Online or Offline Business

When starting a business there are many questions a person must ask themselves... one of those questions is whether or not to start and online business or an offline business?

There are positives and negatives of both. In my opinion it is much more logical to start an online business for many reasons. Think about it... even an "offline" business will typically have an "online" presence, such as a website.

I came across an article today that helps to put some of the "online" versus "offline" business into perspective.

Here is the article....

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Online or Offline Business?
by Alan Richardson

1. The Basics.
Approximately 750 million people worldwide have access to the World Wide Web (WWW). No matter what your business is, you can't ignore 750 million people. To be a part of that community and show that you are interested in serving them, you need to be on the WWW for them. You know your competitors will.

2. Get Known.
A lot of what passes for business is simply nothing more than making connections with other people. Every smart business person knows, it's not what you know, it's who you know. Passing out your business card is part of every good meeting and every business person can tell more than one story how a chance meeting turned into the big deal.

Well, what if you could pass out your business card to thousands, maybe millions of potential clients and partners, saying this is what I do and if you are ever in need of my services, this is how you can reach me. You can, 24 hours a day, inexpensively and simply, on the WWW.

3. To Make Business Information Available.
What is basic business information? Think of a Yellow Pages ad. What do you do? How can someone contact you? What methods of payment do you take? Where are you located at?

If you could keep your customer informed of every reason why they should do business with you, don't you think you could do more business? You can on the WWW.

4. Customers Are Your Lifeblood
Making business information available is one of the most important ways to serve your customers. But if you look at serving the customer, you'll find even more ways to use WWW technology.

Allow your customer to punch in sizes and check it against a database that tells him what colour of jacket is available in your store? All this can be done, simply and quickly, on the WWW.

5. To Heighten Public Interest
You won't get Newsweek magazine to write up your local store opening, but you might get them to write up your Web Page address if it is something new and interesting.

Even if Newsweek would write about your local store opening, you wouldn't benefit from someone in a distant city reading about it, unless of course, they were coming to your town sometime soon.

Even if Newsweek would write about your local store opening, you wouldn't benefit from someone in a distant city reading about it, unless of course, they were coming to your town sometime soon.

With Web page information, anybody anywhere who can access the Web and hears about you is a potential visitor to your Web site and a potential customer for your information there.

6. To Sell Things
Many people think that this is the number 1 thing to do with the World Wide Web, but we made it number seven to make it clear that we think you should consider selling things on the Internet and the World Wide Web after you have done all the things above and maybe even after doing quite a few more things from this list.

Why? Well, the answer is complex but the best way to put it is, do you consider the telephone the best place to sell things? Probably not.

You probably consider the telephone a tool that allows you to communicate with your customer, which in turn helps you sell things. Well, that's how we think you should consider the WWW.

The technology is different, of course, but before people decide to become customers, they want to know about you, what you do and what you can do for them. Which you can do easily and inexpensively on the WWW. Then you might be able to turn them into customers.

7. To reach a highly desirable demographic market
The demographic of the WWW user is probably the highest mass-market demographic available. Usually college-educated or being college educated, making a high salary or soon to make a high salary, it's no wonder that Wired magazine, the magazine of choice to the Internet community, has no problem getting Lexus and other high-end marketers advertising. Even with the addition of the commercial on-line community, the demographic will remain high for many years to come.

8. To Create a 24 Hour Service
If you've ever remembered too late or too early to call the opposite coast, you know the hassle. We're not all on the same schedule. Business is worldwide but your office hours aren't. Trying to reach Asia or Europe is even more frustrating. But Web pages serve the client, customer and partner 24 hours a day, seven days a week. No overtime either. It can customize information to match needs and collect important information that will put you ahead of the competition, even before they get into the office.

About the author:

Alan Richardson…can help you succeed with Your online business.
Visit me at: www.als-home-biz.com and subscribe for Excellent hints and tips.

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Well, I think that sums up some of the good reasons to start an online business over an offline business.

Until next time... Have a great night!


Dedicated to your online business success,
Trent Brownrigg

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