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Dear
friends,
Assalam O Alaikum:
I have
written this article specially for new web designers. I hope it will help
them to get more business for designing web sites.
Important Note:
If you have not read my previous articles, please
click here
to read them. I recommend you to print this email, so it will be easy for you to
read it properly and have a record of this email series.
Why I need a web site and how can it help me to promote
my business?
When I start
designing web sites, many people asked me and still ask me “Why I need a web
site and how can it help me to promote my business?” I don’t give them just
one or two reasons, but 18 solid reasons. If you are asked the same question,
you can satisfy them with these 18 reasons:
18 Original Reasons to
bring your business on the World Wide Web (www)
1.
To Establish a Presence
Approximately 500,000,000 people worldwide have access to the World Wide Web
(WWW). No matter what your business is, you can't ignore 500,000,000 people. To
be a part of that community and show that you are interested in serving them,
you need to be on the WWW for them. You know your competitors will.
2.
To Network
Passing out your business card is part of every good meeting and every business
person can tell more than one story how a chance meeting turned into the big
deal. Well, what if you could pass out your business card to thousands, maybe
millions of potential clients and partners, saying this is what I do and if you
are ever in need of my services, this is how you can reach me. You can, 24 hours
a day, inexpensively and simply, on the WWW.
3.
To Make Business Information Available
What
is basic business information? Think of a Yellow Pages ad. What are your hours?
What do you do? How can someone contact you? What methods of payment do you
take? Where are you located at? If you could keep your customer informed of
every reason why they should do business with you, don't you think you could do
more business? You can on the WWW.
4.
To Serve your Customers
Making business information available is one of the most important ways to serve
your customers. But if you look at serving the customer, you'll find even more
ways to use WWW technology. How about making forms available for subscription,
or have your customers remaining balance status available to check etc. All this
can be done, simply and quickly, on the WWW.
5.
To Increase Public Interest
You
won't get Spider magazine to write up your local shop opening, but you might get
them to write up your Web Page address if it is something new and interesting.
Even if Spider would write about your local store opening, you wouldn't benefit
from someone in a distant city reading about it, unless of course, they were
coming to your town sometime soon. With Web page information, anybody anywhere
who can access the Web and hears about you is a potential visitor to your Web
site and a potential customer for your information there.
6.
To Release Time Sensitive Materials
What
if your materials need to be released no earlier than midnight? The quarterly
earnings statement, the grand prize winner, or any immediate news? Well, you
sent out the materials to the press with
"The-do-not-release-before-such-and-such-time" statement and hope for the best.
Now the information can be made available at midnight or any time you specify,
with all related materials such as photographs, bios, etc. released at exactly
the same time. Imagine the anticipation of "All materials will be made available
on our Web site at 12:01 AM". The scoop goes to those that wait for the
information to be posted, not the one who releases your information early.
Sometimes, information changes before it gets off the press. Now you have a pile
of expensive, worthless paper. Electronic publishing changes with your needs. No
paper, no ink, no printer's bill. You can even attach your web page to a
database which customizes the page's output to a database you can change as many
times in a day as you need. No printed piece can match that flexibility.
7.
To Sell Things
Do
you consider the telephone the best place to sell things? Probably not. You
probably consider the telephone a tool that allows you to communicate with your
customer, which in turn helps you sell things. Well, that's how we think you
should consider the WWW. The technology is different, of course, but before
people decide to become customers, they want to know about you, what you do and
what you can do for them. Which you can do easily and inexpensively on the WWW.
Then you might be able to turn them into customers.
8.
To make pictures, sound and film files available
What
if your product is great, but people would really love it if they could see it
in action? The album is great but with no airplay, nobody knows that it sounds
great? A picture is worth a thousand words, but you don't have the space for a
thousand words? The WWW allows you to add sound, pictures and short movie files
to your companies info if that will serve your potential customers. No brochure
will do that.
9.
To Answer Frequently Asked questions
Whoever answers the phones in your organization can tell you, their time is
usually spent answering the same questions over and over again. These are the
questions customers and potential customers want to know the answer to before
they deal with you. Post them on a WWW page and you will have removed another
blockage to doing business with you and freed up some time for that stressed
phone operator.
10. To Stay In Contact With Salespeople
Your
employees on the road may need up-to-the-minute information that will help them
make the sale or pull together the deal. If you know what that information is,
you can keep it posted in complete privacy on the WWW. A quick local phone call
can keep your staff supplied with the most detailed information, without long
distance phone bills and tying up the staff at the home office.
11. To Open International Markets
You
may not be able to make sense of the mail, phone and regulation systems in all
your potential international markets, but with a Web page, you can open up a
dialogue with international markets as easily as with the company across the
street. As a matter-of-fact, before you go onto the Web, you should decide how
you want to handle the international business that will come your way, because
your postings are certain to bring international opportunities your way, whether
it is part of your plan or not. Another added benefit; if your company has
offices overseas, they can access the home offices information for the price of
a local phone call.
12. To Create a 24 Hour Service
If
you've ever remembered too late or too early to call the opposite coast, you
know the hassle. We're not all on the same schedule. Business is worldwide but
your office hours aren't. Trying to reach Asia or Europe is even more
frustrating. But Web pages serve the client, customer and partner 24 hours a
day, seven days a week. No overtime either. It can customize information to
match needs and collect important information that will put you ahead of the
competition, even before they get into the office. Orders come in while you
sleep.
13. To Allow Feedback from Customers
You
pass out the brochure, the catalog, the booklet. But it doesn't work. No sales,
no calls, no leads. What went wrong? Wrong color, wrong price, wrong market?
Keep testing, the marketing books say, and you'll eventually find out what went
wrong. That's great for the big boys with deep pockets, but who is paying the
bills? You are and you don't have the time nor the money to wait for the answer.
With a Web page, you can ask for feedback and get it immediately with no extra
cost. An instant e-mail response can be built into Web pages and can get the
answer while its fresh in your customers mind, without the cost and lack of
response of business reply mail.
14. To Test Market New Services and Products
Tied
into the reason above, we all know the cost of rolling out a new product.
Advertising, advertising, advertising, PR and advertising. Expensive, expensive,
expensive. Once you have been on the Web and know what to expect from those who
are seeing your page, they are the least expensive market for you to reach. They
will also let you know what they think of your product faster, easier and much
less expensively than any other market you may reach. For the cost of a page or
two of Web programming, you can have a crystal ball into where to position your
product or service in the marketplace. Amazing.
15. To Reach the Education and Youth Market
If
your market is education, consider that most universities already offer Internet
access to their students. Books, athletic shoes, study courses, youth fashion
and anything else that would want to reach these overlapping markets needs to be
on the Web. Even with the coming of the commercial on-line services and their
somewhat older populations there will be nothing but growth in the percentage of
the under 25 market that will be on-line.
16. To Reach the Specialized Market
Sell
fish tanks, art reproductions, flying lessons? You may think that the Internet
is not a good place to be. Well, think again. The Internet isn't just computer
science students anymore. With the 500,000,000 and growing users of the WWW,
even the most narrowly defined interest group will be represented in large
numbers. Since the Web has several very good search programs, your interest
group will be able to find you, or your competitors.
17. To Serve Your Local Market
We've
talked about the power to serve the world with a Web page. How about your
neighborhood? If you are located in Karachi, Lahore or Islamabad, there is
probably enough local customers with Web access to make it worth your while to
consider Web marketing. A local restaurant even takes lunch orders through the
Internet! But no matter where you are, if the big client has Web access, you
should be there too.
18. Tiny Budget & Rapid Growth
This
is only possible on the WWW to start and promote a business with tiny-budget &
rapid growth of income…
10
Tips for New Web Designers
For those of
you that have not experienced it, let me give you a few tips that will make the
ride more fun:
1. Be
Confident
Are you a good designer? Chances are there's someone out there better than you
are. When you go to visit a potential client, be confident -- but not
overconfident. Other designers may be bidding on the same job. You want to be
the most likable.
2. Keep it
Simple
Keep what simple? Everything. Keep your designs simple. A simple design will
sell more products. Keep your business simple. A sole proprietorship may be more
equitable to you than a corporation (with partners) when you are first starting
out. Keep your overhead low. The more money you have to lay out for your
business, the less ends up in your pocket.
3. Study the
Work of Others
Be open to new ideas and concepts. There is nothing wrong with getting
inspiration from someone else as long as you do not steal their work. Studying
other's work will help you to grow creatively.
4. Get 50
Percent Up Front
When starting a new job be sure to have a thorough, signed contract and a
deposit. If at all possible get a 50 percent deposit on the job. Requiring a
deposit lets the client know that you are a serious professional and it locks
them in the project. Now they have an investment at stake. They will be more
open to your suggestions and will place more value on your services.
5. Keep a
Notebook
Ideas come at the strangest times. Keep a small notebook nearby to note thoughts
down. Sometimes great things start there. Care must also be given to keeping
good records and an accurate calendar. The more organized you appear, the better
reputation you acquire.
6. Develop a
Portfolio
Don't just tell people you're good, show them. Print out samples of your work
and have it available to show at a moment's notice. Put your portfolio online so
that people can browse it at their leisure.
7. Introduce
yourself
Your best jobs will probably come from word of mouth. Therefore, meet as many
people as you can. How do you do that? Attend seminars and trade shows. Carry
several of your business cards wherever you go and be ready to hand them out.
When you
visit a potential client, it helps to bring a gift. It doesn't have to be
elaborate; something useful is usually best. If the client offers you something
to drink, always say "Yes." If you accept their hospitality, the odds of getting
the job significantly increase.
8. Write
Articles
Writing editorials is an excellent way to get your name out to the public. Is
your method of design unique? Tell the world about it. Getting your articles
published establishes you as an authority in the field. If the reading audience
is large enough, you may even have the ability to influence the way the industry
grows.
9. The Day
is more productive
Start work early and get to bed at a reasonable hour. If you will work till 3:00
a.m., this, of course, renders you useless in the morning. It became a vicious
cycle, which had to be broken. The day is much more productive.
10. Put
Family First
Spouses and children are more important than careers. Yes, you may be working
hard to support your family, but they also need to spend time with you. Be sure
that when you finish up work for the day, you leave your cares and stresses
behind and enjoy what you're working so hard for.
These ten
tips are not a guarantee for success, but if you apply them you will be a step
ahead most independent Internet designers.
I'm going
to discuss some real ideas in my next article for starting your own Domain
Name Registration and web hosting business with a small budget. Keep
reading my articles and
if you ever have any questions about online business, you’re invited to email
najam@apnakarobar.com
and I’ll do my best to help you!
Yours
sincerely,
S.
Najam Aziz Ahmed
CE,
ECom Worldwide
www.ApnaKarobar.com
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