Never before has an industry grown to such a global economic stature in such a short time as has internet commerce. The size of the global Internet economy will exceed $1 trillion by the end of 2001 and reach $2.8 trillion by 2003. Needless to say, many businesses who had previously snubbed their noses at the internet are beginning to explore the possibilities that the new global economy presents. Retailers are finding that a combination of their retail outlets and an on-line presence allows them to better compete on both fronts. In fact, e-tailers who also have retail locations have proven in many instances to be more reliable and successful than companies with only internet based operations.

I like to think of establishing an internet presence as opening a new global location on the internet. You cannot just throw up a web page and start taking orders…you have to carefully plan, implement and market your new location, just as you would a new retail location. First, you secure a domain name (or several) with Network Solutions. It’s a good idea to arrange your hosting prior to registering your domain name(s) as it costs more to reserve a name than it does to register it, and you have to have numbers for where your site will be located in order to register your name.

Now, you need to decide what type of site you are going to develop. Some companies have no need for a retail site, but simply want what is called an intranet. An intranet is a website for internal use, and typically will contain employee handbooks, information, and forms for submitting requests and inner-office memos etc. electronically. It also gives you the ability to have @yourcompany.com e-mail accounts to enable your staff to better communicate with the rest of the world. If your staff spends a lot of time disseminating information to clients and prospects, you may want to put this frequently requested material up on your website to view or for download. You can collect contact information in exchange for whatever information they are receiving and this allows you to be able to market your services to each prospect that visits your website. If you have products or services that you want to sell directly to visitors on your website, you will need an e-commerce system in place.

No matter what type of site you are developing, you start in the same place. You must communicate your business philosophy or mission statement to the visitor as quickly as possible. On the front page of your website, you have to give them a reason to invest the time in exploring the rest of the site. Identify your top four or five products that best represent your entry-level customers' interest…leader items. Give them a brief description (a page or so) and then give them the opportunity to request more information, brochures, catalogs or even a free gift.

Each time that a visitor fills out an on-line form, you have the opportunity to send them to related product information upon submitting the form. E-mail responses can be automatically sent immediately to thank them and to give them hyperlinks to specific related materials on your website. Now, you are building a database of prospective customers with specific interests to market to in the future. What a great way to generate leads!

Driving traffic to your site will be the most critical factor in the success or failure of your on-line venture. It's just like opening a new retail location...once the building is erected you have to do some marketing to drive the business in the door. The best place to start is your current and past customers. Develop systems that make it easier for them to do more business with you. Build in referral programs to entice your customers to send their friends to the site.

In order to drive traffic to your site, you must include your website address in everything that you do. You cannot tell a prospective customer everything that you want them to know about your company, products, or services in a 30 second television or radio commercial, or even a full page newspaper ad. You can however tell them about your most exciting new product or service and tell them to go to www.yourcompany.com for further information or a free gift etc…

You can submit your site to the search engines and link pages, but, this takes quite some time to work your way up to where you are generating a lot of traffic, unless you have a very unique product or service. There are banner advertising and reciprocal link possibilities everywhere. You have to try to target your audience just as you would with any other kind of advertising.

Consumers are increasingly moving to on-line shopping because of the convenience of having no crowds to fight, no parking shortage, and no salesman to deal with. If you are not on-line, these consumers are going to purchase from someone else who has the vision to accommodate their needs. E-Commerce truly is the future of business…are you ready to step into the 21st century and take advantage of the opportunity that the new global economy presents?

Find out what it will take to establish an on-line presence for your business today! We offer you a no obligation free consultation...so what have you got to lose?

Sales projections mentioned in this article are according to International Data Corp. (IDC)  as reported in CNNfn Newsbytes article November 03, 1999.