Small Business Owners are Idiots

Consider yourself a prodigy. Seriously, start calling yourself a "guru" and pat yourself on the back. You’re smarter than the average bear because you are a fast mover. You have already penetrated a new medium and if you move quickly, you can cash in.

Left Behind

Last month, the NY Times did an article on Small Businesses and how they are just warming up to the internet. According to last year’s Jupiter Research poll, only 36% of businesses with less than 100 employees are online. What? Are you kidding me?

I guess I just assumed that I was unable to find many businesses because they didn’t know how to market their business, but I guess I was wrong. They just flat out aren’t there.

I find it hard to believe that a small business could even stay in business in this age without being online. The internet gives a business such a huge advantage and there is reaelly absolutely no reason any business shouldn’t be online right now. The cost of entry is zero or near zero, and even just setting up a simple blog should increase customer relations to the point where they can double sales if they do it correctly. Think a down-home local bar advertising drink specials and upcoming DJ/bands while talking about and sharing pictures of what happened last weekend. Powerful stuff, but most just aren’t doing it.

Be The Leader

What does this mean for you? Just the fact that you’re reading this blog puts you lightyears ahead of the competition. You are thinking about things like cost per visitor, conversion rates, backend sales, autoresponders, etc. If you’re not, you should be. These tools will increase your bottom line by at least 100%.

Which brings up the next point in the article: most businesses, when they do get online, focus on all the wrong things. They focus on the beautiful flash design that so many web designers push, when they SHOULD be designing their site with conversions and usability in mind.

Where To Start

Where should you start? Read Don’t Make Me Think. That will get you started thinking about usability. Then attend all of my website reviews. One of my strongest emphasis is on usability and conversion. SEO is a distant second, followed by everything else.

Anchor yourself in your market by focusing on the right things and you will be unmovable. You will thank me when the other 64% are trying to enter the market and PPC costs are triple what they are now.

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