Top four misconsceptions of doing business on the web...
- Build it and they will come.
- Making money on the web is easy.
- You can sell anything on the web.
- Starting a web-based business costs next to nothing
Build it and they will come.
That would be great if all you had to do was build a web site to sell a gizmo and everyone that surfed the web would find your site and buy your products. You could dance with bags of money all the way to the bank. Unfortunately, it doesn't work that way. Anyone that tells you the web is the best get rich quick scheme in the land, and it will only cost you $499.00, believe me they are working a get rich quick scheme of their own.
Building a business on the web is as hard if not harder than building a business off the web. What is the key to building any business -- customers! Companies spend millions every year trying to figure out how to reach prospective customers. How do you do that on the web? Some people have thought that it is enough to build a website and eventually people will find you, then by chance and word of mouth your business will grow. That could happen, but if this is your plan I hope you have the luxury of time and excess money. The Internet is big place over a billion web pages and and millions of sites. So once your page is built you are one of the many. How do you stand out in a crowd this big? We know most people use search engines to find items on the web so YOU have to be in the list of results for people to find you. How do you get on the list? Internet promotion! My point here is you can build it but your customers WILL NOT know where to go -- unless, you help them find it. Internet promotion is one way to get noticed in the crowd.
Making Money on the Web is Easy.
It is as easy to make money on the web as it is off-the-web.
You can sell anything on the web.
In the mid 1990's many companies spent millions marketing and developing web sites to sell there products and most failed because they were unable to sell their products online. These companies were selling food, furniture, pets supplies, etc etc. Don't get me wrong there are many reasons I believe these companies failed beside just trying to sell the wrong thing in the wrong place. It is a good lesson to learn that not all things are ripe for selling when it comes to the Internet.
Starting a web-based business is costs next to nothing.
There are instances where Internet promotion is absolutley imperative, such as, if you are a fully web-based business. Use the following guidelines when considering marketing your business on the Internet.
You should consider promoting your business on the web when...
- you are a fully web-based operation.
- you are looking for an inexpensive way to expand your customer base outside of your current area of operation.
- you are a local business whose customer base is Internet capable.
- your business caters to the high tech or computer industry.
