Do I Need A website?

A white paper published by CyberTech in 1999, entitled Sense of Presence, addressed the use of a web site as an integral part of a company's presence toward it's 'audience' at large. The definition found in Miriam Websters Collegiate dictionary for presence is: a) the bearing, carriage, or air of a person; especially : stately or distinguished bearing. b) a quality of poise and effectiveness that enables a performer (your company) to achieve a close relationship with an audience (your customers).

Seems a desirable attribute to have for a company.

"The eventual winners in the online retail marketplace, whether new entrants or retail veterans, will be those companies who offer not simply the most virtual, but the most compelling value proposition."
Creating Value in the Online Consumer Marketplace May/June 1999 by Steven Sibulkin and Greg Sosville.

If you don't have internet presence, how can you offer "the most compelling value proposition"?

Don't put up a website if;

• you can't put into words what you want a visitor to do when they arrive at your website. The idea of a website has no purpose for you or your company yet.
  
  
• you don’t have the manpower to handle the amount of clients you have now. Overload can kill your business as easily as starvation!
  
  
• you haven't counted the cost and planned what and how to do your internet marketing. There are alot of catastrophic snags to putting up a website. Go on-line and learn about internet marketing and then consult with someone whom you trust before you spend any money.
  
  
• you are unwilling to keep the information current at the website. At a minimum, something that your potential customers would want to read about, each month. This is part of the cost of having a web presence.
  
  
• you have a limited web marketing budget of $1100 or less per year, after the site design and hosting are in place. This is a very weighty part of your decision also.
  
  
• you don't plan to expand beyond your ONLY client. Sorry, but your company is on the brink of death waiting for the last client to leave you!
  
  
• you don't wish to take your business to the next level, EVER. To be blunt, We are sure someone mourns the loss, but your company is dead and you haven't burried it yet!
  
  
• you absolutely want to use captive audience, high pressure sales tactics. There is no method available (nor will there ever be) allowing you to 'hold' the visitor long enough for this to be effective!

You NEED a website because;

• ... the Internet has become the most popular method to shop and research products and services today. Customers expect to find your business on the web. If you're business isn't there, then customers tend to view your business as quaintly out-of-date, out-of-touch and obsolete.
  
  

  "websites are a recent arrival on the lead-generating scene. The fact that customers rate them almost as high as toll-free telephone service means that you better take your website seriously, too. If it's not generating at least a quarter of your sales leads today, then it's probably not doing it's job.
  p43, Marketing Kit for DUMMIES by Alexander Hiam."
  

  
  
• ... a website is very cost effective. Compare the return-on-investment (ROI) of radio commercials or printed flyers over a year, to the ROI of a well designed and well run website.
  
  
• ... it can reduce communication time and the cost of information delivery. The questions you answer most frequently can be found by your customers without interrupting your other tasks. You can also offer customers the ability to educate themselves about your products and your business, through on-line animated presentations and how-to-do-it videos, brochures and catalogs that can be costly to print and/or deliver.
  
  
• ... it is very likely that your competitors are already on the internet. This means your products and services are not even considered by visitors to these websites.
  
  
• ... a website offers constant advertising 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. And around the world!
  
  
• ... your contact information (even how and when you prefer to be contacted) is available 24 hours a day, 7 days a week.
  
  
• ... customers percieve that you are a state of the art company. When they see your URL on business cards, letterhead, press releases, brochures, commercials, newspaper ads, printed flyers, yellow pages ads, product packaging, and any other promotional materials that you offer.
  
  

  "Over the last few years, the online consumer marketplace has grown at an unprecedented rate. Today, there are over 95 million Internet users in the world and the number will likely quadruple in five years, according to Donaldson, Lufkin & Jenrette."
  

  
  
• ... you would like to expand into the interstate and foreign marketplaces. How much could you save on travel to other places to create relationships with foreign customers or go-betweens.
  
  
• ... don't speak French, Spanish, Italian, etc. Automatic translations are available and some are free!
  
  
• ... your products or services are highly customizable. Online order or estimate request forms can handle errors and even explain the customization options you wish to offer. All before you begin speaking to the cusomter.

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