Get Your Business Online

Why is it important to have online presence?

Online Presence: Why is it important?• Current way of doing business and

marketing…Your customers expect it.• Cost effective• Access to new markets (more customers)• Easily updated and modified

Some vehicles for online presence:• Informational website• E-Commerce website• Blogs• Social media• Consumer review websites• Articles in online media

Basic Website Set Up: Free & low-cost options

Google Applications:• Google + Page• Google-Get Your

Business Online website-See Handout

• Google Maps

Other web hosting vehicles:• Webs.com• Weebly• Microsoft Office Live Small Business (requires

having a domain name)• iPage• GoDaddy…And many more! Look around and see what is

best for your specific business needs.

E-Commerce:Accepting Payments Online Some E-Commerce Options

• A start: “Offline payment” tied to your business merchant account

• Even better: Payment Gateway Services: For example, PayPal, 2Checkout.com, or Google Checkout

Blogs A blog (short for “web log”) is a website on which an individual or group of users record opinions, information, etc. on a regular basis.

Some blog vehicles:• WordPress• Tumblr• Posterous Spaces• Asaph• Squarespace• Habari

Social MediaCommonly used social media platforms:

• Facebook• Twitter• Pinterest• LinkedIn• YouTube• Google+!!!For more detail, attend the next

CBS presentation by Jocelyn Tate at 2:15 PM: “Digital Grapevine-Social Media and Your Business”

Consumer Review Sites Some common review sites:• Yelp.com• Insider Pages.com• Angie’s List• Trip Advisor.com• Epinions.com• Open Table.com• Social media sites discussed

on previous slide can also be used for review purposes

Articles in online media

Online media-some ideas/where to start:

• Print media outlets that are relevant to your product may have an online version

• Start with smaller online publications that are either local or pertinent to your industry (Elevation DC or CityPaper.com are local Washington examples). Bigger outposts might even pick up the article!

Other thoughts:• Online advertising is an option, but it seems a

shame to pay for online presence when there are so many free or low-cost options available

• Pick one of these options and get online today!

• Which one will you start with?

QUESTIONS?Marla BilonickDirector, Small Business DevelopmentLatino Economic Development Center (LEDC)mbilonick@ledcmetro.org

@MarlaBilonickwww.ledcmetro.org