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Eve Tahmincioglu

Primary author Eve Tahmincioglu has been covering small business and entrepreneurship for more than a decade. She regularly writes about small business issues for the New York Times and BusinessWeek's SmallBiz magazine. She also writes the Your Career column for MSNBC.com. She is the author of "From the Sandbox to the Corner Office."



No Web site? Are you crazy?

Posted: Tuesday, February 19, 2008 2:53 AM by Eve Tahmincioglu
Filed Under: , , , , ,

There are far too many small business owners out there without a Web site.

Why? It’s too expensive. It takes too much time.

These are pretty lame excuses in today’s here’s-a-free-website marketplace.

I’m serious folks. There are lots of tech companies out there wanting to give away Web site-building products.  I’m talking free.

Are they too good to be true?

The latest product to enter the mix is Microsoft Office Live Small Business.

(Disclosure here: MSNBC.com is a Microsoft/NBC Universal joint venture.)

The New York Times David Pogue gave the product some kudos:

Office Live Small Business is a centralized Web site where you can set up all of those small-businessy things — a Web site, an online ad campaign, e-mail promotions, in-company communications — all by yourself, even if you’re not very technical. For the first time, these big-league tools are within your reach, partly because you don’t have to hire somebody to set them up and partly because many of them are free.

The changes from the original 2006 version are apparent immediately. Internet Explorer used to be the required Web browser to set up your online presence, but now Firefox is O.K., too. And that means you can take advantage of Office Live even if you use (gasp) a Macintosh. That’s the New Microsoft, baby.

OK, that sounds pretty good, but the bottom line is, whichever free Web site-building service you use, use one already.

A website can only enhance your business.

“My opinion is that any way for a small business to get online is good,” says Matt Sarrel, the Tech Advisor for AllBusiness.com.

“Many small businesses ask me if they really need to be online. What if they are a small retail store in a small town?  My answer is that customers turn to the Web today find goods and services the same way that they turned to the yellow pages 10 years ago.  If you're not on the web and your competitor is, then you just lost a sale.”

He’s big on these free Web products, especially for smaller operations.

As for Microsoft's product, he thinks it's OK and basically like “an online brochure.  It's not the best way to go, but it is a start and it is better than nothing.”

A step up would be a low-end hosting product offered by companies like Yahoo or GoDaddy, he adds. “For under $10/month a small business can set up a fully customized website.  Something like this will look much better, especially if they hire a web designer to make it look good and work well," he notes.

But if you’re going to be buying and selling stuff online and want serious ecommerce capabilities, get ready to pay upwards of $50 a month, Sarrel maintains.

Here’s link to a webcast he gave on why small business should get into cyber space already.

Have you guys tried any of these free web offerings. What’s been your experience?

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Comments

You are absolutely right! There are to many options today for the small business to get online and they are affordable. The problem with programs like Office Live and Godaddy's Website Builder is you're stuck with them and their limitations. If you decide to host somewhere else you can't take your website with you. Also if you feel like customizing again you are going to have to start over with something that can handle your growth. That's why we developed a do it yourself web builder that allows you to host anywhere you want plus it will grow with you and it's only $10 bucks! Check it out at http://craigbuilder.com

Craig, Phoenix AZ (Sent Tuesday, February 19, 2008 9:29 AM)

That's not to say that attending to the details of more traditional communication is not important either. For the same reason you need a professional-looking website, you need a phone system that will handle your customer's calls in an organized manner.  There are great services in virtual phone systems that provide small business with the professional image of a large company.
http://www.gotvmail.com/

Julia Gibson, Portland OR (Sent Tuesday, February 19, 2008 7:39 PM)

The issue is educating the small and local business on the advantages of online marketing.  For most it is a complete mystery, and they are confused and frustrated in their attempt to reach local customers online.  However, as you mentioned above there are simple and inexpensive alternatives to not only create a web presence, but to market it.

Yes, this is part of a pitch.  We recently launched the Local Online Marketing Association to educate local businesses on the ways and means to succeed online.  

Fred Waters, Southern Pines, NC (Sent Wednesday, February 20, 2008 8:21 AM)

even worse, jerkies that advertise their garbage in the "send a comment" section.
how pathetic!!

the. Unheard Majority, Everywhere,U.S.A. (Sent Saturday, February 23, 2008 4:43 AM)

WELL WE AT BLUESKY COMMUNICATIONS WESTCHESTER COUNTY ,NOT 900 5TH AVE,NEW YORK .SELL MICROSOFT IT'S NOT THE RIGTH SYSTEM .BUT THERE OTHER SOFTWARE SMALL BUSINESS SERVER ,HELPS WITH THE BACKOFFICE STUFF SMALL BUSINESSES NEED,TO CONTROL CASHFLOW AND GROWTH,WE FOUND THAT PROSTORES.COM IS GOOD,AND SERMATRIX.COM,ALSO GET GOOD MERCHANT ACCOUNT LIKE CHASE PAYMENTECH,OR CYBERSOUCES.COM TO HANDLE YOUR MERCHANT SERVICES AND GOOD BUSINESS BANKING ACCOUNT,LIKE COMMERCE,OR WASHINTON MUTAL,CHASE,,WATCH THE FLOW AND CHARGEBACKS AND GET FRAUD CONTROL SOFTWARE LIKE BUILTIN IN AUTHRIZED.NET.IF CAN AFFORD GET WEB DESIGNER ,BUT LEARN HOW TO DESIGN YOURSELF.AND LAST MARKET ,MARKET,MARKET,YOU HAVE LOCATION NOW ?  

MR.WILFRED J. MAYNARD (Sent Sunday, February 24, 2008 9:30 AM)

I think most small business owners can't figure how they can find or attract customers on the net if they aren't a franchise or big enough to draw.  I tell them that that their customers aren't just people who are here already - they are people coming here. Also, they can often find potential customers online by doing one simple thing:  set up a search engine alert (like google) exactly the way that a customer would ask a question about their product/service.  It takes seconds and is free.  Some of the results they'll get back in their e-mail box will be message board posts from people who are looking for what they have to offer.  Message boards generally frown on outright advertising, but this is an opp for relationship building which can and does lead to business.  But, I'd advise that having a web site going (even if it is a starter site) will be important when the people you are building that virtual relationship with decide to "google" you.  And they will.

Mary Kurek, Atlantic Beach, NC (Sent Sunday, February 24, 2008 6:21 PM)

FRROM BLUESKY COMMUNICATIONS ,CORRECTIONS TO MY POST OF FEB 24,2008.THE BEST WEBSITE TO PROMOTE YOUR BUSINESS SHOULD READ AT SERVMATIX.COM,ALSO THEY OFFER A VALUE PLUS THAT YOU CAN'T FIND ON OTHER SITES,OR FROM OTHER SITE THERE TECHS.THERE'S ARE THE BEST. WE AT "BLUESKY COMMUNICATIONS" HAVE FOUND YET, WE WILL KEEP YOU POSTED.

WILFRED MAYNARD (Sent Friday, February 29, 2008 7:12 PM)

is there eney thing for kids like me ..............

molly engaland (Sent Sunday, March 09, 2008 6:22 PM)



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