By Kevin S. Taylor, MBA

Most Internet entrepreneurs, professional web developers, and designers have one purpose in mind. Simply stated, their goal is to design a website allowing someone to share knowledge, ideas, and products with others. Whether the purpose for the website is to promote collaboration, provoke thought, or simply share information, there is a substantial risk to publishing proprietary information without proper protection. Wise webmasters know the old adage to “not be pennywise and pound foolish!”

A web site is undoubtedly the product of many hundreds or thousands of hours of work and generally a substantial financial investment. Websites contain valuable intellectual property that needs to be protected. Many times the concern is not a normal user copying and pasting material to some friends. More often, it is your competitors taking verbiage verbatim to use on a website that may eventually procure some of your own would-be clientele.

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The eight-fold path to building and maintaining an online business is simple and short.

By Kevin S. Taylor, MBA

1.  Demand and Supply
A common mistake most agents make in the marketing business is trying to sell a product for which the demand barely exists.  The idea behind marketing is to first find the market for a product before starting its supply.  People only search online for products they actually want, and selling something online that the average customer is not searching for is as good as not making a sale at all.  Thus, to begin with, one needs to find a group of individuals with a dilemma they need to make sense of and resolve it for them.

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The following is a presentation summary from a live presentation given at the Internet Merchants Association. The author is posting it as per request from conference participants.

Creating and Maintaining a Web Site that will Blow Away the Competition

As Presented at the Internet Merchant Association Conference 2010

By Kevin S. Taylor, MBA

Abstract

Whether you are planning your first e-commerce web site or redesigning an existing one, there are many important conventions and standards to consider. Keeping your site up-to-date and current is no small feat.

This article will discuss the ‘must-haves’ for every e-commerce site.  This presentation will help you to generate an Internet and Social Media Marketing plan for your site that will blow away the competition!

Introduction
Building and Maintaining Relationships with Customers
Numerous experts have made it clear that the entire purpose for being in business is to procure new customers and keep existing customers. This information relates to any Internet business; whether the company’s web presence is a full blown e-commerce style website or a more basic brochure-style website.

The profits and growth of a company are all contingent on this one variable. So, whether the business is a brick and mortar retail establishment that wishes to extend its reach into the international market; or, a one-man shop with nothing more than a shingle on the Internet, the primary focus should be procuring new customers and maintaining relationships with existing customers.

A company’s website will be the gateway to its Customer Relationship Management. So, it is imperative to understand how to communicate with your customers the way that the customers want to communicate, rather than the old style of e-commerce where a company would develop an Internet presence and expect miraculous profitability. A clear understanding of this dynamic can position a company’s online presence leaps and bounds ahead of the competition.

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PRESS RELEASE: FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Re: Successful Completion of Authorize.Net Certified Web Hosting Program for Expert Website Services LLC

On April 16, 2010, Authorize.Net issued a communication of congratulations to Expert Website Services for successfully completing all requirements for the Authorize.Net Certified Web Hosting Program, demonstrating compliance with the highest performance and security standards of the Authorize.Net Payment Gateway.

According to Authorize.Net, this certification not only increases the security and reliability of the solution, but entitles Expert Website Services to be listed and Promoted in the Authorize.Net Certified Web Hosting Directory on the Authorize.Net Website. This positions Expert Website Services among merchants as one of the nations top preferred solutions providers.

Among the benefits of this prestigious certification is the commitment of Authorize.Net to communicate with Expert Website Services in advance about new Authorize.Net Payment Gateway products, service features and related system upgrades so that Expert Website Services can continue to provide its merchants with a superior website and web hosting solution. The combined efforts between Expert Website Services and Authorize.Net will ultimately contribute a great deal to the success of their customers.

Expert Website Services LLC is already an Authorize.Net Certified website Developer and Preferred Reseller.

Blogging Offers Profitable Results for Small Business Owners

This is part one of the Expert Website Services Social Media Series

By Kevin S. Taylor, MBA

Many small business owners struggle with finding new, innovative ways to increase online exposure and improve their online positioning. The Internet is a dynamic, changing vehicle in which savvy business owners can do very well implementing and managing their own marketing strategies. However, in order to do so, one must continually learn and use the latest technological tools for personal and professional promotion.

The Internet has changed. The way people are doing business has changed dramatically in the last several months. Successful Internet marketers understand and embrace this new paradigm consisting of interactive collaboration. The old-style static websites relying on search engine traffic is essentially passé. Today, online consumers are looking for more content-rich collaboration rather than the older model website that was primarily static. This is what is referred to by some as Web 2.0 and the Social Media Revolution.

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Many online business owners have invested a great deal of time and money into developing an outstanding web presence. It is only after the site is built that most business owners understand the need for professional search engine optimization and marketing in order to realize a significant return on their investment (ROI). Sure, they get a few web hits with offline marketing endeavors and by passing out business cards with the domain name prominently displayed. However, for many industries, Search Engine Optimization and Search Engine Marketing (SEO and SEM) are the only way to bring traffic in droves.
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More often than not, the formula for success at doubling sales online does not begin and end with the alluring website or being on top of search engines.

Of course, having a captivating website does help, but a good number of companies tend to think that their online appeal will do all their work for them. This unfortunately is a stereotypical error that undermines the power of human connection that helps bond potential customers to a company. Future clientele often look for the little element that makes them each feel independently important, genuine people with indisputable knowledge.

Often, the most disregarded aspect of online sales is customer service and eventually email communication. It’s simple really, no business would leave a potential customer waiting for more than 24 hours without replying to a query unless they were a large bank or some firm that just does not need the business. However, as unwise as it sounds, this is what most companies do, ultimately damaging their own chances at success by postponing emails to clients.

Read the full article by clicking here.