Persistence Marketing:

All too often I meet with very sharp small business owners that do all the things you would expect when it comes to building a successful small business. These business owners are developing strategic relationships, monitoring their sales and marketing goals, keeping tabs on expenses and ensuring that forecasted cash flow is going to meet expected demands. While this list could go on, I am sure you get the point.

Why is it that these same business owners seem to disconnect their brain when it comes to their website design, performance and overall role in the business?

Why is it that many of these business owners fail to understand that their website presence is a very real and viable source of new prospects, sales and business opportunities?

There are countless small businesses that have a website presence that is nothing more than a destination driven marketing tool. To make things worse it doesn’t even fill that role when the sales team is actually in the physical presence of a prospect, because at that time they are handing them a brochure. Please don’t take that last statement out of context as I am a huge proponent of having printed materials to pass on to prospects, clients, and especially referral partners.

However, my point with regards to the above statement is that other than company employees, the only traffic that many small business websites receive is simply because the site visitor was prompted to visit the site because of some type of direct contact.

In my world that is a pretty sad statement.

Why is it that more small business owners are not outraged at the fact that their website is not actually creating new business for them? When did it become acceptable that, a primary channel for new prospects and business, perform so poorly, if at all?

In the above scenario, the company website has become little more than an electronic version of their company brochure. The website link is passed on to prospects through emails, over the phone, through a business card and/or included in other marketing materials. From a convenience point of view that is great because even when it is not possible to meet in person a new prospect can get an idea of what your company is about, details on products/servers, and maybe even put a face to a name.

The real power in a small business website shows when that company acquires a new customer that was not first contacted through the sales and marketing efforts. Now you are answering the phone to find that you have a new prospect calling you to ask about your products and services. Better yet, you may have a new client walking in your door asking to make a purchase. And saving the best for last, you are receiving commissions or revenue via your website, never having spoken to this new customer.

Let me ask the question that I started with; what kind of website does your business have?

The difference in the two scenarios that I have described above is the difference in a website that is nothing more than a destination website verses a website that is attracting new prospects. So, the real decision you have to make is do you want an attraction website or a destination website.

The great part about this entire subject is that you get to make the choice. Yes, it is your choice!

The difference between the two websites is very simple.

Destination website (Online Electronic version of your marketing materials):

- Make the decision regarding what information you are willing to share via your website.

- Get a designer that can and will ensure that your website design matches your branding.

- Launch the site and send prospects, referral partners and clients to the site whenever required.

- At this point you’re pretty much done.

Attraction website (A sales/marketing tool that works for your company 24×7):

- Take the above steps and ensure that your site is Search Engine Optimized.

- Install Google Analytics to enable you to monitor your website performance.

- Keep your website content fresh and updated.

- Initiate a company Newsletter that is closely integrated into your website.

- Make adjustments, enhancements to your site based on performance data.

Before leaving the above comparison, let me state that these lists are in no way comprehensive and could have countless variations based on a company’s needs.

As you can see from the comparison above the website that is going to generate new prospects, revenue and business opportunities, is not a website that you publish and forget. For many small business owners the additional time and effort required to have a website that plays an important role in your overall business growth is simply not that challenging.

How many new clients per month and in some cases per year would it take for your website to have a significant impact on your bottom line?

Your prospects are online and in many cases searching for exactly what you are offering. If you are not going to make the effort the position yourself such that they can find your business website, your competition will. For many small businesses the amount of new business that they are losing because of the poor performance of their website, could easily equal their current revenue.

To Your Success!

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