Mary Schmidt Marketing Troubleshooter

Maureen Rogers recently discussed Web Site Advice for Small Companies (Thanks to Mark Cahill). Then Seth Godin posted Memo to the Very Small in which he suggests people start slow and build with a blog (versus leaping in and spending thousands a “real” site - more about that in a sec.) Here’s a snippet:

What should my local chiropractor do? Or the acupuncturist? Or the pet store? What about that small church or mosque?

The web has changed the game for a lot of organizations, but for the local business, it’s more of a threat and a quandary than an asset. My doctor went to a seminar yesterday ($100+) where the ‘expert’ was busy selling her on buying a domain name, hiring a designer, using web development software, understanding site maps and navigation and keywords and metatags and servers…

These are businesses that have trouble dealing with the Yellow Pages. Too much trouble, too much time, way too expensive. So, should local micro-businesses just ignore the web? Or should they become experts in the art of building and maintaining a website?

I’d add that if you don’t have a handle on effective Yellow Pages advertising, it’s not a good idea to “roll your own” on the Web either. (Real story: I once asked a new client what they did for marketing in the past. “Oh, we have a Yellow Pages ad, have had for years. But, boy, is it expensive!” When I asked what results they got from the ad, she said, “Oh, I don’t think we’ve ever gotten any business, but my husband likes it.” Okay….)

1. Better None than Awful. If you’re going to just slap up something (or have your nephew do it) in say, Dreamweaver - don’t bother. The web savvy customers will roll their eyes and go elsewhere. (And, Flash shouldn’t be used except by web business professionals, for any number of reasons, including search engines can’t “read” it.)

2. Your Time ROI. Working, connecting, making money on the Web does take a considerable amount of time. However, whenever I hear someone say they just can’t imagine how they could fit in that Internet and blogging stuff - I recall Ellen Degeneres’ bit about finding time to work out,“I gotta work out. I keep saying it all the time. I keep saying I gotta start working out. It’s been about two months since I’ve worked out. And I just don’t have the time. Which uh..is odd. Because I have the time to go out to dinner. And uh..and watch tv. And get a bone density test. And uh.. try to figure out what my phone number spells in words.”

Re the “real” sites: If for no other reason than budget protection - take some time to read up on the basics of web marketing. Otherwise, you could end up - like one biz owner I know - spending $10,000 on a totally broken, completely ineffective site, and having no money left to fix it. Or, like another one with a gorgeous new site with nothing but Flash on the landing page (and that requires the download of the latest version of Flash to even see). Search engines can’t read and index the the page (no text) and visitors have to keep clicking, clicking, clicking to get to info and ordering. (The more times you make someone click, the more likely they are to click right on away to another site.)

So, instead of going to yet another “networking” flat rubber chicken dinner - where you see the same people over and over (none of whom have ever given you any business or referrals) - think about budgeting - say - five hours a week to learning, building and implementing your Web strategy. And, remember, a web site is never really “done.”

Read More - to get you started on the basics, here are a few sites:
FutureNow: Read their Grokdotcom blog and sign up for the Grok eletter (and, read their NYT bestseller, Call to Action.)
Barefeet Studios (Roxanne Darling is one of the first to grok “vlogging” or video podcasts. They also talk no nonsense basics for web newbies.)
Xynomedia (Lena West and lots more on technology and small business.)

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Related Posts:
Three Ways to Waste Your Marketing Budget
Cut the Clutter
Blog or Web Site or Both?
I don’t have time to play on the computer.
Blog Business 101
Gooogle Isn’t Always Gooood.
Lost/Missed Customers? Maybe You’re Scaring Them!
The Problem with Marketing Creativity
Your Business Blind Spots

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Tags: ecommerce, web development, web marketing, marketing troubleshooting, entrepreneur sanity check