This story was originally published June 27, 2006. During many site migrations, I found it to still be valid over the years.
You might already have a great foundation for that local business and have many of the same customers that come in daily to buy your items or service. You might even be making a successful income to pay for life’s necessities. I think one thing is missing from most of those companies though: a Website.
If you had a website, you would be reaching a much wider audience. Your items and services would be available to anyone worldwide with internet access and that could bring in more revenue. I have made a short list of why your business should have a website. Here we go:
Professionalism - When you have a domain name such as yourbusinessname.com, then you are giving your business that professional image. More than likely, your business is already sending information through email. You might be using a personal address for this, and this would be considered unprofessional. You should purchase a domain name that you could use your email address with (ie. john@yourbusinessname.com).
Marketing Cost - Does your business spend most of its money trying to sell your services? You are probably spending lots of cash on mailouts, brochures, fliers, etc. If your business had a website online, you would be able to publish those things instantly worldwide to your target audience.
Questions - Do you come across customers that ask the same questions over and over again? If so, then you could have an online Frequently Asked Questions section. This would reduce the amount of repetitive questions that you get on a daily basis.
New Employees - Job seekers go online to find jobs all the time. You can easily post job opportunities online to get your business out there and find an employee from outside your local source.
I hope this article has helped you see the need for your business to be online. Goodluck!