Does your company need a web site? It's not just for advertising. Web sites can serve just about any purpose you can dream up. Customer or technical support, a bulletin board within your company, news updates, ski reports, stock reports, hobbies... you name it! Reach potential customers across the US and around the world. Want your ad to reach people all over the world? Can't afford that TV spot on the Superbowl? Works for you 24 hours a day. Web sites can sell your products when your store is closed or you're on vacation! Existing customers can reach you round the clock. Set up a customer support site to answer common questions. Describe your products or services in detail. Radio and TV ads only last a few seconds. Print ads give you limited space. Put your ads on the web and potential customers can peruse pages and pages of information at their own liesure and print them out. Web pages can be updated. Your web pages can contain the latest information reflecting changes in schedules, pricing, inventory or product descriptions. Offer deals of the week to keep 'em coming back for more! Sell your product directly over the internet. Web pages can take orders directly from anyone viewing your page. Making a sale has never been so easy. Cost-effective. Compare to the cost of advertising on TV, radio, newspaper or magazine ads. In conjunction with other advertising. World Wide Web pages complement other forms of advertising well. The execs at the big marketing firms know this. Almost every TV commercial lists its web address these days. Let your existing advertising build an interest and your web site can provide the details and finalize the sale! I hear, I forget. I see, I remember. Don't just tell them about it, show them. The web has been around for a long time, but nobody noticed it until it became possible to add pictures and graphics. Sound and motion video are becoming more common as well. Works whether you're selling houses, cars or handcrafts. It's not just for advertising. Web sites can serve just about any purpose you can dream up. Customer or technical support, a bulletin board within your company, news updates, ski reports, stock reports, hobbies... you name it! Accessibility and Availability. The Internet is not platform specific. This means that anyone, on any computer, using any operating system, has access to the same information. It's relatively easy to learn and it is accessible 24/7/365 days a year. Adaptability A website allows you to change or update it's information easily, allowing you to provide your visitors with the latest information on your products and services. Collect Customer Information Your website can prompt visitors to complete a profile of themselves which can help you to create a demographic database based on their preferences. This information can be used by your marketing department to assist in creating advertising campaigns. Provide Information to your Customers You can provide customers with the most up to date information on your products. Putting a "What's New" section on your site can help your customers easily find all the latest news. Generate Opportunities With the growing popularity of the Internet, an online catalog is a perfect way to introduce prospective customers to your line of products or services. Website surveys are another way to gather information and possibly generate new product ideas. Expand Internationally The Internet is GLOBAL. There are no boundaries, which means you can conduct business and attract customers in international markets. Heck, you can even expand regionally if that's all you're interested in. Provide Improved Customer Service Service and support can be offered through your website. This can help to increase consumer confidence in your company, knowing that they can find help if they need it. Keep Up With The Competition Your competitors have a website, what are you going to do? Even if you feel you don't need a website, can you afford to let your competition gain an edge? Broaden your Customer Base Millions and millions of people now use the Internet, and more people are getting online every month. Is there any other inexpensive way you could make your products or services available to so many people? Networking You can very easily link with industry-related businesses or issue-related organizations through their web sites, anywhere in the world. You can introduce yourself to a few hundred people by handing out business cards at trade shows and seminars. You can introduce yourself to a few million people by having the same information (and more) on a web site. Dramatically Reduce Recurring Printing Costs If your business or organization prints catalogs or information that quickly becomes outdated, and therefore must be revised and re-printed frequently, you save a tremendous amount of money by displaying the same information on your web site. If your latest catalog gets printed and then mailed out with typographical errors, your customers are stuck with bad information until you can re-print the entire catalog and re-mail them. No such problem with a web site! Immediate Feedback You can get quick feedback from your online customers by simply having e-mail addresses of all your contact personnel posted on your web site. You can make available customer surveys and receive the results without any printing or distribution costs. Very Low Cost Advertising Compared to the cost of advertising through direct mail and in newspapers, magazines, and especially radio and TV, the cost of a web site is nominal. Supplement Your Current Advertising Anytime you display your Internet address in your print, radio, or TV advertising, potential customers know they can go right there to get more information about the products or services you are advertising through the traditional media. Your Clients Expect It The Internet and the Web are getting more and more publicity every year, and as public awareness increases, the public will expect companies and organizations to have web sites. Give Your Users Printable Information They Can Use A visitor to your web site can download and print anything that appears on their screen. You can take advantage of this by displaying: a map to your place of business, application forms that can be filled out which require a signature (which can then be mailed or faxed to you), assembly instructions for your products, diagnostic flowcharts, dimensional drawings, etc. Customer Coupons at Zero Cost to You You can display customer coupons on your web site and your customers download them and print them out on their own printers, using their own paper. You have zero printing costs and pay no postage. Level the playing field. Ever feel like your little business can't compete with the big boys? With a web site, you can put on whatever image you want to convey.