Internet Strategies for business

Businesses are aware of the need to incorporate the internet into their overall strategy. The desired approach should seek to retain the strengths of the existing core business whilst using the internet to enhance value.

1.You know the type of people who will visit your shop or place an inquiry, and you will respond in a way that tunes in with them. Make sure your website also resonates in the same way. Engineers or buyers seeking a quote may prefer functional website over flashy ones.

2.Word of mouth remains the primary trigger to gain business. However with an increasing number of business people on LinkedIn, many are using this tool to research & double check credentials. Too many people set themselves up on LinkedIn and do nothing more. The ones who have taken it seriously & created a full profile and published recommendations generate a lot more business.

3.A business prices its products at a level which cover the overheads of a shop or office. Online businesses can sell at a lower price as they have fever overhead to cover. Using the website to compete on price will ultimately pull down the shop price to online levels and ruin the business.

4.Visitors arriving at your website do not have the reassurance of knowing whether they can trust you in the way they can when visiting your shop or calling your office. If your business about giving advice, consider a “freemium” model – giving useful information away for free tempting the reader to contact you. This concept feels alien when business owners first explore the internet, believing they should be charging the customer for everything.

5.Having the email of a customer may appear to be just a point of contact. But if you gather specific data on your customer and you have the opportunity to develop that relationship. For a musical instrument repair business, knowing which customers have a clarinet allows the owner to email a tips sheet for clarinet maintenance just to those who own one.

6.When selling furniture, someone experienced in e – commerce has a much greater chance of success in selling furniture online than a person who has had a traditional retail outlet for 20 years. However the e – eCommerce person has no experience in product sourcing. Perhaps the struggling traditional retailer could switch his focus from direct retailing to selling products on a wholesale basis to the online retailers, thereby capitalizing on his strengths.

7.You should have lodged at the front of your mind around half a dozen keyword or key phrases. They are the words a prospective customer would type into Google to find your website and describe your business. They should also appear in offline marketing literature, your elevator pitch when networking, and press release. In fact everywhere.

8.Do all monitoring & research online for free – no need for a PR firm. Google alerts allow you to monitor phrases and alert you when they appear on the internet – such as your name or that of your company. Google analytic is a powerful tool to monitor volumes & keywords, exit and entry pages for your website. RSS feeds allow you to receive news feeds in the form of a personalized magazine.