Web 2.0 for small business

I was at a recent breakfast meeting where the guest speaker had not turned up. Mr Paul Bolton, the CEO of Refer-On, asked that I stand in. Great! Just exactly what was I going to say about this subject? I had actually been looking forward to my bacon and eggs….   Now it was internal panic and a need to come up with some ideas.

Web 2.0 is all about blogs, communities, self service, interaction with users…… and so what does this mean for the small business?

All of the above is relevant but not practical, there is a lot to take in, where do you start?

If the small business owner wants to explore the future of the internet they can take some simple steps ….

a) Start updating your own web pages. (example of self service)
Macromedia contribute is great for this, and you can trial this for FREE for 30 days:
http://www.adobe.com/uk/products/contribute/

b) Self help marketing. Go find your own clients using your website.
Mr Google to the rescue: http://adwords.google.co.uk/select/Login
BUT here is a tip from us. Think about your landing page. Make sure your visitors arrive on a web page that deals with their concerns. If they are looking for a “modern garden” – then talk about modern gardens and provide some examples.

This is all about control and power. The small business owner can, at low cost, dip their toes into the waters of the future internet and make their own website pay. So does this mean we, Imre, are out of business? No, the actual opposite -  we are freed up to work with these self help clients – we can actually work with them to get to the next level.

We just had a similar conversation with a potential client, and this was the response:

Hello,
Paul I just wanted to say a big thank you for the time you spent talking to me today about my website.  I very much value your suggestions and will certainly follow them up.  If I can re-pay you at any time with some garden design or planting advice I would be delighted to do so! Best wishes and thanks again.

Jilayne

Will hosting companies get a bad rep?

We have some very simple advice for you. When you are about to sign up for hosting make sure that the provider picks up the phone! I would say that on average we rescue 4 to 6 clients  per year……  Most people do not understand hosting technology, the procedures and best practice. So when things go wrong there are issues with emails, websites and who owns what. These issues can be very difficult to resolve due to data-protection and security….   So if you are dealing with a hosting company that does not pick up the phone and you have lost email…. what do you do?

Yet, we get those calls and most of the time after much agro we are able to help clients.  So avoid cheap as chips hosting, make sure the provider picks up the phone AND above all make sure that the domain is in your name. That last point seems obvious –  but at a recent networking meeting I stood up and asked how many people had actually made sure that their domain registration details were correct. Most people said yes –  I went back to the office and checked a couple at random  and guess what, the details were not correct.  Would you buy a house in someone elses name?  No? So why do it differently for a domain?

Let me give you an incentive. A friend of mine recenly had a domain valued at Sedo.com. To his amazement the report came back with a figure of £5000 and the initial investement was £9.99 + VAT. So who should be in control of that domain?

Back to the title of this post. Will hosting companies get a bad rep?  Yes and no. The stack em high and sell em cheap ones will. You need to understand the where the costs are. If you buy a domain for £1 and the hosting for £10 then you need to think about how many staff can be hired to service your problems. The answer is obvious – the hosting provider needs lots of YOUs all paying £1 and £10 just to employ one person. They rely on most people not having any problems. But when things do go wrong and everyone starts to phone in, and then imagine what happens next. Not a lot.

Take it from us, it may cost extra to have crumple zones in your car, but when it does crash you are certaily happy to have them. Same with hosting, you pays your money and you takes your chances.

Good hosting companies have good people.