Do You Really Need A Website?

Do You Really Need A Website?

by Don Pooley



Nope. You certainly don't need a website.



But you don't need many of the things you've come to rely

on, such as your cell phone, e-mail, or faxes.



And there's no point in having an Internet presence if

those you want to reach lack computers or online

capabilities. Or, if you have nothing to say. But, if you

do have something to say, and your audience is accessible

on the Internet, then consider a website.



Years before the Internet, I prepared a brochure to give

to people who wanted to know what I did. It was pocket

size, so I always had a few on hand to give out. And it

was more impressive, and more descriptive of my services

than a business card. Think of a website as an electronic brochure with many advantages over a printed brochure, such

as:



1. It's unlimited in quantity. You don't have to get a few thousand printed every time you run out.



2. It's easily updated and, if you do it yourself, cost-

free.



3. You can link it to your newsletter and other sites to

extend its usefulness to the reader.



4. It also gets much wider exposure than any printed

brochure ever could.



Initially, the only cost will be the time you spend not watching TV commercials. Most of us can afford that.



The first thing to do is decide what you want your web

site to tell people about you. To do that, you don't need

a computer, just a pad and pencil. Put them by your TV

chair so you can scribble stuff down during commercials.

Write a phrase about what you do. Then scribble down your qualifications. And what you do for your clients. Plus

what they do for you (i.e. how you get paid).



Don't worry about grammar, spelling, or even forming

sentences at this stage. All that comes later.



Can't think of anything to say about yourself? Ask your significant other, a client, or a few of your clients.

Find out what they think you do, and why they deal with

you.



If after a week your pad is blank, forget it. You're not

ready for a web site. Why? Because the most important

thing about a web site is content, and if you've got

nothing to say, you've got no content.



When you've filled a page or so about what you do, and the benefits of dealing with you, it's time to reshape it.

Start by dividing all the stuff you've written into two

parts, qualifications, and other. In the qualifications

pile include all the phrases that describe why prospects

should deal with you. Try to turn them into a paragraph or

two of benefits, and call them your Professional

Background.



The other pile consists of what's left over, maybe your

age, family life, hobbies, etc. Rewrite all those phrases

into a more readable form and call that your Personal

Profile.



Now you can turn on your computer, and type it all into

your word processor, edit it so it hangs together and makes sense, then save it as MySite so you can copy it into your web site.



You now have some content for your website. To create it,

go to one of mine at http://www.eTIP.ca/



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Copyright 2005, Donald F. Pooley, Inc.



Don Pooley has shared his marketing know-how with audiences

in major Canadian cities, London, Australia, Chicago, New

York, San Francisco, Hong Kong, and Singapore, and now in

his free ezine, TIP. Subscribe at http://www.eTIP.ca/, or

get free article downloads, and redistribution rights info

at http://www.eTIP.ca/Downloads/Publish.html