Website solution for a startup – all free services!
The other day I was talking to a friend who is in the process of starting up a business. It is an event-production business, and, from the brief conversation we had, was primarily going to be referral-based. She wanted a website, and found someone who was willing to give her something for free or cheap.
The problem is, she didn’t like their work! So she asked me if I would be willing to change and tweak it once it was finished. I thought for a second, and then told her bluntly: “You are heading down a bad path.”
Why? Because she would be putting a great deal of time into getting a product out there that wouldn’t be the best it could (and should) be. Because the money and time she does have should be spent on getting referrals and business going. Because what’s the point of making a website that won’t be updated and will have to be redone in a year?
So I told her a radical idea: “You don’t need a website right now. Use free services to promote your business. They are out there. The web is a different place than it was just a few years ago.” For a referral-based business on a shoestring budget, I gave her the following suggestion:
- Facebook Groups and Pages - You can invite all your friends, send bulk emails, announcements, etc. There are a number of different ways you can use both of these features sets. A brief outline is here. For a referral-based business, why not start both? You can have your corporate page, and then start a group to supplement it.
- Twitter – Just setup your account and broadcast all the places and events you are producing. You can utilize TwitPic to post photos as you take them throughout the course of the event. You can link to all the events you are at via Foursquare URLs. Hey, if DJs are broadcasting every track they play in a given set these days, you can link to every event you produce.
- Foursquare – You can easily check-in at events you are producing and leave tips to other people ‘If you want to have a great party here, use our services, [....]‘ Here are some additional tips you can think about when using Foursquare.
So that’s that….you can use all these free services to get started and turn your business idea into a perfectly humming machine, where you are connecting with people via Foursquare, Twitter, and Facebook until the time, and money, is right for a custom website. Then we’ll talk…. ;)
The Triumverate - Foursquare, Twitter, Facebook