According to the IWS (Internet World Statisics) as of June 2008 approximately 71% of everyone living in the United States are internet users.
Can you afford to NOT have a web site?

"Toledo, Ohio is #10 Instant Messaging City in U.S.; "
BNet - 2003
(13-17 93%, 18-34 80%, 35+ 71%)   These are Internet savvy users.   Are any of these age groups among YOUR customers?

The Internet and You

As a small business owner, you are well aware of the problems of trying to maintain, let alone grow, your business: the current state of the economy, competition with the "Big Boxes", and of course, the struggle of trying to be heard above the din of your competitors.

The Internet is the Great Equalizer.   Once your business has an Internet presence, the world will come knocking at your door.   Or, at least that is the way it is supposed to happen.   And actually, if you are not careful, that is exactly what can happen.   I say if you are not careful for a reason.   If you are not prepared for the world to come knocking, the response can swamp your carefully nurtured business.   Of course, depending on your business, that may be exactly what you are hoping for.   But, whether you want the world, or just a geographic area closer to home, an Internet presence is something you should seriously consider.  

If you look carefully at the statistics, it is clear that the new way to do business is via the Internet.   If for no other reason, most people now do their searching for what they want via the Internet.   If you want to be found, this is where to be.   Other forms of advertising are still valid, and depending on your business, vital to your success.   That being said, looking at the numbers listed to the left of this article, it is clear where most of “the action is”.

Let’s look at a fictions business – a restaurant.   Restaurants are definitely a local area type business.   Most restaurants have plenty of walk-up business, but would like to increase their customer base.   Or maybe they have slack time in their day they would like to fill.   Once a web site is built, advertised, and findable via search engines (IE: Google, Yahoo!, etc), the world will be able to find it.  

What type of capabilities should the web site have?   Obviously, the menu would be a good place to start.   A calendar showing current and upcoming events and specials would make potential, and existing, customers decision making easier.   If they provide carry-out service and/or accept reservations, those would be nice features to offer on the web site as well.   Images of their dinning room, kitchen, and bar area (if applicable) would be advisable.   Also, if there are “special” dishes, they should probably be hi-lighted.   Online discounts would also be effective at bringing in customers.  

Another business might be a specialty shop providing doll clothes.   Since this is a circumstance where the inventory changes on a frequent basis, providing some way for current, and new, customers to be alerted to new stock would increase the popularity.   This can be done by an RSS feed on the site.   Customers can then subscribe to the feed and be alerted to new items.   Since this type of business would be a candidate for orders coming in from around the world, a means to accept orders, and payment, would need to be available.   Of course, this creates potential issues with order fulfillment and shipping.   None of which are insurmountable.   They could potentially arrange with their suppliers to drop ship the items.  

The lesson to be learned is that no matter what type of business you have, a web site can improve your visibility and increase your customer base.