By BRIAN TILLEY btilley@cngroup.co.uk

Last updated at 10:26, Friday, 09 July 2010

SMALL businesses in Tynedale are missing out on thousands of pounds worth of business because they still regard the internet as a shady and mysterious world.

And often when they finally do turn to the world wide web, they have already wasted thousands of pounds on pointless campaigns.

But help is at hand in the shape of Ridsdale-based internet expert Graham Green.

He has been involved in internet selling since its pioneering days in 2004, and is keen to spread the word to small businesses.

His business, sellthemoon, already markets everything from stone garden ornaments to spectacles on the internet.

He said: “Many years ago, I was preaching to businesses the virtues of selling on sites like eBay, but they were a bit sniffy about it, saying it was nothing more than a flea market. Now, all the big stores like Debenhams and Republic use eBay.”

He is now offering a service in which he will set up online selling sites for local businesses, and even run them for six months.

He said: “The normal way to set up a sales website is deeply flawed. It assumes people know what they want, how they want to do it, and that they fully understand the requirements before going live.

“Then, once the site has been designed and built, often at considerable cost, many businesses are simply abandoned.”

He likened it to someone wanting to learn to drive being expected to design and build their own car first.

“You have to understand how it works and know how to drive it even before you have your first lesson. This is the situation with online sales.

“To continue the analogy, we build the car, make it work, and to start with, we even drive it for the customer. Then we gradually teach clients to take over the controls and do things for themselves.”

Graham’s company will create an ecommerce website, with an eBay shop, and give one to one coaching sessions on the importance of keywords and how to get noticed on search engines.

He added: “The cost of getting into ecommerce can put some people off, but with us, there is no immediate lump sum to find. We can arrange short term fixed monthly payments and, because we are on the North East Supplier Register, there may be help available from Business Link too.”

Graham previously worked for a large multi-national company where he was forever travelling and away from home.

He said: “I have technology to thank for offering me a much healthier and enjoyable lifestyle.”

Contact www.sellthemoon.com or call Graham on (01434) 270684.

First published at 09:40, Friday, 09 July 2010
Published by http://www.hexhamcourant.co.uk