Margaret Thatcher said, “Consensus is the absence of principle and an abundance of expediency." I say consensus is the lack of leadership. It’s the consensus of experts that we should be wary of using the web in our business; especially now after the perceived collapse of the dot com industry. Instead, let’s apply our own principles and leadership to make money with a dot com business.

WHEN DOT COM WON’T WORK
If we deal in commodities (toothpaste, gasoline, food or anything similar) we have no business trying to sell these items on the web. There are far too many others with the same or similar items, and they may have deeper pockets than do we. We lose. The fact is, most of us use our website for self-aggrandizement, and that’s counterproductive!

If we sell an EXTREMELY unique product, we have a valid reason for going on the web, and our primary challenge is to drive people to our website. If we’re successful in this drive, we will probably cut into our local brick and mortar store sales because we think we must sell at a discount on the web to attract buyers. The fraud, returns, fulfillment, shipping and similar costs (not to mention the webmaster’s fees) will eat up any profit, and will probably end up as a money sink!

Is this true for the service and professional firm? Just for fun, let’s type the generic name for what we do in any search engine and look at the hundreds of people doing the same thing. Do you think we can compete like this? We cannot and must not look at the web in a vacuum; that’s the use of expediency as a solution in itself. “The web is the answer!” was the cry of the leaderless horde of the unemployed dot comers. As entrepreneurs, we cannot give in to this balderdash; we must assume the role of leadership. So onward!

HOW WE CAN MAKE DOT COM WORK
Web advertising has to be complemented by other advertising to work for small businesses like ours. For example, we might use direct mail marketing (see www.tulenko.com for more info) to advertise a product or service.

We’ll include all the things we are told to include in our great mailing, but let’s also include a special discount or an additional bonus item if the order is placed from the web! Then we’ll make sure the money from the sales cover the product cost, the web, our potential losses, all the other expenses, and makes a profit in the end. “Same-day FREE shipping for Web Orders” makes a strong reason to buy, wouldn’t you say? Or how about, “Buy a second for a friend at half price.” Use your imagination.

Once we have the person visit our web site, we have to provide a reason to return again and again. Providing FREE advice (the real stuff folks, no fluff) works, but we’ll have to change the subject weekly, and that’s an expensive chore. And how will we know the advice we offer will cause one-time visitors to return?

AN APPLICATION Let’s set up a hypothetical pet store with a web presence. We will begin with a web-based ‘Name The Baby’ contest. Each month we could tell the ‘story’ of another potential pet; listing size, color, size, food, place of origin, temperament, and dozens of other facts. Each web visitor would be able to enter a suggested name, and during the last week, vote on the top suggestions. The winner would get the pet. Of course we would offer trinkets related to the pet; ‘letters’ from the pet, other attention getters, all at a profit. We’d also set-up a section in our store for the ‘web pet-of-the-month’.

Now we bring in the other advertising. We’d probably get free public relations play for our ‘Name the Baby’ contest from local radio, tv, cable, newspapers, and other local outlets. If we do it well, we might even get national recognition. As a supplement, we’d buy some advertising … all targeted towards the ‘pet’. We could hire a PR firm to help with this, but there are enough books, lists, and suggestions out there (visit www.tulenko.com) to make this a simple do-it-ourselves project.

We’d send a direct marketing package to each person responding (they gave us their name and address when they voted!), and follow-up with goodies. Reply cards offering a FREE micro-book or pamphlet on a specific pet-related subject such as: “How to find a great veterinarian!”, or “How to find a home for a no-longer-wanted pet”, or a similar topic would be great package inclusion, and of course, we’d refer the reader to our website for more information, and more goodies.

Now we are cooking! We’ve substituted Leadership and Principle for Consensus, and the results will be a web site that actually draws viewers back again and again. Our new outlook on web use will lead us to new ways of using this tool to increase business.

TRANSFER TO OTHER BUSINESS TYPES
It’s the concept. It’s the principle of the thing. We cannot listen to the doom-sayers. We have every fabulous opportunity to turn our businesses into major profit centers. Of course we have to ‘do’ the web site correctly, and in this we need help. All the same, our ‘pet concept’ can be applied to the one-person home-based business, a business offering a service, a retail business, a professional business such as physician, engineer, dentist, writer, psychologist, or whatever! Tell you what. Visit my FREE website at www.tulenko.com, and if you don’t get a new idea on the spot, send me an email telling me so, and I’ll personally help you build one just for you (FREE). So … What’s keeping you from success? For other tips and ideas contact Paul at paul@tulenko.com.