Getting the Word Out - Part 1
by Andrew Shedden
"The Internet is finished. The Internet is a farce. The Internet is a fiasco. The Internet is a fantasy."
"You'll make your fortune on the Net."
"You know if only one out of ever hundred thousand of the people on the Internet bought one of my widget I'd be soooo rich."
Lies, lies, lies.
Think about the whole Internet scenario…take a brand new medium, throw in unbelievable hype, mix in breathtaking greed, and raise a sea of capital.
The next stage involves wholeheartedly adopting the fantastic belief that you can successfully run a business with no consideration of profitability. This must be the new math.
The penultimate stage is to hand over massive quantities of cash to twenty-year-olds with little or no business experience, no business plan, and no clue.
The final stage is to watch billions of "investment" dollars evaporate and watch naïve and greedy investors throw their hands in the air and ask, "How it could happen?" Like the kids say, "Well duh." It's a wonder it lasted as long as it did.
Now that the dot bomb meltdown has separated the speculators from their cash, life in the web world is becoming safer and somewhat saner. The "wild wild web" of a year ago is slowly receding into memory and many companies are reassessing their Internet strategies.
It is starting to dawn on mainstream marketers and business owners that the Internet is a real, pervasive, and very useful business and marketing tool. Some early adopters view this as a resurgence, other grizzled vets feel that the Internet never really went away. Some purists believe that capitalism has destroyed the true spirit and purpose of the Internet (I take it this means that it should be used as a way of disseminating text based tabular information by the military). Wherever you personally stand on the use of the Internet it can't be denied that it is here to stay.
Promoting business on the Internet is still the biggest buzz in marketing. There isn't a day that you don't read something about marketing on the Internet. When you think about it, the Internet is almost the perfect medium in which to promote any business. You have immediacy, reach, changeable content, and ultra low distribution cost all rolled into a medium with billions of worldwide users. Although this is true I haven't come across a single company that needs a Brink's truck to store the cash they are raking in from their investment in the Internet.
My experience has been that most business owners consider their websites to be a necessary evil for doing business in the 21st Century. Many business owners I work with feel that they squandered their money on their sites and have had a non-existent or negligible return on investment. They need to ensure that they aren't confusing cause and effect. There is nothing wrong with the Internet per se, there is much wrong with how its role is viewed by business.
One of the best descriptions I have read is that having a website and not promoting it is like having a sign in your basement. It's like having a Porsche in your garage, polishing it, maintaining it, and never taking it out for a drive so others can see it. The simplest way to capitalize on your web site investment is to remember that your website is totally passive. It will just sit there like an expensive and maddening bump on a log until you bring it to people's attention. Many business owners who have tried to do just that have discovered the following truisms:
If you are waiting on the search engines for a top ranking you'll be waiting a long time.
If you are waiting to get listed on the search engines you may have to wait months.
If you're waiting for link exchanges to send a flood of new prospects, you'd better be patient.
If you want to advertise your site through conventional media you'd better have deep pockets.
If you are serious about expanding your markets and enjoying all of the other benefits of promoting your business on the Internet what is the answer? The answer is to make a commitment to email marketing. Utilize the amazing power and efficiency of email to get the word out. Promote your knowledge, service, products, people, and processes quickly and cost effectively.
Prior to launching your promotional campaign you need to give serious thought to what your overall marketing objective is. As with any marketing activity, to broaden your appeal you must narrow your focus. Before you even consider promoting your site there are two main areas to ponder:
Your site's structure
Be careful that your site is functional, logical, and informative. There's no sense in attracting visitors to an on line horror story.
Is your site fit to be looked at?
Is it up to date?
Is it easy to navigate?
Does your site properly differentiate your company?
Your site's purpose
Make sure that you are totally clear on what the most wanted response is that you would like from visitors to your site. Be brutally realistic on this point.
Do you want visitors to request more information?
Do you want them to buy something from your site?
Do you want them to download a "how to" report from your site?
Until you can clearly say that your site is in good shape and you precisely know your most wanted response do not pass go. Rigorously analyze your site's structure and purpose. Consider what you are trying to accomplish with your site. The second part of this series will deal with compelling content.
