The "no inclination" part I can believe, but no need? Not unless you have all business you can handle. Otherwise you need to collect (opt-in) email addresses at every opportunity, and use them to establish and build relationships with your prospects and customers.

The key word in that sentence? Relationships. If you want to promote your local business effectively online, relationship marketing is key.

WHAT IS RELATIONSHIP MARKETING?

Relationship marketing is act of building close relationships with existing customers and prospects. It's about having an ongoing dialogue with them over a period of time. It can also include gathering customer information and analyzing their behavior, but don't let that scare you. You can practice relationship marketing on a small scale and get plenty of benefits without implementing a full- blown system.

You may not have financial resources of Office Depot or WalMart, but as a small business owner, you can do something they can't -- have real person-to-person relationships with your customers.

There are 2 critical components to making this strategy work: a relationship-oriented website and consistent use of email to stay in touch.

RELATIONSHIP-ORIENTED WEBSITE

The relationship marketing process starts when a visitor arrives on your website. If you want relationship to progress beyond "hello", make sure it's a wonderful experience. Invite her in, introduce yourself, and offer refreshments in form of free information or something equally enticing.

At this point you should ask for her email address so you can send more valuble information in future. This is crucial to your success - you must obtain email address on first visit. You may not get a second chance.

Once you have email address, point your visitor toward helpful resources. A restaurant could offer recipes or discount coupons. A plumbing business might offer tips for avoiding costly repairs. A small business site could offer a collection of articles. Whatever business, there's some sort of information or gift customers would find useful. Give valuable information freely and don't worry about giving too much away. Give before you get, that's way of web.

Ideally you'd have ability to collect information about individual customers, but not all small businesses can afford technology needed to track individual preferences and provide different experiences based upon them. If you can't, don't worry about it. But do try to collect first name at a minimum so you can personalize emails.

What else characterizes a relationship-oriented website?

- FAQs: Make it easy for people to find information they need by providing online help files. Make a note of questions you're asked repeatedly and compile them into a FAQ (Frequently Asked Questions).

- TWO-WAY DIALOGUE: Make it easy for customers to contact you and encourage them to do so; what you want is a two- way dialogue between you and your customer. When in doubt, ask them what they want. They'll tell you. If you find out what your customer wants and become a friend, you will beat most of competition hands down. And be human - life is in details.

- TIMELY RESPONSE: When your customer does "raise her hand", reward her with a quick response! There's nothing more de-motivating than an unanswered email to someone who claims to want my business. More than once I've purchased a product and written a followup email, only to have it go unanswered. Guess who won't get another dime of my money?

- FREQUENT UPDATES: If you want people to visit frequently, you must give them a reason -- new content, a fresh look every how and then, information updates. A website is never finished.

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