• eNERGIZE YOUR SITE! - a 2 day workshop to get your website rolling, facilitated by Market Me is scheduled for November 5 & 6.

At Inter Kingston we've recently had an increase in the number of e-Business questions. So, we thought putting a small sample of the FAQs together would be helpful for our readers.

Q. What is e-Business?
A. e-Business is making use of the Internet to develop administrative and communications tools to help you or your company save time and money.

Q. How does it differ from e-Commerce?

A. e-Commerce is the actual processing of financial transactions on-line.

Q. How could it help me?

A. e-Business has many different applications but the most common is automating and simplifying administrative processes. For example, tracking human or physical resources over several offices or departments in one company. At Inter Kingston Web Design, we use e-Business to control project management and to track staff hours.

Q. Why is it becoming so popular?
A. The limitations imposed on other IT solutions rarely apply to Internet technologies. For example, because the application can be hosted by a web hosting company it can lower internal IT costs for equipment and software. It also means that the application is accessible to your employees when travelling or when working from home.

Everyone always asks us what the point of having a website is if they are only catering to the local market. Our answer to that is in fact, there are at least 10 points to having a website even if your market is local.

1. Reduce your advertising costs, because you only need to print necessities, and direct further information inquiries to the website
2. Reduce phone calls for general information because those details are outlined on your web site For example - organizations looking for funding may download requests online rather then phoning for information.
3. Track the type of customers you are attracting, especially with your other advertising campaigns. Finding out whether or not your other campaigns are successful can be tricky, but your site stats can help with that.
4. Help you branch out to other markets, who knows maybe your product or service should be expanding outside of the local market.
5. Staff administration assistance. In Kingston we have a large number of home based businesses or small companies sub contracting others. By using a login module, you can track hours, project progress, billing, payroll, client processes, inventory tracking, etc.
6. Offering value added to your current clients, without incurring high costs, i.e. online coupon, monthly newsletter, etc.
7. Besides selling merchandise on your site, you can sell the space. Your website can be a tool for your suppliers, partners, etc to advertise and in turn earn you additional revenue.
8. Promoting your image and your brand. As most of you aren't the Coca Cola's you need to advertise your brand but at the same time provide meaning to that brand and let people know what you're all about. Your website helps you do that.
9. Many businesses have been around for a long time in Kingston but don't always come to mind to Kingstonians. Your website can provide news, changes, and a fresh look to your company.
10. Human Resources are getting scarce these days, your website can help solve this issue. It can provide information to potential applicants, help screen, and aid in training new employees.

All in all it comes down to 3 things: SAVE YOU TIME, SAVE YOU MONEY, or better yet MAKE YOU MONEY. If a website can not do 1 of these things for your business then it's not right for you, it's not based on what geographical region you're targeting.