Just a few years ago it wasn’t all that easy for small business to make its mark in the internet marketplace. Everything seemed to be geared to the big boys. Not any more: there is a palace revolution afoot and the beneficiary is small business. Microsoft, Netscape, Google, Yahoo!, Hotmail, BT, AOL, et al are all pulling out the stops to entice small businesses of every description into online marketing. There are new strategies, new products and new software streaming out of each of them which are specifically designed to assist the small entrepreneur (and I do mean small, with a staff of between one and ten) to get a firm foothold on the internet. Visit the website of any of these major online players, scan the menu of services, and you will see what I’m talking about.

Listed below are good reasons why the internet is now tailor-made for small enterprise but they barely scratch the surface of its potential for people like you and me. You know your own business, your product or service, your market, your niche and your customers. Put your thinking cap on and I’ll bet you come up with a few more.

21 GOOD REASONS TO GROW YOUR SMALL ENTERPRISE WITH ONLINE MARKETING

1. Low start-up costs

Just a few pounds monthly for hosting fees, the purchase of a few pieces of essential software – which you might well pick up for free if you search around hard enough using the sources listed in this book – and you’re up and running. Compare that with the start-up costs of the average offline marketing programme.

2. Low maintenance: cost-wise and time-wise

Just a few hours a week should suffice in most instances and the tools you will need are all available for free. You will spot them and sources for downloading as you read the chapters to follow.

3. Heighten awareness for your small business

Creating a presence online is fast, and increasing awareness of your small business operation is equally rapid. Can you imagine what it would cost offline to achieve the same depth of recognition?

4. Improve your image

Whatever the nature of your enterprise and whatever the image you present offline, online promotion will add a touch of glitz that marks you out as a 21st Century marketer.

5. Stay local or go global

You will continue to enjoy all the advantages of an internet presence if you decide to restrict yourself to online marketing for local purposes, but you have the option to go global if you decide to engage in digitally-generated produce – there’s more about this in the next chapter.

6. 24/7 trading 52 weeks a year

The internet never stops, not even for a breather; you will be trading around the clock, all 365 days.

7. Create incremental income from existing customers

This will be your prime objective if you stay local and an added bonus if you go global.

8. Attract new customers

Either way you will attract new custom in due course because online marketing is ‘viral’ in nature inasmuch as it replicates itself many times over – as you will discover in later chapters.

9. Grow your business exponentially

How rapidly you do that will depend entirely on how sincerely you commit yourself to mastering the principles contained in this book and how diligently you apply them to your own business and your own particular circumstances.

10. Become an expert in your niche

That is one of the wonders of marketing online; you can actually become and be recognised as an expert in your own niche – and just how you accomplish that is revealed in Chapter 5.

11. Sell digitally-generated produce

It’s not nearly as difficult as you might think right now and in Chapter 19 you will discover if you qualify and how to go about it if you do.

12. Use digital discount vouchers for products and services

You have already had an example of how this works in practice and it will work for you too, if you exercise imagination and creativity in the construction of your discounted offerings.

13. Expand your market

As you become more and more proficient in online marketing techniques not only will your existing market increase in size, but you will also discover opportunities to move into new markets.

14. Deliver improved customer service

With powerful electronic tools at your command you will now provide your customers with better, faster, more sophisticated levels of service.

15. Foster customer loyalty

Now you will be able to get closer to your customers, cosset them, spoil them on occasion, and reap the dividends of your most priceless asset: consumer loyalty.

16. Research your competition

No more looking over your shoulder in the offline world. If they have websites, you can visit them, scrutinise what they’re getting up to – and pinch some of their best ideas ...

17. Source new merchandise lines

The internet is awash with valuable up-to-the-minute information on merchandise, deals and special discounts – even on a local basis.

18. Source new suppliers

If you are unhappy with current supply sources the internet provides you with carte blanche on locating alternative providers.

19. Keep up to date with market trends

What’s in today is out tomorrow in many trades. Keep tabs online on what’s happening offline.

20. Offer online ordering service

Offer your customers the option of buying online. Chapter 29 shows you how.

21. Collect subscriptions and create future customers

Can you think of a better, faster, cheaper way to build a list of targeted prospects? Chapter 24 will show you how to do it.

WHY YOU STILL NEED A WEBSITE EVEN IF YOU DO ALL YOUR BUSINESS OFFLINE

You currently do all your business offline and you’re doing very nicely, but you still need a website ...

Why? Just this:

• If you choose to ignore the potential of online marketing you are also choosing to miss out on a valuable extension to your existing customer base;
• What’s more, you are also missing out on the opportunity of getting closer to your current clientele.

You might think that the internet, and more specifically your own little website, offers few opportunities for businesses with a customer base clustered in a small geographic area. After all, the Web is worldwide, a global medium. And you would have been fairly correct up until recently. But matters have been changing rapidly. More and more, your potential clients are forsaking those heavy Yellow Pages paper books for Google and other search engines. It’s easier and faster to do an internet search when you need to find a supplier in a hurry.

WHY THE INTERNET IS SUCH A DYNAMIC MARKETING TOOL

We all know the Web is a resource for fun and information, but have you ever stopped to really think about its potential for dynamic marketing? If you already use a website to market your business, or are considering doing so, the following concepts may give you something new to consider.

1. A website is a fun and creative way to express yourself

The idea of online marketing seems to make many of us a bit uncomfortable. Using a website as a marketing tool is a way of having fun and getting creative in the process.

2. Anyone can have a website

Financially speaking, the Web is ‘The Great Equaliser’ of the marketing world. Whereas other forms of advertising and marketing, such as television, radio, and print media, are prohibitively expensive for small business concerns, anyone can use the Web to advertise and market their products or services for free. While the cost of creating a website may vary (based on size, the nature and amount of graphic design used and the experience level of the designer), the cost of running or maintaining a site over time is minimal as compared with other media. It is a means of advertising that is financially within reach of everyone.

3. Your website is a direct reflection of you

As the owner of your own website you control the message and the image you want to portray. You get to decide what you want to say – it’s your own personal billboard. You have as much space to get your message across as you need, so use it well. Make it attractive, professional and functional, make it well organised, and make sure the real you is reflected on the screen.

Imagine you are a potential customer visiting your site for the first time.

• As a new client, what are you looking for?
• How easy is it to find pertinent information about you and your business?
• What’s in it for the client?
• Why should they not only do business with you but repeatedly visit your site to enhance their experience of your product or services?

4. This is one time where it’s considered okay to be ‘work in progress’

With the Web you’re virtually unlimited (pun intended). You can change it as often as you see fit – and frequent website updates are in fact highly desirable. The fresher and more innovative the content, the more valuable it will be to others. It is critical that you periodically review your site to see if it’s getting stale and outdated and that you use it to keep your target market informed.

5. You’ll have room to experiment freely – the Web is a very forgiving medium of self-expression

The great thing about the internet is that by its very nature it is intended to be changeable and flexible. Don’t worry about getting it perfect or that you are locked into a design or look.