Should Small, Local Business Have a Website?

OK – so the internet is great for Amazon and eBay – a million products, a million customers. Great!

It is brilliant for a company like mine – we a not restricted by borders and can operate internationally (we have done work for companies in New Zealand, the US, Germany as well as the UK). A website a great way to communicate to these customers.

But what about a local service. A plumber? An electrician? A piano tuner? Is it worth setting up a website for such a service? After all – who will see it?

Too many people make the mistake of thinking that a local service business just isn't suitable for online business... and that's a crying shame! Because an online service business can be very lucrative -- as long as you recognize a few key factors and implement a few important strategies.

Most people, given the chance, will look at your website before calling you to get a “feel” of you. A poor website will be worse the no website as it will “turn-off” your visitors.

So there are challenges to taking a service business online, so we will show you how to overcome those challenges -- and even turn them to your advantage on the Internet! Plus, we'll also show you how you can turn his skills, knowledge, and expertise into products that can be sold to a global online audience.

Step 1: Get your website right!

A few simple tips:

• Your web site should have an attractive and clean layout with your business name prominently displayed
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• Use images that clearly indicate what type of services your business is providing.
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• An important factor is to put your contact information, including a contact number, clearly on each page especially the home page.
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• Create a sense of urgency with your contact information (eg. My appointment books fills up fast...)

Writing the text for your website:

• Your headline: Almost any web site can benefit from a compelling headline that instantly informs visitors of the biggest benefit of your product or service and attracts enough interest to draw readers further into your site.
  
  You cannot fill your homepage with a simple welcome message, and expect it to do your selling for you.
  
  What you need is a carefully constructed headline that introduces a problem your visitors face, and positions your service as the solution to that problem.
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• Your text: It is good to have well written copywritting on your home page because, generally speaking, it's the first contact you'll have with the vast majority of your customers.
  
  When you sell a service, you ARE the product, whether you are an Estate Agent... Mechanic... Accountant... Housekeeper... or Piano Tuner.
  
  When you're selling a service, you are typically selling a relationship with yourself. And this requires that you spend more time and effort establishing your credibility and developing a rapport with your visitors than is typically required on a site selling a physical product.
  
  Establishing your credibility is critical to closing the sale. Not only do you need to establish the benefits of the services you are offering, you need to establish the value of YOU providing this service.
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• Your credibility as an expert: You can establish your credibility in a couple of different ways.
  
  One way is to simply provide your credentials. Explain what makes you an expert in your field by providing information about your experience.
  
  Another excellent method of establishing credibility is to include customer testimonials. When you are trying to establish trust, you will need to back up your claims. And the most effective way to do this is by showing that other people -- people just like your web site's visitors -- have benefited from your services.
  
  This means that you're going to have to approach some of your customers and ask them to write some testimonials for you. That's right -- just ask! And don't be shy about it. You will find, more often than not, that people will be flattered that you value their opinion.
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• Your opt-in offer: No matter what sort of business you have, collecting visitors' names and e-mail addresses should be one of your top priorities. Only a very small percentage of your visitors will purchase your service the first time they visit your site, so it's extremely important that you capture your visitors' contact information before they leave. Then you can follow up with them by e-mail.

Step 2: Promote your site

What we've been discussing above work equally well for both product and service-based business models, but the local aspect of your business does create some unique challenges -- especially when it comes to attracting qualified traffic to your web site.

Now remember – most people, if they get the chance, will look at your website before calling – so, if you have a great site – promote it, as this will persuade more people to contact you.

So – put your website on every advert you do. In the Yellow pages?

Put your domain under your company name.Put it on your business card and fliers .Even put it on the side of your van and on your workwear. Remember though to keep you domain simple and memorable.

What about the search engines? Are they worth a look? Absolutely! Google Adwords will even let you display your ad based on location – so you can advertise your services to a specific county.

Clever – very clever!

And it means that you get your targeted traffic. Of course, after reading the next section – you might not want to limit yourself to counties, but go national or even global!

Step 3: Go national or even global

By providing a local service, you are also essentially limiting your target market to people who you can physically visit. Because of this, you should always consider ways to convert your service into a product (or products) that can be sold globally over the Internet.

To take full advantage of the global nature of the Internet, you could also launch a second web site to sell information products related to your skills and experience that can be sold and delivered electronically.

“What??” you cry! “You truly are nuts!”

Well – that might be true – but read on a little bit first.

The key to creating information products that will sell online is to do some research to find out exactly what people are searching for on the Internet – and then create your eBook based on that research.

One of the best things about running an online business is that you are able to find out exactly what people are searching for on the Internet using free and low-cost tools that are available to anyone who wants to use them.

One of the most powerful of these tools, which we use are Lutroo, is called Wordtracker.

Wordtracker is an essential tool for finding niche online markets. With Wordtracker, you can determine which words or phrases people are using to search for information on the 'Net. The key is to find terms that many people are searching on, but very few other web sites are using -- which means fewer competitors for you.

Wordtracker do a free trial – so click the link and have a play – alternatively – give us ring as we can do the research for you if you would prefer.

So – for a plumber – people are keen to know how to stop the dripping tap and other simple tasks. Why not create a book that shows simply how to do this?

eBooks are downloadable, so your customers will receive their purchase immediately, and the profit margins are excellent because once you've spent the time creating it, there are no printing or postage costs that eat into your profits.

eBooks are easy to create using software like eBook Pro, which uses "point-and-click" wizards that walk you step-by-step through the entire process so you can build and start selling your first eBook in just minutes. (Again – you can click the link to read about eBook pro for yourself, or we can produce your eBook for you – just contact us for more information).

Of course, you could take it one step further – and sell the tools and parts that you mention in your eBook on line. This will require a bit more effort as you will have to keep some stock and ship the products when ordered (to get around this – you could use a fulfilment house to send your products).

Is this all starting to sound a little scary? Write a book? Sell products? “I am just a humble plumber” you say. It might not be “worth the effort”. Then again – it might be! It is not as difficult as you think to set up – it just takes a little time to write the book – and you can write it, or at least the basics of it and have a copywriter do the rest.

You obviously have talents and experience – why not sell that information to the world as well as your local customers?A new trend is web video – so if you can’t write a book, have somebody video what you are doing and sell access to those.

In Summary

A local business should definitely have a website – but make sure it is a good one and follows the simple principles outlined above. It will add credibility to what you do and get you your extra customers.Of course – you can also dare to think outside the box and offer your experience to a global market.

Want to know more?? Why not drop me an email!