PM Gillard talks Getting Aussie Business Online

Well, it isn’t every day that the Prime Minister talks about MYOB but in late March we were in Perth to talk about Getting Aussie Business Online with Prime Minister Julia Gillard, and Federal Minister for Broadband, Communications and the Digital Economy, Senator Stephen Conroy.

They were speaking about plans for the National Broadband Network and the need for businesses to get online to take advantage of the digital economy. 

View on YouTube what the Prime Minister has to say.

The Prime Minister and Minister Conroy reiterated that two thirds of Australian’s search online for small business information but only one third of small businesses has a website. The rest are missing out on the benefits of the digital economy because their customers can’t find them.

At MYOB, we want to make it easy for small businesses to get online and succeed. That’s why we’ve partnered with Google to launch Getting Aussie Business Online, a nationwide initiative to help small businesses set up a free website using  MYOB Atlas. Over 8,000 businesses have signed up for a free MYOB Atlas website under this initiative already.

Once such business is independent toy retailer Toys in the Park. Owned by Jan Stearne, the shop has been up and running since June 2010. The walls are lined with things to fascinate any little person – there are books and games, and some really amazing fairy costumes. If that isn’t enough, there’s a play room as well.

A couple of weeks ago, you could find Jan’s shop by driving past it on Albany Highway in Perth. Today, you can find it online as well.

Jan had been thinking about getting a website since she opened the shop last year, but like a lot of business owners, she wasn’t sure where to start, or how much it was going to cost. Despite (in her own words) ‘not being the best on computers’ Jan was able to set up a website quickly and easily.

Jan was recently visited by Senator Conroy, the Minister for Broadband, Communications and the Digital Economy. She told the Minister that what she liked most about her website was that she could take things one step at a time, and learn how to use the website at her own pace. ‘I wanted to make sure that I had a website that I was capable of managing and this is perfect,’ Jan said.

Here’s Jan’s story on YouTube. 

To set up your own a website all you need is an ABN and phone number. It’s easy to do and it only takes 15 minutes.