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Why you need a Website
We all know the Web is a resource for fun
and information. Have you ever stopped to really think about WHY it's
such a wonderful marketing tool? If you already use a Web site to market
your business, or are considering doing so, the following concepts may
give you something new to consider!
1.
A Web site is a fun and creative way to express yourself.
The idea of "marketing" seems to make
many of us a bit uncomfortable. Using a Web site as a marketing tool is
a way of hanging up your virtual shingle, where you can really have fun
and get creative in the process!
2.
Anyone can have a Web site.
Financially speaking, the Web is "The
Great Equalizer" of the marketing world. Whereas other forms of
advertising and marketing, such as television, radio, and print media,
are often prohibitively expensive for small companies or individuals,
ANYONE can use the Web to advertise and market their products or
services for approximately the same reasonable rates. While the cost of
creating a Web site may vary (based on the size of the Web site, the
nature and amount of graphic design used, and the experience level of
the designer), the cost of running or maintaining a Web site over time
is minimal as compared with other media. It is a means of advertising
that is financially within reach of everyone!
3.
Your Web site is a direct reflection of YOU.
As the "owner" of your own Web site, YOU
control the message and image you want to portray. You get to decide
what you want to say with it -- it's your own personal billboard! You
have as much space to get your message across as you need, so use it
well! Make it attractive, professional AND functional, make it well
organized. Be sure the REAL you comes through on that screen! Imagine
you are a potential client visiting your site for the first time -- as a
new client, what are you looking for? How easy it is to find pertinent
information about you and your business? What's in it for the client --
why should they not only do business with you, but repeatedly visit your
site to enhance their experience of your product or services? [Tip:
Think about Web sites you've visited that you either loved or hated --
and why -- and apply those standards to your own site.]
4.
This is one time where it's considered OK to be a "work in progress".
With the Web, you're "virtually"
unlimited (pun fully intended)! You can change it as often as you see
fit -- and frequent Web site updates are, in fact, highly desirable! The
more fresh and innovative the content, the more valuable it will be to
others. It is critical that you periodically review your site to see if
it's getting stale and outdated, and that you use your Web site to keep
your target market informed. [Tip: Even if your site is more or less
under construction, dump those "under construction" messages or graphics
on your site -- a site is ALWAYS a work in progress, and using those
messages marks you as an amateur!]
5.
You'll have room to experiment freely -- the Web is a very "forgiving"
medium of self-expression.
The great thing about the Web is that by
its very nature, it is intended to be changeable and flexible. Don't
worry about getting it "perfect" or that you are locked into a design or
"look" .
Food For Thought
The biggest obstacle standing between
you and anything you want, is your lack of belief that you can have
it. Once you truly believe it is possible, once you can see yourself
doing it or being it or having it, the rest is just details. With
belief, plus the commitment to follow through and do whatever it
takes, anything can be yours.
Everything you need to get there is available to you, when you believe
and when you commit to getting there. Know that you can do it. Nothing
can hold you back once you have belief and commitment. You will find a
way. You can. Do it.
Pleasure is a matter of conditioning. A teenager
smoking her first cigarette doesn't enjoy it at all. She's almost
certainly doing it to "fit in" and it probably even makes her a little
sick. After a while, though, she likes it so much she finds it hard to
quit.
Strategy for achieving your success: Choose the pleasures that move
you toward your goals.
For example, there is just as much potential for pleasure in jogging 2
miles as there is in eating a bag of potato chips. The person who is
trying to get in top physical shape would be well advised to find his
pleasure in the jogging rather than the chips. Just like everything
else in your world, your pleasures are under your control. Use them to
your advantage.
What is it that you truly want to do? You can do it. Realize that you
are as capable as any person. See yourself doing it. Touch it. Hear
it. Taste it. Walk inside of it. Drive around in it. Believe in it and
believe that it is yours. |
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