So why put your business online? Some of the answers will surprise you, but I promise to deliver the goods in these top 16 reasons to use technology to grow your business. Read this mountain of benefits….
1. To Establish A Presence: 248,241,968 people in the US use the Internet – that’s about 75% of the population (June, 2008). No matter what your business is, you can't ignore 250 million people. Even the small “mom ‘n’ pop” shops are easily building ads online, attracting more customers, and serving their local market. Don’t wait for your competition to get ahead of you. If you're a construction industry contractor Join LocalConstructionPros.com today.
2. To Network: Every smart business person knows, it's not what you know, it's who you know. Passing out your business card is part of every good meeting, and every business person can tell more than one story about how a chance meeting turned into the big deal. Well, what if you could pass out your business card to thousands, maybe millions, of potential clients and partners? You can, 24 hours a day, inexpensively, and simply, on the WWW.
3. To Create a Favorable Company Image: Internet advertising shows your potential customers that you are a legitimate operation that provides a service to a huge audience. (It’s a proven means of raising a company’s reputation and preference level.) Even if they never see your website, presence on a World Wide Web contractor directory is a testimony of your commitment to your business, your product or service, and your reputation.
4. To Cut Cost: As you well know, the amount of business you attract is a direct relationship to the amount of advertising you do, and advertising on the Internet is the most cost-effective form of advertising available. Cut out the paper, ink, printing, postage, delivery, materials, and laborers, and you’ll get the greatest BANG for your buck. For a fraction of the cost to run a small classified ad in a local paper for ONE MONTH, you can run a "full page", unlimited photos, color display ad to a worldwide audience on the Internet for a FULL YEAR!
Let’s compare Internet advertising to direct mailers.
DIRECT MAIL POSTCARDS
5000 post cards = $375
designer = $400
postage = $1350
time = tons
price = $2125
results = junk mail – in the garbage
INTERNET BROCHURE
no paper cost = 0
no designer needed = 0
no postage needed = 0
time = 15 minutes
price – under $400
results = local and world wide web presence 24/7 - (immeasurable)
5. To Make Business Information Available: The online vendor directory allows you to add text, pictures, short movies, prices, time sensitive promotions, testimonials, locations, phone numbers, and email addresses to your company's brochure to serve your potential customers. Some online vendor directories allow you to add to and change your brochure anytime you need to simply by logging on to your account, going through the steps, and hitting “Update”. ---Try doing that with your magazine, newspaper, or Yellow Pages ad!
6. To Start the Snowball Effect: The Internet is the first truly interactive advertising and PR medium. It allows your customers to become participants in the promotion by allowing them to email a link from your ad to a friend or co-worker. Anyone who understands sales dynamics knows that the more you can get your prospects involved, the better.
7. To Achieve High Accessibility: Your clients spend time at their computers – in fact, many are in front of their PCs right now! With Internet advertising, you’re available for them, 24/7. This means your advertising will be working for you all the time; whenever your clients are ready to buy - even while you sleep. Also, a last minute search for information before buying is only a few clicks away. I don’t think this would work with a TV spot, a billboard, or a week old newspaper ad.
8. To Reach Your Target Market: Who are your clients? It is true that the majority of computer users are folks with above average incomes. People with money have computers and use the Internet to shop for luxury items and service professionals. A marketing and advertising approach that targets high income families is always going to be a major component of any serious ad campaign.
9. To Be Competitive: If your competition is already on the Internet, you need to be there, too. If they are not, you need to get there first, because soon almost everyone will be looking to the Web to find service professionals. Get in the game now.
10. To Help Sell to Existing Customers and Gain Future Referrals: One study found that nine out of ten buyers continue to read the vendor’s online ads and brochures after making their choice/purchase. Internet advertising reassures buyers that they have made a good decision. This increases the odds that they will be happy with their choice, make referrals, and hire you again.
11. To Educate and Develop Prospects: Prospects need to feel fully educated about a company before making a decision to buy or hire, and they prefer to learn about products and service professionals through the convenience of the World Wide Web. Your Internet advertising becomes the knowledgeable salesperson missing from many businesses today. You can create an ad to help educate your prospects, and with descriptions, testimonials, photos, and videos, show them all the benefits of your service.
12. To Help You Close the Sale: Seven out of ten salespeople surveyed said that they refer to their online brochure when closing a sale, because advertising reinforces good decisions and creates the best prospects for future sales. Plus, customers believe online ads save them time and money, and this alone brings them closer to making an informed decision.
13. To Answer Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ): Whoever answers the phones in your office can tell you they usually have to answer the same questions over and over again. These are the questions potential customers want to know the answers to before they choose you. Post an updatable FAQ in your vendor directory ad to remove that barrier, save some time, and do more business.
14. To Test Market New Services and Promotions: The advertising and PR requirements of rolling out a new product/service and testing for results are very expensive and time consuming. With a promotions tab in an online directory you can quickly and cheaply create coupons, gain visibility, and benefit from customer response. It’s your crystal ball into where to position your product or service in the marketplace. That’s Amazing.
15. To Reach The Media: Every kind of business needs the exposure that the media can bring. Their main product is information, and they can get it quicker, cheaper, and easier on-line. ---Digital images, videos, press kits, testimonials, descriptions, and tips and trends articles, can all be made available with a vendor directory advertisement.
16. Internet Advertising works! Millions of manufacturers, retailers, service businesses, and individuals advertise on the web every day…Over and over again…Because it works.
Homeowners are online looking for general contractors to do renovations to their homes. If you're a Residential Construction Contractor, you might want to register with LocalConstructionPros.com today.
Go to www.LocalConstructionPros.com to find local residential construction contractors, home improvement article and videos, as well as unique home decor products. Find home renovation, home remodeling, kitchen and bathroom renovation contractors.
No comments:
Post a Comment