Welcome to b-news.

In this issue:

• Get more out of your website
• WIN web hosting for a year!
• Managing safety in your workplace
• What to look for when buying a printer
• FREE Business listing in b-wave Portal
• Client feature: DtMS
• How to succeed in sales
• Printing Services
• Christmas trading hours
• On next issue

There are millions of websites in Internet, which means that when somebody is out there using a search engine, there are going to be thousands of sites that match your search criteria. All those sites will be competing with each other, and only very few of them will be listed in the first pages.

• Including your website address in all your stationery
• Requesting links from sites with a similar customer base as yours - 'link swapping'
• Having a ‘'Links' page
• Giving something for free in your site
• Newsletters
• Promotional e-mails
• Word of mouth and referral programs

This is one of the most important things you should do. Your website address should be prominent in all your stationery, such as letterheads, business cards, quotes, newsletters, receipts, cash register dockets, and in general, in any piece of paper you give to your customers.

If you are a retailer it is also a good idea to print your website address in shopping bags and any other type of packaging for your goods, and even banners across your shop.

Your website address in big bold letters on the window of your shop, will also assure that any passer-by would not miss to see it, even if your store is closed.

Remember your website is your 24/7 shop front, and even when you do not realise, it is selling for you 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. With our fast-paced lives, more and more shoppers like to research on the Internet. This does not necessarily mean that they will shop on-line, but armed with their findings they go out and buy from the physical store. Make sure they find out what your business have to offer when they do their research, and why they will make a better shopping buying from you.

You can also have bumper stickers printed with your website address for your customers, as well as sticking one on your car.

Any newspaper or magazine advertising of your products and services should also include your website address. Not only just an e-mail, as shoppers may like to find additional information from the comfort of their homes before making a purchasing decision. Be sure your e-mail address is not at a third party's site, but is one that mentions your own domain. For instance, 'somebody@yahoo.com' is not as good as 'somebody@mysite.com' or .com.au.

However, it is very important to have a couple of these free e-mail addresses to back-up your own in case of unexpected problems.

In our next month's newsletter we will be looking at how to go about ‘'Requesting Links and Link swapping'

You most probably recently received a CD-ROM in the mail called "Managing Safety in your workplace - A step-by-step guide" issued by Worksafe Victoria. There is a lot a information in this CD, the most useful being a form to request free assistance.

We know how difficult it is to keep abreast of new laws and regulations. Worksafe's assistance consists of a 3-hour visit to your workplace by an independent Health and Safety consultant.

The consultant can check your work-practices as well as the general set up of your business and help you work out a Safety action plan as well as give you advise in complying with the new regulations.

You can find the form to request the free consultation by clicking on ‘'Managing Safety' after then introduction and then 'Safety Database', 'Safety Information', 'Free Assistance', and 'more details' in the left lower part of the screen. The form is in a PDF file format.

Printers have come down so much in price that it is very easy to get hooked up by a beautiful printout and buy it on the spot. I have done it myself. For a couple of hundred dollars I can print these wonderful full-colour photographs! Not so. What appears to be an investment of only 200 dollars, soon can become a major outlay of cash.

Never buy a printer without doing the research first. Ask yourself the following questions:

• How much do the colour cartridges or the toner cost?
• How many prints will the cartridge last?
• Does it need special paper for it to look this good? How much does the paper cost?
• What is the maximum capacity for copies?
• How much does the repair will cost if the printer is out of warranty?
• Is the repair carried out on-site?

A few years ago we bought three HP laser printers, being a reputed brand, we did not bother doing our homework. Two of the printers were HP5L and one was a HP6P. After about a year (almost right on the warranty expiry date) the two HP 5L printers started having problems with the paper feeding.

To repair them would have cost us almost as much as buying a new one. The 6P however, has never had a problem and is still going strong. The price difference between the 5L and the 6P on the original purchase was only around $150.

Another thing we later found out was that the toners were extremely expensive compared with some of the competition equivalent models. You can find many of these details by searching on the Internet for “'printers reviews' or by the specific model you have in mind on on-line PC magazines.

Beware of cheap ink refills. We damaged our very first, very expensive Epson inkjet with a cheap refill. The repair costs us one eye and part of another as we had to change the print head and other parts, and the printer was never the same again.

And my last mistake: I passed in front of a shop and they were having on sale these Canon colour printers for only $120.00. The print-outs were beautiful, so I thought I'll give it to the kids so they can ditch the old Epson. Well, guess what! It took about 6 minutes to print an average page, only average, just a couple of small graphics, no more. Six minutes! I had never realised how long a time can 6 minutes be! Fortunately, we were able to return it. Canon does have some excellent printers that deserve consideration.

If you are operating a business in the Monash area(*) or its surrounding suburbs, don't forget to register your business in b-wave Portal, our Business and Community Directory.

b-wave can give your business the right exposure within the community as it shows within the first 10 listings for most classifications searches in Goggle. www.b-wave.com.au

(*) or if you serve the area

Marketing Pro lets you design, conduct and control direct marketing campaigns of all sizes to audiences anywhere in Australia - from your desktop;
PhoneDisc Search and view, including reverse phone number search, all Australian business and residential telephone directory listings on just one disc;
CD Phone Directory The indispensable, reference tool covering all of Australia.

On-line solution:
IntraPhone - intranet-based telephone directory solution designed for corporate environments. Ideal for Local Area or Wide Area Networks.

DtMS products can be used as a Marketing tool for Businesses or as a reference CD-ROM for individuals. From organising your next holiday trip to implementing a large marketing campaign, DtMS has a solution.

You can contact DtMS on:

Tel: 03 9877 5550
Fax: 03 9877 5533
E-mail: sales@dtms.com.au
Web: www.dtms.com.au

• Listen to your customers and find their actual needs. Do not try to impose what you assume e their needs.
  
• Try to help your customers, not just go for the profit.
  
• Put yourself in the place of your customers and try to understand their point of view. Treat them as you like to be treated.
  
• Be sincere.
  
• The way you look is a reflection of your business, so you must always look professional.
  
• Evaluate your prospects and don't waste time with people that are not going to buy.
  
• The customer wants to know how it will solve his/her problems, so you must concentrate on the benefits your solution will bring to your customer.
  
• Don't talk bad about the competition, instead tell your customers what you can offer that is different.
  
• Overcome any objections in a trustful manner.
  
• Follow up. Very few sales are closed at the first meeting, so keep trying and be patient.
  
• Be sure to leave a good impression. Whatever you do, you want your prospects to remember you in a positive way.

Our clients kept asking us if we could produce marketing material such as brochures, flyers, banners, business cards and stationery.

• Brochures A4 double sided, qty 100 from A$120.00*
• DL Flyers (1/3 of A4), double sided, qty 300 from A$150.00*
• Newsletters &. Ask us!
• Banners (3mts x 60cm, etc) … Ask us!
• Stationery & Ask us!
• 500 Business on 250 or 300 gsm, $99.00*
• Posters … Ask us!
• Personalised Season or special occasion cards … Ask us!

What are the benefits of small runs of marketing material?

• You don't commit yourself to thousands of copies that may be obsolete after delivering the first 50.
• You are able to change content easily.
• You only invest very little at a time, so, it helps your cash flow.
• It is quick, no need to wait for plates to be made and delivered. You just send us your files in Photoshop, Illustrator, Corel Draw, PDF format, etc.

Our printing is done with Xerox, top of the range equipment, designed exclusively for marketing purposes.

* Prices may vary upwards in accordance to graphics - our software calculates the cost. We also offer, as expected, graphic design services for your marketing material at reasonable charges. Prices include GST and are subject to change without notice.

• 16th to 25th December 2003
• 31st December 2003 to 1st January 2004

• Get more out of your website: Requesting link swapping
• Administering the resource we are all poor on: Time
• More in marketing your site