If You're In Business

• A website tells everyone who you are and what you do and they can access this information 24 hours a day, 7 days a week
   
• Unlike a printed leaflet or brochure, you can update this information whenever you like
   
• A website can answer all the frequently asked questions your staff normally deal with on the phone, leaving them free to get on with other things
   
• Your website can be visited by local, regional, national and international visitors - an estimated potential audience of 75 million people
   
• A web presence is now universally understood to be an essential communication tool, not an optional extra
   
• By making all your leaflets, press releases, brochures and other literature available on line, you can dramatically reduce your print and postage costs
   
• You can be linked to all the relevant professional bodies and umbrella organizations in your area of work
   
• You can sell your products or services on line, even to those who are far outside your geographical area
   
• You can keep your funders, trustees, board of governors, new members and existing and potential client informed about all your activities, events and services
   
• You can enjoy instant, two-way communication with all interested parties who visit your site, answering specific questions by email at a time that suits you
   
• To establish a credible, professional image
   
• To provide employees with world-wide access to company databases
   
• To provide excellent, cost-effective customer service by providing current product literature, annual reports, press releases, catalogs, and convenient online ordering
   
• To gather marketing information
   
• To obtain new customers and generate sales leads
   
• To provide a highly cost effective advertising medium (especially when compared to print, radio, and television)
   
• To improve customer or employee relations by providing a place to take applications, requests, questions, and comments
   
• Greater Sales Potential. A Web Site increases your presence and accessibility to a global market - without the expense.
   
• Approximately 60 million have access to the Internet.  One million Americans per month sign up on the net for the first time.   According to International Data Corp., business-to-business electronic commerce will see dramatic growth.  Commerce reached $27.4 billion last year and is expected to grow to $978.4 billion by 2003.
   
• Website is Always 'Open'...  24 hours a day, 7 days a week.  It is like an entire sales and support team... providing current and potential customers with information about your company, products, and services... automatically!
   
• Cost Effective.  The expense of a web site is far less than the expense of a building, maintenance, and staffing of physical stores.
   
• Expands on Every Other Advertising Venue You Use... Every Newspaper, Radio, or Television Add that you pay for increases it's information when you include your website address, automatically adding all of your website content to any interested party.
   
• Many Customers Prefer the Low Pressure and Unlimited Hours that a website provides for product or business information.  They will look at your website, where they wouldn't have looked in your store.  It is becoming the shopping avenue of choice for many.
   
• Economical updating of information.   You may have a lot of information on your site.  Very often, the majority of the site can stay the same, and altering just a small percentage of the site can make the site current and vital.  Compare this to the time and cost it takes to recreate a brochure, advertisement, or catalog; with the time and cost of reprinting and mailing.
   
• Special Sales Opportunities.  You can choose to offer special sales to your internet customers.  They can sign up to be on a mailing list in which you can then send them this information via e-mail (or fax or snail mail).
   
• There are many more advantages to having a website, including building a database and getting valuable feedback from your site visitors.

If you are an artist, musician, or arts organization, for example, a website can be a resource that allows people who have seen your work at a restaurant, coffeehouse, or gallery to learn more about you. Oftentimes artists produce a much wider range of work than can be exhibited in one place. If you have a website, a person who enjoys the work they see at one venue can easily learn about the full breadth of your work. And a simple calendar of upcoming events can entice your new fans to other events. And the web oftentimes causes random encounters: Someone looking for local artist websites comes across yours and decides to come out to your next event -- maybe even to purchase a work. Many museums, as well, supplement their more traditional methods of finding new artists with web research. For all of these reasons, a website can be very beneficial to an artist's career.

Businesses can benefit in similar ways. A website can provide easy access for customers who do business with you to find more information about your products. It can offer purchasing advice. It can also highlight upcoming sales and events your business might have. If you sell rare items, a website can help alert potential buyers around the world about your current inventory. If you run a restaurant, a website featuring a menu and a phone number can help boost delivery sales. Or a simple menu online can entice people into your restaurant. Photos of the interior of your business and small bits of information about employees can also help make your business more familiar to customers, making them feel more relaxed and comfortable while shopping, eating, or otherwise doing business with you.

According to the US Department of Commerce, Internet traffic is currently doubling every 100 days. This makes your potential for growth much higher than with traditional forms of business. Furthermore, the Internet allows you to instantly share information with an audience who is interested in your products and services.

These are just some ideas. Each website has a different set of goals tailored specifically to the organization the website represents. As a web designer for your organization, I can make sure your website matches your needs exactly, using the full potential of the web to help your business.