Internet Business System
Increase Productivity and Profits on the Web
When I started my first online forum in 1988, few people knew what an online service was. Fewer still cared. Trying to explain what I did usually produced puzzled looks, and if I could corner anyone long enough to give a demonstration, the usual response was a polite, “That’s nice, but who will use it?”
No one asks that question anymore. Big and small businesses alike have flocked to the Internet and to online services because that’s where their customers are. And that’s where their suppliers are. Researchers expect there will be 100 million Americans online* in the year 2000.
Every type of product you can imagine is being sold on the Web, too. In 1999, 76 percent of retailers and 43 percent of manufacturers were selling online or planned to sell online.† Besides computers, books, and CDs, you’ll find leather jackets, soda pop, lingerie, and clothing. You’ll find some rather inconceivable offerings, as well. One enterprising college student set up a Web site to sell horse manure. Her target wasn’t farmers or gardeners. It was any individual who wanted to “get even” for being laid off, dumped by a love one, and so on. For $19.99, the site would giftwrap a clump of horse manure and ship it to the sender’s least favorite people.
You don’t have to be a retailer to benefit from the Web, however. Small and home-based businesses throughout the world are discovering that the Internet reduces costs and improves efficiency. In fact, the improvements are so significant that you will be at a competitive disadvantage if you don’t learn to put the Web to work in your business.