I hear many small business owners echo this sentiment…

“I don’t sell online, I can’t sell online…I don’t need a website”

Usually these business owners run a retail operation or other small storefront. When you look at their business model, there’s doesn’t seem to be any reason to have a web site. For example, let’s say you run a beauty salon. You can’t sell haircuts online and take payments on PayPal, so why bother?

Slap yourself on the head if this is you. Would you even consider NOT having a listing in the Yellow Pages?

If I’m in the market for a haircut and I don’t know where to go, you simply must snag me!!

You have to stand-out in the crowd. Put yourself in my shoes as the consumer. If it were really me, I wouldn’t even open the Yellow Pages, I’d hit Google and do a search (because I know that I’ll get Yellow Pages results as well as other information and map information all at once).

Which one am I going to choose????

I suppose that proximity to my house is important, but I’d be willing to go out of my way a little bit for something better. So there’s 20 listings, which one? Guess what? Four of them have a link to a website and 3 of those are to national chain websites. One of them (yours in this make-believe scenario) has a professional looking website with pictures of your shop, directions on how to get there, hours and prices listed as well as pictures of your barbers and stylists, before and after shots of some of your work, a list of the different services you offer, etc. The other 16 just have an address and a phone number.

Assuming that price and location are fairly close, which one do you think I’m going to choose?

The ridiculous thing is that having a website like that would cost less than some of the bigger ads in the Yellow Pages and if you don’t think your customers are searching for your kind of goods and services online, you are sorely mistaken, because I assure you that they are.

Welcome back again!