1. Get connected!

If you are viewing these pages fom a friend's or a public Internet connection and if you own a home or business computer, you should absolutely get access to the Internet, at least to have an e-mail account. Announce your e-mail to all your friends, existing customers, and business partners. Ideally, your e-mail must be noted on all your company stationary systems (your business card, your company letterhead, and invoices, etc.) If you do not have the funds to revise your existing stationary systems, get a rubber stamp made with your e-mail address, and pre-stamp every stationary before you need to use them. Get into the habit of checking your e-mail every day, and respond to every e-mail within 12 to 24 hours.

For chosing the right Internet Service Provider for you, consult the quidance provided by Computer Current Interactive. For (almost) comprehensive lists of ISPs anywhere in the world, check out The List. For US and Canadaian ISPs, you can also check ISPs.com. We can also help you select a reliable ISP.

2. Use the Internet!

As a small business executive, other than using the e-mail as a vital communication tool, you can make use of the Internet in a variety of productive ways. According to the The Network of City Business Journals 1997 research findings, among small business owners that are connected, 89% use the internet for accessing the Web, 85% use e-mail to communicate, 83% do research, 81% read on-line publications, 78% request information from suppliers, 73% research products, 71% download software, 57% obtain technical support, 56% look for new business opportunities, 44% look for business advice, 43% look for government information, 40% buy products or services, 27% chat with other business people, and 26% make or receive phone calls (frequently or occasionally).

3. "If you build it, they will come!"

As long as your market is not geographically severely confined by nature, if you build a web site, customers will come. Integrate the web site into all aspects of your marketing and sales operations. Think big, but you can start small. You do not need a mega-site to be noticed and have a competitive edge. (Remember that only 10% of small businesses currently have web sites in the US.) A single well designed and informative web page will get you situated in cyberspace. More on what kind of a web site you need later on...

4. Advertise your site!

Do more in your traditional advertising than simply list your web site address. Use traditional media to drive traffic to your site. Give them a reason to come and visit your web site.

5. Build a customer database!

Once visitors are at your site, attempt to capture some brief but vital information so you can build a database. Visitors will provide information if they have a relationship with your company, or if they see how providing information will benefit them.

6. Use e-mail for promotion!

Send targeted promotions and offers via e-mail to the potential customers in your database. This is a very economical way of marketing, and will increase your annual sales.

7. Use your web site to sell!

e-commerce opportunities are not limited to technology products. Every product can be sold via the Web, from cheese to gas, from books to legal services. Most services can even be delivered over the Web. Using the Internet to directly sell your products or services will expose your company to new markets in terms of both customer types and locations.

8. Adress security concerns directly!

Concerns about security are the primary drawback to Internet commerce. Recent technological advances are rapidly rendering this a mute concern. However, if you are planning to sell products or services on-line and accept credit card information, you should clearly explain your security precautions to prospective on-line shoppers. Limit their liability in the event of fraud. Offer off-line (traditional) payment options.

9. Keep it alive!

It is not sufficient just to put up a web page. Your pages must be current, so they need to be updated as frequently as necessary. Large corporations who spend large sums for the initial development of their web sites budget approximately 100% of this development cost for the maintenance of their site every year. Small businesses that spend miniscule amounts for initial development should budget 150% of the cumulative cost of their site for maintenance and enhancements each year until the site grows to a satisfactory, maximum-return size. For instance, if you spend $200 for initial development, allocate for maintenance and enhancements up to $300 during the following year, and up to $750, that is 150% of $(200 + 300) in the year after that. The site will pay for itself!

10. Do-it-yourself versus commissioning

With a limited development budget, you may prefer to prepare your web pages yourself rather than commissioning a web site design and development company. There are close to thirty Web Authoring Tools (software that will help you put together web pages) on the market and thousands of web developers. The authoring tools come in low-end (and inexpensive) versions to high-end (and expensive) versions. For a comprehensive listing and review of these tools, see Network World Fusion's HTML Authoring Tools Guide. (You will need to register.)