Chester Entrepreneur Scholarship: Online Business Competition

This essay, submitted for the Chester Entrepreneur Scholarship, outlines a student's plan to leverage the internet for starting a publication site targeting young scholars. The essay details market research strategies using surveys and social media, website development including domain and hosting, content management systems, and establishing a social media presence. It further addresses managing increased competition in the online marketplace through a dynamic website with a blog, mobile optimization, Google AdWords campaigns, and Search Engine Optimization (SEO). The essay emphasizes the importance of customer interaction, website credibility through reviews, and the overall power of the internet for business success. The student emphasizes the use of tools like Google Forms, Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, Mailchimp, and SEO techniques to gain a competitive edge and stay connected with customers. The essay also includes a reference list of supporting academic sources.

Running Head: CHESTER ENTREPRENEUR SCHOLARSHIP
CHESTER Entrepreneur Scholarship
Name
Institution
Date of Submission

CHESTER ENTREPRENEUR SCHOLARSHIP 2
How I would leverage the Internet to develop a business
The internet has played a significant role in helping solo-preneurs to venture into
business and progress successfully. Personally, I am excited and I have positive energy to
venture into business. I have an idea to start a publication site targeting young scholars doing
their degree courses. Many of these students do a project or research, but end up not publishing
their results which could be of benefit. The good news is that I can leverage the internet to start
me off. So, I would start performing market research to prove the problem am trying to solve
exists (Tan et al., 2016). Through the use of a survey, I can be able to gather enough information.
By creating survey using Google Forms and a link I can be able to share it to many people. This
can occur through use of social media, emails, in-person conversations, and text messages.
Consequently, I would make a website where I can advertise my business. At the first, I can start
with a Facebook business page and later on develop my domain and hosting services through the
iPage. Afterwards, I would develop a content management system (CMS)- the WordPress and
Pinterest for designing graphics. Establishing a social media presence is key (Tan et al., 2016).
Through use of Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram I can be able to reach many people concerning
my business and also stay connected. Similarly, through the Mailchimp I can be able to make a
good newsletter and also get several services such as scheduling email campaigns, managing lists
of emails, and designing email templates. By consistently using the newsletter to make
announcement to the target market, it will ensure they are updated on our progress. Inclusion of
additional interactive features such as auto responders, guest books, and downloadable
documents will also make the website collaborative (Mathews et al., 2016). As such, I believe
that the power of the internet will be crucial to my startup business.

CHESTER ENTREPRENEUR SCHOLARSHIP 3
How I can manage the increased competition and other complexities that an online
marketplace produces
To overcome the complexities of online marketing and have a competitive edge over my
rivals, I would develop a dynamic website that includes a blog. By offering quality contents I
would ensure the visitors would be enticed to do business with us. Additionally, ensuring the
website is responsive and developing mobile-optimized systems would ensure the clients get
instant response to their queries (Rana & Kumar, 2016). To gain more customers than my
competitors, I would carry out Google AdWords campaign that would be aimed at increasing the
numbers. Similarly, by being active throughout on social media is a plus. Many online business
fail because the owners do not spend most of their time online (Mathews et al., 2016). Therefore,
they cannot be in contact with their customers nor meet the needs. As such, I would ensure there
is a higher frequency of interaction with my clients. Also, by ensuring there is a pop-up on the
website requesting new members to sign up for the newsletter. To ensure quick access to the
website, I would optimize the website for search engines (right keywords)- Search Engine
Optimization (SEO). To build website credibility, I would create a page where the customers
leave their feedback and comments. Reviews will communicate the feelings of the clients hence
offering an opportunity for improvement (Nepal, Paris, & Bouguettaya, 2015).

CHESTER ENTREPRENEUR SCHOLARSHIP 4
References
Mathews, S., Bianchi, C., Perks, K. J., Healy, M., & Wickramasekera, R. (2016). Internet
marketing capabilities and international market growth. International Business Review,
25(4), 820-830.
Nepal, S., Paris, C., & Bouguettaya, A. (2015). Trusting the social web: issues and challenges.
World Wide Web, 18(1), 1-7.
Rana, K. S., & Kumar, A. (2016). Social media marketing: Opportunities and challenges.
Journal of Commerce and Trade, 11(1), 45-49.
Tan, B., Pan, S. L., Lu, X., & Huang, L. (2016). Leveraging digital business ecosystems for
enterprise agility: the trilogic development strategy of Alibaba. com, ICIS 2009
Proceedings, Paper 171.