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There is No Such Thing as a Free Lunch
If you have a business on the web, then people need to know how to reach you if you are going to succeed. The most certain method to do
this is through advertising. The myth that advertising is FREE on the internet is false as is discussed in SPAM BAD.
Being Found
An internet business is very much like a brick and mortar business, except that it's fixed
overhead is rent on the virtual host instead of rent for the store front. In some respects, getting known is easier for the
store front located on the busy road than for your new e-commerce site. Of course, the potential customer pool for the
store front are the thousands of people who drive by, while the potential customer pool for your e-commerce site are the
millions of users n the internet. In either event, if people do not know how to contact you they can not be your customer. Hence a good Domain Name is critical.
Purpose of the Web Site
Often times the purpose of a web site is not to sell anything, but to provide a method of echanging information that does
not consume other business resources. For example, a site may provide information about itself for existing or potential
customers. It may also provide information to assist their customers or potential customers, such as manuals, driver
download, warranty information, useful tips, new products and so forth. These types of sites use the internet as a way of
becoming more efficnet by reducing the number of calls and letters (and the costs of handling them) from customers
requesting the information supplied on the web site. Depending upon the purpose of the web site, youmethod of advertising will change.
It's All About Information
The fundamental purpose of all web sites is to provide a medium for the exchnage of information. For an e-commernce
site, this information includes not only the types of items in inventory, their price and warranty, but the customer's payment
and delivery information as well. TheFreeRadical for example, promotes its business primarily by word of mouth and the
web site simply provides information to customers and potential customers about the company and its services, and
provides information and information services about secuity alerts that we feel are important and useful for our
customers. Obviously, the type of advertising for an e-commerce site and a customer information site will be differnet.
To help you understand about marketing your internet business you can read the following pages:
- The Basics - what every business with a web site should do
- Banners - are they cost effective and what are the most cost effective banners
- Search Engines - how your business be found on the major search engines
- Snail Mail - how traditional mailing lists work
- News Media - the best advertisement money can't buy
- Radio & TV - the best advertisement money can buy
We can help you design a marketing plan for your web site and implement that stategy for you at your option.
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