4.3. Consultancy

Taking your Business Online

The Internet is a modern day phenomenon and there is a lot of pressure on businesses to get online and make the most of it before the competition does - this is fine but what does getting online actually mean? What can you do, what can you expect to gain, how do you quantify the benefits and what are the potential pitfalls you need to avoid?

When you begin your relationship with Nicevoo, one of the first things we do (if needed) is to give you an overview of what the Internet can do for your business and explain what getting online really means. We will then help you realise your business goals and ambitions, we'll present the facts and the options open to you and advise you on the best course of action to take - we'll help you figure out what you can expect to get from moving online. We don't want to be seen as another one-stop-web-shop; we want you to consider us your on-hand Internet-business team looking to increase the profitability and exposure of your business via the web.

Internet Marketing Advice

The Internet has opened all sorts of possibilities in Marketing for all sorts of businesses. Big businesses are trading to people all over the world via the Internet but they're not the only ones taking advantage. Through the power of things such as quality search engines and CPC advertising, smaller businesses are able to go head-to-head with the big firms on a global scale! Zero-World.com for example, a clothing retail business based in the South-West England towns of Midsomer Norton and Trowbridge, has been shipping goods all over the world to places such as New Zealand, USA and Singapore. This has all been achieved by having the right product, at the right price, sold via a great website using a combination of search engine, CPC and email marketing.

Maybe you already have a website (built by us or not) or you're thinking of getting online shortly and you're already looking ahead; maybe you have a great marketing team in place but are looking for advice on getting the most out the Internet? Nicevoo can help you look at all the possibilities and options, break them down and explain them to you, advising you on what we feel will be the best approach for you to take in expanding you business online.

Developing your Internet Brand

So you take your branding seriously, you have your logo, company colours and you even have usage guidelines for everybody in your corporation to follow. Branding has historically had it's roots in print, it's adapted over the years to new media such a TV, but now you need to consider the Internet too! The Internet has it's own pitfalls and limitations as well as it's own perks and benefits. Nicevoo can help you adapt and develop your brand online and help you take advantage of this new media.

When working online, Branding is so much more than just what you look like - the Internet is different because it requires interaction with the user and you can't control where they go; suddenly your brand has to consider the user-experience. As well as considering how the user might feel when they see your branding, now you need to consider how they feel as they interact with it! The Internet is also a resource which people come back to, it's available on-demand and your branding suddenly needs to encompass the concept of retaining users. In addition to achieving all of this, you need to make sure that your online brand then integrates with your existing brand strategy! Each media you work with and subject your brand to has it's own purpose, we're experts when it comes to the web and we can help you consider all these things when building your company's brand online!

Web Start-ups

As the Internet's popularity continues to grow in the public eye and as more and more success stories are being publicised, Internet-only business are becoming common-place. The Internet allows you to reach a global audience, without the need for a huge dedicated premises and modern Internet-marketing allows this to be done cost-effectively.

So you have a great idea for the latest e-business but you don't have the skills on-board or you're not sure where to start - we can help you with some of the following questions:

• How much will everything cost?
• What skills will you need on board?
• What does setting up an Internet business actually involve?
• Should you do it yourself, employ the missing skills you need or outsource the work?
• How will running an Internet business differ from a bricks-and-mortar one?

Whatever your idea, Nicevoo can help you on your way and launch you in the right direction!

Adapting to E-Commerce/Mail-Order

Many existing bricks-and-mortar businesses are moving to e-commerce convinced it is the only way forward, many others are resisting the change or doubt it's significance. We believe the truth lies somewhere in the middle. There are hype-stories of huge successes and millions made almost over-night; ignore these isolated cases and the reality is a much tougher experience. We have experience in setting up e-commerce businesses for ourselves through Zero-World.com; what we found was that, when done right, e-commerce can become a very useful addition to your business. We knew not to expect the millions-over-night-hype-stories but we did see a healthy 30% increase in turnover and also found oppurtunites to open up clearance stock to a wider audience (and perserving more of our profit margin in the process).

That said, it wasn't easy. There were lots of lessons to learn and bolting on an e-commerce aspect to our business was so much more than just 'knocking up a website' - you'll need to make major changes to the entire business process! We can share this knowledge with you and prepare you on how to deal with all the hard things you might expect, as well as all the others you might not have even thought of.