Problems Getting Started with Websites

For many business owners digital marketing is a royal pain in the fundament in that older business owners came along before the internet began, could have started during the Internet’s growth in the mid-to-late nineties, and quite honestly could very easily still see the web as an unnecessary form of marketing.

Most new small business owners can struggle with digital marketing, immediately gravitating toward DIY template generators, “free” or super-cheap offers from neighborhood (or overseas) hobbyists, or just avoid it altogether in much the same way I avoid learning Latin.

It’s time-consuming, multi-faceted, and very challenging if it’s something you’re not already intimately familiar with. Even people who work at Google for example, don’t stay current on Search Engine Optimization, which is kind of what they’re known for, after all.

Like the saying goes “don’t hate the player, hate the game.” Seriously, when it comes to online marketing, there’s nothing to hate only more to benefit from.

The Old and New Schools

If you’re familiar and comfortable using newspaper ads, the Yellow Pages, Chambers of Commerce, bus signs (which lawyers seem to love), and other more traditional forms of marketing, why change?

It’s not like everybody in the world is using phones to look up businesses, right? But point of fact, actually, they are.

Paradigms have shifted, and more people today are actually asking to not get Yellow Pages phone books than want them.

So this begs the question, do you really need to be online? Do you need to have a website?

The short answer is “yes,” and the long answer depends on whether or not you have a desire to grow said business into a more profitable enterprise that’ll be around for generations to come.

Even if your business is established and doing quite well financially, many established, older “legacy” businesses are realizing that they have to embrace digital marketing in order to reach new markets and remain competitive as demographics change.

Many companies, in fact, are doing just that. Just as we’ve all had to learn to drive new cars, deal with changes in healthcare, changes in the way businesses promote themselves and reach more targeted consumer groups has changed along the ride.

The “Why” for Why You Need a Website

Ultimately the goal for a business is self-sufficiency, profitability, and the hard won privilege to do what you love for a sustainable living.

If you stop evolving as a business owner, and shun marketing methods you know everyone else around you is embracing (whether begrudgingly or not), you’re sacrificing the continuance of your business in favor of complacency.

That’s not a good trade off for most business owners who have bills to pay and families counting on them.

Summing Up

So, yes, you need a website (and not just any website, either, there’s a profound distinction there which is covered elsewhere in this blog) if your goal is to survive in a flat economy with changing dynamics.

If your goal is to quietly fade into oblivion, digital marketing is not an advisable path, as it can rapidly accelerate growth on top of customer acquisition. Most business owners want growth and what comes with it – they just may not be excited about learning new terms or budgeting for a different type of marketing.

The things to bear in mind are that if you work with an experienced professional who knows what they’re doing, you’ll end up saving more in the long run, than if you were to invest in offline marketing, and you’ll see results much sooner.

You stand to benefit greatly in embracing the new, even if cautiously, as the benefits far outweigh the potential downsides.

Just place value on achieving business objectives over price, and you’ll always end up on the better side of the situation.