At last, the kind of news we entrepreneurs love to hear…Especially with a recession on the horizon.

According to Doug Caverly, a staff writer at SmallBusinessNewz, those of us with effective Websites are more likely to be sitting pretty as people start tightening their belts and counting their pennies.

He noted in a blog post last Friday that entrepreneurs responding to a survey by Register.com felt pretty darn good about their prospects for online business.

Here’s the upshot…

“Approximately 70% of the respondents don’t expect their web revenue to decline despite economic conditions,” according to Register.com, which talked to 800 small businesses. Exactly 34.5 percent of its respondents plan on seeing the same level of revenue, and 34.6 percent expect the level to rise.

According to Doug, “If you haven’t started selling stuff online, now would be a great time to do so. Small business owners seem to feel online sales are going to remain strong regardless of how the rest of the economy sinks.”

And…

Register.com CEO Larry Kutscher stated, “Having a website has become more than a luxury for small businesses and entrepreneurs, it is a necessity.”

I have to agree. I’ve been seeing steady increases in my own online sales over the years. And right now, people are hungry for information…One of the easiest things to deliver on the Internet.

Everyone can benefit from having an effective Website

Even if you are service provider and don’t have any products to sell, you can still benefit from having a Website that effectively sells your services.

Wouldn’t it be nice to wake up and find 3 new emails from people ready to hire you, without you having lifted a finger? Duh, of course it would.

And there’s no reason you can’t start selling information online too.

Chances are you have a certain level of expertise in what you do, or you wouldn’t be doing it, right?

So why not offer a teleseminar on a topic your clients are likely to be interested in?

These are easy to do and can be recorded live. Then you can take the audio and turn it into a product to sell on your Website.

Or publish your own e-book? You don’t even have to be a writer (or spend a ton of cash) to publish online. And you don’t need a traditional publisher either.

Creating products to sell online not only adds to your revenue stream, it also positions you as an expert, adds credibility, and gives people a chance to sample what you do. So it’s a perfect fit for a service-based business.

Of course, for many small businesses the first order of business is getting a Website that actually brings in leads or makes sales.

And you need to get people to visit your site.

Finally, you also need a way to capture visitor’s info so you can stay in touch with them down the road.

Because although they might not be ready to buy right now, they might be ready in a week, month or year. And you want to be the Website they remember and go back to when they are.

Thankfully, it’s really not hard to make all this happen (and then some)! You just need to know how, then take a bit of action.

Ready to take your Website to the next level?

Need help turning your Website into lead-generating, sales-making machine?

Join me and 7 other lucky entrepreneurs for a full day on the Website Hotseat in Seattle on June 10th.

I put each attendee’s site up on the wall and critique it live. So you leave with specific suggestions and recommendations for taking your Website to the next level. Plus you get the added benie of having a focus group of entrepreneurs provide feedback as well.

Check it out and reserve your seat at http://www.websitehotseat.com. This event is already half sold-out, so don’t delay.

Want to read the entire article I quoted? Go here:
http://www.smallbusinessnewz.com/topnews/2008/05/23/online-sales-look-good-for-small-businesses

Do you think online sales are going to help you weather the tougher economy?

Whether you sell products or services, I’d love to know how your business is doing online, and whether or not you agree with the survey results

Please post your comments below…