Getting the Most of the Web!

By: Diane Currie & Anne Louise Currie

Often when business people think about the Web, they think of it primarily as a tool to market or sell their products and services. They think in other words of building a web site. There is no question that for many businesses, building a web site is an excellent strategy for building your business. However, developing and maintaining a top-notch web site requires a commitment of time, energy and money, that many smaller or single-proprietor, home-based businesses are wise consider carefully.

Even if you are not planning on developing a web site in the near future, don't overlook the myriad of ways that the web is a boon to businesses. For almost everyone, purchasing or upgrading to an Internet-ready personal computer and investing in a $20/month connection to the Internet makes good business sense. But don't stop there. Once you've made the investment, take the time to learn how to take advantage of what the web has to offer. Working smart on the web will save you time and money, make you look more polished and professional, and help keep you one step ahead of the competition.

Here are some ideas that may help you get started.

Use Email to Stay Connected  
Many business people (even most in some industries) have access to email for business use. As a home-based business, email is a cost-saving boon. Try to use it as much as possible. Email has a number of advantages over traditional modes of communication. It is faster and easier than sending a letter by mail. With email you do not have to pay for postage, paper, envelopes or remember to drop off the letter at the post office. It is significantly cheaper than couriers and often faster as well. Make a point of gathering and using the email addresses of colleagues, clients, and suppliers. Email also makes it extremely easy to send the same or similar letters to multiple correspondents.

Boost your Productivity  
Take advantage of the free or inexpensive software tools available on the Internet. It can be a great advantage to be able to search out and find tools on the Internet that make you more productive. Think about the work that you do regularly, and ask yourself whether there is a way of doing it more efficiently or professionally. For example, I found a tool that makes it easy to build simple flowcharts. Before I downloaded this software from the net, I used to spend hours trying to design and print flow charts for my clients. With a piece of software that I downloaded in about 20 minutes from the net, I now can produce professional looking flowcharts in about 15 minutes. Get to know some places on the net where you can go to search out good software tools.

Monitor the Competition  
Find and record the home pages of your key competitors. (Add them to your 'bookmarks' or 'favorites' file). Check out your competitors' home pages on a regular basis to see what they're up to.

Schedule Upcoming Events  
Plan ahead by reviewing local and regional trade and business association sites for information about upcoming conferences and trade shows. Many conferences will let you register online and may even give you a discount for doing so.

Do your Banking Online  
More and more banks are starting to offer online banking services. You can do your banking, including paying bills and transferring funds right from your home office. Some banks even give you the option of downloading your account information from the bank's secure site into a spreadsheet or accounting program on your own computer. It sure makes balancing the books a whole lot faster.

Build your expertise and/or learn something new  
There are all kinds of free tutorials and online courses available on the Net. Also many colleges and universities offer distance education courses that you can take from home via the Internet.

Keep up to date  
Quick access to information is critical to business success. Subscribe to or monitor news services that cover topics relevant to your business or monitor web based press release services for your industry.

Access Expertise  
When you are working from home, you seldom have access to the resources of a large office. When I worked in a big office, I could just walk down the hall to ask questions such as 'how do I get this spreadsheet program to do X?' or 'Have you heard whether company Y is bringing out their new product this fall?' Sure, even working from home you still have access to colleagues and friends, but they are not always as accessible as they would be in an office. However, if you take the time to familiarize yourself with the web resources available on your kind of business, you can access a wide range of expert information with a few clicks of your mouse. So build your bookmark (or favorites) list and the next time you need some help, you have somewhere to go. For example, many software companies have offer online help or post the answers to frequently asked questions (FAQs). Government departments, and trade associations are also good resources and will also often post the answers to frequently asked questions or have email addresses or phone numbers for people that be able to provide answers to specific questions.

Spice up newsletters and presentations  
The web is a great source for free graphics, sound clips, jokes and quotes that can be used for your next presentation. Also, as a source for up to date statistics and research, the web is unparalleled.

Share the wealth. 
As you become more familiar with the Internet, you may come across some useful tidbit of information on the Internet that may be helpful to someone else. Send them a quick email with the URL (the Web address of the site). Make yourself popular with your customers, by sharing information that you come across that is relevant to their business. If you make them look good, you look good.

You may find that many of these ideas are things that you are doing already in more traditional ways. The benefit of doing things via the Internet it that you will almost inevitably be able to do some of those things faster and more easily. Once you try it the Internet way, I bet you'll be hooked. Once you begin to harness the potential of the Internet as a tool for your own use, you will be ready to take the next step of planning a web site to promote and sell your products and services.

Authors

To learn more about how Digital Ripple can build profits, reduce costs and answer your Internet questions, contact the Digital Ripple consultant nearest you.