Each year we hear and see more and more people going online
to purchase everyday products and holiday or specialty gifts. Online shopping
has become so prevalent and important to businesses, that Cyber Monday is
quickly closing in on Black Friday for holiday shopping. In fact, the number of
online consumer sales grow by almost 3.5% to 4% every year. As customers’
demands and desires change, so must our small businesses. Having an online
presence is no longer an option for a small business that plans to be around in
10-20 years – it is a requirement.
I have talked in the past about making sure your small
businesses is listed on Google Maps and has a Facebook page. While these two
things are important to help your small business effectively and successfully
market itself, these have quickly become the standard. An online presence is
becoming a must rather than a plus.
Fortunately, the demand for easy, user-friendly website
design has created many new services that make creating a website for your
small business as easy as designing a flyer in Microsoft Word. Some award
winning options include Webs.com, Weebly.com, and Wix.com – don’t ask me why
they all begin with “W”! All of these sites allow a small business to create a
great looking website in a matter of a few hours with no previous programming
or website design experience necessary. If you can use Microsoft Word, you can
create a website for your small business. You can even sell your product on
your website with all three of these services! The best part is you can create
your website and sell the products online for less than $170 per year making
these options hard to pass up.
Having an online presence also expands your customer base.
No longer can you only sell to customers who live within driving
distance of your business. You can now sell anywhere in the world!
The Tennessee Small Business Development Centers have a
location at ETSU. They offer training and can help you in marketing your
website as well as other online and web elements such as Google’s Ad Words,
Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter. They can also help you decide what content to
put on your website in order to make the biggest impact. They have helped many
small businesses in Elizabethton such as Greg’s Pizza and all of this training
and advice is absolutely free!
If your small business isn’t listed on Google Maps, you don’t
have a Facebook page or a website, it’s time to get started! You could get your
small business online in all three formats with no more of a time commitment
than a Saturday afternoon. Contact me for help or assistance or feel free to
contact the SBDC at ETSU directly. We want to see small businesses grow and succeed
in our City and our County. Let’s talk about it!
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