27September 2009
Small business owners need to change with the times. Gone are the days when you could simply open your doors and do business. In today’s environment you have to do things differently and that means changing the way you attract new business. Customers are finding new ways to look for what they want and small business owners need to adjust.
You have to take a hard look at how you are advertising your small business. Yellow pages aren’t as affective as they used to be and they can be very costly. I have one client that was spending over $40,000 a year for yellow pages and over time we reduced his cost by getting him a website and putting him in the modern age.
Before you set up a website however, you need to decide what you want to accomplish and how much you’re willing to spend. You can spend a lot of money on a website and still not end up with the results you want. Make a plan and make sure your website will do the job. It won’t happen over night, but give it a chance and it can provide amazing results. By the way, the cost for setting up a website varies all over the board so do your homework.
A website is only as effective as the content on it, so keep in mind that you need to continue to put fresh, relevant content on your site. You may want to set up a blog which gives you the opportunity to keep fresh content going. It also keeps you in control of your website. You don’t have to hire someone every time you want to make a change.
There are many new approaches you can take with your small business and I advise you to step back and take a broader, objective look before leaping in a new direction. You may want to consider and Business Assessment offered for FREE on this blog.