So, you’ve made the decision to join the ranks and start an online business. Maybe you heard all the wild success stories, some of which are actually true, and decided that it was your time to grab a piece of the action. Maybe you’re starting your first business and you spent considerable time developing a unique, new product or service. Maybe you’re an established business that wants to increase market share and revenue while improving customer service. Whatever the reason may be, congratulations are in order. You’ve made the right decision to develop your online business.
But, starting a website or online business does not, in any way, guarantee you success. In fact, many online ventures, including e-commerce sites, will flounder, stagnate, and eventually fail and close down. Why? Because many individuals and companies have an overall lack of understanding of what it takes to succeed online. This lack of knowledge contributes to poor planning, misguided spending, and unrealistic expectations. More importantly, however, it leads to the lack of marketing of the site. It results in the tragic, if not fatal, mindset of “if you build it, they will come”.
This is not to say that people do not approach their web development projects seriously. On the contrary, many individuals and companies will hire professional web designers and spend thousands of dollars to produce a high-end, full-featured professional e-commerce site. The problem is they think that’s all there is to do. So, after months of development, their new site is launched with much fanfare only to end up sitting there, waiting. And waiting. And waiting.
Sorry, folks. If you just build a website, however nice it may be, and do nothing else, your potential customers will not come. Maybe a few will show up over time at your door, but certainly not enough to survive on. Why? Because they simply don’t know you exist. And you’ll continue not to exist until you start actively marketing your site and getting the word out. Marketing is the key to your online success.
Because people tend to think that launching a website is all they need to succeed, they fail to create a marketing plan and budget accordingly. In fact, as professional e-commerce web designers and marketers, we have seen too many people willing to pay all their available funds to develop an e-commerce site and not have anything left for the marketing of their site. Their heart may be in it, but it’s simply not good business sense.
When you’re planning your new site, make sure to include the necessary funds available, after the cost of production, to market your site for the first year of operations. If it means not being able to afford a particular web designer, so be it. You should have no problem finding a designer within your budget. If you have to cut out certain features or forego custom programming, so be it. You can always integrate them later, after your site has become successful. What’s important to realize is that you need to have capital available to market your website as soon as it’s published.
It’s not so much a matter of how large of a marketing budget you have, but rather that you have one at all. Even if all you can commit is $100 each month, it’s better than doing nothing at all. Of course, having a larger monthly budget to market your site will allow you to test different methods and tactics sooner. It will allow you to attract more traffic and generate more sales faster. So, when you plan your web development budget, it’s vital that you include your marketing budget as well, and try to maximize it as much as you can.
Chances are you’re excited and very eager to get your new, or re-designed, website up and running. That’s understandable. For now, the most important thing to understand is that it’s not enough to simply develop and launch your new website. That’s just the beginning. The only way prospective customers will discover your new site and do business with you is through constant marketing. The only way you will grow your online business and assure its success is through constant marketing. Plan your marketing and budget ahead of time, and be prepared to work your site once it’s published.
Copyright © 2008 Misfits In Marketing. All rights reserved.
