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Published in the July edition of 
Computer Link Magazine

In the dotcom heyday, web budgets exploded. Companies that had never seen or used the Internet felt they needed to be there and were ready to spend millions of dollars to make a web presence that really didn't do much for their business, or at least nothing that could measured. Just before the dotcom bust, budgets were still outrageous, but at least investments were made with an expectation of a return in 5 years or more (although even then the measurements were pretty vague).

In today's economy, most businesses can't afford to spend a dime without knowing how it will affect their bottom line. And most businesses, even those that have spent millions on their web presence, have begun to ignore the web to "focus on their traditional business". The thing that is most often overlooked is the fact that even with the dotcom fallout, the Internet is not dead. As a matter of fact, the Internet may even provide the salvation that many companies are looking for, and you don't need to spend millions to do it.

Improved Customer Service
Having happy customers is the number one way to ensure repeat business and word of mouth advertising. The Internet can help make your customers happy by providing customer service that it is available 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. The best-known example of web customer service was when FedEx introduced online package tracking. Within months they were able to reduce the cost of their customer service department and put millions of dollars back to the bottom line. While for most businesses, the idea of spending, much less saving millions of dollars on customer service just doesn't fit. We've helped clients with much smaller customer service requirements implement online customer service applications that have provided a return on investment in just 6 months.

But you don't even need to take it that far. The first place to look at improved customer service is your FAQ page. The question you need to ask yourself is do our FAQ's really answer customer questions? If not, go back through your web email and make sure it does. Every question answered through a web visit instead of a phone call will save you money. Next, make sure that your contact information is up to date and that web mail is answered promptly. Again, answering questions via email provides flexibility to the customer (they can send in their questions anytime) and reduces your cost of making sure that customer needs are met.

Lower Marketing Costs
Many of your marketing costs can be dramatically reduced or even eliminated through the web. Printing owner's manuals, instruction sheets and product brochures is expensive and these documents often need updating. By making these files available in Adobe Acrobat PDF format on your web site, you can greatly reduce the quantities you print. By no means will the web eliminate your need for printing, but it can greatly reduce your overall budget as well as eliminate the waste of throwing away tons of outdated information. When a new version of the document is ready, simply replace it on your site and the next person that downloads will get the most recent up to date document. In addition, email marketing can also provide a substantial savings over printing costs by distributing newsletters and special offers electronically.

There are additional cost savings with your marketing materials as well. Web documents are delivered right to your customer with no postage costs and the associated time it takes to address and mail the information.

Outsource Data Entry
Another great way to add to your bottom line is to add forms to your web site that enable the site visitor to complete their own information. One of the best examples of how this works is with product warranty cards. By setting up forms to write directly to your database, you'll no longer need to pay someone to re-enter the data on your end. In addition, you'll gain greater efficiencies by reducing data clean up (most people aren't likely to misspell their own names) and your database will remain current and up to date.

Reduce your recruiting costs
Recruiting new employees through employment agencies can be extremely costly. Plus advertising job opportunities through traditional means is expensive and, particularly in today's economy, attracts a lot of unqualified candidates. A very simple way to attract employees is simply to place a job opportunities page on your web site. While there are some very complex (and expensive) software applications that can integrate with your web site, unless you have a high volume of positions to fill, you can usually manage employment opportunities through a simple web database application, or if you have some in-house web expertise, through static pages on your web site. By simply providing an email address to send in resumes, you'll be contacted by more qualified candidates that know something about your business. After all, they found you through your web site remember?

Selling Products and Services Online
I imagine that most readers expected that online sales to be first on the list. In fact, in the early dotcom days this was the area that most business models focused on. The problem with selling online is that it is often approached from the mindset of "we need to have everything available to everyone through our online store." While in theory, that can be a good idea, this article is focused on affordable ways to improve your bottom line. From an affordability standpoint, I always encourage clients to look closely at their product mix and identify where the real opportunities to offer something special are and then offer just that portion online. For example, people aren't likely to buy a McDonald's cheeseburger online, but I expect there are a lot of collectors' interested in purchasing Happy Meal toys.

Once you've identified the right items to sell online, rather than building a custom storefront, look for an existing online store service. There are many online store services where for a low monthly cost, you can provide a few products with direct sales that integrate with your web site.

Stop Thinking Big
As we move into the next economy, it's time stop thinking big. The Internet offers a whole host of cost effective ways to help your business gain competitive edge. You can't afford to ignore what the Internet can do for your business. It can help your profitability.