Cyber Monday started out as a marketing term hyped by ecommerce store Shop.org. Is it a myth, or something more? It was in 2005 that the ecommerce store created the term to have something catchy to market about during the upcoming holiday season. I still remember the first time I heard a newscaster read it aloud on the television. Just the sound of it caught my attention. In a nutshell, Cyber Monday is the online equivalent of Black Friday, that day of shopping that consumes so many Americans the day after Thanksgiving.

Except of course that is happens online and the retailers are e-tailers.

So, we discover that the term actually started out as myth. Just something made up by a clever marketing professional. The reality, however is that over the past 3 years, now entering its 4th, Cyber Monday is becoming every bit as real as Black Friday.

Given the minimal but apparent annual increases in online spending during the Black Friday / Cyber Monday weekend, should you be marketing to take advantage of the potential?

Company’s like ComScore do metrics tracking and have issued traffic reports that indicate there is some annual increases that are occurring for online businesses during the beginning of the holiday shopping season. Though it may be too late to jump online and buy a domain name to take advantage of this years Black Friday/Cyber Monday phenomenon, it is clear that if you have a small online business, you will likely benefit from these traffic spikes.

The only real myth surrounding the marketing of Cyber Monday is that online retailers make enough money during that day’s sales to be in the black for the holiday season. The reality is that you should be marketing your product sales regularly. That one day rarely provides enough revenues to push your business into the profit margin. In fact, statistics show that Cyber Monday isn’t the most trafficked or profitable day of the holiday season for e-tailers.

Mostly it signifies that the “official” start of the holiday spending season is upon those of us that tend to do most of their buying online. (It’s so much easier than dealing with crowds and pushy people!)

If you hope to take advantage of this or any holiday season, make sure you’re advertising regularly. Without a decent marketing budget, you’ll have to rely upon a healthy email list that you can send your offers to directly. While that works for some businesses, can you rely on a single channel of communications to your past, present and future customers?

What would make an affiliate program worthwhile to you? What features would you like to see? Give us your feedback in the comments below so we can make this new program one that benefits you just as much as us.

On Wednesday, October 28, 2009, Aplus.net experienced a system issue related to domain name records which caused an interruption of services for a select group of customers. The issue was remedied shortly after discovery by our technology group; however, it is possible you may still experience an interruption of service until the required 24 hour propagation period passes. Our team has discovered the source of the error and put the necessary measures in place to prevent future occurrences. As a secondary impact, you may have experienced longer than usual phone or chat wait times due to the increased volume. We apologize for this inconvenience.

Going Forward

Your web service is currently scheduled to be upgraded over the coming weeks. The new Aplus.net has undertaken a research and development program in excess of $5 million dollars a year, with the single mission to provide more dependable and valuable services to our customers. The new architecture allows for a number of improvements, including the ability to run both UNIX and NT applications on one hosting platform, and a clustered server environment which provides greatly improved response time and redundancy. In addition, the upgraded architecture will allow you to take advantage of other new applications that will be made available to you over the coming months and continually into the future.

We greatly appologize for any inconvenience you may have experienced. Once you are upgraded to our new platform, we are confident you will be impressed with the improved performance of our web hosting, email and other web service applications specifically designed for small and medium sized businesses. Stay tuned for future announcements on our new web services in the coming months.

If you require any additional assistance, please contact our Technical Support team at 1-877-275-8763.

We again apologize and I offer you my personal commitment that we are focused on providing the best customer and web service value available on the Internet.

Thank you.

Best regards,

Peter LaMantia

President

Aplus.net

www.aplus.net

You’ve read about developing your website’s Search Engine Optimization (SEO) but the next step after that is forming your social media presence. Savvy entrepreneurs are building an extended social network, thereby creating a well-rounded successful web campaign. This type of marketing is often referred to as Social Media Optimization (SMO), which increases your online presence by educating, informing and sharing your information with potential clients.

People can now “poke” or “tweet” you to request information through an extended virtual presence via such interactive sites as Facebook, Twitter, YouTube, LinkedIn, and several others offering the same sort of free exposure. What each of these provides is an opportunity to expand upon your current website by linking to your own business profiles built within these social networks. One site worth noting for its direct focus on small business owners and entrepreneurs is PartnerUp.com. All features and functions are aimed at providing the most complete and efficient small business networking experience.

The Social Media Advantage – “virtual networking without the phone or boardroom”

• All networks are free to join
• User-friendly to build and maintain
• Ability to upload pictures, logos, videos, and text as often as you like
• Each profile provides an additional search opportunity for your business
• Create your own groups focusing on specific aspects of your business
• Follow other groups of interest to you. This allows you the opportunity to reach potential clients, see what competitors are up to, or form possible new partnerships.

Each of these networks allows you to place a link on your original site that will direct visitors to your individual social networks, and show the world that you are current with the latest web technologies. Check out FutureShop.com where they not only have their social networks listed, they also have a customer forum and blog which creates an interactive relationship between the business and consumer (B2C Marketing). Other examples of organizations, groups and businesses that are creating a social buzz are: NashvilleSounds.com, TravelandLeisure.com, and TheMarsBar.com. Even Aplus.net has a Twitter profile, Facebook page, and LinkedIn profile.

Explore all these options with the added features that Aplus.net offers to enhance your market viability. Are you taking advantage of social media? Share your success stories in the comments or even just list your profiles and we’ll give your business a plug.

Rest assured, your account and control panel functionality will be protected during the upgrade – you’ll actually notice a few new tools to check out such as EasySiteWizard Pro, a DIY site design tool, and File Restore, an essential application to protect your site content when making updates. We’ve also enhanced a few key products like the Image Editor, adding more features to customize the images you post on your site.

Look for future email notices about your service upgrade dates. You’ll also receive updates throughout the process so you can stay informed about your account status and access to the new services. If you have any questions or feedback, post a comment below, call 1-866-993-0373, or email support@cs.aplus.net. Also visit http://faq.aplus.net/ for answers to key questions about the upgrade.

We look forward to your feedback!

Sincerely,
Aplus.net

First, let me introduce myself. I have had the pleasure of building Internet companies for more than 15 years starting in 1993 with the launch of Tucows.com, an Internet service provider and a successful software download website. In 1999 we launched Hostopia.com, today the #1 provider of webservices sold through to telecoms and service providers. Over the years I have had the opportunity to see the Internet evolve from a fledgling network of computers to a thriving environment, bringing about globalization and economic opportunity that we could never have imagined.When we launched our suite of web services called WebsiteOS, we had one primary goal in mind to help businesses like yours grow their revenue.

How?

• By offering applications and services to help your website get more traffic.
• By helping you create a professional image with the look and feel of a Fortune 500 company.
• By providing real support when you need it – on the phone, in North America, 24/7 and by someone who really wants to help.
• By offering you a complete set of applications to help manage your website, including an email platform built for business.
• By helping you network on the Internet, design your brand, and support your website with online and offline marketing.
• And by making it as easy as possible so that you can spend more time building your company.

Today we host ½ million small businesses, and have over 400 programmers, designers, and website experts who are dedicated to making this platform the best in the world for entrepreneurs and businesses who want more than just a website. By combining Aplus.net and Hostopia we will be able to offer you a number of these new applications and tools.

In addition, I am pleased to introduce Roger Collins, former owner of leading domain company Afternic.com. As the General Manager of Aplus.net Roger will lead a team of web specialists to help you build out an effective Internet presence.  Today’s market is competitive; Roger’s team will work hard to help you emerge strong in this marketplace.

Thank you in advance for giving us an opportunity to be part of your business and its future.

Sincerely,
Colin Campbell,
President, Hostopia.com

Aplus.net recently agreed to the purchase of its shared hosting business by Hostopia, a leading provider of Web services for small and medium-sized businesses. Hostopia, a unit of Deluxe Corporation, will also provide service and support for all customers with hosted e-commerce stores, managed e-mail services, domains and a variety of Web site management applications. The Aplus.net/Deluxe transaction is expected to close by the end of July.

“Within weeks of closing, Aplus.net’s shared hosting customers will see a service upgrade offering numerous new and enhanced web services including: mobile messaging, logo design, social networking for business, ecommerce, website design, email marketing, and other promotional materials that help small businesses get and keep customers,” said Colin Campbell, president of Hostopia.

Read the full press release here.