The NYC Business Network shares a mission and purpose with the Kentucky Business Network. Their goal of “Promoting NYC companies and connecting businesses with customers and buyers” shares a clear relationship with our mission and goals.

The NYCBusinessNetwork.org website has three major components:

• Membership Directory
• Press Release Distribution
• Business Events and Calendar

Although our two websites do not share the same regional demographic or constituency, we feel confident that the two website directories will find numerous opportunities for cross promotion of our membership base and featured businesses. In total, the two websites will be mutually strengthened through our relationships and opportunities for growth.

We invite you to visit their website: http://www.nycbusinessnetwork.org/

Selling online can be a neccessity for some businesses for all the reasons mentioned above. Below is a list of the essential components for a robust, online store.

Essential eCommerce components

• Product catalog. You must have an organized store unless you have only a few products. Navigation within your product catalog should be clear and browsable
• Product attributes. Customers need to learn and study the product prior to purchase. These attributes are generally accepted as a must: product name, category, description, price, and photo / image.
• Check out. The eCommerce checkout needs to provide a way to take payment, append relevant taxes (if necessary), compute shipping and handling costs, provide a sub-total of the amount due, collect billing and shipping information
• Reporting & order tracking. For small stores, you can rely on Paypal or Google Checkout for the order tracking and customer info collection. Larger more robust stores will be better off with a way to store all customer information and be aware when orders come in. Some stores have a way to track the status of the order through the fulfillment and shipping stages.
• For non-remote payments (like Paypal and Google Checkout), security is vital. You must consider the use of encryption HTTPS, at a minimum.

Other eCommerce options

• Inventory systems
• Point of sale connections. For example, connect and interact with RMS
• Product popularity rating
• Featured products to be dynamically displayed on high-trafficked pages
• Suggested products for cross site marketing
• CRM capabilities – tracking and reporting on customers
• Discounts or coupons
• Live UPS, FedEx or USPS automatic rate calculator – and product dimension and weight attributes
• Limit orders to specific countries

Guidelines for writing a press release

Here are a few points to consider to keep the quality of your press releases high:

• Cover the who, what, where and why of the story–basics of journalism. Try to make the job of journalists easier and they may reward you with a story
• Make sure you use spell check. Yes, this may seem obvious, but many businesses forget the basics when trying to turn out a media or ad piece.
• Test all links that are included in your press release
• Make sure that your lead sentence has a captivating hook–remember many readers scan content before committing to a full read
• Write a concise but interesting headline. Ten words should do fine.
• Make sure to include the date of your press release. News has an expiration date. Don’t let your readers guess or mistake your press release for old news.
• Provide contact information

For small businesses, blogging can be a great way to build visibility. As you write great content, other authors and readers may begin to follow your blog and respond to your posts. This can be an excellent way to find new clients or attract talent. Your blog articles can be a great way to elegantly and indirectly advertise your business through social platforms like LinkedIn and Facebook.  It can also establish your business as an authority within a niche or field related to your core industry.

For large businesses and corporations, blogging can be a fantastic way to talk about new services or products and give a comfortable and less formal, inside view of the innovations of the company. Blogging can be more interesting for users because of it’s freedom from dry formality. Corporate leaders and staff can use blogging to build a relationship with users and quickly respond to and address their needs. It is vital for users/customers to feel like they are being listened to and understood. Blogging can also be a way to give companies a greater visibility to other organizations, partners and in tangential markets. Polls, feedback forms, star ratings and other user inputs can also give larger companies a way to understand user needs and desires–as companies collect feedback based on topics and announcements during the innovation life-cycle.

Goal-setting for business bloggers

• As your team questions the value of blogging, you should first answer the simple question: Is blogging simply a passing interest for your team? Can your team really commit to the platform and process and maintain it longterm?
• Define a main purpose for each blog. By defining a purpose, you prevent writers block and also don’t let readers feel confused. Having a focus keeps content, thoughts and topics focused on the business purpose of the blog–it also helps you define the value of the blog and the time commitments of blogging clear to key stakeholders.
• Create a content plan: Start by writing a list of topics and categories that your blog will cover. Try to draft a schedule of how frequently your business can and should publish content on the blog. Assign resources to this content plan (see next).
• Commit the right resources to the blog. If your business begins to blog, you need to account for the time it takes to construct and edit posts. Remember your blog speaks on behalf of your organization so quality is important. Start by creating a content plan, which outlines the topics your blog will focus on and who in the organization will write the articles and when. Make sure that blogging fits within the writer’s workload–don’t over commit or let the blog fall by the wayside.
• To advertise or not: If you are blogging for business, you need to question whether the amount of money you can make from advertising is worth it. You can always do a test run with advertising and measure it’s impact. Also, go back to your original purpose for blogging, does advertising distract from or cloud that purpose. For example, if your purpose was to inform a user on the advantages of using your product, then advertising the products or other companies would potentially harm the core purpose of the blog.

This article will help:

1. Business owners understand the benefits of purchasing an established website
2. Signs to identify bad investments in ready-made websites (or web businesses)
3. Where to buy an established website or web business

Why would I want to buy an existing website rather than just build my own?
Some business owners might prefer to start from scratch and build a new website by hiring a web design company or freelance web designer. However, there can be a few draw backs to building a website from scratch. One is cost. Depending on the type of website that you want to build and the quality of coding and design, it can turn into a relatively costly process. Granted the cost of building a website will vary between companies, quality, timeframe, experience of the designer, and reputation. In many cases, a lower cost website may not be better for your small business–as a website can be one of the most important marketing devices a small business owns and uses. Another downside of creating a brand new website is timing.  It can take quite a bit of time to build a quality website. For example, it took one of our members about three weeks to build a static website, because they decided to purchase extra time to refine their design (look and feel) and get the messaging right. Most web design companies will charge for extra rounds of revisions during the design process.

Purchasing a ready made website can be a quick way to enter the market.
Purchasing a ready-made website or web business can allow you to speed up the process of “going to market.” Granted, you may need to clean up a few things or add new content to the purchased website. Also, you will need to ensure that the website that you are purchasing is quality. (See below for quality assurance testing of ready made websites).  In many cases, when you purchase a website, you will have a chance to view the design of the site, wade through the site content and get some facts about it. In this way, you will know what you are buying and can select a site or web business that will give you a head start. Many companies struggle with starting a new website because writing content can take a lot of time–and content production can cause web projects to miss their deadlines. The editing process can be tough, at times. Also, some websites that are for sale may already have traffic, search engine prominence or even revenue… which will give you a leg up from other start-ups.

What are some common signs that a website is poor quality or a bad investment?

• Double check to see if the website is committing gross copyright violations
• Too many links? Make sure the website isn’t over linking, which can cause penalties in Google and other search engines.
• Make sure the site has quality content!
• Click through the site and look for broken pages, elements and links
• Make sure the website accurately reflects the market you wish to enter

Background checks and quality assurance for purchasing a website
Hiring a web strategy company can help you identify whether a website is quality by doing an SEO and website audit before finalizing the purchase. Spending a few hundred dollars to hire a web strategy company can save you a lot of time and money down the road.

What are some factors that may demonstrate high quality within a for sale website?

• Content, content, content: Good content goes a long way!
• Page ranking: Google uses a ranking system to measure the strength of a page within search engines. You may not need a ready high page rank, but it certainly can help.
• Good design: clear and interesting (or just simple) design can really make or break a website. Bad design can certainly contribute to a website’s failure.

Where can I purchase a ready made website?

• eBay: search for “websites for sale”
• flippa.com – an online marketplace for buying and selling websites
• marketplace.sitepoint.com/ — a marketplace for established websites and existing web businesses.

One way to grow your business online is to offer updated content on a regular basis– not only for your visitors – but also for the search engines. With a content management system in place you do not have to know HTML and you do not have to hire a full-time, in-house web programmer.

Content Management Makes Publishing Content Simple

Content management allows you to manage content creation, modify, and remove content from your Web site, without knowing HTML coding.  It also allows you gather information and updates it to your site with ease. Content management system features include:

• Format management
• Revision control
• Indexing
• Search
• Retrieval
• Web-based publishing

The information that you offer your visitors is one of your greatest asset. So, it should be managed on a regular basis.  Those without a content management system tend to struggle gaining new prospects.

Make Your Web Site More Search-Engine Friendly

A content management system also allows templates to be created and re-used. This also promotes consistency of your web pages and it makes it easier to employ cost effective information to be presented in a professional manner.

In order for the search engines to be able to find your content, they require websites to be consistent as far as finding relevant content on a site quickly and efficiently. In other words, having a content management system makes your site more visible and more search-engine friendly because your content is database driven.

With a content management system, you can create content and it can be re-used several times. This system allows you to post the same content to more than one location in a variety of presentation formats and in numerous languages. Please keep in mind that exact/duplicate content used on numerous websites will NOT help with SEO ranking–it will in fact hurt ranking. However, publishing snippets of an article and then linking to the full article, can greatly help user experience by providing users a “preview” of the page and allowing them to determine beforehand if they are interested in the full article.

The internet is a key resource for advertisers and for public relations. Cost and the ability to measure Return On Investment are key reasons for moving towards the web with both advertising and PR. When combined with off-line efforts, online marketing with social media engagement can be extremely effective at winning new relationships, strengthening reputation, and expanding visibility.

Dos and Donts Guidelines
Social media strategies should take into consideration various dos and don’ts for how employees should conduct themselves online. We feel it is not productive to discourage employees from joining and participating in social media. In fact, there may be a lot to lose from have employees disconnected from social online engagement. One strategy is to keep private accounts personal. Don’t allow employees to speak on behalf of the company. Give them clear guidelines on how to handle questions or comments directed at their company. Provide employees with a point person in the PR department. Also give them links to the company website for reference, rather than allowing them to make the mistake of answering a question wrong and causing damage to a company reputation. If the employee is blogging on a topic related to their work, provide them topical guidelines and require them to post a clear disclaimer that 1.) the employee is NOT blogging on behalf of the company and 2.) the opinions do NOT reflect the opinions and beliefs held by the company.

Employees can be great ambassadors of a brand. Enthusiasm and excitement from employees can reflect well upon the company. In certain cases, companies may want to consider maintaining social media accounts a requirement for certain types of employees, and requiring such online engagement a job requirement. This may help companies become more in tune with their customer base and with their industry.

Social Media Accounts
Some employees will have personal social media accounts from a range of service providers such as Facebook, Twitter, Ning or Delicious. For this reason, we advise companies that they should create some ground rules for social engagement. Don’t drive your employees underground by banning their accounts altogether, which just creates an air of distrust and bitterness. Simply provide them with rules for how they can acknowledge and not acknowledge their professional lives.

Blogging
Blogging is perhaps one of the oldest forms of social media engagement. Many people own personal blogs and use these blogs as a central hub for all their social media engagement. We suggest business managers become aware of such blogs, but do not discourage them. Try to imbue good stewardship guidelines for personal blogs with your employees. It is important to honor copyright laws with images and text for example and showing respect towards piers. However treading too heavily into an employee’s personal affairs can be demoralizing and can hurt valuable relationships. This is why unified guidelines are our recommendation.

Encourage quality
It may be beneficial to provide some employees with a basic how-to guide for social media engagement. Give them some reference points. For example, explain how “hard selling” a product or service is generally frowned upon in the online community. Encourage them to be participants rather than snake-oil sales people. The online social universe is all about dialogue and conversation–not forcing products down each others throats. If you, as a business manager, do not feel qualified to write a persuasive how-to guide for social media then simply link to the many, good quality references sources on the web. Education is a two way street.

Legalities
It is always best to consult your legal team when drafting these guidelines. Legal advice can save time and money. Remember, keep the language clear and readable, so that employees have a good understanding of what is possible and what is discouraged.

Web Analytics

Whos.Amung.Us

http://whos.amung.us/

About this tool: Real-time stats for your website or blog. This tool is free and no registration is required.

Histats

http://www.histats.com/

Real time stats and online user count/list and search engine trends. No limit on log file size.

Site Meter

http://www.sitemeter.com/

Comprehensive real time website tracking and counter tools that gives you instant access to vital information and data about your sites audience.

Web Site Communication Gadgets

Woopra

http://www.woopra.com/

Woopra is the world’s most comprehensive, information rich, easy to use, real-time Web tracking and analysis application. And it’s free!

A trend for advertising to move online

It costs thousands of dollars for a business to advertise offline whether you place advertisements in local Newspapers, Magazines or mailing marketing materials to your customers.  Many small business owners in Kentucky have focused more attention to advertising on the Internet because they realize they can save thousands of dollars on advertising cost.

On the Internet there are many ways to advertise your business from $0 to $500+.  You can actually advertise your website for free on sites like Craigslist and article marketing on sites like EzineArticles.com.  You can even advertise your website for a sponsorship fee on high-ranking websites like ABCNews.com or social media sites like Facebook.

24/7 showcase of your products/services

Imagine being able to showcase your products and services 24 hours per day and 7 days per week? That’s one of the primary benefits of having a website. Depending upon the type of business you’re in, your customers can make purchases through your website while you sleep. For instance, if you own an online auto parts store or clothing store, your customers can purchase your products through your website at anytime of the day without having to call or wait until normal business hours.

More people are researching purchases/services online before buying

People are using the Internet to research before they buy a product or service. This is why it is so important to have a strong online presence so that your customers can actually find you on the Internet.  For example, a person searching for a good accountant in Kentucky is more likely to search on websites that offer a lot of valuable information about their accounting services. The consumer is more likely to choose the company with the best web presence.

For some a website is a primary selling tool

There are many companies that use their website as their primary selling tool.  There are a couple of factors that are important to possess when it comes to selling effectively on the Internet. First, you must have a well designed website that is “clutter-free”. In other words, keep it simple.

Avoid having a website that has too many ads. When a visitor enters your site, they are searching for only one thing and that is “what’s in it for me”. You will lose potential customers if your website screams “Buy Me Now!”

To truly gain your customer’s attention, you of course want to have a great product or service to offer your customers but you will want to also make sure that you’re offering a good amount of quality content about how your product or service will benefit them.  This may include offering articles on your website, a blog or a video clip about your company.

Static website vs. CMS editable website

The difference between a static website and a CMS editable website is simple. A CMS editable website shows different text or content during your customer’s interaction. This type of website is complex and recommended for those who are constantly updating their website with fresh content on a daily, weekly or monthly basis.

A static website is good if you’re not planning on updating your content on a regular basis. You can actually use Microsoft Word to update and edit your website on an as needed basis.

How Much Does a Website Cost?

It all depends on the kind of website you need for your business. Prices vary and can start as low as $500 to $20,000+.  The important thing is to find a reputable web designer or web development firm to build your website. You will also want to work with a company that will build a site that is search engine friendly.

There are basically four types of websites:

Corporate Brochure Style Website

This is type of website offers your visitors basic information about your products and services. Think of it as an online advertisement. Prices start at around $500 or more.

E-Commerce Website

This type of website can vary from simple to complex. An ecommerce website normally starts off at around $5,000 or more.  This type of website is perfect for an online retail store where customers have access to purchase your products.

Your website can be a 24/7 promotional vehicle for your business

Potential clients can view your info. and “explore” your company from the comfort of their home or office. This is one of the many great pluses of online engagement–the fact that customers are relaxed and at leisure, puts them in a more pursuasive buying mood. A well-organized and elegantly designed website puts your business before potential clients when they are comfortable.

Even when your physical address office is closed at night, your website will be running and open for business: 24/7 365. It can field basic questions, take information or follow-through an entire transaction. The web can also fulfill marketing functions that you would be otherwise unable to do: such as maintain an active newsletter mailing list or allow you to be found within search engines such as Google (which have be rapidly putting phonebooks, circulars and yellowpages out of business

Updated article: Why Would a Small Business Need a Website?