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Web speculation is proof that ''hope springs eternal" in the hearts of the the modern entrepreneur. We passed through the dot-COM crash, millions of discouraged investors, rip-off artists, SPAM scams and the like. But people keep coming back, hanging around the web, trying just one more time to get noticed in the hope that some day, somehow, the public will discover their web site, and they'll be rich, or famous, or both. Why does this sound like the dream of a prostitute on Hollywood Boulevard?
It's the mailbox principle. If you want to get mail, what do you do? You write letters, of course! Having a fancy mailbox or one that is well known to the post man will do nothing for you.
Brick and Mortor Analogy
Let's say I'm starting a new business. It's my life long dream, and I'm passionate about it. So I register my business name and open up for sales. No one comes. Here's what I do next.
I hire a realtor who says location, location, location. So I set myself up in this swanky little office in the cool part of downtown. No one comes.
I get an interior decorator and give it the works, inside and out. Everyone who passes by compliments me on it. But none of them want to buy my goods. Essentially, no one comes.
I decide problem is that my name isn't placed properly in the phone directory. So I pay lots of money to hire a Directory Operations Placement Engineer (DOPE) to change the name of my company to start with "AAA" so it'll be the first thing anyone sees in the phone book. No one comes.
Next, I spend lots of money to get the best computer equipment and have a customer software program designed to make my office run really efficiently. I even hire a large staff that can handle lots of calls. No one comes.
It's All About Marketing
If you want business to come to you, you need to go out and get it. It's not the look of your shop or your placement in the yellow pages that makes your business. You've got to extend yourself beyond your front door. Here are a few things some of my clients have done to drive in traffic.
- Send mailers to a large customer contact list.
- Call local businesses everyday to drum up business.
- Publish books and put their web address on the cover.
- Visit professional organizations, clubs, networking groups and Chambers of Commerce.
- Do special projects for service organizations and philanthropies.
- Hold training seminars for their industry.
- Run advertisements in newspapers and magazines.
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