How to start a Web Business Essay -- GCSE Business Marketing Coursewor

How to start a Web Business The number one question to ask when starting a business, whether on the Web or in a traditional setting, is why would people want to buy the product or service. Somewhere in the world, one can find people selling anything so why would people come to you? Are you selling something unique, do you make or market something that no one can find anywhere else or would find it almost impossible to find elsewhere? Do you sell your product at a lower price then anyone else? Maybe your prices are competitive with other businesses but you offer superior service. Perhaps you have the ability to offer unique services that no one else can or will duplicate. Do you have some other advantage over other companies? The next thing to consider once you have settled on a product or service to market is a name. Names are very important especially when starting a business on the Internet. The Web address or URL (Universal Resource Locator) of a Web page is an important part of becoming a popular place f or surfers to shop. There are two ways in which an URL for a business Web page can de done: registering you own second level domain or being listed under some one else's domain name. A URL is made of several parts. First, there is the root level domain: com, org, net, tm. The root level domain can be many things; com, org, and net are the only root level domain names not associated with a two-letter country code. Any other domain name will be associated with a country: us, United States; de, Germany; tm, Turkmenistan. Some business names will lend themselves to easily become a second level domain name, that is the name before the root level domain name. Major brand names are easy to do such as www.microsoft.com, www.ibm.com. When people look on the Web for a certain company it is easy to try www.companyname.com but what should one type when the company name is Bob's House of Flowering Plants? That is why one should choose easily remembered or recognized Web addresses. Since thousands of second level domains have already been taken, it may be easier to find what names are available and then choose the name of the business from the available choices. To find out if a particular com, org, or net second level domain name has been registered, go to Inter nic (www.internic.com ). If you decide not to register your own domain name you can have a lis... ...your business, will automatically submit your information to the search engines that you select. The third option is email messages. This method can also be undesirable. Since many Internet users do not like UCE (unsolicited commercial email) also known as spam, it is not advisable to send email to potential customers unless they have requested it. To conclude, when done well, a business based on the Internet can be a very profitable venture. If an automatic system is used, very little labor must be utilized to run the business. Many companies have proven that the Internet can generate a great deal of business. Possibly thebest way to decide how you want to set up your business online is to surf to other businesses with Web pages and see which ones you would be more apt to purchase products from. Bibliography: Serwer, A. (1998, May 11). Michael Dell Rocks. Fortune, 58-70. Lange, L. (1998 Jan). The Internet. IEEE Spectrum, 37-42. Internic (1998, April). What is a Domain Name [Online]. Available: http://www.internic.com/info.htm [1998, April 28]. Dogpile (1998, April). Main listing of Search Engines [Online]. Available: http://www.dogpile.com [28, April 28].