More Folks Getting Fast Internet Connections
The colorful bride’s maids dresses sparkled in the afternoon sun, but the small dress shop was empty of customers.
“I don’t want a website,” the shop owner, a man in his 30’s, said flatly.
I said, “A website will bring in more customers — and young customers who are getting married are using the internet. Older people my age still rely on the Yellow Pages sometimes, but young people are looking on the net to find local businesses.”
The bright dresses, typical of the festive choice of the shop’s hispanic customers would look good displayed on a three-page website, I thought.
I’ve been making calls on Berwyn, IL businesses to tell them about my web design and promotion services, and am finding out a lot. Many shops up and down the main shopping street often have no customers when I walk in on a sunny afternoon, a symptom of poor economic times and, I think, just the difficulty of doing business.
Small Businesses Get Left Behind
I think these shop owners are just ignorant of the changing nature of advertising. But if they don’t act soon, they will be left behind. They should take note of the rising use of the internet. For example, the number of Americans with fast internet access increased 15 percent over the last year, according to the Pew Research Center’s Internet and American Life Project. Sixty-three percent of adults now have access to broadband internet, even though the average cost of fast internet rose $5 per month in that time. That’s news, especially when we all trying to tighten our belts in these times.
“For many Americans, a home broadband connection is a conduit for connecting to community and economic opportunity,” said John Horrigan, of the Pew Internet project, as reported in the Chicago Tribune last week. “That puts broadband in the ‘must keep’ category for most users.”
Businesses and non-profits, take note: the internet is where your customers are. If you aren’t there, they will go to your competitors.
For the cost of four months of a Yellow Pages ad, we can build you a website. Call us today at 708-393-4098.
