"E" Is For "Everything"??? Small Business Web Site Strategy Tips

Maybe you already know many or all of your potential customers, maybe you have very defined processes and production cycles that don't change very quickly, maybe you're suspicious of the Internet "hype" - especially now that so many e-companies are falling by the wayside.
But we also know that the Internet isn't going away. 407 million people are now estimated to have access - that includes 167 million in North America, and 113 million in Europe. Younger people increasingly spend more time online than watching TV.

The true challenge now - which personally I also see as a great opportunity, is to understand all the ways in which using the 'Net can help your business, and from this to strategise the best investment of time and money.

So if it's here to stay, how can the Internet benefit your business - and what's currently going wrong?
There are some key elements that prevent many Web site owners from maximizing the potential of their Internet-based activities.
It takes at least five times the time and expense to acquire a new customer as it does to keep a current one. Your Web site can be a great tool for providing ongoing customer service and support - and achieving significant cost savings to boot!
Most people access the Internet for information on products and services that they either use now, or are considering buying. So, your Web site can be a great place to provide ongoing customer support for your products. If you're worried about giving away trade secrets to your competition, place these in a password-protected area.

The best way to build your content is to compile a list of questions that your customers most often ask. These may be sales related, but can also cover operations, quality assurance issues, etc. If you don't already know the questions, have your receptionists and sales people keep a note pad for a week. Then, put the questions, together with the answers, on your site.

This provides a 24 hour a day, seven day a week availability of service for your customers, whether your office is open or not. And, it can save significant costs in terms of telephone support time.
I know this sounds obvious, but how many sites have you seen where it's quite unclear what the site wants from you? Every page of your site should have a strategy, and be clear about inviting visitor interactions to achieve your goals.
Many times when a new client comes to me for e-business strategy consulting, I ask them a few seemingly simple questions: "Who are your markets? What do they want from you?" and "What do you want from them?"

Sounds easy enough. But often, there are visitors to your Web site that may be different from your traditional customers - and sometimes, you either currently offer or could create new products or services that they'd buy.

Thinking through all the possible audiences for your site, and all the ways in which you might interact with them is really crucial in creating your Web strategy.

Then, so is knowing who you expect to be looking at each page of your site, and what you want them to do. This might include requesting a catalog, asking for technical support, signing up for a newsletter, etc. Include clear text links and invitations to the visitor - and make it really easy for them to contact you.

Too many pages online provide great content, and then just tail off into nothing. Don't let yours be among them!

E-mail is a powerful tool when used appropriately (and an awful one when not!). It can be used for marketing, customer service, public relations, in-company memos, business research . . . and much more. Look at your real-world communications - could e-mail save you time and expense?
E-mail marketing can be done without the costs of design printing, and postage associated with traditional direct mail. It's almost free of charge!

It can be used to send notices of new products, or upgrades to existing ones. It can keep your customers informed of news and events in your company, and around the industry. If it's offering brief, valuable content, most of your contacts won't object to receiving it - although of course if they do, you must take them off your mailings. But, with a few subtly embedded links to key pages in your Web site, it can be a great traffic generator.

Your own database of your customers, prospects and other contacts is the best place to start - and take every opportunity to nurture that. Ask visitors to your Web site to sign up for your newsletter, product alerts, or other materials. If you buy any lists, be very careful that they're bona fide and you won't be accused of spamming recipients.

And whatever you do, answer your e-mail! Lack of e-mail response is always one of the biggest customer service complaints around e-business.

So, consistently mine your customer list. Send them targeted, relevant e-mails, and grow your business relationships electronically!

Let's say it again - the Internet isn't going away. Today's challenge lies in understanding how to use it to maximise your market reach, optimise the efficiency of your operations, and achieve the best overall return on your online business investment.

Author:Philippa Gamse
Source:About.com

Ways to Promote Your Website

This article is designed to introduce you to website promotion, getting visitors to come to your website. It gives you the basic information, which you can then explore through dozens of links to other resources, much of it entirely free. As one of our most popular articles, this was revised most recently on April 19, 2011.

How can you get more visitors to your website? What can you do to stimulate traffic? Here's a checklist of items you need to consider. Many of these may be doing already; others you meant to do and forgot about; still others you've never heard of. Of course, a great deal has been written about this. You'll find links to thousands of articles about website promotion on our website.
While I'm not breaking any new ground here, I've tried to summarize some of the most important techniques.

Social Media

Our next type of website promotion comes from the mushrooming field of social media, in which people are encouraged to interact with each other, and respond to each other's blog postings and comments. You should be aware of four types of social media: (1) blogs, (2) social networking sites, (3) social bookmarking sites, and (4) forums. Don't be upset if the distinctions between types of social media tend to blur. Social media help promote your site by sending direct traffic, producing links to your site, and generating awareness. The subject is too diverse to go into detail here. You can learn more in our social media articles (www.wilsonweb.com/newmedia/).

1. Begin a Business Blog. 
Want links to your site? Begin a business blog on your website, hosted on your own domain. If you offer excellent content and regular industry comment, people are likely to link to it, increasing your site's PageRank. Consistency and having something to say are key. If you have a blog on a third-party blog site, occasionally find reasons to talk about and link to your own domain.
2. Become Part of a Social Media Community. 
Some of the best online communities for business include Facebook (www.facebook.com), LinkedIn (www.linkedin.com), and Twitter (www.twitter.com). In addition, you may want to participate in a social bookmarking community in which members share with each other information about websites, articles, or news items that they like (or don't like). These include Digg (www.digg.com), Delicious (www.delicious.com), StumbleUpon (www.stumbleupon.com), and Google Bookmarks (www.google.com/bookmarks/). Search engine spiders troll these sites looking for links to something new and relevant. You can usually place a link to your website in your profile, but the biggest gain comes when other people mention you (which generates traffic to your site), link to you (which increases your PageRank and brings traffic), or bookmark you (which increases your PageRank and brings traffic, see #21 below).
One important reminder, don't join a community to spam them or talk incessantly about your business. Like any community you must listen, comment, and make a genuine contribution for the good of others. Don't hog the conversation. Otherwise, your self-serving links and comments will hurt your reputation. By the way, to get started, why don't you visit my social media pages and become a Facebook fan (www.facebook.com/pages/Web-Marketing-Today/85187746383) or a Twitter follower (www.twitter.com/ralphwilson) -- please! Thank you!
3. Promote Your Site in Online Forums and Discussion List
"old school" social media. The Internet offers thousands of very targeted e-mail based discussion lists, online forums, and groups made up of people with very specialized interests. Use Google Groups (groups.google.com) to find appropriate groups. Search online for blogs or other forums.
Don't bother with groups consisting of pure spam. Instead, find groups where a serious dialog is taking place. Don't use aggressive marketing and overtly plug your product or service. Rather, add to the discussion in a helpful way and let the "signature" at the end of your e-mail message do your marketing for you. People will gradually get to know and trust you, visit your site, and do business with you.
4. Ask Visitors to Bookmark Your Site. 
It seems simple, but ask visitors to bookmark your site or save it in their Favorites list. I use a widget called AddThis (www.addthis.com). When you put the AddThis JavaScript on your webpage, it automatically determines the title and URL of that page. When visitors click the button on your page, they are automatically taken to a page that allows them to choose which bookmarking service they prefer, and then pre-populates the appropriate form with the title and URL of your webpage. I use AddThis throughout my website, as well as in my newsletters. If you have good content that people want to bookmark, this can generate hundreds of links to your site and significantly raise your rankings.
While you're at it, would you be so kind as to bookmark this page using the button below? Thank you!

 

Traditional Strategies

Just because "old media" strategies aren't on the Internet doesn't mean they aren't effective. A mixed media approach can be very effective. 

1. Include Your URL on Stationery, Cards, and Literature. 
Make sure that all business cards, stationery, brochures, and literature contain your company's URL. And see that your printer gets the URL syntax correct. In print, I recommend leaving off the http:// part and including only the www.domain.com portion.
2. Promote using traditional media.  
Don't discontinue print advertising that you've found effective. But be sure to include your URL in any display or classified ads you purchase in trade journals, newspapers, yellow pages, etc. View your website as an information adjunct to the ad. Use a two-step approach: (1) capture readers' attention with the ad, (2) then refer them to a URL where they can obtain more information and perhaps place an order. Look carefully at small display or classified ads in the back of narrowly-targeted magazines or trade periodicals. Sometimes these ads are more targeted, more effective, and less expensive than online advertising. Consider other traditional media to drive people to your site, such as direct mail, classifieds, post cards, etc. TV can be used to promote websites, especially in a local market.
3. Develop a Free Service. 
It's boring to invite people, "Come to our site and learn about our business." It's quite another to say "Use the free kitchen remodeling calculator available exclusively on our site." Make no mistake, it's expensive in time and energy to develop free resources, but it is very rewarding in increased traffic to your site -- and a motivation to link to the site! Make sure that your free service is closely related to what you are selling so the visitors you attract will be good prospects for your business. Give visitors multiple opportunities and links to cross over to the sales portion of your site. 

E-Mail Strategies

Don't neglect e-mail as an important way to bring people to your website. Just don't spam, that is, don't send bulk unsolicited e-mails without permission to people with whom you have no relationship. Many countries have anti-spam laws.
 I'll mention just a few important elements here. You can learn more from our articles on e-mail marketing (www.wilsonweb.com/email/).

1. Install a "Signature" in your E-Mail Program  
to help potential customers get in touch with you. Most e-mail programs allow you to designate a "signature" to appear at the end of each message you send. Limit it to 6 to 8 lines: Company name, address, phone number, URL, e-mail address, and a one-phrase description of your unique business offering. Look for examples on e-mail messages sent to you.
2. Publish an E-Mail Newsletter.  
While it requires a commitment of time, creating a monthly e-mail publication is one of the most important promotion techniques. It could be a newsletter ("ezine"), list of tips, industry updates, or new product information -- whatever you believe your customers will appreciate. This is a great way to keep in touch with your prospects, generate trust, develop brand awareness, and build future business. It also helps you collect e-mail addresses from those who visit your site, but aren't yet ready to make a purchase. You distribute your newsletter inexpensively using e-mail marketing services such as: iContact (www.wilsonweb.com/afd/icontact.htm), Constant Contact (www.wilsonweb.com/afd/constantcontact.htm), and AWeber (www.wilsonweb.com/afd/aweber.htm). If you have a very small list, some of these services let you use their services free until you grow larger. Blogs are very popular, but don't really replace e-mail newsletters. You have to go to a blog to read it, while an e-mail newsletter appears in your inbox asking to be read.
If you haven't already, would you please sign up for my free newsletter, Web Marketing Today (www.wilsonweb.com). It is published weekly and will keep you up-to-date in the fields of Internet marketing and e-commerce. Thank you!

  3. Aggressively Ask for E-Mail Sign-ups.   If you want to get subscribers to your e-mail newsletter, you'll need to work hard at it. Include a subscription form on every page of your website. Promote sign-ups through free whitepapers, e-books, or other products. If you have a local business, ask customers to sign up for your e-mail list to get "special Internet only offers." Also ask other businesspeople when they give you a business card if you can send them your e-mail newsletter. While only the e-mail address itself is necessary, I always ask for a first name also, so I can personalize the newsletter and the e-mail subject line with the recipient's name.
4. Send Transactional and Reminder E-Mails. 
A transactional e-mail is sent to an existing customer to initiate, remind, confirm, or thank the person. Be creative. If you keep careful records, you can send e-mails to customers on their birthday to remind them to return to your site. Subscription confirmation e-mails can also mention several popular products. You might remind customers that it has been three months since their last order and ask if it's time for a refill. Thank you for your purchase e-mails can offer a coupon to bring your customer back for a future sale. Use your imagination, but don't pester your customers. You're there to serve them, not the other way around.
5. Send Offers to Your Visitors and Customers. 
Your own list of customers and site visitors who have given you permission to contact them will be your most productive list. Send special offers, coupon specials, product updates, etc. They often initiate another visit to your site. If you have a regular newsletter, you can include many of these in your regular e-mailing.
6. Exchange E-Mail Mentions with Complementary Businesses. 
You might consider exchanging e-mail newsletter mentions with complementary businesses to reach new audiences. Just be sure that your partners are careful where they get their mailing list so you don't get in trouble with the anti-spam laws in your country.

Author:Dr.RalphF.Wilson,ECommerceConsultant
Source:Web Marketing Today

4 Elements of a Successful, Profitable Website

I heard the frustration in the voice on the other end of my phone. “My web site costs me money each month, and yet I don’t make any money from it. I don’t know why it’s such a big deal to have a web site anyway”. Does this sound like your business? Do have a beautiful website describing your products or services, but you’re not sure what to do from there? Do you pay a web designer large sums of money to make changes every month?
Well, put on your happy cap folks because today I’m going to discuss some of the elements of the most successful and profitable websites out there on the Internet. It’s a widespread myth that the only people making money on the internet are the ones selling products about how to make money on the internet. Profitable websites come from all kinds of industries, all kinds of styles, shapes and colors. There are a few simple low or no cost things that any small business entrepreneur can do immediately to increase their web exposure, drive more traffic to their site, and ultimately make more sales.
Know Your Website Purpose
 
Before you start to create (or re-create) your website, consider what purpose it serves in your business? A website can be used to sell a product or service exclusively, to give information, as a brochure to attract more business or showcase projects, or even a combination of things. Let’s say, for example, that you sell fishing equipment. Your website might include articles for fishing enthusiasts, tips to catch bigger fish as well as a store for fishing equipment and supplies. This would be an example of a combination site selling multiple related products.
If you are an author selling a book, a simple sales site might serve you well. With a simple sales site, you have only one or two pages to the whole site, featuring the product you wish to sell. The only information on the site might be the letter describing the book, and links to “purchase now”. This is a simple and very effective method for using the internet to produce revenue from your site.
Lead Your Visitor to Action
 
Have you ever been to someone’s web site, looked at the front page, and left because you were confused? While it may be a common practice to put everything about your company’s product or service on the front page, it’s not a good idea, for exactly the reason I described above. You want your visitors to stay on your site and DO something. For each page on your web site, decide what you want your visitor to do. Should they sign up for a newsletter? Buy a product? Look at the pictures of your work? Make it clear and easy to understand and your visitor will happily tour your website.

Know Your Target Market
 
It is a common misconception with entrepreneurs that the product or service sold in the business is a good idea for “everyone”. While it may be true that everyone needs the product, not everyone will buy it. Therefore, you must know who you are trying to attract with your web site. Ask yourself these questions to get started:

• Are my customers male or female?
• What level of education do they have?
• What age group do they fall into?
• What are their hobbies? Interests?
• What do they read?
• Do they have children?
• What is their level of income?
• What are their biggest problems?

This will help you to get a clearer picture of your customers. With this information in mind, you can then begin to create marketing or advertising plans that will get in front of the best prospects to buy your product. Capture Visitors’ Names
 
One of the main reasons to even have a website is to capture the names and/or email addresses of your visitors. In this scenario, a prospect or potential customer visits your site and leaves his or her email address and first name with you. This gives you permission to send the person relevant email about your business, updates or special offers you may have. Maybe you have a new tip for using your product that your customers would want to know. Why not send the tip to both your customers and the people who have visited your site?
So how do you get someone to leave their name? You could offer a newsletter or weekly tips, a free e-course, e-book or special report. Offer a coupon or discount. Make your offer appropriate for the content of your site, and your visitors will gladly leave their email addresses and names. Put them at ease by letting them know that you are not collecting their names to sell to an outside source.
By capturing your visitors’ names, growing your list of email addresses and sending relevant, responsible email to your customers and prospects, you are building a relationship with them. In any business, the relationship is the intangible, powerful force that creates loyal, repeat customers.
Stephanie Frank, founder of the Balanced Wealth Network, specializes in helping others build passive income to enrich their lives. Her current project is “NetProfits:The Complete and Simple System for Online Success”, a system to help entrepreneurs use the Internet as a marketing tool.

Aurthor:Stephanie Frank
Source:About.com

weLcome to my BLOG !

Hye ! Welcome to my BLOG ! I'm LyiEana MoHaMaD From Johor (Yong Peng). I'm taking business study at HERE. I Love this place . This simple blog is prepared for MGT300. Our Lovely lecturer who teach us this course is Tuan Syed Mazlan Bin Syed Mat Dom. Thats all for my First entry. :D :D