ellipticalpointofview

Yes, anyone can create a basic website, set up a facebook page, create an app or set up a twitter account for you. Anyone: you, an employee, a contractor, a teenager you know or an agency/service provider.

Anyone.

Anyone…means even the village idiot

But that doesn’t mean what they are doing is actually going to fulfil the core business need(s) which are driving you to consider an online solution.

Nor does it mean that what they do for you will be resilient to future developments or future proofed in order to enable you to jump on board any future opportunities.

The village idiot may be able to chop wood for your woodpile, but would they be the first person you turn to when you want a chair that is built ergonomically, fits to your body so comfortably it seems like an extension of it, is upholstered in the covering of your choice and complements your house or lifestyle interior?

Not likely.

There is no such thing as a free online presence, or a free lunch

So..your village idiot may be able to sign you up for twitter, a facebook page, a facebook group, a linkedin presence or use a basic web template to create a site for you.

They may excite you with the possibilities of sign up and access – alot of this stuff is free to sign up for and/or something you can do in-house, rather than out-source – but…

…every thing you commit to online, will require a level of resourcing.

Although you may not spend actual money, at the bare minimum, someone is going to need to:

• create and add content (daily to weekly depending on the medium)
• manage and respond to the customers you connect with online (within 24 hours or whatever response timeline within your SMB’s business processes)
• keep tabs on future developments in the technology which may drastically affect your offering online (new features, browser changes, rules & regulations)

This workload will be an addition to, or an extension of, your existing business workload model.

So if it doesn’t mesh with your current workload, systems and processes, it has the capacity to create a major resource and workload blow out.

Sorting the wheat from the chaff

I cannot emphasise strongly enough, that any online presence you commit to should be the cumulation of an informed decision-making process and a significant building block in your business and brand architecture.

You will never know what you do not know, but you can be aware of the fact that neither you nor anyone else is an expert. You can also be aware of the  information you do need to seek and/or collate in order to be able to make an informed decision.

That is what differentiates the successful SMB owner from the village idiot.