Do you need business cards or website first?

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This is a question I hear from time-to-time from small business owners and start-ups. You can actually have your cake and eat it too.

Here's how.
This article is for those of you who have some knowledge of conducting business using business cards without a website and the opposite - conducting business with a website and no business cards. Then there are those of you who need both.

Either is fine and useful in the right marketing arena. I've used a few questions and answers to help you see if you need business cards now that you have a website or if you need a website if doing business with cards already works.

I have a website but I don't have business cards. What can I do?
You can conduct business online without giving out a business card to get people to visit your website. Before you go out an have business cards designed and printed, look for websites that allow you to build online business listings, and offer you marketing tools to increase your business connections. Go to websites like MerchantCircle.com, Kudzu.com, Google Local Business Center, Yahoo Local Listing, Yellowpages.com, etc. These are just a very few so jump on the search engines and start listing your business online now.

People browse for local business reviews on every topic you can imagine. Choose the listing that best fits your business. Now go out and have at least 100 business card printed so you have another channel to drive traffic to your website. Best of all many of these business listings are free. Remember, if it sounds too good to be true. It probably is.



I have business cards. When should I get my website?
With the saturation of text messaging and email, it's very easy to pass along the phone number of your favorite salon to your friends. It takes about 1 minute. You can even send them the salon website address and name of your hair stylist if you want. So why do a business card design and printing for nothing? The truth is there are times when you don't have your cell phone or computer under your finger tips - or should I say you should think twice. A wedding is not a great place to do business, and being on your cell phone is even worse. So if you choose the lesser of the two; go with the business card pass over texting your business info. Since you have a channel for telling people about your business with your business card, now is the time you can add a website address to your business card.

You can gain information by having a simple form on your website, update potential clients on new offers or innovations in your industry. Your website can help you tell people about the benefit of conducting business with your company. Your web site need not be more then 1 or 2 pages to add value to your brand.

It's perfectly fine to conduct business when you have business cards but no website. Keep in mind that a website will offer your company additional exposure and potential for winning new customers. So it's really up to you when and if you want to turn up the volume. Take it one day at a time and make your best educated decision after your research.

I have a website. Why do I need business cards anyway?
Business cards are a great way to advertise and market your business or push more people to your website. They can help you give people a glimpse of what your business can do. You can start building your brands mood with different colors and images that represent or backup what you have just vocalized. The business card can be passed from one recipient to a third party. Most importantly the business card allows you more opportunity to give something physical and they are a powerful way to increase referrals to your small business.

The best answer in my opinion is to go ahead and knock-out both at the same time.
Have business cards printed and your website design at the same time – if at all possible. If you receive your business cards first, don't hold back on handing out your cards if you website is not finished. You may be thinking that potential customers will go to your website and see a big-fat goose egg, zero, nothing, nada, zilch, zip. To keep this from happening, tell your web guy to add a small statement to your website about your company that tells visitors how to communicate with you while your site is being "updated." Never say "under construction." Nobody wants to hear that there dinner is almost ready and that's what "under construction" sounds like. Additionally, your visitors will be hungry for information (main purpose of the Internet anyway) and you need to at least give them a nibble. Chick-Fil A does a great job at sampling. Take note and use the same principle.

This is Gibron T. Williams, Head Honcho at Oevae Marketing Consultants and these are my opinions.

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How many years do you register a domain?

If you've had your business online since 1999 or before, this topic may not be of great concern to you.
However, I do know that there are many out there who have no idea how long a domain name should be registered. The truth is there's no strict rule that says you must register for more than 1 year. Of course there are deals available that offer your discounts based on the number of years you choose to register. It's likely you will pay less if you register for more years.

In a slow economy, saving money can be a real treat. What you may not know is registering your domain for more years (paying upfront for 10 years rather than only 1 year) can help you secure the respect of the search engines. Why? As I do when consulting my clients; let me tell you a short story to help you understand the logic:

Here goes...
All those with the gift of having two good working eyes have seen small business owners driving around town with magnetic signs on utility trucks, suv's, and all car types really. Now with this in mind, lets say a perfect stranger pulled her (Nene) vehicle next to yours at pump #7... As you stand there pumping your gas, you notice a magnetic sign on Nene's car that reads Financial Planner, Take The Cap Off Your Income! Call Today! Your first thought might be that Nene might have a special strategy for helping you take control of your finances, right? Well this may be true. However there is another question. That question might be: Magnetic signs are not exactly a big commitment. I mean one could keep a stack of magnetic signs in the trunk and change town-to-town or state-to-state. Sounds a bit like selling snake oil.

You want to conduct business with a company that shows a real commitment - a company that appears to be stable. Now before some of you get yor shorts in a knot... I do know that there are perfect reasons and situations where/why a magnetic sign should be used over something better (vehicle wraps, etc.). But what I'm talking about here is the Internet where you can start a company in 5 minutes and desolved in an additional 5 minutes. So the risks are much higer. Unlike Nene whom you can have a brief disccussion and ask for her business card, such options are not available online.

So here it is...
Let's replace Nene with the name of your business and I'm a search engine trying to determine the worthiness of your company. If you're a business with a domain name registered for 1 year. I might assume that you are new to the world wide web and you don't think you'll be around in 366 days. On the other hand you may be a business with a domain name registerd for 5 years. This might tell me that although you could be new to the world wide web, you may have a plan, you may have joint commitments, you may be in a joint venture or you've planned to keep your information available for a descent amount of time - I can index your company in my listing and not worry about house cleaning for at least 5 years.

You may also want to consider registering multiple domain names to:

• Keep your competition from registering a domain name that draws customers to them instead of you.
• Promote the different products and services you offer.
• Drive more traffic to your Web site.
• Enjoy more opportunities to market to, and be listed on, search engines.
• Create distinct advertising strategies that reach different target markets.
• Provide customers more ways to find you when searching the Internet.
  
• Capture common misspellings of your domain name, instead of sending visitors to an error page.
• Protect your brand and online identity from those who may have unsavory purposes.

That's it.
You can save money when you register your domain names longer terms and be seen as a company with a commitment to your product, services and existance.

This is Gibron T. Williams, Head Honcho at Oevae Marketing Consultants and these are my opinions.

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