How do I get my business on the Internet?
This is one of the most frequently asked questions by small business owners. They are feeling the pressure from their customers and competitors, yet for many business people it is a daunting task, as they don't understand the whole process.
In fact, many people are even asking the question whether they should have a website. Whether you are a consultant, florist, designer, builder, architect or a doctor, consider the many advantages a website provides:
1. Make money Set up an on-line store or get paid for advertising from other companies
2. Save money on advertising Instead of paying for large ads, simply advertise your website
3. Be flexible in your message Change the content as your business changes. No need to re-print expensive brochures.
4. Exposure to new customers You will reach more local clients as well as interstate and global markets
5. Having more professional image Keep up with the times and your competitors
6. Save time Don't spend hours on the phone, direct customers to your website
7. Keep your business open 24/7 Provide customers information when THEY need it. If you don't, someone else will.
So what does it really take to get your website set up?
Step 1 - Register your domain name OR not.
The big question is whether you need to register a domain name or not. The simple answer is NO, but a better answer is YES it is a good idea.
What is a domain name?
The purpose of a domain name is similar to that of a street address or telephone number. The domain name directs customers to you on the Internet. The domain by itself is not your email or web address. The domain does form the base from which these addresses are derived.
For example:
Company Name: QikPhone
Domain Name: qikphone.com.au
Web Address:(www.qikphone.com.au)
Email Address:sales@qikphone.com
Do I need to register a domain name to have a website?
NO, you don't need to have your own domain name. Your website can be created and hosted without it. Your website address will look something like this:
(www.web4business.com.au/JBCleaning)
OR
(www.ozemail.com.au/~JBCleaning)
The only advantage of not registering a domain name is that you will save yourself A$70 per year (it costs approx A$140 for 2 years to register a '.com.au' domain name).
The disadvantages of NOT having your domain name include:
1. If you decide to change your Webhosting company or if that company goes out of business, you will lose your website address. Your website can be transferred to a new company, but your address will change. And that means re-printing stationery and re-doing all your advertising, notifying all your customers etc.
2. Website addresses that contain information other than your company name are long and hard to remember and do not appear as professional. Compare these two and see which one you are more likely to remember:
(www.ozemail.com.au/~JBCleaning)
OR
(www.JBCleaning.com.au)
So it is a good idea to register a domain name, even if it is just to protect yourself for the future. Say for example, your business name is JB Cleaning and you decide not to register your domain name for now.
Along comes Joe Bloggs who opens his own cleaning business and registers JBCleaning.com.au domain name. After a year you decide you want to have your own domain name, but since Joe Bloggs already owns it, you won't be able to register it. Not to mention your customers who know your business as JB Cleaning may visit his website, thinking it's your web address and instead hire Joe Bloggs Cleaning.
Step 2 - Plan your website.
Planning your website is a two part process:
(a) Decide on the website design (colour schemes, buttons, special effects etc). This is your website designer's job. However, you may have a preference for a certain colour or look. To help you choose a design, you may wish to check out other people's websites or work with your web designer's pre-set templates.
(b) The content. There are many items you may wish to include on your website. The most common ones include:
1Product/Service Details
2.Contact Information
3.Pricing
4.Testimonials
5.Frequently Asked Questions
6.Response Form, such as "Join Mailing List"
7.On-line Magazine or Newsletter
8.Resources & Articles
9.Guarantee
10.Survey
11.Events Calender
12.Search My Website Form
13.Refund Policy
14.Privacy Policy
15.About Us Information
16.Site Map
17.Copyright information
18.Useful Links
19.Media Information
20.On-line store
21.News
22.Directions to Your Bricks & Mortar Premises
Step 3 - Choose a Web Hosting Company.
What is a Web hosting Company?
A Web host is a company that provides server space for your website. You can think of a web host as a commercial building. The web host provides space for your website just as a commercial building provides space for your shop or office. You can build your own building and you can host your own website, but because of the cost and expertise required it is easier to rent the space.
Which Company Should I Choose?
Web hosting companies are not created equal so you need to take a number of things into account when selecting one. A proven track record, experience and reliability form the foundation of any successful business partnership.
Some of the issues you should consider when choosing a webhosting company include:
1. Support - Does it provide comprehensive Technical Support - 24 hours a day, seven days a week?
2. Reliability - Does it have multiple large-scale links to the internet to provide a fail-safe path to your customers from anywhere in the world?
3. Security - Does it have a robust security system that minimises risk of web site intrusion?
4. State-of-the-art - Does the company utilises leading edge technology and is supported by a large-scale uninterruptible power supply (UPS) system.
5. Scalability - Does the product range and services offered allow your business to grow without impediment by making it easy to upgrade and add components to existing product levels.
Step 4 - Getting people to your site.
The marketing of your website is important if you want to draw visitors to your site. If you don't promote your website no-one will ever see it. There are a number of different ways of advertising your website. The best strategy is one, which integrates your existing promotion methods with your website.
1. Office Stationery - Including your web address and email address on your stationery is probably the easiest way to draw attention to your site. It's cost effective and gets your Internet presence out there in the market place.
2. Business Cards - When printing business cards you should include the individual's email address and main address of your website.
3. Radio Advertising
Radio Advertising should include your web address. Don't include the http://, try "Visit us on the internet at w-w-w-dot-qikphone-dot-com-dot-au". If your budget is limited, you may wish to consider community radios.
4. Email and Mail-Outs
Let your current customers know the details of your website. You can either send them an email or a letter/postcard. Keep your website's content up-to-date and they will keep coming back!
5. Print Media
Print advertising should include a generic email address for the company and include your website address. Normally positioned at the bottom right or bottom centre of your advertisement.
6. Search Engines & Directories
People looking for your website who don't know the URL are most likely to use an on-line search engine to look for your organisation or the kind of products and services you offer. There are over 300 major search engines and directories, but you should concentrate on the larger, more commonly used ones. These include: Google, Yahoo, Altavista, Anzwers, Inktomi, Infoseek, Lycos, Excite, HotBot, MSN, Dogpile, AllTheWeb etc.
7. Links from other websites
A good way to attract visitors to your site is through the use of hyperlinks placed on other sites. If you know of another site which has a list of links and you think your website would be a good addition, let the website owner know. You might also offer to provide a link from your site back to the other site. This will encourage the webmaster to include your site. You should also seek out partners for trading links including vendors, suppliers and providers of complimentary products.
8. Link Exchange
Another way to getting a link is through a system called Link Exchange, a free public service designed to help websites advertise each other. With Link Exchange, you agree to display advertising banners for other Link Exchange members and they agree to display banners for you. The System is automatic, you simply add a piece of HTML code to your web page and Link Exchange will display an advertisement for another website. The disadvantage with Link Exchange is that you don't get any control as to where your banner ad appears or the type of banner ads that will appear on your website. It is not possible to guarantee that a competitor of yours may have their banner ad displayed on your site.
9. Paid Banner Advertising/Affiliate Marketing Programs
Various sites give you the opportunity to purchase banner advertising on their site. Some sites will charge you a flat monthly fee while other sites will charge you based on the number of people who see your ad.
Step 5 - Monitor your site's statistics
Your website's statistics should show who visits your website, where in the world they come from, how they are finding your site and what pages are being viewed. Knowing your customers is the first step in effective marketing. Most webhosting companies will provide access to this information free of charge.
Step 6 - Maintaining your website
It is important to update your website regularly to keep your customers interested. One of the great advantages of having a website is that you can change its content virtually overnight at minimal cost (unlike re-printing brochures and flyers).
This is just a brief overview of the process involved in getting your website up and running. In future articles we will cover each step in more detail.
Start doing online business using B2B Portals in Six Steps
I registered with a B2B site but what's next?
This is a question many first time users of B2B marketplaces ask themselves. A few expect that the registration itself will bring them a number of new customers. In some cases this might by true! Especially, if you are a seller of some much coveted items. But for rest of us, things are a little trickier! A large B2B marketplace has a lot of suppliers of similar products, who are vying for the attention of potential customers. To establish your company as a favored one among them is not an easy task! However, a little planning and thorough follow up of some basic guidelines improve your chance of getting noticed by buyers significantly.
Below, I outlined some of the basic steps that you should take once you seriously decide to market your products using B2B marketplaces.
1 Write a nice profile
When a prospective client sees your trade lead ad or your product on the marketplace and feels interested, the first thing he does is - checks your company profile out. That's where the buyer gets his initial information about your company. If you have a virtually blank profile with a very little information on your company, doubtful that the potential client will even bother to make a request for quote. That's why you should spend a little time on writing a nice company profile. Here are some aspects that you should emphasize on while writing your company profile.
Start your profile with something noteworthy about your company. This could be the distinct quality that sets your business apart from your competition.
Describe your present customer base, target market and any new products or projects that you are planning to come up with.
Write a bit about your company history. When the company was incorporated? What is the business form?
If you have something to boast about, do it! If you feel that your sales figures are impressive, why not mention them.
Be brief! The profile should not be more than five paragraphs. You don't want your buyers to get bored!
2 Include your logo on your Storefront page
If you would like to separate your company from many other similar vendors, you have to think seriously about creating a brand for your company. Brand is the distinctive pattern of your business operation. It portrays the nature of your service or product, your uniqueness in comparison to others etc. A nice looking logo is a key to branding your company. Customers will remember your company name better if you have a great logo to go with.
3 Add products to your storefront
It is important to have your main products, products that are your primary sale generators, added to your storefront. Products with nice picture and well descriptions capture buyers attention more than any thing else. After all the reason that the buyers are on your page is to look for the products that they need.
New Great Storefront Services
Whether you are a small enterprise, which sells goods and services locally, or you are a medium to large company with global reach, Rusbiz is planning to introduce great storefront services with complete corporate site to match your every business need. Features include:
Basic
Single page storefront
10 products in E-catalog
Sales through e-marketplace
RFQ and Quotation
Negotiations
Internal Messaging Service
Many other features
Available now and it's free!
Enterprise
10 different templates to build multiple-page storefront
100 products in E-catalog
Sales through e-marketplace
RFQ and Quotation
Negotiations
Purchase Orders
Invoices
Tax Calculation
Shipment tracking
Internal Messaging Service
Merchant Account
Many other features
Coming soon!
Corporate
10 different templates to build multiple-page storefront
1000 products in E-catalog
Sales through e-marketplace
RFQ and Quotation
Negotiation
Purchase Orders
Invoices
Tax Calculation
Shipment tracking
Internal Messaging Service
Merchant Account
Many other features
Coming soon!
4 Make nice pictures of your products
Nothing can turn off a prospective buyer than a hazy or blur picture of the product that he intends to buy from you. If your competitor's product with exactly same features has nicer picture, guess who has a better chance to get the business? Spend some money and take professional pictures of your products. Make sure that you followed all the instructions of the Portal before uploading the pictures.
5 Post your products for sale on the marketplace
Product visibility is the name of the game! Don't confine yourself just by adding products to E-catalog and your Storefront. Post products for sale on the E-marketplace.
There are numbers of great advantages of posting products on E-marketplaces:
Frequent browsers of marketplace can see your products
Buyers can compare your products with others on marketplace
Buyers can take an immediate buying decision and make an instant Purchase Order.
6 Post trade leads
For many not-so-savvy users of B2B sites it's a bit complicated to make buys and sales through marketplaces. They prefer to get trade leads from the site and make contacts with buyers or sellers by fax, phone or just emails. Posting trade leads is a great marketing method to tap new territories. Don't be disappointed if you do not get immediate feedbacks. Repeat trade leads at least once in a month. Since normally a portal constantly acquires new members, in order to expose the leads to bigger audience, it is worthwhile to post trade leads frequently.
How to succeed as a Reseller on the Net?
What is a Reseller ?
When a company has a product or a service that they wish to sell they will often enlist 'resellers' to do the job of finding customers for them.
You may know a reseller by another name, for example: agent, associate, communicator, affiliate.
Once the reseller has managed to get the customer to make an order his job ends. The whole process of handling the order, the collection of payment, the shipping of goods, is done by the company (or distributor).
Who benefits ?
This is a tremendous arrangement for both sides.
The distributor simply waits for orders to arrive and has no involvement in the marketing phase. The reseller simply gets a customer, for example, to visit a web site and takes no further part.
Commission is paid to the reseller on the value of orders made.
It is the power of the Internet with the possibility of cheap or free advertising for a vast audience which makes reselling such an outstanding business opportunity.
And if you have your own website, where you have the luxury of posting your own ads for free, then you have an effortless income-producing system.
Two things which make reselling even more exciting
If the product can earn you residual income, for example a monthly commission all the while that the customer continues to renew it.
If you can recruit your own resellers and collect commission either for each reseller or for the products that they sell
What should you look out for ?
Here are some rules for checking out reseller opportunities:
#1. The company
First, there would be no point in generating massive commission on 'paper' only to find that the company are unreliable, don't pay up on time, or eventually fold.
Test out the company first.
Make an inquiry as if you were a potential customer. Study the quality of their reply and of their literature or website.
How quickly do they respond ? If their customer service is poor this does not give much hope for the way they will handle their resellers.
Are they an ethical company, what guarantees do they provide for refunds ?
#2 The product
Is the product an item which is in good demand ?
What is the rate of commission ?
These two factors will determine your potential earnings.
As a guide commission should range from 25 to 50%.
#3 Assistance with promotion
Does the company provide advertising material for their resellers ?
In particular do they provide a personalised web site ?
#4 The cost
What is the cost of becoming a reseller ?
This can vary from
completely free
paying an initial one off payment
paying a monthly subscription
You don't have to be deterred by reselling opportunities where payment is involved. These may offer greater benefits such as advanced promotion techniques and commission which will quickly outweigh the payments.
For example $30 per month may seem a high figure but if you regard it as one dollar a day to have the company's products displayed 24 hours a day to the whole world on your own personalised web site it could be viewed as the bargain of the century.
Can anyone become a reseller ?
Reseller opportunities are ideal for both experienced online marketeers and for newcomers to the Internet. Here's why:
#1 Experienced online marketeers
If you have an established web site the minimum that you need to do is post an ad on your own site.
And there's no need to stop at one product.
Providing that you don't overload your web site with ads you could have many - and you can monitor how they perform so that you can judge which ones to give prominence to.
#2 Newcomers
One of the first and most important skills you will need to use for any online business is how to place adverts.
Here are some of the things that you start to learn when you submit ads:
The various locations where you can place an ad such as newsgroups, forums, ezines, web sites: and the different rules and methods used for each one such as frequency of posting and size of ads.
How to post information to a mailing list or newsgroup for free but using a signature file to promote your products.
How to code your adverts so that you can identify where the response originates.
How to organise your mail files to handle responses.
How to simplify your own systems so that you have standard replies to common questions.
How to set up autoresponders if necessary to take away the chore of responding manually.
How to deal with the unexpected (for example, even though you may clearly spell out in your ad that a reply should be made to an autoresponder many people will still reply directly to you).
By taking on a reseller operation you have an ideal opportunity to practise these methods. This will provide the experience for whatever online venture you plan as well as an excellent source of additional income.
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