DEVELOPING YOUR INTERNET BUSINESS PLAN
Your business plan for your website should be as carefully thought out as a corporate business plan. Think of the internet as a “bank” with millions of depositors who will spend money with you if you approach them with the right message, right products and make it easy for them to buy.
A business-to-business website is just that. A business. You must develop a sense of the budgeting dollars you are willing to commit to ongoing website support and internet marketing. Too often companies go out of pocket for a new website, then fall dollars short on the “back-end” and the site eventually disappears from view.
Start with a mission statement.
“I want my corporate website to produce “X” dollars in the next 12 months or “X” business opportunities.” Or, “I want my website to act as a customer support center and ease the burden on my staff.”
Think carefully about your commitment to your internet marketing. Are you willing to dedicate your personal/professional time, even if it adds 5 or 10 more hours a week or month to your job? Do you have a computer-savvy staff member who can assist you?
Don’t make the mistake of turning your office manager into a web guru. He or she probably does not have the background with internet technologies, web programming, search engine optimization and the rest of the skills necessary. Will you hire or buy these skills?
How many dollars are you willing to budget toward your internet marketing initiative? This will tell you how serious you are about doing business on the internet.