Without a Web site, small and midsize businesses pass up valuable opportunities to generate new business and reach new markets. Too many SMBs don't launch a Web site or an e-commerce site because they think it will be expensive -- think again.
Twenty years ago, stores were bricks and mortar or mail-order catalog businesses. Ten years ago, business struggled to understand if online spelled the end of retail as we knew it. Today, the question isn't if online matters, but rather how you can harness the power of the Internet to grow your business. Regardless of whether your business is exclusively online or has a very real physical presence, there's enormous opportunity online to attract new customers, build your brand, tap into new markets, and more.
Yet despite these benefits, approximately a fifth of small and midsize businesses don't have a Web site -- though growth is rapid -- and 60% don't have an e-commerce site. Enter providers like 7Mainstreet. These vendors streamline the process of getting online and maximizing those aforementioned opportunities by providing myriad services from a basic online presence to online advertising and search engine optimization to e-commerce and social networking. Such a turnkey approach brings these services within reach of time- and cash-strapped business owners and even allows businesses that are already online to streamline their operations. bMighty spoke with Andy Leff, the CEO and founder or Philadelphia-based 7Mainstreet, about why so many SMBs aren't online and some of the ways they can improve their online efforts.
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bMighty: Do most of your customers have an online presence before they engage 7Mainstreet?
Andy Leff: We have a mixture of businesses looking to get online for the first time and businesses coming to us because although they are online, they're not getting much exposure. More and more business owners realize they need to get on the Internet, but they don't want to spend $20,000 getting there. We offer a cost-effective way to create a presence and get exposure -- like a branch office for Internet marketing. In many cases, our customers find their 7Mainstreet profile ranks higher in search results than their own business Web site, and they use their 7Mainstreet listing as a stepping stone to their site.
bMighty: Many SMBs still don't have a Web presence at all, and many more have no e-commerce presence. Why do you think that's the case?
Leff: It's a generational thing, I think. Many business owners are in their 40s and 50s and they didn't have the Internet when they started their company. There's an old-school mind-set -- "I've been fine with phone referrals, why should I change?" Some are simply intimidated by technology. And others aren't interested in what they perceive as the cost expectations; some think launching an online presence costs tens of thousands of dollars, but as more businesses get online, the technology becomes less expensive.
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There's also a time factor. Business owners simply don't have extra time. They're more concerned with foot traffic into the store and working the phones. That combination of time constraints and a lack of tech savvy keep them from getting their business online. That's where we saw an opportunity: to make things easy and help business owners actually get that presence.
bMighty: What's prompting business owners to move online?
Leff: More and more [business owners] realize that the Internet is not a fad, that it's here to stay and if they don't get on board they'll get left behind. They need to be online today to survive, and more and more people are coming around to that point of view. And if they look around, they discover it's not that difficult or expensive to have a Web presence.
bMighty: What mistakes do business owners make in launching their Web presence?
Leff: Often they overlook SEO [search engine optimization]. Just because you have a site doesn't mean that the Web crawlers are going to find you and you'll show up in Google, Yahoo, or MSN. You need to take into account the search engines and build your site accordingly. That said, you don't need to break the bank to get your site picked up. Our business is doing that heavy lifting for businesses so they can maximize the way they spread the word online.
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bMighty: What's your view of the business value of social media services like Twitter and Facebook?
Leff: I see Twitter as just another way to get online exposure. There are a lot of people Twittering, but if what they want to Twitter about is personal, that makes the conversation difficult. It's a great way to put out company news, but the social action is limited -- it seems to work better from a personal standpoint.
Facebook is built for that person-to-person interaction. A number of businesses are on Facebook and they see it as a way to get free exposure, but I don't go to Facebook to look for an attorney or an accountant. Some businesses do work well on Facebook -- restaurants and clubs that can tailor offerings around focus groups, for instance. In the end, though, it's a closed network and it doesn't offer a lot of ways for you to hit your customer. A Facebook feed is similar to Twitter in that it's not a conduit for business transactions.
bMighty: How should SMBs go about crafting a social media marketing strategy?
Leff: It's important for a business to embrace the technology in front of them. That sounds trivial, but just because something doesn't work for one business doesn't mean it won't work for yours. The important thing is to get your feet wet and start somewhere -- keep getting out there and you'll discover more and more ways to get online exposure for your business without breaking the bank.
See more bMighty Q&A's With Business Leaders
Benjamin Tomkins is editor of bMighty.com.
