All related to business today, some back end details (like blog security) and some customer related issues, but all worth a read. In order that I think of them…

How to do yourself out of a thousand bucks – the ethics of business

Social media, trade secrets and why you shouldn’t give a rip about the competition - great message and enjoy the graphic too!

Why perfect is the only acceptable business measure

5 easy tasks to outsource as you grow your business

how to keep your WordPress blog secure

Working at home blog carnival –  in particular, I liked the included posts by Eldon and Blogging your passion (and my own of course!)

Customer Service Carnivale

Preparing business for difficult times 

Happy reading! If you have any comments on these posts, I’d love to hear them…

Where to start… there are a lot of web hosts out there so limit yourself to looking at a small proportion of them and getting a short list for detailed comparisons (see list below for things to consider). Here are some tips on finding some web hosts to look at:

•  ask around other business people you know for their recommendations (positive or negative) – or use social media contacts for the same question
• use a search engine to find some hosts, but narrow the search a little with terms like ‘business web hosting’, ‘australian hosting’ or ‘secure small business hosting’
• look for mentions of hosts in your favourite blogs and social media channels
• look around your networks (not just business networks) for any hosts you already know
• if you belong to a group or support a charity, look at the list of recent supporters as a web host may be been generous
• web designers often know web hosts and/or have arrangements with hosts to make it easier – in other words, your designer will set up the hosting for you and install the site as well. This can be convenient but be sure the hosting is accessible to you so you have control after you finish using the designer’s services

Some points to consider about web hosting:

• Particular comparison points when choosing a package are number of email addresses included, storage space (how much stuff you can put on their servers), monthly data transfer (relates to how many visitors your site can manage), redirected domains and programs allowed (e.g. you need MySQL for most blogs and a means of gathering your stats).Read up on some terms before making comparisons might make life easier.
• make sure the host has a reasonable or better level of security on offer
• choose a reputable host with a good package rather than worrying about how local they are
• you do not have to register your domain name at the same place as you get your hosting – I have seen a number of places discount one to hook you into the other under the implication you must do both. Likewise, you can arrange your own hosting separate from your designer
• seriously look around – there are hosting suppliers who charge an arm and a leg for less than what others provide at reasonable rates
• free hosting is on offer but it usually comes with hidden costs such as fewer features and a long, difficult URL – do you want to promote www.someonesdomain.com/yoursite or www.yoursite.com.au? For $60 or so a year, you can have your domain, many features and full control over your site so think twice and twice again before taking any free hosting plans
• it’s ok to ask existing clients of a host about their experiences – I did this for digital pacific last year and was given multiple stories of good service and no downtime (i.e. the websites were not offline because of problems with the hosting)
• most hosts will allow you to upgrade your package later so start with a low use package to get going and see what you need.

For what it’s worth, I have used MultimediART for some years and had great service but some down time and lack of notices, Digital Pacific with advance notices, no downtime and good service and Jumba with no issues (and no real test of their service). All Australian and priced for value.

This post is part of Word Constructions’ Setting up a website series
1. having a website helps more than you
2. what’s involved in setting up a website?

So do you have a website?

I’ve written before about the value of a website, and I think it’s importance has only increased with the growth of social media and mobile access and apps, but I hadn’t thought of it as a major factor for a national economy. Results showed businesses with an online presence had significantly more sales and profits – who’s going to argue with increased profits!

As great as it is to grow your business with a website, I found it staggering that 70% of those without a website have no intention of getting one. I understand that not everyone is comfortable with technology (but you can get people to set it up and mange it for you) and time is a big factor for small business (hey, I have four kids and a business!) but a basic online presence is just so important.

Over the next week or so, I will do some posts about how to get your business online to help business owners who are feeling a bit overwhelmed with it all – and to help the Australian economy!

If you have any questions about getting online, now is a great time to ask!

The March survey of small businesses showed that about two thirds believe search engines is the key means of finding new customers. Now that may be more or less applicable in your industry or in Australia vs the USA (the survey was in the USA only), but search engines do account for a reasonable amount of website traffic.

Which means that making your website as attractive as possible to search engines is important. You can pay SEO (search engine optimisation is the termfor making your site perform better in search engine formulae) or marketing companies to improve your site rankings, but there are also things you can do quite simply. In fact, I’d say some of the simple tasks should be done even if you are paying someone else to help you with SEO.

Here is a quick list of the easy SEO tasks you can do to increase your chances of being found in relevant searches:

• use relevant keywords in your web and blog content
• provide quality and relevant content on your site – a blog is excellent for this
• aim your web and blog content at humans – search engines are getting more sophisticated at picking out fake pages of keywords
• make your content web friendly – search engines read headings, too so make use of them
• add links to relevant information (on your site and elsewhere)
• encourage links to your site as much as possible without getting into link farms or spam
• ensure your web pages and blog posts have relevant meta data (background information about the page) - which means it shouldn’t the same for every page
• update your site and blog as often as you can to keep it fresh and give people a reason to come back for more – fresh content and visitors both help your search engine rankings

Many people now use them, and various companies refer to them in their advertising, but from personal conversations about things I write, I know many people don’t know what the term means.

A PDS is simply a document listing the key features of financial products are described; it is the little booklet you got about your savings account, insurance policy, super account and so on. Basic topics covered by a PDS include fees, options, inclusions and joining/buying the product.

There are variations between industrires and companies but generally the company has to make a PDS available before you buy their product – they can’t make you read it obviously but they must have allowed you that opporutnity.

A PDS is a point of reference when deciding between products and when you need to know something later (eg does my house insurance cover rising water or just floods?) Many PDSs are long and may not be visually appealing, but they are worth holding onto.

I found it very frustrating (as I wanted to find some specific answers like what the blog was about without reading multiple essays!) It was also very strange to not see any of the common elements we’re used to for navigating a blog.

So it raises the question – what do you expect to find in the sturcture of a blog?

I attended an Anzac Day service last weekend and it was very moving. It was also very interesting to learn more about the Lone Pine story and how it became such an important part of Australian folklore. The service was held beneath a Pine Tree seeded from the original Lone Pine (which was destroyed in thebattles in 1915); a seedling from the Melbourne tree was also planted so that the Lone Pine can always be represented in that park as part of our gratitude to those young men and women who fought for our way of life.

Doyou have a place near you that signifies history and remembrance?

Lest we forget.

Like everything else in business, just because running a blog is a good idea doesn’t mean it is easy to do or doesn’t have issues for the people behind the business.

So what are your biggest hurdles with running a business blog?

The Australian Insitute of Superannuation Trustees, AIST, (and others I believe) have an online petition to show the Government the concept has the support of the general population.

Do you support it?

Maybe you haven’t even thought about it so here are a couple of my ideas on the topic:

• an extra 3% of your salary each year has to give you a better chance of financial security in retirement so who would argue with getting it?
• we’re often told we have an aging population so I have long thought I will need my own money (super or otherwise) as there may not be much of an age pension when I retire – again, more super from an employer has to help that!
• an extra 3% on top of employee’s salaries could easily add up for any business owner so businesses may find the concept stressful, but
  • it isn’t immediate so businesses can prepare
  • if businesses have to increase prices to meet the 3%, living expenses will have another increase
  • base salaries (for new employees) may get reduced slightly so that packages aren’t significantly higher and that again may leave people financially tight in the present

From a purely super point of view, I totally agree with moving the minimum to 12%; from an overall perspective, I’m not so sure what is best and will need to read up on the potential impact – and I’d love to hear some different opinions from business owners, too.

Yet many people hesitate in getting outside, professional help for things like writing, design, website updates and bookkeeping; for some, they don’t think they can afford help, others like to maintain complete control, some think it will take longer to find someone than to just do it themselves and another group just wouldn’t know where to start looking for help.

Whatever your reason for putting off getting help, here are my reasons to look and ask for help…

1. a professional will do the job well – so might you, of course, but at what cost in time? Sure, I could design a website – it  would look horrible and cheap, but it would be done! So for things out of my skill set, it is worth looking for an expert
2. it saves you time – even if it only takes you an hour a week to maintain your blog or two hours a month to update your accounts, think what else you could do (and how much money you could earn) in that four to eight hours a month…
3. it clears your head as you don’t have to worry about fitting in that task anymore nor the details of how to do it. A clear head lets you be more productive, creative and relaxed
4. a professional will probably do it much faster than you – meaning the job will be done and potentially increasing your profits much sooner, especially if you factor in that you would do the task around all your other responsibilities
5. a professional may be more objective which can lead to better results. For example, I write very concisely and to the relevant point so often cut out a lot of information the business owner includes because he or she is passionate about the topic
6. the professional can offer an outside opinion and fresh ideas. I don’t know how many times designers I have worked with have taken my outline and come up with something perfect and totally unlike what I had envisaged – in fact, I often ask designers for their input rather than giving them rigid briefs

I know it can take time to find the right professionals to work with. I know it may seem out of budget (but factor in time savings and better results and you may be surprised at the affordability). And I know building trust in others to care as much as you can be hard. Yet I believe it is often worth talking to a professional to find out how they could help.

Do you have any stories about an outside professional helping your business?