Ask Girl Geek: What Can a Website Do for My Small Business?

Hi Annette,

How do I know a website will benefit my small business?

Carol

Dear Carol,

The most common use small business owners have for the internet is to communicate with their current or prospective customers via email or to search for products and services they need for their businesses. I believe small businesses have YET to tap the amazing benefits of having an internet presences.

Some of the other ways small business might benefit from having a website are ....

1. to sell products or services online 24/7/365 via an e-commerce site
2. to give basic information about their business, i.e., location, products, hours, information about what they do and why someone should chose them over their competitors.
3. to prospect for clients...in other words to give people searching for their type of business enough information to prompt them to decide to do business with them...to call or come into the store.
4. to extend their reach to a wider or larger market ...regionally or nationally or worldwide
5. to set themselves and their businesses apart by being available online
6. to save money on direct mailing and advertising by doing it all on the web. When your business is on the web you're not only saving the cost of the ad, but postage, time to do printing and stuffing envelops, etc. Plus, your clients can interact with you via email or chat.
7. to communicate or interact with current or prospective customers via blogs, email newsletters, online questionnaires, chat
8. clients can post requests for bids via an online form
9. vendors can find your business and they can sell to you
10. post answers to frequently asked questions and serve a customer service function.
11. troubleshooting...to post diagrams or instructions for clients to download
12. process credit card payment
13. schedule appointments or reservations (such as for a doctor's office or for a hotel)
14. post testimonials
15. post photos of your products or showcase jobs
16. establish your expertise
17. to search for qualified employees to conduct customer satisfaction surveys
18. to do market research to see if there's enough interest in a new product or service to provide it
19. to open new markets

Thanks for asking!
Annette

Ask Girl Geek: Internet Marketing Consultation

Hi Annette,
I wonder if you could let me know what services your web site promotion consultant provides, and what the cost would be?
Thanks.
JS

Hi JS,

Basically this service is about marketing to your targeted niche via the many options available via internet and through your website. There are a variety of ways to do that. Such a strategy would take into consideration your strengths, preferences, budget and timeframe. For example, many coaches/therapists are introverts, therefore they shy away from public speaking and networking, but they excel at writing and one on one interactions. Other coaches/therapists I've worked with have no time to write, so they may need help selecting other methods of establishing their expertise with their clientele. Perhaps posting an interview with you via audiopodium or having you schedule some online interactive chats would do the trick. There are many many ways to use the internet to promote any business.

We would start with a basic needs assessment, which may or may not include a thorough review of your website and your overall marketing strategy. I'd get to know your business goals, help you define and find your target market, then design a marketing strategy especially for your business and budget.

If your website is not drawing the business you want, we might need to do an analysis of the site, including reviewing your keyword strategy, marketing message, site statistics, current search engine rankings, and any other website promotion strategies you are using, such as Pay Per Click advertising. In other words we'd look to see how your current website is performing and determine ways to make it perform better. We'd also look at other marketing efforts and see how they work together synergistically.

Second, we'd also look at other promotion strategies specific to your business and designed for your niche. These might include a mix of traditional promotion strategies and innovative use of the internet.

My fee is $150/hour for this service. If there is enough interest in this, I would be willing to offer a group.

Thanks for asking!
Annette

Help Me Get Traffic to My Coaching Website

Hi Annette,

I'm so frustrated that I'm sinking thousands into my website and not getting the kind of return on my investment I thought I would. Any suggestions?
D

Hi D,

I want you to know I'm behind your success as a coach. I'm not only a web designer. I want to see my clients succeed because when you do, I do as well.

Here's what I'd do, if I were in your shoes.

1. I'd get a mailing list of potential clients or companies together...If you want to work within a certain industry, there are ways to get the names, addresses, and email addresses of key personnel. I'd start by defining a narrow niche and saturate that first, then expand outwards to related niches.
2. I'd write a flurry of newsletters (bi-weekly or monthly) with very CONCRETE tips, not some of the "airy fairy" stuff I see some coaches write. I'd mine your expertise from your experience in business for this.
3. I'd send hard copies of all newsletters to key personnel from above, inviting them to subscribe to the electronic version.
4. I'd include either a testimonial or a sample coaching scenario in each newsletter, so readers can gauge your effectiveness and relevancy to what they are needing.
5. I'd do some FREE seminars for those key personnel, so they can get a feel for you, your expertise, and how you work.
6. I'd do an audiopodium and announce it on the newsletter, website, voice mail, and anywhere else you can.
7. I'd put all back issues of your newsletter on your website. Unfortunately, you have chosen an email management program for your newsletters that doesn't offer an archival feature. I'd fix that right away.
8. I'd look at your site stats to see if there's a way to find out where your site visitors are coming from and if you can contact them.
9. I'd give an incentive to your current coaching clients to refer others to you.
10. I'd find some busy coaching-related websites, such as IFC, MentorCoach, CoachU or any other coaching consortium and ask them to link to yours. This will drive targeted traffic to your site.
11. I'd subscribe to every major coaching referral service there is.
12. I'd network within my desired niche...out the wazoo!
13. I'd stop paying for marketing seminars for coaches and spend the money DOING marketing.
14. I'd start a blog.
15. More.......I'd have more, but my brain is empty for the moment!!

I was vacuuming (my house, not my brain) and came up with a few more ideas....

16. I'd start an online community, such as a discussion board or blog, focused on the needs of my niche.

17. I'd find the newsgroups my niche subscribes to and "lurk" there until I see what kind of issues they are concerned with. Then I'd start posting, but not "flaming" = advertising to the list. This is not allowed, but you can post a link to your website using your email signature.

18. I'd find a way to do a chat with your niche. For example, ivillage.com does featured chats for women. There are also free chat features you can add to your website and host your own topical chat.

20. I'd do an online survey or focus group to determine the needs of my niche and how to best meet them.

21. I'd cull through Chamber of Commerce websites to find possible leads for business coaching/life coaching (as we all know how stressed business owners are!)

22. I'd develop a "prospects" file (mine is now 2 inches thick) and touch base with those people regularly.

23. I'd get a toll-free phone number and use it in advertising to my niche. See www.CallWave.com.

24. I'd advertise my services in specialty magazines and trade journals my niche reads.

25. Okay, I'll stop at 25. That's a nice "round" number.

Thanks for Asking!

Annette

Ask Girl Geek: What Are the Major Search Engines?

Hi Annette,
Which are the major search engines that I should be listed on?
J

Hi J,
Here is a list of the top search engines (not necessarily in any particular order)
Yahoo (www.yahoo.com)
Google (www.google.com)
Altavista (www.altavista.com)
Overture (www.overture.com)
LookSmart (www.looksmart.com)
Lycos (www.lycos.com)
AOL Search (www.aolsearch.com)
Ask Jeeves (www.askjeeves.com)
Teoma (www.teoma.com)
Excite (www.excite.com)
Fast Search (www.fastsearch.com)
HotBot (www.hotbot.com)
MSN Search (www.msn.com)
Northern Light (www.northernlight.com)
ODP / DMOZ (www.dmoz.com)

Thanks for Asking!
Annette