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Can_your_business_resist_having_a_`shop front_in_every_corner_of_the_World
| Can your business resist having a `shop-front in every corner of the World?
Having an ‘Internet’ presence is like having a shop front in
every corner of the world. Your online presence helps you find
customers from every location on this planet.
Take some time to compare the benefits to having an online
presence: once upon a time the idea would have been regarded as
impossible unless you were a Global concern, with millions to
spend on research, office resources, staff, presence building,
and merchandise stocking. The whole process can take a few weeks
to a few years and thousands of dollars.
Getting a website on the Internet is a lot easier, immediate and
a lot less expensive. The learning curve and hence ‘first step’
is steep, but short. Matching the simplicity and the low expense
is the highlight for any businessman, because the result is
incomparable.
The first step to getting an online presence is to think up a
unique name, called a “domain name” then to register your domain
name, which should not cost you more then US$15 per year. For
example: if your company name is ‘XYZ Exports’, you may consider
registering a domain name like ‘xyz.com’, or ‘xyzexports.com’ or
even ‘xyz-exports.com’.
Now you have to decide what type of website (online shop front)
you want. You can have a website, which will provide information
about your products, company, and contact details. Or you may
decide upon a website that will not only provide useful business
and product information to your prospective customers, but will
‘collect’ valuable marketing information and even take orders
from ready-to-pay customers, in effect, making the sale for you.
These days there are many reasonably well priced local web
designers who will be able to make your website ‘glow’ at a
reasonable cost.
Once your website pages and images are ready you will need ‘web
space’ so your site can be seen on the Internet. It is just like
renting shop-space in any market place. You rent web space on
Internet, which is the ‘world wide’ marketplace. You get this
web space from a Web Hosting company like M6.net. There are few
web hosting companies that can compare services and prices
favorably to M6.net, offering real value for money and hosting
your website shop front for as little as US$8 per month. M6.net
not only allows you to host your website but to offer your
visitors other useful services, usually with little or no extra
cost, these services can be essential for your business to grow
online.
The usual services on offer are email accounts
(sales@yourwebsite.com, info@yourwebsite.com etc.) for you, your
staff, your website and perhaps friends; there are automated
forwarders and auto-responders, for when you are not around to
answer your emails. Advanced services are: Web mail interface,
which allows you to check your email on the Internet just like
Hotmail offers; a Stats server, offered for you to see who and
how many visit your website, this is great for marketing value.
Compatibility is offered for tools such as FrontPage, imperative
for use by website builders and designers. Security in the form
of SSL (Secure Socket Layers) also helps you to get sensitive
information (credit card details, etc.) securely from your
customer over the Internet giving you the edge on the
competition.
Companies like M6.net offer shared SSL certificate security
services for free. But, on top of everything else, M6.net is
unique in offering a web based Control Panel built purely
in-house by qualified developers, which allows you to maintain
your website with only few clicks and without any technical
knowledge or experience.
So, don’t just trade locally with your competition, surpass
them, have your shop front on the Internet and let your business
expand across the boundaries of regions, states or countries.
About the author:
M6.net – http://www.m6.net Contact sanjay@m6.net for any query
regarding this article.
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