Socialise in a Virtual World to make valuble contacts in the real World.

There was a time when Wednesday afternoon meant golf. Managers and senior staff would disappear and go and play 18 holes. A lot of business happened at the “19th hole (also know as the bar). Today golf still remains a social sport.

Today, with a recession and more and more small business starting to fill the gaps that retrenchments have caused, there is not much time for taking time off for golf. And yet, social networking is a way to promote your business. Luckily there are some online tools you can use to socialse and promote yourself.

One of the most popular business social platform is Linkedin, where you can reconnect with old colleagues, join common interest groups, join discussions, make new contacts and promote yourself.

You might ask what about Facebook? Facebook is a family and friends social tool. Yes it can be used for business, but this is not its prime focus.

Jennifer Cohen from Someting Creative has put together the prestation, to help us underatand the concept better.

Get into the habit of networking, it can only help to improve your business.

Time for a Change!

Because of the demands on my time, I have decided to update this blog once a week on Fridays. So be sure to came back and get the weekly updates.

Design for Success!

I have previously said consumers vote with their feet. This is as true on-line as it is in the real world. Except you are a greater disadvantage on-line, as you do not see them arrive or leave. You have to rely on your Web Site to act as a salesman.

The design and layout of your Web Site becomes very important, as well as the content. The design must be pleasant on the eye and your visitor should not have to keep scrolling down until they find what they want. The editorial need to be in plain language as you visitors can come from all over the world. Finding what they want should not take more that 2 or 3 mouse clicks.

This does not mean that your site needs to be plain and boring. See other designers keep their designs fresh at Designflavr

After all, when you go to the mall, you will not eat at a dirty restaurant, would you?

Virtual Customers.

I have said that business is about the people you serve. But what if you sell your product or services over the Internet? After all, don’t your customers come to yor site, order and pay? If it was that simple, we would all be very wealthy.

Consumers will not part with their money, untill they are ceratin that the payment transaction is secure, that they can get their money back, should the produtc be defective and most importantly that they can pick up a phone and speak to a human on the other side of the line.

The design and layout of your site is very important. You have to have a easy to read Terms and Conditions that spells out very clearly your refund policy. Your customer should be allowed to browse your products without have to sign up first. When they are ready to buy, the sign up procedure should not be difficult and long, otherwise they will abandon the site and go elsewhere. But must important, they need to know that their payment is secure. Once they have paid you need to tell them how you are getting their purchase to them and when. Also you have to have proper contact detail on your site.

This is no different than buying from a brick and mortar store. You enter the shop, you browse until you find what you want to buy at a price that suits you. You go an pay. If the shop assistant take your credit card and disappears, you will start to get worried, not so?

So on line you have to make sure your customer is comfortable to go through all the pahses from chooisng a product to buying it.

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