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If your website is new, announce it proudly to your
customers and to targeted prospects. You should even consider a special mailer
heralding your new site. But never do this unless your website is up and
running. It's bad PR to promote a site that's still under construction.
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Think of your website not as a thing but as a session.
Every session should be different. Every session should offer abundant
interactivity. Every session should be directed right at your target audience.
Be certain that your website contents connects right up to your marketing
theme. Recognize that your site can serve as the voice of your company as well
as a conduit for individual and extremely personalized service. Think of your
business as a department store and your website as the display windows. Put
new things in them constantly to motivate people to come back again and again.
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Make your site simple, straightforward and easy to
explore. Although I'm all for linking with many others, be careful you don't
have layers and layers of links to woo people away from you. If you have a lot
of text, break it up with lots of subheads. Keep your paragraphs short.
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Create an Internet tip sheet for your prospects and
customers. Because only a small portion of the planet is Internet savvy,
there's a good chance your prospects and clients know little of the world
online. Your tip sheet, mailed or placed on your reception desk, lets people
know the basics of being online and offers helpful information. Of course, it
should also have an illustration of your site and your Web address, too.
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Not linking is not thinking. Referrals are the
lifeblood of many small businesses, and links are like referrals. The idea is
to link with other sites of businesses that share your standards for quality
and service as well as having prospects similar to yours. On your Website, say
the words, "Make this Website a bookmark.
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To encourage regular visits to your site, keep the
content fresh, promise new and exciting things, then live up to your promises.
Ask people to e-mail you, make it very easy, then respond lightning fast to
those who contact you. Slow response time has murdered many an online
marketer. Speed is of the essence, even on the Interwait.
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Ever consider giving away free mousepads or
screensavers? When you're got a site, you should consider it. And be sure to
put your Website address on whatever you give away.
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Guerrillas spend at least an hour a week surfing the
Web simply to get good ideas or discover horrid ideas that others are using.
They also manage to locate several sites that will happily link to them. They
get to find out what turns them on and what turns them off. The online world
is a brand new world and it's just in the process of being discovered.
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Don't wait for others to make all the discoveries.
Make a few yourself, as Isabella may or may not have told Christopher
Columbus. If you're networking online, share your Website address with your
networkers. Specialized newsgroups and forums can provide a ready-made
audience for your products and services.
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As you converse one-on-one via e-mail, make sure you
attach a four-line Internet signature that includes your Website as well as
your phone, fax and e-mail address. Always remember that the online market is
open 24 hours a day. As you manage your employees or deal with customers in
person, it's easy to forget that customers may also be waiting on the other
side of your computer screen. Discipline yourself to monitor your online
presence regularly. Your online customers and prospects expect speedy results,
and you must be prepared to oblige them.
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Follow-up and consistency are even more important than
they are when you're selling in person. It's a whole new world online and the
people who will thrive in it are those who pay close attention, who are
constantly learning, who are always improving, and who are wise in the ways of
marketing. Fifty million people are online but you'll be smart to remember
that guerrillas deal with them one at a time.
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