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Digital tools for online businesses and smartworking
Objectives & GoalsClick to read 
At the end of this module you will be able to:
 Learn how to design and create your online business: the importance of your company on the Internet and aspects to take into account.
Having a wide range of ICT Tools to enhance our digital business.
Improve internal and external communication of our business. Advantages of digital communication.
Understand the basics of cybersecurity and how to implement it.
The importance of your online businessClick to read
One of the main reasons why most women entrepreneur don’t take the step into the online world is because of the lack of knowledge of digital tools. Internet offers us many advantages and services to boost entrepreneurship, as well as the possibility to increase our knowledge and training. We have thousands of online resources that can help us in our learning, such as guides tutorials and didactic platforms. This is the example of the Wide project.
In this module, we will learn the main skills and notions needed to create and enhance your online rural business. But, why is it important the online presence of our business?
Nowadays, the whole world moves on the Internet. More and more users are browsing the net, which allows companies to advertise and contact potential customers quickly and easily.
The online presence of your company on the Internet offers you the possibility of sharing your business on the network, so it can be accessible by any user anywhere in the world, 24 hours a day. This also allows access to an international market.
Furthermore, ICT tools facilitate the management of information and documents, tasks distribution and optimization and customer interaction.
Hence the importance of our business on the Internet.
What should your online business have?Click to read
An online business allows us a very useful scope and versatility to enhance the marketing of our products. Whether it is a website, a directory or a sales platform, the online presence of our business is still relevant. Nevertheless, there are certain aspects that we must take into account if we want to ensure its effectiveness.
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Our online business must include:
- Contact information: Phone number, address, website, social networks…
- Description: Briefly explain who you are and what services or products you offer.
- Catalogue: Include a menu on your website where you expose your services or products, as well as offers and promotions.
- Payment methods: Offer the user different ways to pay for your services. It may include PayPal, credit or debit card, cash…
- Search bar: This allows the users to find what they are looking for quickly and easily.
- FAQ (Frequently Asked Questions): Allow your users to solve their doubts with a section of common question’s answers.
- Rating systems: This could be points scoring, reviews, opinions…
- Corporate image: This includes the company name, logo, specific colours, images… The process of developing these aspects is known as branding.
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ICT tools for smartworkingClick to read
ICT Tools (Information and Communication Technology) are a series of resources, media, platforms and systems that enable the transmission of digital data and information.
These are especially relevant in the in the world of digital entrepreneurship, as they can help us in many business areas: task and project management, improve communication design our corporate image…
Here are some ICT Tools that you can use to create and boost your online business.
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Project Management. Maintaining a good organization of the different activities of our company is crucial to ensure its smooth running. This will favour internal communication (as we will learn in Unit 2). Some of the tools we can use are:
- Skype: The ultimate videoconferencing platform. Hold calls with employees or customers, or share messages with your team.
- Zoom: This tool offers a platform where you can make video calls, record sessions and chat.
- Asana: Allows you to organize and manage your team internally, assigning tasks and sharing needed files and information.
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Information Storage (The Cloud): The Cloud allows us to store information on the Internet instead of on a hard drive, so that is accessible from anywhere quickly and securely. Some of the cloud storage platforms are:
- Google Drive: Allows to storage up to 15 GB of information for free. This includes documents, videos, images…
- WeTransfer: It is designed to transfer files up to 2 GB for free, so that it remains on the platform for two weeks before being deleted.
- Dropbox: This is a “virtual hard drive”, so it is accessible by authorised users from any device.
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Creation and web design for e-commerce: The e-commerce consists of the sale of products through the Internet. They are web pages where we can present our products, corporate information and contact. To create it, we cam resort to web development companies or web creation platforms, such as:
- WordPress: It is the platform used by most websites on the Internet. Create your website and structure your contents as you prefer. It is especially useful your commercial webpages.
- Shopify: This site allows you to design your online store without programming skills, as it allows the hosting of virtual stores to improve the efficiency of online sales.
- Joomla!: It is a web content management platform easy to use and with several options, which makes it ideal for entrepreneurs.
- Canva: This is a graphic design website that allows you to create your own designs with professional results. Create your logo, images and layouts for your website.
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Social Networks: Social networks are platforms that put thousands of people in contact, allowing them to share messages, images, videos, links… This is a great opportunity to advertise our company and promote external communication. Some of the most used social networks are:
- Facebook: The most used social network. Share information about your business and links of interest.
- Instagram: Especially relevant among young people and teenagers. It is a simple and intuitive platform where you can share images and short videos (reels).
- LinkedIn: This social network is focused on the labor area. Share you enterprise information to find employees, partners and collaborators.
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Specific ICT Tools for the rural sector: The rural world also has tools that can help us to carry out a good business performance and management.
- AgroVision: This tool is specialized in the fruit and vegetable sector, and offers monitoring services of the treatments and works in the field, the harvesting and reception, storage and packaging of the final product, until its commercialization and shipment to its final destinations
- Agrivi Farm: Designed to help farmers make accurate decisions to simplify and plan farm field management.
- CoolFarmTool: It is an online calculator for greenhouse gases, water and biodiversity. Thus, with this tool you can make decisions to achieve a greener and more sustainable company.
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Tips to boost Digital communication
Introduction to digital communication Click to read
Digital communication is understood as information, files and messages transmission through digital or ICT Tools. Online digital communication offers many advantages over traditional communication channels:
- Speed: Messages and information on the Internet travel from any part o the world in a matter of seconds.
- Accessibility: Thanks to the Internet, we can access information and communication quickly, easily and from any device
- Economic: Internet offers us infinite resources in many different areas (training, communication, entertainment, information…). As this content is always available online, we can save on ink, paper, printing…
- Ecological: As we have already mentioned, saving physical resources makes online communication more ecological than traditional communication.
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There are two types of digital communication: internal and external.
- Internal Digital Communication: It is aimed at members within a company, and it strengthens relationship among workers and optimize the management of work.
- External Digital Communication: It is addressed to the public outside the company, with the aim of attracting new customers, advertise products or services or partners seeking.
In the following sections, we present some tips to enhance both internal and external digital communication.
Internal digital communication tips Click to read
- Don’t forget to greet, say goodbye and communicate politely and without misspellings. Practice assertive communication; make sure that your messages are clear and avoid ambiguous expressions.
- For a more human interaction, we can resort to videoconferencing platforms like Skype or Zoom (see Unit 1). Nevertheless, the used channel should be according to the needs of the meeting, whether it is videoconferencing, calling, messaging or group chat.
- Encourage participation. Teach your team how to use digital communication channels and use them regularly for good work management.
- Be mindful of attention spans. Digital channels can lead to loss of attention if used for too long. Ensure meetings are short, concise and have a clear purpose.
- Act as mediator. Make sure that all members of the meeting have a turn to speak, and that each turn is respected. Listen to what each participant has to contribute and keep their opinion in mind. This will foster collaboration spirit.
External digital communication tipsClick to read
- Take care of your online reputation. Online reputation is the prestige, reliability and credibility of a company on the Internet. Although it does not completely depend on us, there are some measures we can take to give a good image. For example, ensure an effective after-sales service, stay active in social networks, ensure user satisfaction… Remember that our online business is our showcase on the Internet, we must give a good impression to gain visibility and contact with our public.
- Use social networks. Social networks are a great media to interact with your target group in a dynamic and enjoyable way. Find out which networks your customers use and investigate their interests, tastes, needs…
- Publish quality content. Create interesting contents for your public: this way we will catch their attention. Remember t take care of your spelling and use polite language. Use the “one-in-seven” rule; one out of every seven publications must be corporative self-advertisement; the rest must be interesting contents for your public. These can include articles, videos, images…
- Respect your corporate image. If your business has specific colours, logos or designs, do not forget to include them to make it easier for the user to recognise your company.
- Encourage interaction. Don’t be afraid to let users give their opinion about your business, so you can know how to improve your services. You can encourage them to leave a comment, do a survey, offer promotions to regular customers (loyalty)…
- Analyse the results. Study if you are achieving the expected results: strengthen what is working and correct what is not.
- Do not forget contact information. Make it easy for the user to contact you, link your website on social networks.
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Basic Guide of cybersecurity
Introduction to cybersecurityClick to read
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The Internet has certain dangers that we must avoid to guarantee the security of our online business. To help us with this task there is cybersecurity.
Cibersecurity are programs, measures and practices to protect our devices from potential digital dangers, known as cyber threats.
There are many risks we can be exposed to if we don’t take precautions on the Internet, such as:
- Identity theft
- Confidential information theft (passwords, bank accounts…)
- Damage, impairment or deterioration of devices, apps or platforms.
Nevertheless, if we are careful and take action, we can avoid many of the dangers to ensure the security of our own and our business. In the following section, we present a list of tips to help you with cybersecurity.
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Cybersecurity tipsClick to read
- Keep your computer, phone and apps up to date. This allows a higher level of protection, as we will be safe from the most recent threats.
- Keep a backup copy. If we want to ensure that our information doesn’t get lost in case of cybercrime, we can make backup copies. It is advisable to have two of them: one offline (for example, on a hard drive) and one online (in the cloud). This way we make sure we are protected in case of physical theft and digital damage.
- Use strong passwords. For a password to be secure it must have at least 8 characters and include uppercases, lowercases, numbers, and special characters. Do not include personal information (as your birthday or your name); it’s better to use meaningless words that you can easily remember. This will help prevent them from being easily hacked by cybercriminals.
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- Don’t share sensitive information. Keep your passwords, credentials, bank information… Don’t share them with strangers or write them down anywhere. In case of forgetting it, most platforms offer a password recovery system to guarantee user’s identity before allowing access.
- Contrast information. Not everything we see on the Internet is true: false information and fraudulent news are widespread. If we want to ensure the veracity of these, we can do a research and contrast the information from other websites.
- Be warry of what you see. Remember: if it is good to be true, it’s probably fake. There are websites and messages that will warn you of a problem with your computer, offer you unbeatable prizes or giveaways, or threaten to infect your computer. These are not only fraudulent, but also potentially harmful. Avoid interacting with these messages, and remove them quickly.
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- Don’t open strange emails and links. If we receive an unsolicited message, you may be a phishing victim. Phishing consists of sending messages that impersonate the identity of a company or known person with the aim or stealing your information. If we receive a suspicious message from someone you know, you should ask before opening it or accessing the links. If it is a company, ask yourself is we have provided our contact information to that company. If not, don’t reply and delete it.
- Keep an eye on your devices’ performance. We must noy overlook anomalous behavior: pop-ups with strange messages, slower response speed, unusual noises… If we detect something similar, we must go to a technician to check the device. Avoid sharing confidential information until your device has been completely cleaned, as we could be victim of information theft.
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Summing up
Summing upClick to read
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Digital tools for online businesses and smartworking
- Project Management
- The Cloud
- Website creation and design
- Social Networks
- Specific ICT Tools for the rural sector
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Digital Communication
- Internal Digital Communication
- External Digital Communication
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Cybersecurity
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