Internet Tools for Business: Increasing Sales
This course will provide an introduction to electronic commerce (e-commerce) and electronic marketing (e-marketing) techniques for entrepreneurs and small businesses. Through a combination of demonstration and hands-on exercises, learn the terminology and techniques used by businesses to market and sell products over the Internet. Discover how to craft a professional and effective e-newsletter, learn how to best use websites and blogs, monitor and analyze your online presence, store your photos on the Internet, and quickly and securely accept payments online.
Who Should Take this Course
This class is for entrepreneurs, artists, artisans, and small business owners, or those who are thinking about starting a business and want to understand how to use the Internet to grow their businesses. It is intended for anyone who has a basic understanding of the Internet. The course will touch on basic business concepts, but is not a business course.
Prerequisites include the ability to
- Send and receive e-mail
- Type a URL in a browser address line
- Create, store, find, rename, retrieve, and delete folders and files on a hard drive, CD-ROM, and USB drive (PC file system navigation)
- Upload and download files
- Log in with a password and log out
- Open links in a browser
- Create a file and add content to it
- Save work
Skills Taught
- Start or revise the sales and marketing strategy in your Business Plan
- Review the 4 P's of marketing and how they differ when using online tools
- Understand the challenges and benefits of e-commerce
- Formulate a strategy to cover your e-commerce shipping and handling costs
- Create an effective e-newsletter
- Stay legal by understanding the anti-spam laws that apply to e-mail
- Learn how to determine if you need your own website or blog and avoid common mistakes
- Measure and monitor online performance
- Learn an easy, secure way to sell and receive payment over your website
- Store photos on the Internet
Additional Course Information
After completing the class, we highly recommend you continue working on your business plan. You will be able to access the work you have completed through Google Docs.
- Each class consists of 2 three-hour sessions.
- For any class, the first session (A) must be taken before the second session (B).
- Additional instructor assistance is available either between, before, or after sessions (instructor will provide details).
- Each class session will include breaks.
- Additional lab time may be available, depending on availability of instructor(s).
- Participants must complete both sessions A and B of a class in order to receive a Certificate of Completion.