The Last Person Online

I gave a talk to a group of women entrepreneurs, in Chicago, back in 2002. It was the regional meeting of NAWBO, the national association for women entrepreneurs. My speech was about getting your business online - launching a website, online promotion, and so on.

I was a bit nervous to speak to the group, because a lot of what I had to say was pretty basic. I wanted to make sure that no one felt overwhelmed by my advice, but at the same time, I didn't want to bore anyone with "ducky-horsey" level information. Good news! The conference organizer told me that the people who'd signed up for my session were mostly entrepreneurs without websites, or any kind of online presence. So we had a great conversation and imparted a lot of good advice (not just mine - the session was very interactive!).

Now here we are, nearly five years later, and I notice something incredible. Everywhere I go around the country, I meet women in business who are on the fence about launching websites for their businesses.

GET OFF THE FENCE, ladies! You need a website. I have just been out to CitySearch to find a physical therapist here in Boulder, Colorado, and I can't tell you how frustrating it is to try to choose a physical therapist based on those goofy little listings. EVERYONE IN BUSINESS NEEDS A WEBSITE.

People say "I have a tire cover on my Jeep." Great! So you have a tire cover, so you have a company name. You should have a website with the same name, so that people who sit behind you at a red light and notice your tire cover can jump online and find you when they get home. The reality is, a person can sit behind you in traffic for weeks on end before bothering to write down your phone number, much less pick up the phone and call - even if they need your services. A website is easy to get, and cheap!

More on creating and launching your website in the next few entries. For now, please hear my plea: get your business online. Get a website. Leave a comment, below, to tell us what's keeping you out of cyberspace (or what got you over the hump!)