1. You think a website is a one-time investment

A website is for life, not just for Christmas. Many times folks think that launching the website is enough, it’s not. It’s a constant process of refining and optimising – exactly the same way that you would update a shop front window to get the right focus and to reflect changes in products, market’s and customers. You need a specialist who can advise you and get to know your business over time. Your website should be a living, evolving thing.

Bernard Blake, Group General Manager, SMB Markets

Most businesses that do create their website don’t update its content or design. This creates little or no motivation for visitors to come back. And even if they do, they vote with their mice clicking away onto a more updated and current website.

Nishi Karamchandani, eBusiness Consultant

Imagine you have a Lexus showroom in the middle of the desert, no matter how impressive it is, if you don’t get enough people in to the showroom you are not going to sell anything. You need to let people know you exist, where exactly in the desert you’re located and even better, provide free transport to your showroom. Building a website is like building a showroom in the middle of that “desert”. Engaging in Search Engine Optimisation, Paid Search or other online promotion strategies is like gathering your target audience to your exact location at the precise moment they are looking for your product or service.

Raphael Sebbag, eBusiness Development Consultant

2. You accept mediocre performance

Changing your perspective on the role a web site plays in your business can mean all the difference to its success. Treat your website as an employee who works for you 24/7 engaging your customers and providing valued information and services when your customers need it. All employees need new information and training to stay ahead in the market place, much the same way your web site needs updating and the ability to grow and adapt to changes in the market place. By changing perspective you will evolve your thinking on how your business engages with customers.

Bobby-Jack Butchart, eBusiness Development Consultant

3. You don’t know what you have and what you own

Much like all other business overheads, you need to know the components of your online services, what they do for you and how much you are paying for them: domain, hosting, website, search marketing, email marketing and so on. Then consider consolidating all these services with one reliable supplier who can service all your online needs.

The benefits are clear: you know exactly who to call when you need help, you only need to remember one log-in detail for your services and you are in a better position to negotiate on price. And, when renewal time comes, it’s easy to keep track of what is expiring, what’s not, how much and who to pay.

Matthew Dobson, eBusiness Development Consultant

Ensure that your domains are registered to your business rather than the web developer who is working for you and get a back-up copy of any design work on disc. Relationships change over time and it can be a major source of frustration when a business discovers that their site is owned by the developer rather than themselves.

Jael Edwards, eBusiness Support Consultant

4. You don’t protect your Intellectual Property

Just because your business certificate indicates you have been running Joan Flowers Pty Ltd for ten years does not mean you are the only one eligible to register JoanFlowers.com.au, JoanFlowers.net.au or JoanFlowers.com and so on.

The process of securing a domain name is akin to protecting Intellectual Property on the web. Make sure that you cover your bases: register the names of your business or company as well as your product or service, brand name and trademark on all relevant domain name extensions that make sense to your business. Ideally, you need to secure the com.au, net.au, com, and net versions. And if you trade overseas in markets like Asia and Europe, we also recommend you secure the country-code versions of your domain.

Imagine the horror you might feel if a competitor or unethical operator secures JoanFlowers.com today then sells it you for a large sum for your JoanFlowers.com.au business. There are avenues to dispute domain ownership but the road can be long and costly.

Robelen Bajar, Group Marketing Manager, Business & Consumer

5. You go for cheap-as-chips web hosting

Going the cheap option is not always the best.

The worst thing that could happen is that the site is offline when a visitor comes to the site.

This is frustrating for the visitor and can cost you money.

1. Visitors may go to another website thinking your business has closed up shop
2. If you are using PPC you will charged for the clicks even though the site is down.
3. Search engines spiders cannot index your site, this can affect your organic rankings if the site is frequently down
4. Poor user experience because of slow site
5. No tech support when you most need it

When choosing a web hosting provider you should go with a trusted company that offers service level agreements.

Trung Tran, Operations Manager, Online Marketing

6. You try to do everything yourself

When it comes to launching an online presence we find a large proportion of business owners try to do too much in too little time. By not focusing on their own strengths and trying to do everything in-house they end up spending countless hours of frustration and grief. Outsourcing is the key to success.
Denis Bourmistrov, eBusiness Services Consultant

Website design can be a confusing and highly technical project to take on. Without the know-how, careful planning and commitment to see it through, you may end up an with unfinished website, or one that doesn’t add value to your business, simply because you couldn’t get it to work the way you wanted, or it has gone into your too-hard basket.  Having a website designed by a professional ensures that you end up with a solution that takes your business to the next level.

Peter Vigilante, Training Consultant, eBusiness Centre

7. You are scared of new Internet technologies

Embrace it because it’s all happening whether you like it or not. Have fun and experiment with social networks like Facebook and Twitter to draw visitors to your website. The tried-and-true methods will continue to be effective, but using the latest and greatest in web technologies is a great way to engage an ever advancing audience.

Viral videos, link baits and social networking are a great place to start. It won’t be a Cinderella story for all, but for some, the shoe may just be a perfect fit.

James Richardson, Business Development Manager – Affiliates
8. You’ve grown used to the old ways

The Internet is now the biggest media available to you. Consumer appetite for the Internet has grown phenomenally mainly as a medium to obtain information for anything. Instead of pouring more money into traditional print media out of sheer habit, find out how you can be in front of prospects who are already searching on the web for what you sell.

Alvin Chia, Marketing Consultant

Start to get familiar with words like search engine optimisation and pay-per-click. Traditional print media can cost thousands with very little flexibility to change your ads. Online advertising like PPC allows you to manage your marketing ROI effectively with the ability to track your campaigns daily and refine your ads if required.  If you have not considered search engines as an important part of your marketing mix, then it’s time you did.

Toby Hellyer, Customer Service Manager, eBusiness Centre

9.  You don’t look at your web statistics

Or worse, you don’t have one or don’t know what it is.

Every website hosted by a reliable supplier should have a web statistics component that tells you what people do when they visit your site. It allows you to track and measure results of your sales and marketing activities whenever you need to: daily, monthly, quarterly, yearly.

How many visitors does your website get a month?

How long do your visitors spend on your website? This is a good way of finding out how interested your visitors are in your website.

How much traffic do you get from search engines? What are the keywords? Are there any surprises?

How many people visit your sales enquiry form but do not complete it? This indicates you need to look at the way you’ve designed your form. Does it ask for too many questions? Does it work?

Where do your website visitors drop off? You might need to look at this page and see why it is turning them away.

If you ran an email campaign to draw visitors to a page on your site, how many responses did you get? How many filled out your sales enquiry form, downloaded your eBook, subscribed to your newsletter or viewed your video testimonial?

Your web statistics can tell you a powerful story about your website and what you can do to get better results.
Jonothan Stribling, Web Properties Commercial Manager

10. Your website is all about you

Studies show that many people research products on the Internet before they call or visit a store. This means your website is crucial in convincing visitors to do business with you or at least shortlist you. Instead of writing long paragraphs about you and how good you are, focus on things that drive customers to act.

Offer free trials or e-vouchers to get them to call or visit your store. Promote special offers on your site and use customer testimonials to establish credibility. It’s a powerful way of promoting a specific product feature or the reliability of the service you provide.

Publish an eBook that visitors can download. This is a clever way of building a prospect database that you can market to and build relationships with over time.

Write a blog on gardening tips if you run a nursery, or stories on fishing expeditions if you have a bait and tackle shop.

Make it easier for customers to contact you. Do not hide your contact details on your website. Make sure it is visible on every page.

When writing your content, ask yourself what’s in it for the customer and why would they believe it?

Robelen Bajar, Group Marketing Manager, Business & Consumer

1. Install an Antivirus and Spyware program on all computers and ensure the programs are regularly updated.

2. If you have Windows operating system, always run the updates as they contain security updates that help protect your computers from viruses.

3. Ensure your computer has a firewall and security settings are tight.

4. Never open an email attachment, click on a web link or download a file from an unknown or suspicious source.

5. Be judicious when downloading files from the Internet.

6. Increase the security level of your web browsers.

7. Never reply to junk mail. Delete them immediately from your inbox.

8. Block the source IP addresses of emails that have been identified as junk or spam.

9. Backup your data on a regular basis. It could save your business from an Internet virus meltdown.

Robelen Bajar, Group Marketing Manager, Melbourne IT Ltd.

I recently read an article about Optus turning off email to a well used domain without supplying sufficient notice to their customers. This reminded me of a conversation I once had with a customer.

They asked me, “Why do I need to buy email for my business I get it free from my ISP?”

I responded as always did, “Would you send an invoice to a customer on your ISP’s letterhead?”

They got it straight away.

Using an ISP email address rather than your own email at your domain name is promoting your ISP’s brand, not yours.

Have someone ever given you a business card that was well-designed, on a nice expensive paper stock and very impressive looking with an email address like zxy234@ispemail.com.au?

I have, and I can tell you I wondered why someone would go to so much trouble create a brand identity and not reinforce it with branded email.

An email address like you@yourdomain.com.au not only proves your business is credible and promotes your brand, it also gives you the choice and flexibility to change email service providers without changing your email.

Plus, it can be easier to remember.

If you use your own domain for email you can change your ISP or email service provider at anytime without having to inform your clients and friends that you have a new email address and reprinting your business cards, letterheads and brochures.

You control it so it is up to you how it works.

If you rely on your ISP to provide you with your email for free, they can choose to discontinue the service and there is not too much you can do about it.

If the Optus customers had used their own branded email, they would not be worrying about lost emails and potential lost business.

The message is simple: Your brand is important and it is easy to protect and promote it with your own email.

Luke Richards is a Senior Product Manager.

In the days before Google (known to those in the business as BG), searching for stuff using search engines was annoying.

The search results were filled with spam links and directories offering no value to a searcher. A person often had to navigate more than three pages of results to find something useful. This was bad for businesses and consumers.

Google changed all that.

Their search results were fast and stunningly accurate. However, in the past few years even their search results have been populated with spam and irrelevant results, as black-hat SEO’s manipulate the search results for evil purposes.

Now Google have done something about it, releasing a new search engine last week code named Caffeine.

We have been testing the results and there are a number of important implications for website publishers and owners.

More results

For some search terms Google have improved their index and now return more results.

This means some businesses will face more competition for their search terms, whilst others may find their ranking has improved. Businesses should take a look at their ranking and if required do some more SEO work to improve their ranking.

Spam

Google have ‘cleaned’ their index of spam links and directories. Some search terms like Online Pharmacy and web hosting now return less results as a result of the cleanse.

This will require some businesses to revisit their link building strategy making sure that their in-bound links are from quality sites only.

Fast, even real-time

The new search engine is super fast. Google have released a new architecture and our testing indicates that results are returned milliseconds faster than the current search engine.

The holy grail for Google has always been real-time search results.

They are getting closer.

For certain quality sites it is now possible for new content to appear in Google’s index within a couple of minutes of it being published online.

This means updating your website with relevant content more often is even more important.

Social media

Our testing indicates that Twitter and Facebook pages are ranking higher in Google Caffeine than in the current search engine.

If you have been sitting on the fence with social media, then leap off and setup a profile on Twitter and Facebook. It could help your ranking and your customers.

Keywords

Due to the algorithm change the complete keyword has gained weight. This means having keyword rich URL’s, relevant on-page content and keywords in title tags is even more important.

Remember, the key here is relevant and appropriate keyword content. The rule of thumb is that if it is hard for a human to read and understand then it is probably spam.

Conclusion

Our team will continue testing and analysing the results for our own and our customer sites. Customers will also receive a new ranking report shortly about the implications for their own results.

Jonothan Stribling, eCommerce Manager Melbourne IT

“Searching” remains the number one activity on the web – that is searching, not shopping. So if your website is hidden in popular search engines like Google your online business may never see the light of day because chances are your customers will go elsewhere – most likely to your competitors who are easily found on search engine results.

To learn the basics that allow your website to be visible on search engines, download “The ABC of Search Marketing: Part 1 Website Optimisation”.

To access this Premium eBook, simply fill out the form below.

This year, the festival’s focus is on helping SMEs survive and thrive in difficult economic times. That’s why we’ve joined forces with Google to guide you towards stronger online results with our seminar:

Online Marketing: Tools, Trends & the Future

Learn the tips and tricks of social networking, search engine optimisation and email marketing to help overcome the tough times and promote your business online. 

Plus hear from Google how you can benefit from the latest search engine technologies. You’ll be able to analyse your positioning online and gain insight into what’s needed to build a solid foundation for your business on the Internet.  

Details of the seminar as follows:

Melbourne – Tue 4 August 2009
Saxons Training Facilities, Level 8, 500 Collins Street, Melbourne 3000

Time     
10.00am/Seminar commences
11.30am/Seminar ends

Special Guest speaker: Cathy Owens, Google Australia

Price: $49 per person (incl. GST). To confirm your place, Download the Registration Form and fax it back to us.

Hurry as seats are limited.  For enquiries, phone 03 8624 2496 or email deepti.kelkar@melbourneit.com.au.

Call 13 22 15 to request an Energise Enterprise event guide or visit their homepage for updates.

The applicable types of numbers will depend upon various factors (either on their own, or in combination) such as –

•    the business structure you choose (e.g. sole trader or incorporated company),
•    the trading name your business chooses to trade under (e.g. whether the trading name will be the same as or different from your own name or your incorporated company’s name), and
•    where your business is going to be carried on (e.g. only in one state or Australia-wide).

And all these different numbers and the relationships between them can be very confusing. So here is a quick guide to the various commonly issued numbers.

BN (Business Name registration number – (e.g. BN17284685)
Note that not all Australian States/Territories precede the number with the letters ‘BN’, for example Victoria precede the number with a ‘B’ whilst ACT precede the number with an ‘F’)

BNs are issued on a state-by-state/territory-by-territory basis by the various state based business names’ offices (run by state government organisations/departments with names like ‘Office of Fair Trading’, ‘Department of Consumer Affairs’). Generally speaking, any person, partnership or company which carries on business under a business name other than their own full name must register the business name in each state in which they are carrying on business.

(There is an exception in the case of individuals in that they may carry on business under their initials plus their family name, without registering such a name as a business name). BNs are not the same thing as ABNs or ARBNs.

ACN (Australian Company Number – (e.g. 091 035 684)
ACNs are 9 digit numbers issued on an Australia-wide basis by the Australian Securities and Investments Commission (ASIC) to Australian incorporated companies once the company registration is completed.

ABN (Australian Business Number – (e.g. 92 091 035 684)
ABNs are 11 digit numbers issued on an Australia-wide basis and are recorded on the Australian Business Register (ABR) administered by the Australian Taxation Office (ATO). The main purpose of an ABN is to serve as a single number allowing businesses to identify themselves reliably in all their dealings with the Australian Government, and particularly with the ATO. Also, without an ABN quoted on your sales invoices, other businesses may withhold 46.5% of your invoiced sales amount (on account of your business’s PAYG tax obligations). Any person(s) or company carrying on an enterprise in Australia, or making supplies connected with Australia, is entitled to an ABN.

When an Australian incorporated company (having an ACN) applies for an ABN, 2 digits will be added to the front of the company’s 9 digit ACN in order to allocate an 11 digit ABN to the company.

Likewise, when a foreign company (having an ARBN) applies for an ABN, 2 digits will be added to the front of the company’s 9 digit ARBN in order to allocate an 11 digit ABN to the company.

ABNs are not the same thing as BNs or ARBNs.

TFN (Tax File Number – (e.g. 785 257 158)
TFNs are issued on an Australia-wide basis by the ATO. If your new business is being run as a partnership, company or trust, your business will need its own TFN (separate/different from your existing personal TFN). However, if you are running your business yourself as a sole trader, you will continue to use your existing personal TFN. TFNs are not publically available or searchable and generally they should be kept secure and private (but it is normal, for example, for a business to supply its TFN to its bank). For further information, see this ATO publication: Tax file number and income tax obligations.

GST (Goods and Services Tax) Registration Number – (e.g. 92 091 035 684)
These 11 digit numbers are issued on an Australia-wide basis by the ATO to businesses that register for GST. Generally speaking, businesses with turnover of $75,000 or more must register for GST, and businesses with turnover of less than $75,000 may (but need not) register for GST. A business’s GST Registration Number will generally be the same number as the business’s ABN.

ARBN (Australian Registered Business Number – (e.g. 124 462 826)
ARBNs are far less common than the other types of numbers referred to above. ARBNs are 9 digit numbers issued on an Australia-wide basis by ASIC to foreign companies carrying on business in Australia (they may also be issued to what are known as ‘Registrable Australian Bodies’ but that is outside the scope of this brief guide). They are a kind of ‘ACN substitute’ for foreign incorporated companies carrying on business directly in Australia (as opposed to foreign incorporated companies carrying on business indirectly in Australia through owning an Australian incorporated subsidiary company having its own separate ACN). ARBNs are not the same things as ABNs or BNs.

Some common examples
Now let’s take a look at some common small business examples and see what numbers apply.

Example 1 - Unincorporated sole trader, trading under a business name other than own name
John Peter Smith of Sydney is starting up his own full-time local lawn mowing business as an unincorporated sole trader. John proposes to trade under the name ‘Johnny’s Lawn Mowing’. Because John will be carrying on business in NSW under a name other than his own name, he will have to register the business name ‘Johnny’s Lawn Mowing’ at the NSW Office of Fair Trading and he will be allocated a BN (e.g. NSW BN17284685). And because John plans to have sales of greater than $75,000 per year, and in any event plans to charge GST to customers and to get an ATO credit for the GST he pays on his business supplies, John will apply for GST registration, and will be allocated an ABN (which will also be his GST Registration Number) (e.g.  92 091 035 684). John will use his existing personal TFN as the TFN of the business, as he and his business are ‘one and the same’.

Example 2 – Newly incorporated company trading under its own full name
Sally, from Victoria, decides to resign from her job as an employee at a recruitment agency, and start up her own recruitment agency by incorporating her own new company called ‘Action Recruitment Pty Ltd’. ASIC will allocate the new company an ACN (e.g. 099 486 352). And because Action Recruitment Pty Ltd will always use its own full name (including the ‘Pty Ltd’ part of its name) on its letterhead, invoices, signage, website etc., it will not need to register a business name at Consumer Affairs Victoria. But because Action Recruitment Pty Ltd is a separate legal entity from Sally, and because it plans to have sales of greater than $75,000 per year, and in any event plans to charge GST to customers, Action Recruitment Pty Ltd will apply for GST registration, and be allocated an ABN (the 11 digit ABN will consist of the 9 digits of the company’s ACN preceded by 2 additional digits e.g. 66 099 486 352). The ABN will also serve as the company’s GST Registration Number.

Action Recruitment Pty Ltd will also apply for and get its own TFN (separate/different from Sally’s existing personal TFN).

Example 3 – Sole trader trading under a business name but subsequently choosing to incorporate
After a few years trading as a sole trader under a NSW registered business name, John (from Example 1 above) decides, ‘to incorporate his business’.  So John adds ‘Pty Ltd’ to the end of his existing NSW registered business name ‘Johnny’s Lawn Mowing’ by incorporating (Australia-wide) a company called ‘Johnny’s Lawn Mowing Pty Ltd’. The new company will be allocated a 9 digit ACN by ASIC. And because Johnny’s Lawn Mowing Pty Ltd is a new/separate legal entity (separate/distinct from John and his existing business), Johnny’s Lawn Mowing Pty Ltd will apply for and get a new ABN (the new 11 digit ABN will consist of the 9 digits of the company’s ACN preceded by 2 additional digits), a new GST Registration Number (the same as the new ABN), and a new TFN. John will then wind-up/cancel the old ABN and GST Registration number (but will still keep his existing personal TFN). And because John wants the his new company to trade under the existing NSW registered BN ‘Johnny’s Lawn Mowing’ (i.e. he doesn’t want to display the ‘Pty Ltd’ name ending), John will transfer the registration of the existing NSW BN out of his own name and into the name of Johnny’s Lawn Mowing Pty Ltd (by filling in and lodging a NSW Office of Fair Trading form entitled ‘Application to Change Proprietors of a Business name’).

Neal Macrossan is the author and managing director of Incorporator.com.au (‘Incorporator’). Incorporator is a triple award winning automated online Australian company registration system.

It provides the quickest, easiest automated way to register a company online in Australia. Using Incorporator you can get your ACN and all the associated legally required documents for your new company issued automatically online in minutes, 24/7.

(This article originally appeared on the Yahoo 7 Finance Small Business Kochie Business Builders Website and has been reproduced with their kind permission.)

From films like “The King and I” to “Lost in translation”, we learn that when East meets West, it often results in a clash of cultures. If you’re thinking of doing business in China, it pays to learn some lessons in advance to avoid the receiving the wrong reception from the Chinese. Here are 8 dos and don’ts that can help you get in their good books.

1. Is the price always right?

Not always, as bargaining is quite a common practice for the Chinese. Some customers contemplate over the make, the model, the design or even the colour of a product. For the Chinese, they tend to ponder over the price. So be prepared that it’s not always straight to the check out when they’ve decided on what they want to purchase.

2. Be prepared to give and take
It’s clear that there will be differences between your business practices and that of the Chinese. When the two cultures clash in the initial negotiations, it’s best to follow a common Chinese saying, “if you take one step back, I’ll take one step back too.” So be flexible and they would also respond accordingly for the benefit of all involved.
3. Time is on their side
It’s also very common in western cultures to be aggressive in their follow up, to chase up with calls, emails and voice messages on the status of a proposal. To do that with the Chinese could be construed as being insensitive, even pushy. If you must, show a bit of tact by picking the right opportunity. Call them when you think it will disturb them the least and express sincerity in wanting their business.
4. “Saving face” means saving your skin
If you make yourself look good at the expense of others, you would have failed to grasp the concept of “Saving Face”.

“Saving Face” is essentially about maintaining everyone’s dignity, even in the most difficult of situations, to produce outcomes that are win-win for all.

For example, if someone is in a vulnerable position by being blamed for a mistake in the presence of others, refrain from adding fuel to the fire by saying things that will make the person feel smaller than they already do.

5. Get used to the sound of silence
Sometimes in our eagerness to make conversation, we feel compelled to say something when silence sets in. But do not take the silence as an invitation to ramble on, as silence could imply that your Chinese counterparts are in contemplation about the subject matter.

Just as “still water runs deep”, do not be hasty to fill their silence. If you had talked over them, you could have stopped them from revealing some valuable insight in their next utterance, such as what they really think of you and your business deal.

6. Mind your manners
When talking business with the Chinese, it’s safer to take on a formal approach in your speech than to dispense with formality. So use the proper address such as Mister, Missus etc. before you even think of throwing in a “mate” or two in your conversations.

Also, in our age of fast texting and short and sharp emails, use of niceties such as “Sorry to have inconvenienced you” or “Sorry to have put you in a difficult spot” may have fallen out of favour. But in the Chinese language, where there’s a distinction made between formal and informal address, it’s still considered polite to pepper your speech with some of these pleasantries.

7. No politics, period.
It’s very common in Western cultures to discuss personal opinions about politics, such as what policies are better, who is a stronger presidential candidate etc. But when dealing with the Chinese, avoid raising the subject of politics to make idle chit chat or flaunt your worldliness, unless you want the same reception that Richard Gere gets from the Chinese for his views on Tibet.

8. Up your credibility with a Chinese language website
When China’s Internet population is leading the rest of Asia at 298 million, it’s clear that they have a huge appetite for all things online and a high regard for online activity.

Having a Chinese language website, even if it’s limited to a few web pages, expresses your readiness to do business with your Chinese counterparts and to cater to their preferences, thereby giving your business more credibility in their eyes. In addition, a Chinese language website is more likely to appear on the results of Chinese search engines such as Baidu, which will help improve the credibility of your business to Internet users in China when they’re looking for your products and services.

So if you think you’ve not done enough to make the Chinese connection, especially if your proficiency of the Chinese language is limited to a few words and phrases, then a Chinese language website can help establish your Chinese credentials and do some of the talking on your behalf.

By: Robelen Bajar, Group Marketing Manager, Melbourne IT Ltd.

Request for our FREE Online Export Passbook for tips on translating your website, building a foreign language website and other online exporting advice. Simply fill out the form below.

Or call 1300 793 247 for a quote and consultation about exporting online.

Source: Asian Internet Statistics correct as at 31 March 2009, Internetworldstats.com.

According to Wikipedia, Twitter is a “social networking and micro-blogging service that allows its users to send and read other users’ updates (otherwise known as tweets), which are text-based posts of up to 140 characters in length.”

An update or tweet can be anything from serious to hilarious, depending on how you use the system and what you’re trying to achieve.

Twitter can be used much like any other social network platform: to interact socially with friends and contacts. Tweets such as “Monday could learn a thing or two from Saturday,” or “I wish the dishes were asexual and would just do themselves,” would be suitable for this type of social networking.

Twitter is also being increasingly utilised by businesses to interact with current and potential customers similar to the way that blogs and forums stimulate discussion.

How can your business benefit from the use of Twitter?

Twitter can be used as a basic blog for the business that is too busy or too lazy to produce articles regularly. Your company, no doubt, can handle posting 140 characters of text every couple of days to keep clients up to date.

Melbourne IT has recently begun Twittering to keep people informed of “as it happens” news. This includes latest promotions and ideas that we feel our customers will find valuable.

During the recent bushfires, the CFA used Twitter extensively to keep the public informed of the status of fires and of the changing weather.

Task-sharing website, Remember the Milk, is using Twitter as an extension of its already fantastic task-tracking service. To try this out, simply start following RTM on Twitter, and you will now be able to add new tasks by using a few simple commands. This is the cutting edge of website integration and a great example of a company embracing what the consumer wants.

Twitter is another marketing tool at the disposal of marketing professionals who are willing to be on the cutting edge of consumer social networking.  To stay at the forefront of your industry, and keep up with this fast-changing times, tweet a little and experiment.

James Richardson is a Melbourne IT eBusiness Consultant who, in between social networking, enjoys helping budding entrepreneurs start, grow and manage their businesses online. If you have any questions or need expert advice, hit him with an email at onlinesuccess@melbourneit.com.au or call the Melbourne IT eBusiness Centre on 1300 132 838.

Download our ebook for all these handy tips and you may soon be trading over the Internet with ease.

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