So your town has shoulder seasons, also known as the “off season.” These off seasons are defined as times when there are fewer visitors and there is less spending happening in store fronts. In tourist towns of North America, these off seasons tend to happen in late Spring and early Autumn. Tourists stay home and commerce is more dependent upon resident spending. But, just because your town has an off season, doesn’t mean YOU have to.
Good websites and great marketing strategies allow for your little shop-front in Small Town USA to be seen on a global scale year round. This means that even if spending has slowed down in your area, it allows you to be seen by online shoppers worldwide.
“Good,” you think to yourself. “I have a website so I must be taken care of.” Unfortunately, that is not true. Just because you can have a website, doesn’t mean it is being seen. It may be there and be able to be seen with direct searches (meaning when you type in your URL, you see your website). But most people on the planet, let alone internet shoppers don’t know your URL and depend on Google searches and ads. So unless you have great search engine optimization and a marketing plan to go along with it, your website may just be floating in the ethers of the web.
Again, to be seen on a global scale means your website MUST be created correctly and you MUST have a marketing plan that you stick with (PS- a $400 website package will never offer this, fyi). If you want your business to attract new clients, then you need to 1.) get your site created right and 2.) have a marketing plan that fits your budget of time and money each week/month.
Finding a great website designer may take you time, but it is worth it. Here are some tips to help you find a website designer that can help your business get seen and heard. Working with a designer that has a marketing background and knows how to help you with internet marketing would be easiest, but if you can’t find one, then search for a marketing firm to help you create one.
The internet and incredible shipping options has opened up the global economy not only for large businesses, but for small businesses, too. There are people buying and selling products around the world each day, every day. Just because your town has a shoulder season doesn’t mean your business has to have one too.