Profits Hidden in a Website
Frank Traditi
My suspicion is that you are one-part web junkie like me. I love to look at websites. There's a great deal of value that you can't get from many other communication mediums.
You can get educated, entertained, engrossed, smart, angry, frustrated, and happy. Heck, you might even get all of that from one website!
Have you thought about the opportunity for your business hidden in a website?
Company websites are an incredible resource for information that can help you prospect, target your marketing, get clients and uncover and anticipate what problems they might be dealing with. Many sites are written as company brochures. They tell all when it comes to their products and services. While this format is generally a very basic site, you can find a wealth of information and opportunity within its pages.
Other sites you visit are more robust and complete with visual technology (flash), e-commerce, reports, toolkits, etc.
No matter what kind of site you visit, there is an opportunity for everyone
to connect with that business somehow - by helping solve a potential problem
for their company.
Here are some things you might look for when visiting websites and contemplating
the opportunity to do business with them:
Executive, officer contact names and numbers
Some sites will list the email address of execs, top management,
sales, service and others. If you craft a powerful sales or intro letter
to the company, these would be great contacts to make the connection.
Public Relations and Company Announcements
Many sites contain a company news, what's new, "on the move"
type information page. Click on these pages and find what the company is
up to and where they are headed. What you can find here is announcements
for new management, new offices opening up, new product announcements, earnings
reports, new clients, and much more. If you are in a services or consulting
business, might they need assistance in assuring that things go smoothly
for their rapid growth? Might the NEW manager bring in a NEW team?
The site is just a brochure
This one's for you web development, Internet technology gurus.
Take a look at the layout of the site. You probably could do wonders with
about 10 minutes worth of work on your part. What if you re-wrote a simple
home page for them as an enticement to check out your work? What if you
created a short customer survey or prospect interaction form to place on
their home page that would get their prospects to connect with their company?
The opportunities are huge.
Point a Referral Their Way
In looking at their site, check out the services or products they
offer, you realize that there are some contacts and referrals in your database
that could benefit from their services. Offer up the opportunity to connect
with that company by giving them a referral. Go back to my first point -
contact names. Send that referral to the highest-ranking person that lists
their contact info. First, you are helping that company grow. Second, you
make a direct connect with a top manager. Third, you are now officially
on their list as someone who has influence, knowledge, contacts and is a
resource. Companies like to have these kinds of people on their team - for
permanent hire or as a service provider.
So, the next time you are surfing, think about how you can find
the hidden profits and opportunities "between the lines".
Copyright © 2006, Frank Traditi
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