Red or Green?

Wayne Hurlbert wrote about patterns of small business failure. One such failure is not knowing the true cost of doing business. Then when things get tough, the small business will cut corners, usually by cutting the marketing budget… And skimping on its website.

I disagree with Wayne, however, on one point. He says, “Cutting corners, at the expense of current and future customers, is not a wise idea.” But if things are getting tough, it might be better for the business to have fewer customers.

Let me explain what I mean.

Seth Godin yesterday echoed my philosophy on web stats. This is one of the 4 key elements that any website strategy needs. And it’s way simpler than the hype you hear in web-traffic circles. Because you should not maximize your web traffic. In fact, don’t even pay much attention to it.