Internet Mogal » If You Don’t Have A Website, Then You Don’t Have A Business

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If You Don’t Have A Website, Then You Don’t Have A Business

In this digital era, if you don’t have a website you don’t exist. I know. It sounds so drastic and final. Let me explain what I mean.

A website is supposed to be your online storefront, a place where people can come find you at any given time, right? No. Well that’s not entirely wrong. The problem is when you take on the “everyone else has one so I need one too” type of mindset when building your website. If you view your website as merely a space online, much like an online storefront, then you devalue your worth and defeat the purpose of even having an Internet presence to begin with.

Your website is an extension of you, your brand and most importantly, your reputation. Your website can be more influential in closing a sale than anything you could ever tell a potential customer or client. Why? Nonverbal communication is more impactful and effective than verbal communication. We see it all the time with body language. The Internet is no different. It’s like a whole other form of “body language” and if not treated properly, can negate anything you say to others.

For example, let’s say you attend a networking event. You meet someone who you want to do business with. You talk for hours at the event and you feel pretty confident that you’ve sold yourself. You have a winning personality and you’re pretty approachable. Who wouldn’t want to do business with you? You hand over your business card and your prospect says he’ll email you tomorrow to set up a formal meeting.

The next day you wait and wait. Nothing. You follow up with your prospect and they are aloof or they say they are not interested. You feel like you’ve been suckered. Obviously it has to be the prospect’s fault. They weren’t really interested in doing business with you. For fun, they figured they would waste 2 hours of their precious time talking with someone who they never had intentions of working with. As the ambitious go-getter that you are, you brush it off and move on.

So what happened?

There should be a marketing rehab center for entrepreneurs who are in denial that there is something wrong with their marketing. The first clinic would cover a group session on “My website sucks.” Most people don’t want to admit their website is bad. They either spent too much money on someone who oversold their skills or they spent little to no money doing it themselves. If you’re putting yourself out there and wondering why no one is biting, you might want to look at your website FIRST and FOREMOST.

All that schmoozing you did at the professional networking event with the one promising prospect goes down the drain with a poorly put together website. A bad website conveys:

I’m not taking this seriously
I dont value myself enough to invest in my brand’s image

If you’re not showing that you’re serious about your own image, how will a prospect feel about trusting you with theirs? And, AHEM, this holds ESPECIALLY true to those who are in the digital industry such as Internet marketers, graphic/web designers, copywriters, etc. I was recently on someone’s website and they offered SEO as a service. Their website took forever to load and they did not use their title tags properly, not to mention the ENTIRE website was done in Flash. WTF?!

Remember, when you’re starting your business or if you’ve been in the game for a while, you are competing with alot of others who going after the same customers or clients as you. They may be more tech-savvy and have access to resources that you’ve never even heard of. What is your edge? It’s not rocket science.

You’re different simply by being you. Don’t devalue what you have to offer, in terms of your talent and personality. Just don’t overlook details. Don’t invest in that new suit or buy cool stationary if you’re website looks like s**t. It’s hard enough positioning your brand in an already competitive market, why make it harder for yourself?

FYI (Resources to help you out)