During these tough economic times, I often hear people say that they have a Facebook page with a lot of fans that they do not need to have a website. These people believe having a website is not a necessary business expense. They are under the impression that if they build a huge fan base and have an elaborate profile than this can substitute as their “company website”.
My answer is to not allow your business to be in the hands of another company who can change their format, their ownership, or their appeal at the snap of a finger. By doing this you are at their mercy. You are limited to being able to do what they allow you to do.
I love analogies. When I hear this I always think of this: When you rent an apartment or a house you can make it feel like home by having your own furniture and putting up pictures, but you cannot put new carpet in, paint the walls, or make any changes because you do not own it. If the landlord wants to come in and put in red carpet or paint the walls a crazy color, you have no choice but to deal with it until your lease is up. However, when you own your own home, you have complete control over the look and feel of your home.
Utilizing Facebook and any other social media network, should be one tool in your marketing tool belt for your business. Your website (just like a brick & mortar store) should be the center that all of your other tools drive people to.
To think that Facebook, Twitter, or LinkedIn will remain the social media sites of choice for the next 5 or 10 years is like believing that any of our other technology platforms available today will never be improved upon.
Look at how quickly MySpace lost popularity. I remember when MySpace was the in place to be. What would you do if Facebook became the has been 6 months from now?
Of course, I encourage you to leverage social media sites to the fullest, but I would never suggest putting all of your eggs into one basket. Maintain an engaging and compelling website – leveraging social media sites as a component of an overall online strategy.
Having your own website does not need to break your budget or be expensive. Look for a freelance website designer as they tend to be less expensive than firms due to less overhead.
Holli Fischer
