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Are You
Making Any Money on the Internet?
By Steve Beard
www.21biz.com
Stop for
a moment and listen carefully. That faint sound on the horizon
is a revolution headed your way. It’s a revolution in
communications, in the way information is disseminated, in the
way all products and services are sold. It’s a revolution in
business, in government, and personal lifestyles. Its email, its
web sites, its electronic information – it’s the Internet and
much, much more. (From 1995)
I’m
repeating a headline from 1995 because many of you really didn’t
pay attention the first time. Many also thought the Internet
was dead when the dot.com investment bubble broke in 2000. In
fact, Internet traffic has tripled since then and is expected to
grow at 2.5X per year for the next 5 years. World-wide, there
are now 498 million people with Internet access. But the bulk
of Internet traffic is for business use - entrepreneurs, Fortune
100 companies, government – Internet usage is growing at an
astounding rate.
Why
Should You Care? For
the same reason that you have a business telephone and a cell
phone, a vehicle for transportation, a computer for accounting –
you need a quality Internet presence and strategy. Simply put -
it’s a requirement for doing business in the future. It’s the
way your customers and suppliers will be doing business. You
need to be there.
Your New
Marketplace. Over
250 million people bought something over the Internet last year
according to the UCLA 2001 Internet study. 72.3% of Americans
now use the Internet spending an average of 9.8 hours online
each week. US Internet retailing is on pace to surpass $29
Billion this year – growing to - $269 Billion by 2005. Sales to
customers outside the US now account for 20-25% of business at
many websites.
Business to
Business commerce projected at $336 Billion this year will grow
to $6.3 Trillion in 2005. It’s a business dream – a huge and
growing market that’s accessible for a few bucks a month.
So, I
ask you: Are You Making Any Money on the Internet?
For most individuals and small businesses with e-biz sites - the
answer is no. Most sites were built with a me-too, if I build
it – they will come approach that simply doesn’t work. The
immense scale of the Internet hides even the best of these
sites.
To see this
in action – Go to the Internet search engine - Google.com and
search for your main business product or service. Check the
number of references found at the top. You’ll be amazed. For
example, when I search for computers I get over 20 Million
results (try it). Now search for sbicomputers.com – and you’ll
find just a few references - all leading to my web site. The
bottom line – unless customers already know your name the odds
of them easily finding your site on the Internet are close to
zero.
A New
Approach. One of
the most successful Internet business models couples an
informational web site that collects email addresses for a
periodic topical newsletter. The web site becomes a resource
center for your clients and you use the email list is a fast,
easy- virtually no cost way for you to announce sales, new
products, etc. to a receptive audience.
Creating
Your Site. This
approach takes advantage of the fact that more and more people
use the Internet to research a topic before they buy. Here are
the basics:
·
Create a customer
oriented web site. Feature your customers, feature your
products in action, feature how-to-do-it information, add links
to more information on vendor sites. Become a resource center
for your products and industry.
·
Add some
personality to your site. You only have about 15 seconds to
capture a potential customer’s attention before they click away
to the next site. Proper use of color, pictures, and
commentary can separate your site from the pack.
·
Make your site
easy to use. User surveys show that the biggest complaint is
poor menu structure. Include a search engine so people can
quickly find what their looking for. Invite current customers in
to test your site before you publish it to the web.
·
Include a
newsletter page with timely information about sales, new
products, projects, Q &A, industry trends, events, people, etc.
Give this page your best effort because it feeds the marketing
action described below. Finally, ask visitors to subscribe to
an email version.
Marketing Your Site – Using Your Site to Market.
There is no easier or cheaper
way to communicate with clients and prospects than email. Your
focus is to create an email list of hundreds or even thousands
of clients and prospects who want to know more about your
products and services.
·
Your existing
client base is a great place to start collecting email
addresses. And don’t forget prospects. Most will appreciate
receiving new information, first notice of sales, new products,
etc.
·
Drive traffic to
your web site by creating frequent marketing events by posting
sales information, discounts, and down-loadable coupons there.
Use your email newsletter to announce these events.
To find
more information, tools, and products to create a business
building just spend some time reviewing the pages of
www.21biz.com. |
