Small Business Website Development Carbondale IL

A “greasy-haired propeller head” responds to Gene Marks' BusinessWeek opinion piece.

How much do you suppose a CPA knows about web marketing? Right: probably not much. Subject matter experts are typically not qualified to make grand pronouncements beyond their realms of expertise.

It's a mystery then why BusinessWeek would give Gene Marks, CPA, its digital megaphone in order to berate the web design industry. We Don't Need No Stinkin' Web Sites is potentially harmful to many small businesses as our economy sinks deeper into recession.

Web Site vs. Web Page

Marks contends that most small businesses can get by with a simple web page and that a full-blown website is not necessary. This is true in some cases; but in my experience with Rabbit Mountain clients, many small business owners do not distinguish between a "web page" and a "website."

Marks cites an unattributed study, which I assume to be the Warrillow study finding that only 41% of small business owners have websites. Warrillow does not make the page vs. site distinction, either: "It’s easy to miss the fact that most business owners have not yet established a basic presence on the Internet ."

Marks' assertion that "we don't need no stinkin' websites" is almost certainly being interpreted by BusinessWeek's readership to mean "I don't even need to think about the web" — a potentially catastrophic position in this economy.

"Oh, they just soooo don't get it"

Basic marketing research reveals the necessity ...

Author: Paula Hay

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