WINNIPEG – The internet is a great business tool but it won’t solve all marketing needs, said three rural entrepreneurs at the Manitoba Farm Women’s Conference.
In fact, it can be time consuming to post new information on a regular basis or to respond to all the inquiries.
Electronic mail is the best part of the system, said Cindy Scott, comptroller of Bar 5 Simmental Stock Farms, of Brandon, Man. The cattle and semen exporting business has customers around the world and the quickest way to get in touch with them is to post an e-mail.
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The internet has also eliminated the time and cost of reprinting and mailing photographs of desired animals to foreign customers. Pictures can be downloaded from the Bar 5 website. Soon a scanner will ensure customers can have digital photos sent in their e-mails.
One problem with the website is the chore of posting new information.
“We haven’t updated often enough and get stagnant, but as more customers complain we’ll be motivated to update,” said Scott.
Reaching a younger generation that understands computers is a long-term benefit of the Bar 5 venture onto the information highway, she said.
“We’ve tossed around the idea of doing sales live by internet and taking bids by e-mail. We haven’t done it yet until we analyze how many of our customers use internet.”
The time element has been the best part of the internet for Mary Ellen Moran, president of Moran Farms Ltd., a Manitoba grain farm that has diversified into spice exporting. As a rural business she appreciates being able to do her banking on-line 24 hours a day, seven days a week, with no travel or concern about when the bank is open. One problem is that the bank deals only in Canadian funds and 90 percent of their export business is done in American dollars.
E-mail is also positive for their customers located in Japan, Indonesia, Sri Lanka and Britain. The disadvantage is the amount of electronic junk mail they receive.
Moran has found a time saver with a freight company’s electronic form for export documentation. The paperwork now takes hours to complete instead of a week.
For Bill McCaskell’s wholesale candle business outside MacGregor, Man., a website has reduced the time his 30 staff spent on the telephone. Prospective customers can be directed to download information from the business website. An order form can also be used to qualify e-mail customers, sorting out smaller-volume sales from larger ones.
McCaskell says the value of internet is not expressed through an immediate financial return but as a public relations tool. He uses a website to make his business appear to be the expert, or the industry standard. Regular updates of catalogues and project tips and a proposed chat line for hobbyists offering candlemaking tips, are ways he sees to attract people and have them return to his brand name.
When designing websites there are two important elements, the panel agreed. One is to have a site that allows people to download quickly. If it takes more than a few seconds to flip pages or get information, people will get bored and move on.
Scott also suggested that prospective internet businesses get linked to every other related site.
“The more places people can find you, the more likely they’ll see you.”
