I was at a recent breakfast meeting where the guest speaker had not turned up. Mr Paul Bolton, the CEO of Refer-On, asked that I stand in. Great! Just exactly what was I going to say about this subject? I had actually been looking forward to my bacon and eggs…. Now it was internal panic and a need to come up with some ideas.
Web 2.0 is all about blogs, communities, self service, interaction with users…… and so what does this mean for the small business?
All of the above is relevant but not practical, there is a lot to take in, where do you start?
If the small business owner wants to explore the future of the internet they can take some simple steps ….
a) Start updating your own web pages. (example of self service)
Macromedia contribute is great for this, and you can trial this for FREE for 30 days:
http://www.adobe.com/uk/products/contribute/
b) Self help marketing. Go find your own clients using your website.
Mr Google to the rescue: http://adwords.google.co.uk/select/Login
BUT here is a tip from us. Think about your landing page. Make sure your visitors arrive on a web page that deals with their concerns. If they are looking for a “modern garden” – then talk about modern gardens and provide some examples.
This is all about control and power. The small business owner can, at low cost, dip their toes into the waters of the future internet and make their own website pay. So does this mean we, Imre, are out of business? No, the actual opposite – we are freed up to work with these self help clients – we can actually work with them to get to the next level.
We just had a similar conversation with a potential client, and this was the response:
Hello,
Paul I just wanted to say a big thank you for the time you spent talking to me today about my website. I very much value your suggestions and will certainly follow them up. If I can re-pay you at any time with some garden design or planting advice I would be delighted to do so! Best wishes and thanks again.
Jilayne