Introduction
The Internet - Network of Networks
Be Creative !
Authoring Web Pages
Should you be on the Web?
Cost for Internet presence
Back to Clubhouse - email to Craig
I first placed my Retail Store on the Internet over a year and 1/2 ago, and it's been quite a wild ride ever since. During that time, I've expanded our stores presence, started HearthNet, which is a National "mall" for the hearth industry, and moderated a free-form email list with hundreds of fellow Hearth Industry members. At this point, over 250,000 people have visited HearthNet site and read over a million pages. I've also developed sites for companies both in and outside of the Hearth Industry. And to think, previous to this, our Industry magazines wouldn't even publish articles I turned in.
Since the Net is a "new frontier" , we truly learn as we go, and I would like to take this hour to share some of my experiences and tips with you. It will be impossible to cover all the ground. Any of you that surf the Net know it's easy to spend HOURS each night just checking out the news, sports and a few of your favorite sites. In fact, the Net has changed me from an early-to-bed, early-to-rise type to a full-fledged Night Owl...
The InterNet - Network of Networks --
On the physical level, the definition of the InterNet is a "Network of Networks" . This represents hundreds of thousands of computers all over the world that are interconnected by high speed cables. These computers are at corporations, schools, government offices and private businesses like your local ISP. When you fire up your modem and dial into your internet access provider, he connects you into the internet "cloud". While you are connected, you too are a part of the Network.
Once you are hooked up to the Internet, you can send and receive email, browse or "surf" the world-wide web, put files on remote computers and receive files from them.
The Network is quite stable. Millions of email messages are sent and received every days, and billions of web pages are looked at. It's all quite mind-boggling that it works at all, and luckily each of us does not have to figure out how, we can take for granted that it exists and does the job.
More inportant to us as Marketers is the impact of the Internet as a medium for communiation. I attended a seminar with one of the Internet's pioneers where he said " The InterNet is a REAL revolution, becaue it allows everyone on the planet to be published for everyone else to see ...for little or no cost. "
Think deeply about that - this means you don't have to appeal to a publisher or a venture capital firm in order to spread your ideas and concepts. If you or your business have something to say, you can find -- or create - a forum to say it. If it's worthwhile, the world will beat a path to your door. If no one comes, well, at least you'll have the satisfaction of seeing your name in lights.
Yes, it's all there... good stuff, bad stuff and in-between stuff.
One word of advice before we go on...If you are thinking of putting your business on the net... don't copy what somebody else has already done. Develop your site using YOUR Ideas and creativity..consider new concepts and possibilites. This will add to the excitement and diversafication on the Internet....share some of yourself with the world !
There's some Ideas of hearth sites, but the Internet can be much, much more. For instance, I've started a local site showcasing my hometown, Medford, New Jersey. It's called Medfordnj.com. Check it out !
Ok, so you can do some neat stuff on the Web, get your ideas out there for the world to see. Let's talk about the tools required to do the job.
First of all, I should admit that I'm an Apple Macintosh nut. Yes, I've used DOS and Windows machines, but have found the Mac to be more elegant and user friendly. It's estimated that 2/3 of the content on the WWW is authored on Macintoshes, so it's clear that others agree.
Luckily for the Windows majority, many of the newest Web Authoring programs are available on both Windows and Mac platforms. Basic Web authoring can even be done with Freeware or Shareware tools, so little investment is needed other thatn the time to learn the basics.
Let's take a quick look at making a page using a popular Authoring Program called Pagemill by Adobe Software. Adobe also produces excellent software called Photoshop for creating Web Graphics.
Basic Web pages consist of two distinct elements - Text and Graphics. Text can either be typed directly into the authoring program or imported from other existing text documents. This means you can use much of your existing marketing materials on your web page.
The language of the Web, HTML, is quite limited. If you're used to the amazing formatting capabilities of certain page layout programs and word processors, you'll have to come back to earth when laying out Web Pages. Here's a few of the different Text Options a Document can have:
OK, so the text part is no big deal. Many of the secrets of Web Authoring lie in the creation, manipulation and placing of graphics.
Web Graphics must be in certain formats, called .gifs and .jpegs. These are formats that compress the graphic so it can be delivered as fast as possible over the web. The original graphic can come from a scanner, digital camera, or from a clip-art collection. Or, you can create your own graphics from scratch.
After getting out text and graphics, we now have a web page. We can tune up the page by changing the background or text colors, adding small graphic elements and other techniques. Now that we have a page, we probably want to link it to other pages. That's the whole idea of the "web", the linking of related documents.
Animations, Video and sound can also be placed in your web pages in much the same way that graphics are. Here's some examples of short Video and animation Clips.
Larger sites can have hundreds or thousands of pages and graphics. In fact, HearthNet is currently at 2000 files and counting.... It takes a lot of time checking up and making certain all the links are working.
Ok, so we see it does not take a Rocket Scientist to create Web Pages. It's an entirely different question, however, if your Web Pages are worth creating. That is, does anyone care what you have to say, and is it commercially valuable for your retail store or manufacturering operation to be on the Internet.
At the manufacturers and importers level, the answer is almost always "YES". Let's take a quick look at the basics benefits a web presence might have to a Manufacturer. - Some of these benefits also apply to retailers.
Listing of Benefits: 24 Hours per day - National (international) presence for a low cost Low "Cost per lead" Able to provide almost unlimited amount of Information Able to obtain real-time feedback from prospects and customers Able to troubleshoot units in the field and answer certain questions proactively.
What's the cost for a manufacturer to have a web presence ? It can vary widely depending on the scope of the site, how much work is done in-house and other factors.
A guideline would say that a budget from $2500. to $15,000 per year is where most manufacturers sites would fall. This would include authoring, storage, some marketing and other basic services. A Manufacturer selling small accessory items may be able to establish a presence for even less.
Now, let's talk a bit about the possibilities for Retailers.
When I first placed my Retail shop on the Internet, the world beat a path to my door...because we were the only game in town. Now, there are over 100 hearth retailers on the Net, so it may be a bit more difficult for you to get heard. Still, an Internet presence can be a good part of a retailers overall marketing program.
Let's look at three different options that might fit most retailers:
1. Presence on the internet by having a simple home page and/or listing in Internet mall(s). Cost $100.-$500. Year
2. a 3-10 pages Site with maps, featured product lines, and a few listings in national or regional malls. Cost $500-$1500. year.
3. Enhanced presence with full Store selection, updated pages, additional marketing, etc. Cost $2,000 - $5,000 per year
Whether you are a manufacturer or a retailer, you must consider your web presence as an ongoing marketing effort. Placing your pages on the net is only the begginning. You have to establish links to other site, which will bring traffic your way. You can also place PAID advertising on many web sites, which will being even more visitors to your web site.