If you are a business owner, then you understand the hard work and long hours that must be put into a business in order for it to succeed. So, if you have taken the time to realize your dreams and dedicate yourself to growing your business, then it wouldn't make sense to sell yourself and your business short by not taking advantage of the Internet.

Just to expand on this point a little further, let's present this question: An individual is in need of an auto-part (or auto service, insurance, lawn care, etc.) and has decided to search for a company to do business with. How will this research be completed? If I asked you this question 10+ years ago, you probably would have answered "the yellow pages", but I am willing to bet that the first answer that entered your mind was "the Internet".

It is important to remember that many consumers who are quality and price conscious, rely on the Internet help themselves decide where, or from whom, they will purchase a product or service.

It doesn't matter how large or small your business is!

No matter if you are selling a product or providing a service, by taking your products and services online, you have just leveled the playing field with even your largest competitors. How is this possible? Fortunately for you, there are many companies, large and small, who have a website that just shouldn't be online. In other words, their website looks like the work of amateurs. Chances are, if you do an online search for your local competitors, you will find a few such sites. That is bad news for them, but wonderful news for you!

Let's look at it from the perspective of a consumer. If a potential client looks at your website and they get the vibe that it was built by a colorblind monkey, it will not matter that your company has yearly revenues of seven figures, or that you have a superior product; many people take the lack of effort put into your website and use that as a gauge for your product or service. On the other hand, you could be a start-up with only a few clients on your books, but if you have a killer website, you could already be miles ahead of the competition.

Your website is an investment, not an expense!

The purpose of your website is to help your business grow, either through online sales, or through the expansion of your service. If a business isn't receiving a return on that investment, it is usually the fault of either the web design company (poor design, bad content writing, bug-filled programming) or the business owner (out of date information, or not enough information). You must look at your website as an extension of your business and if utilized correctly, it can be a significant weapon in your marketing arsenal.

We can make sure that your website is done right the first time!

We at Fat Lynx Media take pride in every aspect of every site that we build. From images to coding, you can be sure that we are working hard to create a professional and visually appealing online presence for your business. We are only as successful as our clients, so it is important to us that your website not only implements the latest web design and programming standards, but also looks great, is easy to navigate, and indexes well in all search engines.

Our dedication to the art of website development is only second to our dedication to you, our valued customer. So, don't lose any more money to your competitors! Call us today and find out how Fat Lynx Media can assist you in bringing your business to the web.

For those of you who have sales representatives in the field, there are probably a list of common standards that you require your representatives to meet.

• Look Professional – How can you expect someone to sell your product if they don’t look the part?
• Speak Professionally – Use proper grammar and if writing proposals/contracts, be able to communicate effectively through your writing.
• Act Professionally – As a direct representative of your company, the sales rep should act in such a way as not to make you look bad.
• Be punctual – Be there when a client expects you to be there.
• Be Knowledgeable – If a clients asks you a question, be prepared with a response.

So, now you are probably asking yourself, “How does this apply to my website?”. As your 24 hour sales representative, your website is in constant communication with potential customers. The great thing about this sales rep is that you have total control over how it looks, speaks, acts, its knowledge, and also its “punctuality”. Let’s go into a little more detail:

• Look Professional – I constantly run into businesses that “have a website”, but it looks as if it were just thrown together. Ask yourself what you would do if you found out that your sales rep was not abiding by the company dress code. You would probably either reprimand or fire them. Why should your website be treated any differently? The fact is, when dealing with web-centric clients (which most are), they are looking at professional websites on a daily basis and in turn, can tell when a lack of effort has been put into the site that they are viewing. Don’t let the way your website looks cause you to lose potential clients!
• Speak Professionally – Although most visitors to your site are not reading every single word of your content, you can bet that they are reading the details of the services being searched for. If when reading they see bad copy, i.e. poor spelling, punctuation, they are more likely to search elsewhere for the product or service that they require.
• Act Professionally – Believe it or not, there are probably many of your websites that are not acting very professionally; this can be a result of poorly written scripts that either cause browser errors or bad performance in regards to load time. Probably found more often is the infamous "broken link", where a potential client clicks on a site link only to find a blank page or even worse, a 404 Page Not Found error. This not only looks unprofessional, but is very aggravating and a quick turn off to your clients.
• Be Punctual – Yes, your website has the ability to be punctual in the sense that it should be there, ready to browse whenever a client wants to pay a visit. If a potential customer finds you on Google only to click on your link and find that your site is down, they will simply move on to the next search result.
• Be Knowledgeable – Content Is King! This applies in a couple of ways:
  1. The more relevant, keyword-rich content that you have, the more the search engines will like you!
  2. If you are able to provide the answers that your clients are looking for, they are more likely to retain your services.

Here are a couple more questions that you should ask yourself:

1. "Where is the first place I go when looking for a business or researching a product/service?"
2. "When is the last time that I picked up the Yellow Pages?"

I can probably take a good guess on the way that most of you answered:

1. The Internet
2. I don’t know

It is now a fact of life that as a business, you must have a professional website in order to deploy an effective marketing strategy. Just remember that your website introduces your business to the world and you only get one chance to make a first impression, so take great care when hiring a company to develop your website.

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