I am going to talk to you about a book that I read from
CSN’s online library regarding a Web 2.0 applications. The book I read was:
eBu$siness: 7 steps to getting your small business online
and making money now!
Author: Paul Wallbank
Publisher: Wrightbooks
Pub. Date: August 23. 2011
Undoubtedly technology has impacted not only our lifestyles
but also the way we do business. In this book, the author explains step by step
how to use all ways of creating an online presence for your business all for no
cost.
Step 1. The free web tools
In this step, the author explains how free listings like
Google listings, Microsoft Bing and Yahoo! can be a great way to star establishing
an online presence for your business. Social media tools and blogging are a
good way of getting online for free and they can be a good option for small
business that don not have their own website.
Step 2. The name
In this step, the author explains the importance of a name
when you decide to get your small business online and choose the domain name.
Step 3. The technology
In this step, the author explains how to choose a hosting company
and considerations that need to be taken in order to select a platform or software
in which our business runs on. He contrasts and compares between proprietary
platforms like Blogger and open source software like Wordpress, Joomla and
Drupal and encourage to readers to choose the best according to the business’s
needs.
Step 4. The look
In this step, the author suggests that small business use
online templates to reflect their business. The majority of them are free and provide
a guide about what information your business needs to be published to catch the
customers’ attention.
Step 5. Getting your name out
He explains the importance of having sites up to
date. He recommends adding something, at least fortnightly, that’s interesting
and relevant to the business or the industry your business is in. He enforces
to use LinkedIn and Facebook like the modern way to do advertising. The online
advertising is far easier and cheaper. He not only explains how to create a
Google Adwords account to advertise your business but also invites to use
Facebook and Linked like the most obvious places to advertise on the web. He
explains how to use the Google Analytics tool to track visitors, how long they
have stayed on your site and the number of pages they have opened. There are
some programs like Alexa and Compete that allow comparing your website with
other sites and Google Optimizer that allows the website owner to see what
attracts the most attention.
Step 6. Creating fans and customers
In this step, he emphasizes the importance of media channels
and said that Linked has become the online CV for professionals and an
important human resources tool; Twitter is dominated by the 30-50 year age
group; and Facebook’s fastest growing user group is grandparents. He provides
some rules to use social media also. He explains what are Twitter, Facebook,
LinkedIn, Forums and how to create an account.
Step 7. Staying relevant
The biggest challenge for everybody on the internet is
staying up to date and relevant. The author explains how to minimize time
updating information on the web and social media tools. If you update some
information in your website, it can be easy to update in LinkedIn, Blogger, and
Facebook because they have functions built in.
The author explains some trends of technology in the future
and how this book can be a good guide to face up these changes. I found this book helpful to everyone that wants to know
about the internet world, social media tolls and how the web can be used to spread
the word about how good is your business and what your business does.
