Digital business	1.7/5.0 (3 votes total) Rate: Select 1 - Terrible 2 - Poor 3 - Average 4 - Good 5 - Outstanding
Barry Goggin November 07, 2008

“Managing the digital enterprise” is an educational site that made me sit back and look at the big picture again. Written by Michael Rappa from North Carolina State University and available for free, the course sweeps through business on the web.

Back to business basics

For me there is still a gem on each page and the case examples can make you stop to think. While much of it is not new, I often find myself bogged down on day to day details. There is the old saying that you find a way to make a dollar profit, repeat that a million times and you will have a million dollars. Cutting your business model and method down to its essence often helps you refocus and for me, this course did that.

With all the discussion about the downturn in domain sales and pricing and the expected reduction in ad spend, now is the perfect time to re-examine your business model and see if it is ready to survive under stressful economic times.

Revenue streams

For example, how many domainers are dependent on one revenue stream? Sales e.g. flipping or advertising e.g. parked pages are the most common domaining business revenue streams and many domainers are dependent on one of those for most of their profit.

Diversify revenue streams

If there is one lesson to be learned from the “real world”, it is not to become dependent on one revenue stream. Part 5 of the course about business models reminded me of how many ways there are to make money on the web. The great thing about an online business is that it allows you to test and mix various business models and profit making strategies.

Traffic analytics

We probably all collect web traffic stats but I bet most do not make much use of them, other than to pat themselves on the back if traffic increases. The web analytics part of the course reminded me of this wonderful resource. Something as simple as the search terms used to reach your domain or website is incredibly useful. If a number of people have arrived at your poultry.com domain/site for example looking for information on eggs and you only have information or links about hens, then you are missing out on converting that “egg” traffic. Tweaking your parked page or website based on these terms can help increase conversion and even traffic for a website.

Case studies

Don’t forget to check the case studies often found in the side bars. These include questions to get you thinking. Case studies are what bridge the gap between academic essay and real world application for me and this course does a nice job of blending the two.

Whether you are seasoned old salt of the Internet or a web newbie, I think you will find something worthwhile on Managing the Digital Enterprise

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