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Web Design & Development 
by C O'Malley & Associates LLC Howell, Michigan
Powerful Web Design - JUST RIGHT!
1-517-518-6088
August 2009 Newsletter
20 Ways to Increase Sales by being Online
1. To Establish A Presence
Even back in Sept, 2005 approximately 957 million people worldwide had access to the World Wide Web. No matter what your business is, you can't ignore 957 million people - and it's probably double that today. To be a part of that community and show that you are interested in serving them, you need to be on the Internet for them. You know your competitors will. If business is slow, this is probably the fastest way you can increase sales without great expense.
2. To Network
A lot of what passes for business is simply nothing more than making connections with other people. 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 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, saying this is what I do and if you are ever in need of my services, this is how you can reach me. You can, 24 hours a day, inexpensively and simply, on the Internet.
3. To Make Business Information Available
What is basic business information? Think of a Yellow Pages ad which over time costs far more than a simple website. What are your hours? What do you do? How can someone contact you? What methods of payment do you take? Where are you located at? Now think of a Yellow Pages ad where you have instant communication. What is today's special? Today's interest rate? Next week's parking lot sale information? If you could keep your customer informed of every reason why they should do business with you, don't you think you could do more business?
4. To Serve Your Customers
Making business information available is one of the most important ways to serve your customers. But if you look at serving the customer, you'll find even more ways to use technology. How about making forms available to pre-qualify for loans, or have your staff do a search for that unique item your customer is looking for, without tying up your staff on the phone to take down the information? Allow your customer to punch in sizes and check it against a database that tells him what color of jacket is available in your store?
5. To Heighten Public Interest
You won't get Newsweek magazine to write up your local store opening, but you might get them to write up your webpage address if it is something new and interesting. Anybody anywhere who can access the Internet and hears about you is a potential customer for your information there, and who knows when they'll next be in town and want to look you up.
6. To Release Time Sensitive Materials
What if your materials need to be released no earlier than midnight? The quarterly earnings statement, the grand prize winner, the press kit for the much anticipated film, the merger news? Well, you sent out the materials to the press with "The-do-not-release-before-such-and-such-time" statement and hope for the best. Now the information can be made available at midnight or any time you specify, with all related materials such as photographs, bios, etc. released at exactly the same time. Imagine the anticipation of "All materials will be made available on our Web site at 12:01 AM". The scoop goes to those that wait for the information to be posted, not the one who releases your information early.
7. To Sell Things
Many people think that this is the number 1 thing to do with the Internet, but we made it number seven to make it clear that we think you should consider selling things after you have done all the things above and maybe even after doing quite a few more things from this list. Why? Well, the answer is complex but the best way to put it is, do you consider the telephone the best place to sell things? Probably not. You probably consider the telephone a tool that allows you to communicate with your customer, which in turn helps you sell things. The technology is different, of course, but before people decide to become customers, they want to know about you, what you do and what you can do for them.
8. To make pictures, sound and film files available
What if your widget is great, but people would really love it if they could see it in action? The album is great but with no airplay, nobody knows that it sounds like? A picture is worth a thousand words, but you don't have the space for a thousand words? An interactive website allows you to add sound, pictures and short movie files to your company's info if that will serve your potential customers. No brochure will do that.
9. To reach a highly desirable demographic market
The demographic of the web user is probably the highest mass-market demographic available. Usually college-educated, making a high salary or soon to make a high salary, it's no wonder that Wired magazine, the magazine of choice to the Internet community, has no problem getting Lexus and other high-end marketers advertising. Even with the addition of the commercial on-line community, the demographic will remain high for many years to come.
10. To Answer Frequently Asked questions
Whoever answers the phones in your organization can tell you, their time is usually spent answering the same questions over and over again. These are the questions customers and potential customers want to know the answer to before they deal with you. Post them on a webpage and you will have removed another barrier to doing business with you and freed up some time cashiers to ring up sales.
11. To Stay In Contact With Salespeople
Your employees on the road may need up-to-the-minute information that will help them make the sale or pull together the deal. If you know what that information is, you can keep it posted in complete privacy. A quick local phone call can keep your staff supplied with the most detailed information, without long distance phone bills and tying up the staff at the home office. And with Internet enabled smart phones, it's even easier than it used to be.
12. To Open International Markets
You may not be able to make sense of the mail, phone and regulation systems in all your potential international markets, but with a website, you can open up a dialogue with international markets as easily as with the company across the street. As a matter-of-fact, before you go onto the Web, you should decide how you want to handle the international business that WILL come your way, because your site is certain to bring international opportunities your way, whether it is part of your plan or not. Another added benefit; if your company has offices overseas, they can access the home offices information easily.
13. To Create a 24 Hour Service
If you've ever remembered too late or too early to call the opposite coast, you know the hassle. We're not all on the same schedule. Business is worldwide but your office hours aren't. Trying to reach Asia or Europe is even more frustrating. But Web pages serve the client, customer and partner 24 hours a day, seven days a week. No overtime either. It can customize information to match needs and collect important information that will put you ahead of the competition, even before they get into the office.
14. To Make Changing Information Available Quickly
Sometimes, information changes before it gets off the press. Now you have a pile of expensive, worthless paper. Electronic publishing changes with your needs. No paper, no ink, no printers bill. You can even attach your web page to a database which customizes the page's output to a database you can change as many times in a day as you need. No printed piece can match that flexibility.
15. To Allow Feedback From Customers
You pass out the brochure, the catalog, the booklet. But it doesn't work. No sales, no calls, no leads. What went wrong? Wrong color, wrong price, wrong market? Keep testing, the marketing books say, and you'll eventually find out what went wrong. That's great for the big boys with deep pockets that can afford the printing costs, but who is paying the bills? You are and you don't have the time nor the money to wait for the answer. On your website you can ask for feedback and get it instant answers with no extra cost. You'll get the answer while its fresh in your customers mind, without the cost and lack of response of business reply mail.
16. To Test Market New Services and Products
Tied into the reason above, we all know the cost of rolling out a new product. Advertising, advertising, advertising, PR and advertising. Expensive, expensive, expensive. Once you have been on the Web and know what to expect from those who are seeing your page, they are the least expensive market for you to reach. They will also let you know what they think of your product faster, easier and much less expensively than any other market you may reach. For the cost of a page or two of Web programming, you can have a crystal ball into where to position your products or services in the marketplace.
17. To Reach The Media
Every kind of business needs the exposure that the media can bring. The media is the most wired profession today, since their main product is information and they can get it more quickly, cheaply and easily on-line. On-line press kits are becoming more and more common, since they work with the digital environment of more and more pressrooms. Digital images can be put in place without the stripping and shooting of the old pressrooms and digital text can be edited and outputted on tight deadlines.
18. To Reach The Education and Youth Market
If your market is education, consider that most universities and even K-12 schools are already offer Internet access to their students and staff. Books, athletic shoes, study courses, youth fashion and anything else that would want to reach these overlapping markets needs to be on the Internet.
19. To Reach The Specialized Market
Sell fish tanks, art reproductions, flying lessons? You may think that the Internet is not a good place to be. Well, think again. With the 70 million and growing users even the most narrowly defined interest group will be represented in large numbers. Since the Web has several very good search programs, your interest group will be able to find you, or your competitors. Make sure your site is up to date.
20. To Serve Your Local Market
We've talked about the power to serve the world with a Web page. How about your neighborhood? It's obvious if you're in a large metro area a webpage is a necessity, but even small rural areas are wired now and it saves rural customers wasted gas and time to know your hours of operation, what you offer and more.
Whether you need a new website, or a redesign of an existing site -- we guarantee you'll be satisfied with our work or we'll make it right. We promise to
- make changes quickly and accurately
- build your website on-time and to your specifications
- and improve your web site's usability and content for visitors and search engines.>
We are passionate about Web design & Development, Search Engine Optimization and Web Marketing. That's why we do it! We also provide quality Hosting & Domains too. We specialize in interactive websites that bring people in - we can do your site in Word Press, Joomla, or Drupal. We use open source software to keep costs down and provide plenty of features. We appreciate your business and reward referrals generously. Contact us for a FREE PHONE ESTIMATE at 517-548-437. If you'd like to send this newsletter to someone that might be interested, click here.
