100 The Financial Times Guide to Business Development
brand your way to business success;
how to win business by direct telephone targeting.
The internet: the commonsense guide to
developing your business online
When it comes to the online business development world, I regularly
encounter four types of people and businesses: business ‘techno junkies’,
‘techno masters’, ‘techno dabblers’ and ‘techno dinosaurs’.
The ‘techno junkies’ love the online world a bit too much. They positively
drool over the technical process and doing things online is almost more
important to them than the results they get. They believe that unless it is
happening online using the most modern spec, it is not happening at all!
The ‘techno masters’ are holders of business development internet ‘black
belts’. Whether they enjoy it or not, they appreciate the potential and they
have developed the ‘know how’ and commercial ‘nouse’ to leverage and
exploit the online world to their nancial and business advantage.
The ‘techno dabblers’ understand the importance of online business devel-
opment, but jump in and out with the odd unplanned bit of activity here
and there and often kid themselves that they know what they are doing.
Finally we have the business ‘techno dinosaurs’, who proudly try to ignore
the online world all together, because it is just ‘too modern’, ‘not serious’,
‘not appropriate’, ‘too high tech’, ‘too time consuming to learn’ and just
plain ‘not real business at all’! Speaking to such a specimen recently, I was
told: ‘The best thing about my computer screen is that I have something to stick
my Post-it notes to!’
Being a ‘techno dinosaur’ is not the smart option. In fact, it is not really an
option at all. If this is you, then you are almost certainly missing out and
losing potential business to your competitors and risk, like your namesake,
becoming extinct.
We are experiencing a business revolution that is much more than a passing
phase and we are witnessing a transformation in the business development
world. The internet and the exponential growth of social media platforms
means that every business has the potential to reach its target market on
a global scale, 24 hours a day with almost pinpoint accuracy and in many
cases for free, quite literally at the click of a button.
7
Priority 3 – Externalise business development efforts 101
If you know how to leverage the power of this modern technology, the
corner shop, the ‘one-man’ band and the creative entrepreneur working
from her back bedroom can build very successful businesses to compete
against the international mega brands with their huge resources.
The world is already full of ‘gurus’ writing very useful ‘how to’ manuals
about YouTube, Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn, etc. and similarly there are
literally several thousand self-appointed internet marketing experts pro-
ducing excellent articles, materials and courses on generating business
online. This book does not set out to compete with these.
In order to be as helpful as possible in the context of a general book, I want
to actually take a step back from the almost manic hype that surrounds this
area and give the techno ‘junkies’, ‘dabblers’ and ‘dinosaurs’ some basic,
pragmatic and commonsense tips that all too often get missed.
To start with, let’s park for a while the technology and mechanics behind
the online business world and take a look at some of the really basic ques-
tions I often get asked by the business community:
What are the potential benets and opportunities of the online
business development world?
What is holding me back from serious online business development
activities?
How can I use social media networks to win protable customers and
clients?
What makes a good or bad website?
How do we generate website trafc?
What are the most common traps in using the online world?
What are the potential benets and opportunities of the
online business development world?
Visibility and prospects nding you
Let’s suppose you have a business meeting in Hull with a business prospect and you
want to eat in a halfway decent vegetarian restaurant in the city centre. How would
you locate such a place?
I’m going to take a wild guess that if there was nobody you knew who could imme-
diately give you the information, you would do one of two things:
1 You would hit the computer with a search, most likely on Google.
2 If you knew how, you would use social media networks to ask around.
102 The Financial Times Guide to Business Development
Traditionally most external business development has revolved around you
as a business actively looking for and trying to track down potential cus-
tomers and clients. However, using your website and various social media
networking platforms, the role is potentially reversed. The online world
now makes it easy for those who are in the market for what you sell to come
looking for you. All you have to do is simply help them nd you and then
turn any leads into business.
The bottom line is this: if your instinct is to use these methods to nd what
you are looking for, then others seeking the kind of goods or services you
provide will be doing the same. If you are not there to be found, don’t be
shocked if you get missed and prospects go to competitors who have a proper
presence online and who are doing more than ‘dabbling’ to get noticed.
Comparatively cheap or free
Whereas most traditional external business development activities can be
very expensive with a high degree of wastage, much of what you can do
online is comparatively cheap and with most social media networks actu-
ally free.
This means of course that you can sustain consistent efforts over long
periods of time that would be almost impossible if you relied on funding
traditional media advertising in newspapers, magazines, on radio or on TV.
Credibility and relationship building
Using the internet and social networking sites you are able to build up
and develop credibility and relationships with prospects, professionals,
like-minded people and potential introducers to a level that would be
impossible any other way.
Control and analysis
‘I know half of my advertising works . . . I just don’t know which half.’
This is a very famous quote in the advertising world, although curiously
enough it is actually credited to various people. Whoever said it and
however true it was in the past, or still is as regards traditional business
development activities, in the online business development world it is no
longer as relevant. With various analytical tools you can very precisely track
and analyse which activities are working online and which aren’t. You can
then cut out the ineffective activities immediately.
7
Priority 3 – Externalise business development efforts 103
The online world offers you a unique opportunity to experiment and play
and only do that which gives you great results.
Precision targeting
I read a full-page, colour advert yesterday in one of the weekend quality newspapers
for a fantastic looking chainsaw. Wow, the copy and advert were so good that even I,
who can’t cut straight with a pair of scissors, was by the end of the advert positively
lusting for this high-powered chain saw, despite the fact that I don’t need one and
will never buy one!
I mention this only because I was struck by the contrast between the great
copy and what I know will be a very high degree of advertising wastage in
terms of both targeting and cost.
Perhaps one of the most fantastic things about developing your business
online and particularly via social media networks is the ability to target
with a reasonable degree of precision. Gone are the days when you just pay
through the nose to get your message out there. Now you can communi-
cate with those you know are most likely to be interested in your various
offerings. More on this later.
Passive income through a global presence 24 hours a day
Your online presence is accessible globally 24 hours a day. This means that the
usual physical barriers created by geography and time zones are now mean-
ingless and that you are potentially open for business while you are asleep.
For example, I woke up one morning and found that I had done business in the US
relating to an e-book I had written. Folk in the US had read information about it on a
LinkedIn group I had contributed to, visited the relevant website link, paid for it online
via PayPal and had it delivered, instantly, by download. I also now have the details
of the purchasers so that I can, with their permission, make them aware of other
relevant services and products. That is the power of the online business develop-
ment world.
What is holding me back from serious online business
development activities?
As you can see, the benets of using the online world to develop your
business are absolutely compelling, yet some business people are still not
convinced. Let’s explore the most common reasons I hear.
104 The Financial Times Guide to Business Development
‘It is just too techie for me . . . I just don’t understand
technology’
If you fall into this category, it’s a bit like saying, ‘I won’t drive because I
don’t understand the mechanics of a car.’ Despite your lack of mechanical
know how you were shown which pedals to press and how to change gear.
Likewise with internet business development and use of social media there
will always be somebody out there to teach you what to do and how to do
it. If that doesn’t work there are many people out there who will simply do
it for you. Whatever the cost, it will be far less than the amount of business
you will potentially lose by doing nothing.
It is too time consuming
Saying it is too time consuming is like a medieval commander, about to
lead his archers into battle, turning down the possibility of automatic
machine guns on the grounds he is too busy to learn how to use them.
Providing you develop your understanding of the online world, learn how
it can be used for the benet of your business, have a proper plan and
strategy, which spread the load and automate whatever is sensible, you
should not rule out the online world on time grounds.
It is not relevant to my business
Whatever your sector or operation, don’t ignore the potential of the online
world to grow your business. Regardless of whether you’re selling services
or goods, you have the opportunity to broaden your target market by
selling online.
Suppose, for example, you have a small specialist engraving business
operating out of a small shop on the high street in Scunthorpe. You are
physically limited by the local community’s requirements for plaques, tro-
phies, signs and corporate items. However, online you can display if you
wish your entire product range, take engraving orders, payment in advance
and then have your products shipped to customers’ addresses that you will
have a permanent record of.
Apart from the cost and maintenance of the website and time spent either
keeping it up to date yourself or outsourcing this, you have potentially
created a nationwide or even international business from your small
premises.
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