We Don't Need No Website!...What the H?
If you've heard someone say this about their business, SMACK THEM! If you've said this about your business, SMACK YOURSELF! That's like saying "I don't need a phone for my business.", or "I don't need a business name.". Yes you do, yes you do, yes you do. Ok can you do businesses without a website sure. Of course, it's been done for ages and it will always be done. But if you have the smallest desire to grow your business in anyway shape or form then you need a website. If you want to stall your business or scale down or fizzle out then O.K your right you don't need one, but even then you should still get one. Why? I'll explain just read on.
I hear the following reasons all too often why small business owners say they don't need a website. Let me tell you why they are wrong.
I'm retiring.
Even if your retiring it's no excuse not to get a website for the business. Why? Just because your no longer going to work doesn't mean your business can't. What's more just because your no longer working for your business doesn't mean your business still can't work for you. If you've spent a lifetime creating this business why let it die? It could still be so useful. You could pass it down to your children or grandchildren? They don't have the entrepreneur bug? Fine, help some young hungry "go getter" get started and pass the business on to him. There are plenty of people who would take that opportunity and run with it. You can retain ownership and get a nice check every month and act as a guide for the new owner. That doesn't interest you? Then sell the business. Again there are plenty of people out there who want to purchase an existing businesses, especially mom and pop operations just like yours. You have the equipment, you have the clientèle and most valuable of all you have the name! You can sell the business for a lump sum or finance it to young entrepreneur. Getting a website up with your history and expertise will only make your business more valuable and help who ever caries on your legacy.
Finally you may be retiring but your not retired yet. Just because your going to retire in 2, 3 or 5 years doesn't mean the race is over. Anything can happen in that time. Business can slow down more than you expect and you'll need a cheap advertising mechanism like a website. Don't start walking in the final stretch. Pro's don't get sloppy when the end is near. You have the rest of your life to not care.
I'm too busy.
Good for you and guess what? You can still make money without taking on any more work. If your so popular why are you not funneling people to a website where you can capture that information? Don't you know that its worth money? You might be busy but a lot of your competitors are not! And sense you don't need any more work, why would you not help other people feed their families? Your competition will gladly pay you for those potential clients. Your not doing any more work but your making more money! Smart right? Find some other people in town that do what you do and do it as well as you and see if they could use the extra business. You can then charge them for each person you send to them. You can quickly put an extra couple grand a month in your pocket with little effort.
I'm not busy enough.
If your not busy enough there could be only two reasons.
- Your not that good at what you do.
Sadly there are a lot of people who have the ambition but don't really have the skill to pull it off. Are you a crappy carpenter? You might not think you are but be honest with yourself. If this is the case the solution is easy. Get better! Study technique, practice, and get advice from people who are better than you. If your not good at what your doing then everyone is going to know it and your phone is not going to ring. - Nobody knows that you exist.
If you do know what your doing and you still aren't busy that's because no one knows you exist. That's because your not advertising your services. Your saying "I don't have any money.", well your going to continue to not have any as long as your not advertising. I'm not saying you have to go buy $10k worth of advertising but you are going to have to get your name out there. Go knock on doors, make flyers, make cold calls. Do whatever you have to do to let people know you exist. If you don't have money then your going to need to spend the time. We offer free accounts at sbmsuite.com so you can build your own website for free. And we aren't the only ones. You can use a template or use online tutorials to learn HTML & CSS to build your own website. We've given you the tools. If you honestly don't have the money then you need to spend the time and do it yourself. A website is one of the most cost effective ways to advertise your business.
I have a "profile page" with "SoAndSo.com"
A profile page is not a website. I repeat...A profile page is not a website. A lot of people use a Facebook account or other service profile page as their company website. These things are good to have but they are not a website. They should be used to drive traffic to your website not as the face of your company. I meet alot of business owners who have a business profile on YellowPages.com and think that's their website. I have to explain to them that's just a profile of your business. But it's not a website. Where can the customer submit questions to you? Where can you make regular blog post? Where can you upload details of your services or before and after pics of your work? If all that's stuff is parted out over 10 different websites your in trouble. You need to centralize your company information.