Opinions expressed by BIZ Experiences contributors are their own.
The web's usefulness keeps growing--and fast. The latestproof is how easy it's made locating Federal Express and UPSpackages as they travel the globe. To find any package you'vesent or are waiting for, just go to http://www.fedex.com enter the trackingnumber, and within seconds you'll know its location anddisposition. UPS makes this process still more convenient byintegrating its package checking into the main page of searchengines InfoSeek http://www.infoseek.com and Lycoshttp://www.lycos.com
Talking Shop
Software for setting up shop on the Web just keeps gettingeasier to use. A case in point: Microrim's Submit This! (under$75), which includes interactive forms for making sales and creditcard transactions on your Web site. Establishing an online businesswith Submit This! is as simple as editing and uploading a fewtemplates to a Web server. To find out more about Submit This!,visit Microrim's Web site at http://www.microrim.com
A step up in power is the Peachtree Business Internet Suite(about $50), a turnkey program designed to get a business on theWeb in a matter of hours. Included are many templates for Web-pagedesigns--just fill in the blanks and you're ready to go online.This software also includes data encryption for secure transfer ofcredit card information. A plus of the Peachtree Business InternetSuite is that if you already use Peachtree's accountingsoftware, the Internet Suite will automatically transfertransaction data into it. More details are available athttp:www.peachtree.com
For a quantum leap higher in power, check out Lotus'Domino.Merchant (http:www.lotus.com) software designed tocreate online storefronts as big as your imagination. Despite itsmuscle, Domino.Merchant still stresses useability with the aim ofgetting you online with minimal programming hassles. Encryption,credit card transactions and customer feedback forms are allincluded. Offering tools that meet the needs of the most ambitiousstorefronts, Domino.Merchant is not software for novices but forcyber merchants who have outgrown entry-level programs. Pricing(about $1,300) is highly competitive; programs with comparablepower usually sell for several times as much.
Exchange Rate
Want to build traffic to your Web site by advertising on othersites but don't have a budget for Web advertising? Join a linkexchange--a program that puts your banner ad on other sites inreturn for placing banners of other exchange members on yours.Leaders in this cyber bartering are LinkExchange http://www.linkexchange.com andSmartClicks Banner Advertising http://www.smartclicks.comParticipation is free--the exchanges support themselves by sellingads on their sites--and you can belong to multiple programs.Generally, for every two visitors to your site (two views of theexchanged banner), your banner will appear on another member'ssite, with a new banner appearing in rotation every time a site isvisited.
The exchanges screen out adult-oriented sites from theirmemberships and also give members some say in the types of sitestheir banners will appear on, such as business-oriented. For Websites seeing little action, link exchanges can send some visitorsyour way.
Building Blocks
Tired of waiting for the world to beat the proverbial path toyour better mousetrap? Find out the how-to of commercializing aninvention with a visit to Invention Management On-Line http://www.adlenterprises.com asite operated by the respected Arthur D. Little (ADL) think tank inCambridge, Massachusetts. The site gives inventors the skinny onmarketplace realities and pro- vides forms for submitting patentedinventions for consideration by ADL.
There are no fees for these services. If ADL decides to helpbring your product to market, its compensation is usually apercentage of licensing revenues.
To contact Robert McGarvey, visit his Web site at http://www.members.aol.com/rjmcgarvey/
