Published in the Albuquerque Journal's Business Outlook, July 2002 and New Mexico Woman Magazine, August 2002

No matter what's been said about the ups and downs of the dot.com world, no business these days is too small to benefit from a good website, and almost any small business can afford one. What a business owner can't afford is to be without a website. A website can help small businesses compete with larger ones, leveling the playing field with a well-aimed slingshot against the Goliaths.

Websites create a national or international presence for a business, and that presence can create a dramatic increase in sales performance. Unlike a traditional brick and mortar store, a website is open 24/7 in all time zones (even when its owner sleeps). A website with a shopping cart service can take orders all day and night. Of course, a business owner still needs to fulfill orders in a timely manner, using the same quality customer service provided to customers who walk into a store.

A website allows ample room to talk about the unique qualities of a business, not limited to the confines of a small print ad (or large yearly advertising budget). A small ad in the yellow pages can direct attention to a website, providing potential customers with far more information. Following the initial expense of designing a website, yearly maintenance costs can be kept low. A business that sells one-of-a-kind items should probably stay away from an e-commerce strategy and create a website designed to draw more customers into the store or office.