Today, more than ever, small companies are flocking to the Internet. Why? To do business, of course. Many of these companies will be developing their very first website, while others are preparing for their 2nd or 3rd re-design. Unfortunately, many of them will fail, and it won’t be due to lack of passion, effort, or capital. It will be due to a simple mindset of viewing their website as a … well, as a website. With the high level of competition that exists today, as well as the advancements in web technology, companies need to view their website as an “online business”. It’s not enough anymore to think “website”, which is due in part to how it all started.
When the Internet hype began in the early 1990's, no one really knew or even cared much about defining what exactly a website was. For those who caught on early, having any kind of presence on the Internet practically assured them success. Individuals and companies alike scrambled to get a foothold and claim their own stake of online gold. The simplest form of website was revolutionary in its time.
Back then, there were no blogs or forums, no YouTube or Facebook. Socializing was limited to bulletin boards and in newsgroups. There were no content management systems. The few people creating websites were not called "designers" but rather "webmasters", who typically created websites by writing every page in HTML code by hand. Back then, a true database-driven e-commerce website, or online store, required an investment of at least $100,000. Even a simple database-driven website was prohibitively expensive to most small companies.
So, exactly what kind of website did most small to mid-size companies have back then? They had what we commonly refer to today as a “brochure website”.
Just like a company’s printed brochure, a brochure website is strictly informational. It can be nicely designed and provide lots of information, including photos, about the company and the products or services it sells. Most brochure websites are comprised of ‘static’ pages, where each page is created manually and not generated dynamically from a database.
Back in the early 90’s, having a simple “brochure” website was revolutionary. It was expensive to print and mail a simple 4-page color brochure. Suddenly, companies were now able to have a 20-page color brochure website for a fraction of the cost. No printing or postage expenses. Their information was accessible to anyone around the world instantaneously. And, unlike a printed brochure, website pages can be added or edited and updated at any time. It was truly groundbreaking.
Realizing the value and potential of the Internet, companies began adding their product lines to their brochure websites, effectively creating the first online catalogs and forerunners of the ubiquitous e-commerce sites we find everywhere today. Back then, however, the cost of developing a true database-driven online store was so expensive that these online catalogs were all static pages, each one created by hand. It was not unusual for these early websites to have hundreds, if not thousands, of static product pages.
Let’s face it, many of the websites back then were downright ugly. There was no rhyme or reason to the designs. Navigation and functionality was primitive. Not only were all the pages static, but customers couldn’t even order online with credit cards. Instead, they were instructed to fax or call in their orders, and, amazingly enough, they did so happily. Brochure websites simply offered information with little or no interaction and no strategy for long-term growth. Yet, despite their primitive design and hundreds of static pages, brochure websites were actually generating significant revenue and giving their owners their first taste of doing business online.
Today, however, companies seeking to do serious business online can no longer survive on brochure websites. Thanks to the advancement of web technology, anyone can afford a fairly sophisticated, interactive website. It’s not unusual to find a 5-page e-commerce website that offers more features and functionality, and generates way more business, than many of the early brochure websites with hundreds of static pages. The low cost of entry to do business online has resulted in a proliferation of e-commerce sites and online stores. As a result, companies today are facing more and more competition than ever before and a monumental struggle towards online success.
As daunting as this may all sound, there is a spark of hope for those companies who have a genuine desire to succeed on the Internet. And it all starts with a simple piece of advice. Stop thinking “website” and start thinking “online business”. Once you start approaching your site as an online business, you gain a competitive edge over 98% of your competition and increase your chances tenfold for success.
Contrary to what you may think, however, throwing up a website and just having a database-driven e-commerce store does not constitute an “online business”. In fact, this short-sightedness is typical of most companies online and the main reason why most fail. No. Simply having the ability to offer the lowest prices and take orders online is not enough. That’s only a part of the whole.
When we say “online business”, we’re referring to a holistic approach to your website with regards to implementation, functionality, and strategy. Everything your online business does should revolve around your customers and be beneficial to them. To start with, your online business is not about you or the product you sell. It’s all about your customer. Your online business starts and ends with your customers. With this in mind, an online business offers some (or all) of the following features: generates leads, sells products or services, improves customer service, builds customer loyalty, builds communities and raises your profile via RSS, blogs, and forums.
Making it easy and painless for visitors to sign up on your website ensures a steady flow of leads that you and your salespeople can follow up on through direct contact or email marketing. Implementing a CRM (or Customer Relationship Management) system allows you to keep track of every piece of customer interaction, ensuring that nothing falls through the cracks and that your customers are taken care of every step of the way. Email marketing helps attract new customers while improving customer service and retaining existing customers. Automating mundane tasks and having reminders to follow up on leads and questions is just another way to improve your customer service.
Taking your products (or services) online is typically a vital component of an online business. Whether you are selling direct to consumers or to other businesses (or both), your customers expect you to make it easy for them to place orders online 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. It’s also vital to implement an e-commerce solution or shopping cart system that offers all, or most, of the popular features found in high-end e-commerce sites.
An online business will use its website for presentation and one or more integrated databases for the brains of the system. Integration is key, and having a database, specifically one that is customer-based, will help you analyze your site’s activity and identify target prospects, as well as other important details. An integrated system will allow you to capture leads and engage prospects, capitalize on email marketing to attract new customers, sell online, run a forum or blog, and generate detailed reporting all under one roof.
To get started, talk to a professional web designer and see if they adhere to the “online business” philosophy. Ask them how they will develop your online business. Most web designers will use a different software program, or tool, to perform each solution, such as CRM, email marketing, blogs, forums, analytics, and shopping carts. This can be costly and each solution needs to be integrated and customized to your website’s design. In addition, you may find yourself logging into different sections of your site to manage these solutions.
Or, make it easy on yourself and check out our Total Online Solution here at the Misfits In Marketing. Our Total Online Solution is a powerful, all-in-one system that was built from scratch and integrates all the vital solutions mentioned above to interact and complement each other seamlessly. Our Total Online Solution will give you the competitive edge you need to outdistance your competitors and manage your online business to online success.
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