Is a web site necessary?

Well, no. Breathing is necessary. In the grand scheme of things, you can do without a website and probably do fine. People who tell you you HAVE to have one are trying to sell you one!

There are a few things to consider when deciding whether a website will benefit your business. Ask yourself at least these questions: What do you want your website to do for you (make money is a little vague)? What is a realistic budget for creating and maintaining a web site? Can you afford the time or money or both to effectively market your site before it starts paying for itself? Do you trust the internet? Do you want to do it yourself or have it done professionally?

These are the basic questions whose answers may help guide you in the decision to build an online presence.

Let explore some possible answers and what they may mean. First, what do you want your web site to do for you? Do you want it to be a help desk so that you don't have to take as many service calls? Do you want it to generate sales of your product, have online ordering, and the whole shebang? Do you want it as simply a marketing tool with your contact information to bring in new clients? Whatever the reason, a website must have a purpose or there is no use setting one up.

What is a realistic budget for creating and then maintaining your site? How much does a website cost is the first questioned people ask, and it's a legitimate one. However, the answer is not what they want to hear. It depends. Do you ask a builder how much can I get a house for? His answer will be "It depends". How big will it be? What features do you want? You can spend $1000 or you can spend $10,000. If you're REALLY ambitious you might opt for a $100,000 web presence. Just like you can build a $50,000 home or a million dollar home. It's all about what you want, need, and can afford.

Sometimes that means holding off on the unnecessary Flash intro you had your heart set on until your budget can afford it. Sometimes it means expanding your vision. If you want your site to pull in orders and actually generate an income, don't expect to slap something up with MS Word and have ANYONE take you seriously.

A friend of mine uses this equation, and I quite agree with it. How much you spend on your site X 2 = what you can expect to make from your site in the first year. That means if you want to make $10,000 off your site in the first year, expect to spend $5,000 on site creation and marketing up front. In my estimation, that's a reasonable expectation, and it's scalable too. It works with $400 too.

The cool part is that the internet is such a HUGE place. There is so much out there. This can be intimidating for a lot of people, but I see it as an opportunity. There's room for YOU, no matter where you're at and what you're doing.

This Article is Part 1. Part 2 is coming soon!