In today's high-tech world, when consumers spend billions of dollars online, your product needs to be there, urges Sandy Abrams, in Your Idea, Inc. ( www.vivagroupindia.com ).

Functioning Web site

Much of your online marketing effort, with the exception of setting up your Web site, can be done with little or no monetary outlay so it is the best bang for your buck, Abrams adds. “Creating a fully functioning Web site is by far the most important and time-consuming of these ventures. You will be directing traffic to your Web site and its store if you have one.”

Unless you have already set up Web sites for some reason, let an expert take care of this for you, the author advises. Reasoning that you wouldn't want your site to be going offline all the time, loaded with broken links, or difficult to use, she reminds that your Web site is an essential facet of your company's image and it needs to be great.

Written as a guide for those who take the leap to becoming an entrepreneur, the author outlines the ‘baby steps to building your Web site,' such as noting what you like about your favourite Web sites (such as the look, the layout, the fonts, the user-friendly system, and the easy check-out); and talking to at least three Web designers to get pricing and a detailed list of what your site will include.

Search engine optimisation

Once your Web site is up and running, look at SEO (search engine optimisation), which refers to your site's ability to get the most quantity and quality of traffic from the search engines, the author instructs. Explaining that the SEO's main component is the keyword that people enter to find information online, she notes that optimising your Web site to get the best results mainly involves the coding within the content of the Web site so that the search engines easily find keywords within your site.

Assuring that you do not need to master the inner workings of SEO, Abrams advises that you should, however, know it is vital for the Web building team members to understand SEO well so that they set up the Web site accordingly.

First step

The opening chapter of the book concedes that, on the journey to launch a product idea, the very first step is often the most difficult to take. If you wonder why that is so, the author's answer reads thus: “Most people who have never run a business have absolutely no clue what to do with their great idea. Instead of focusing on step number one alone, they start to paint a big picture, get overwhelmed mentally, and tuck the idea back into their head.”

And, if the state of the economy frightens you from taking the all-important first step, Abrams cheers that it is possible to begin even in a bad economy because it is quite likely that unexpected circumstances lead to unexpected success and happiness.

‘Right' time

Also, as the author observes, you cannot always pick the ‘right' time to become an entrepreneur because usually new product ideas come about from a need to fill a void in the marketplace. She argues that, for the entrepreneur, if the sense of urgency exists, the process begins organically no matter what the state of the economy is.

Towards the close of the book, there is guidance on how you should announce your product at a major industry trade show, where the benefit is that you have a focused, captive audience and can create a lot of buzz in a short time.

D. Murali

BookPeek.blogspot.com

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