Small business owners, associations and professionals  often hear about other organisations setting up their stall on the Internet, and feel under pressure to get online themselves. They hear that they must be online in order to survive, but for the most part they don't know even know where to start. If that's you, read on...

The first step is to decide whether a website is right for your business - do you take your club or association online, or not? Here are some key questions to help you with that decision:

• A website offers a very inexpensive way to reach a large number of people with your message, all over the world. Could this be an advantage to your business or profession? Might there be customers in other regions that you have not even considered? Are there people who need to be aware of what you offer but have never heard of you?
   
• Would it be be an advantage for your clients if they could contact your operation 24 hours a day,7 days a week, and never take a holiday? Would your customers perceive this to be better customer service?  You bet!
   
• Are you constantly requested to send information, such as specifications, application notes, maps of how to reach your offices, what are you business hours, photographs of your products... ? If so then an online presence could deliver you significant savings and a perceived improvement in your responsiveness.
   
• Are you spending a lot of money on printed brochures,  Does the content need to change frequently? You could have customers downloaded it 'on demand' from your web site, and update it as often as you wish, in minutes.
   
• Do you have products that can be sold from a catalog? Would you like to be able to take orders round the clock with almost no overhead? No problem. Your slogan could be 'We never close'.
   
• Do you need to build credibility and confidence? In these days, in many industries, with so many competitors online, the company that does not have a website 'does not exist' in the minds of potential customers. Is your industry one of these?

If you responded positively to some or all of these questions, then a website would benefit you, your business or profession. And, other than the time you or you staff need to put in, the outlay can be very small indeed - for an amazingly low cost! .

If you're still hesitating, why not sign up for the 30-day free trial and see what you can do in just 60 minutes. You'll be glad you did!

If you are worried about you level of computer competence to even start the free trial, there are some hints, tips and training for you in the 'primer' section to get you to the starting line.

You won't believe how straightforward it can be to build you first website. If you have reached this far on our site, then you really CAN do it! Check out these examples to inspire you!