Masonry Magazine October 1997 Page. 39
Business on the Internet
By Carol Brzozowski-Gardner
With 45 million people in more than 200 countries having full or partial access to the Internet, it's no wonder that savvy business people have started to tap into this resource more and more to market their own companies or gather information to help their companies grow. Commercial growth on the Internet now stands at 10 to 13 percent per month and commercial domain now comprises 80 percent of the Internet.
We asked Dr. Jill Ellsworth, an Internet marketing research expert and consultant on business and marketing on the Internet for Fortune 500 companies, to share with us some of her insights on how businesses may best benefit from this new and growing technology. Here are her comments:
How is the Internet of use to Business
"The use of the Internet can both increase business and sales, and it can allow for considerable cost savings," Ellsworth says. "The Internet is another marketing channel, and offers additional customer service and technical assistance access. It is fast and economical.
"The Internet offers tools to accomplish business tasks in many areas, including:
* Internal and external communication
* Corporate logistics
* Globalization
* Leveling the playing field
* Competitive advantage
* Cost containment
* Collaboration and development
* Information, research and data
* Marketing and sales.
GROWTH OF THE INTERNET?
"Currently both the number of domain registrations with InterNic (the domain name registration authority) and the estimated number of users on the Net are growing at about 10 percent a month," Ellsworth says. "In addition, the number of Web site servers is growing at about 20 percent a month.
How does one wade through the thousands of postings on the Internet to find the 'Gems' that will assist in business operations?
"There are a number of search tools available to help locate good information," Ellsworth says. "To search the Web, these areas are great tools: Yahoo, Lycos, WebCrawler, Excite and TradeWave. To locate information posted on Usenet, Deja News and Sift are great tools. Also being active on the discussion lists such as Internet marketing is important as is reading the postings for Net happenings."
How can a business establish its own Web Site?
"Web sites range from the very modest $20 to $50 a month, to thousands a month very cost effective per visitor," says Ellsworth. "The average cost is $160 a month.
"Locate a service provider who will help you locate assistance or provide that themselves a great site to locate an Internet service provider is http://www.thelist.com."
Ellsworth says there is a two-pronged approach to establishing a successful Web site.
"First, you make your site visible on the Internet by registering with all of the search engines and catalog sites. The site has to be cross-promoted with other media, including television," she suggests. "The site also has to be promoted in all corporate materials such as business cards, letterhead, catalogs, brochures, etc.
"The second prong is that the Web site must be used to qualify customers with surveys, contests, guest books, and other data-entry forms so that the site can gather information."