Small Businesses and the Digital Age

Some business owners still don’t see how a Web site, an eNewsletter or a Blog, all of which make up the primary forms of communication on the Internet, stimulate awareness of their company and help to boost profits.

Based on the typical rates charged by graphic designers, public relations firms and marketing agencies, it’s easy to understand why.

These types of companies regularly pad billable hours by giving off the impression that building a Web site, eNewsletter or Blog requires loads of expensive, monthly maintenance.

The argument may be valid, but often the cost involved is not.

The truth is that bringing small businesses into the digital age takes very little effort, and can be accomplished efficiently, without high monthly maintenance expenses, and without the same-sized budget of a hot new Research Triangle Park, venture capital-funded startup.

“We really don’t need the Internet.”

Somewhere out there right now a small business owner just uttered those words.
The truth is that now, more than ever, small businesses need to come into the digital age by integrating offline activities with online information, and a new report by the Pew Internet & American Life Project backs up this assertion.

The report, “The Internet and Daily Life,” finds the Internet plays a daily role in 88 percent of the lives of all Americans, and 92 percent say the Internet is a good place to go for getting everyday information about products and services they need.

“Users turn to the Internet most when it offers advantages in speed, convenience, time, and other measures of efficiency,” says Deborah Fallows, a senior research fellow for the Pew Internet & American Life Project. “One of the most popular Internet activities, looking for maps and directions, collapses several tasks into one simple, elegant application. Anyone who has used the uncomplicated and effective application for finding driving directions online knows how superior it can be to the often clumsy and time-consuming experience of doing it offline.”

A Web site also provides visiting customers, or prospects, with a point of differentiation about your business, says John Verbanac, a Pittsburgh-based former marketer-turned-venture-capitalist.

Unless your product is milk, you need to be concerned about whether or not people can find you on the Internet, and if what they see is important or valuable in terms of helping them make a decision. There are few things small businesses can do that are as cost-effective, or more meaningful, than to leverage the Internet to help pull interest into a brand.

Ned Barnett, a business consultant from Las Vegas, agrees with Verbanac, added that the Internet is a great way to create affinity groups that help keep frequent customers up-to-date on the latest product or service offerings, and to generate positive word-of-mouth references based on messages delivered directly from the business owner.

“Let’s say, for instance, you own a restaurant and you have a list of e-mail addresses from customers who volunteered to give you their contact information,” Barnett says. “Then, let’s say your chef scored a really good cut of veal and you want to do a special. You can send an e-mail out to your subscribers telling them you have a special on veal, while supplies last, and encourage them to make a reservation in the dining room for that night.”

Where to start

OK, so the experts agree that small businesses need a web presence, if not just for providing contact information for customers and prospects, and you the value of an Internet investment is apparent, but where do you go from here?

You know what makes your business unique. You have evaluated your strengths and weaknesses, you know what your customers want and how they want it, and you know how revenues react to changes in market conditions. Take 10 minutes to brainstorm, jotting down all of these ideas and more, without worrying about form, style or grammar. This will provide with the basis for the copy, or words, you use on your web site to help visitors find the information they seek.

You’ve probably taken many pictures of your business, or activities related to your company. Take a few minutes to go through them and set aside the ones that catch your eye (if you think a particular photo conveys your brand chances are your customers will agree). If you have good photographs, these can be incorporated as the imagery on your web site, eNewsletter or Blog.

Now, organize your business information into seven sections: facts about your company; an overview of the product and/or services you provide; individual examples of products and services offered; case studies showing how your company solves problems and fills needs for other businesses; news items, including new and improved products, sales offers, new personnel, new relationships with distributors, vendors and large buyers, etc; links to other web sites that back up your brand position, such as local chambers of commerce; and contact information and driving directions to your place of business. This information will comprise the individual Web pages, and basic navigation, of your web site.

If you don’t understand CSS, HTML or Photoshop, or you’re not computer savvy enough to use a do-it-yourself Web site kit, you’re going to need to seek outside help at this point. You should have many of the design elements, and information for posting on your web site, in place, which will save you hundreds or thousands of dollars, and time, as the design process unfolds, depending on the project.

Most small businesses can launch a digital storefront on the Internet in less than one week, even with the most limited of budgets, using existing photographs, logos and information from printed materials.

Marketing communications tactics like these make it possible to continue an affordable, grass-roots approach to promoting your business, with more influence over the message that your target audience receives.