Comments on: Irish Small/Micro Businesses and the web http://www.argolon.com/2008/02/08/irish-smallmicro-businesses-and-the-web/ The company behind LouderVoice Customer Reviews Thu, 04 Feb 2010 14:14:05 +0000 hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v= By: A possible web solution for small/micro biz | Argolon http://www.argolon.com/2008/02/08/irish-smallmicro-businesses-and-the-web/comment-page-1/#comment-33827 A possible web solution for small/micro biz | Argolon Thu, 14 Feb 2008 00:25:36 +0000 http://www.argolon.com/2008/02/08/irish-smallmicro-businesses-and-the-web/#comment-33827 [...] had a great exchange of ideas on the previous post about ways of getting very small businesses online. Of particular interest to me are the companies [...] [...] had a great exchange of ideas on the previous post about ways of getting very small businesses online. Of particular interest to me are the companies [...]

]]> By: Conor O'Neill http://www.argolon.com/2008/02/08/irish-smallmicro-businesses-and-the-web/comment-page-1/#comment-33089 Conor O'Neill Sat, 09 Feb 2008 18:50:17 +0000 http://www.argolon.com/2008/02/08/irish-smallmicro-businesses-and-the-web/#comment-33089 Thanks for the Jimdo tip, I'll look there too. I'd love to be just able to say to the average micro-biz, "you don't need do know anything. Just go _here_". At the minute with Tech-Checks we're not allowed (rightly) to do the actual work for people or tell them names of local suppliers, we just tell them what they need to get done. The downside is that if the client doesn't know who to use they are stuck. I break the general rule on no-recommendation but only by pointing people to obvious things like GMail, AVG or Dell/HP laptops. Thanks for the Jimdo tip, I’ll look there too.

I’d love to be just able to say to the average micro-biz, “you don’t need do know anything. Just go _here_”. At the minute with Tech-Checks we’re not allowed (rightly) to do the actual work for people or tell them names of local suppliers, we just tell them what they need to get done. The downside is that if the client doesn’t know who to use they are stuck. I break the general rule on no-recommendation but only by pointing people to obvious things like GMail, AVG or Dell/HP laptops.

]]> By: Conor’s Bandon Blog » Blog Archive » Review of The Old Post Inn http://www.argolon.com/2008/02/08/irish-smallmicro-businesses-and-the-web/comment-page-1/#comment-33076 Conor’s Bandon Blog » Blog Archive » Review of The Old Post Inn Sat, 09 Feb 2008 17:04:34 +0000 http://www.argolon.com/2008/02/08/irish-smallmicro-businesses-and-the-web/#comment-33076 [...] Post. It’s a lovely part of the country and you’ll come away refreshed. Oh and to echo a topic I wrote about on my business blog yesterday, they really need to get themselves a web-site! Rated 3/5 on Feb 9 [...] [...] Post. It’s a lovely part of the country and you’ll come away refreshed. Oh and to echo a topic I wrote about on my business blog yesterday, they really need to get themselves a web-site! Rated 3/5 on Feb 9 [...]

]]> By: Matt http://www.argolon.com/2008/02/08/irish-smallmicro-businesses-and-the-web/comment-page-1/#comment-33070 Matt Sat, 09 Feb 2008 16:40:37 +0000 http://www.argolon.com/2008/02/08/irish-smallmicro-businesses-and-the-web/#comment-33070 Connor, you should also take a look at Jimdo (http://www.jimdo.com), can use your own design (upload via easy API) and have tons of additional features, i.e. newslettersystem with integrating link tracking, different privacy settings -> stuff thats really usefui especially for SME. Connor, you should also take a look at Jimdo (http://www.jimdo.com), can use your own design (upload via easy API) and have tons of additional features, i.e. newslettersystem with integrating link tracking, different privacy settings -> stuff thats really usefui especially for SME.

]]> By: Conor O'Neill http://www.argolon.com/2008/02/08/irish-smallmicro-businesses-and-the-web/comment-page-1/#comment-33037 Conor O'Neill Sat, 09 Feb 2008 12:06:50 +0000 http://www.argolon.com/2008/02/08/irish-smallmicro-businesses-and-the-web/#comment-33037 Thanks Lisa. I learned a huge amount about non-technical users when I ran a Wordpress training course recently. We used wordpress.com as the hands-on system and most of them could not get past the registration screen without help from me. Stuff that was obvious to me simply wasn't clear to them. I'll try and apply that mindset when trialling Synthasite. Thanks Lisa. I learned a huge amount about non-technical users when I ran a WordPress training course recently. We used wordpress.com as the hands-on system and most of them could not get past the registration screen without help from me. Stuff that was obvious to me simply wasn’t clear to them. I’ll try and apply that mindset when trialling Synthasite.

]]> By: Conor O'Neill http://www.argolon.com/2008/02/08/irish-smallmicro-businesses-and-the-web/comment-page-1/#comment-33036 Conor O'Neill Sat, 09 Feb 2008 12:04:47 +0000 http://www.argolon.com/2008/02/08/irish-smallmicro-businesses-and-the-web/#comment-33036 Stephen - half the Tech-Checks I have done to date would have been perfect candidates for a zero-effort web-site, a mini-blog for news and their own email domain. The only thing they would have to provide is the content. The issue you would have as a hosting provider is getting that message to the target demographic. From what I can gather, the response on Tech-Checks has not been as good as hoped and this is probably down to the fact that if a micro-biz doesn't know they have a problem, they are not going to look for help. There is a widely held perception out there that you cannot have a web-site for less than €1000. I don't know how we kill that except one by one on each TechCheck we do. Stephen – half the Tech-Checks I have done to date would have been perfect candidates for a zero-effort web-site, a mini-blog for news and their own email domain. The only thing they would have to provide is the content. The issue you would have as a hosting provider is getting that message to the target demographic.

From what I can gather, the response on Tech-Checks has not been as good as hoped and this is probably down to the fact that if a micro-biz doesn’t know they have a problem, they are not going to look for help.

There is a widely held perception out there that you cannot have a web-site for less than €1000. I don’t know how we kill that except one by one on each TechCheck we do.

]]> By: Lisa Retief http://www.argolon.com/2008/02/08/irish-smallmicro-businesses-and-the-web/comment-page-1/#comment-32954 Lisa Retief Sat, 09 Feb 2008 04:00:49 +0000 http://www.argolon.com/2008/02/08/irish-smallmicro-businesses-and-the-web/#comment-32954 Yes, you read it correctly. You are able to download the content and take it elsewhere, or just back it up if you want to. And the service, both website creator and hosting well always be free, without adverts. We are also doing a lot of work to make sure that the hosting speed and uptime is impeccable. It is still early days for the website creator but we have tried to aim it as users with no technical know-how. There are a lot of features and usability improvements in the pipeline. We are particularly interested in what users need so if you come up with any recommendations during your trial run please feed the back to us, Yes, you read it correctly. You are able to download the content and take it elsewhere, or just back it up if you want to. And the service, both website creator and hosting well always be free, without adverts. We are also doing a lot of work to make sure that the hosting speed and uptime is impeccable.
It is still early days for the website creator but we have tried to aim it as users with no technical know-how. There are a lot of features and usability improvements in the pipeline. We are particularly interested in what users need so if you come up with any recommendations during your trial run please feed the back to us,

]]> By: Stephen McCarron http://www.argolon.com/2008/02/08/irish-smallmicro-businesses-and-the-web/comment-page-1/#comment-32866 Stephen McCarron Fri, 08 Feb 2008 19:56:28 +0000 http://www.argolon.com/2008/02/08/irish-smallmicro-businesses-and-the-web/#comment-32866 Is there a market for domain registrars to provide a 'one page site' type service or template based engine with a domain name? Is there a market for domain registrars to provide a ‘one page site’ type service or template based engine with a domain name?

]]> By: Conor O'Neill http://www.argolon.com/2008/02/08/irish-smallmicro-businesses-and-the-web/comment-page-1/#comment-32845 Conor O'Neill Fri, 08 Feb 2008 17:50:01 +0000 http://www.argolon.com/2008/02/08/irish-smallmicro-businesses-and-the-web/#comment-32845 I'm going to do follow-up posts on two approaches. One based on eWrite which is more expensive but provides full service CMS and handholding including hosting on an Irish host like hosting365 or Blacknight. The other is the cheapest approach of .com domain pointing at Synthasite (or similar). Each approach has an appropriate target audience I think. I’m going to do follow-up posts on two approaches. One based on eWrite which is more expensive but provides full service CMS and handholding including hosting on an Irish host like hosting365 or Blacknight. The other is the cheapest approach of .com domain pointing at Synthasite (or similar). Each approach has an appropriate target audience I think.

]]> By: Stephen McCarron http://www.argolon.com/2008/02/08/irish-smallmicro-businesses-and-the-web/comment-page-1/#comment-32842 Stephen McCarron Fri, 08 Feb 2008 17:20:35 +0000 http://www.argolon.com/2008/02/08/irish-smallmicro-businesses-and-the-web/#comment-32842 Buy a domain from www.register365.com for €5.95 per annum and point it at sythasite . Buy a domain from http://www.register365.com for €5.95 per annum and point it at sythasite .

]]> By: Conor O'Neill http://www.argolon.com/2008/02/08/irish-smallmicro-businesses-and-the-web/comment-page-1/#comment-32832 Conor O'Neill Fri, 08 Feb 2008 16:40:10 +0000 http://www.argolon.com/2008/02/08/irish-smallmicro-businesses-and-the-web/#comment-32832 Other suggestions via <a href="http://twitter.com/conoro" rel="nofollow">Twitter</a> and <a href="http://conoro.jaiku.com/presence/25713853" rel="nofollow">Jaiku</a> have been: <a href="http://www.blacknight.ie/" rel="nofollow">Blacknight Blog hosting</a> (Irish web host) <a href="http://www.ewrite.ie/" rel="nofollow">eWrite Essentials</a> (Irish hosted service with CMS) <a href="http://www.terapad.com/" rel="nofollow">Terapad</a> (UK similar to Synthasite) <a href="http://www.weebly.com/" rel="nofollow">Weebly</a> (but seems more locked-in than Synthasite?) Other suggestions via Twitter and Jaiku have been:

Blacknight Blog hosting (Irish web host)

eWrite Essentials (Irish hosted service with CMS)

Terapad (UK similar to Synthasite)

Weebly (but seems more locked-in than Synthasite?)

]]> By: Conor O'Neill http://www.argolon.com/2008/02/08/irish-smallmicro-businesses-and-the-web/comment-page-1/#comment-32828 Conor O'Neill Fri, 08 Feb 2008 16:09:24 +0000 http://www.argolon.com/2008/02/08/irish-smallmicro-businesses-and-the-web/#comment-32828 Wow you guys are fast! Technorati has sped up its watchlists :-) That is a total bargain. Since you guys have a ton of money in the bank, we also know you are not going away any time soon. I will go through the process myself with a spare domain I have and then recommend it if it looks doable by technophobes. One of the reasons I mentioned you specifically is that you also let people download the designs so there isn't lock-in. Did I read that correctly/ Wow you guys are fast! Technorati has sped up its watchlists :-)

That is a total bargain.

Since you guys have a ton of money in the bank, we also know you are not going away any time soon.

I will go through the process myself with a spare domain I have and then recommend it if it looks doable by technophobes.

One of the reasons I mentioned you specifically is that you also let people download the designs so there isn’t lock-in. Did I read that correctly/

]]> By: Lisa Retief http://www.argolon.com/2008/02/08/irish-smallmicro-businesses-and-the-web/comment-page-1/#comment-32827 Lisa Retief Fri, 08 Feb 2008 16:01:01 +0000 http://www.argolon.com/2008/02/08/irish-smallmicro-businesses-and-the-web/#comment-32827 Hey Conor. Glad to hear you recommend <a href="http://www.synthasite.com/" rel="nofollow">SynthaSite</a> as a free website builder. You can now use your own domain name with SynthaSite hosting, so you can remove about $38 from your total, as our hosting is totally free. So all you need is a domain name (unless you want to use *.synthasite.com) and the rest is free forever. Hey Conor. Glad to hear you recommend SynthaSite as a free website builder. You can now use your own domain name with SynthaSite hosting, so you can remove about $38 from your total, as our hosting is totally free. So all you need is a domain name (unless you want to use *.synthasite.com) and the rest is free forever.

]]> By: Brent Viljoen http://www.argolon.com/2008/02/08/irish-smallmicro-businesses-and-the-web/comment-page-1/#comment-32824 Brent Viljoen Fri, 08 Feb 2008 15:53:25 +0000 http://www.argolon.com/2008/02/08/irish-smallmicro-businesses-and-the-web/#comment-32824 Thanks for the mention Conor, It is our intention to assist small businesses in creating their web presence cheaply and easily. Businesses can get online with zero cost because SynthaSite will host your site for free. If you need your own domain GoDaddy will charge you about $10. When you publish your site just enter the domain and follow the instructions. new website < $10 Thanks for the mention Conor,

It is our intention to assist small businesses in creating their web presence cheaply and easily.

Businesses can get online with zero cost because SynthaSite will host your site for free. If you need your own domain GoDaddy will charge you about $10. When you publish your site just enter the domain and follow the instructions.

new website < $10

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