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Bringing Your Offline Business Online
Article Description:
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A few years ago offline businesses would never have dreamt of
bringing their businesses into the Internet arena but now
marketing has changed so rapidly that businesses cannot afford to
ignore the Internet. So if you haven't brought your business
onto the Internet my question to you is ...Why not?
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2. I have a wholesale business I cannot sell hard goods on the
Internet
3. Websites are expensive and what do I do with one anyway?
4. Internet "surfers" are not interested in my offline goods
My business is local and the Internet is global: A few years ago
this may have been true but now there are ways to search for
local businesses with just a click of your customers mouse. They
simply put in the keyword of the item they are looking for +
their local state/province, city and country and all the local
businesses' websites come up. Then there is Froogle, the search
engine for shoppers. Searchers just put their keyword for
products in here and a whole list of products come up. If you do
not list your website and just put in your store location this
will come up with a handy little map to guide potential customers
to your exact location. So there are ways to get your local
customers into your offline business. Google search engine and
Froogle are free to submit to.
I have a wholesale business I cannot sell hard goods on the
Internet: Hard goods can easily be sold on the Internet by using
drop shippers. Instead of using wholesalers that you actually go
to or deliver to your business you can make use of drop shippers
and fulfillment houses that can be contacted online. We will go
into this in more detail in a later issue. Drop shippers can
deliver directly to your customer and give you the wholesale
prices. Fulfillment houses can take care of your inventory and
shipping to your customers.
Websites are expensive and what do I do with one anyway? Websites
can be designed and built for a very reasonable price by using
freelance web designers. They are sometimes from all over the
world but you can narrow it down to your own country if you wish,
by specifying a certain country in your project description. Two
of the largest contractors are http://elance.com
and
http://guru.com
Your website will have several purposes.
* To establish your business online and brand your business
* To attract warm ready to buy visitors to your business.
Website promotion is the most cost effective marketing you will
ever do and will save you 1000s in advertising costs.
* There is a growing trend of savvy shoppers who do not want to
fight their way through the malls and are looking for choices
online.
Internet "surfers" are not interested in my offline goods:
Internet surfers are actually your own customers but in a
different place. Let me explain. A few years ago your customers
would have been on foot and coming to your business but now the
times have changed. People are realizing the tremendous
convenience of shopping online and are letting their mouse "do
the walking." Internet surfers are not just people drifting about
on the Internet. They are serious shoppers and expect the high
standards they have been used to offline. Your website will
provide them with all this and more.
This is just a small introduction to how you can establish your
business presence online. In the coming issues we will look into
all the ways you can use the power of the Internet to rake in the
profits for your offline business.
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Cheryl Miller is an entrepreneur specializing in niche markets.
For more information about magnetic badges and how they can help
you promote your business, please visit http://www.badgemags.com
Cheryl is also the publisher of the Magnetic Marketer Newsletter
http://www.badgemags.com/magnetic_marketer_subscribe.htm
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