Missing the Point and the Opportunity

[ron sheldrick]

Dr Tandem
Most magazines, tv channels, radio stations etc have a web presence now and more and more surfers are accessing these companies on the internet...so the internet is beginning to take over.
The internet is also accessed on wap phones.
I agree with your bullets on succesful ecommerce, but would add
Products at the right price....as there are many sites that give comparative pricing kelkoo etc...so you need to monitor your competition too.
Business on the net is no different to conventional business, you still have to estblish and operate proper business processes and procedures . Not running an internet business as a 'real business' was the initial misconception by the "get rich quick" brigade and the reason many failed.

[DrTandem1]

Janeth and Ron-

First to Janeth-

If no one knows the site exists, the look and feel does not matter. No one will see the site. Think of your website as a brick-and-morter store. If no one knows your store is there, it doesn't matter how it looks. Yes, a few may stumble upon it, but that is not enough.

Look at search engine results. Many of the top listed sites in Google are terrible websites. I agree, a site with a good look and feel will do better when compared with a so-so looking site offering the same products/service. Yet, there will be no comparison, if your prospective clients can't find you.

Therefore, if someone does a great job of marketing a so-so site, it will do better than a better site offering the same that has no marketing.
~~~~~~~~
Ron-

Yes, Ron, those media outlets do have their own websites. How did you learn about them? From TV, radio, newspapers, etc. They have them to augment their media presence. In other words, their websites are not their target audience.

A TV station will not close down because their website is a flop, however, their website most likey would close, if the TV station is a flop. Their website is the result of their core business, their core business is not the result of their website.

"Have what people want/need (product/service) ", would include the attribute of price. You may want a widget. You may be willing to pay $2 for one, but not $10. So, they may want a $2 widget, but not the $10 widget. In any event, they won't buy either unless they at least know that they exist.

Yes, I agree with your last statement about needing to run an internet business as any other businesses. You need to market your business the best you can. This would of course include the search engines, but do not rely solely on them. There is no way you are going to be able to maintain a top search result for several different keywords, especially across a variety of search engines.

You need exposure for your domain name beyond the internet. License plate frames, bumper stickers, T-shirts, refrigerator magnets, pens, stationary, etc. These are cost effective ways for businesses with small advertising budgets. Search engines are a crap-shoot at best. Proven methods of brick-and-moter adverstising will work for an e-business as well.

[ron sheldrick]

Your right I did find tv & radio stations and magazines through the tv, radio and magazines, but once found I bookmarked them, so now these lead mechanisms are redundant.
Secondly, price competition is not assumed by the statement the product they want/need. You got to make sure that your price is competitive.
I beleive and have read all the major analyst stats on how people arrive at websites and the research indicates that the majority use search portals, google, yahoo, msn etc.
My belief is that as time goes on this will continue to be the case.
Marketeers & Advertisers don't want change...but its the only thing that is certain in business...change is inevitable. It's a case of go with the flow or simple go under.
I agree with Janeth about look and feel..it is important. Easy to use, easy to buy, full information on security and more importantly immediate access to products. Shop windows have products and special offers etc in them, websites should be the same, it's basic selling sense. The number of retail sites I have visited that require several page clickthru's before you reach the products is ridiculous. Again basic retail business sense says show them the goods, tell them about them, close the sale.

[janeth]

It takes a lot more to make an ugly site work then a pretty site.

[redcircle]

I disagree 100%. I believe that in 20 years time 95% of retail purchases will be made on the net.
True the bubble did burst....but the medium is starting to mature, the lessons are being learnt... They said 'man would never fly' Evolution means everything changes ....I could be wrong...who knows ? I hope not ...no more trips to the supermarket ...hoorah

I believe in 20years time people will be using flying cars.

I like going to the supermarket.. I especially love the frozen foods in the summer time. :)

[DrTandem1]

Ron,

Not to be too argumentative, but since I wrote it, I know what I assumed. You may not agree that price is inclusive with want/need, but that is how I broadly covered "want/need" in the very basic points I made. Would you want a cheese burger for $100? Now, you may want a cheeseburger, but probably not at that price. Notice, I put "want" and "need" together? You might also classify "need" as qualifying a price: "I WANT a cheeseburger, but I NEED one at a low price."

The issue with your analysis of TV and radio stations having websites is that they use them more to promote their core business, not their website, per se. Another reason they use them is to field answers to frequently asked questions, rather than having their phone lines and personnel tied up with such matters.

Again, the core business (their bread and butter, if you will) is not their websites. Of course you may bookmark them. That isn't the point. If you hadn't learned about them from another source other than the internet, you wouldn't probably be bookmarking them as you wouldn't know about them.

All I am saying is to simply put business on a website will not necessarily make the business a success. To pin ALL your hopes on a search engine or reciprocal links is not a wise marketing plan. Search engines play an important role, but there are much more effective ways to advertise. Don't neglect them.

Go back to TheBigNY's post of November 20. I think he put what I'm saying nicely.

[janeth]

I'm in Colombia S.A if you know nothing about our Country you will need to read up on it to understand.

My market is not Colombia my market is the rest of the world.

We do all our advertising and marketing by way of the Internet we have no other choice it has worked very good for us and we have continued to grow.

[ron sheldrick]

Search accounts for the highest % of activity on the net (quoted everywhere)
Other forms of marketing are far more expensive than SEO and the ROI from them is small (industry stats)
Search Engine reach is global...the other mediums you mention are not..they are local so your audience is limited. You can't afford to give bumper stickers etc to millions of potential customers but millions of customers can find you on search engines.

I'm out of here...

[DrTandem1]

Janeth, if you're directing that comment to me, allow me to respond. You may have no market for your services in South America, I don't know. However, I think that South America would be an area with a lot of potential growth. As I offer similar, but not exactly what you offer, I too am in the same boat as you, so to speak. I too have enough business and all of it has been in the United States. However, I am in Southern California and I have clients on the East Coast, too. To me, that may as well be in South America.

A small business does not need to be global, yet it can be. Going global would of course limit your ability to advertise beyond the internet. Most small businesses on the internet fill a niche. As such, they need to exploit that niche. In your case, I would recommend specialized magazines. Write articles as well as advertise in the markets that you feel could best be used to your advantage. This forum, is an electronic version. However, hook up with some in actual print and you'll have a whole new market.

[janeth]

Hi DrTandem1

Yes we are going to be trying a lot of new things this year.

The problem with Colombia is that most people make about $30.00 a week and there not interested in the internet the people that have money know that 90% of the people in this Country do not have computers so why would they want to put there business online.

The only sale is the other countries.