“Giving my business a presence on the Web was the best move I ever made.”
You’ll find this kind of statement often featured in advertising by internet technology companies who have assembled a variety of good-looking models to resemble their own satisfied customers.
And they definitely look good.
The models representing business owners we see in these ads all have nice smiling faces. They are all dressed smartly and really great posers. These beautiful professionals were chosen to urge you “to jump on the bandwagon…get your business online…Hey, bud…the Web is calling!”
Looking at these slick ads, you can almost hear those voices, can’t you?
And natch, these companies go to great expense and a lot of trouble to get this kind of advertising circulating, to get that persuasive message across. To get you listening and paying attention.
And hopefully spending some money on their services.
After all, they want your business. In our current economy, they want your business, badly.
And, let’s face it, they’re hoping like crazy that the fat advertising expenditure they’ve made on those ads will boomerang right back into a sweet solid black line in terms of company revenue.
And yet, all you have to do is talk to anyone who has had that kind of online “presence” for their business for any reasonable length of time and they will tell you.
Better yet, I will tell you: There isn’t a business out there, large or small, that can’t profit from a well-designed website, a good contact page with email capability, and an active blog to help drive traffic to that business.
Period.
The web is growing exponentially
Oh, but you say, there are already billions of websites on the web and you’re absolutely right, there are. While concrete statistics can be hard to come by, Caslon Analytics, offering consultancy on global internet usage and regulation, has a pretty good handle on the size of the Web.
Billions and possibly more than a trillion web pages exist. And the numbers in terms of e-commerce grow exponentially.
But if you think of all those pages out there as, say, gas stations, does it really matter how many there are to pull into? Customers are going to take their business – where? That’s right. To the best gas stations that happen to meet their needs.
And if these gas stations give their customers consistent quality products, good prices, and nothing short of top-notch customer service, what are these customers probably going to do?
Yupper, they’ll be repeat customers, coming back to buy gas, chips, soda, cigarettes – you get the picture.
My business has had an “internet presence” since 1996. Over the years, one website for my business has blossomed into several. What “gas station” has taken care of my needs during those years?
This one has. NEXTFLY. Before it even was NEXTFLY.
Back in the days when it was just some young guy who had a rep for being such a hotshot website builder that his profits came strictly from word-of-mouth advertising.
I don’t doubt he built those amazing sites from a PC in his bedroom. Didn’t matter what his “storefront” was then because he had something better. He had satisfied customers who weren’t going to go anywhere else to get their “gas.”
Today the internet is a thriving marketplace and no business, large or small, can afford not to have that online presence. Not when you consider how advantageous even a simple, well-constructed webpage can be in terms of increasing profits and brand recognition.
According to E-STATS (the US Census Bureau’s internet site devoted to measuring e-commerce and electronic economy), since 2007, retailers’ e-commerce sales have increased by 18.4 percent. Business to business accounted for most e-commerce (93 percent).
Plus, over 90 percent of all retail e-sales were concentrated in two industry groups: non-store retailers and motor vehicles/parts dealers, which accounted for $93 billion and $24 billion, respectively.
Non-store means electronic shopping and mail-order houses.
Somebody out there is looking for your business right now on the internet. If they can’t get their gas from you, they’re going to get it someplace else.
Wouldn’t you rather they bought it from you?
Check out NEXTFLY’s prices and services. Establishing a strong internet presence for your business could add substantially to its bottom line.
Debi Ketner is a professional internet marketer and search engine optimization specialist. Read her here at the NEXTFLY Blog and share your thoughts!