The internet has taken over a large part of our daily lives in the last ten years, but this should be used to our advantage, especially if you own a business.
There won’t be many businesses now that don’t use the internet in some way. Everyone has an email address and phone lines, and most businesses would not be able to run effectively without them.
But how exactly has the internet affected business?
Location
Businesses that live in the North East of England don’t have to sell products just in the North East. By creating an online shop, purchases can be made via the internet and the products can be shipped over to the other side of the world and received within 10 days. This expands the horizon that businesses can reach and therefore increases revenue and sales by a huge amount.
Although there are fees that come with setting up hosting, websites and online stores, the gains that can be made through these mediums is exponential and is absolutely worthwhile, even for SMEs.
Communication
As a business, you need to communicate with your clients whenever they have a query or issue. If you don’t answer such queries quickly and efficiently, then this doesn’t reflect well on your business.
You need to have good internet that won’t drop out, and a good quality phone line and provider. Talk Talk Business has package options for small, medium and large businesses depending on your needs and how many customers you’re expecting to reach.
Skype will also be an option if you have clients from abroad. This will save you on flight and accommodation costs, as calls can be made from your home or office. You can even answer calls on the go on your mobile phone.
Marketing
Marketing is no longer something that you need to hire an external company to do. You can market your own business online. You can set up pay-per-click services or adverts to sit on search engines. You can use social media as a way of finding and reaching clients who require your services or product. A social platform such as LinkedIn is a great B2B platform where you can meet other businesses that may need your services or products.
Though it can take time to reach a decent following on any social platform, once you have followers, you can send out news, recent offers and sales, and other useful information to hundreds or thousands of people at once.
If you’re a start-up business, consider joining some online directories so potential customers can find your business and get in touch easily. Some of these directories are free, so are absolutely worth signing up to.
These are only 3 suggestions as to how the internet can help your business, but there are thousands of reasons out there. Allow your business to reach more people on a global scale using the World Wide Web.
