The .CO Internet registry have released new research covering small businesses owners and domain names. Its main findings reveal:

• Nearly Half of Small Business Owners don’t have an online presence – 45% of small business owners do not have a website or blog for their business, and 55% do

• 49% of Small Business Owners with a Website or Blog are not completely satisfied with their current domain name

• 55% of the Small Business Owners with a website or blog believe they have lost business or customers as a result of not getting their first choice domain name

• 49% of Small Business Owners had to try 2 or more domain names before settling on the name for their website or blog

• 52% of Small Business Owners with a website or blog would change their domain name if they had the opportunity to do so

• When choosing a domain name 63% of Small Business Owners fail to consider the domain extension (or what’s to the “right of the dot”)

• 29% of Small Business Owners say they don’t know what a “Domain Extension” is… and of the 71% who say they do know – 2 in 5 are actually wrong

• When choosing a domain name 63% of Small Business Owners fail to consider the length of the name. The average number of characters in the domain names of SBO’s , across all domain extensions is 15

• 85% of Small Business Owners do not consider ease of access via mobile devices when choosing a domain name

• 81% of Small Business Owners do not consider social media when choosing a domain name

• 57% of Small Business Owners with a website or blog say that finding a good domain name for their business was just as difficult, or more difficult, than naming their baby!

If you’re looking to register a domain name for your new or existing business then choosing one with a .CO domain extension is worth considering. The .CO domains are a popular choice for many businesses, due to not only it being memorable, but also because .CO is recognized world-wide as the abbreviation for Company, Corporation and more!

Some small business owners can feel overwhelmed when it comes to getting their business online. However, this should not be the case, since it is increasingly easy to get online. For example, many new businesses use “website builders” systems to create & manage their website. This is not only a much cheaper way to get online, compared to the expense of hiring a web designer, etc, but it is often a quicker way to getting online, since you have full control over how your website looks and what content is included.

Thanks to Easyspace many businesses are getting online using our website builder EasySiteLive PRO. We provide a free 21 day trial, so if you need a website then what’s stopping you?

An increasingly common site on the streets of the UK is to see people dressed up in animal costumes – particularly on a Friday or Saturday night. If you have seen anyone wearing such an outfit, then there’s a good chance they purchased it from Kigu.co.uk. The word ‘Kigu’ is short for ‘kigurumi’, which literally translates as ‘costumed animal character’ in Japanese. Kigurumi are already hugely popular in Japan, where they are worn as both streetwear and pyjamas, but they’ve never been sold outside Asia before. Kigu was the first company to bring these amazing animal suits to Europe.

Easyspace recently interviewed Kigu.co.uk founder Tom Cohn:

Q1. Tom, tell us a little bit about your background and what led to you to becoming an entrepreneur and setting up Kigu.co.uk.

I’m 27 years old and grew up in Alexandra Palace in North London. Growing up I was obsessed with skateboarding, music and partying. I went to Sussex University where I studied Geography with Management Studies and as part of the course we had to write a business plan. I had been introduced to kigurumi (Japanese animal onesies) by some friends who had brought them back from a trip to Japan. So decided to use the idea of importing, rebranding and selling kigurumi to the UK festival market as my business plan idea.

Following graduation I couldn’t find a job and I’d always wanted to be self-employed, so I decided to put the business plan I’d devised at university into action. Together with my best friend Nick, we pooled together £4,000, built a quick and easy website and bought 300 kigurumi from Japan to the UK to sell to friends and other like-minded people.

Q2. What was involved in setting up Kigu i.e. choosing a domain name, website, ecommerce system, premises, staff, securing suppliers, etc? Did you follow a business plan and how difficult was it getting the business established in the early days?

Cost dictated every choice we made. We used whatever was free or very cheaply available. We used Big Cartel as our ecommerce platform because it was very cheap and we only took payments through PayPal. We had a close friend build our website in a day. Another friend knocked up a logo. There was no money for staff or premises, we just did everything ourselves and worked from home, storing our stock in my parents’ attic. We didn’t follow a business plan as such. We just did all we could to get our brand out there!

Established the company was easier than I thought. Staying in stock was the problem. As cashflow was so tight, we couldn’t afford to buy more Kigus until we had sold our current batch. We’d then have to wait 6 weeks for the next delivery to arrive from Japan. This led to us being sold out for long periods, which was painful. But in the end I think that helped our cause. It made Kigus really hard to get hold of which seemed to boost demand even further.

Q3. How did you market your business when you first started and how do you promote it now?

At first we promoted our business through word of mouth. We got all of our friends to wear Kigus when they went to festivals and out clubbing and it started to catch on. Soon celebrities like Lily Allen, Florence and the Machine and Alex Turner were spotted wearing our stuff, which caused a snowball effect in terms of demand. Social media was a vital, free way of getting word to spread about what we were doing.

On Kigu’s first anniversary we decided to throw a party, with the help of Diesel UK. We gave away 100 Flying Squirrel Kigus to guests and offered a free bar. Unsurprisingly, tickets sold out in a matter of minutes and the event was featured on a number of high profile blogs and websites. Since then we’ve run about 4 big events a year, from a Guinness World Record breaking piggy back race to a party in a container in Shoreditch. If we can build our brand by doing things that are fun for us personally, then all the better!

Q4. How do you use Facebook, Twitter, YouTube, etc, to promote your businesses? How successful has it been for you? Any advice on how businesses can use social media to promote themselves?

Facebook is the social media channel that we concentrate on most. We use it to post things we think our fans would find interesting, update people of new products and events and ask people for feedback on new products and ideas we’re bringing out. We try and be as responsive as possible. People like to feel that they’re involved in the direction of the brand. And we want them to be! We’ve never paid for any Facebook ads or promoted posts so our following isn’t as big as we’d like it to be. But the level of engagement is outstanding. We’ve started having a more focused approach to Twitter recently which has seen our number of followers grow by a thousand or so in the last couple of months.

I’m not sure I’m qualified to give advice in this area, but I believe social media is used most effectively to start conversations between brands and their fans. If you’re simply updating your followers on company developments, opening times, best sellers etc then don’t be surprised if you’re engagement is low. Also, it’s a good idea to make the most of the great social media apps out there which can make life a lot easier. We use TweetDeck, Topsy, TwitterCounter, N0tice and check our Facebook insights in depth on a weekly basis.

Q5. You originally went out to Japan to source suppliers of Onesies. How easy was it dealing with Japanese companies? Do you continue dealing with your original suppliers?

Dealing with Japanese suppliers is fantastic. They’re extremely polite, loyal, honest and a pleasure to do business with. We’re still using the same supplier that we have had since day 1 and we’ll continue to do so, simply because they make the best product on the market in terms of both design and quality. When we go on trips to Japan they give us a great welcome and really look after us. There are a couple of rituals you have to observe when dealing with the Japanese. It’s important to recognise the relatively strict company hierarchy they have in place and the old “always give and receive a business card with two hands and a bow” is still very true today. One thing I have noticed though that, largely out of politeness, the Japanese never like to say “no” to anything. This can make them hard to read. So you’re never quite as sure of where you stand on certain things as you would be with the Chinese, say. But maybe that’s just my personal experience.

Q6.Have you had any problems dealing with suppliers, and have you considered manufacturing them yourself?

The only problems have arisen from demand outstripping supply which has happened on a number of occasions. When we first started dealing with our supplier they had never exported outside Asia before. So we had to grow together. We have considered manufacturing ourselves and have done so with additional product lines, but for animal onesies, nothing less than a Japanese one will do for Kigu. There’s just too many other, inferior products about to get greedy.

Q7. You are a co-founder of Kigu with your business partner Nick Harriman. What advantages/disadvantages are there in having a business partner, as opposed to starting up on your own?

There are lots of advantages. Splitting the risk and startup costs is one thing. But the thing I most enjoy about working with a partner is having someone to share the ups and downs with. When you’re doing well, you can go out and have a drink together to celebrate. And when things go wrong, at least you know you’re not the only one suffering! Nick and I have known each other since we were about 3 years old. We grew up on the same road. So we know each other incredibly well and efficiently as a team. Our skills (or lack of them) compliment each others’ and we always come up with the strongest ideas when working together. The only real disadvantage is that decisions can take much longer to make when they have to be OK’d by two people. Having one person in charge can certainly streamline processes.

Q8. What’s it like managing your business? Do you have any staff or do you outsource tasks? Describe your typical day.

Managing my business is a lot of fun and hard work. We have one full time Business Manager, Katia, who takes charge of pretty much everything from social media to wholesale and customer service. She’s fantastic. IT, graphic design, fulfilment etc we outsource and everything else I do myself. My typical day consists of answering an endless pile of emails, updating a number of spreadsheets to ensure everything’s running smoothly, meeting with potential retailers or collaborators and going through samples for new and exciting products we can add to the range. I usually work from 10am to 7.30pm.

Q9. You currently sell via your online shop, but have you tried or considered setting up a highstreet shop or partnering with one?

Most of our sales come through our website, but we do sell products to a couple of other retailers like Urban Outfitters. We’ve run pop up shops before which have been really successful. But I still think our products are a bit niche for our own high street shop. Selling online is much more efficient and allows us more time to spend on product development.

Q10. How do your Onesies match up against your competitors and how do you stay competitive?

I honestly believe that you won’t find a better animal onesie anywhere else in the world. But they’re not the cheapest. Ours are £40, while you can find an inferior onesie (and sometimes a complete knock off of one our designs!!) for around £30 or less in shops like Primark. We stay competitive by ensuring ours are the best quality and coming up with new ideas for products people love. We try, as much as possible, to be proactive when coming up with new ideas rather than reacting to what other people are doing.

Q11. If you had the chance to start Kigu all over again, what would you do differently?

I would have protected our IP on a global scale from the outset. I would have launched Kigu Kids more quickly (we only did this at the end of 2012 and it’s already doing so well). And I would have invested in a better website sooner too. We’re building a new one now, but we could have done with it about 9 months ago.

Q12. Which entrepreneur/person has inspired you the most & why?

As an avid skateboard fan I’d have to say either Tony Hawk or Rick Howard (who owns Girl Skateboards). I like it when people are able to run a successful company that incorporates things they actually enjoy. It’s not all about the money.

Q13. What advice would you give to somebody thinking of starting their own business?

My advice would be to get some support. We wouldn’t have been able to get Kigu to where it is today without the help of two fantastic mentors, which we got through the Bright Ideas Trust. There are a lot of extremely successful people out there with lots of time on their hands, desperate to invest their wisdom into developing new businesses. If you’re under 30, these people are even easier to find. So don’t feel like you have to do everything by yourself because you don’t.

Q14. What are your future plans for Kigu?

At the moment we’re all about new products. We’re working extremely hard to develop new animal onesies and come out with some different, but complimentary product ranges. We’re hoping to have one new range out by Christmas 2013 and another out by Spring 2014. Both have never been done before, so I’m excited to see if people actually like them as much as we do, or not!

Thanks Tom, from everyone at Easyspace.

To find out more about Tom and his business please visit his website www.Kigu.co.uk

Build a website with Easyspace today !

Has Tom’s online activities inspired you to start your own online business venture? If it has, then start off by registering the domain name you want for your business. Then get your website set up. With this in mind, Easyspace has created EasySiteLive PRO – a website builder product, to help get your website up and running in no time. Click here to try our new EasySiteLive PRO website builder for 21 Days Free of charge.

Easyspace are delighted to announce a special offer on the .xxx domain name extension.

For a limited time only, .xxx domain name registrations will be available for just £12.80 (first year registration only), lowering the standard price by more than 78% throughout May 2013.

So, who should you register .xxx web address?

The issue of trademark protection and brand identity is critical in the modern business world – particularly on the Internet. Securing your web address with an .xxx extensions is vital for your brand and reputation. Register your version and stop others for using your valuable brand name in conjunction with an .xxx extension.

What happens when I register an xxx extension?

If you register yourname.xxx you can make sure that your domain name will not point (resolve) to an adult site (for as long as you are the registrant), thus protecting your brand. All resolving sites with the .xxx domain extensions will be displayed with adult content.

Here at Easyspace, we understand the importance of brand protection and we strongly recommend taking advantage of this fantastic opportunity to protect your businesses name from being associated with adult material.

To register your .xxx domain name today, simply visit our .xxx domain name pages or call our sales team on 0370 755 5088 to discuss your options.

You may know Claire Young from the hit TV show, The Apprentice where she reached the final in 2008. Since then Claire has been actively working on several projects which are designed to empower and enable young people in enterprise. As a businesswoman, Claire now works with School Speakers, which she founded – a business providing quality motivational speakers, for schools, colleges and universities. Claire also writes for a number of publications, co-hosts a weekly BBC radio show and makes guest contributions to various TV shows & radio channels.

Easyspace were delighted to interview Claire recently:

Q1. Claire, tell us a little bit about your background and what led to you to becoming an entrepreneur.

I went to an all-girls academic school, studied Medicine and Equine Science at university before entering the world of business. I applied for graduate roles and spent 7 years working in the Health and Beauty industry before applying for The Apprentice. I worked for L’Oreal, Colgate Palmolive and Superdrug. I took part in The Apprentice and left the experience wanting to be my own boss and the rest is history. I now own an agency called School Speakers placing people into schools to do talks and workshops for students.

Q2. You’re most well-known from your time on the BBC’s Apprentice, in which you were a finalist. What was it like taking part in the show, and how’s does it compare with life as an entrepreneur now?

The Apprentice really is the business bootcamp from hell! It is exhausting, exhilarating and life changing! You work relentless hour, work with people you don’t know, to tight timescales and have to continually come up with new ideas. That is pretty much what life is like as an entrepreneur!

Q3. What did you do after the Apprentice?

I set up School Speakers which I have previously mentioned, am a co-founder of a social enterprise called Girls Out Loud and work with a number of government groups helping young people be more enterprising – and start new businesses. I desperately enjoy what I do and get great satisfaction from making a difference. The UK needs more business start-ups and young people need opportunities, the two go hand in hand.

Q4. What was involved in setting up SchoolSpeakers i.e. website, recruiting speakers, contacting schools, etc? Did you follow a business plan and how difficult was it getting the business established in the early days?

Within 3 weeks of the idea of School; Speakers coming to me we have a live website, recruited speakers and started promoted ourselves to schools. The business was born out of demand from teachers so we grew from day one through word of mouth. Be warned, starting a new business is hard work and there are never enough hours in the day!

Q5. How did you market your business School Speakers when you first started and how do you promote it now?

Social media, word of mouth, contacting schools directly, cold calling, writing letters, emails, offering competitions and being a walking talking PR machine. You have to be unashamed and promote your business as no one else will. We now work with nearly every large campaign across the school year and have a number of collaborative partners.

Q6. How do you use Facebook, Twitter, YouTube, etc, to promote your businesses? How successful has it been for you? Any advice on how businesses can use social media to promote themselves?

Yes we use social media every day for brand awareness reach new people and gain information. It has been very successful! My advice to people is you just have to take the plunge and go for it – you have to commit. What you put into social media is what you get out.

Q7. If you had the chance to start SchoolSpeakers all over again, what would you do differently?

Nothing, it’s all been a solid learning curve.

Q8. You also offer mentoring to business start-ups. From your experience what are the most common problems people face when starting their business, and what are the possible solutions?

Keeping their positivity as life as an entrepreneur can be lonely and very challenging. Join a network, get out to events, speak up and find a mentor!

Q9. Which entrepreneur/person has inspired you the most & why?

Alan Sugar. He has made his success (and fortune), is an OAP and could retire but he is still grafting away. I admire his drive, energy and sense of humour.

Q11. What advice would you give to somebody thinking of starting their own business?

Do your research on the market, product/service, target consumer and competition before you spend any money!

Q12. What are your future business plans?

I’d like to move into politics one day.

Thanks Claire, from everyone at Easyspace. Good luck with your business projects.

To find out more about Claire Young and School Speakers visit her websites below:

www.ClaireYoung.com

www.SchoolSpeakers.com

Build a website with Easyspace today !

Has Claire’s online activities inspired you to start your own online business venture? If it has, then start off by registering the domain name you want for your business. Then get your website set up. With this in mind, Easyspace has created EasySiteLive PRO – a website builder product, to help get your website up and running in no time. Click here to try our new EasySiteLive PRO website builder for 21 Days Free of charge.

Exact Match Domain names have always been popular, with many believing having one gives you an advantage not only with search engine rankings, but gives many side benefits such as receiving type in traffic – i.e. visitors landing on your website by simply entering a keyword or phrase in their web browser’s address bar and e.g. adding .com or any other gTLD (generic top-level domain) or ccTLD extension (country code top-level domain); rather than following a hyperlink from another web page.

Search Engine Rankings

The domain name you choose can have an effect on your SEO results, and if it’s a new website, especially a new online business, your search engine rankings will be very important to you, as it will effect the number of sales/leads you generate. This is why you need to give some thought when you register a domain name.

While having a brandable domain name has advantages, the fact is it will be a lot harder, and potentially more expensive to create & develop a popular brand name, that people will recognise. As a result, many people prefer to register an Exact Match Domain Name as they think it will be easier for them to achieve a higher ranking on search engines such as google.

Matt Cutts Video

In March 2011 Matt Cutts of Google released the video below, comparing brand domains vs Exact Match Domain Names:

Since Google frequently change their algorithm, which determines how well a website ranks on their search engine, theories of what is the best way to achieve high rankings are not all set in stone. You have to react to Googles algorithm changes as best you can, and it’s not always clear cut what is the best strategy to take to get to the top of Google.

Advantage or Disadvantage?

There has been a lot of debate regarding how Google ranks Exact Match Domain Names, sometimes known as Keyword Domains. Following the “Google Panda Update 20″ which took place from September 27th through the first week of October, 2012, some have claimed that having an Exact Match Domain no longer gives you an advantage, or worse might even be penalised. However, if you have an Exact Match Domain (EMD) or are planning on registering one, then you have nothing to worry about.

Engagement Metrics

According to Google Webmaster Help’s Matt Cutts, there was an adjustment in the algorithm so that EMDs would not have a preference over domains without keywords UNLESS they earned their ranking by meeting the same relative positive engagement metrics that other sites used.

The fact is achieving a good search engine ranking position for your website has never relied 100% on your domain name – that is only a part of it. Following good SEO practice such as meeting engagement metrics is a major factor. These metrics can include:

• Length of visit (how long do visitors stay on your website for?)
• Number of different page views (how many other pages did your visitors click through to?)
• Bounce rate (are your visitors quickly clicking away from your website soon after arriving?)
• Returning visitors (how often do visitor return to your website?)

If you have an Exact Match Domain and your website scores lowly on the above metrics, then odds are Google will penalise you. Having an EMD on its own will not be enough to keep you in the number one position. The “Google Panda Update 20″ amongst other things penalised websites that had EMD’s and low engagement metrics. So if your website has an EMD and positive engagement metrics (which you should have had in the first place) then you have nothing to worry about.

Registering an Exact Match Domain Name is still a good choice, as long as you follow Google’s SEO guidelines and provide positive engagement metrics. Even better, if your website meets those guidelines & metrics PLUS has an Exact Match Domain Name then you will have an advantage.

For example, if you had two websites with exactly the same content, the one which has an Exact Match Domain Name is more likely to rank higher on search engines.

Social Media Benefits

Even better, it’s not just your search engine rankings that could benefit by having an Exact Match Domain Name – you will also benefit when it comes to social media. Unlike a brandable domain name such as Amazon.com, having an Exact Match Domain name e.g. HotelsInLondon.com, helps suggest what your website is about. Every time somebody mentions your website in Twitter, Pinterest or Facebook, etc then search engines will pay attention. It is must easier and natural for users to mention and share an Exact Match Domain Name – thereby helping to not only increase your search engine rankings further, but it will result in free advertising for you.

Best Choice?

Unless you have lots of money to spend on marketing your potentially brandable domain name, and lots of time and resources to develop it into a brand, then you may struggle to get it noticed above the competition. With this in mind, it’s no surprise that an Exact Match Domain Name remains popular and is likely to for a long time to come. Everything else being equal an Exact Match Domain Name is the better choice.

Is there a domain name you’ve been thinking of registering? Search and register your domain name with Easyspace today, before somebody else does.

Easyspace recently caught up with Fraser for an interview:

Q1. Fraser, tell us a little bit about your background and what led to you to becoming an entrepreneur and setting up SuperJam.

I was always interested in starting my own business ever since I was eight years old. My first business idea involved baking cakes and selling them at school to raise money for Greenpeace. By the time I was 14 I took an interest in my grandmothers secret jam recipes and asked her to teach me how to make jam.  We spent an afternoon making jam together and I soon started selling it to the neighbours at farmers markets and to small shops. Soon I was cooking 1000 jars of Jam a week from my parents tiny kitchen and I soon realised that I would have to come up with some kind of big idea to move production into a factory. After doing a lot of research I came up with a way of making jam 100% from fruit. I called it SuperJam and pitched it to Waitrose when I was 16 years old. They later lunched SuperJam in all of their stores around the UK and we have since gone on to sell millions of jars around the world.

Q2. It’s a big leap going from a successful, but small jam seller at farmers markets, to where you are now – with your jam being sold in major supermarkets, not just in the UK, but overseas too. Many people, especially a teenager would have been happy with your success at farmers markets – but you took it to the next level. Why & how did you make that leap?

I got my big break when I was 16 and I got my chance to pitch my ideas out at a ‘meet the buyer’ day to Waitrose one of the big supermarkets in the UK. I like to describe ‘meet the buyer’ days as the X-factor of selling groceries to supermarkets.

I turned up at the meeting wearing my Dad’s suit; it was probably two sizes too big for me! The buyer listened to my idea and give me some advice.  A year later I had developed a product that they were willing to put on their shelves, after convincing a factory to work with me and creating a brand.

Q3. Originally you made the jam yourself in your parents kitchen, but as the business grew you had to upscale. Tell us about how you expanded the manufacturing process, to what you now have?

Obviously as a 16-year-old I wasn’t really in a position to build my own jam factory. I was going to have to convince an existing jam manufacturer to work with me to produce my recipes on a big scale. And so I travelled around the country, from the tiny little islands in Scotland to the big cities in England, trying to find somebody who would be willing to work with me to make my SuperJam. As I am sure you can imagine most of these hundred year old factories Where a bit sceptical of a teenager turning up with no money and no experience. But eventually I found one factory who were willing to give my idea a shot, we figured out how to produce my recipes on a big scale we were soon ready to start supplying supermarkets!

Q4. Did you follow a business plan and how difficult was it getting the business established in the early days?

Of course, because I was so young, I didn’t really know anything about supplying supermarkets or how factories work. But something that I have been amazed by on my whole journey has been how willing other entrepreneurs are to share what they have learned with me.

When I was 15 I met a local entrepreneur called Kevin, who became my mentor. He shared lessons with me about mistakes he had made, people he had met and lessons he had learnt. With his help and help of others I was able to overcome most problems that came my way.

Q5. How difficult was it getting your jam on supermarket shelves? Did you face any setbacks in dealing with supermarkets before achieving this?

When I pitched my idea to Waitrose, they explained that, although it was a very good idea, there would be a long way to go until I would have a product that could sit on the shelves of a supermarket. I would have to set up production in a factory, create a brand and do a lot more work on my recipes before they would be happy.

The branding was one of the main challenges because at the beginning I thought that packaging should make people laugh and if you could make them laugh enough then maybe they were buy your product.

So I first created the brand around at comic book idea-we had a lot of fun writing jokes on the labels and even spoke about making a superhero costume for me, the ‘jam boy’ to wear at the launch of SuperJam!

But when I pitched this idea to the supermarket, they explained that packaging is not there to make people laugh, it is there to get the message across. So after they said no to my idea I had to throw everything in the bin and start  all over again.

Second time around, we created a brand that was a lot more simple and that did a far better job of getting our message of ’100% Fruit’ across.

Q6. How did you fund your business, particularly its expansion?

A lot of the time, people imagine that starting a business has to involve borrowing money and taking on investment. But in my experience, it is possible to start something on a very small scale and with a lot of hard work, grow it organically, staying independent all the time. In my case, I started up by making 12 jars of jam, which I sold to the neighbours. I then had enough money to make 20 jars and then 40 and so on, until we wound up making millions of jars – never having to borrow any money along the way.

Q7. How did you market your business when you first started and how do you promote it now?

When I first started I had very little money for marketing and so I had to literally stand in the supermarket stores handing out samples and telling people about my products all by myself. But now we have more budget for advertising, giving away free samples and promoting the business online.

Q8. Was there a ‘tipping point’ to your business’s success?

When SuperJam launched in Waitrose, there was a huge amount of media coverage. I had no idea that this was going to happen but when did I found myself been written about the newspapers and magazines, interviewed on TV and on radio. Because of this media coverage, sales went through the roof and we very quickly launched in thousands more stores. In fact on the first day in one store in Edinburgh, where I come from, they sold more than 1,500 jars of SuperJam in one day, which was more jam than they would normally sell in a whole month!

Q9. Do you use Facebook, Twitter, YouTube, etc, to promote your businesses? How successful has it been for you? Any advice on how businesses can use social media to promote themselves?

For my business, the most successful types of promotion have been off-line; handing out samples in stores, money off promotions in supermarkets and conventional PR. However, I have always kept a blog, Facebook and twitter and I love hearing directly from people who buy our products – what they do with them and what they think we should do differently. I think the only piece of advice I have for brands is not to waste their customers time with inane drivel on social media.

Q10. How does your jam match up against your competitors and how do you stay competitive?

Most jam brands have been around for at least 100 years, which means that it is not the most innovative or exciting category in the world. SuperJam stays competitive by offering something new, innovative and fun in the category that is dominated by very old, boring, traditional brands.

Q11. If you had the chance to start SuperJam all over again, what would you do differently?

I have definitely made a lot of mistakes on my journey! I think one of the biggest lessons I have learned is that everything takes a lot longer than you first imagine so you should not beat yourself up about it.

I would have tried to come up with one clear reason for why someone should buy my product right from day one, and then just put all of my energy into trying to get that across – rather than trying to make people laugh or trying to give them ten reasons why they should buy my product.

Q12. Which entrepreneur/person has inspired you the most & why?

My heroes in business are people like Anita Roddick, the late founder of The Body Shop. I am inspired by business people who use their business to do more than just make money, who use it to do good.

Q13. What advice would you give to somebody thinking of starting their own business?

1) don’t be afraid, you have nothing to lose.
2) start small, you don’t have to jump in at the deep end.
3) ask for help – people will more often than not be willing to give it to you.

Q14. What are your future plans for SuperJam?

We are getting ready to launch in the US, which is really exciting.  I’m also ambitious for the growth of our charity, The SuperJam Tea Parties, which runs hundreds of free tea parties for elderly people.

Thanks Fraser, from everyone at Easyspace. Good luck with your future plans.

If you want to find out more about Fraser Doherty then you can visit him at his websites www.SuperJam.co.uk and www.fraserdoherty.com

Build a website with Easyspace today !

Has Fraser’s online activities inspired you to start your own online business venture? If it has, then start off by registering the domain name you want for your business. Then get your website set up. With this in mind, Easyspace has created EasySiteLive PRO – a website builder product, to help get your website up and running in no time. Click here to try our new EasySiteLive PRO website builder for 21 Days Free of charge.

Having a website is vital for a business. An important factor in this is what website address (domain name) you choose to have. The fact is your domain name e.g. www.YourBusinessName.com can have a massive impact on how your website and business is perceived by customers and search engines such as Bing and Google. With this in mind, it is necessary for a business to think carefully when deciding which domain name to register, since having a bad/wrong domain name could harm your business.

Before registering your business domain name you should consider:

1. Does it match your business name?
   It’s recommended that your domain name matches you business name, otherwise it may create some confusion with your customers, not to mention look unprofessional. Nowadays, when deciding on what to name your business, you should always check to see if the matching domain name is available.
2. Brainstorming
   Try to be creative when thinking of a potential domain name. Involve other members of staff if possible. Think of specific keywords relevant to your business when thinking of possible business domain names.
3. Will it be easy to type?
   Don’t choose a domain name that is too long or too difficult to spell. If it’s difficult for people to type in, then odds are you will lose some customers. Simple is best.
4. Easy to remember
   Don’t choose a domain which is either difficult to remember or likely to result in confusion. Obviously the shorter the better, but many short generic names have been taken. As for avoiding confusion, try not to have a name such as “GolfingHolidays4U.com” otherwise many potential customers, after trying to remeber what your website address was will end up typing in “GolfingHolidaysForYou.com” – and so you may lose an order. Again, try to keep it short and simple.
5. Suggests what the business does
   It helps if your domain name suggests what your business actually does e.g. Hotels.com, BrittanyFerries.com, Hotmail.com, LondonPets.co.uk, VoucherCodes.com, AutoTrader.com, LuxeNailBar.co.uk, etc.These types of domain names help suggest what the website will be about and particularly when people are looking at a list of search results on Google, it will help them narrow down their search. While there are some websites such as Amazon.com, Zappos.com, Bing.com, Yahoo.com, etc who may be well known now, the fact is trying to start a new website with an unusual name will make it much more difficult to build and establish a brand.
6. Copyright violation
   Becareful that you don’t register a domain name which could breach the copyright of another business – otherwise you could find yourself in court. The UK’s Intellectual Property Office can provide more information on copyright issues.

If you need any advice when choosing a business domain name then you are welcome to call our domain name experts on 0370 755 5088 who can help you choose a business domain name.

Using their partnership with over 1,000 registries Eurid saw sales of over 1 million .eu names within the first 13 hours of the public launch.

Since the official launch the .eu internet address became the most sought after country-code top level domain with more than 3.7 million registrations to date.

According to latest studies, more than 1.84 million European Union (EU) residents secured at least one .eu web address; with 25% of these registrants having registered more than one .eu domain.

.eu registrations in the European Union (March 2013):

To celebrated 7th anniversary of .eu, Easyspace is offering 50% off web hosting packages with .eu domain names to both new and existing customers until midnight 30th April 2013.

Simply visit our web hosting pages, select a web hosting package and add .eu domain name as part of this purchase. To save 50% off your web hosting with .eu domain, please use discount code 50EUROPE at checkout.

To learn more, visit .eu domain name pages or call us today on 0370 755 5088

No doubt you have heard of Freeserve, the UK’s first free Internet service provider. Originally owned by Dixons, it launched in 1998 and within a matter of months had gained over a million subscribers. In the summer of 1999 it went on to become Britain’s first dotcom to be listed on the stock market, at one point reaching a market cap of £9 Billion. After the dot com bubble of that time burst, its share price collapsed and it was eventually sold to France Telecom for £1.6 Billion.

What is not so well known, is who first came up with the idea of Freeserve. Back in 1998 Ajaz Ahmed was working as a PC World store manager in Leeds, and it was Ajaz who came up with the idea of Freeserve, convincing his Dixons bosses to launch it.

Easyspace recently caught up with Ajaz Ahmed to ask about his involvement with Freeserve and what he’s been doing since then:

Q1. Ajaz, tell us a little bit about your background and what led you to coming up with the idea of Freeserve

I was a Manager at PC World in Leeds, which was the time the first PC World in the North of England. Dixons had just bought PC World, which had 4 stores in London and they were in the process of rolling out PC World throughout the country. I moved across from Dixons where I had worked since I left school having failed all my exams.

At the time computers were still expensive and most homes didn’t have a PC. We opened our Leeds in 1995, the same year as the World Wide Web was invented and of course very few were on the Internet in the UK.

In 1996 I had heard about this thing called the Internet and wanted to get on it, so I bought a modem from my own store and went around asking the staff “how do I get on the Internet?” Nobody could tell me.

Eventually one of the technicians in our technical centre said, “why don’t you try Demon Internet?” so I phoned Demon and told them I wanted to get on the Internet and asked “What do I need?” the response was that I need a browser and that I could “FTP one from their site” I thought to myself “What the hell is an FTP” so I gave up and eventually got a CD from a magazine cover for CompuServe.

When I finally got onto the Internet I had a eureka moment. I started to reflect on my experience and I thought to myself, if I found it difficult then our customers must also find it difficult to get onto the Internet and if we become an an Internet Service Provider (ISP) then we would be able to get to the customer first before our competitors because the customer is stood in front of us because we had just sold them a computer. I thought that we were selling a Trojan horse, we were letting other people make money from our customers and we needed to control the first page the customer sees once they get onto the Internet.

I figured that we could outsource the technology and that we would not have to spend any money on acquiring the customer as millions of customers are walking into Dixons, Currys, PC World and The Link stores every week. We also sold more computers than any one else so I figured it would cost us next to nothing to set up an ISP and we would also make a fortune from the website.

It was a simple and obvious idea.

Q2. Tell us how Freeserve was developed and what your involvement was in setting it up.

The short story is, I went to see the Managing Director of PC World to tell him about my great idea but he didn’t get it and said “No”, I persevered and eventually I got to see the Group CEO and he said “yes”.

We found a local Leeds ISP and did a deal with them to outsource the technology. I focused on Business Development and did all the deals for the portal, things like the search engine, the content and merchants for the shopping channel.

We were not the first free ISP that was a company called Extreme. We were very successful for two main reasons, our proposition was easy to understand and consumer friendly, but the biggest reason for our success was because we had a great route to market, all the Dixons stores, without that we would not have been a success. Just imagine, we didn’t have to advertise our service because we had all these customers walking into our stores every single day.

We were an instant hit and became the largest ISP in just three months, I looked after Business Development and did all the deals for the website, it was a great job.

Q3. What was it like being part of Freeserve during the dotcom boom time of 2000, which in a relatively short time had a market cap of £9 Billion?

It was a great time but also a crazy time, it seemed that everyone had a business plan for an Internet company. Lots of companies came and went but lots of great companies were also born in that time, companies like Google, Yahoo and Amazon to name just a few. Being the largest Internet Company in the UK meant that everyone wanted to do business with us, it got to the stage where I had to remove my mobile number from my business cards because I had so many calls.

One of the reasons why it was easy for us was that we were part of a big group, Dixons, and we used their resources and management, without that we would have made so many mistakes and I doubt if we would ever have been that big. We never had to worry about at lot of the things that most small businesses have to worry about.

Q4. Eventually the dotcom bubble burst and Freeserve was sold to France Telecom, for a still very respectable £1.6 Billion. What would you have done differently if you could relive those years again?

Dixons decided to float the business at the right time and they also decided to sell the business at the right time, we almost sold it to another company earlier on for much higher price but that deal fell through. I think the France Telecom deal was amazing for a company that was only three years old. I don’t think we could have done anything differently, it was a good outcome and being part of big company made it a lot easier and the experience has helped with other businesses that I have been involved in since Freeserve.

Q5. Since leaving Freeserve you have gone on to develop a number of other businesses including www.browzar.com which allows users to surf the web without leaving traces of their activities, and website-developer www.quba.co.uk. Tell us about these businesses and why you decide to invest in them?

Since leaving Freeserve I have sat on a number of company boards including Yorkshire Forward, which was a Government Regional Development Agency. I also sat on the Governing Council at the University of Huddersfield and now am on the Board of the Business School. I’ve been waiting for the next big idea but you never know when that is going to come to you.

Browzar is a great idea, it’s used by people all over the World and was the Worlds first privacy browser. But since we launched every major browser has now got privacy features built in to it but Browzar was the first. Customers have told us that it’s great for carrying around on a USB stick for when you need to use someone else’s computer.

Quba is a nice solid business, as long as there is an Internet, companies will need websites built and Quba does a good job of building websites for companies. I often look at websites and think that companies don’t understand that a website is their shop window, it’s often the first thing a customer sees and first impressions are everything. Companies need to pay more attention to how their websites look, first impressions count.

I’ve also invested in things that haven’t worked out and the lesson there is that mistakes are worth making if you learn from them.

Q6. Tell us about your latest venture www.legal365.com

You don’t wake up one day and decide that you are going to get into the legal market. I went to a dinner at the National Media Museum and sat next to Janet Street-Porter who was great, sat next her was a lawyer who I hardly spoke to, he called me a few weeks later and asked if we could meet up. When we met he told me that the legal market was going to change and how the Government had decided to de-regulate the market and allow non-lawyers to own and invest in law firms. This would open up the market, introduce competition and new business models could emerge that would be in the customer’s best interests. They wanted to sell legal services over the Internet but really didn’t have the experience and asked if I wanted to join them in a new venture.

I looked into it and concluded that nobody was doing it right and that this was indeed a big opportunity. Legal services is a huge market, it’s far too complicated and expensive, lawyers haven’t done a good job of selling themselves or providing good customer service.

Someone needed to make legal services affordable and accessible for everyone, I thought that this is the big opportunity that I’ve been looking for.

The opticians market was de-regulated and just look at it now, remember what it was like buying glasses and getting your eyes tested just twenty years ago?

We now sell over 300 legal services for the consumer and small business market. Everything is in plain English, it’s easy to understand with helpful law guides and everything is a low fixed price. Some of our services are even free, if you ever want to challenge a parking ticket or a speeding fine or if a company is not paying a bill, then you can take care of it for free on our site.

But the real disruption is going to come when the next phase of plan comes into effect, which is to open a chain of high street legal stores selling fixed prices legal services. This is a real revolution, we’ll be open 7 days a week, staffed by professionals trained to talk in your language and most importantly everything will be at a low fixed price. No more charging by the hour. I believe that one of the most popular services will be the ability to call in and ask a lawyer a question for a fixed price. Come in and tell us what your problem is, we’ll listen and then tell you what the solution to your problem is and you don’t have to worry about the clock ticking.

We have a unique online and high street proposition and I’m very excited by the prospect of change in the legal industry, it’s long overdue.

Q7. How do you market Legal365?

We haven’t started to market Legal365 in a big way yet, we’ve tested a few things things but we are waiting till our first store opens then we will market it in the normal way. It’s going to be all about the message.

Q8. Do you use Facebook, Twitter, YouTube, etc, to promote your businesses? How successful has it been for you? Any advice on how businesses can use social media to promote themselves?

Social media is great but I think it’s misunderstood, we have too many so-called experts who don’t actually deliver anything. Its like the “Emperors new clothes”, it’s ok to ask for actual proof what what difference they’ve made to businesses. The problem with with social media is simple, once you put a message out there, you have absolutely no control of where or how far it will go and most business messages are not that interesting for people to “pass it on”.

If you advertise in the paper, radio or TV then you’ll know exactly how many people you can reach. It’s interesting to note that Google, Apple, Microsoft still advertise on the TV and in the papers to spread their message.

Q9. How has the UK legal establishment reacted to Legal 365?

A big part of the legal industry is in denial about the changes that are going to happen, most lawyers are very much “glass half empty people” and will tell you why things can’t change. Everyone is watching us closely and we are very well known and I imagine that a lot of people hate us because we are challenging the industry and changing the charging model but that doesn’t bother me. My main concern is the customers.

Q10. What’s it like managing your business? Describe your typical day

I consider myself very fortunate, I’m involved with a number of things so I don’t have a 9-5 routine, no two days are the same. I work from home and our office in Leeds, I’m also on the board of the Business School at the University of Huddersfield so I attend University events. My week is made up of meeting people, working on new ideas, attending events and dinners. I also get asked to speak at events all the time which I enjoy doing, so no two days are the same and I can be working several different businesses on the same day.

Q11. Does Legal365 have many competitors and how do you plan to keep ahead of the competition?

We have competition, it’s a big market so other companies are going to try come up with new propositions. It’s very simple really, the winners in any sector are the ones where customers understand their proposition and vote with their feet and spend money with them. If we can’t do that, then we won’t have a business.

Q.12 How do you plan to grow the business?

The demand for legal services is so big that we are confident that most towns can support one of our stores, once we have opened a few and perfected our formula we can then scale our operation and role out more stores.

Q.13 In addition to the Legal365 website, you are also going to open high-street stores – why have you decided to do this?

The reason we want to open high street stores is because I believe that with legal services face-to-face contact is important and something that customer will always want. They want to be able to ask questions and talk to a person, we can only do this with a physical presence and solicitor’s offices today are not in convenient accessible locations.

Q14. What advice would you give to somebody thinking of starting their own business?

It’s no good retiring and then reflecting on your life and thinking about all the things you could have done or should done. If you want to start a business then start one, but make sure that you know what you are doing, read about how other successful people achieved their success. Business is mostly about common sense, take time to look at other business and if you see something that you like, copy it, be inspired by what other companies do, even if they are not in your sector.

Don’t retire and then look back with regret.

Q15. Which entrepreneur/person has inspired you the most & why?

I haven’t been inspired by one person, I’ve read about so many and the people that inspired me were the ones that started with nothing and achieved success against the odds, even when they were told that there idea was no good. The main lessons that I learnt are:

• It’s about doing the obvious before it becomes obvious to everyone else
• Perseverance and persistence are very important
• People will try and tell you why things can’t be done, listen to them and then ignore them if you believe in your idea
• There are no secrets in business, it’s mostly common sense
• Don’t go around with blinkers on, look around you all the time and get inspired by others success

Q16. What are your future plans for Legal365?

To disrupt the legal industry with a proposition that customers love and lawyers hate.

Thanks Ajaz, from everyone at Easyspace. Good luck with your new business.

To find out more about Ajaz Ahmed and Legal365 visit www.Legal365.com

Build a website with Easyspace today !

Has Ajaz’s online activities inspired you to start your own online business venture? If it has, then start off by registering the domain name you want for your business. Then get your website set up. With this in mind, Easyspace has created EasySiteLive PRO – a website builder product, to help get your website up and running in no time. Click here to try our new EasySiteLive PRO website builder for 21 Days Free of charge.

2. Cheaper Than Print Advertising – once you have arranged for your business information to be displayed online to potential customers, then it can be there for a long time to come, and you can update it if & when it’s required e.g. product/price changes, etc. Compare this against print adverts where they may only be displayed in a newspaper, magazine for a day, week or month at most, quite often at considerable cost, with little ROI.

3. Open 24/7 – With a website potential customers can always find out about you and the product/services your provide. They are not restricted to only being able to contact you via your specific daily opening hours. If you are closed at weekends or on public holidays, then people can still find out about you online – rather than phoning and getting no reply because you’re closed. Potential customers can always access business information. No matter whether you’re open or closed for business at that particular time, you can always refer potential customers to your website to get the information they are looking for.

4. Customer Convenience – Customers can research your product/service when it is convenient to them. With a website providing information on your product/services there is no need for a customer to have to drive to your place of business in order to ask for information on a product or have a look at it. For example, you can provide detailed info on your product, including pictures, which customers can view 24/7 when it suits them.

5. Builds Trust & Credibility – the fact is many people use the internet prior to making a purchase in order to research what suits them best – it aids in their decision making. If your business and it products/services are not showing online then many customer will take you less seriously that one of your competitors who is online. For example, if you have won any awards or are a member of any industry organisation, etc then you can mention this on your website.

6. Promotes Your ‘Bricks n Mortar’ Presence – Even if you don’t actually sell anything online via your website, the fact is having a website will give people reassurance when they are considering putting business your way. For example, if your business focuses on your local area only e.g. a Blackpool TV repair business, then many people in that area will search online for TV repair shops in the Blackpool area, to find out what is available. Far more people are searching online, than there is people looking through the Yellow Pages. Once they find local TV repair shops online, they will be able to make a phone call to the business of their choice or come and visit you. Without a website you would not be found and would lose business to your competitors, who are online.

7. Marketing Communication – if you have launched a new product or service then you can make potential and current customers aware of this, by mentioning it on your website. For example, if you own a clothes shop and have launched your Summer fashion range, then this can be promoted via your website. Likewise of you are running a special promotion or discount then you can promote them online. For example, if you run a restaurant then you could feature e.g. “free bottle of wine on orders over £30” or “2 for 1 Offer”, etc.

8. Cost Effective Market Research – Understanding what your customers want & need will benefit your business. Finding out what they like & dislike about your products/services are invaluable. Instead of you having to ask face to face or one at a time over the phone for customer feedback, you can instead take advantage of online polls and feedback questionnaires on your website. You can also include online surveys in order to gain a greater understanding of your customers and potential customers. Gaining such feedback online via your website will be much cheaper and quicker than having to ask each individual yourself.

Furthermore, you can analyse search stats from your website to understand what people are looking for on your website. What are the most popular things people are looking for? For example, if you sell shoes and you see that thousands of people are searching on your website for “pink shoes” (but you don’t currently sell them) then you will be able to discover that there is a demand for particular products and make arrangements to meet that demand.

9. Cost Effective – Compared to other ways to advertise and market your business, such as newspaper ads, radio ads, direct mail, etc, setting up a website is relatively cheap. You can get a website set up quickly & easily by securing the domain name of your choice for approx. £5 per year and get web hosting arranged for as little as £2 per month. Once you have these in place you are ready to get your business online. You could achieve significant return, on what is only a minimal investment.

10. Protect Your Brand – Not only will having a business website help generate more orders for you, it will also help secure you brand online. If you don’t have a website for your business online, then there is always the danger that “cybersquatters” will register your business name online. Even worse, anybody with an axe to grind, or an unscrupulous competitor might set up a website to damage your business reputation. Ensuring you have an online presence will help protect your brand.