If you're like me you use your credit card online to purchase domain names, update software, purchase new software or online services, buy the odd book here and there, and so on. The convenience of buying online just makes things happen faster - and we're in a time where everyone wants things now.

I received a letter from my bank today advising that someone from SHG.D…. tried to process a payment of SEK$20,338.32 - over $3,000 in my own currency to my credit card. The bank knocked it back, thankfully, and then wrote a letter advising me. Turns out there were several other attempts too, but because there were unavailable funds at the time, they knocked it back. I asked the bank officer about this as I saw no evidence on my account online of any debits and credits corresponding to this. She told me they suspected the attempts were fraudulent and that's why they hadn't shown up. She also said they were from middle Eastern countries and one was from Malta and they were fairly sure that I wasn't over there - nor had any of my previous spending habits shown amounts to these values.

I check into my account on a daily basis and reconcile my bookkeeping every 2-4 days, depending on how many entries have occurred. As so many of my clients now pay me online I need to be able to keep my ledgers up to date and it helps me see what else is going through the account - any cheques that have recently been processed, a periodic debit that hasn't gone through yet, and so on. It makes good sense to keep up to date with your accounting and the bank officer this morning confirmed it is also a good practice if you're running an online business. Another good thing is that I usually pay by Bpay and only use my Visa for small incidentals such as the items I listed above - another thing that alerted the bank to the large so-called purchases with my Visa card. Something else that assists is that I shift the larger proportion of my cleared funds into another account, which incidentally isn't connected to my Visa, so that has been a saving grace for me also.

I asked her how they got my credit card and she replied that often software is used to try out variations of numbers with expiry dates and when they find some that work they just keep using them - sounds like they must sell these numbers to others too, hence the use in different countries. I am careful about which sites I use my Visa on and was momentarily concerned that one of these may have been compromised but that doesn't appear to be the case.

I'm hoping my post on this topic may assist you, the reader, in developing a regular habit of keeping an eye on your bank accounts and monitoring any activity that may appear to unusual. KMT

credit cards, visa, fraud, fraudulent activity, accounting, buying online

The Internet has previously been considered a holy grail for wealth and massive revenues. Although that perception had to be amended, it is still true that your web site can provide you with additional income. However, not every product or service is suitable to be sold online. Always remember that your customers will judge the experience, not only the product. This means if your delivery system is not efficient or your delivery costs are too high people are unlikely to buy from you again. Having said that, most products and even services can be sold online and today’s sophisticated systems, such as Winweb Shop, make the set up and maintenance of your online shop very easy.

Frequently Asked Questions about selling online

a) How much does the set up of an online shop cost?
Set up and maintenance cost for your online shop differ vastly depending on which supplier you choose. You can ask your hosting company to provide you with an online shop facility. Also, it depends on whether you want to accept credit card payments or only allow users to browse your catalogue and then call you to order. Winweb OnlineOffice provides all single parts you need to set up your online shop through one interface.

b) Take credit card payments for e-commerce with our partner PayPal?
Yes, there are different ways of accepting credit card payments on your e-commerce site. You can either list your products on your website, provide a telephone number and process every order manually, or (taking advantage of Internet technology) you can accept credit card payments securely online. Winweb can handle the entire process securely for you. You only need to decide what to sell online. Winweb E-payment lets you take credit card payments directly into your bank account.

c) How can I drive customers to my website?
There are different methods of advertising your website. Start by mentioning your online shop on all your business stationery, in your brochures, etc. You need to optimise your site for search engines and register it with them and sending well written announcements to relevant press is also a must. Depending on your product you can also announce your store in newsgroups, place flyers in local shops, at the dentist or wherever your clients are likely to see them.

d) Can I compete with the huge number of suppliers already online?
Yes. You have to make sure that you target the right market and identify your competitive advantage. This might be local knowledge, customised products or better customer service. If you had your business for some time you will know what sets you apart from competitors. Play on these strengths when you set up your online shop. To start off you will give your existing clients a new channel to interact with you. Work with them and ask them what they like and dislike about your product, service and web shop.

e) Is selling online profitable?
Again, the Internet is not the solution to all your sales problems. It has to be seen as an integral part of your business strategy. If you product is not suitable for selling online you shouldn’t force online sales. How ever, if you plan your shop properly and calculate the costs involved, prepare for increased demand and monitor your ROI (return on investment) closely, your online shop can provide a substantial amount of income.

f) How long does it take to set up my online shop?
Setting up your online shop doesn’t take much time. It depends, however on the nature and number of products you wish to sell. You need a description, price and picture of each product. Ideally, you should also have customer testimonials.
If you use a template system, like Winweb Shop, entering the single products and modifying the look and feel of your shop is a very straight forward and quick process.

g) How much control can I have over my own online shop?
The online shop you choose should give you the level of control you need. Of course you should be able to add or remove products and change prices or discounts anytime. How much control you want to have over the actual design and look of your shop depends either on your programming skills or the amount of money you want to spend designing your shop. The Winweb solution is very flexible when it comes to product management. It also is directly linked to your accounting system, which means every transaction is automatically booked.

Checklist for your online shop

• Which products / services do you want to sell online?
• Will you sell only to UK residents, other countries or worldwide?
• How will you send your goods to your customers?
• For each product: 100 word description, 500 word description, professional picture, price.
• Terms and conditions for your customers?
• Who in your company will look after fulfillment of online orders?
• How much business do you expect to come through the website?
• What is your return and refund policy?
• Where will you promote your new shop?

Tags: Business Development, Business Start Up, E-Commerce, Exporting, Home Business, Micro Business, Office/IT, PayPal, Online Shop, SaaS, Selfemployed, Small Business, smb, sme, sme-blog, Software as a Service, Web Technology, WinWeb

Building your first website can be a daunting enterprise. You have seen really good websites , but have a tight budget. This article explains some of the most common mistakes and how to avoid them.

1. No clear objective

Most businesses have a website, ‘because everybody has one these days’. Although this statement might be true, the reason for having a website should be that it can perform several useful functions:

• Information about your business is available to everyone anytime
• Communication with your clients and prospects can be simplified (not only because they know where to find your phone number)
• You might be able to offer extensions to your products online
• Strengthen customer relationships with add-ons, tips & tricks, manuals, etc

All this means that you should only have a website with a clear function. Do you want to use it as additional promotional platform? Do you want to win new business with it? Do you want to speed up support? Think about what the main function of your website should be and plan the design accordingly. Don’t ‘just quickly’ put a couple of words together, put it on a grey background with a logo and potentially damage your business reputation more than helping it. If you need a website fast, why not try one of the free and easy to use templates from Winweb?

2. Cheap, rather than useful domain

Once you have decided to have a website, you might as well do it right. Don’t save money on your own domain name. At Winweb, for example, your own domain is part of our basic web hosting package. There are still some businesses who try to save money by having their site on another domain. Although this is a good way to get online fast, be honest, which web address is easier to remember, http://businesspages.hostingsite.co.uk/~kplumbing, or www.kensington-plumbing.co.uk? Your image is also significantly enhanced by your own clear and simple domain. And yes, sometimes your domain is not available anymore, which is unfortunate. If that is the case, avoid being too clever or make it too complex. If your company is called Kensington Plumbing, don’t be tempted to use something like www.knsngtnplmbng.com, but try www.ken-plumb.co.uk, or www.k-plumbin g.co.uk, or something similar people can relate with your business and remember easily.

3. Distracting gimmicks

If you were introduced to the Internet in the early 90’s you will remember the vast amount of personal home pages packed with animated images of folding envelopes, digging ‘under construction’ signs, flashing, d ripping, curling lines and buttons and all sort of other gimmicks that look ‘cool’ the first time you realize they are possible. Now, if you like showing off your latest gimmicks on your personal home page, that’s absolutely fine. Your business clients, however, will not be impressed. They are at your site to find out i f you or your products and services can help them, not whether you spend a lot of time collecting gimmicks. Also, too many flashing images distract. You want to guide your visitors through your website and make sure they learn what you need them to know about your business. Guide them through your website, don’t leave t hem in a jungle of animated lines, buttons, icons and cartoons.

4. Too much design, too little content

When you create your first website, it is very tempting to get distracted with what other companies have , the vast amount of information that is already out there and overusing hyperlinks ‘because you can’. If t he description of your product takes four A4 pages in your brochure, cut it down to the basics for your web site. Give people the information they are looking for. If you need more space, consider offering a PDF version of your brochure as a download. Research indicates that if visitors have more than 4 clicks to get to the information they need, they give up and go somewhere else. Don’t be afraid of having less than 10 pages on your website. Give people the exact information they were looking for. On the Internet quality is king, not quantity.

5. Neglect navigation

Sometimes you spend so much time designing your website, that you know all the pages by heart. This can lead to neglecting the navigation. Just because you find every page and to you layout and navigation is easy, doesn’t mean that an outsider won’t get lost. You understand how your products and services belong together, new visitors don’t. Consider having a navigation bar which is in the same position on every page, also site maps and search functions should be available on every site. Make sure you test your website with someone who has never seen it before and (if possible) doesn’t know much about your products. Maybe you can even ask a friendly client to have a look at the test version and get their comments. After all, they are the reason you build the site in the first place.

6. Hidden contact details

For some reason some web sites forget the outside world. You write the copy, source the images, program your website and everybody is happy. What, however, if someone wants to get in touch with you? Your website is unlikely to give all the information a (potential) client needs. Also, existing clients might use your site as first contact point if they have a question, need support or want to extend their contract with you . Make sure your contact details are very easy to find, whichever of your pages your visitors might currently be looking at. Another important point is to mention not only your email addresses, but phone numbers an d address. It is often more comfortable to speak to a person, than send and email to an impersonal info@YOURCOMPANY.com.

7. Online version of your brochure

True, your website should represent your company and if you have already spend considerable time and effort to make sure your brochure achieves this, it is very tempting to save the hassle of recreating everything for the web. However, there are significant differences in the way people read a printed brochure and the way they use the Internet. For once, the screen size is usual smaller than A4, which means the copy and images you used in your brochure won’t fit on one screen. If there is an incentive to scroll down, fine, but people online usually don’t have a lot of time or patience. A brochure can be read on the train, or during a tea break, a website usually has to be a lot more concise and to the point. Of course you should bring t he same message across as your brochure, just be aware of the different format. Don’t just copy your brochure, but design for the web.

8. Large graphics and animations

It is very tempting to use a lot of imagery, be it pictures of products, people, maps, etc. Remember, however, that the majority of people don’t yet have a broadband connection. Even if you use small images, but several on the same page, it will take a long time before the page is displayed the way you designed it. Another mistake is to create your site using only images. The benefit is that you can control exactly how the pages look, however a lot of your visitors might not have the time to wait for long downloads and choose your competitor’s site instead. Also, information and keywords mentioned in images cannot be read and indexed by search engines. Keep it simple and if you want to use images, make sure you test your site using a slow Internet connection before you set it live for everybody to see.

9. Separate online from off-line effort

In order to impress visitors with your website you have employed an agency or the neighbors’ son who is really creative and knows the latest technologies. All too often this means, that your website doesn’t fit in with your other collateral. Make sure that your existing brochures, stationery, etc. and you website have more in common than your logo and contact details. Use a set colour scheme and maybe you have a company font you always use, or you have certain images that identify your company. Make sure that your existing customers instantly recognise your new website as yours.

10. A site nobody knows exists

Too many companies concentrate on getting their website off the ground, that they forget to tell people about the site when it is finally available. Make sure your website is mentioned on everything you produce, i.e. business cards, stationery, packaging, advertising, e-mail signatures, brochures, exhibition stands and material, etc. There is no point in having a website if nobody knows it is out there. The next step is obviously ensuring that your site is featured on major search engines, your entry in the yellow pages and possibly top 10 lists of your industry’s publications or association newsletters. Why not try Winweb’s search engine opimisation service?

Tags: Business Development, Business Start Up, Home Business, Micro Business, Outsourcing, Selfemployed, Small Business, smb, sme, sme-blog, Web Technology, WinWeb

The influence of the Internet on business is changing almost daily. Not only do more companies build their own websites, but they start to understand how to improve communication. Still, too many people consider the Internet as an additional advertising platform or sales channel. Of course, the World Wide Web can perform these functions, but a much more important prospect is often overlooked.

Think about it. You are used to working with the computer. Now you also have a mobile phone, so you can be reached anytime. The next step is a PDA (Personal Digital Assistant), which allows you to carry data and in formation without having to carry a laptop. The trend is already visible: Access to vital business information anytime, anywhere. The Internet seems the ideal platform to achieve this goal. The benefits are clear:

• Data accessible and editable anytime, anywhere

• Data constantly backed up in remote location

• Integrated online tools avgoiding data duplication

• Sharing of data between multiple users

• 24 hour access to data for customers and suppliers

• One interface for all your communication

With the speedy development of mobile phone technology it will very soon be possible to access all your business intelligence not only through a PC but also through your phone or PDA.

Winweb OnlineOffice was designed to use the flexibility and accessibility of the Internet for business intelligence. Your small business can now benefit from a sophisticated IT system without the cost of setting up your own in-house solution.

Tags: Accounting, Business Development, Business Infrastructure, Business Start Up, E-Commerce, Home Business, IT, Micro Business, On-demand, Outsourcing, Selfemployed, Small Business, smb, sme, sme-blog, Software as a Service, Web Technology, WinWeb

Welcome to our new small business blog. We hope you will enjoy our rambling & ranting on the subject of small business.

On this blog we will concentrate on providing an inside to our thinking with respect to self-employment, home businesses and small businesses, the so called micro and small businesses.

Some of the areas will include:

• Accountants/CPAs, we believe accountants/CPAs should be more then glorified bookkeepers. They are in a unique position to help small business and start-up business to get the financial and business advice they need to survive long term. We will discuss what to look for in an accountant.

• Banks, they should help you to finance business and NOT overheads. We are going to talk about healthy and unhealthy relationships with your bank.

• Business Start-Up, how to run a business while you keep your job and test the water, before you jump into business and commit your savings and/or borrowed money. Do you really need a VC before you can earn yourself a good living?

• Government, why most government help for small business may be a sincere offer, but in reality is nothing but hot air.

• Marketing/PR, the high tech way to create awareness for your products and services for the small budged.

• Web-Technology combined with Live! services, changes the business dynamic completely, the “In & Out” of on-demand technology and why it helps you.

• Outsourcing & Virtual Assistants, the technology driven way to timeshare professionals and keeping you overheads down.

Let us know what you think and let’s talk business, ……SMALL BUSINESS.

Accounting, Business Development, Business Start Up, CPAs, Data Security, E-Commerce, Exporting, Finance, IT, On-demand, Open Source Software, Outsourcing, PR, SaaS, Sales, sme-blog, Software as a Service, Virtual Assitants, Web Technology, WinWeb