How Small Business Owners Leave Money on the Digital Table (series)

A recent gig had me researching and pitching 500 different businesses, requiring a deep dive into 700 different websites and their digital stories. I gained a lot of insight into what small businesses are getting wrong with their digital storefronts. This blog series shares a few key takeaways to help small business owners evaluate and strengthen the performance of their sites.

I recently got a gig writing pitch decks for a high-profile events company out of Boston. It required me to visit 500 small business websites, drill down into each to consider what makes each business special, and then write a concise, compelling pitch for each.

These were notable restaurants, bars, conference venues, museums, vacation spots – anything and everything worth your time  -  eat, drink, think, play. Things we humans love to do!

It required me to unpack each business and deeply consider what made each singular and unique.

Easy right?

Consider how many steakhouses there are in Boston.

Or seafood restaurants.  

Or charming New England venues with unique history.

Now consider how to make each of those distinctly unique and compelling.

I was surprised to discover how many businesses didn’t convey this on their sites! I felt like one of those pixelated characters in my son’s Minecraft game digging for gold. Often, I had to find information from secondary sources - these were angles and pitches that I should have found on the businesses’ websites!

This is what I needed to know:

• What makes this business singular?

• Why should people spend their money on this business and not on the competition?

It was my job to make the business sound irresistible and get people nodding “Yes, I want that!”, oftentimes with little to go on.

Why is this worth knowing?

Because this is what your target audience is doing every day. Customers are looking for your products and services, and trying to determine which business is the best choice. Which one meets their needs? What distinguishes one business from another? Which is the “right” choice?

Businesses that fail to sell their unique differentiator are leaving money on the proverbial table.

They are losing warm lead - people who want your product or service.

People move on to the next brand.

Whoever tells their story best gets the business.

Failing to distinguish yourself from your competitors once people are on your site is a huge, missed opportunity. It’s a lost sale.

People find a business that does distinguish itself in terms that work for the customer.

Take a closer look at your Home page and your About page (the second most-visited page of websites). Are you telling your story? Is it unique? Are you conveying the benefits and transformation clients will get from your business?

Challenge Question: Does your business website provide its unique selling proposition ‘above the fold’? How hard would I have to work to understand what makes your business special and different from your competition?