BeOnTheNet's 

20 Reasons To
Be On The Internet 

1. Its too big to ignore

The number of Internet users over the age of 16 in the U.S. and Canada has reached 79 million, while the number of people buying products and services via the Web has hit 20 million according to a June 1998 Nielsen Media Research and CommerceNet study on Internet commerce. The study said that the number of US & Canadian Internet users had increased 36 percent since their last study 9 months earlier. The study also shows that the number of Web shoppers -- people checking out or comparing products and services on the Web -- is now 48 million and growing at an astonishing rate of 8% per month. And what about users throughout the rest of the world?

A recent survey by The Thomas Register says that 58.4% of the companies surveyed said they would use electronic commerce for at least 25% of their purchases in the next 12 months. At a recent publishing conference, analysts predicted ecommerce could reach $1 trillion per year by 2000.

Most forecasts predict that Internet retail sales during the 1998 holiday season will reach 3.25 Billion Dollars! No matter what your business is, you can not afford to ignore this market. And you can't service them if you are not on the Web! Do you know what your competitor's are doing?

2. To Network

A large part of business is connecting and communicating with others. How often do you pass out your business card to someone you have just met? How often has a chance encounter turned into a big sale for you? Suppose you could be telling your story to hundreds, or thousands of people every day - 24 hours a day? You can on the World Wide Web!

Its amazing how far this networking can go. Recently, we were recommended to a potential client in Long Island, New York by a friend of his in Nebraska. The friend had seen our web site and been impressed. In another case a satisfied client of ours in Pennsylvania recommended us to a company within his industry located in Germany. The first order that our customer New York Italian Food Specialties received from their web site www.salami.com was from Tokyo! And that customer continues to reorder to this day. The world is getting smaller every day!

3. To Tell the World About Your Business

Just what is basic business information? Don't just think of a Yellow Pages ad. Its a lot more than "What do you do? Where are you located? What are your hours? " Suppose you had a score of salesmen manning your phones 24 hours a day who could instantly answer virtually any question. "Can I see a product brochure? What's on sale today? Can I order it now? Do you service my area? What kind of experience do you have . . ." If you could provide this sort of information to your customers and potential customers and tell them how they can benefit by doing business with you, do you think you would do more business? Well you can do this at a low cost on the World Wide Web.

4. To Service Your Customers

Providing business information is certainly one of the most important ways to serve your customers. But, a large percentage of companies who are extremely satisfied with their presence on the WWW point to increased customer service at lower costs as the reason for their success. Have you ever used the FedEx, UPS, or US Postal Service web sites to track down a package? Remember how long it took you to do this before the Internet?

We recently installed a UPS tracking service on a couple of our web sites. In the first 2 weeks of December 1998, 56 people used the tracking service at www.salami.com to track their orders. That's 56 customers who were serviced better and 56 phone calls the guys at Salami.com didn't have to make.

If you look at better ways of serving your customers, you'll find even more ways to use WWW technology. How about making forms available to pre-qualify for a loan?, or have your staff do a search for that specific part your customer needs without spending time taking down the information on the phone? You can do all of this quite easily on your web site.

5. To Increase Public Awareness

You might have difficulty in getting a National Magazine like Time to write up your business, but they might write up your Web Site if it contained something new and interesting. Even if you managed to get a story about your business in a national magazine could you benefit from someone in a distant city reading about it?

With a Web Site anyone, anywhere, at anytime can access your web information and become a potential customer. Our customer's www.salami.com site has been written up from Shanghai to Russia. They have been featured in Business Week Magazine, The Washington Post, The Chicago Tribune, The New York Times, The Detroit Free Press, Newsday and many, many more. Once, they were even asked to address via video conference a convention of Italian Industrialists in Bari Italy! They have even had stories done on TV about them on CNBC! Not bad for two Italian Grocers from Long Island, N.Y.

6. To Sell Things

Most people think this is the number one use of the World Wide Web. We placed it here because we think you should only think about selling things on the Internet after you have done all the things we have previously mentioned.

Why? Because building a business in cyber space is really no different than building a business in the real world. It doesn't happen by accident. You have to market and publicize your business. Government figures show Internet commerce totaled more than $8 billion in 1997, but is expected to grow to more than $300 billion by 2002. The right use of your web site can get you into this exploding market.

Currently 1.6 million small businesses are on the Internet with an estimated one million more joining them this year. 25% of these businesses say that their Internet presences have generated increased sales. But what about the rest of them?

Too many people think that they can put up a web page and miraculously the mailman will start delivering checks to their door. Too many companies put up Web Sites and then ignore them. You have to incorporate your web site in your overall marketing effort Think of it as a tool like the telephone. By itself the telephone won't sell anything. But it is a tool which allows you to communicate with your customers, which then allows you to Sell things

The number one deterrent to selling on the Internet is the credibility of the seller . Think about it - would you have a problem placing an online order with Macy's or Lands End? Certainly Not! Because they are known entities. Before people will become customers they want to know more about you. They want to know what you do, and how it will benefit them. You can do this very easily and inexpensively with your web site. Then you will be able to turn your web site visitors into customers!

7. To reach a highly desirable demographic market

The demographics of WWW users shows them to be a very upscale group. They are members of the highest mass-market demographic available with high income and high levels of education and professions, consider these statements:

There is a lot of disposable income within this group and they have demonstrated an ever-expanding willingness to purchase online. In fact, the number one reason they give for purchasing online is that it is more convenient!

8. To Answer Frequently Asked questions

The people who answer your company's telephones and those of your customer services departments can tell you that they spend a large amount of their time answering the same questions over and over again. These are the questions that customers and potential customers want answered. Put the questions and answers up on your web site and you will make it easier for them to do business with you. Not to mention freeing up a number of hours of your staff's time every day!

9. To Create a 24 Hour Service

How often have you forgotten to make a phone call to the opposite coast at the right time of day. Face it business is becoming more and more a world wide operation. And everyone is operating on a different time schedule. But with your Web Site you can serve your customers, clients and partners 24 hours a day - seven days a week. And without overtime!

You can customize information for your visitors which will be available to them at their convenience. You can collect valuable information that will put you ahead of your competition while you sleep! This morning there were 8 requests for information from potential customers waiting for me when I turned on my computer, and its like that practically every day. How would you like to start every day with 8 new qualified sales prospects!

10. To Make New or Changed Information
      Available Quickly.

Some times information changes so quickly you are stuck with a pile of outdated brochures or have just spent the money to mail out new price lists and information only to have to do it all over again. Electronic Publishing on the web solves this problem no paper, no printer's bills, no postage! You can even operate an inexpensive mailing list program on your site to publish information to your customers and potential customers as soon as it exists. You don't even have to wait for them to visit your web site. You can go out and get them!

11. To Stay In Contact With Salespeople

You may have employees on the road or in different parts of the country who need up-to-the-minute information to make the sale or close the deal. You can have private areas of your web site that allow them to access the information when they need it without tying up your home office staff - and it's available instantly without a long distance call.

12. To reach specialized Niche Markets

While you may think of the Internet as a huge market ( and it certainly is) you should also think of it as a host of specialized markets. With a population of 58 million users even the most narrowly defined interest group will be well represented. Using some of the very fine Search Engines available to web users your target customers will be able to find you, or your competitors

One of our clients, www.mobilecops.com sells custom made vehicles including mobile command centers and mobile police stations. Since his cheapest item probably starts at $200,000, and his primary market is municipalities these are certainly not mass market items. We turned his web site on on Friday January 23, 1998 and began registering it with search engines. He called me on Monday January 26, 1998 and told me that when he came into his office that morning he had 22 qualified leads from police departments looking for his kind of products. Based upon his current level of activities he expects to be building 15 - 20 vehicles by the end of the year which will be directly attributable to his web site!

Ask yourself - " How easy would it be to find your kind of products or services in a city with a population of less than 50,000 people" The reality is that most people live in areas less densely populated! If the answer is difficult or not possible than the Internet may be the ideal place for you to sell your products and find new customers.

13. To Get Feedback From Your Customers

You send out a brochure or a catalog and it doesn't work you don't get any calls, no leads, no sales. What went wrong? Wrong price? Wrong market? Who knows? Keep testing all the Marketing books say. Form a focus group and find out. That may be OK if you are an IBM, General Motors, or Microsoft with a big budget. But if you are the guy reaching into your pocket to pay the bill. You probably don't have the time or the money to wait for the answer.

With the right kind of web page you can ask for feedback and get it immediately with no additional cost. You can have an instant e-mail form built in and get the answers from your customer while he's looking at it for virtually no cost!

14 To Reach The Media

Every kind of business needs the publicity and exposure that the media can bring. The media is one of the most Internet Connected professions around today. Face it they deal in information. Where else can you get information more complete or faster than the Internet? There are tons of information available quickly and easily for media people. In fact one of the services that we offer is "Electronic Press Releases" We will distribute a Press Release that gets sent to over 2,000 media professionals who have registered to receive these releases, these media professionals represent over 1100 different media organizations - Newspapers, magazines, radio & TV. We will distribute an electronic press release for $225.00.

If a media professional wants to do a story about you it is decidedly to your advantage to make that process easy for him/her. Therefore devoting a couple of pages of your web site to form an Electronic Media kit can really pay off.

On-line press kits are becoming more and more common, since they work with the digital environment of more and more pressrooms. Digital images can be put in place on your web pages which can be downloaded "as is" with no need for the "stripping and shooting" necessary for the press rooms of yesterday. Put photographs of your Key executives, Products, Plants and offices. Quotations in digital text which can be edited and outputted while the journalist is working on a tight deadline. One story which is enabled by this online press kit will more than justify your expense. When used together an Electronic Press Release PLUS an Online Press Kit can be a most productive combination.

15. Recruiting Personnel

In this day and age of ever decreasing unemployment rates virtually all businesses are complaining "We can't get the right kind of people" Guess what? A listing of job opportunities at your company can pay off big time.

Look at any site for any big corporation, they always have a Careers or Job Opportunity section. The applicant who fills out a form on your web site or sends in a resume to someone listed on your web site at the very minimum has a few things going for him/her. They have some computer skills , know how to use the Internet, and have read the information about your company and its career opportunities.

16. To make pictures, sound and film files available

Suppose your product is terrific, but one that people would really love if they could only see it in action? Here's something that you can't do in a brochure - put a short movie up on your web site! Want to have a few words about your company from your chief executive? Why not put up a video file or his picture with an associated sound file. Your web site will allow you to include sound, pictures and short movie files with your company information!

17. Improve your salesmen.

We have already talked about keeping your salesmen connected. But here is another thought. In many cases your product and/or services will be viewed by someone at your potential customer's company who is not the final decision maker. He/She sees the information about your company and products/services and believes that it would be a good idea for his company to do business with you.

In effect, he/she becomes an amateur salesman selling you - why not provide him/her with the tools to do the job right. You can include in your web pages a Microsoft Powerpoint or Lotus Freelance presentation, or a "cost benefit analysis" spreadsheet that he can download and use when pitching your company to his/her management. Its a win-win situation for everyone. He's using your time tested sales materials as part of his pitch - his/her presentation is far more professional and you get to "step forward" in the best possible light.

18. To Open International Markets

.

You may have given no thought to doing business internationally. But with a Web Site your information will be available to anyone world wide. Through the WWW and electronic mail you can open a business dialogue with international markets as easily as with someone on the other side of town. It may be something you might want to think about when you are creating your web site.

In the past two weeks we have been contacted by a company in Finland who is interested in buying some software that we custom developed for one of our clients. - We referred the sale to our customer. A company in Germany who wants us to build a site for them targeting the American Market. A company in Venezuela who wants to explore putting up a web site in the US to reach markets in South America - primarily because US Internet Infrastructure is better and cheaper than what is available in South America. And remember, www.salami.com's first order came from Tokyo. And they have received orders from Korea, Japan, Guam and believe it or not Rome Italy! Although that order was someone in Rome ordering food for his daughter who was going to school in Florida.

19. Reach the youth market

These days virtually every college and university student has unlimited access to the World Wide Web. Every day more and more K-12 students get online both at school or at home, in fact, most K-12 schools will be online within the next couple of years. Your customer of tomorrow is online today. Perhaps it makes sense for you to reach them now.

If you are providing youth oriented merchandise such as books, athletic equipment, music, study aids, or a host of other products for our youth the Internet can be an effective way to advertise and market your products.

20. To Serve Your Local Market

We have talked about using the Web to reach the world, but what about your own backyard? With close to 1 out of 4 American families having Internet access and new ones coming online at a rate of one every 11 seconds. You probably have enough potential customers locally for it to make sense. In our offices in New York we order lunch through the Internet to be delivered to us from a wide variety of places a couple of times per week.

A very new site of ours www.clickagift.com has had some real encouraging early results locally. Once the site was turned on Leslie, who is a regular advertiser in Long Island's Newsday, began adding "visit our web site at www.clickagift.com" to her print ads. She has experienced quite a few people who have seen the ad, then gone into the web site, been impressed by the web site and have ordered online. But another scenario which has already happened a few times is this one:

This scenario has been repeated a few times already with different sorts of merchandise and the site is only up 3 weeks. The surprising things are:
  1. The web site is evidently building credibility for the real store.
  2. The dollar value of these sales has been very high $400, $1200, $1400 etc.
  3. Virtually all of the customers who have followed this scenario are men. - Not too surprising when you consider that about 60% of Internet shoppers are men. But very different from Leslie's normal clientele
Leslie says, "normally 98% of our customers are women, 1% children and 1% men . . . but we normally see the men starting 3-4 days before Christmas and 3-4 days before Valentines day. This is business I'm sure that we wouldn't have seen otherwise."

A recent study conducted by Arthur Anderson predicts that while only 200,000 households are buying food and household goods online today that the number could grow to 20 million by the year 2007. One company, Peapod, who is testing this grocery shopping in 7 cities now charges $4.95 per shopping excursion plus 5% of the value of the order. They will deliver the order to your door within a 2 hour time window. They believe that many people who are less sensitive to price will be willing to spend a few dollars more to save the time it takes to shop.

Local Real Estate is another area that is booming on the web. Now, in many parts of the country, from the comfort of your home or the Realtor's office you can quickly view a number of houses that may be appropriate for you. Sort of "Let your fingers do the walking".

The costs of building and maintaining a web site have dropped so much in the last couple of years that an effective web site can be operated for less than you spend for lunch every day. So it is well within the purview of even the smallest businesses. The fact is if your biggest clients have access to the Web you should be there with them!

Based upon the Original 20 Reasons to Put your Business on the WWW by Stormy Knight

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© 1998 BeOnTheNet Inc - Last Updated 12/18/98

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