Giving Your Offline Business An Online Presence

So much has been written about making money online through internet marketing. Very few believe this is possible, while few have actually practiced it. Online business is not as easy as people see it, like every business it needs hard work, persistence, passion and diligence. Knowing how to use the internet profitably has been a past time for many, so many people do not know how important and profitable it is to give their brick and mortar business an online presence, by brick and mortar business I mean offline business. You can actually make extra income through online marketing no matter what product or service you offer offline.

The conventional way of doing this is by building a website around your product or service, then advertise it and possibly have people do business with you, it costs some money to host and maintain a website.

This is not the method am talking about here; it is a simple proven strategy of giving your business an online touch. Some of the simple things we overlook in business can make a big difference. No matter what business you are into, this method will add extra income to your purse and build a good image for your business. Let us say for example, you own a barbers shop next door, people are not likely to search for your shop on the internet rather you get business from your friends, neighborhoods, and through recommendations, your business no doubt serves a local market. Then how do you give this an online touch?

Have you ever thought of sending an e mail or SMS to your customers thanking them for their patronage? Whenever a customer comes to have their hair cut or other services, ask for their e mail address and possibly GSM numbers while they are paying , make a simple database of your customers. There is a lot of potential in this. All you need do from time to time is to send them an e mail or bulk SMS thanking them for their patronage, and also make them understand that you appreciate them coming back always. This will help you build a relationship with your customers. And business should be a relationship thing. You can also use this medium to inform them of a discount in their next visit or within a period and ask them to refer to your mail or SMS when they come to get the discount within the set period, you will be amazed at the number of customers that will turn up more than you have always had. Is this not simple enough? What did you lose here? Nothing! Rather you added extra money to your purse. As your data base increases you will need an autoresponder to send your e mail to as many people as possible within minutes, this you can get free online. This method like I said before, can work in any offline business, you name it! Every business should have an online presence or soon you won’t have a business if you are not online like Bill Gates said.