The TwitPitch - Post #4

Using Twitter to Market Your Business

You've just taken that big step and decided to start your own business. You have a great name, a cool web site and now you're ready to let everyone know that you are open for business. Then someone asks the dreaded question, "What do you do?"

How do you describe your business to this potential customer so he understands exactly what it is that you do without having to hand him your business plan?

The first thing every business owner learns is that you have to have a 30-second "elevator pitch." A good elevator pitch is short and to the point. In a few sentences you should be able to tell someone - in the time it takes to ride an elevator, what it is that your business does.

The new elevator pitch

In the world of social networking you take the same idea of the elevator pitch and narrow it down to 140 characters or less - about 20 words. 140 characters is the maximum length of a message on Twitter. If you want to get attention by using social media you have to be brief because everyone is already on information overload. A brief message with one link to your web site is all it takes.

Comparing Domain Name Services - Post #3

www.GoDaddy.com

The last few names I've registered have been with GoDaddy and I'm happy with the process. It's a simple, easy to use interface. Prices to register are generally $9.99 and if you buy 6 or more domains at the same time, you get a 65% discount. What a deal! For those entrepreneurs who can't wait to start using their domain names, they can get you up and running almost immediately with their do-it-yourself WebSite Tonight - although the templates are pretty limited.

Moniker
I haven't used Moniker yet, but I'll definitely try it in the future. Their prices are a bit less than GoDaddy and the interface is easy to use. Promo ads are a little cleaner and easier to read than some of the other sites and I found myself actually reading them. As part of Moniker's Web Site Promotion Service they partner with Monster.com, which is a plus for any business that does hiring. What they don't have, even though they promote it, is web hosting. They partner with a company called coolhandle.com.

Network Solutions
This is the company I registered my first domain name back in the 90's when it was the only game in town for top level domain registration. Also at that time the prices were much higher because of a"tax" that went to the National Science Foundation for R & D.

Using Network Solutions is easy, just like the other registration sites. The interface is a little better than most. The problem with NS is that it has had it's share of negative publicity. Complaints regarding people checking if a domain is available and if it isn't registered at the time, NS parks the name so they can't register it at any other site for several days. This should scare anyone away from using them.

Net Neutrality - Post #2

Net Neutrality - What does it mean and why should I care?

The internet has become the main source of communication for most Americans. We start our day by checking email, reading the headlines, trading stocks or balancing the checkbook - all before we even step out the door. Other times we use the internet for entertainment. We can watch a TV show or a movie online or we can share photos and videos with family and friends or listen to music being broadcast from stations around the world. We enjoy all these resources through our Internet Service Providers (ISP's) who enable us to access any website we want, whenever we want, at the fastest speed available.

The ISP's, like Time Warner, Comcast, ATT and Verizon want to charge a premium (tax) for companies that use a high percentage of bandwith to ensure speed of delivery of their products. In addition to your internet service, this includes your TV and phone service. At the current time the FCC regulates whether or not the telecoms can charge a tax. The ISP's have lobbied Congress and the Senate and legislation has been passed to allow providers to do what they call "traffic shaping" which allows certain types of content to have priority bandwith over their long distance connections - at a premium, of course.

The problem arises when deciding which content or "data packets" get priority and which don't. Companies or "content providers" who pay a premium will get the most bandwith, while those that don't have the money to pay will be at the mercy of the remaining bandwith. This could change the way you use the internet. What if you were in the middle of transferring money from you savings account to your checking account and your internet connection began to slog along? Get the picture?

There is also something more serious to consider here - whether or not the ISP's should be allowed to block some packets. On one hand some say the ISP's should be able to block such things as kiddy porn. On the other hand, who would know if the providers were paid by one client to block the content of a competitor?

We've only seen the tip of the iceberg on this issue. Will our Federal government be swayed by smooth-talking, money spending lobbyists? We'll know soon enough.

Hi there! - Post #1

This is the first post for a great new class at Grossmont College called Practical Internet Marketing. Having an internet-based business is something I've been planning to do for some time now and hope to have the website up and running by the end of the the year.