E-Business: Taking Your Business Online in 9 Steps

E-Commerce I: Introduction

E-Business:
Taking Your Business Online in 9 Steps

By
Ishan Abeywardena

www.ishantalks.com
Copyright © 2011 IshanTalks.com 1

What is an IshanTalk?
IshanTalks are technical talks or online tutorials in the fields of
Information Technology (IT)

These talks deal with subject matter relevant to undergraduate
learners who are currently pursuing their studies in IT

Coupled with online learning resources and discussion forums,
IshanTalks will help you understand the fundamental as well as
the more advanced concepts in IT


Taking your business online
What do customers look for?
What is E-Business?
Why go online?

Step 1: Having control over your website
Step 2: SEO strategy
Step 3: SEM strategy
Step 4: Selling online (your own shopping cart)
Step 5: Accepting payments (Intro to PayPal)
Step 6: Cloud computing (Integrating your processes)
Step 7: Virtual Collaboration (Global experts at local rates)
Step 8: Riding the Facebook wave
Step 9: M-Business (Selling on iPhone and Android)


What do customers look for?
• The product must be tailored to the customers’ exact needs
and wants

• The quality of the product must be high

• The price of the product must be competitive

• Turnaround times must be very short

• Superior customers service has to be offered at all levels


What is e-business?

e-commerce: “…focuses on the use of ICT to enable the
external activities and relationships of the business with
individuals, groups and other businesses.”

e-business: “…the application of information and
communication technologies (ICT) in support of all the
activities of business.”

More Reading: What is e-business?

Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Electronic_business (06/01/2011)


Why go online?
• To reach a wider market
• To reduce overheads
• To reduce real estate costs
• To increase productivity (Open 24x7)
• To re-engineer processes
• As an HR strategy
• By necessity
• For flexibility

More Reading: Why take your business online?


Step 1:
Having control over your website
• Don’t be slaves to service providers

• Update your website with what you want when you want

• Get a product out to the market instantly

• Change the look and feel of your website to reflect
marketing strategy

• Write your own content, you know your customer best

More Reading: How to setup a winning website…


Step 1:
Having control over your website
• Always insist on a Content Management System (CMS)
driven website.

• If you can write a letter on MS Word you can maintain your
own website…


Step 2:
Search Engine Optimisation (SEO) Strategy
• Climb up the Google ladder but Google is not the only
ladder people use

• Get the keywords right
– “Toys” – Low probability of getting hits
– “Toys in Malaysia” – Better probability
– “Toys in Penang” – Even better
– “Soft toys in Penang” – Almost the best

• The first 20% of your website determines 80% of your
Search Engine Ranking
More Reading: Website design projects: success through SEO


Step 3:
Search Engine Marketing (SEM) Strategy

• Natural (organic) SEO is not enough to bring in leads

• Set down a monthly budget for SEM

• Spread your budget over several key search engines and
techniques
– Pay-Per-Click
– Sponsored banners and results
– Inclusion into Google/Yahoo map search


Step 3:
Search Engine Marketing (SEM) Strategy

Sponsored Results

Map Search Natural SEO


Step 4:
Selling online (your own shopping cart)


Step 5:
Accepting payments (intro to PayPal)
• For online payments, is truly your “PAL”.

• Integrate seamlessly into your shopping cart

• Accept credit cards and increase sales

• No monthly, start-up, or cancellation fees – and no annual commitment

• International customers to pay using their local payment methods

• Accepts 24 currencies

• Avoid Privacy and Security issues

Copyright © 2011 IshanTalks.com www.paypal.com 13

Activity:

Let’s watch a video on YouTube
How to use PayPal website payment standard to
accept payments on your website.

Source: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tdiF4XsYs5A&feature=relmfu (04/11/2011)


Step 6:
Cloud computing (Integrating your processes)
• Software as a Service (SaaS)
• Platform as a Service (PaaS)

– No infrastructure cost
– Access from anywhere
– Pre-packaged modules (sales, finance, HR
etc.)
– Easy expansion
– Compatibility with existing ERP/MRP/CRM
packages


Step 7:
Virtual Collaboration ( Global experts at local rates)

• Hire the best from all over
the world
• Pay local rates
• Reduce overheads
• Run a 24x7 operation (you
sleep they work)
• Reduce your carbon
footprint


Step 8:
Riding the facebook wave
• More than 500 million active users

• More than one million developers and entrepreneurs from more than
180 countries

• More than 550,000 active applications

• More than one million integrated websites

• More than 150 million people engage with Facebook on external
websites every month

• There are more than 200 mobile operators in 60 countries working to
deploy and promote Facebook mobile products

Source: http://www.facebook.com/press/info.php?statistics

Step 8:
Riding the facebook wave


Step 9:
M-Business ( Selling on iPhone and Android)
• More and more consumers are now shopping
online through mobile devices

• Make your website/shopping cart mobile
device friendly

• Develop a specialised app to sell your products
– iPhone App Store
– Android Market


Activity:

Let’s watch a video on YouTube
Near Field Communications (NFC)
The next BIG thing in mobile commerce

Source: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lLhUKkuJg1Q (04/11/2011)


E-Business Plan
Take control over your website

Develop SEO/SEM strategies

Start selling online

Integrate your processes using the cloud

Collaborate Virtually

Play the Facebook game

Sell on iPhone and Android


Thank you
These study notes are available on

www.ishantalks.com

Let’s discuss further


E-Business: Taking Your Business Online in 9 Steps

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E-Business: Taking Your Business Online in 9 Steps