Is your website privacy-friendly? There are a few consumers who are pragmatic and easily willing to trade privacy for convenient online shopping. However, a larger segment want more privacy laws and the majority of Internet consumers want clear privacy rules and disclosure.

To ensure a sound privacy policy, getting a good lawyer to help craft them is a good idea. But since there are no federal laws requiring online businesses to have a privacy policy, and  no company has ever been sued for not having a privacy policy, you might not be able to find a lawyer in your area with enough experience in writing these.  So the best thing to do is to draft a policy yourself, then run it by a lawyer before posting it on your website.

A good privacy policy must clearly state how the information being asked for will be used, whether it is for exclusive use of the transaction itself, or if this information will be shared with outside companies. Make sure that the reason why their personal information is being collected is properly  communicated to  consumers.

Your policy must also indicate the specific measures being undertaken to ensure this information’s security and privacy. Then,  provide a number of choices for privacy settings and  the use of their information and the option to verify, correct, change or remove personal information.

Lastly, make yourself accessible.  Provide a hotline phone number or email address or any other convenient way to for consumers to contact your company. Provide a way for people to opt out of future communication. If someone wants to be removed, make it easy. Having a “privacy policy email” allows for these types of communications to be routed for easy handling. By conveying openness, you are also building trust.

HTML5 has been around for several years, but it was only in 2010 that it became the subject of mainstream news after Steve Jobs issued a public letter entitled Thoughts on Flash. In it Jobs declared that Adobe’s  Flash “was no longer necessary to watch video or consume any kind of web content” and that “new open standards created in the mobile era, such as HTML5, will win”.

What does this mean to you as the owner of a website business? What is HTML5 anyway and what can it do for your website? To answer this, and we’re assuming that you’re a layman, we will first give you a really brief overview of the nuts and bolts that make up a website.

HTML is short for HyperText Markup Language and HTML elements form the building blocks of all websites. HTML allows images and objects to be embedded and can be used to create interactive forms. It provides a means to create structured documents by denoting structural semantics for text such as headings, paragraphs, lists, links, quotes and other items. A web browser then reads the HTML documents and composes them into the visible web pages.

HTML4, the last major iteration of the language, debuted in 1997 and has been subsequently augmented with “plugins” so that it can handle the demands of the modern Web. You may have experienced these inconveniences from time to time. When you visit a website, you may be asked to install Flash or some other plugin before you can properly view the website’s content. Web surfers over the last 10 years were already accustomed to this practice until Steve Jobs came out and stated that Flash was causing Macs to crash and would be eating up  battery life prompting Apple to drop support of Flash and other plugins from mobile devices such as iPads and iPhones

HTML5 lets sites directly embed media with the simple HTML tags “<video>” and “<audio>”. These features are designed to make it easy to include and handle multimedia and graphical content on the web without having to resort to plugins. This is a big deal if you want to attract customers who currently use devices platforms that either don’t support Flash, such as iPhone and iPad, or have well documented problems with it.

So, if you are about to embark on an online business, or about to give your website a makeover, talk to your web developer about HTML5. It’s not really an issue of using the latest technology or trend, but more importantly, it’s making sure that your online business reaches its target audience and is available in the best way possible.

Starting your own business? In addition to capital and a great idea, you will need to take certain steps and accomplish certain tasks to ensure that your business will work. Here is a short checklist to help guide you as you begin your business venture. Or some timely reminders for those that jumped straight in!

1. Business Viability
Whatever product or service you plan to offer, or whether you decide to open a retail store or restaurant, you need to ensure that your business idea is viable. Is there a market for your idea? And if so, who are your competitors?  Study your competitors really well and determine what made them successful and what challenges they had to face. Lastly, figure out what makes your business different from your competitors. Is it the price? The quality? An added feature that they don’t have? Lastly, figure out the financial capacity to get the business up and running, and how much it will cost to operate versus the profits you expect to make.

2. Business Name
You must also take a great amount of time and care in coming up with your name. Come up with as many  names as possible and make sure that your name is unique and available for you. The Australian Securities & Investments Commission has a website that allows you to check the availability of a proposed company name.

3. Business Structure
In order to choose the right business structure, it’s best to seek legal and professional advice. There are several different types of business you can operate under. If you want to be  solely responsible for your business, then your business will be categorised as a Sole Trader. If your company has  two or more people starting a business,  all legally sharing profits, risks and losses, then your company will be a Partnership. But the most common type of company used by small business is the Proprietary Limited Company. Unlike partnerships and sole traders, it is a legal entity separate from its shareholders/owners.

4. Location
Does your business require you to be geographically near your customers or suppliers? Or is your business purely online so all you need is a comfortable place with telephones and internet?  Do you intend to lease or purchase your premises or do you plan to operate your business from home? All these are questions that you will need to answer to find the best location for your business.

5. The Right Team
Unless you intend to run a one-man (or woman) operation, forming the right team is also very important. Aside from selecting reliable people to work with and for you, you’ll also need to be versed with certain responsibilities and obligations under law. There are a number of labor law and HR consultancy firms that can help you, but you should also make it a point to read up on issues such as federal and state and territory laws, industrial awards and agreements, tribunal decisions and contracts of employment.

6.  Permits and Requirements

In addition to registering your name, all companies need to register an Australian Company Number through the Australian Securities and Investments Commission . When a company is registered under the Corporations Act 2001 it is automatically registered as an Australian company. This means that you can conduct business throughout Australia without needing to register in individual State and Territory jurisdictions. You will also have to register for Goods and Services Tax (GST) if you expect to have annual sales over $50,000.

Partnerships and companies need to apply for their own, but sole traders can use their own personal Tax File Numbers (TFNs). You will also need to check with the appropriate state government body for business licences, permits, registrations and certificates, zoning, health regulations, development applications or Building Application.

7. A Business Plan
You might need additional financing, make sure that your business is properly insured, and come up with ways to promote your business. There are other requirements, and these will depend on the nature of your business. You will need to write these all down in a thorough and comprehensive plan that encapsulates all your goals, costs, requirements and schedules.

Good Luck!

By and large the Internet is the land of Free.  The most visited websites, Facebook, Google, Wikipedia, are enjoyed by hundreds of millions of Internet surfers at no cost to them. So why are the founders of these company’s billionaires?

Internet economics have birthed entirely new business models where a minority of the customers who pay subsidise the majority who do not.  One version is called “Freemiums”, which is common for most start-up companies who want to get their software out in the market. They offer a “light” version that you can download for free, which is supported by a paid premium version.

Software firms such as Serif and McAfee do business this way, which is an inversion of the old free sample promotion: Rather than giving away one item to sell 99 others, you give away 99 “light” versions to sell one “premium” version.

Then there are businesses such as Facebook or Google, who provide free services for general audiences, while making huge profits from advertisers who pay for very targeted placement. Lastly, there are companies like Paint.NET or Wikipedia who do not charge at all and rely purely on donations from kindhearted and generous users.

This business model works best for tech companies because it is relatively less costly to give out  software than it is to give out actual physical items. Software can be downloaded off the internet so giving one sample costs the same as giving away 1,000, whereas food, drinks and other tangible items will cost money every time they’re given away.

In entertainment, games have met greater success than music. Famous bands such as Radiohead have popularly given away entire albums online in exchange for “donations” which probably only work if you are already rock stars, while games such as Angry Birds have met greater degrees of success, profiting from merchandising and licensing fees.

So as you are contemplating your own “Dotcom Empire”, study the stories of these and other successful companies.  Then, determine what kind of businesses work best with the “Freemium” model.

Are you a busy person with a million things to do and even more to think about? Don’t let work overwhelm you. Take heart in the fact that the Internet can be your friend, and can provide you with tools that can help you in your daily business-related tasks and make your life much easier.

For Writing Documents, Spreadsheets and Presentation
Google Docs
No more lost or unavailable documents. Provided you have internet access that is. Google Docs is a free, Web-based office suite and data storage service offered by Google that allows you to create and edit documents, spreadsheets and presentations through its web interface. Documents are automatically saved to Google’s servers to prevent data loss and you can then download and save these documents in their corresponding offline formats (ODF, HTML, PDF, RTF, Text, Microsoft Office). You can send copies to clients by emailing the files (or links to the files), or even grant them access to the online version itself. The service is supported on recent versions of the Firefox, Internet Explorer, Safari and Chrome browsers running on Microsoft Windows, Apple OS X, and Linux operating systems.

For Managing and Keeping Track of Projects and Tasks
HiTask
Whether you are part of a team of twenty or a team of one, HiTask is a great tool for planning, organising and implementing projects. You can set up a project, divide it into its component tasks and assign it to specific people (who must also get Hitask accounts).  On the left of the page there is a calendar view of all tasks and items due that day, HiTask supports start and end dates and times for each item, and collaborators are notified in two ways: through the calendar and via email reminders.

For Communicating With Customers
Skype
Sometimes, emails just won’t do. Skype offers free chat, voice calls and video calls and these features are not limited to those with Skype. You can send SMS text messages and make direct calls to clients’ land-line and mobile phones as well.

For File Storage and Access
Dropbox
Simple, convenient and easily accessible,  Dropbox provides you with a great tool for storing files. If you have a PC and a laptop, you can synchronize files by getting an account and downloading the Dropbox folder on the desktop of both devices. All items that you download into the folder of one device are automatically copied into the other for as long as it has a running internet connection. These files are also available for download over the Internet using the Dropbox web interface, just in case you are using someone else’s computer.

Dropbox also makes it easy to have a large document you need to send to a client or coworker. Have your collaborators download and install the Dropbox folder themselves, then share files with them.

For Invoicing
Invoicera
If you require help in billing duties, but do not have the resource to hire someone, you can use Invoicera, an online invoicing and billing service. Invoicera sends out invoice reminders to clients and accepts online payments from several sources. Since it is online, it allows you to monitor and update from anywhere.

Planning a party? Organising a conference? Whether you’re organising a family reunion or a 3-day convention, Social Media can provide you with a variety of tools that makes organising an event easy and affordable.

Sending out Invitations
On Facebook, there are two free and easy ways to invite people. One is by creating an Event, and the other is by creating a Page.

A Facebook Event is great for creating one-time events. Setting it up and inviting friends is fast and easy, and you get to see in real-time how many people are attending and who will not. In addition, you can make this a “private” event exclusive to a closed group of people, so this is useful for family events or for a small and specific group of friends.

A Page is useful if you are organising a series of events and you want to display more information and encourage interaction with people on a number of topics. People can post questions on your wall, and you can respond to them. You can even add a tab with a registration form such as ContactMe for free. ContactMe will email you all the contact details of each person who signs up, which is very useful for you in creating a guest list and a database of contacts.

As Your Event is Happening
There will be some who won’t be able to show up to your parties or events, but that doesn’t mean that they can’t share in the fun or participate in the discussion. You can use websites such as http://www.livestream.com/ or applications such as Skype to webcast events as they are happening.

After the Event
Facebook Pages allow you to post photo albums and videos, which is great if you want to post highlights and moments of your event. This will really be especially useful for you if you are organising a series of events, since great videos and photos help generate interest and will help entice people to attend in the future.

For businesses that want to make a good impression, Facebook offers a number of customisation possibilities. Your Facebook’s welcome image, photo strip, and profile picture are just three of many options. These allow you to highlight your brand, your products or services, and any new promotion or offering that you may have, and best of all, most of these options are free.

Profile Picture
This is literally the first impression that Facebook users  get. Your profile picture appears as a thumbnail when someone types your company name on Facebook’s search box, what they see in news feeds, and as the preview image when someone posts a link on a wall.

You’ll need to be clever in your use of your profile picture because it is shown differently as a thumbnail, as a preview image on a wall or timeline and when someone finally visits your page.

Within your vertically-designed graphic you can place your company logo, photos of your products, and other visuals. To ensure that your logo is visible in thumbnail mode, mouse over your profile picture, click on the “edit profile picture” button that appears. Then choose “edit thumbnail.” You’ll be able to drag the image to adjust, and make sure that your logo is clearly within the provided thumbnail space.

Photo Strip
Just below your Company Name and just above your wall you will now find thumbnail previews of the latest photos that you’ve uploaded. This is called a Photo Strip, and this is a great way to showcase your latest products, encouraging people to click on them to enlarge them and allow them to see the photo in greater detail.

The disadvantage though is that the Photo Strip also displays photos that your page was tagged in. You’ll have to monitor your Facebook Page regularly  and watch out for inappropriate photos.

Welcome Image
Within the framework of a Page, Facebook allows some degree of customisation and allows developers to create “mini-pages” accessible through tabs that appear on the left side of your Page, just below the Profile Picture.

Developing these special features required one to have knowledge of FBML (Facebook Markup Language), but Facebook has since abandoned it in favor of iFrames. Fortunately for non-developers, several companies have introduced Apps that allow you to add special features to your Page, some for a fee, while others are for free.

One of the most commonly used of these iFrame apps is the Welcome Page. Companies such as Wildfire have them available for free and it is quite easy to install. Once installed, you’ll be able to upload a large image (520 x 800 pixels wide) that welcomes visitors to your Facebook Page.

What About Timeline?
There’s been a lot of buzz about Facebook’s new layout feature for personal pages. Timeline offers  a “Cover” page instead of a photo strip, two-column layout, and a smooth navigation system that allows you to browse photos and status posts sorted by year and month.

So the question now is when will Facebook unveil their version of Timeline for Pages. “We are currently focused on Timeline for individuals and will consider how to make consistent experiences for Pages,” says a Facebook rep.  He then added “Consistency in both functionality and appearance is really important to Facebook”.

All these mean that it will only be a matter of time before we have to learn of new ways to customise the look of Your Facebook Page. However, until then…brand your business well on Facebook using the above tips!

Clothing has  fashion seasons and websites  have design trends. If you are planning a makeover for your existing website or you are planning on having one built, then make sure that you pick a web developer who is aware of the latest web design trends and features. Otherwise, you might end up with a tired-looking and outdated website.

Content Sliders
Content Sliders are plugins  that allow you to organise, highlight and showcase your content in a sleek and stylish manner while giving visitors a simple way to browse your content. This can improve your website’s performance and even design a  page layout with ease. The Slider keeps the navigation bar, logo and internal links locked in place as your visitors scroll through the content, making browsing easier. Several companies, such as Slide Deck and bxSlider provide different versions and variations on this, which web developers can download as a plug-in and incorporate into your website’s design.

Parallax Scrolling
Everyone loves 3D movies, so why not have a 3D website? Parallax scrolling is a special visual technique in computer graphics that became popular during the 1980’s through video games. Multiple planes of images in the background, midground and foreground are moved at different speeds and directions, creating an illusion of 3D in a 2D screen.

Mobile Design
A study done by Morgan Stanley Research estimates  that sales of smart phones will exceed those of PCs in 2012. Also as Wi-fi services are made more widely available in coffee shops and shopping malls, expect to see more and more people use their smart phones (and their iPads and touch tablets) for internet browsing.

If you have a website and you want to capitalise on this, you have three options. The first is to create an App for Android or iPhone (or both), which custumers may download off their respective App stores. The second option is to develop a touch/mobile version of your website. The last option, which allows you to save on costs by skipping the first two, would be to redesign your website with touch-friendly features and layouts. This means bigger buttons, a more streamlined interface, and a layout that is easy to navigate.

HTML5
Have you ever visited a website with graphic content that wouldn’t load? You were then asked to download a plug-in from another website, then refresh or open the website again. HTML5, which is the fifth version of the standard mark-up language for web pages, aims to create a “universal language” under which web developers can create.

There was a time when if you built a website for a particular browser it couldn’t be viewed properly on another. And worse, if your website required special interactive graphics or animation, requiring viewers to download a browser plug-in such as Flash.

HTML5 aims to provide developers with a language that would cross platforms and make it easy to include and handle multimedia and graphical content on the web without having to resort to  plugins.

2011 was a fantastic year for Google’s operating system, Android. Its smartphone market share has been growing rapidly. In terms of units sold, the iPhone still holds a commanding lead over individual Smartphone brands, with a 15% market share. However, consider the fact that the Android is not a phone but an operating system for a phone, and this operating system is being used by over a dozen companies representing 53% of the market.

The Android Market is Google’s software store developed for use by Android OS devices such as the smartphones and tablets being manufactured by electronics companies like Samsung, LG and Sony Ericsson. “Market” competes directly with Apple’s App Store, preinstalled on most Android devices and allows users to browse and download mobile apps published by third-party developers.

Apple leads Android in the apps market, with the Apple Store having 18 billion downloads. However, Android is certainly catching up, having reached the 10 billion downloads mark with a growth rate of 1 billion downloads per month. At this pace, it will be only  a matter of time before the Android Marketplace overtakes the Apple Store.

However, in one very important area, the Apple Store still beats the Android Market significantly: revenue. Despite its huge share in terms of downloads, Android does not earn for its App developers as much as Apple does. App developers still choose iOS first for launching any app because they see more profit potential:  Apple’s App Store has earned about $4.9 billion in gross revenue for paid apps, while the Android Market is estimated to have earned just $330 million.

This is because there are far more free apps on an Android than on an iPhone or iPad. About 14% of Apple’s app downloads are paid ones, compared to only 1% for Android.  Much like most of its investments, such as Youtube and Google Docs, Google is still trying to figure out how to develop its revenue model for Android.

From the perspective of small businesses however, these statistics give a pretty clear picture of what to expect when considering developing an App to support your business. If an SME wants to generate revenue from App downloads, then they should consider developing something for Apple’s App Store. However, if the objective is to reach a wider market, not for revenue, but to promote or compliment a website and online business, then the way to go is Android Market.

Have you considered developing an app to complement your business?

In the 2002 film Minority Report, Tom Cruise’s character steps into a shopping mall, and the advertisements interact with him, literally. In this Dystopian future, advertising has reached a point where they’ve literally become personalized, calling people out by name, each person seeing a different kind of advertisement and is able to not only call a person’s attention, but is able to immerse and engage.

The film’s story was set in the far future, but a lot of what went on in that scene is happening now. Notice how on Facebook, the ads seem targeted specifically to you? That’s because they are. Facebook knows not only your name, but also your age, your birthday, where you went to school, where you work and the nature of your work, and the things that you like. And when you type a status update, notice how the ads change accordingly. To test this out, try typing something about Harley Davidson, iPads or burgers and see what happens to the ads that you’re seeing.

Augmented Reality takes this one step further by allowing you to interact online with the offline world. Companies such as Layar have developed an app that allows you to interact with partner businesses using your smart phone as a virtual “window” to the world.

Augmented reality employs a smart phone’s camera and GPS and displaying information about the user’s surroundings to display content about the outside world as the user navigates through it. Someone who has downloaded the application on their phone can walk through a city and see which buildings have apartments that are for rent, learn interesting facts about specific neighborhoods, and read reviews of the restaurants by people within their own social networks.

Developers can create interactive games or promotions or give out exclusive deals for your customers who use their smart phones to scan real world objects such as posters, menus, price tags and even the sign outside your shop.

Seeing the world through their devices, they will be able to see special graphics, special interfaces, and even video or animation, which costumers will find entertaining, engaging and memorable.