How the Internet Changed Business :: essays research papers

How the Internet has Changed Small Business Forever Ten years ago, the Internet as we know it hit screens. It was 1995 when Explorer and Netscape emerged as the leading browsers for Internet users. Of course, a lot has changed since the days when it took several minutes to load one Web page. Today, URLs are as common as phone numbers for most businesses. During the last decade, we’ve been to the top of the world—during the dot-com boom of the late 1990s—and back down again, when it all fell apart a few years later. But with the bad came the good: The Web forever changed the business world. The following small-business owners are shining examples of how Web-based technologies can be a businessperson’s best friend. 1. E-mail Because it changed the way we communicate in business Phoenix-based PMP Tools ( http://www.pmptools.com ) provides test materials for project managers studying for professional certification exams. Test takers can find prep courses, review books and study tools on the site, which employs 11 people. Brent Knapp, the site’s founder, started publicizing PMP Tools by posting information in Yahoo Groups chat forums and by buying lists from Hoovers and Forbes for marketing mailings. His results were decent, but not perfect. He got a 3 percent response from what was then a $3,000 monthly project that took three days to complete. â€Å"We spent time designing the mailing and printing it. And then we all sat around stuffing envelopes and calling companies to get the right contact person to mail it out to,† he says. Last year, Knapp decided e-mail might be a better option. At the very least, he would save $2,950 per month and three days of manpower; the template and automation tools he uses take all the legwork out of creating a newsletter. He saw results almost immediately. Now Knapp sends a daily newsletter to about 12,000 people, a number that has climbed 10 percent each month. The newsletter contains a project management review, crossword puzzle and product promotion. Sales have gone through the roof since it launched, topping $1 million last year. The company also benefits from e-mail in another way: employee contact and customer service. â€Å"We literally have no incoming calls—ever,† says Knapp. â€Å"Everything—99 percent of what we do—is handled via e-mail. People don’t want to call in. People don’t want to wait on hold. We have a one-hour e-mail policy, so our customers get an immediate response.