Home > Writing Advice & Resources > Your Website: An Extended Infomercial?

Your Website: An Extended Infomercial?

Updated Feb 2006
The typical business networking infomercial (in which you stand up in a business-mixer type meeting and explain who you are and what your company does) lasts about 30-45 seconds. Just stating your name, company name, and tagline takes up about ten of those precious seconds. Within the context of a short infomercial, it's extremely difficult to give a deep and complete picture of what your business has to offer.

Your website can help fill that gap. Every business card you hand out at networking meetings is an invitation to visit your website. The site should follow up on your initial contact by delivering an accurate picture of what you offer.

Stress the points that make you unique. For example, you're not just a financial planner—you work with clients within a concept-framework of ethical investing and sustainability. You're not just a hotel—you offer blocks of rooms that can be isolated from the rest of the hotel, making a mini-condo environment for family groups.

A website is a terrific showcase for any independent business. Most entrepreneurs have set up their own companies because they want the freedom to deliver the goods in a unique way. Many have gained their experience working for large companies in their field—companies they left because they wanted the freedom to do things differently. They've seen what the mature firms do, and they know exactly how they want their business to be different. A website is the perfect place to elaborate on those differences.