- A web site will become your best friend in meeting needs of your customers. It will answer all their questions. Simply create a page of "Frequently Asked Questions" and include its address on every receipt. This way, before they come to you for help, they will come to your web site for answers.

- Online presence - in step with your competitors. You must think of Internet as a gigantic Yellow Pages book. More and more people use Web to shop for information, services and products. If you are not there - your competitors are! Can you imagine not being in Yellow Pages and try to reach local market?

- Unless you spend a lot of money on newspaper ads and other local promotions - no one will know your business exists. The same thing with Internet. If people can't find your company on Web, you might as well not exist.

- Get those cranky customers, too. Many people do not like to shop in stores, malls and any other noisy places (I am first!). They are afraid of long walks, pressure from sales people, sneezing customers and bumping shopping carts. Once they discover online shopping - they will never go back to stores unless absolutely necessary. By putting your products online, you satisfy needs of such customers and therefore succeed in one more niche.

- Showcase your work. Whether you are a real estate agent, construction business owner or a beauty salon specialist - you can put your work on display when you have a web site. Anytime a potential client wants to see your past work and projects, simply refer him or her to your site. No need to scan and mail pictures, or bring your client to a finished building project.

- Promotional Costs are very low. When I interviewed manager of NY State Nissan dealership, he shared with me costs of running an online ad compared to a newspaper or any other printed advertisement. He said, "We can run a whole month of advertisements online for same amount of money we pay for one newspaper ad!" That's right, on an online promotion you can spend $97 a month, while paying 10 times that much for a one-time large ad in a magazine!

- Beat your competition to top. Competition online is huge today! There are over 3,000,000 sites on Web and this number is growing. Still, I see at least 5 businesses a month who are not online and getting a web site is not in their near future plans.

Why am I telling you this? Because if THEY don't get a web site - YOU have a better chance at succeeding. Insurance, home improvement, gift shops and other companies are among those I see dragging their feet in putting their businesses online. This means if you do it now, before EVERY company is online, you will be among pioneers!

Yep, that's right - Internet is still in its babyhood, no matter how many web sites there are out there. It has been less than a decade since companies decided to use web sites as part of their marketing strategies. Can you imagine what it will be like in 20-30 years??

I could go on and on, but I hope you are convinced: YOUR BUSINESS ABSOLUTELY NEEDS A WEB SITE!

Even if you are not planning to sell directly online, people will find your web site and contact you about services you offer. You can place your web site address in your newspaper ads and any other promotional materials to make people aware of your web site.

Create a Marketing Plan. A new business often doesn't have a huge budget for marketing and a plan you help you save money. -- Design your marketing plan with your integrity in mind. -- Develop print media (business cards, stationary, forms, advertisements, newsletter, etc.). -- Decide if online marketing will be part of your plan (website, newsletter, ad's, etc.). -- Practice describing benefits of what you do in 30 seconds and 2 minutes (called verbal logo, USP, elevator speech). -- Re-evaluate your plan every 3 months.

Start your research with business, marketing and personal development articles at http://www.coachmaria.com/articles.html.