The answer to that
question is relatively simple. Everyone is talking about the Internet.
It's new! It's fun! It's exciting! And it's not just for kids. The
Internet, particularly in its graphic interface known as the World
Wide Web, is probably the most important communication vehicle developed
since the telephone. And more importantly for the small business,
the Web levels the playing field between small business and big
business.
Let's look at the variety of commercial uses for the Internet:
The Web is the newest medium for advertising. It offers significant advantages
over traditional advertising media in that it is dynamic, interactive
and inexpensive. The Internet is making it possible for small- to
medium-sized businesses to compete with the big guys. Of course,
as the Web matures, advertising rates for the most popular sites
will increase. Advertising is not the only way to make your business
known via the Web. Search engines are another powerful and low cost
way to increase awareness of your products and services.
The Web is an important customer service tool. Did you throw away the TV guide this week?
You can check out your local TV station's Web page for its weekly
schedule or the network specials this week. Have you ever wanted
hard facts comparing natural gas to electricity? This type of information and much more is available on the web.
Soon you'll be able to schedule appliance repair times and make
changes to your gas service account by sending an email, at your
convenience, either during or after regular business hours. Wouldn't
you rather shop for a new car from the comfort of your home, in
the quiet time late at night after the kids are in bed? This is
now possible in many areas of the country. The Web allows you to
communicate with your customers at their convenience. Don't you
want to offer this level of service to your customers?
Network connectivity makes it possible for you to hook up your
local area network (LAN) directly to the Internet. Who wants to do that? Lots of companies!
For example, a wide area network (WAN) connection offers multiple
simultaneous connections through a dedicated data line at a tremendous
savings over individual modems and standard telephone lines. This
makes your existing internal email addresses work as Internet email
addresses. It also allows you to set up your own Web server with
your own domain name, to provide volumes of information to existing
and potential new customers, and to take orders on-line.
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