Increase Productivity and Profits on the Web

When I started my first online forum in 1988, few people knew what an online service was. Fewer still cared. Trying to explain what I did usually produced puzzled looks, and if I could corner anyone long enough to give a demonstration, the usual response was a polite, “That’s nice, but who will use it?”
No one asks that question anymore. Hundreds of thousands of individuals a month use either the Business Know-How Forum on America Online or my company’s Web site at http://www.businessknowhow.com. Big and small businesses alike have flocked to the Internet and to online services because that’s where their customers are. And that’s where their suppliers are. Researchers expect there will be 100 million Americans online* in the year 2000.
Every type of product you can imagine is being sold on the Web, too. In 1999, 76 percent of retailers and 43 percent of manufacturers were selling online or planned to sell online.† Besides computers, books, and CDs, you’ll find leather jackets, soda pop, lingerie, and clothing. You’ll find some rather inconceivable offerings, as well. One enterprising college student set up a Web site to sell horse manure. Her target wasn’t farmers or gardeners. It was any individual who wanted to “get even” for being laid off, dumped by a love one, and so on. For $19.99, the site would giftwrap a clump of horse manure and ship it to the sender’s least favorite people.
You don’t have to be a retailer to benefit from the Web, however. Small and home-based businesses throughout the world are discovering that the Internet reduces costs and improves efficiency. In fact, the improvements are so significant that you will be at a competitive disadvantage if you don’t learn to put the Web to work in your business.
Before You Go On…Don’t let the savings and productivity enhancements described in the following pages make you rush out and spend thousands of dollars overnight to have someone set you up with your own Web server, hosted Web site, or intranet. Take the time to learn about the Web firsthand before you make any major investment in it.
Learn the Inexpensive WayIf you have no experience using the Internet, the easiest way to learn about it is to use a personal computer hooked up to a standard telephone line and sign up for an online service such as America Online, Compuserve, or Microsoft Network. Or pay an Internet service provider (ISP), such as AT&T Worldnet or BellSouth, by the month for an e-mail address and a connection to the Internet.
The reason to start with one of these services is they simplify the process of getting connected to the Internet. Some offer their own content (news, feature articles, and so on) as well as just the connection to the Internet. Once you have an Internet connection with access to the Web, you can also use any of the popular Web “portals” (Web sites that categorize sites according to their content and give you links to them) to look around the Internet for Web sites in your industry.
Here are some of the most popular portals. Each offers links to various categories of information as well as powerful search engines that search the entire Web for keywords you choose:
AOL.COMYahoo!Netscape NetcenterLycosAltaVistaMSNSnapExciteInfoseekAT&T WorldNet
Get in the Habit of Using E-mailHaving an e-mail address is just about as important these days as having a business card or a sales tax number. Millions of businesspeople are using e-mail to send routine business correspondence, requests for proposals, contracts, instructions, price lists, spreadsheets, and sometimes orders. If you don’t have an e-mail account you won’t appear professional, and in some cases, you may not be able to do business at all.
Set Goals and Focus on ThemThe Web offers so many ways to inform, do research, entertain, and sell that it’s easy to lose site of your business reason for being on the Web. The “wow” factor attached to it all can cause you to waste countless amounts of time and money doing little more than playing around on the Web.
To avoid that pitfall, make a list of your goals before you make any decisions about what to put on your Web site or how to present the material. Don’t include things like “set up a Web site” or “set up a bulletin board.” List only the results you want to accomplish, not the tools you’ll use to get those results. Your list might include some of the following goals:
Send and receive business correspondenceKeep tabs on your competitorsGenerate salesGenerate advertising revenueReduce support callsEnhance customer communicationsReduce costsProvide product information to customersGive demos
Assign priorities and a value to each goal. Weigh every decision you make about your use of the Web against these priorities and values.
For instance, suppose you have decided a Web site would help build your business and you are thinking about putting a video on the site showing you demonstrating your product. Consider whether that demo will really enhance sales. Do people understand what the product does? Or does it really require a demo to sell it? Will the video really build sales or just stroke your ego? Any feature that doesn’t help you reach your goal should be eliminated—at least at startup. You can always add capabilities once you see how customers actually use your site.