Internet Resources

SBDC Business Executive Training Program

Patricia Egenpregen@egenconsulting.com

www.egenconsulting.com

Agenda• Why do I want to use the Internet?

• Tools of the trade

• A few definitions to help navigate the acronyms

• The power of search engines

• Key business sites

• Freeware/Shareware - gifts of the Internet

• Downloading tips and techinques

• Setting up your own Web site

• Where to find more help

• Demo of web sites and tools

Why the Web “Works”• Geographic Distribution -- The net reaches around the world.

• Robust Architecture -- The net adapts to damage and error.

• Speed -- Data travels at 2/3 the speed of light on copper and fiber.

• Universal Access -- The same functionality to everyone.

• Growth Rates -- fastest growing technology ever.

• Freedom of Speech -- The net promotes freedom of speech.

• The Digital Advantage -- The net is digital, and can correct errors.

• Ease of Use

• Search capabilities

How the Web Works• Addresses or URLs (Universal Resource Locator)

– Domains (com,edu,gov,org,mil,net) are part of URL

• Servers– Programs and computers that manage web sites.

• HTTP– The protocol (or language) used to communicate web pages over the net.

• Pages– Web pages are windows.

• HTML– The language used to define web pages.

• Links– Jump to other sites and connections using “hypertext.“

• Applets– Download little programs on-the-fly, such as Adobe or Shockwave

Growth of the Web• 1998

– 47 Million U.S. Internet users

• June, 1999 Study results– 63.4 Million U.S. Users (105.4 Million with Internet

Access)

– The average user visited 12 websites and spent 7 hours, 38 minutes online that month

Business Uses of the Internet - Part 1

• Government and SBA– IRS tax forms and publications

– US Post Office - rates and e-stamps

• Financial information– Quickbooks.com, loan information, mortage info, online banking

• Supplies– Computer equipment - OnSales.com

– Staples, Office Depot

• Software assistance and support

• Current events and up to the minute weather and news

• Electronic Mail

Business Uses of the Internet - Part 2

• Reference– Maps, directions

– Phone books, mail directories

• Business Research– Competitor information

– Market analysis

– Supplier listings• Thomas Register, IndustryNet, WIZnet, MacRAE'S Blue Book Directory

• Business services– eStamp

– ePrinting

– Travel (hotels, airfare, cars)

Cool Business Sites - Part 1• Financial and Business

– Guides for Small business and the web: www.looksmart.com/eus1/eus65300/eus65319/eus578863/r?l&

– Bloomburg: www.bloomberg.com/

– CNNFN: www.cnnfn.com

– Quickbooks for small business: www.quickbooks.com

– American City Business Journals: www.bizjournals.com/

– Bell South - www.bellsouth.com/state/ky/edressof.htm

– Small Business Association - www.sba.gov

– SOHO - work.soho.org

– Stocks: quote.yahoo.com

Cool Business Sites - Part 2

• Business Services– US Postage Rate Calculator: www.usps.gov/business/calcs.htm

– Currency converter: www.xe.net/ucc/

– Track your UPS package: www.ups.com

– Faxing over the Net: www.efax.com

– Maps: www.mapquest.com/

• Travel– Travelocity: www.travelocity.com

– Flifo: www.flifo.com

– The Trip: www.thetrip.com

– Expedia : www.expedia.com

Cool Business Sites - Part 3• Weather

– Weather Underground: www.wunderground.com

– Weather service: www.wx.com

• Computer and Software– Bug and fix reports on software: www.betafix.com

– Windows 98 help: www.annoyances.com/win98

– Windows drivers: www.windrivers.com

• Small Business Tools– Virtual University for Small Business :www.vusme.com

– Documents online (including storage): www.netdocuments.com

– Invoice and billing: www.timebills.com

– Mass Mailings over the Net: www.eletter.com

– Email over “the Phone”: www.enow.com

Software to Download

• Free Software and Shareware– www.freewarehome.com/– www.winfiles.com– cws.internet.com/– www.tucows.com

Are people buying on the Web?

• You bet! These are in “Billions” of dollars

How to use the Web• Use your computer with a modem to call an ISP - Internet Service

Provider (your “gateway” to the Web)

• Internet access speeds (are you part of the “World Wide Wait”)• Modem - 56,000 BPS

• ISDN - 64,000 - 128,000 BPS

• Cable - up to 3 million BPS (usually not available at those speeds)

• ADSL - 384,000 to 1,500,000 BPS

• Use a Browsers, a tool to view Web sites and pages– Microsoft Internet Explorer and Netscape

• Start by “Surfing “ - Just look around, following links

Using Search Tools• Use Search Sites - also called Search Engines

– Key Search Sites• AltaVista, Excite, HotBot, Infoseek, Lycos, Yahoo

• MetaSearch Sites (sites that search multiple search sites)– Dogpile, Metacrawler

• Searching techniques– Boolean Algebra– Use Unique Identifiers– Combine Keywords, With "And”– Add Phrases, – Use Related Keywords– Use Question Phrases with Quotes– Filter Choices With "Or", – Use Restricting Searches (and “not” )– Wildcards (*)

Does your business need a Web Site?

• Probably - over 3000 companies join the net “a day”

• Questions to ask– Does your competition have web sites?

– Do you sell a product or a service

– How much do you want to spend, who will manage the site, prepare the information, etc.

• What can I use it for?– Marketing, sales, product literature, information,

brochures, shopping carts

– Access is measurable - you can tell how many people “visit” your site

So You Want to Build a Web Site• Step one.

– Plan, plan and then plan some more– Get your domain name! Now!– Questions to ask yourself

• Understand your audience– What do you want to say

– What do you want your customers to “hear”

• What do you want to spend

• How often will the information be updated

• Do you have technical resources available

• Where will the site “live”

Design Tips

• KISS* rules– Keep it simple

• Graphics are pretty; they are also slow

– Design for the lowest common denominator• Not everyone has a fast Internet connection

• Not everyone has a large or fancy monitor

• Some people have trouble seeing certain colors

– Keep your site interesting• Add something that changes, like a newsletter, or

“favorite site of the month” to draw return visits* Keep it simple, silly

More Design tips• Don’t cram everything on the first page

– Add “links” to other pages on your site– Draw them in. If you build it they will follow

• (and follow, and follow).

– Add links to other favorite places. Link pages are interesting to people searching the Web

• Warning - put this at the end of your site or you’ll lose people as they wander off to your favorite sites too.

Top Ten Design Mistakes

• Slow download times• People hit Escape quickly rather than wait.

• Frames• Oh, how I hate frames!

• Outdated Information• Very unprofessional

• Sends a strong “we don’t care” message

• Bleeding edge technology• Shockwave, sound, movies

Top Ten Design Mistakes - part 2

• Scrolling text and animations• Bouncing balls and banners

• Complex URL’s• If they are too long, people won’t bother typing them in

• Orphan Pages• Where do I go now? How do I get back.

• Scrolling Navigation pages• People generally scan, not read

• What they see in the immediate area is what they go away with.

Top Ten Design Mistakes - part 3

• Lack of Navigation support• Again, which page am I on; where’s the home page

• Every page should have links to your other pages

• Try to keep them in the same location.

• Non-standard link colors• Not a biggy, but annoying to seasoned surfers

www.useit.com/alertbox

Where to Start

• HTML literacy no longer a pre-requisite– Both Internet Explorer and Netscape come with

tools to help you design and compose pages– Tools like Publisher step you through web

design using Wizards and design tools– Microsoft Office products (especially Office

2000) save files as HTML and are designed with the Web in mind

• You can even use an Excel spreadsheet as an HTML page.

After you build it• Once you have built your site, make sure people

can find it.• Use services that post your site on search engines

– Some are free; most have a nominal fee

• Make sure you put information in the page titles that send your message clearly

• Put your AD on other web sites

Tips to help people find you

• Title keywords• Quality Printing vs Acme

– Does the searcher know who Acme is?

• Meta tags– description

• “The best Print Shop in Chattnooga”

– keywords• printing, brochures, mailings, copy setup, full color

press Chattanooga quick

Use an evolutionary approach

• Start simple– Use a free Web site service like Excite, Yahoo, AOL,etc.

– Most services have wizards that step you through the design of a web site

– Use your ISP, like CDC, Virtual Chattanooga– Some ISP’s will set up a root domain name for a set price

– This means people find you by your company name not by the name of the Hosting ISP

• Example: www.acmeprint.com versus www.cdc.net/~acmeprint

– Grow your site slowly – Use “Under Construction” to let people know it’s coming

How did I start?• Design

– Used Frontpage to get a feel

– Researched what other people did

– Searched the Web for advice

– Switched to Publisher and now use Netscape Composer or an editor and actually code in HTML

• Set up a free website on Angelfire– Did my family home page first, then set up business

page

• Submitted my sites to a Search company

What’s happening now

• Run my own server– www.egenconsulting.com

• Continually updating my site

• Get an average of two business leads a month– Server is hit on the average of 10 times per day

• Still learning every day

Places to go for information• Web Design sites

• Create a successful website: – http://www.hooked.net/~larrylin/web.htm

• CNET Web design tips:– http://builder.cnet.com/Graphics/Design/

• Search engine Submittal companies• Submit-It.com

– http://submit-it.com/subopt.htm

• There are literally hundreds of companies– Go to these sites and search there

• http://www.looksmart.com

• http://www.about.com

• Learn Web Jargon: www.webguest.com/glossary/

More places to go

• Free web site organizations– Free Sites Network

• http://www.fsn.net

– Homepage.com• http://www.homepage.com

– Bizland• http://www.bizland.com

– 411Web• http://www.411web.com

Questions and a quick demo

• Questions?

• This Powerpoint presentation can be found at the following URL:– http://www.egenconsulting.com/egcforms.nsf

• It will be under General Presentations