mdvaden
05-07-2008, 09:59 PM
I've been on many forums, both green industry and website related. One thing is evident at this point: The place in culture for websites, is and aspect where we should "get it" - get it as far as realize the point of having one.
The question has come up so often about "whether" to get a site, that the question is almost the wrong question to ask anymore. If someone - especially in urban areas - does not "get it" now about websites, the same person if they had lived back in the 1950s or 1960s, may have been one who did not "get it" about telephones.
There was a time when people managed to communicate without a telephone. But after some time, to live in the transition and not own a phone, while the transition was full-speed-ahead, would not makes sense if planning to remain "phone-less". At that time, the question would no longer be "should I get a phone, and what do phones do for you?". It would not longer be the right question anymore.
And this applies even if we don't plan to get any new customers from it. Culturally, we are at the point where adding a website just fills in the blank dots on the electronic grid. At minimum, it's a businesses opportunity to help their trade become fully represented on the internet. With "www" showing up here and yonder, on signs, on cards, on trucks, for ordering, for banking, etc., etc., etc., we have come to the point where we need to respond to the question differently.
These days, when someone asks "should I get a website?", a question to be returned to the other person, rather than a litney of reasons. Instead of a detailed response, we should ask them a question. We should ask "why are you asking when websites are popping up everywhere you look like rain drops coming down in a rainstorm?"
This is not meant to say we should redicule someone inquiring.
But at this point, with our culture steeped in websites, we really have to ask ourselves what some other people have been ignoring, to ask the question "why me?". If half the houses in a city all of a sudden had telephones back in the 1950s, any person expecting that 50% would still be without phones by 1969 would need a serious wake-up call.
Seems that the best website questions now are those along the lines of "how quick can I get a website?" or "where is a good place to host a new website?" or "how much should I save to spend on a website?". Almost all questions now should be about getting a website.
The question has come up so often about "whether" to get a site, that the question is almost the wrong question to ask anymore. If someone - especially in urban areas - does not "get it" now about websites, the same person if they had lived back in the 1950s or 1960s, may have been one who did not "get it" about telephones.
There was a time when people managed to communicate without a telephone. But after some time, to live in the transition and not own a phone, while the transition was full-speed-ahead, would not makes sense if planning to remain "phone-less". At that time, the question would no longer be "should I get a phone, and what do phones do for you?". It would not longer be the right question anymore.
And this applies even if we don't plan to get any new customers from it. Culturally, we are at the point where adding a website just fills in the blank dots on the electronic grid. At minimum, it's a businesses opportunity to help their trade become fully represented on the internet. With "www" showing up here and yonder, on signs, on cards, on trucks, for ordering, for banking, etc., etc., etc., we have come to the point where we need to respond to the question differently.
These days, when someone asks "should I get a website?", a question to be returned to the other person, rather than a litney of reasons. Instead of a detailed response, we should ask them a question. We should ask "why are you asking when websites are popping up everywhere you look like rain drops coming down in a rainstorm?"
This is not meant to say we should redicule someone inquiring.
But at this point, with our culture steeped in websites, we really have to ask ourselves what some other people have been ignoring, to ask the question "why me?". If half the houses in a city all of a sudden had telephones back in the 1950s, any person expecting that 50% would still be without phones by 1969 would need a serious wake-up call.
Seems that the best website questions now are those along the lines of "how quick can I get a website?" or "where is a good place to host a new website?" or "how much should I save to spend on a website?". Almost all questions now should be about getting a website.