I was talking recently to a new client and he had a lot of skepticism about printed Direct Mail. “It costs a lot”, he said.

And it’s true. But if you’re getting results from it, it’s awfully hard to say Direct Mail isn’t worth it. But in this time of financial concern, where budgets are reduced, it’s probably not the way I’d direct a client (unless they only target seniors, or the aging population).

Instead, the web offers many benefits. And it’s ultimately cheaper.

The cost of setting up a web presence can cost you quite a bit. And the old-school notion of “finishing” a website has to be forgotten. It’s an ongoing project. But that’s the benefit!

How’s that a plus? Let’s walk through our recommendations to a client…

1. Consider your audience – and if they are “normal”, they are online more and more. Only the aging North American population still has resistance for the web. But even that sector is getting on board — but you have to direct your website to them. Keep it easy and no plug-ins.

2. Decide how you are going to reach your audience online. 1) E-blasts (html mass emails that some call spam) are a legitimate way of reaching an audience. Make sure they want the email and make sure they can unsubscribe easily. 2) Website search engines — this is the way most will find what they are looking for. But Search Engine Optimization (where your site pops up on the first page of Google) is not for the faint of heart and can be costly. 3) “Regular” emails. Writing a personal email to touch base with clients and offer them your product. And of course there are other methods too!

3. Now the fun! Set it up. Be sure to use your established branding look (if you don’t have one… we’d love to help!), create a message, use a color that is in your branding palette, a certain type of graphic/photo. Determine the unique benefits that your audience are needing. Keep it simple and watch analytics (available for free with our hosting package), be willing to change design or message.

Once the set-up is complete and you’ve told people about your service or product, it’s just maintenance costs (hosting and subscriptions) and the cost of changing and adding to your site. We set up all our websites so that you can make the changes quite simply. This usually costs less than $100 a month. Pretty inexpensive!

Let me know if you’ve used your website (or the internet) as an inexpensive method to get your message out! Share your ideas and watch for others!