Will Your Small Business Discover the Internet?
Chances are, it already has. You got all excited, had a web site designed by your local computer pro (or your twelve-year-old), and waited for those emails to come pouring in. But it never happened. What went wrong? You had the zippiest graphics, CD quality sound, java buttons, and you dropped a bundle on having your site submitted to the 12 jillion known search engines. It seemed like you were getting better results from that $60 ad in the Service Guide.
Why Didn’t Anyone Discover You?
The problem with most Internet advertising is that it’s treated like advertising. If you want people to come to your web site, you have to advertise it, or else they don’t even know it’s there. So, that begs the question, what is a web site for?
What Multi-Media Really Means
When you use sound and pictures together to convey a message, you are using more than one form of media. That’s what is meant as multi-media today. But leave it to today’s high-tech wizards to come up with a way to give gadgets credit for something that’s existed for ages. Think about it: you can tell your child a story, or you can hold her and tell a story. The second example, using sound and the sense of touch, is multi-media. The ancient Greeks added masks and actors playing different parts to plain old story-telling. The result was theatre: multi-media. Neither of these experiences have been done away with by our modern machines, although serious efforts are being made. But a child plopped down in front of a television can definitely tell the difference between one and the other.
"And Your Point Is…"
A web site isn't advertising. It's Public Relations. It gives people a feel for who it is they will be doing business with. Most of the work of public relations is done in person: you talk with your customer about the job, your past experiences, your families, and you part as friends instead of business associates. (If you aren't doing this already, you are getting fewer call-backs than you should.) A web site heps you multiply your effort. It's not a replacement, but it gives people a chance to know a little about the person who is coming to their homes in advance.
Glitzy graphics and special effects can get peoples' attention, but that's just advertising. I write tasteful, informative pages that warm people up to doing business you. If you give me the raw data about you, your business, your family, your upcoming events, seminars, sales, pricing, I'll design a multi-page document that you could not afford to have in print. I'll come out to your place of business, or even to a location where you are working, and take digital photos that will enhance the impression a visitor will have at your page. If you don't want to be bothered with site management (editing, resetting counters, updating calendars, paying for web space) I will host the page myself at no cost to you. If you'd like a more hands-on approach, I'll set you up with free space somewhere else. If the free space is not to your liking, the web site files belong to you, to place them wherever you want. After all, you will own them.
Web Page design costs $35 per page, including one photo on each page. You may start with a one-page document that includes a picture of you doing what it is you do, a short list of references, a description of your service, your qualifications and how you can be reached (email is a must!). This is only slightly better than a static ad. For people to really get a chance to warm up to you, give them a personal bio (my old customers have actually been reading mine!), and a brief sales pitch for why it's important that people actually spend money on your service. Remember, you are only going to spend this money ONE tme! You will be in our guide permanently AT NO EXTRA COST! I will only charge you again for updating with new files and editing the old ones. You don't have to do that if you don't want to.
As a bonus, I will create a one collumn banner for your page at no extra cost. You will not be able to use this in our guide right away, cuz Geocities, our host, won't allow advertising banners other than their own. But when there are new pages made (Restaurant Guide, Church Directory, etc.) you will be able to place that banner in those pages for a nominal charge, thus drawing more people to your web site. That banner will be a direct link to your homepage.
I hope you'll decide to join the Homeowners' Hotlist. If you already have a page, and you're happy with it, send me the link and I'll get it in right away. Once you are in, do your part to help promote this page by sending an email to all the people in your address book who live locally. Just tell them, "I'm linked here now, so I'd appreciate it if you'd bookmark this site and pass it around to your friends." If we all do this, we actually become a local network! Do your part, and we'll all prosper while spending less money on useless advertising!
Thanks!
Don Marsh
windowcleaner@hotmail.com
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