Competing online for worldwide customers is fine, but don't forget about those who still see you as the shop around the corner...

Although most entrepreneurs think of their Web sites as vehicles for getting new customers - from far corners of the world, no less - many end up neglecting a market with even greater potential: the one right around the corner. After all, local customers live and shop near your business. Why not reach out to them, too?

"Businesses are realizing they don't want to compete globally," explains Ron Reynard of Peninsula Online. "They want to be more effective and more efficient competing where they've always competed, which is locally."

In fact, the survey also points out that 80 percent of small businesses do at least 75 percent of their business locally (within 50 miles of their businesses) whether it's selling directly to customers or buying products and services their companies need.

Whether you emphasize community flavor or encourage patrons to drop by your neighborhood store, localizing your site gives current customers a better reason to choose you over larger online or local competitors.

As Entrepreneur Magazine detailed in June, 2001, Bud Matto, 37, is just one entrepreneur finding success with the strategy: As founder of Matto Cycle, a Pottsville, Pennsylvania, motorcycle and all-terrain vehicle parts vendor that sells products online and off, Matto goes out of his way to use his site to target local customers.

Although Matto's initial intention was to reach a global audience, he also realized the importance of localization. "[The site] gives our fairly large local clientele the option to order a product online and have it shipped to them instead of having to drive an hour to the shop and an hour back," Matto explains.

One of the easiest ways to localize your site is by taking advantage of local services available. For example, aside from helping companies set up Web sites and offering to place banner ads, many PeninsulaOnline.com now features online shopping malls. For a modest initial setup fee and monthly fees starting at $49, local businesses and entrepreneurs can establish their Web sites and also be prominently featured on PeninsulaOnline's shopping mall, PeninsulaOnline.com. The home page of each participator is linked directly to the online mall, which is viewed by a substantially greater number of visitors each month than an individual store would generate.

"Intelligent entrepreneurs are doing everything they can to meet the needs of their local customers," says Reynard. "PeninsulaOnline.com allows businesses to launch local promotions on their Web sites to reach local customers, doing e-mail marketing and even allowing their customers to set up appointments for their services on their Web sites."

This is now becoming a traditional manner of successful business - leveraging your bricks and mortar (physical store) with a presence on the Web. Successful businesses recognize that participation in a local online mall gives your customers and potential customers more chances to interact with you.

Ultimately, the more points of presence and the more distribution channels you have, the better chance you have to play an important role in your customer's purchasing behavior. Having these multiple channels increases your chances of obtaining loyal customers. It's axiomatic that customers who are engages in more than one channel usually have greater average sales and greater customer loyalty!

While the Peninsula Media Group has gained its stature by connecting people worldwide, the "great untold story" is its local impact!

Industry analysts say the message is clear: You need a Web site for your business, and you need to use it for more than just providing your address and phone number. If you haven't considered using your site for business, now is the time.

Most commerce is going to someday be e-commerce. That doesn't mean that brick-and-mortar stores will go away. It just means that a majority of transactions will someday be technology-based. As we develop these technologies, both wireless and wired, companies without a Web presence will fall further and further behind.

If you don't have a Web site at all, you're already missing out on customers. People routinely go to a Web site just like they do the phone-book yellow pages, and type in www.nameofmybusiness.com to get a phone number or to check out a company and its products. If your business isn't there, they'll type in some competitor's name.

I've had a few customers come to me in the last few months, and say, 'Hey, we tried to find out more about your business online, but you're not there. How come?" says Charles Durhan of CDRemodeling, owner of a construction company based in San Mateo. "I hate the thought of losing business because a potential customer went to a contractor he saw online. I need to be there too he acknowledges. It would be a very cost effective way to advertise.

Isn't Just Having a Website Enough?

But just getting a Web site is no longer enough in today's changing times, he and others agree.
"You not only need to be on the Web; you need to benefit from the Web," says Jesse Berst, editorial director of ZDNet AnchorDesk, a technology news site. "Putting up a Web site just gets you into the game. If you want to win the game, you've got to invest more time and effort to take advantage of the business opportunities the Web offers."

If you already have a Web site you should be thinking about these three things:
1. What can you do over the Web to increase your revenues?
2. What can you do to reduce your production costs?
3. What can you do to reduce your internal costs, such as your employee costs, office-supply
costs and so on?

The key question is: How can you use the Internet to better serve your customers, whether they're national or more particularly, if they're local?"

At the very minimum, most businesses could save some money by posting frequently asked questions, or FAQs, about their business, The savings will come in reduced time on the telephone you can refer callers to the Web site for answers to the same old questions.

Certainly, many small businesses may not be interested or financially able to develop fulfillment and credit card payment systems allowing them to sell goods to customers worldwide. Doing business on the Web doesn't mean transforming your entire selling process.

How about allowing your local customers to order online?

How about using the Web to order your supplies?

How about providing helpful information over the Web that will deepen the relationship between your business?

These are the kind of services that get people to take notice of your business and want to come and visit. In other words, you're offering something beyond your service or product line. You're developing a community among your customers.

While the World Wide Web has gained its stature by connecting people worldwide, the "great untold story" is its local impact, says Reynard. "You are seeing political candidates and political activists making great use of the Net to raise money," he says. "Small businesses are using it the same way to generate business."

Reynard seconds that, saying he knows of an island restaurant off the coast of Maine that posts its menu on its Web site and e-mails daily specials to those who sign up. Despite its remote location, the restaurant thrives, with the Web helping give it an image of sophistication.