Many small business owners feel overwhelmed when they face the daunting prospect of getting their online presence going. Everywhere you turn there's an "expert" trying to tell you what you ought to do.
As a coach and consultant to entrepreneurs, I've watched too many of you go astray, so I've assembled my Top Ten List of Mistakes so you can avoid them!
1. Not Having A Website - Over 77% of all Americans are online. Your clients and contacts expect you to have a web presence. You've got to be there. At this point, you are conspicuous by your absence.
2. Spending Too Much Money On A Too Fancy Website - Most small businesses will continue to make money the same way they always have---they don't plan to change their business model to focus on Internet sales.
Service practitioners may be able to attract prospects by their website, but they'll still need to have a more personal contact to close the deal. And so you need a GOOD enough website at a moderate cost. Don't go overboard.
3. Not Posting Your Phone Number - If someone is interested enough in your website to want to call you and you don't post your phone number prominently (on every page if possible!), you will lose that contact opportunity.
4. Putting Up Your Website Up And Walking Away - This is not a one time thing. You've got to keep it up to date. Don't use an expensive graphic designer you'll be reluctant to call because he's too expensive.
And don't barter your site with a relative or friend: they won't want to hear from you. Empower yourself by using a content management system to create your own simple site and you can update it yourself whenever you want.
5. Thinking A Blog Will Do The Same Thing As A Website - Blogs are online journals and require frequent care & feeding. If your clients want to check out your business, they need the standard kind of information traditionally contained on a website.
6. Not Using Professional Email At Your Domain - Once you have registered your URL, your address in cyberspace, then you must use email at that domain.
No more AOL, Yahoo or even your ISP. You can use the email address even before the website is built.
7. Not Using A Signature File With Your Email To Make It Easy To Contact You - Emails ARE Internet marketing. You should always include your full contact information block at the bottom of every email communication so its easy to reach out to you!
Include your full name, email address, phone number and URL. A slogan and logo are frosting on the cake.
8. Not Tracking Traffic - How will you know what your website is doing for you if you don't measure and monitor usage? You can set up Google Analytics for free. Then remember to check it regularly and understand your site activity.
9. Not Optimizing For Search - If you built a website it is because you want people to find you, so make sure the site can be found on the Internet. You shouldn't have to pay for a search program if your site has deep and accurate keywords, lots of links and updated content.
10. Confusing Internet With Sales And Marketing - Too many entrepreneurs think spending all their time building their Facebook or Linked In profile or writing a weekly ezine is all they need to do to create a viable business.
Internet marketing should be one of many paths you pursue as you build your business, don't let the fun of playing online fool you into thinking all you need to do is sit back and watch the money roll in! You've still got to have a sound sales and marketing plan and work it every day!
About the Author:
Deborah Gallant is an internet marketing trainer, author and business coach in Thousand Oaks, California.
Her company provides
affordable website design & development tools for service professionals. Visit their website (
http://www.WebPowerTools.com) for a free 30-day trial and a free copy of "Five Steps to Finally Getting Started with Internet Marketing".
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248
Date Published :
Nov 18 2009