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Small
Business, BIG Marketing™
by Will
Dylan ©2004
CHAPTER 6 - THE
INTERNET
I
couldn’t write a book on marketing your small business
without mentioning the Internet. It is the single
biggest innovation of the last quarter century, and
probably ranks next to television as the most life
changing invention in recent memory.
If
you run any kind of business, chances are you’ve been
approached by computer consultants or other tech-savvy
folks to persuade you to spend money on a flashy
internet site. They tell you that you can advertise free
and that people from all over the world will be exposed
to your product. It’s a “can’t miss”
opportunity, right?
Forget
the Hype…
Let’s
tackle some of the myths of the internet right now:
It’s
free - Well, yes. You
do have to pay a designer to actually create your site,
and you must pay a nominal monthly fee to keep your web
site up and running with your hosting company, but the
monthly costs are minimal. Just remember, if it’s
virtually free for you, it’s virtually free for
everyone. That means the Internet can be a cluttered
place.
You
get business from all over the world
– This could be true, as people everywhere have access
to the same Internet. Think about your business, though,
and ask yourself if you want business from around the
world. Are you a plumber who services a radius of ten
square miles around your house, or a writer who could
send your work via e-mail anywhere in the world and
receive payment on-line? The more local you are, the
less valuable the Internet becomes. If someone is
looking for a local carpenter, they’ll just look one
up in the phone book or ask a friend who they use.
Furthermore,
people are somewhat biased geographically. Given a
choice between purchasing something from a business in
another country, or one that’s 50 miles away, they are
more likely to choose the latter.
It’s
a virtual cash machine for your business
– If this were true, Worldcom wouldn’t be bankrupt
and all those dot.com companies wouldn’t have fizzled
out back in 2001. It has great potential, but the
Internet by itself does nothing to make you money unless
you use it wisely as part of an overall marketing plan.
Continue Chapter 6 >>
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