1. Open All The Time!

Let’s face it. Nobody wants to work 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, 365 days a year. Everyone needs to take a break, relax, and enjoy what life has to offer.  A website doesn’t need a vacation. It’s available all the time  for your clients and prospective customers.   Customers from other time zones don’t have to worry about calling between 9am and 5pm in your time zone. Your website is always  there ready to serve them.

2.  Economic downturn = Smarter Shoppers

With the economy in a decline, people tend to do more research into purchases before they part with their precious money.  With less money to spend, people turn to the internet to do price comparisons, feature comparisons, and read reviews of products and services.  They also use the internet to find the nearest business to serve their need.

3.  Decline of Print Media

Not too many years ago,  print media such as newspapers, magazines, catalogs, and phone books, were the “go-to” souce for information.  This has changed!  With cell phones replacing pay phones and computers replacing print media,  the internet has become the “go-to” source for just about everything.   Visiting Philadephia, and need to know some good restaurants?  Use your phone to hop on the internet and find the local hot spots.  Need to find the cheapest airfare? Hop on the internet and use one of the airfare comparison sites to get the best deal.   Wondering if the lastest video camera is worth the money? Read a review online and then find a place to buy it!  Need a new dentist? Yep,  many professionals have websites just waiting for you to discover. Print media can be outdated if you decide to offer new services, move your office, etc.  With a website, you can keep people updates on news and new offerings as needed!

4. Expand your reach outside your local area with global reach!

Your advertisement in the phone book, only reaches the local market for which it serves.  Same goes for your advertisement in the local newspaper. The  internet is GLOBAL, and your website can be seen by MILLIONS of people.  With a website optimized for search engines (SEO), your business could achieve high page rankings and be seen first in the search results! Millions of potential customers, and they see YOUR website first.  Just think of the added business a website could bring in.

5. Better customer service.

Do you ever get phone calls or emails asking the same question about your product or service over and over and over again?  Do you ever wish you could just play a recording over the phone answering that same question?  With a website, you can post those answers to commonly asked questions.  You have give tips and tricks on how to use your product and sevice, provide warrantly and repair service, or even show a video on how to use your product or service. Thsi expanded level of customer service will keep your customers happy and may result in repeat business!

6. Selling online

Expensive rent, signage,  utility bills, big inventory, and numerous employees can be a thing of the past if you sell your products online!  Many businesses due to the economy have closed their “brick and mortar” storefronts and have concentrated purely on online sales due to the reasons I just listed.  Others have increased their sales by adding an online storefront to their existing “brick and mortar” business, offsetting some of their operating costs via proceeds from online sales!

7.  Branding and Corporate Image

A professionally designed website is a great way to instill customer confidence in your products and services.  A website is also a great way to appear bigger than you are. Sure, you might run your business out of a extra bedroom of your house, but a website can hide all of that by providing useful information, testimonials, etc. By putting your business or product logo out there, you create a buzz and people start recognizing your “brand”.

8. Recruiting new employees.

Need to hire a new employee or two? Perhaps for the holiday buying rush?  Sure. you can put an ad in the local paper, or pay for an ad on site likes Monster.com or Careerbuilder.com, but why not just post an ad on your own website? The job seekers can find out about your business, who you are, what you are looking for, and then submit their resume iif they are interested in the job.

9. The “Right Now” era has begun.

With the advent of the internet, people want things right now. Instant at an all-time high.  When people want answers, they go to the internet and look it up. They don’t make a trip downtown to the library and find a book on the subject.  During the holiday season, many people choose not to stand in the long checkout lines and opt to order things online in a couple of minutes and then get on with the other things they have planned.  Give people what they want, and when they want it.  Show videos of your products in use, have them sign up for a free sample, offer discounts, notify them of sales, start a mailing list..  The possibilities are endless and the rewards can be too.

10.  Social Media

Social Media sites like Twitter, Facebook, MySpace,  LinkedIn, StumbleUpon, Squidoo, and YouTube are all the rage at the moment.   Millions of people flock to these sites each and every day to connect with old friends, join groups about common interests,  join groups local businesses and entertainers have started, share videos, and keep up to date with current topics, news, and events.  It’s more of the “right now” era I just mentioned. The difference is that you don’t have to build a website to post messages on these sites, the framework is already there. Am I suggesting you just join social media sites instead of building a website? NO!!!!!  Link your website to your own profiles and groups on these sites.  Be everywhere all the time! THAT is how your drive sales and increase your bottom line.