Website 101: Introduction

Before I get into the particulars of everything involved in setting up and maintaining an e-commerce website, I suggest you pause and ask yourself, "Do I really need a website?"

It's common knowledge that .coms trying to make money by selling advertising or offering items that are locally available (more or less), like clothing, books, or CDs, are failing spectacularly - even though they're doing tens of millions of dollars in sales.

If you sell a service, digital products, or "niché" physical products AND you're prepared to distribute them regionally (ie the Mid-Atlantic region of the US), then a website can be valuable to your company or business.

It's also important to have a storefront or existing mail-order outlet for your products. Website sales are a product of growth and require time and ongoing work.

It's a rare product that can sell "like hotcakes" right from the start. To achive that volume of sales that quickly requires an additional (and expensive) investment in advertising.

Before you create a website, I suggest you take the money and spend it on more tradtional local advertising like newspapers, radio, and cable/broadcast TV.

Many small businesses for whom I've consulted and worked haven't begun to create or meet the demand for their products/services here in Northeast PA. I can't stress enough the value of using locally targeted advertising to let folks know you exist.

I can rant in more detail on this subject and will bring it up later if you accept my offer of a FREE consultation. Meanwhile, let's move on to the next step in creating an e-commerce website...

[INTRODUCTION]       [WHAT'S INVOLVED]       [WEBSITE SUCCESS]

Dan Enright    dan@DanEnright.com    (570) 487-3155    Blakely, PA