The New Frontier of ProfitsWritten by Rob Spiegel
I recently participated as a judge for Inc. magazine's Web site competition. I expected experience to demonstrate just how sophisticated Web sites have become among small businesses that make up Inc.'s readership. I didn't see level of quality I expected, but I was even more encouraged by what I actually found, a wide-ranging display of sites that were selling everything from exotic soaps to electronic parts. And they were doing it profitably. Raw entrepreneurial energy oozed through these sites as they experimented with serving new customers.The segment of overall contest I was assigned to was ROI, new lexicon for return on investment. ROI has become rallying cry of ecommerce as it tries to get off defensive and back up on its feet. Not surprisingly, it's a new category this year. Up until cyber-crash of 2000, Internet companies were blissfully free of dirty need to produce a return on cash invested. The small business audience of Inc. magazine never had this peculiar luxury. The dot com boom was a high-flying gamble by high-moneyed players. Venture capitalists and large enterprises put up stake, and young dot commers were either new to business or young upstarts flooding in from investment and technology communities, both of which are nestled in padded nest of major corporations. ROI was least of their concerns. The dream was very big, and when you dream really, really big, mundane thoughts of profits are typically left for next generation of managers The chronically under-funded small business community was late to Internet world. The owners of small companies live on a razor thin edge, and if blade slips, it cuts into personal income. One small blunder can cut very deep, setting owner back years. For small company owners, attention is just as dear a commodity as capital. Take your eye off ball for just a moment and your customers start scattering in all directions. Small business owners were late to Internet game for two clear reasons. The customer wasn't demanding an Internet presence and ROI was difficult to see. No matter how far-thinking owner may be, how can he or she justify venturing into an area where customers are not waiting? In Internet world, executives used imagery of hockey great Wayne Gretzky who clamed he didn't skate to puck, he skated to where puck was going to be.
| | Before You Delete It, Read ItWritten by Timothy Ward
If you ask any honest ezine publisher they will tell you that there is a difference between number of subscribers an ezine has, and number of people who actually regularly read ezine. Of course better ezine, more regular readers there will be. But even best ezines get skimmed over, glanced at, and deleted by a certain number of subscribers.This fact however, doesn't hurt ezine publisher as much as it hurts subscribers. You see, every time someone just glances over an ezine, or sends an ezine to 'Trash' folder without reading it, they are missing out on some of best information internet has to offer. This information comes in form of ezine articles. Ezine articles are a great source of information for a number of reasons. For one, they're written by a wide variety of different men and women around internet. This allows readers to get unique perspectives and viewpoints on a variety of subjects. Secondly, ezine articles are written by people who want to share their knowledge with others. People don't write ezine articles to get rich, they write them to help others. True, they are allowed a resource box at end of article, but that's only payment they will receive for all time and effort that went into article.
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