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Chapter 16

Chapter 16. Launching a Successful Online Business. Learning Objectives. Understand the fundamental requirements for initiating an online business. Describe the funding options available to startup businesses. Evaluate the options for hosting Web sites. Learning Objectives (cont.).

MartaAdara
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Chapter 16

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  1. Chapter 16 Launching a Successful Online Business

  2. Learning Objectives • Understand the fundamental requirements for initiating an online business. • Describe the funding options available to startup businesses. • Evaluate the options for hosting Web sites.

  3. Learning Objectives (cont.) • Understand the processes and business decisions associated with managing Web site development. • Understand the importance of providing content that meets the needs and expectations of the intended audience.

  4. Learning Objectives (cont.) • Evaluate Web sites on design criteria such as appearance, navigation, consistency, and performance. • Know the techniques of search engine optimization to obtain high placement in search engines.

  5. Learning Objectives (cont.) • Understand the benefits of customer relationship management through customer self-service, listening to customers, and increasing trust.

  6. OBO Sets Its Goals for Success • The Problem • OBO sells protective gear for field hockey goalkeepers • OBO’s unique three-dimensional thermo-bonding manufacturing process produces equipment that is shaped to reflect the way the body moves

  7. OBO Sets Its Goals for Success (cont.) • By manufacturing a quality product and listening to the customer, OBO has become the market leader • OBO is based in a small provincial town in New Zealand that is a very long way from its principal markets

  8. OBO Sets Its Goals for Success (cont.) • OBO sells a niche product that is best sold thorough agents or stores to ensure a proper fit • How does OBO use its Web site to market an experiential product to a global market from New Zealand?

  9. OBO Sets Its Goals for Success (cont.) • The Solution • The goals of the obo.co.nz Web site are: • community building • product sales • research and development

  10. OBO Sets Its Goals for Success (cont.) • Community building happens through: • online discussion forums • sponsored players • an image gallery • The principal marketing and sales goal of the Web site is to: • convince the visitor of the value of the product • direct the customer to a store or agent to make the purchase

  11. OBO Sets Its Goals for Success (cont.) • The Web site is a support mechanism for the brand and the sale of equipment through the agents • Research and development goal is met through: • online surveys • solicitation of players’ opinions of the products • focus groups

  12. OBO Sets Its Goals for Success (cont.) • The Results • The OBO Web site is most successful at community building • The site also builds community by promoting a goalie-friendly approach to OBO’s customers • Online product sales are modest because the Web site supports, not competes, with OBO’s agent network

  13. OBO Sets Its Goals for Success (cont.) • Online sales are expected to grow because OBO has introduced a new line of clothes designed to be sold exclusively through the Web site • The focus groups deliver high-value feedback at almost no cost • The discussion forums contribute to both community building and feedback about OBO’s product

  14. OBO Sets Its Goals for Success (cont.) • What we can learn… • A small company with a great product is using its Web site to reach its target markets in distant countries • OBO is using the site to support business goals, as well as to meet the needs and expectations of its target audience

  15. OBO Sets Its Goals for Success (cont.) • The Web site is simple and well designed, includes: • “attractors” that encourage customer interaction and keep customers coming back • content that promotes cross selling • effectively promotes sustainable customer relationships

  16. Doing Business Online:Getting Started • Business formation process: • Identify a consumer or business need in the marketplace • Investigate the opportunity • Determine the business owner’s ability to meet the need

  17. Doing Business Online:Getting Started (cont.) • Requirements that reflect the online nature of a business: • Need to understand Internet culture Customers are active in how they absorb and use information, and the Internet is a personal, helping, and sharing place for most users • Consider the nature of appropriate products and services

  18. Doing Business Online:Getting Started (cont.) • E-business planning Business plan: A written document that identifies a company’s goals and outlines how the company intends to achieve the goals

  19. Doing Business Online:Getting Started (cont.) • Biggest difference in e-business planning is for the ontrepreneur to recognize that the Internet is unlike any other sales channel; companies can: • interact with consumers with both reach and richness • introduce new and innovative business models • distribute information at the speed of light at almost zero cost

  20. Doing Business Online:Getting Started (cont.) • An existing brick-and-mortar business looking to move online also needs a: Business case: A document that is used to justify the investment of internal, organizational resources in a specific application or project

  21. Doing Business Online:Getting Started (cont.) • Business case template includes: • Goals • Cost savings • New revenue • Extra benefits • Cost of the solution • Net benefits • Recommendation

  22. Doing Business Online:Getting Started (cont.) • Funding the online business • Venture capital (VC): Money invested in a business by an individual or a group of individuals (venture capitalists) in exchange for equity in the business

  23. Doing Business Online:Getting Started (cont.) • Angel investor: A wealthy individual who contributes personal funds and expertise at the earliest stage of business development

  24. Doing Business Online:Getting Started (cont.) • Incubator: A company, university, or not-for-profit organization that supports businesses in their initial stages of development

  25. Doing Business Online:Building the Web Site • Classifications of Web sites • Informational Web site: A Web site that does little more than provide information about the business and its products and services • Interactive Web site: A Web site that provides opportunities for the customers and the business to communicate and share information

  26. Doing Business Online:Building the Web Site (cont.) • Attractors: Web site features that attract and interact with visitors in the target stakeholder group • Transactional Web site: A Web site that sells products and services

  27. Doing Business Online:Building the Web Site (cont.) • Building the Web site • Select a Web host • Register a domain name • Create and manage content • Design the Web site • Construct the Web site and test • Market and promote the Web site

  28. Web Site Hosting • Web hosting options: • Storebuilder service: A hosting service that provides disk space and services to help small and micro businesses build a Web site quickly and cheaply • ISP hosting service: A hosting service that provides an independent, standalone Web site for small- and medium-sized businesses

  29. Web Site Hosting (cont.) • Web hosting service: A dedicated Web site hosting company that offers a wide range of hosting services and functionality to businesses of all sizes • Mirror site: An exact duplicate of the original Web site, but it is physically located on a Web server on another continent

  30. Web Site Hosting (cont.) • Co-location: A Web server owned and maintained by the business is placed in a Web hosting service that manages the server’s connection to the Internet • Self-hosting: When a business acquires the hardware, software, staff, and dedicated telecommunications services necessary to set up and manage its own Web site

  31. Web Site Hosting (cont.) • Contracting the Web host • The search for an ISP host: • contacting local ISPs for information • asking others in the business community for recommendations • consulting with local telecommunications and computer user groups

  32. Web Site Hosting (cont.) • When a short list of potential ISPs has been compiled, a RFQ can be used to ensure that complete and consistent bids for provision of service are submitted

  33. Consider: service quality measures guaranteed uptime number of clients current traffic rates software support security site traffic analysis technical support services costs Web Site Hosting (cont.)

  34. Web Site Hosting (cont.) • Registering a domain name • Domain name: A name-based address that identifies an Internet-connected server • Domain name registrar: A business that assists prospective Web site owners with finding and registering a domain name of their choice

  35. Web Site Hosting (cont.) • Selecting a good domain name: • Make it memorable • Make it easy to spell • Avoid numbers and special characters • Keep it short and sensible

  36. Web Site Hosting (cont.) • Be flexible • Think about the future • Give products their own name • Investigate the competition • Avoid trademarked names

  37. Content Creation and Management • Content:The text, images, sound, and video that make up a Web page • Commodity content:Information that is widely available and generally free to access on the Web

  38. Content Creation and Management (cont.) • Premium content:Content not available elsewhere on the Web • Cross selling:Offering similar or related products and services to increase sales • Up selling:Offering an upgraded version of the product in order to boost sales and profit

  39. Content Creation and Management (cont.) • Up-selling activities usually include offering products with a different design, color, fabric, or size • Promotion secondary content that can increase sales or improve customer service • Comment further explanation about the product can be offered after introducing the product

  40. Content Creation and Management (cont.) • Creating content • collecting all the content that is currently available • value of additional content is assessed for inclusion in the Web site • consider how each bit of content will serve the site’s goals and whether customers will want it or expect it • created by customers through reviews etc.

  41. Content Creation and Management (cont.) • Buying content • Content can be purchased or licensed • Content that is acquired from outside sources should be supplemental content, not primary content • If primary content is purchased and no value is added, visitors will go to the originating site and not return

  42. Content Creation and Management (cont.) • Personalizing content Personalized content: Web content that is prepared to match the needs and expectations of the individual visitor • Delivering content by e-newsletter E-newsletter: A collection of short, informative articles sent at regular intervals by e-mail to individuals who have an interest in the newsletter’s topic

  43. Content Creation and Management (cont.) • Writing effective content • Write scannable text • Break long sections into smaller ones with clearly noted headings • Grab the reader’s attention at the beginning of every page and section • Write in a tone and with language that reflects the purpose of the material

  44. Content Creation and Management (cont.) • Consistency in site content can be achieved using a style guide • Make the material available in a .pdf file when necessary • Create compelling links that encourage a reader to click • External links can offer good content for visitors • Avoid material that is not highly valued by customers

  45. Content Creation and Management (cont.) • Content management Content management: The process of adding, revising, and removing content from a Web site to keep content fresh, accurate, compelling, and credible

  46. Content Creation and Management (cont.) • Content testing—frequent checks of material for: • Accuracy • Clarity • Typos • poor punctuation • misspelled words • inconsistencies

  47. Content Creation and Management (cont.) • Content removal Expired pages should be deleted or moved to an off-line location that can serve as an archive • Content management software Allows nontechnical staff to create, edit, and delete content on the company’s Web site

  48. Content Creation and Management (cont.) • Purchasing a content management software • Do a thorough needs analysis • Document requirements and discuss with at least two companies that have purchased a CMS • Start small with CMS that has a trial version or low entry cost • Assess the system after 30 days • Repeat the assessment process regularly

  49. Web Site Design • The goal of any Web site is to deliver quality content to its intended audience and to do so with an elegant design

  50. Web Site Design (cont.) • Information architecture Information architecture: How the site and its Web pages are organized, labeled, and navigated to support browsing and searching throughout the Web site

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