An Internet Epiphany: Do I really Want a Website? Part 1

So, you think you want a website...

You've listened to all the buzz about how if you're going to make it in the 21st century in business a website is a absolute necessity. And you don't want to loose out to your competition who could leave you picking up the scraps - maybe even looking for a new occupation.

OK, makes sense. Now where do you start?

You search Google for information and find 80.5 million different results listed under small business sites. You click on the first one and start reading.

Geeesh...ten minutes later your head is swimming with terms you never heard of before such as SEO, PPC, Alexa, perl, and html. Whoa. Getting a site built is a whole new set of skills in itself.

There's this creature called a web host. Unlike a host at a restaurant who makes you feel comfortable and tends to your every desire, these hosts throw more confusion at you with domain names and sub domain names, domain registration. And what was all that about meta tags and keywords?

They keep saying how easy it is...somehow you get the feeling someone is playing games with you. After all, what's this about spiders crawling all over the internet?

Aahh, there's a help button. Let's see...wait a minute...what?Where's the help button for the help definition that references back over to that other topic I need to learn before I can understand what the first definition said?

By now you're probably feeling if you do it yourself you need one of those cheap websites for $4.95 per month while learn your way around. This service has templates you can choose to fill in the blanks with your information. Within a few weeks of steady work your site is up and running, although not without some serious html errors (where's that help page on html...?) when the point and click system they used didn't seem to want to point and click.

Eventually the time comes to submit your site to the search engines and directories to let those cyberspace spiders (yea, right)know your site exists.

Then it dawns on you. What do you do when you do get visitors?

You decide to add plenty of pictures of your products. Maybe you'll get creative and include the product descriptions the manufacturer wrote on those big fold out glossy brochures. A paragraph about the technical specs needs to go next. That'll make it so people will be enticed to buy.

A page with all your awards and training credentials has to be included along with the pictures and favorite hobbies of everyone who works with you, including Buster the dog.

For the next couple weeks you are self satisfied about your new website. Then someone asks how much business your new site generates.

"Business?" you ask.

Now that your time is already consumed with this web mess you learn you need a newsletter to help attract people. So with the help of your English Comp 101 handbook you spend the weekend writing a good letter to all future customers.

This'll be a good letter - no grammars mistakes for you. People will know you're not some dumb lackey but a serious pro. They'll be impressed by your knowledge of the interface between the technical, mechanical, and economic theories which govern the pricing structure you use.

Just one sticky question, how to send e-mails and figure out something called double opted-in to prevent being accused of spamming.

Whew, now there's a few people coming to your site. Through another set of packages from your web host (he sure is making sales)you discover your visitors only remain for a few moments before they click away, never to return.

Frustrated you give up. It causes some sleepless nights after you tell your spouse/business partner how much your next plan will cost, but you bite the bullet and go to a professional webmaster/designer to build you a site. The cost is $5,500 but you've seen his work and it is beautiful. He's a pro. You tell your spouse or partner this is the answer to getting a successful website.

The day arrives when the new site is completed. It is a beauty to behold. Dazzling graphics, animations, fancy fonts, great new logo, everything you need to take the internet by storm. You're webmaster says he's tweaked your site with the latest search engine manipulators designed to get you top rankings, and soon your rank in the top 20% of all sites on the web.

Now that you've learned about rankings you look up your site on Alexa.com. "I'm almost 8 million deep in the pile of sites on the web but I've got a better rank than my webmaster. How can I believe him?"

The webmaster tells you that's just the way the net is. Google and the other search engines continually change their algorithms (their what?) but he's working on a new ranking blaster thingy that'll knock your socks off. And you can get it at a discount of only $395.

You hang up the phone, grit your teeth, and reluctantly call the yellow page salesman...guess it's time to go back to the methods you have some control over. As you shake your head at the expensive lessons you've learned about the internet, you convince yourself that a website just won't work for your type of business.

Next day, a handsome fellow from the Chamber of Commerce stops by your shop. The conversation drifts to your bad experience with your website. This fellow nods his head in understanding, then says he knows something similar happens to 99% of small businesses. They get fed up, run out of money and patience, then give up.

"But," he says, "it doesn't have to be that way. There is a simple common sense answer even many experts overlook...building a business - any business - takes a plan, time, and effort. You got caught up in building a website - not your business"

You sigh. What this guy says makes sense, but...you're worn out from pursuing the web. You have to think about it. As he leaves you ponder a final point he made,

"You don't need to be a web expert, or to try manipulate the web. In fact, if truth be known, I'll bet you don't even really want a website. What you really want is to use the internet to build a sustainable business whether it's to expand your current business or start a new one. You want the results of what a site can do. Isn't that right? "

"Think about your car. Do you really want or care about how many cubic inches it has, or the type of cams and injection systems? No. You just want a dependable and comfortable ride. It's a tool that can take you where you want to go."

You think to yourself, "Hmmm...build my business using the web as a tool. Yes, I don't care about websites. All this technical internet stuff has drained the time I could've put into building my business. I just want to give myself and my potential customers the convenience and speed of the internet. They'll be happy and so will I. Hey buddy, can you come back to teach me more?"

What about you? Is a website what you really want? Or do you want the results a website can generate for you and your audience? Think about it. Don't give up yet. There is hope. Call that guy back quickly before it's too late.

Get him to tell you about a common sense approach to building your business using the internet as a tool. Listen carefully as he explains the power of the "C" in the formula labeled C. T. P. M.

To discover what the "C" is, go to Internet Epiphany, Part 2.

(BTW, ahem, that handsome guy is supposed to be me! OK, OK, you don't have to start laughing so LOUD)