In business, communication is essential. You have to communicate with people about your service, why it’s better than competitors’ services, and what the benefits are. Tactics like advertising and public relations (our Survival Guide topics) are used to communicate the messages. The Internet is the same thing: a tactic, only it’s a channel too. When you “advertise,” you find somewhere to run your ad. Whereas, when you “advertise” on the Internet, you use your website, an email blast, getting listed on an association’s website, and sending a communication out, or a social media posting. The point is, you strive to create relationships, which is what the Internet in its network capability really is: a bundle of relationships – or potential relationships. That’s where the Internet has changed things and seems to be changing things about business (remember, there is a difference between “seeming to be” and “being”).
Consider Gensler’s website. Land on it and you are greeted by the headline: 4 Ways Electric Mobility Will Reshape Our Cities: Here’s How We’re Reimagining Infrastructure for An Electric Future.
That’s a powerful advertisement, isn’t it? Content on this website – any website – is there for a reason: to promote the company. You never read negative content. And why would you?
The point is, like any individual, Gensler is using the Internet to shape opinions and establish relationships with its customers as a “business entity.” And if you look at any website, it is just one big advertisement to do one thing: buy what we are selling! Whether a product, a service, or an idea, websites are created to shape your decisions.
That’s called business.
Your website has to do the same thing: shape opinions of you in a positive way. You do that just like everyone else: using images and words.
The internet makes you a “global” company because anyone connected can reach you. And you can reach anyone!
The point is that websites have provided information – lots of information – just in case you want it. It is this proliferation of information that forms the Internet. What you must understand when you use it to build your own relationships is it sucks up vast amounts of time, the only non-renewable resource to human beings. The real secret is that time invested does not always equal business achieved!
Yet, can you have a relationship unless you invest time?
The question is really, how much time do you invest in your relationships?