BY DAN LEVIN

It was 1994 when a neighbor volunteered to create a Web site for our newly founded promotional products company. Back then, Prodigy was bigger than AOL, AltaVista was king of the search engines, and Google was just an idea forming in a couple of college kids’ minds.

Our neighbor managed our Web site for us for that first year, and we saw zero results. I remember thinking, “Is this whole Internet thing just a fad?” But lucky for us, we knew in our hearts that it wasn’t and that there was real potential to help expand our business. So, we decided at that moment to take control of our site. It proved to be one of our greatest business decisions. Looking back, I don’t know where we would be today had we not taken the leap of faith that helped separate us from our competitors and gain a lasting advantage in the marketplace.

We took control of our Web site in 1995 and now have a strong, vibrant Internet presence. We get to benefit from the beauty of an active Web site that works for us even when we’re not working. Twenty-four hours a day, seven days a week and 365 days a year — it’s there for our clients. So, while I’m at home spending time with my family, our site is humming along, attracting new customers and providing valuable information and services to our existing clients. It elevates our company by making it more efficient and convenient. Our clients get to choose when they want to interface with us, whether they’re having their morning coffee at their laptops or wrapping up a long day of work at the office.

We’ve grown with the Web, and we’ve established the type of relationship with our clients we could never have imagined in 1994. Through our sites, blogs, forms, e-mails, social media links, online store, surveys and a host of other channels, we maintain a constant line of communication with our customers that helps direct our business and evolve our company into the responsive, flexible promotional agency that we are today.

Jeff Jarvis, author of the book “What Would Google Do,” suggests that smart businesses should go beyond the basic use of the Web to push a message. Quality online operations provide you with a means for listening to your clients and can even function as a vehicle for active collaboration. In the past, customers were mostly valued for their deep pockets, but now technology enables us to tap their potential as sources for information, guidance and insight through comment forms and surveys. Such value is incalculable.

It’s essential that your site offers at least some of the following features: a blog, social media links, surveys, forms, events and e-mail marketing. Together, these components help you not only reach clients but also involve them in your business’s future. Customers — if given the opportunity — will gladly contribute to your development and ultimate success. That’s why we’ve found having a Web site that we can control so vital to our business success.

Taking active control of your Web site means constantly updating all aspects of your site for relevancy and accuracy. Doing so is far more feasible than many people assume, and your familiarity with our industry’s terrain is too useful to waste. Don’t leave everything up to a random Web designer who knows little about your business and even less about its customers. No one is better equipped to meet your customers’ needs than you are, so your involvement in the execution of the digital platform must be a priority.

There are three common options for achieving ongoing control over an effective site, listed here from most to least complex.

Option 1: Develop an in-house Web design and programming department. Keep in mind that quality designers and programmers are very expensive to retain, and for a really strong Web presence, you’ll need a designer, a PHP and MYSQL programmer, and a search engine optimization (SEO) expert. This is the most difficult and expensive option, and it’s probably best left to large organizations.

Option 2: Outsource your Web design and programming to an external firm. A good one will cost quite a bit of money up-front, and all future modifications will be tied to its team. You can also have the firm create the site in a program such as Dreamweaver. Then you can purchase the program’s sister software; in the case of Dreamweaver, that would be “Contribute,” which costs roughly $150 and is designed to allow you to make minor updates and exercise some control over the site’s operation yourself. However, the learning curve is steep, and you will need to learn at least basic Web coding in HTML and FTP. This option is less expensive than the first, but it still involves significant ongoing costs in terms of programmer time and expertise.

Option 3: Use a content-management solution, such as Accrisoft. Such vendors charge a much lower initial design fee and provide the site’s basic “skin,” or the overall look and feel. From there, you take complete control of your site through a user-friendly content-management system and control panel. This option allows you to begin with a very inexpensive version and add as you grow, implementing modules along the way such as e-commerce, billing, employee intranet, podcasts, forums, photo albums, proposals and an array of other features. For many organizations, the low cost and high flexibility of this option makes it the most attractive.

Technology providers in the promotional products industry — including Essent Corp., SAGE/Quick Technologies, ASI, Distributor Central, Epromo and more — offer options for building and maintaining Web sites. These services vary from basic stock sites to ones you can update yourself without any knowledge of Web coding. Be sure to compare services and prices to find the best match for your business.

Whichever choice you make, the only way that you’ll realize the full potential of your Internet investment is by taking full control of your Web site and setting it up in a way that allows you to be in constant communication with your clients. As we move forward into this era of globalization and interconnectedness, the way we communicate with our clients will determine our success. Lace up your shoes and embrace the race, or you’re likely to be left behind.

Dan Levin is the president of Gallant Gifts, which is celebrating its 15th anniversary in 2009. For more information, visit www.gallantgifts.com. Click here to learn about Gallant’s Simply Selling Program. And check out Accrisoft’s Web site here for a special offer for Corporate Logo readers.

Web Terms to Know

So, you’re ready to create a Web site for your distributorship. Now what? Which features are important for your site, and what is the purpose of all these tools? Below is a brief explanation of some of the many online tools you may want to use. Remember, whatever you decide, a good Web site will be constantly updated for accuracy and relevancy.

Blog — A blog is like an online journal, usually maintained by an individual with regular entries of commentary, descriptions of events, or other content, such as graphics or video.

E-Commerce — Allows customers to place orders online.

Employee Intranet — An intranet is a back-end community similar to what suppliers offer their distributors. Intranets include tools such as fliers, forms, training, communications, human resources information and more.

Forms — Forms allow a site’s owner to interact with its users. This may include contact forms, contests, newsletters and surveys.

Forums — Forums are online posting sites where people can have an interactive “discussion” through their posts. They may be used for service needs or for generating and discussing creative ideas.

Live Chat — This is the ability to have a live instant-message conversation with customers or prospects visiting your Web site.

Online Billing — This is the ability to e-mail clients invoices and receipts.

Online Events — Client events can be anything from specials and online presentations to podcasts or webinars.

Podcast — A podcast is an online radio or video broadcast.

Social Media or Social Networking Sites — Based on networking and socializing, these Web sites allow people to create profiles and post pictures or updates, such as Twitter, Facebook, FURL, Digg, Myspace, LinkedIn, etc.

Surveys — Online surveys are an easy way get feedback from customers and Web browsers (potential customers) who visit your site. They can be made to pop up automatically after one places an online order or clicks away from your site, or they can be links on your site.