Internet Help And FAQ
Many of my clients ask me similar questions regarding the Internet, Computers and Everything, so I thought it’d be nice to compile some of it for everyone else to share.
The Internet can be quite daunting for people that happen not to have grown up with it. Even people that use it every day only have a very dim idea of what this beast is and what it is capable of doing for them. Users, as people are often known as on the Internet, tend to stick to what they know and usually what they’ve started with. Sites like Google.com, MSN.com and Yahoo.com are the primary starting places. Not forgetting all those AOL.com users of course, which are trapped in the nice virtual world within the virtual world of our world.
AOL was my starting point also (apart from BBS and Usenet) and I never appreciated its usefulness until I started helping people with using the Internet and computers in general. AOL presents the user with a very simplified portal to the Internet and tries to make things easier. Which it does, however it’s not the real Internet! It’s AOL’s view of the world and unless you venture out a little using the web-browser to Google around, you are seeing only a very narrow picture.
The best tool for finding what you are looking for without a doubt is Google.com. If you are looking to buy or trade it’s eBay.com. If you are into all-out mall shopping, go to Amazon.com. If you want news use news.google.com that grabs all the stories, locally and globally, without human intervention and gives you a good overview of what’s happening around you. If you are looking for information and reference use Wikipedia.org, the world’s largest human edited encyclopaedia. Want a word definition? Use Dictionary.com. It’s easy really, if you know where to look.
One big tip for a wealth of information and discussion in general is Usenet, which is a rather unknown backwater of the Internet and has been in existence from the very early days. It’s like a cross over between a message board and email discussion list and has over 90,000 “newsgroups” carrying chatter about everything imaginable! Try groups.google.com for a nice introduction and dive into Usenet.
Now that we’ve got our resources covered let’s look at what the Internet is and what it can do for you in more detail.
The Internet in essence is a huge bunch of computers connected via telephone lines. The computers carry all sorts of data, which is shared between them. Computers are capable of many things today and can be found everywhere. From your home computer to mobile phones and TV set-top boxes. Soon your fridge and washing machine will be connected too, enabling you to do things you never thought you could do without. With all that connectivity and communication potential the question arises as to what the average business owner or mortal human can get out of it.
Most small business owners want to get customers and more money. Most people want to find goods, services and information or simply communicate with their peers as conveniently and cost effectively as possible.
There are now more innovations and service providers for the latest thing you can do using a computer and the Internet than you can easily shake a multi-story car park at. Users become baffled and either end up paying for something that doesn’t give them what they need or not using the whole thing altogether.
If you run a business or offer a service as a freelancer there are easy and mostly free ways to get started. Sell (almost) anything you like to a global audience, using the largest market place on Earth: eBay.com. It’s very affordable, easy and you don’t need your own homepage. In fact eBay provides your with a free “about me” page and – if you want – your own little shop. A free email account that came with your Internet connection, a credit card to make payments with and bank account will suffice to set up shop. They also do a great job to help you get things done without having to learn much new or employ somebody for. There is a large number of people living on eBay quite literally, making more money than you do with a shop in the high street. Did you know that eBay is one of the largest economies, with a turnover of over a trillion dollars a year (Source: Forbes.com)? Mind boggling.
If you are a freelancer and looking to offer your services, get a little homepage up to promote yourself with. Consider the Internet offers you a more cost effective way to advertise than classified ads in your local paper. Also, more and more people are using the Internet (or Google for that matter) to look for a service or product these days. However, there are markets that prefer traditional methods and don’t use the Internet as much, so investigate before investing time and money into a web-presence.
If you choose to go on the Web I suggest you get your own domain name and email as it looks much more professional than a free email and website address. Most web hosting providers offer you low cost packages including your own domain name, email and tools to get a professional looking page up within no time. I recommend 1&1 (oneandone.com) since they are one of the global leaders in that field. However, their service and support sucks but the low prices and relative ease of use makes up for that. If you don’t want to take the plunge with your own domain, just get a free email account from GMail – mail.google.com, please email me for free invites – and a free website from Blogger.com. Blogger.com is a free web-log (aka blog, journal) site, which is nothing more than a simple way to get a webpage up without the steep learning curve or any impact on your wallet.
When you have your own page up, either on Blogger.com or eBay.com, submit it to the world’s largest human edited Internet directory: DMOZ.org. It’s absolutely free and will help you get into the search engines. If you want more, just Google for a more specific web-directory to your liking and all should be good. Don’t expect to be number on the search engines though. That is an altogether different matter and needs a specialist to help you get the results you want.
Marketing yourself on the Internet successfully is not magic but beware of those SEO (search engine optimising) providers and software! Most of them are utter rubbish, a waste of money and can have the adverse effect you desire. You have two options: One is to spend a lot of time reading up on all the information about how to become number one. The other is to invest your money carefully with someone who specialises in Internet Marketing and Search Engine Optimization and can deliver a return on investment within a comparatively short period of time (1-2 months for initial results and on-going maintenance if you want to stay on top).
Look out for small businesses and freelancers with good references, a track record and without large promises on how they can make you number one for 9.98 in just 48 hours. The big question with Internet Marketing and Search Engine Optimisation is not whether you can be number one on Google but for how long and for what keywords/phrases? Also, will it make a positive difference to your bottom line? A dedicated marketer will make sure you get results that bring in the business you want and stay on top of the search engines for longer.
If you are just a regular Jon or Jane and want to use the Internet to share ideas and make new friends, I recommend participation in newsgroups (Usenet – groups.google.com) and if you have more to say, a blog (aka web-log, journal). Using Blogger.com to create your own little website for example links you to such useful (free) services as Flickr.com, the online photo album and lot’s more.
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