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December 15, 2004
Dr. C the Luddite Strikes Again
I always have been a bit of a skeptic when it comes to web sites for small businesses. For a long time I advocated that they were not important enough for most small businesses to spend precious marketing dollars on since they had not proved to be a source of business. My how times have changed.
I recently heard the story of a small business owner who generated hundreds of thousands of dollars in new sales with a $3,000 web site. It changed their market from regionally based to being national and even international in scope.
Then today one of my students, Tyler Oban, sent this article from Business Week that reinforces this point.
Tony March first took his 32-employee business, National Private Annuity Trust, online just 18 months ago....Result? The response has been so overwhelming that he's now exploring franchising. "We've had thousands of potential customers calling us out of the blue because they saw us on Internet searches," he says. "It was like we got billboarded overnight. We had no idea the product was this marketable. It's a beautiful thing."
Even my own blog site has increased contacts from national media and those trying to seek out expert advice. I guess it is time to soften my Luddite tendencies on yet another technological breakthrough. The marriage of small business and web-based marketing is here to stay. As with any marketing tool, entrepreneurs need to "think like their customers." And it is clear that more and more of these customers are using the web.
Posted December 15, 2004 05:53 AM
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Tracked on December 20, 2004 03:55 AM
Comments
Hi Jeff,
Interesting...I hadn't realized your views on small business websites prior to this.
A website is becoming the business card of the 21st century.
Websites have become a requirement for most businesses these days, even small businesses. We are now conditioned to go immediately to a business's website for more information. Without a website, it almost seems as if the business is not legitimate nor can they be taken seriously.
What I find so exciting now is the creative use of blogs that businesses are making -- especially businesses that set up a blog as their sole website ("blogsite").
On the one hand, I think the blog has been overhyped in many ways as a business tool. But, at the end of the day it is still a superior, low-cost way for small businesses in certain industries to beef up their marketing, compared to a typical static website.
Most small businesses won't have the time to update a blog as frequently as you or I, but even once a week or 2 times a month would be more frequent updating than the typical small business website gets today.
Happy holidays to you and yours,
Anita
Posted by: Anita Campbell at December 20, 2004 09:38 AM
at Belmont University in Nashville, Tennessee. He consults with a variety of businesses on start-up and growth related issues, and with larger corporations on re-establishing entrepreneurial cultures within their organizations. Dr. Cornwall's current research interests include entrepreneurial finance and entrepreneurial ethics. He has authored or co-authored four books.
