According to Andrew Knight New Canaan, a tech expert and blogger, there are many benefits to starting your own online business:
- You can carry your business with you wherever you go – most business can be difficult to manage when the owner is not in the present location. Through an online business opportunity, you can start managing your business wherever you are, as long as you have an internet connection.
- Your business is scalable with the least amount of effort – you can grow your business quickly with the least capital needed. Some online businesses only need pay for a web space and domain name, especially if they offer electronic products or services.
- You have an opportunity to reach a wide variety of clients – traditional businesses have the scope of marketing to its local community. With an online business, you can start advertising even to a global market, and you can even choose to target clients who are not from your local community.
However, there are some things you should remember when starting your own online business. Like traditional business ethics, you should also go by the rules of online business ethics. Andrew Knight New Canaan shares new information about entrepreneurs should establish their online business blogs.
5 Essential Etiquette’s to Implement in Your Business Blog
1. Place disclaimers for affiliate links
One of the ways that bloggers earn money from their website is through affiliate links. Affiliate links are provided by networks, and they pay the bloggers a small commission for referring a customer. As a part of online blog etiquette, you should explain to your readers that your post may contain affiliate links. This can be in the form of a reminder before the post or a separate page where you explain the ways with how your blog makes money.
Your explanation should show that purchasing through affiliate links has no additional cost, and it’s a way for readers to support your blog. When this is done, your readers will trust you more and would be willing to purchase through your links if they are interested.
2. Make sure to add privacy policy and disclaimer page
Another important part of your website is adding a privacy policy and a disclaimer page. Privacy policy and disclaimer page contain all the information about how you are using your user’s data, as well as the ways that you earn money through your blog posts.
This is a full page that helps you avoid liability when people access your site. It protects you from potential threats that others users may put against you or your blog. If you are unsure about what to place in your privacy policy and disclaimer page, you can look into free generators online. Just go to Google and look for “Privacy Policy Generator” or “Disclaimer Generator” and you should be getting what you need.
3. If your blog is using cookies, create a popup to let readers know
In case you haven’t heard, there are new rules to help users protect their privacy. A part of this is helping people understand that a particular site uses “cookies”, which record some type of user information to give the best website experience.
If your blog uses cookies, make sure to include it in a pop-up before they get to access your website.
4. Place reminders if a blog is a sponsored post
A sponsored post is a blog that a company asked you to create to promote their product or service. It is an etiquette rule that you should let your readers know that it is a sponsored post because users would like to be informed objectively about the information that they are reading.
A sponsored post will always be in favor of the product or service, so it is your duty as a blogger to let them know that you are asked to promote the product.
5. Add credit for photos and other multimedia lifted from other sources
Some bloggers forget to do this, and they end up getting sued! Do not forget to add credits when it is due. Initially, you must find out if the source allows you to even post such photos or other media in your blog. If there is nothing indicated, you can ask permission by contacting the author. Make sure to link the source or the creator when you get the sufficient information.
Doing these things will not only gain your reader’s trust but will also protect you from having online business troubles in the future.
