Did you know that Internet sales rose by 60% in 2010, compared with high street retail sales in the shops.
The only way that people can purchase good or services online is via a website. Sometimes, setting up website can be prohibitively expensive. This is because highly professional persons are very skilled and adept at building high powered websites, using: -
- Videos
- Flash Photography
- Photographs
- Multiple Pages
- Super graphics
And although this may all look good, it may not even be looked at by anyone.
Essentially, as with everything, the more you know yourself, the better you can judge who to hire for the task.
But You Need to Get Going Now
You can set up a web presence for free – this will only take you one evening.
What we, at Kevin Barry & Co Chartered Accountants used ourselves to get going many years ago was http://smallbusiness.yahoo.com/. On this website, you can: -
- Buy a domain name (Your web address address)
- Set up a website (Your home)
- Fill in your details (so people know who you are and what you do)
- Set up an email address – so that people can contact you
- Set up a payment facility with PayPal – this will be how people pay you
Advantages
Essentially, a website keeps your business open 24 hours a day, seven days a week. The main purpose of a website is to gather a base of customers whom you can contact again and again. Eventually, they will probably do business with you again.
Statistics show that you have to make contact with customers a minimum of eight times before they will decide to do business with you. However, by this stage, through your communications, they should trust you, feel familiar with you and feel that they already know you. This makes the purchase much easier for them.
With the prices of petrol and diesel escalating, people are a lot more reluctant to jump in the car and race into town to make a purchase. Furthermore, 90% of people will check the price of a product or service online before they will actually travel to town to purchase it.
If you don’t have an email these days, you are no-one.
Get an email address, get a website and get going!
