Driving Your Internet Business
But a website left alone to fend for itself will not produce the results you want or need for your business. It is the first step in a long journey and will need your direct input to manage it and develop its business potential.
Your website is
- The springboard for all your other Internet marketing activities
- A marketing communications channel that need to be ultilised to produce results
- A target for mischief-makers and cyber-crims who can wreak havoc at any time.
Task List
To build and accelerate your Internet business you need to;
- Drive your business through your website
- Grow through Internet marketing
- Maintain your website
- Manage and protect your Internet marketing investment
Drive your business
- Add content such as blog posts, new pages, updated content, new text or images on your home page.
- Use the facilities of your website to announce web-only specials.
- Ensure your website address is on all your other marketing material and correspondence.
- Use the measurement tools you have to determine the return on investment (how much revenue has the website contributed) and how many new leads have we made (emails, phone calls, Twitter followers, Facebook likes).
Grow through Internet marketing
Make your website the foundation of your Internet marketing activities;
- Making your business known in social media channels.
- Increasing exposure and traffic with paid electronic advertising.
- Create landing pages for specific advertising.
- Make sure your website is connected to your social channels and that you also provide relevant links back to your website from any post you make on any other site.
- Add products and update products descriptions to your online store
- Encourage product reviews and online discussions.
Maintain your website
- Ensure that your content is relevant, accurate, up-to-date and useful to your visitors.
- Keep software such as content management system, themes and plug-ins up-to-date to maintain a reliable online presence and the best possible security.
- Moderate and approve or trash visitor feedback and interaction.
- Analyse your website activity to determine visitor interest, measure information and service performance, identify trends and to create management reports and vital information that will help you measure return on investment from your Internet marketing expenditure.
Manage your Internet marketing investment
Your website and the reputation it has built has cost you a lot of money, time and energy . All that input and reputation can be trashed in an instant by a cyber attack. It is vital to plan for the worst possible case of damage to your Internet property or the temporary disruption to service that will inevitably occur.
The kinds of planning and action that need to be addressed include;
- Data Backup Plan – A planned schedule of backups, a reliable backup procedure and a clear plan for full or partial recovery.
- Disaster Recovery Plan – Plans for recovering from and minmising the impact of loss or disruption resulting from major unplanned change to business operations.
- Business Continuity Plan – A plan to continue business operation with temporary interruption to “essential” services such as email, web or FTP.
- Internet Knowledge Base – A body of knowledge created and maintained within the organization that enables people within the organisation to use, understand and innovate within the Internet business dimension. Such a body of knowledge also needs to support the sharing of information and accumulation and development of new information.
Taking Action
You can easily achieve these outcomes by taking any combination of the following three methods
- Do it yourself
- Outsource expert help
- Training and coaching in Internet management and business development
Do It Yourself
All of the activities above can be managed within your organisation. If you have enthusiastic staff with initiative, marketing interest and Internet skills then put them to work driving your Internet business activities. You are in full control but may not have sufficient skills or insight to act in your own best interest.
Outsource
Contract any or all of these functions to an Internet virtual assistant, skilled in planning and implementing operational activities for your Internet business. Essential work is completed fast, expertly and thoroughly but staff buy-in is not strong and momentum may be lost when the contract is fulfilled. Digital Business Media can provide any of the expert services you need.
Internet Business Coaching
To manage and drive your Internet business you need technical, marketing and business knowledge. You need to be able to apply that knowledge to your own specific business situation. You need to be able to do this quickly, but at your own pace. You need to stay in control, yet be supported with expert assistance when required. Digital Business Media offers a unique blend of training and coaching specifically designed to build your knowledge and confidence in all the required areas while simultaneously dealing with your Internet marketing or management issues.
Coaching helps you determine what you need to know and how to confidently apply the skills you will develop. Training helps you learn allows you to develop the skills required to deal with your specific business needs. This is the ultimate learning/problem-solving option for Internet management and marketing development.
For more information or to get started with the next stage of your online business development call us today.
(03) 9386 0861