Leveraging on internet for your business!

Internet is more than important to any business in more ways than one. A website, can be started  on a limited budget, but  needs to stand out. Put some interesting and interactive features. And then, start marketing your website on the internet. Some tips to get the most at a least cost:

To leverage the power of the internet to help build profits, save money and operate more efficiently, have a website and market it to the world, on the net. Businesses just starting out have an edge in this regard because they can use these features from day one.

TV, radio, and print ad days have gone by. The “in” thing right now is internet marketing particularly the social media marketing. Why? The reason is that most people are glued to their computer or hand held devices like mobile phone, notebooks, palm tops etc,  that have access to the internet.

All businesses must work harder to adopt what the web has to offer Period. No two ways about it.  Here's my business advice on a few things you can do to leverage the web for your business:

1. Make your website more interactive. Add feedback forms, surveys, guest books, auto responders, down loadable documents and opt for a regular newsletter or e brochure or e mailer. Check out some such samples at: http://www.arete.in/design-templates.aspx
2. Online marketing is surely the in thing. Add a simple shopping cart feature to your website and start taking orders online.
3. Have a small back office application for billing and customer management. Submit invoices by e-mail. Have a centralized database of your customers. Keep the customers in the loop for promoting your business…regularly and often.  
4. Research your competition. The web offers tremendous potential for researching your markets and competitors. start using a few top resources like  Business.com for general business research.
5. Get proactive about ATTRACTING visitors to your site. Make sure your website is listed in search engines and get more out of your listings.
6. Add interesting and timely content to your site. Updating your site frequently and regularly is important. Relate it to the maintenance of your shop, window dressing etc., The more attractive your site is in terms of interesting content, more visitors, it will get.This is something you may need to do yourself. Consider hiring a freelance writer to produce original news, features and how-to articles for your site that are related to your small business. Putting fresh content up monthly could cost as little as a few hundred rupees.

The Bottom Line:

The internet isn't a "separate" technology any more - today it's an integrated part of business. And the opportunities the web presents for most businesses are truly extraordinary. So whether you're just starting out or years into the life of your  business, my advice is that now's the time to put the web to work for you!

Next article: how to make most out of social media marketing. (Send a request by sending mail to info@arete.in for subscribing these articles to your inbox)