THE DIGITAL BUSINESS START-UP WORKBOOK -- Contents -- Dedication and Acknowledgements -- Foreword -- Introduction: Generation Entrepreneur: Open For Business -- Greater Opportunity = Greater Competition -- The Perfect Storm for Digital Enterprise -- What You'll Learn -- Part 1: Starting Up Your Own Digital Business -- Step One: The Big Idea - Create and Evolve Your Concept -- Sowing the Seeds of Success -- Stepping Stones: The Journey of an Idea -- The Long-Term Vision -- Good Idea Checklist -- 1. Clear and simple -- 2. Useful, innovative and differentiated -- 3. Disruptive -- Step Two: Choose Your Business Model -- All Change: The New Digital Currency -- Monetization methods -- People powered models -- Digital Business Models Explained -- 1. The freemium model -- 2. The e-commerce model (E-Tail) -- Straightforward products -- Virtual goods and digital downloads -- Customer-led: me-tail and f lash sales -- Selling expertise -- Selling services -- Selling data -- Selling licensing -- 3. The advertising model -- Advertising formats -- 4. The affiliate model -- 5. The revenue share model -- 6. The subscription model -- 7. The app store application model -- It's an app eat app world -- Go Forth and Multiply -- Step Three: Assess Viability and Create A Customer-Centric Business Plan -- Diligence: The Importance of Planning -- Destination and Direction: Plotting a Clear Path -- Creating a Customer-Centric Plan -- Knowledge Is Power: Gathering Evidence and Understanding -- Research your customers: Uncovering demand, uniqueness and untapped needs -- Testing Times: Get Your Product Out There -- The Right Market -- Research Competition: Uncovering Gaps in the Market and Growth Sectors -- Creating Your Business Plan and Action Plan -- Make It Official: Business, Trademark and Domain Name Registration and Intellectual Property -- Choose your name wisely.

Check the viability of your name before you register it -- Protect your intellectual property -- Taking IP enforcement action -- Step Four: Fund Your Venture -- Suitable Sources of Finance -- Friends and family -- Mr Bank Manager -- Credit card companies -- Asset f inanciers -- Government grants -- Private equity: Business angels or venture capitalists -- Corporate venturing -- Crowdfunding -- Raising Finance: Preparation -- 1. Assess whether raising money is the right thing to do -- 2. Beta-test or soft-launch your product/service on a shoestring -- 3. Assess the level of investment required -- 4. Assess your business valuation -- 5. Provide persuasive proof to justify your valuation -- A strong value proposition, strategy and business/exit plan? -- A quality likeable management team? -- Able operations? -- Transparency? -- It's Not All About The Money -- The Right Match -- Pitching Do's and Don'ts -- When the Ink Has Dried -- Part 2: Building Your Business -- Step Five: Build Your Website -- Setting Up Your Website -- 1. Content-Rich to Attract and Retain Website Visitors -- Content that connects -- The trust factor -- How to use engaging content to connect with your audience and boost conversion rates -- 1. User reviews and ratings -- 2. Video -- 3. Blogs, tips, guides and content showcasing your expertise -- Shareable content -- Quality content: Create the best user experience possible -- 2. User-Friendly Navigation -- What they seek: Provide a smooth 'f inding' process -- What stage they are at: Provide a smooth 'buying' process -- Let your customer drive your navigation -- Make your site easy, usable and intuitive to move around -- 3. Persuasive, Clickable and Indexable Web Copy to Convert Visitors into Customers.

Message Rule 1 - Focus on what's in it for your visitors. What benefits will your visitors gain? How precisely can you help solve their problem? -- Message Rule 2 - Use the right, relevant, targeted language -- Message Rule 3 - Speak to an individual and refer to them as 'you' rather than 'we' -- leave 'about us' information for the 'about us' page -- Message Rule 4 - Include compelling calls to action -- Message Rule 5 - Make sure your words and 'meta tags' are relevant and indexable -- The readability factor: How you say it -- 4. Aesthetically-Pleasing Design and Well-Managed Development -- Outsourced or open-source? -- Get it right f irst time -- Off-the-shelf -- Strikingly simple: Minimalist design -- For a simple clean site design -- Browser/device compatibility -- 5. Accessible to All -- 6. Reliable and Fast-Loading -- 7. Secure and Customer-Friendly Logistics -- Supply -- Building credibility as a start-up -- Payment providers -- Delivery -- 8. Analytical -- Step Six: Build Your Mobile App And Mobile-Friendly Site -- Optimize your Existing Site for Mobile Across Multiple Platforms -- 2. Develop a Mobile-Specific Mobile-Commerce Website Which Accepts Mobile-Payments -- 3. Develop a Mobile App -- Making your value proposition well-suited to an app -- What makes an app appealing? -- Going app: How it works -- App building -- Step Seven: Build Your Team -- Staffing Options -- Crowd-sourcing and freelancing -- Hiring offshore -- Specifying Talent: Filling the Gaps - Defining Strengths and Weaknesses -- Sourcing Talent: Finding People to Fill Those Gaps -- Talent acquisition methods -- 1. Use your network -- 2. Use an agency -- 3. Use social media -- Other sourcing methods to try -- Recruiting Talent -- Choosing wisely: You're hired -- Retaining Talent: Keeping Hold of Your Best People -- Cultivate and keep talent -- 1. Make people happy.

2. Make people feel secure -- 3. Treat people and the wider world well -- Step Eight: Build Your Brand -- A Passionate Purpose: The Importance of Brand Values -- Your best behaviour -- Play To Your Strengths -- Package Up Your Brand Identity and Image -- Your slogan -- Part 3: Running And Growing Your Business -- Step Nine: Effective Online Marketing -- Spark Interest Before Launch -- Pick 'n' Mix -- Digital Marketing Methods -- Content marketing -- Editorial via online PR -- E-mail and SMS marketing -- Affiliate marketing -- Daily deal sites/competition sites -- Paid search: PPC (pay-per-click) marketing -- Display advertising -- Search engine marketing -- SEO (search engine optimization) -- Localization: Local listings -- Step Ten: Measure and Improve your Marketing and Website Performance -- The Evolution of Marketing -- Monitoring Marketing Performance: Accountability of Expenditure and Results -- Monitoring Website Performance: Using Analytics, Tests and Feedback to Improve Results -- Testing, testing . . . -- Website Analytics: Secure All Exits -- Using Customer Feedback: Listen Up -- Step Eleven: Creating a Buzz Using People Power -- Social Networking -- 1. Visibility -- Create your footprint -- Reveal your value -- Be yourself and be honest -- Be active -- Seek and connect -- Research -- Make your connections and content count -- 2. Credibility -- Listen and respond to your connections -- Participate actively in conversations -- Invite your users to contribute to your content -- Measure your engagement rate -- 3. Positivity -- 4. Profitability -- Add value: Become the link in the chain -- Collaboration: Aligned alliances -- Channel Hopping -- Twitter -- Blogs -- Facebook -- Foursquare -- LinkedIn -- Ecademy -- YouTube -- Toolbox -- Amaze and Empower Your Customers: Customer Retention and Referral.

1. Have a fantastic product and value proposition that satisfies customers' unmet needs -- 2. Empower and enable your customers to promote your products and services for you -- Community counts -- Referral preferences -- 3. Excel at customer service and satisfaction -- Reputation Management and Buzz Monitoring -- Step Twelve: Selling Up -- Timing: When is the Best Time To Sell? -- 1. Evaluate market dynamics and conditions -- 2. Sell high: On the way up - before the peak of a cycle -- 3. Consider what is driving the sale of the business -- 4. Know when to let go -- Reducing Owner Dependency -- Due Diligence and Value: Preparing For a Successful Exit -- How To Maximize Capital Value -- Selling to the Right Buyers -- Selling for the Right Price -- The Definitive Online Business Success Checklist -- About Cheryl Rickman -- References -- Index.