In the contemporary business world, a website serves many purposes. For small and medium sized businesses, an effective Internet program advances a company's marketing efforts and serves as an additional avenue to raise capital.
Small and medium sized businesses spend cost-effective dollars. That means they spend money to benefit the company only if they see a profitable return. Thus, the Internet can be a cost-effective tool for these businesses in different ways.
Firstly, an effective website allows for cost effective advertising and marketing.
Bob Biondi of Biondi and Warren Co., a local sign distributing and advertising company, says, "A website serves multiple purposes for my company."
"I am linked to local trade and networking organizations. The Internet is how you spend cost effective dollars," he said.
Bob knows his website has helped him in a number of areas, including advertising. He says, "I've spent hundreds of dollars this year alone in yellow page ads. That thing's like a dinosaur."
In addition, corporate giants such as General Motors and Nike once dominated the web's marketing power. Recently, the web has emerged to serve small and medium sized businesses and their markets.
Innovative programs facilitated a shift from solely face-to-face commerce to a fresh and exciting online exchange.
Community-Lynx.com is a great example of this. This site, launched for small and medium sized companies, is a business-to-business commerce website.
Members must first complete the online registration form before having their services listed by industry along the left-hand side of the page.
This commerce site serves as an online directory providing a list and profile of registered companies.
Additionally, a company's website may be the initial contact for a prospective client.
First impressions last a lifetime and the client's first experience with a company may come via the web. It's essential that a corporate website disseminate a company's philosophy, values and objectives.
John Bennett Sr., president of InUnison Ltd., says, "A corporate website should reflect a company's image and personality. Each site should distinctly and professionally represent your business online."
This way, prospective clients can interpret and act based upon the corporate message displayed online.
Third, an Internet program allows small and medium sized businesses to move everyday aspects of business to their corporate website.
An elaborate website serves as an extension of a company.
For example, the website could be used by the employees to punch in online. Or it can be used to create an elaborate database to sell products.
The latter is utilized most often for vendors and distributors. W. Paul Borkowski, chief technical officer of InUnison Ltd., says, "Those websites serve as online warehouses, 'pulling, packing and shipping' the products accordingly."
Midwest Circuit Products is a good example of an online database. Larry Hobson, president of MCP, created a database on the "back end" of his site.
Larry says, "My online catalog allows me to track all products from my home or office."
This especially helped Larry because he's a "one-man show" and he was able to save money on the conventional catalog.
Finally, small-medium sized businesses are oftentimes operated by five people or less and rarely allocate funds for public relations.
Public relations practitioners operate under a strict code of ethics. To utilize the site as a PR tool, it must accurately reflect the company's values and processes in a positive light.
There is strategy involved.
For instance, United Abrasives Manufacturers' Association, UAMA, is a non-profit organization that uses their corporate site as a 24-hr public relations tool.
Their site is elaborate and reflects the beliefs, values and processes of the organization. A rudimentary site can not effectively communicate a corporate message and philosophy.
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