Netpreneur

Carry business cards

Although you might be an internet entrepreneur who lives much of his/her life online, it doesn't mean that you won't ever interact with people in the 'real world'.  When you do, it's important that you have a business card to hand over.

Join LinkedIn

Do you have a Facebook or MySpace account?  These websites are great for 'poking' people, 'throwing sheep' at your friends and generally wasting time, but you can't really justify this time as professional 'networking'.  LinkedIn is a different 'social networking' tool.  

Have a clear credit policy and mitigate against credit problems

In times of rising interest rates and reduced consumer spending, it's important to have a clear, unequivocal credit policy when dealing with clients.  If they don't pay in full and on time, then your business will suffer.  In small business, cash flow is king.

Buy an established domain name

There is evidence to suggest that the search engines give greater credence to older, well-established domain names.  Search results from these older domains are more likely to appear high in the search engine results pages than more recently registered domains.

Get yourself a favicon or 'favourites icon'

Have you ever wondered how you go about getting one of those fancy little icons that appear in the address bar and in your Favourites list for your website?  It's actually quite easy, with the help of an image conversion utility and one line of HTML code.

Use Google's Webmaster tools

Google is the king of the search engines.  So when Google offers you a set of webmaster tools to assist you with your listings in Google, you would be silly not to use them, wouldn't you?  With Google Webmaster Central and Webmaster Tools you can learn how Google ranks websites, how to submit all of your content to Google and how to improve traffic to your site.

Check how your website looks in other browsers

Everyone uses Internet Explorer on a PC to browse the web, right?  Wrong.  Your visitors are using a variety of platforms, monitor sizes and browsers to view your web content - laptops, PDAs, Firefox, Safari, Apple Macs and even mobile phones. 

Make your textual page copy easy to read

The success of your website will depend very heavily on the content of your pages, and in particular, the page's textual copy.  All text needs to be well-written, well-punctuated in short, easy-to-read sentences, have correct spelling, and be free of technical or complex words. 

'Muck around' and be creative

Indulge your short attention span and creative urges by exploring the web, checking out new things, experimenting, tweaking your website and dreaming about the web empire you're going to build.  After all, all work and no play makes Jack a dull boy. 

Get a custom design for your website

Most of us just wouldn't cut it as a graphic designer.  If you're in this boat, then bite the bullet and get some hired help to professionally design your website.  Whatever you do, don't use one of those awful dime-a-dozen, build-your-own site templates that every other person is using.  They look tacky and detract from your website's professionalism.

Make sure your website is scaleable

It is important that you have a website that is capable of growth and expansion.  You will find out fairly quickly that a 5 page, template-based website just ain't big enough for you to achieve anything (and it will look tacky too).  A dynamic website built using a content management system is a good way to ensure flexibility and scalability.

Use Google Alerts to keep track of your site and your competition

The free Google Alerts tool allows you to receive email notifications when a page containing your specified keywords is indexed by the Google search engine.  You can use this tool to learn when your own pages are listed, or when those of your competitors are listed.

Join the Australian Made campaign

If you are selling a product that is made in Australia, then you are eligible to register with the the Australian Made program and display the Australian Made logo on your website.

Publish testimonials on your site

Testimonials or recommendations from satisfied customers are an important vote of confidence for your business and help to dispel fears that prospective customers may have about transacting with you.

Create an autoresponder training course

It is proven that more sales and leads are generated from subsequent contact with a prospect, than from the initial contact.  An autoresponder training course is a great way to facilitate multiple 'touch' points with a prospective customer by dispatching periodic email 'lessons'.