The value of the internet as a sales and promotional tool is often overlooked by small businesses. They mistakenly think that the world wide web is only for businesses with a global reach. The internet, however, is for all kinds of businesses, both large and small.

Take for example a small business that caters just to a limited range of customers. We’ll take a hypothetical example. Stan’s Picket Fences manufactures and sells and installs picket fences within a 50 mile radius of his small factory. Stan didn’t want to expand his business beyond that range, but he was also tired of going out on the road every day to show his portfolio to potential customers, only about twenty-five percent of whom ended up buying from him.

He was talking it over with his employees one day and one of them offered to make a website for him. Stan agreed. The employee got his digital camera and make a kind of online scrapbook album that included photos of the factory, the manufacturing process and a collection of photos of completed work. There was nothing fancy about it, but it worked!

Once he was online, when people called Stan and asked him to come to their homes to show them his portfolio, he suggested they look at his website first. Those who saw his work and wanted fences of similar quality always called him back. The result for Stan was a large increase in the percentage of sales after his first visit. While he wasn’t making more sales, he was saving time and money.

Deeply impressed, Stan asked his employee if he had any other ideas. The employee suggested that Stan get in touch with other local businesses and, if they agreed, exchange links with them.

Stan made a few phone calls and it didn’t take long before a nearby home decor accents business nearby happily agreed to do a link exchange. To Stan’s surprise, within a short time he was getting quite a few more leads. Over the course of a few months, he saw his profits increase by ten percent, thanks to an inexpensive website and a single link exchange.

As is that wasn’t enough, Stan’s business soared as a result of a link exchange he did with a local property developer who was just starting an online campaign for a new property launch. Everyone who was interested in buying one of the more than a hundred homes in the development saw Stan’s link. All of those who wanted a picket fence around their new home called Stan’s Picket Fences first.

Thanks to an internet savvy employee and a small website, Stan’s business has doubled in size. That’s the power of the internet, even for the smallest business!


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