The Serbian National Internet Domain Registry Foundation (RNIDS), in partnership with the municipality of Vrnjačka Banja, held a one-day free educational workshop on 24th October 2017 for all those interested in hearing more about the basics of doing business on the Internet. This event was another in a series organised by the RNIDS Foundation all over Serbia in cooperation with local partners.
During four talks, some 70 attendees had a chance to hear about the potential of the Internet, and how it could help them launch a new business or develop an existing one.
“The domain on which your business site is hosted should not be registered in the name of the agency you work with, your business partner, or even in your own name. The only correct approach is to register your domain in the name of your company,” stressed Predrag Milićević, Chief Marketing and Communications Officer with RNIDS, during his talk. He reminded the audience of examples of brands that did not take due care over their Internet domains and as a result comprised their business web sites – and their reputations too. “The right time to register a domain is the moment the business idea comes to you. Any time after that could be too late,” Milićević warned, advising the audience to protect their business ideas by registering an Internet domain at the earliest opportunity.
The talk on business websites by Lazar Bošković, founder and owner of the AgitPROP agency, was packed with useful advice, outlining the essential aspects of creating content for a business website. “Concept, content, design and programming – those are the four steps to creating a website,” summarised Bošković, who also highlighted the importance of having a web strategy in order to ensure a high-quality, long-term Internet identity. “Don’t embarrass yourselves! Always keep grammar and style guides close to hand. A correct and clear writing style are essential if you want potential customers and audience to take you seriously,” said Bošković.
“If you don’t want your audience to fall asleep while looking at or reading your content, be sure to make it relevant,” said Ivan Bildi, founder and owner of Internet marketing agency "Likes and Cookies". These days, people have their eye on more than one screen at the same time, they communicate on multiple social networks and platforms simultaneously, and if you don’t get their attention with something relevant they will swipe you away with the stroke of a finger. “Unless you have enough money and resources to take a man to the edge of space then throw him out and stream him freefalling (like Red Bull), you have no option but to be smart about how you create content and your social network presence,” said Bildi.
“This is Ana from Vrnjačka Banja. She is 26 and has just realised that she needs to get a birthday present for her friend, so she is surfing the net and thinking about what to buy her. If you have a product or service that Ana might be interested in, advertising can help ensure you are the one to get her custom,” said Jelena Ožegović, RNIDS Marketing and Communications Associate. Buyers go through a decision-making process, beginning with the moment they realise their need for a particular product or service, right up to the point of the actual purchase, whether online or offline. In each of these decision-making stages we can communicate with the customer in different ways. “That is why goal-setting and planning is perhaps the most important aspect of all the promotional activities a business engages in,” Ožegović said.
As part of this series on the basics of doing business online, RNIDS has also organised educational events in Bor and Leskovac during 2017.