Are You Living The Field Of Dreams Myth

Most of you have seen or heard of the movie “Field of Dreams” You remember, Kevin Costner hears a voice telling him to build a baseball field in his corn field. “If you build it they will come”.

Unfortunately this is the mind-set that most small business owners have with their websites. Too many businesses spend thousands of dollars developing their websites, and then just assume that people will flock to it, like crows to a cornfield.

Folks, if you have a website or you’re planning to get one, you must have a strategy to attract your potential customers to your site. But it’s not enough to just get them to visit your site, it’s crucial that you have a mechanism to capture at least their name and e-mail address.

I’m amazed at how many websites have no such mechanism. If you don’t have a plan to promote your website people aren’t going to just show up. It’s a good idea to have your website address on all your stationary. Make sure it’s part of your e-mail signature, on your invoices, order forms, letterheads and of course business cards.

These are just the basics, if you really want to stand out in the crowd you’ll need to get creative. How about a contest of some kind, or a free book or report that people can download? For example, if you sell computer technology why not team up with a supplier to give away a laptop or PDA at your website.

Of course people will have to provide their name and e-mail address to get a chance to win. A carpet sales business running an ad in the yellow pages, could include the line “go to www.CarpetsRUs.com to download a FREE report on how to select the right carpet for your home”.

The key is to integrate your offline marketing with your online marketing. Use your offline marketing to encourage people to check out your website.

If your business has no strategy to promote your site and capture the contact information of your visitors; then you’re not taking full advantage of the remarkable power of the internet to find new prospects. You need to build it and then promote the heck out of it or you’ll be living mostly in a dream.

Article Source: http://www.content.onlypunjab.com

Author: Kevin Toney is “The Marketing Coach”. Kevin coaches small business owners and sales professionals on how to find and attract new customers, increase repeat business and generate a steady flow of referrals. Call 204-783-6342 for your FREE over the phone Coaching Session where you can get solutions to your marketing challenges. Take a free marketing seminar at: www.MarketingSuccess.ca

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