Recession-Proof 3: Marketing Strategies to Increase Profits!


	*Internet Advertising and Your Website* Can Build Business FAST —**

Illustration: A web-designer and a business owner discuss the image that his company will project on the web. [3] Internet Marketing Strategies
that Greatly Increase Your Profit!

If the Internet is not yet an integral part of the marketing strategy of your retail business or professional practice, you're missing the boat. The Case Studies here will give you a few ideas.

Case Study #1: How a Restaurant Used Their
Website to Double Their Sales Volume!!!

Ole Time Barbecue Restaurant & Catering is a small family-owned neighborhood restaurant in Raleigh NC. Since their startup in 1993, Ole Time has developed a loyal local following.

Their barbecue is based on an old family recipe, and Jerry and Kathy Hart's restaurant has won several awards, including having been recently named one of the Top Ten Barbecue Restaurants in the State of North Carolina.

Ole Time's style is friendly and casual, the food is great, and the restaurant is very accessible. The folks at Ole Time have been advertising on our information service for several years now, and have used a variety of advertising venues (internet-based and print media advertising, hosting of special events, civic involvement) to promote the business as well, and business has been pretty good over the years. Several of our Staffers have eaten at Ole Time, and love it.

Up until recently however, Ole Time's website was, like many other retail business websites, mostly just used for keeping regular customers and employees informed of menu changes, and basic everyday stuff like that.

But then about two years ago, the Harts began developing a new marketing approach that used their website to generate an avalanche of new business.

After returning from an extended trip out of town, one of Ole Time's regular customers had talked to the Harts about how hard it had been to find "decent barbecue" when his family was travelling, and suggested that the Harts should begin selling their barbecue online.

So that's exactly what they did.

Revamping the Ole Time website, the Harts added a "shopping cart" feature and began selling their barbecue and related food items online for people who couldn't get to the restaurant. They began offering free shipping and handling (to anywhere in the continental U.S.), and the convenience of payment through PayPal. And they also made a point of promoting their new website heavily in all of their regular advertising. And Ole Time's multi-pronged approach has proven to be highly effective.

Soon, Ole Time Barbecue's online orders began pouring in. Mrs. Hart recently told one of our Staffers that their online sales usually produce higher monthly sales volume than the restaurant and catering service combined. This new marketing approach also brought in new customers to the restaurant who didn't live "right in the neighborhood." Mrs. Hart said that their total sales MORE THAN DOUBLED in less than a year. Now, Ole Time Barbecue has two stores, and their website has become a vital component of their overall marketing plan.

Does Your Retail Business or Professional Practice Have a Website?
Here's Why Your Website Should Be an Integral Part of Your Overall Marketing Plan:

Your Website Can Keep Your Customers Informed:
Your own Website can be the most efficient — and cost-effective — way to keep your customers updated on what's going on with your business. Unlike printed sale flyers, brochures, or restaurant menus, information on your Website can be updated instantly at minimal cost, to advise your customers of changes in your hours, upcoming specials, events and activities, and anything else your customers might want to know about. Many retail businesses these days are even posting comprehensive catalogs (or menus) on their Website of everything they sell.

Your Website Can Help Your Professional Practice Run More Efficiently:
Information on your Website can inform prospective Clients or Patients about the specialties handled by your practice, payment methods you accept, and so much more. Your Website can help your office staff run more efficiently by handling many routine transactions with your present Clients or Patients, such as appointment confirmation (or rescheduling), prescription refill requests and questions, case management and test result updates. The options on your Website can be as personalized as the nature of your practice.

Your Website Can Help Build Customer Loyalty for Your Retail Business:
For even the smallest of retail businesses, your website can build business by helping regular customers feel like they are "in the loop" and not missing anything. It also can eliminate many "time-wasting" phone calls from customers who ask such questions as "how late are you going to be open tonight?" and "are you still running that special on Beef Stroganoff?" because they quickly learn that they can usually find answers to their questions on your website in less time than it takes them to dial the phone ... if you provide online answers to questions they ask.

Your Website Can Help Increase Sales With Your Existing Customers:
As your regular customers become aware that your store has a website, they will begin using it more and more to stay informed — and often happily discover on your website that you sell the exact "thing" they've been searching for, even if they never knew they needed it before!!! Marketing studies have shown that the more your regular customers visit your website, the more they are likely to BUY MORE FROM YOU!

Combined With Your Regular Advertising, Your Website Can Help Bring in NEW Customers:
Just as shown in the Case Study above on this page, a combined marketing approach is usually the most effective way to sell your business and whatever your business sells! The more often prospective customers see your name out there with a reference to your website, the more likely they are to visit your website — which has almost unlimited space to tell your story in detail and generate the further interest in your business that eventually closes that sale!

Your Website is a Tireless "Salesman" that Works 24/7/365 for Your Business:
So keep your website interesting AND informative; keep updating it frequently — and if nothing has changed at your store in the last month or so, change something anyway so you'll always have something *new* to tell people about — and keep new customers coming in, and keep your regular customers coming back.

But What If Your Business Doesn't Have a Website?

Most larger businesses these days do have their own websites. Many have teams of "in-house" staffers to design and maintain their websites. But for smaller companies, such a plan could be cost-prohibitive, and it might actually be less expensive to hire professional web designers.

Depending on the nature of your particular business, there are alternative options to tap your business into the power of the 'Net in other ways. Several services today offer prepackaged online "stores" that [a] don't require a lot of technical expertise; and [b] can quickly expand your customer base (at minimal cost and with just a little regular effort) by exposing your company's products and services to large numbers of prospective online customers.

On the next page, another Case Study tells the story of a small retailer in a remote city who used one of the popular prepackaged online store services to sell his products nationwide, far exceeding hia local sales on a consistent basis for several years. We're also going to give you a few tips for effectively integrating your company's website and/or online store into your overall marketing plan.

Please continue ...
Next page: The 'Net Can be Your Key to a Well-Rounded Marketing Plan >>>

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