Do you need a web site?

The Internet is appealing because you can instantly share information with people all over the world. Businesses are becoming more successful by establishing an effective web presence.

Businesses are learning that they can use their web site on the Internet to:

If your business can benefit in any of these ways, then a web site is right for you.

20 Reasons to Put Your 
Business on the World Wide Web

1. To Establish A Presence
Millions of people just like you have access to the World Wide Web (Internet) and thousands more are gaining access daily. No matter what your business is, you can't ignore the desire of these people who want information about YOUR business. having a web site shows them that you are interested in serving them. You know your competitors will.

2. To Network
Passing out your business card is part of every good meeting and every business person can tell more than one story how a chance meeting turned into the big deal. Well, what if you could pass out your business card to thousands, maybe millions of potential clients and partners, saying this is what I do and if you are ever in need of my services, this is how you can reach me. You can, 24 hours a day, inexpensively and simply, on the Internet.

3. To Make Business Information Available
What is basic business information? Think of a Yellow Pages ad. What are your hours? What do you do? How can someone contact you? What methods of payment do you take? Where are you located at? Now think of a Yellow Pages ad where you have instant communication. What is today's special? Today's interest rate? Next week's parking lot sale information? If you could keep your customer informed of every reason why they should do business with you, don't you think you could do more business? You can on the Internet. 

4. To Serve Your Customers
Making business information available is one of the most important ways to serve your customers. But if you look at serving the customer, you'll find even more ways to use Internet technology. How about making forms available to pre-qualify for loans, without tying up your staff on the phone to take down the information? Allow your customer to find out what is available in your store. All this can be done, simply, quickly and inexpensively, on the Internet.

5. To Heighten Public Interest
With Web page information, anybody anywhere who can access the Web and hears about you is a potential visitor to your Web site and a potential customer for your information there.

6. To Release Time Sensitive Materials
What if your materials need to be released no earlier than midnight? The quarterly earnings statement, the grand prize winner, the press kit for the much anticipated film, the merger news? Well, you sent out the materials to the press with "The-do-not-release-before-such-and-such-time" statement and hope for the best. Now the information can be made available at midnight or any time you specify, with all related materials such as photographs, bios, etc. released at exactly the same time. Imagine the anticipation of "All materials will be made available on our Web site at 12:01 AM". The scoop goes to those that wait for the information to be posted, not the one who releases your information early.

7. To Sell Things
Many people think that this is the number 1 thing to do with the World Wide Web.  Before people decide to become customers, they want to know about you, what you do and what you can do for them. Which you can do easily and inexpensively on the Internet. 

8. To make pictures, sound and film files available
A picture is worth a thousand words. The Internet allows you to add sound, pictures and short movie files to your company's info if that will serve your potential customers. No brochure will do that. Also you can change it immediately.  Printing brochures is much more expensive, difficult to distribute, and cannot be changed. 

9. To reach a highly desirable demographic market
Your information can be set up to target a specific market.

10. To Answer Frequently Asked questions
Whoever answers the phones in your organization can tell you, their time is usually spent answering the same questions over and over again. These are the questions customers and potential customers want to know the answer to before they deal with you. Post them on a Internet page and you will have removed another barrier to doing business with you and free up some time for that harried phone operator. They can get this information 24 hours a day. 

11. To Stay In Contact With Salespeople
Your employees on the road may need up-to-the-minute information that will help them make the sale or pull together the deal. If you know what that information is, you can keep it posted in complete privacy on a secure area of your web site. A quick local phone call can keep your staff supplied with  detailed information, without long distance phone bills and tying up the staff at the home office. 

12. To Open International Markets
With a Web page, you can open up a dialogue with international markets as easily as with the company across the street. As a matter-of-fact, before you go onto the Web, you should decide how you want to handle the international business that will come your way, because your postings are certain to bring international opportunities your way, whether it is part of your plan or not. Another added benefit; if your company has offices overseas, they can access the home offices information for the price of a local phone call. Plus, you can find markets for your products that could never reach you before at a reasonable cost.

13. To Create a 24 Hour Service
Web pages serve the customer 24 hours a day, seven days a week. It can customize information to match needs and collect important information that will put you ahead of the competition, even before they get into the office.  

14. To Make Changing Information Available Quickly
Sometimes information changes before it gets off the press. Now you have a pile of expensive, worthless paper. Electronic publishing changes with your needs. No paper, no ink, no printer's bill. You can even attach your web page to a database which customizes the page's output to a database you can change as many times in a day as you need. No printed piece can match that flexibility.  

15. To Allow Feedback From Customers
You pass out the brochure, the catalog, the booklet. But it doesn't work. No sales, no calls, no leads. What went wrong? With a Web page, you can ask for feedback and get it instantaneously with no extra cost. An instant e-mail response can be built into Web pages and can get the answer while its fresh in your customers mind, without the hassle of business reply mail.  

16. To Test Market New Services and Products
Internet users are the least expensive market for you to reach. They will also let you know what they think of your product faster, easier and much less expensively than any other market you may reach. For the cost of a page or two of Web programming, you can have a crystal ball into where to position your product or service in the marketplace. Amazing.   

17. To Reach The Media
On-line press kits are becoming more and more common, and they work with modern digital pressrooms. Digital images can be put in place quickly, and text can be edited and released on tight deadlines.

18. To Reach The Education and Youth Market
If your market is education, consider that most universities already offer Internet access to their students and most K-12's will be on the Internet within the next few years. Books, athletic shoes, study courses, youth fashion and anything else that would want to reach these overlapping markets needs to be on the Web. Even with the coming of the commercial on-line services there will be nothing but growth in the percentage of the under 25 market that will be on-line.

19. To Reach The Specialized Market
Sell fish tanks, art reproductions, flying lessons? You may think that the Internet is not a good place to be. Well, think again. Even the most narrowly defined interest group will be represented in large numbers. Since the Web has several very good search programs, your interest group will be able to find you, or your competitors.   

20. To Serve Your Local Market
We've talked about the power to serve the world with a Web page. How about your neighborhood? There is probably enough local customers with Web access to make it worth your while to consider Web marketing. But no matter where you are, if the big client has Web access, you should be there too. You can make the Web a cost-effective retail location no matter where your market is.