At Flat Creek, most of our clients are professional firms — lawyers, architects, fellow marketers, etc. But for every great client we have, there’s a prospective client who tells me “I don’t need a website. Most of my business comes through word of mouth.”

Actually, if most of your business comes through word of mouth, then you definitely need a website. According to a recent study on eMarketer.com, online word-of-mouth recommendations are huge, even among baby boomers:

1. When baby boomers go online, 66 percent of the time it is to research purchasing decisions.

1. Baby boomers get 45 percent of their word-of-mouth recommendations online.

Let me emphasize: these numbers aren’t for teenagers. These are specifically baby boomers (42-60).

It’s easy to see where our friends who still cling to “traditional” word-of-mouth marketing are coming from though. They work in traditional professions with traditional means of reaching clients.

Think about the last time someone referred you to an accountant or attorney. If you didn’t have their phone number already, chances are you went to their website. Actually that’s why most people go to a website - to find a phone number (consider that my free tip for the day).

So take that step, put some muscle behind your website, and wow prospective clients who were just told to check out your firm. Your bottom line will thank you.