Brooklyn's Progress
April/May 2006

BY DONALD SCHWARTZ

Starting a new business? Competition got you worried? Got to put a Web site right? Before getting started, let’s first back up a bit.

I’m going to give you the cheat sheet version of what you need to do before you put up a Web site yourself or hire a Web site development company to do it for you. I’m going to stick with service-oriented businesses because e-commerce Web sites add another level of technical issues too complex to cover in this article.

I strongly believe in what I call the “Web site trinity” when it comes to considering what will work for you (read: accomplish your objectives).

Audience: Who are you trying to reach? Don’t say everybody. Remember the 80/20 rule meaning that 80% of your business comes from 20% of your audience. Try thinking about your target audience as someone who is standing right in front of you. What is their age group? Their income level? Education? Marital status? Leisure activities?

Message: What separates you from your competition? What is your unique selling proposition? You’ll have to do some homework on your competition to answer this question. The message is even shorter than the elevator pitch. We’re talking slogan length.

Action: What action do you want your audience to take while looking at your Web site? I’ll help you with this one: You want them to contact you, right? But how? When? What will you set up on your Web site to facilitate this action?

Answer all of the above questions first before you start to build your Web site or talk with a developer.

Think of your Web site as a very short infomercial. Keep the copy short and sweet and give it just enough information about what you do to establish your expertise.

Closing admonition: Don’t put up your Web site unless you’ve figured out a way to update the content on a regular basis – weekly or monthly at the very least.  Stale, out-of-date information will definitely send the wrong message about you and your business.

Donald Schwartz is the Marketing Director of Imagelink Productions, a Web site design and development company that specializes in 3D animation. For more information, call 718-789-8408, or visit the company's Web site at http://www.imagelinkproductions.com/.