I spent yesterday afternoon at Elmo’s Clothing in downtown Fuquay-Varina, taking photos to update their web site. When I arrived for the photo shoot, Barney Fish (the store owner) and William Stewart were helping two customers who needed suits for an event that afternoon.

When I arrived, they had selected suits, shirts, ties and shoes, and Barney was seated at a sewing machine, hemming pants. Minutes later, both men left the store, fully dressed in their new attire. It makes me proud to live in a town where you can still experience that kind of service.

We’ll soon be updating the web site with the new photos I took. Here’s a sneak peek at one of the pictures featuring William.

Last week we launched a web site for The Mitchell, a commercial building in historic downtown Fuquay-Varina that is being renovated to offer retail and restaurant flex space for lease. One unique aspect of the project is the addition of solar collectors on the roof for generating electricity to sell back to the local utility. The site also features photos of the building in its early days as Wake County’s first Chevrolet dealership and stories from the building’s history.

The owners, Eric and Mary Christofferson, are sharing details and progress of the renovation project in their blog and plan to include photos and videos along the way. They invite others to share their memories of the building’s past and their thoughts on the renovation through comments on the blog. (The Mitchell’s blog is part of a social media plan WebAbility created for them. You can also connect with The Mitchell on Facebook and Flickr.)

This post is the first in an ongoing series featuring your questions about web sites and marketing. Got a question you’d like me to answer? Email me at michelle@getwebability.com.

“I’m starting a small business. What’s the one thing I need to do first to market it?”

A fellow member of a Facebook networking group I belong to, North Carolina Business Women, asked me this question during our group’s first teleconference last week.

An effective marketing plan involves a lot of research and planning. To focus on a single marketing tool is unlikely to produce results. But having launched a few small businesses of my own, I understood what she was really asking: “Where do I start?”

To answer that question, I ask another: “What’s the biggest obstacle to success in your business?” Overcoming that obstacle early can put you more solidly on the road to success. Why not tackle it first?

I asked myself this question when I started my real estate business. As a new licensee, I needed a way to show people I knew what I was doing. Having been in the web business for over a decade, a web site was a natural choice for me. My blog gave me a forum to demonstrate my market knowledge, to share tips with home buyers and sellers, and help people get to know me.

I shared blog entries and new web content with my friends and family, and it wasn’t long before they were coming to me with real estate questions. I still remember the day one of my brothers called to ask me a question about tax assessments and said, “It’s really cool that you know this stuff!” (But don’t tell him what a big deal that was to me. )

What’s the biggest obstacle to success in your business? Perhaps it’s attracting customers when you don’t have a sizable portfolio or scores of happy clients to offer testament to your abilities. If so, look for ways to demonstrate your knowledge and skills to potential clients and those who may refer them to you.

Whatever challenges you face, getting the big one out of the way early can help get your business off to a strong start.

Hi! You’ve found the new home for WebAbility and Michelle Heeden King on the web. I haven’t unpacked yet, and things are still a mess. When everything is in place, you’ll find my blog here. So, please stop by again soon!

Looking for my real estate site? You’ll find it at heedenking.yourkwagent.com.