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Marketing Your Business on the Internet - Part 1 |
Paul Faix, Signtrade, Australia |
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Internet becomes a reality of our lives. Every day we hear hundreds of references to the Internet - companies advertising in the television, print media, brochures or simply by word of mouth. It is time to take this relatively new media seriously and use it to your advantage.
Before launching your business on the Internet, you are probably asking some of these questions: We know that we should do something about it but where to start? What are the best options for our company? What resources do we need to commit to this project? And most importantly what will we get out of it?
Many years I was involved in major international Internet projects from creating free trade zone to the private system for managing suppliers and exchanging information for the largest sign franchise group. I would like to share some of my Internet experience and knowledge with you and give you some ideas on what can you do to strengthen your position on the Internet. Over the next 6 issues I will guide you through the Internet basics, marketing strategies, tools and topics that will help you to succeed online.
Let's start with a short definition. According to the Wikipedia (Internet Encyclopaedia) the Internet or simply the Net is the publicly accessible worldwide system of interconnected computer networks. It is made up of thousands of smaller commercial, academic, domestic and government networks.
Statistics published by the Nielsen AGB; Australia with population of 20,507,264 has 13,991,612 Internet users as of September 2005 which is 68.2% penetration. These latest statistics confirm what we already knew that people are using Internet for research, purchasing, entertainment or just for fun. You can tap into this market by having a viable web presence using your website and some well formulated Internet strategies.
To start your Internet journey you need to register your own domain name. A domain name is your Internet "address" e.g. www.yourbusinessname.com.au. The domain name .com.au can be your business name or a slight variation of it. A second option that you have is to register .com domain where any name is possible to be registered. Should you wish to register .com.au domain name you need to be aware of strict regulations. In this case, only business names and registered trade marks can be registered and you need to supply a proof of ownership. You can find out more at http://www.auda.org.au.
Before you register your name you need to conduct a search to check whether your desired domain is available. For Australian names you can search here:
http://www.melbourneit.com.au/cc/domainname/index
After you have chosen your desired name, you need to fill out a registration form and pay the applicable fee. For .com.au the fee is $88 for 2 years and for .com the fee is around $30 per year. By registering you will secure your desired name. Every period you will need to pay the renewal fee. If you don't renew, your domain name will become available for anyone to register.
I will show you the necessary steps you should take when launching your business on-line including setting objectives, content writing, selecting technology, search engines and optimization and active promotion. All this and much more will be published in the following issues of the Image Magazine.
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