I was just wondering if there are any members here who are primarily operating a brick and mortar style business, and how you tie the online world into your work. I used to run a small construction business, taught me a lot about business and I was able to use the internet to generate sales, customer relations, communications etc... Just touching on the basics. Have any tips for bringing the Internet to the offline business world?
Great topic... and I have thought/discussed this myself outside of DP. I myself have a small business of business solutions, as well I am an artist. Obviously, the networking that online provides is awesome, however it's not solely online. It's important to split your business 50/50 now... for the online resources are great cost-effective solutions, but you don't want to be dependent on the internet (although, some businesses are purposed to be online). Again, good topic
Yeah you can try to setup a website of your offline business and begin to promote it using adword. More over you can blog anything about your offline biz at your company blog
Bringing your offline contact to online is easier if you can convince people that offline businesses cannot afford to ignore the Internet.
Some effective ways of accomplishing this might be showing the person some statistics of Internet usage and ecommerce sales, particularly out of their region. Business success stories where somebody has made a fortune going from a strictly offline business to making millions bringing their business to the Internet... Showing them ease of use, and touching on security features and identity verification techniques etc.... Got some more good ideas out there?