Bringing Your Offline Business Online
Copyright © 2006-2008 Cheryl Miller
A few years ago offline businesses would never have dreamt of bringing their businesses into the Internet arena but now marketing has changed so rapidly that businesses cannot afford to ignore the Internet. So if you haven't brought your business onto the Internet my question to you is ...Why not?
There may be a few reasons holding you back but you may be very sure that your competition will have no problems picking up the Internet gold and your potential customers. If you do not have a website presence for your offline business you are leaving 1000s of dollars on the table. There is a huge and growing market online just waiting for you. Everyday new people come on the Internet and they could be your customers. So what are the reasons that offline businesses are not tapping into this market? Here are a few common excuses:
1. My business is local and the Internet is global
2. I have a wholesale business I cannot sell hard goods on the Internet
3. Websites are expensive and what do I do with one anyway?
4. Internet "surfers" are not interested in my offline goods
My business is local and the Internet is global: A few years ago this may have been true but now there are ways to search for local businesses with just a click of your customers mouse. They simply put in the keyword of the item they are looking for + their local state/province, city and country and all the local businesses' websites come up. Then there is Froogle, the search engine for shoppers. Searchers just put their keyword for products in here and a whole list of products come up. If you do not list your website and just put in your store location this will come up with a handy little map to guide potential customers to your exact location. So there are ways to get your local customers into your offline business. Google search engine and Froogle are free to submit to.
I have a wholesale business I cannot sell hard goods on the Internet: Hard goods can easily be sold on the Internet by using drop shippers. Instead of using wholesalers that you actually go to or deliver to your business you can make use of drop shippers and fulfillment houses that can be contacted online. We will go into this in more detail in a later issue. Drop shippers can deliver directly to your customer and give you the wholesale prices. Fulfillment houses can take care of your inventory and shipping to your customers.
Websites are expensive and what do I do with one anyway? Websites can be designed and built for a very reasonable price by using freelance web designers. They are sometimes from all over the world but you can narrow it down to your own country if you wish, by specifying a certain country in your project description. Two of the largest contractors are
http://elance.com and
http://guru.comYour website will have several purposes.
To establish your business online and brand your business
To attract warm ready to buy visitors to your business. Website promotion is the most cost effective marketing you will ever do and will save you 1000s in advertising costs.
There is a growing trend of savvy shoppers who do not want to fight their way through the malls and are looking for choices online.
Internet "surfers" are not interested in my offline goods: Internet surfers are actually your own customers but in a different place. Let me explain. A few years ago your customers would have been on foot and coming to your business but now the times have changed. People are realizing the tremendous convenience of shopping online and are letting their mouse "do the walking." Internet surfers are not just people drifting about on the Internet. They are serious shoppers and expect the high standards they have been used to offline. Your website will provide them with all this and more.
This is just a small introduction to how you can establish your business presence online. In the coming issues we will look into all the ways you can use the power of the Internet to rake in the profits for your offline business.
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