In the history of mankind there is an event that is used as historical reference. We mark the event of the coming of Christ as a deifying moment in history, and we even separate the era before Christ and after Christ.
The Internet’s history is already twenty years old and I have been providing Internet services for over 16 years. I have observed that like humanity’s history, the business community was marked in the year 1998 by an event of the same magnitude. After that event, the business history can be divided in two eras, before Google and after Google.
The reality is that today’s business owners have already realized that instead of being in the yellow pages and newspapers, they must be found on Google. After sixteen years I have never seen so many business owners desperate to be on Google, and yet, this is only one piece of the digital puzzle…
The problem is that the small business owners don’t even know how to do their own websites, how can they even think of position their websites properly online. While business owner continue to postpone this issue, the truth is, it will only get more crowded over time.
The race already started twenty years ago. So it is to be expected to find people and companies that are racing very fast and making fortunes. There is an ongoing war for Google positions on every single keyword. Don’t be discouraged, there is still much land available within the reach of the small business owner. However, this window of opportunity is closing daily due to the high number of websites that are launched every day.
The competition is so fierce that today’s business owner must be involved in its own internet strategy and monitor it on a daily basis.
This is something that programmers and webmasters will not do for you. Having the website is only one piece of the puzzle. The business owner has to strategize in order to find new quality visitors and start building relationships with the visitors in order to convert some into customers. No developer or webmaster has the mentality of sales and persuasion, business expertise, or even the economic need to convert your visitors into customers.
When the business owner kicks out of the denial mode and recognizes that he must be educated on the subject, the initial reactions are almost always the following:
- I am too busy
- I don’t have time for that
- How much do you charge me to do everything for me?
Like a carpenter has its own hammer inside his toolbox when he goes to work, the business owner of the twenty first century must have its own digital toolkit in order to make a living.
As an Internet Service Provider, ecommerce trainer and consultant, we can only set up the digital tools and educate the business owner, but each business owner must take his own digital hammer and start aiming at digital nails on a daily basis.
Digital tools needed:
- Domain Names
- Website/Blog
- Internet Marketing
- Social Media sites
- Google AdWords Account
To succeed in the 21st century is extremely important that these tools are not delegated to Internet beginners. Before you decide to delegate this important aspect of your business into the hands of untrained users, you must be aware that it could harm your corporate image at an international level.
The business owner must assume its responsibility to learn as much as possible about this subject. They are faced with the option to learn how to create and edit their own website, how to create a Google campaign, how to establish trust with your visitors, how to work your social media portals, and how to write articles in your blog. All of these have become daily tasks for all small business owners of the twenty first century.
This year will continue eroding sales from small businesses that are not positioned in Google. Want to make a quick experiment? Think like a customer and Google your products and services. If you are not found among the first page, you are missing on the internet action, big time…
Learn more about the small business owner’s digital tasks, responsibilities and strategies, in order to survive the transition to the digital world.