This has stemmed mainly from the fact social media opportunities are powerful marketing options today.

My concern with this is someone in business may think these self proclaimed digital marketing experts preaching this point of view really know what they are talking about. Some do for sure…but I find that loads of them don’t.

To suggest a business does not need to have their own business website real estate clearly indicates to me this person has not been on the marketing scene very long and they certainly do not understand marketing in its entirety nor do they understand today consumers and what motivates them to emotionally connect with a business, online and off.

In my 20 years in marketing and sales and the past 13 years in digital media development…I have worked with businesses from all types of industry sectors both large and small and I know firsthand the real value of what I call business digital assets.

I also know firsthand that many business clients are a bit confused on this fast moving vehicle called digital marketing so they rely heavily on their “web people” or “digital marketers”.

Hey… I am both of these and I am proud of that. What I am not proud of though is I am sad to say I have seen too many clients taken advantage of because they don’t really know enough about this arena and what really is best for their business. It is for that reason I decide to address this topic and offer my perspective and experience on this so that I may bring to light what I believe are  advantageous reasons why if you are in business today…you must have a business website!

Reason # 1
Your business needs a ‘Homebase’ (your website) online. No other type of web presence you invest your time and money into can provide you the ability to “own” your customer base like your own website. Here is where you can really develop the trust needed to begin to build a huge email list or digital rolodex and other connections which you own. When using 3^rd party websites and platforms, you do not “own” your customer…they do! When I say “own” your customer, I mean that in the most respectable way of course, but you get the picture of what I am saying I’m sure. It’s simple…he who owns the customer wins!

Reason # 2
Your website or websites can be strategized and designed to fit your target audience to the tee. You have the creative freedom to really connect on a deeper level with your customer or potential customer on a deeper level than any other digital platform available can offer because the content, format, message, landing pages, emotional value, etc. can be specifically tailored to that audience therefore providing fertile ground to create a powerful emotional connection with your audience which in turn gives your business the credibility and relevance needed to build lasting relationships which are so vital in this new business era. Personalization and customization are very powerful tools today.

Reason # 3
A professional business website can give you instant credibility and leverage. By the way, when I say professional I don’t mean some template cookie cutter website. I mean a website that has been strategically and creatively designed to benefit both the customer and your business. But…that’s another topic for another time. Research has shown most people who are doing organic searches for a product or service or people who have heard of you in some manner…go to the internet search engines (Google) to look up your website! They don’t go to look for the social networking site your business is a member of, or email campaigns you have done, or online ads you invest in, etc. No…they usually go directly to your website first if it is listed. Yes, those other digital presence destinations you have may be important to them but it is not the initial point of credibility they identify with you at.

Reason # 4
A business website is a very valuable business asset. Just as your domains, digital media, graphic designs and images are. Yet after 13 years in this business, I still am surprised at how many clients not only don’t know if they own these assets which in most cases they paid lots of money for…they don’t even realize the value of these digital assets to their business overall.

Digital assets are like your cyber fingerprints so to speak because they most likely will follow the life of your business and are key identifiers for your digital front door to the world, your digital access,  protocols, and even branding.  Of course this will be ever evolving if your business is really invested in staying fresh on the digital side of business but none the less, these are very valuable assets. So much so, I know digital assets have even been key factors in the determining the net worth of a business.

So the next time you hear some so-called digital expert state your business does not need a website…I highly suggest you not be swayed by this ridiculous opinion but rather see the incredible value your business website can and should be as it adds to your bottom-line and overall marketing approach. For more on this topic see my article Why You Better Stop Treating Your Website Like a Redhead Step Child!

Show some love to your website!

Sad to see these folks lose their jobs for sure but on the other hand I think this is a great wakeup call for those who depend on using custom social networks in their business strategy.

This is one reason I believe placing your most important digital assets in someone else basket is NOT a wise strategy. If you realize the advantage of valuing your digital assets…you will be way ahead of many competitors who simply want to pass this off to their web people.

Using free services is extremely valuable to businesses and groups today but the strategy should be to use these to lead the client, customer or members to your own web property so you have most of the control and say so. Not the other way around!

Keep in mind when using these 3rd party sites, the member data belongs to the site…not you! Your web presence strategy should be designed to ensure you end up being the owner of your tribe. After all, you are the one putting all the work into providing the platforms and opportunity for your tribe to connect. As you often hear me say…”He who owns the client wins”.

There are still many good options for you to own your social network platform and these can provide you the longevity and security to keep your online organization flowing, growing and safe.

Protect your digital assets! They are valuable to your business growth.

With so many things available through technology to market and reach your customer directly today…why don’t more business owners take on more of their own marketing efforts?

You would have to have been on another planet this past decade not to know we have entered into a new business era. This is so a direct-to-consumer market now. People want customization and personalization and a one-to-one experience.  The middle man and gatekeepers are dying off by the droves in every industry segment!

One thing I’ve discovered and relate to as a consumer over the past few years is people want more than a transaction! They want a meaningful connection.

That’s one reason the middle guy can’t deliver anymore. People want real. Who better can deliver ‘real’ connections than you…owner of the business?

The way I see it, you have a really huge edge over those who just hand off all their marketing to some agency or organization that probably cares more about you paying your invoice to them than if your customers really have a lasting emotional connection with you and your business. That edge you have is YOU know your products and services best and you know your customers and can interact with them on a personal level regularly. What gets me though is I see lots of business owners not take advantage of this huge opportunity either because of fear of the new digital frontier (although they don’t readily admit it) or because of what I call ‘Status Quo Mindset”.  You know…it’s the “that’s the way we’ve always done it” or “I don’t care about all that Internet stuff it’s not hurtin my business”. RIGHT!

Well, I’m convinced business has changed forever…not all are going to be successful in this new business era because there will be many who will not change. We hate change for some reason when that is what life is full of. But that is another story

Point is, if you are recognizing you gotta do something different to not only compete but transform your business…technology and Social Media has made it sooooooo possible for businesses to be more hands on with their marketing if used properly. Blogging, Social Networks, Twitter (your 24/7 broadcasting network), Share bookmarks, and more all provide you with direct customer interaction and get this… Most of the tools are Free!

Yep, it’s true. Many marketers don’t want you to realize this but Do-It-Yourself Marketing can work well to move your business in front of others because you are the one in the center of building relationships with your customer. And, you can do an excellent job to market your business YOURSELF.

Am I saying you just get online and jump in and see where you end up? No. Am I saying you should not seek out professionals in marketing to help your business? No again. Why that is what I do for a living!!J

What I am saying is YOU should learn about the DIY options available to help your business and enlighten yourself on the importance of the new landscape in marketing and relating to your customers in this digital economy.

I’m also saying you should seek out marketing professionals who want to empower YOU by teaching you how to do this yourself rather than them selling you a bunch of hype and programs to hold you hostage so you feel you have to have them to help you do this successfully.

Look friend, all I’m trying to relay is this is a brand new business era we are in. Don’t let technology or anything else keep you away from taking the reins of your business and guiding it into 21^st century marketplace. You have a lot to lose if you don’t DIY.

That’s that I thought!

But to my dismay, a week later another one of those pesky dinosaur phone books showed up delivered to my doorstep once again without me having any say so in the ordeal. Well, I don’t have to tell you what became of this annoyance once again.

Here’s the thing though that bugs me more than having to throw away those phone books that continually make their way on my doorstep. It’s the huge WASTE this represents!

What a waste of money, resources (hello! TREES!) and the waste of the advertisers money they spent to have a presence in these bulky beasts of the past!

I haven’t used a phone book for searching for anything in years and I’m a baby boomer! Just think of the younger generations who are using digital devices connected at the hip. I can see the day coming very soon when my grand kids won’t even know what a phone book is.

Here’s another annoying side note. I get phone books from sources that have nothing to do with my phone service provider. So these are unsolicited deliveries. Isn’t that real-time SPAM? Otta be a law against that if there isn’t one already.

I could really address those companies producing and selling these useless mounds but rather I would like to use my time and efforts to address the businesses that are still using these antiquated means as a prominent way to market and advertise their business.

According to research from Webvisible and Nielsen, reported by Marketing Charts, 63% of consumers and small business owners go to the Internet first for information about local companies and services. And get this, 82% of them use search engines to find those businesses and services!

The survey also reported, 50% said search engines (Not phone books) were the first place they looked when seeking a local business, while 24% chose the Yellow Pages online directories.

It’s very clear phone books along with many other ‘old model’ methods of advertising and marketing are not only no longer the way your customer prefers to find you, but it’s also a very futile investment on your behalf and the return will not outweigh the costs. In other words…It’s no longer a good business decision!

Advertising is dead.

Traditional marketing is dead.

I have said many times before…we are in (not headed to) but in, a New Era for Business.

Old business models are crumbling, new business models are springing up and completely challenging both online and offline businesses all the while turning the marketplace upside down. If you are not seeing this…I would have to say you are dangerously disconnected or purposely ignoring the revolution going on out there.

In my many years of experience in consulting and coaching businesses, I have found the one’s to be in the most danger when it comes to business survival and growth in this digital 21^st century, are the local retail type businesses such as restaurants, cleaners, auto repair, entertainment & recreation, as well as services such as medical, home repair, attorneys, and such.

Most of these businesses are owned by the baby boomer generation group which I have found seems to be a bit let’s say…resistant to the digital transition. In all fairness, I realize most of these hard working folks are already overwhelmed running their business and don’t much care for the fact digital marketing requires more personal interaction and involvement then required using the old advertising and marketing methods of the past.

It also requires a learning curve so the business owner can be savvy to make the right strategic decisions to best position their business. They also need to be able to sort through all the hype and wanna-be marketers and marketing services out there.  They need help to do this. The good news is legitimate good help is there but they must take the steps to secure good council.

I personally believe if a business does not make digital marketing and positioning a priority, they stand to lose out big time to those who are and who will.

After all, the statistics are demonstrating clearly your customer is not participating in ‘old model’ marketing so why are you going to continue to spend your time and money to have a presence there? I welcome your comments.

Believe it or not, many clients that have come to us to develop a new website did not realizing they did not own their previous website!

How can that be?

Well for starters…many web designers sell you what is referred to as a proprietary CMS (Content Management System) or a template based system. Both of these give you the advantage of adding content and managing some of your website functions from a browser accessed backend commonly refer to as a ‘Dashboard’. However, it the web system belong to the company your website it with not you. You only own your content.

How can you go wrong with a setup like that?

This may be ok for you if you are just looking for an ‘easy’ way to be online.

But if you really serious about growing your business and brand online you must understand your website and web presence is not just a marketing tool, (the most important one there is today I might add) it can be a real business asset if developed properly. That means you should own all of your website so YOU can grow it to evolve with you business objectives!

Everything from the domain, to the content, to the actual core files that make up your website, you should have a copy of this tangible asset in your possession. Do you? You would be shocked in the 13 years I have been doing this how many clients do not have possession nor control over their digital property!

Does this mean you have to be a website design expert to control and own your website destiny?

I’m happy to tell you the answer is a great big No! You can have your very own custom CMS that gives you the control to manage your website just like those propriety systems you are renting use of!

If you don’t need something that robust, there are all types of user friendly,  web editing solutions, and user management type solutions for your website needs. Not to mention all sorts of business solutions you can have incorporated into your website! You just need some help in knowing what the best option is for your business.

Finally, I strongly encourage you not to shy away from taking on a greater ‘ownership’ role regarding your web presence. There is NOTHING out there as powerful, as cost effective, as hard working, and far reaching as your presence on the internet. This is the place you should nor neglect to invest in to position your business for a turnaround in this economy.

In my 13 years as a web business professional I see this happen over and over. It happens with large corporations, to one man shop freelancers, to mid size and small businesses to entrepreneurs. Their website gets very little attention and nurturing at the stage of inception often handed off to the ‘web people’ to Make It So!

What’s wrong with that you ask?

Well for starters, your website and web properties (blogs, social pages, digital campaigns, etc) are not just flipping things that show up on the Internet! Rather they are digital jewels! They are exceptionally valuable to your business survival and well being.

They should not be looked at as just some text, images and a few things that go bump in the night on the web. Nor should they be just referred to as marketing ‘tools’.

No, your website and web presence is to be a digital expression of your business. It is your front door to the world to radiate the passion, heartbeat, culture, creativity, innovation, and emotion of your business. It should be your best ‘digi-friend’. I’m not joking.

Why do I take this position?

The world has changed. Business has changed. Marketing has changed. Your Client has changed.

I just love what Jeremy Dent at JuiceDigital says on this…

“With the obsession about financial ‘instruments’ and debt management, the business of innovation in products and services aimed at a sustainable future is bankrupt. Tomorrow’s growth won’t come from a particular person, place, or technology but from understanding why recent growth has failed.

The same growth models applied to new people, places, and technologies will simply result in the same crises, over again. We have to reboot growth (and maybe capitalism itself): the problem is not what is growing versus what is not, but how we grow.

So as marketers, let’s concentrate at creative thinking in those areas in which we have control. We know that the conventional advertising, public relations and direct marketing models are having less effective results. The consumer (and business user) is Web-savvy, resistant to interruption and engaging in more and more interaction online”.

Being in business and being Web-savvy is more than just using the Internet daily. It’s understanding and embracing the truth that at the core of succeeding in 21st Century business is a new mindset about the way you do business and the value you place on your digital presence and property!

It’s about taking control and responsibility in the ownership and nurturing of your digital business objectives and getting the best quailified professionals to help you make your onlone postion a strong and eveloing one. Not just leaving it to the intern, your high school son, some web shop or department. You better treat it right if you want to be around!

What is not common knowledge is most businesses (large and small) do not control these precious assets nor do they spend much time planning, strategizing, and nurturing the birth of their digital jewels.

If that were not shocking enough…very little if any attention is given to the ongoing marketing efforts and strategies that will now be needed once they have a presence online. Nor is much attention is given on how they will integrate their digital presence with the physical so they can have a powerhouse effect with their marketing!

Although I am focusing in primarily on websites in this conversation, this holds true for just about every facet of digital media and marketing development. Most businesses leave this to their creative services, Web Development Company, web person, your son in high school or whomever.

Am I saying you should not use such professionals to design and develop your web presence?

Absolutely not!!

I AM one of such. I’ve been in the web development and digital marketing business for 13 years now. As a matter a fact, I believe our world is becoming some graphically sophisticated, one of the ways you need to break through the noise out there are professionals who do this for a living. As it becomes more and more crowed out there and newer technology takes hold, I believe you will begin to regard the services of professionals in this arena even more valuable than ever. Even if they make PhotoShop a “Speak and Design” application! There is WAY more to capturing that magic for your brand, message and perception than just a few user friendly DIY tools.

No…what I am saying is there needs to be a huge shift from viewing your business’s web presence (in whatever form it’s in) as just a marketing tool or tactic.

Your digital property and web presence is extremely valuable! It is an asset for your business.

Dictionary.com says an asset is…

as·set

A resource having economic value that an individual, corporation or country owns or controls with the expectation that it will provide future benefit.

These digital assets are tangibles that have the power to help drive your business today and in the future. For something that can bring you such an advantage in the marketplace you would think it would be something businesses would want total involvement in and would want to ensure they have total ownership of.

That is not the case most of the time though. Many web clients pass it on to the web people to “Make It So”. Don’t get me wrong, they do engage somewhat but many times it is very minimal.

My experience with hundreds of web development and web marketing clients has proven to me this is happening in most cases because of two things.

One…they simply don’t understand the real value of their web assets. Two…they understand traditional adverting and selling but not web marketing, the digital marketplace, nor web design and creative’s.

Very, very, understandable but disturbing when you think of the implications of this for a business and some of the horror stories where the business is really being taken to the cleaners and over charged and under delivered. I have come across clients that had paid out a ton of money yet own nothing! It’s happening all the time.

I am on a quest to help businesses get in the driver’s seat to take ownership and call the shots on their web destiny.

Stay tuned…

America’s 14.6 million small and medium-sized businesses (SMBs) were responsible for more than $6.7 billion in locally generated, locally targeted interactive advertising in 2008 – more than half of the US total, according to a recently released report from Borrell Associates, which predicts these numbers will grow significantly as activities continue to shift online.

Here is the kicker, many Marketers don’t understand about small businesses though. The report also indicated more than two-thirds of them were allocating their online advertising expenditures on advancing their own websites rather than online ads per say.

Being a web professional for many years now I say this is a smart business move on the part of small businesses. Your web presence is one of the most valuable assets you have in business today no matter what size your business is.

The concern here is…you really need to understand what are the most advantageous strategies you should be using for your business presence online and the why and how to be in control of this most precious business asset and investment. Gone are the days of leaving your website in the hands of your “web people”.

I see time and time again web clients who do not understand the value of their web presence, how to strategically position themselves online, how to guide web professionals to build web media that works for your objective and the importance of being in control of your web destiny.

It is for that reason I will begin to write a series on why today’s businesses (entrepreneurs, SMB’s, freelancers, mid & large, B2C, B2B, etc.)  must take a fresh look at one of the most powerful tools they have at their disposal…their website and web presence. Stay turned!

]]> http://www.strategicbusinessdesigner.com/2009/04/small-businesses-are-big-players-on-the-web/feed/ 0 http://www.strategicbusinessdesigner.com/2009/04/the-first-question-every-business-owner-must-ask-about-their-website/ http://www.strategicbusinessdesigner.com/2009/04/the-first-question-every-business-owner-must-ask-about-their-website/#comments Thu, 09 Apr 2009 00:59:13 +0000 Hazel http://www.strategicbusinessdesigner.com/?p=72 After reading a blog post by Seth Godin today discussing the first question every web designer must ask I said, amen Seth…but there is an even more important question that needs to be asked in my opinion that really starts with the client NOT the web designer.

I have had a web development company for over 13 years now and have been a digital marketing consultant before it became cool One of the greatest web presence problems I have encountered when it comes to designing a web site is…

After reading a blog post by Seth Godin today discussing the first question every web designer must ask I said, amen Seth…but there is an even more important question that needs to be asked in my opinion that really starts with the client NOT the web designer.

I have had a web development company for over 13 years now and have been a digital marketing consultant before it became cool One of the greatest web presence problems I have encountered when it comes to designing a web site is the client does not really understand (or care to in some cases) how to market online with a web site nor do they understand the online consumers wants and motivations so they don’t really know how to take charge of their marketing goals for their web site.

What happens in most cases is they leave the entire project in the hands of the web designer; graphic artist or programmer and most of them are not marketers!

Even if they were seasoned marketers like me…the business owner of that web site must be totally engaged in the development strategies and business plans for this amazing marketing tool if they want a return in their investment. Your web presence is not just a bunch of pages online. It’s a business asset…and a valuable one at that!

You cannot leave your front door to the world to just some cool effects, colors and things that go pop-up in the night! You must be in control of your web assets. The day of just loading that off to your web person is gone if you want to remain relevant and compete in this new business economy.

In all fairness to business owners, I understand many don’t know how to market using digital media and online strategies. That’s why I call upon Seth to help spread the word about the availability of those of us who are Digital Marketing Coaches. A short time ago he put up a post on Squidoo explaining the need for digital coaches who would help those who were in need of a tech coach. There is even a greater need for Digital Marketing Coaches that help bridge what I call the Great Business Digital Divide!

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