5 Simple ideas for your online business success
If you don't have a plan in place, yet expect to achieve consistent growth for your Online business,
you might as well forget it. Growing a successful Online Business is a strategic process that requires
long term vision, careful planning, pin point execution and bucket loads of patience. As with all
businesses, it is vital that you know have an understanding of what it is you want to achieve and
you have a plan to get you there.
One of the very first elements is a website that has been optimized for Search Engines, and has
been put through its paces to ensure when traffic lands on the site, that its actually converted
into customer.
Here are five simple, yet key ideas you can employ to enhance your online business:
1. Always be on the hunt for Opportunities to Increase Sales
Fact - sales drive business and sales come from customers; therefore, the hunt for new customers
should be task number one in an ongoing marketing plan that every online business owner should
have, and adhere to. Task two is to manage the ongoing relationship with your new customers, offering
new products, services and specials to them. The main goal behind this element is to have these
new clients purchase more from you, and more often.
The final task is to offer your more expensive products & services to these clients. Bundling
a number of products/services is a great way to do this.
2. Make the Best Use of Your Marketing Budget
After having identified your target market and primary audience, planned out all of your goals
and developed a promotional strategy to reach new prospects & customers, the next step is to
figure out how to make the most of your budget and get the job done without over spending. Even
though the exact process will vary from business to business, the principle remains the same.
Your main aim must be to achieve maximum exposure for your product or service, as often as possible,
to your target audience – after all there is no use in spending wisely, and advertising a great
product, but all to the wrong target market. Studies show on average a consumer will see a promotion
about five to seven times before taking action on the offer.
So instead of blowing your entire budget on a single opportunity to reach your select group,
it is much wiser to get everyone's attention with repeated and sustained promotions. Use as many
different forms of advertising as you can afford and squeeze the most out of your marketing dollars.
3. Invest in a Virtual Assistant
This is an opportunity to outsource various redundant tasks to someone who is capable, reliable
and trustworthy. The big advantage to you is you'll have more time to devote to activities that
generate income and help you grow your online business.
A virtual assistant works from his or her office as an independent contractor and is responsible
for whatever administrative or operational responsibilities you assign. Compensation is typically
either an hourly rate, per task or for larger and longer term projects, by retainer.
4. Use Email to Convert Visitors into Customers
Email marketing is one of the most economical and reliable ways to build a relationship with
visitors, eventually converting them into customer. It is an effective tool for staying in touch
and developing the level of comfort and trust that is necessary before prospects will agree to
do business with you.
You can use email to convey your product knowledge, case studies, specials, and testimonials.
The more you are seen to be an authority, the greater your credibility will become and the easier
it will be for you to make sales. Plus, email is a very handy tool for keeping customers abreast
of new product launches, sales promotions and the latest announcements about your online business.
5. Develop a System for Everything You Do
Be sure to develop methods and procedures that simplify and expedite important aspects of your
business operation. Often these systems will evolve from trial and error, but when they have been
perfected they should become standard practice.
The most efficient systems are those that get you to your objective as quickly as possible, as
reliably as possible, and are efficient in their use.
The above ideas are critical to the success of any online business. Together they save time,
money, effort, and provide a pathway to sustained growth and expansion.
Web development is a broad term for the majority of activity related to developing a website,
intended for view on the Internet or an intranet. This can include e-commerce business development,
web design, web content development, client-side/server-side scripting, and web server configuration.
However, among web professionals, "web development" usually refers only to the non-design aspects
of building web sites, e.g. writing markup and coding. Web development can range from developing
the simplest static single page of plain text to the most complex web-based internet applications,
electronic businesses, or social network services.
For larger businesses and organizations, internal and outsourced web development teams can
consist of hundreds of people (web developers). Smaller organizations may only require a single
permanent or outsourced web designer/developer, or secondary assignment to related job positions
such as a graphic designer and/or Information systems technician. Web development may be a collaborative
effort between departments rather than the domain of a single designated department.
Web Development can be split into many areas and a typical and basic web development hierarchy
might consist of;
Client Side Coding
- CSS
- XHTML (in accordance to modern web design standards, XHTML's use is replacing the older HTML4.
This may change when HTML 5 is adopted by the browser development community.)
- Javascript
- AJAX (New methods of using Javascript, PHP and other languages to improve the user experience)
- Flash (Adobe Flash Player is a ubiquitous client-side platform ready for Rich Internet Applications
(RIAs). Flex 2 is also deployed to the Flash Player (version 9+))
- Microsoft SilverLight - But doesn't seem to support older win9x versions
Server Side Coding
- PHP (open source)
- ASP (Microsoft proprietary)
- .NET (Microsoft proprietary)
- CGI and/or Perl (open source)
- Java, e.g. J2EE or WebObjects
- SSJS Server-Side JavaScript, e.g. Aptana Jaxer, Mozilla Rhino
- Python, e.g. Django (web framework) (open source)
- Ruby, e.g. Ruby on Rails (open source)
- Smalltalk e.g. Seaside
- ColdFusion (Adobe proprietary, formerly Macromedia)
- Lotus Domino
- Websphere (IBM proprietary)
LAMP servers are rapidly becoming a very popular setup used by the web development community.
However lesser known languages like Ruby and Python are often paired with database servers other
than MySQL (the M in LAMP). Below are examples of other databases currently in wide use on the
web. For instance some developers prefer a LAPR (Linux/Apache/PostrgeSQL/Ruby on Rails) setup
for development.
Database Technology
- MySQL
- PostgreSQL
- SQLite
- Microsoft SQL Server
- Firebird
- Apache Derby
- Oracle
- DB2 (IBM proprietary)
In practice, many web developers will also have interdisciplinary skills / roles, including:
- Graphic design / web design
- Information architecture and copywriting/copyediting with web usability, accessibility and
search engine optimisation in mind
- Project management, QA and other aspects common to IT development in general
The above list is a simple website development hierarchy and can be extended to include all
client side and server side aspects. It is still important to remember that web development is
generally split up into client side coding covering aspects such as the layout and design, then
server side coding, which covers the website's functionality and back end systems.
Looking at these items from an "umbrella approach", client side coding such as XHTML is executed
and stored on a local client (in a web browser) whereas server side code is not available to
a client and is executed on a web server which generates the appropriate XHTML which is then
sent to the client. As the nature of client side coding allows you to alter the HTML on a local
client and refresh the pages with updated content (locally), web designers must bear in mind
the importance and relevance to security with their server side scripts. If a server side script
accepts content from a locally modified client side script, the web development of that page
shows poor sanitization with relation to security.
Once you've decided to get your business online, you need a web site that is accessible to
the general Internet public. This means that you need web pages on a computer that is connected
to the Internet which can "host" your domain, hold your pages, and have the proper programs for
feeding the public your information 24 hours a day.
This is what web hosting companies do and selecting the right host is important because you
can waste valuable time and if you don't get it right your customers may have problems accessing
to your products and services on offer. With this simple overview you can avoid many of the pitfalls
and make finding reliable a web site hosting company a more straight forward process.
First let's look at our web hosting choices
Free Web Site Hosting Companies:
- Often requires displaying of some of the host company's advertising
- Might not allow your own domain name
- Usually allows little space and the amount of data you can display in a given month
- Typically does not include your own IP (needed for secure certificates)
- Little to no support
- Usually geared to up-sell into higher priced hosing
- Best for personal pages only, not business
Discount or Budget Web Site Hosting Companies:
- Usually free setup and very low cost monthly fees
- Usually geared toward up-selling or marketing other items to site owners
- Usually limited space and transfer allowances
- Best for personal pages or companies that are not concerned by reliability
- Best for companies not selling products online
Full Service Web Site Hosting Companies:
- Competitively priced within group
- Full time support (24/7) either via phone or live web chat or both
- Tools for managing site such as creating email accounts, statistics, file management
- Additional applications like calendars, message boards, and shopping carts
- Usually clearly defined packages designed around tools, support, space and transfer requirements
- Typically provided as part of a fully customised solution
Why Select A Full Service Web Site Hosting Company?
The answer to that question is clearer when you think in terms of a successful business...
both yours and the web hosting companies. Budget and free hosting companies are in the business
of marketing upgrades or other items either to you or to your customers. Free hosting companies
rarely allow the professional image you will need to establish credibility with your customers
and their support rarely, if ever, come close to their claims. Even though there are good uses
for free and discount services (like personal hobby sites), if you are looking for the lowest
costs you should be sure to have the lowest expectations. As a business owner you may end up
frustrated and spending more money to hire your own contracted support.
Budget Web Hosting Company Longevity
We recently reviewed budget sites that we searched for this time two years ago. Nearly half
of them are no longer available, meaning they have closed down. We consider our client sites
too important to trust to a company that is at a high risk of closure.
Some budget and free web site hosting companies promote special features such as unlimited
bandwidth. Be wary of any hosting company that promotes unlimited bandwidth. Bandwidth is the
amount of data that gets transmitted to browsers (web pages, graphics, audio). Bandwidth costs
the web hosting company money. Ask them if you will need to upgrade if you have 10 gigabytes
of transfer.
Full Service Web Hosting Companies
Which brings us to full service web hosting companies. Full service web hosting companies are
so competitively priced these days that there is not much reason for serious businesses to ever
consider the budget hosts. We recommend that you start right out with a professional host that
focuses their business on satisfying your needs rather than having you go through the lengthy
learning process of transferring from one host to another. Merchants not willing to invest a
little time and money to get things right may be better served by staying within the bounds of
their "brick and mortar" real world storefront. Business owners need stability in their hosting.
Switching web hosting companies is not the end of the world but it is also not something you
want to have to do constantly. This can be avoided by selecting a professional hosting provider
that has ticks in all the boxes. You want stability in a web hosting company so that you can
focus on making your site and business a success.
What to look for in a web site hosting company:
- Operating System and Program Language Capabilities – Look for a provider that has the capability
to offer hosting services on either Linux and Windows hosting servers.
- Full Management tools including email setup, file management, web based security (to password
protect areas of your site), FTP support (to transfer files), and reporting. See if the web
hosting company are willing to provide you with an online demo of their web site management
tool.
- Additional applications that can easily be added to your web site, like bulletin boards,
shopping carts, calendars, and banner management.
- Fast connections to the Internet, so the public can get to your pages quickly.
- Excellent support and reliability. Some hosting companies actually *do* know that they make
their money by keeping their web site hosting customers happy and well supported. Find out how
their support works, the reliability of their servers, do they have a disaster plan?
Follow these recommendations and you will be well on your way to finding a reliable hosting
provider.