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\bold{Doing Business on the Internet}}






\flushright{\italic{\bold{Laurie D. T. Mann}

ServiceWare Knowledge Engineer

lmann@telerama.lm.com

http://worcester.lm.com/lmann/index.html}}



\bold{\bigger{W}}hen the Internet was started, businesses had almost 
nothing to do with it.  In fact, businesses were originally prohibited from 
advertising on it in any form. Gradually, during the '80s, large high tech 
companies adopted the Internet as a way to communicate and transfer data 
between far-flung sites.


Now, with the evolution of the World Wide Web as a consumer-driven 
phenomenon, businesses of all sizes are using the Internet as a way to 
communicate directly with consumers.


This informal talk will:


     o  provide a very brief overview of the way businesses used

        the Internet in the past.


     o  discuss how businesses use the Internet today.


     o  review some of the ethical issues of doing business on the Internet.


     o  cover the basics of starting a small Internet-related business.


     o  describe some excellent business-related sites.



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\heading{I.  The Way the Future Was:  Businesses on the Internet During the 
'80s and Early '90s}


    ARPANET - The Department of Defense funds a project to build a \


    robust network.

    \


    Data was shipped around.  Code.  E-mail.  Net discussions

    emerged.  Check Brad Templeton's history of the net at

    http://www.clari.net/index.html


    Eventually, more and more colleges link up.  Businesses, especially high

    tech businesses, link up.  Some people prefer E-mail to FAX.


    There have been many technical changes to the Internet over the

    years.  But there other changes that have had a huge

    impact on the way the Internet works:


      o  proliferation of home PCs

  \


      o  proliferation of national commercial networks (CompuServe, \


         AmericaOnline) and local Internet Service Providers \



      o  improved ease of use


      o  the World Wide Web


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\heading{II.  How Businesses Use the Internet Today}


    \subheading{ }Marketing and Advertising

          Businesses can tailor Web sites to specific audiences.

          Each site may only get a few hundred or few thousand

          visitors a day, but if people like what they see, they'll

          stop back to see what's been added.  AND maybe they'll

          spend some money!


     Distribution

          Taking orders from the Internet can provide a useful \


          additional distribution channel.


     Sharing Intra-Corporate Information \



     Soliciting Customer Feedback






\heading{III.  Beyond Spam:  Some of the Ethical Issues of Doing Business 
on the Internet}


     Internet users have a huge range of reaction to online \


     advertising, from "anathema" to "it's an unregulated frontier

     and we can do whatever we want."  Advertisers would be wise

     to take this range of reaction to heart.


          Focus your marketing on your Web site.

          Use newsgroup postings VERY judiciously.

          Don't send out junk E-mail.     \


          Don't overwhelm low-traffic mailing lists with

                information about your company.


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\heading{IV.  Creating Your Own Virtual Company 101}


     The following types of skills seem to be in high demand:

          o  Perl & C programming (and search engine-creating)

          o  Computerized graphic design

     \


     Once you decide what you want to try, register your new business

     with the Internet indexing sites (Yahoo (http://www.yahoo.com)

     and Lycos (http://www.lycos.com)).  Avoid spam and junk E-mail.  \


     Create a Web site that shows the variety of things you can do.


\heading{V.  Excellent Business-Related Sites}


    What's a good commercial site?  \


           o  A site that goes beyond screaming "BUY MY PRODUCT!"  \


           o  A site that balances good graphic design and useful 
information. \


           o  A site that is updated periodically and corrects mistakes. \


           o  A site that doesn't rely on "gee-whiz" graphics too much \


   \


     Here are some examples of good commercial sites and what

     makes them good commercial sites:

           http://mineral.galleries.com/AGI.htm   Amethyst Galleries

           http://www.arion.com/mstrcook.html     MasterCook Home Page

           http://www.goodyear.com                Goodyear Tire &amp; Rubber

           http://www.mcp.com/index.html          Macmillan Information \


 			                                                     SuperLibrary(tm)

           http://www.info.apple.com              Apple Support & 
Information

           http://www.novell.com/                 Novell World Wide Web

           http://www.sgi.com/ss.home.page.html   \


					Silicon Graphics Silicon Surf

           http://worcester.lm.com/lmann/hot/book.html   \


					Many book companies


    Online Business Resources

           http://nmq.com/                  Net Marquee (Small Business)

           http://www.thomasregister.com/   Thomas Register

           http://www.hoovers.com/          Hoovers Business Handbook Online

           http://www.cbbb.org/cbbb/        Better Business Bureau

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