By Vincent McDermott
The future of business belongs to the Internet and anyone who hopes to be successful in business needs to understand it, says Ryerson professor Norman Shaw.
Speaking at the 30th annual Ted Rogers Canadian Council for Small Business and Entrepreneurship (CCSBE) conference, Shaw lectured on the importance of businesses getting search engines like Google to attract customers to their websites.
“They say that if you build it, they will come,” said Shaw. “But you have to build it in a way so they can find it first.”
Shaw currently lectures on business systems to retail and hospitality students. He was the chief information officer for retail company Wet Seal, and was the vice president in charge of technology for a hotel management group.
The conference attracted students and entrepreneurs alike to discuss business strategies in today’s economy. Romana Mirza is the lead strategist for Studio Pinpoint, a brand consulting business.
He also has plans to start a website that sells women’s clothing, and attended to gain insight on how to get her website noticed.
“The presentation was excellent,” said Mirza.“The advice was very practical to use, rather than theoretical. Understanding the internet and getting noticed is very important for anyone in the business world.”
Although the clothing line is an idea at this point, Mirza hopes what she learned in the lecture will help her brand consulting business.
According to Shaw, the future of business will have to take the internet more seriously.
“The internet is enormous. It’s difficult to sift through all the noise,” said Shaw. “But if your website is done right, then search engines will make it easier to cut through all that.”
For any individuals or students looking for advice on how to get their websites noticed, Shaw offers this one piece of advice: “Be interesting, be fresh, have something there of value. That’s how you get an audience, and that’s how you build loyalty. That’s most important.”
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