INTERNET BUSINESS NEWS-(C)1995-2002 M2 COMMUNICATIONS LTD
Are you planning an Internet startup, or are you re-launching or launching a business online? If so then "Planning Your Internet Marketing Strategy" may be the book for you.
This books deals with the very first step any such venture has to deal with: planning. The first stage is to realise the possibilities of online commerce - there are virtually no limits as to the location of your customers as long as they have a computer and a connection to the Internet. Many companies apparently forget this simple fact and treat the electronic commerce only as an extension of whatever physical commerce they do. Of course you can do it that way, but you may lose many potential customers.
Although I cannot guarantee that the book is 100% hype-free, it has the potential to be one of the most hands-on texts I have seen in this field, without lots of jargon and hard-to-understand concepts.
The author, Ralph F Wilson, deals with issues such as strategic planning, purposes of the website, defining a niche for the online business, the need for a market analysis and focussing on the market(s) and product(s).
The book also includes exercises to let the reader "perfect each step before applying it". I am not 100% in favour of the exercises but perhaps in a situation where a new business owner wants to go online it may be useful to practise first.
All in all a reasonably easy to read text in short sections with even smaller bite-sized chapters within each one. The back of the book also has an appendix with a 27-point checklist that includes reminders to add the URL of the website to promotions as well as issues like writing keywords, page titles and submitting the site to search engines.
CONCLUSION: Not a bad book for what it is. Easy text with hands-on advice that could prove useful to the beginner as well as the more experienced person.
Title: Planning Your Internet Marketing Strategy - A Doctor Ebiz Guide Author: Ralph F Wilson Published by: John Wiley & Sons Inc ISBN: 0-471-44109-0 Price: USD19.95 Reviewer: Ann Sundqvist
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