fun And Creative Way To Express Yourself

The idea of online marketing seems to make many of us a bit uncomfortable. Using a website as a marketing tool is a way of having fun and getting creative in the process.

2. Anyone Can Have A Website

Financially speaking, the Web is ‘The Great Equaliser’ of the marketing world. Whereas other forms of advertising and marketing, such as television, radio, and print media, are prohibitively expensive for small business concerns, anyone can use the Web to advertise and market their products or services for free. While the cost of creating a website may vary (based on size, the nature and amount of graphic design used and the experience level of the designer), the cost of running or maintaining a site over time is minimal as compared with other media. It is a means of advertising that is financially within reach of everyone.

3. Your Website Is A Direct Reflection Ofyou

As the owner of your own website you control the message and the image you want to portray. You get to decide what you want to say – it’s your own personal billboard. You have as much space to get your message across as you need, so use it well. Make it attractive, professional and functional, make it well organised, and make sure the real you is reflected on the screen.

Imagine you are a potential customer visiting your site for the first time.

• As a new client, what are you looking for?
• How easy is it to find pertinent information about you and your business?
• What’s in it for the client?
• Why should they not only do business with you but repeatedly visit your site to enhance their experience of your product or services?

4. This Is One Time Where It’s Considered Okay To Be ‘work In Progress’

With the Web you’re virtually unlimited (pun intended). You can change it as often as you see fit – and frequent website updates are in fact highly desirable. The fresher and more innovative the content, the more valuable it will be to others. It is critical that you periodically review your site to see if it’s getting stale and outdated and that you use it to keep your target market informed.

5. You’ll Have Room To Experiment Freely – The Web Is A Very Forgiving Medium Of Self-Expression

The great thing about the internet is that by its very nature it is intended to be changeable and flexible. Don’t worry about getting it perfect or that you are locked into a design or look.