If you’re among the group of small business owners that have a pulse, you’ve either put up a web site or thought about it. Lets assume, for the purpose of this blog entry, that you do have a web site. I want to ask a challenging question: Are you happy with what it does for you?
The initial response I usually get to that question when I ask it in person is, “What do you mean ‘what it does for me’? It’s just a website.” Sometimes people will tell me that they’re getting however many hits a day or month and others still will tell me how proud they are of the job their brother/sister/cousin/uncle/etc did for free.
What most people don’t know is why I ask the question the way I do. Many assume that my follow up to either of the above answers is some sort of sales pitch to sell them a website. That assumption is dead wrong. I sort of consider it a pre-qualification question. Experience has shown me that people who see a website as an online brochure or some other static existence where the success is measured in “hits” are not my target customer. When I receive one of these answers, I generally change the subject, and, if I’m lucky, the other party in the conversation never figures out what I do for a living.
So, with that being the case, what is the answer I look for? I am looking for the one person out of 30 that responds by telling me how much money their web site is making them. These are the people I can help. Their feet are already wet, they have gotten a taste of business on the web and are generally hungry for more. I am always excited to continue the conversation when it heads this direction. Even more so if they begin to tell me about what they have vs. what they want or list some of the things they wish their site did that they don’t think is possible.
Interestingly enough, the reason I love talking to folks about how to make their business more successful on the web isn’t because I own a web business and am trying to make a sale. I mean, yes, I have to make a living and all, but the real reason is simple: I love creating solutions. It’s a passion I first experienced in the 80’s when I wrote a management system for a Door and Window company on group of Commodore 128 computers sharing a central hard drive… That particular solution in and of itself is a testament to my creativity – and over the last 20 years I have only gotten better.
Anyway, I need to run for now, but if you are one of those folks that are hungry for doing more with the web, give us a call and lets talk. I promise, no sales pitches and no pressure. Let’s just see if we can come up with some ideas that fit your business. Thanks for your time.