|
SBA Guide to eCommerce
http://www.sbaonline.sba.gov/managing/technology/ecom.html
E-Commerce, The Newest Business Frontier: It's Time To Get Connected
If you have not decided whether the fanfare over conducting business online is hype or reality and you are holding off developing a Web site for your enterprise, you could be missing out on a powerful business tool.
The Internet is proving to be a significant business leveler, allowing small and medium-size companies to compete with the giants on the same global playing field.
Whether you are a consumer or a business-to-business resource, some of the most efficient marketing and selling tools are available via the Internet, and the potential of reaching a vast audience is open to you through the World Wide Web. Consider these facts: Forrester Research, Inc. estimates that 47.3 million North American households have online access and 43.9 percent have browsed online. Of the 43.9 percent, 65 percent have made purchases.
Time-starved consumers are becoming more comfortable using credit and bank cards to make purchases from security-backed virtual retailers. They comparison shop over the Internet for the best quality and cost, and purchase a range of goods from groceries to high-tech products.
As electronic-consumer trade continues to soar, business-to-business e-commerce will be even stronger. Forrester Research, Inc., projects that business-to-business will become a $1.5 trillion market by 2003.
Many larger corporations already have mandated the use of online transactions to their downstream vendors. According to the U.S. Small Business Administration (SBA), the introduction of electronic commerce in federal contracting is moving ahead, and small business owners must adopt this new business strategy to remain fully competitive.
Until recently, developing an e-commerce Web site meant dealing with multiple companies: one to develop the Web site, one for e-commerce integration, one to "host" the site and yet another provider for secure payment processing.
Learn more about E-Commerce
Want More Info?
NEARLY ONE-QUARTER OF SMALL AND MEDIUM-SIZED BUSINESSES NOW INCLUDE INTERNET YELLOW PAGES IN MARKETING MIX
Analysts from The Kelsey Group and ConStat to present latest research on SMB advertisers at Directory Driven Commerce Conference next month in Atlanta.
PRINCETON, NJ (June 29, 2004) -- New research from The Kelsey Group and ConStat, Inc. indicates that Internet Yellow Pages (IYP) is gaining ground among small and medium-sized business (SMB) advertisers. According to the Local Commerce Monitor, an ongoing study of SMB advertisers co-sponsored by the two firms, 24 percent of SMBs are using IYP as part of their advertising and promotion mix-a 60 percent increase over last year.
"This finding is a clear indication that advertisers are increasingly interested in online advertising solutions," said Charles Laughlin, program director for the Kelsey Report(R). "It also suggests that Yellow Pages publishers have made good progress in leveraging their sales channel to sell online Yellow Pages."
Kelsey Group Senior Vice President Neal Polachek added, "Now that publishers appear to be making strides in getting advertisers to consider Internet Yellow Pages as a key component of their ad mix, the publishers must also focus on ways to drive user traffic to their sites. The pressure to deliver traffic will only increase now that the publishers are solving the sales channel challenges."
Analysts from The Kelsey Group and ConStat, Inc. will present complete findings from Wave VII of the Local Commerce Monitor at DDC2004, The Kelsey Group's Directory Driven Commerce conference, taking place July 21-23, 2004, at the Omni Hotel at CNN Center, Atlanta, Georgia.
Additional findings from Wave VII of the Local Commerce Monitor include:
-- Broadband connectivity among SMBs has seen a significant increase over the past year - from 43% in 2003 to 53% in 2004.
-- Though not statistically different from a year ago, the number of SMBs with a Web site advanced from 48% to 52%.
-- 30% of businesses that do not have a Web site today indicate that they intend to have one within 12 months.
Now in it's seventh wave, the Local Commerce Monitor continues to be a key research tool for understanding the advertising and marketing challenges small and medium-sized business owners face. It is the first nationally scoped, quantitative research program for understanding and anticipating the attitudes and behaviors of America' s small and medium-sized businesses regarding the numerous options they utilize for acquiring and communicating with their customers. The ongoing study represents findings across 14 major and secondary U.S. markets-Atlanta, Boston, Chicago, Columbus, Hartford, Houston, Los Angeles, Nashville, New York, Norfolk, Oklahoma City, Omaha, Sacramento and Seattle.
Marketing Tips from the U.S. Small Business Administration:
http://www.sbaonline.sba.gov/managing/marketing/100ideas.html
ADVERTISING
Advertise during peak seasons for your business.
Get a memorable phone number, such as "1-800-WIDGETS."
Obtain a memorable URL and email address and include them on all marketing materials.
Provide Rolodex® cards or phone stickers pre-printed with your business contact information.
Promote your business jointly with other professionals via cooperative direct mail.
*** Advertise in a specialty directory or in the Yellow Pages.
Write an ad in another language to reach a non-English-speaking market.
Place the ad in a publication that market reads, such as a Hispanic newspaper.
Distribute advertising specialty products such as pens, mouse pads or mugs.
Mail "bumps," photos, samples and other innovative items to your prospect list. (A bump is simply anything that makes the mailing envelope bulge and makes the recipient curious about what’s in the envelope!)
Create a direct mail list of "hot prospects."
*** Consider non-traditional tactics such as bus backs, billboards and popular Web sites.
Project a message on the sidewalk in front of your place of business using a light directed through words etched in a glass window.
Consider placing ads in your newspaper’s classified section.
Consider a vanity automobile tag with your company name.
Create a friendly bumper sticker for your car.
Code your ads and keep records of results.
Improve your building signage and directional signs inside and out.
Invest in a neon sign to make your office or storefront window visible at night.
Create a new or improved company logo or "recolor" the traditional logo.
*** Sponsor and promote a contest or sweepstakes.
Need more unbiased reasons of why It Pays To Advertise? Check out these links.
Link #1
Link #2
What more do you need to know?
|
