Lost in Translation

The following is an article I wrote for another publication a while back. I’d like to re-post it here to help those who follow this blog. I’ve edited it a bit to be specific to this audience.

I’ve been a professional web designer for 10 years now. In that time I’ve seen a lot of people do good things and bad things with their websites. And by bad things, I mean: waste time and money.

However, the web is still a valid place to do business and/or promote your business. It can be a nice source of income for you too. The challenge is that most people don’t know where to start. It doesn’t help that there is a lot of misinformation out there, including a lot of very old information.

No matter what you are selling, there are certain principles that apply.

So here are 12 tips and myth busters to help you on your journey as a business owner using the Internet.

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Some of you may know, I had twins a while back. Anyone who has kids can tell you that you end up on mailing lists for all things baby very quickly. I get mail from companies I have no interest in doing business with, but birth records are public so there you are.

Add to that, stores such as Destination Maternity sell your contact information to other businesses. I suspect this how Enfamil, a formula manufacturer owned by Mead Johnson & Company, LLC, got a hold of my email address.

From here, marketing hijinks ensue.

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There are a lot of individuals starting out in online business. A great many see it as a means to make extra money or become self-employed. For those just starting out, many do not know what they need to do this or where to turn for services.

This is often the most confusing part for those who want to sell a product online. Here is an e-commerce checklist for you. Better yet: a checklist for starting your first online store on a shoestring budget.

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All web designers run across this at some point: a client has created something to sell and they want to make sure it won’t get stolen when they put it online.

Visual art, audio, video, poems, how-to’s, blogs, and other such materials are what we call IP or intellectual property. There is a lot of exaggeration and paranoia surrounding these items and the potential for theft/piracy.

Yes, there are means to prevent theft but none of it is 100% foolproof.

Here are a few facts about managing IP online

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I’m going to say something that may surprise a lot of you: just because you are in the retail business does not mean you have to sell your products online.

Sure, you’ll still need a web presence. But selling your products via the web is a whole other animal.

So how do you know if its time for you to start selling your products online?

Ultimately, this is a decision only you can make. However, I can give you the tools to aid in making a good decision.

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