If you don’t have a website, you don’t exist!

Recently I've been putting together a site in my spare time for my mothers new business. It's a small local business that's located in the town centre, though her shop isn't on the high street, but in a small section of shops not more than 2 minutes walk away, but due to the location there's very little visitors passing by, which is fine as she offers a service and doesn't rely on passing sales.

She doesn't really have a working knowledge of technology or social media and yet her main and very likely only target audience are 16-25 year olds, people who are consistently using social media more and more... which, as I'm part of that target audience, got me thinking about how I use the web to interact with businesses.

I hate old things

I loath old practices, ways of thinking and standards that hinder progression and innovation, one of the main reasons I try to avoid front-end dev work like the plague.

I hate using cash and purposefully avoid shops that don't accept plastic, hell I pay the 75p charge small retailers add on just to use plastic. I've even walked out of a few shops because they've refused to take my card as I was buying less than £5 of items, but the simple fact is I don't carry cash, ever! The only place I have cash is on my work desk for lunch, which I purposefully draw money out the bank for.

Some people say "You have to carry cash...". Well, I don't really, I can buy fuel on my debit card, I can pay to park my car with my phone, I can use google wallet to make payments from my phone for in-store items all of which is instantly updated on my bank account where I can track what I've spent, when, where and how much.

Shopping

I rarely go to the high street just to have a browse through the shops, I hate shopping, I just want to go in, get the things I want and leave. 99% of the time I'll find myself searching the internet for the things I want to check if XYZ company sells what I want, often reserving/fast-track ordering items before going to pick them up.

One of the things mother said about the site is that she's not going to be putting all the items she offers on the website as she simply doesn't have time. So as someone in her target audience she would potentially be missing my custom simply because she might not have published the items I want on her site, but does in fact sell said item.

Its essential that everything you have to offer is published on the web, even if you're not actively promoting your business on the web or using social media and what not. If you run a business, you must have a website, no matter how bad you are with technology or how irrelevant you think having a website is.

Social Media

Another big thing in her target audience are using is social media. I often find myself sharing things I've found on the internet on Twitter and Facebook, posting links to friends of things they're interested in or might like. I also find myself going to twitter more and more to interact with businesses forming a personal relationship with them, often asking if they've got something in stock, a quick mention for awesome service, or if I can be cheeky and get a price matched against another shop. I even take to twitter to complain directly at companies, just earlier this week I took to twitter to moan at @SouthernRailUK and how terrible their website is for a multi-million pound company that offers a vital public service to the UK, but at least they have a site. I didn't have to turn up to the train station, stand in the rain and cold trying to look at timetables and ticket prices.

Twitter and Facebook are massive opportunities for businesses to interact with their customers, a huge source of feedback and promotion for your business. Even if its posting what you believe is complete drivel, your customers care, they like seeing the personal side of businesses, not just a corporate facade, and best of all, its completely free! You're mad to think social media is a waste of time.

Often the chaps in the office I work with will tweet about making coffee, the food they're eating for lunch or something we're working on in the office. Its that personal touch that people love, the fact there is someone they can interact with.

Corporate Future

Increasingly more and more companies are becoming sociable, more relaxed and less corporaty. Big companies are employing teams of people to manage their social media because we love to be able to interact and share our experiences. You need to give a personal insight into your business, show people that you're not just another company doing the same boring things, the same switchboard they have to phone, the same corporate robots as the next company.

TL;DR