Internet Business

Suits

This is the place to find information and tools you need to run a Web business. If you're a suit, or just need to know a bit about the business side of things, we have information about tools and software for business and marketing, Web project management, Web site promotion and electronic commerce.

 The Latest Stuff

• The ABCs of Promoting Your Web Site
  In this ongoing column for the beginner, we build a small business Web site one step at a time. In fact, now we've got the site built and are ready to promote it. Here are the basics of search engines, link exchanges, mailing lists and other traffic-building tools.
  
  
• Sun Ray 1 Review
  Strange how quickly things come full circle, especially in the IT world. Here we are once again with the dumb terminal idea, bouncing back from the old mainframe days, with a few new features to bring it up to date. Fortunately Sun Microsystems has put enough new twists into this old idea to make it a real contender. Take the Sun Ray seriously. It's a future champion.
  
  
• Setting up Your Own Mailing Lists
  Starting your own mailing list is one of the best things you can do to boost traffic to your Web site, but it isn't the easiest thing in the world to do. Here are links to articles that will show you how to set up and promote both email newsletters and discussion lists.
  
  
• Sell ads on my site?
  If you really want to, you can. Yes, thanks to the huge number of ad networks and affiliate programs out there, practically any Web site, no matter how small, can sell advertising. The question isn't whether you can, it's whether you should. We look at traditional ad agencies, ad networks and affiliate programs.
  
  
• Guaranteeing an Increase in Your Site Traffic
  Start at the goal. Walk backwards, feet on the ground. Then forward. That is how you guarantee positive results for any quest, including increasing your site traffic and revenues. Let's take a brief look at this philosophy, then see how we can use it to increase our site traffic, guaranteed.
  
  
• Setting up a Web Development Shop
  So you want to go into business as a Web developer? Here's a step-by-step guide to how to do it. The first step is to make an emergency appointment with the mental health professional of your choice, and beg them to talk you out of it. If you're still determined to start your own Web design business, here's a laundry list of what you'll need.
  
  
• Advertising on the Internet (Book Review)
  Online advertising is an industry that generates $1.8 billion dollars per year, and believe me, you ain't seen nothing yet! There's a huge demand for information about this red-hot field from both would-be sellers and would-be buyers of advertising. This comprehensive and well-written book should satisfy both groups.
  
  
• Tune Your Ecommerce Site for the Christmas Rush
  Your servers and bandwidth have to be big enough. Your systems have to be solid. You need to do little work now to get ready to soak up the flood of orders that are soon to be pouring in.

 Web Site Promotion and Marketing

• Submitting to Search Engines? Read this first.
  Are you sure your site is ready? If you make a bad first impression, you may not get listed at all, or you may get listed, but not properly indexed. Here's a checklist to peruse before blasting off.
  
  
• 10 Ways Not to Promote Your Website
  Everyone knows that promoting your Web site is critical. But if you don't know what you're doing, you may do yourself more harm than good.
  
  
• SelfPromotion.com
  When you've got a Web site to promote, an auto-submission service can save you a lot of time. Selfpromotion.com is the cream of the crop.
  
  
• Maximizing Search Engine Positioning
  
  This Web site promotion tutorial is in three parts:
  
  
  1. Maximizing Search Engine Positioning
     
     
  2. Doorway Pages Go Mainstream
     
     
  3. How to Avoid Spamming the Search Engines
  
  
  
• Increasing Page Views - Busting the Million Mark
  Most people start their surfing sessions with a search. Find out what they're searching for and give them plenty of it.
  
  
• Promoting Your Web Site
  The field of Web site promotion is rife with bad advice, shady deals, and just plain rip-offs. How to separate the valuable from the vapid?
  
  
• The Internet Marketing Plan
  A written plan is a must before creating an Internet presence. This book covers much more than just writing a proposal for a Web site. It's a pretty darn good primer on Internet marketing.
  
  
• Highly Targeted Marketing on the Web
  Not only can a webmaster now figure out if you’re a dog, he can find out what you’re favorite brand of dog food is and find out if you’ve ever been to obedience school.

 Site Traffic Analysis

• Log File Analysis Software - Hit List 3.0
  Hit List analyses your log files and uses the data to create a variety of reports.
  
  
• Traffic Analysis Software
  Bruce Morris explains how to analyze your Web site traffic, and compares the different software packages available.
  
  
• Analyzing Log Files
  Who's coming to your site? What are they doing there? Where are they coming from? What are the best analysis programs? What features do you need to look for?
  
  
• Analyzing Web Site Traffic - Find the information you need in your log files.
  Is anyone looking at your Web site? Do they like what they see? Do all your links work, or have some of the Web sites you linked to disappeared? The answers to all these questions (and more!) can be found in your log files.
  
  

 Internet Advertising

• Andy Grove is wrong. Interactive TV is not a dead end.
  Perhaps he hasn’t recognised the next killer app: tracking and profiling Web site and television visitors and marketing to them in very precise ways.
  
  
• Advertising on the Internet (Book Review)
  Online advertising is an industry that generates $1.8 billion dollars per year, and believe me, you ain't seen nothing yet! There's a huge demand for information about this red-hot field from both would-be sellers and would-be buyers of advertising. This comprehensive and well-written book should satisfy both groups.
  
  
• We'll Make Money Selling Ads On the Site!
  Build a special interest Web site about your hobby and make millions selling ad banners! Your mileage may vary.
  
  
• Banner Ads Aren't Worth It
  We do the math for you. It's not a good deal.
  
  
• Banner Ads Eat St. Louis!
  Laser-point personalisation is going to spawn a whole new advertising industry.
  
  
• Ad Management Software Shootout
  Details of all the available products, in all price ranges, including a features comparison chart.
  
  
• Evaluating Ad Management Software
  If you’re selling ads on your Web site now or plan to be in the near future you need to decide what kind of ad management software you need.
  
  
• Ad Management Software - Ad Juggler 3.1
  Some mom-and-pop sites may brew up a CGI script to handle serving banner ads, but sooner or later they will graduate to a real ad management system like Ad Juggler.

 Project Management for the Webmaster

• Today's Junk Software
  Web development software that simply does not work well causes huge problems for start-ups.
  
  
• What Internet Skills Shortage?
  There’s plenty of talent out there but most people don’t know how to hire Internet developers.
  
  
• Chaos is Not a Symptom of a Healthy Start-up
  Is chaos a necessary part of an Internet development effort or is it a symptom of poor management?
  
  
• How to Work with a Web Development Agency Without Killing Each Other
  It is possible to outsource some massive Web development projects and reach a comfortable quality and monetary conclusion for both sides with very little violence occurring.
  
  
• The More Things Change...
  Managing change requests is a famously widespread problem in the Internet industry for several reasons.
  
  
• How to Write a Request for Proposal for a Web Project
  The big problem Web development shops are having isn't production chaos - it's trying to respond to poorly written RFPs.
  
  
• Q. Who’s running your project anyway?
  A. The accounting department? No way!
  Marketing people know marginally less about the technical aspects of software development than a hand-reared armadillo.
  
  
• Projects Always Late? Over Budget?
  One big mistake I see quite often is that project development cycles are collapsed. The critical path through the project is paralleled to the extent that code, video, audio, content, text and pictures are all being worked on at once.
  
  
• Controlled Chaos Is the Key
  Establishing and managing a large commercial Web site is similar to running a daily newspaper. Seeming chaos in such newsroom environments is normal and perhaps even desirable. Actual chaos, on the other hand, demoralizes the troops and costs money.
  
  
• Managing Commercial Web Sites
  While establishing and managing a commercial Web site, several key issues need to be addressed not just during the planning stages but on an ongoing basis. Here are a few items a smart Web manager should think about.
  
  
• Freelance or permanent staff?
  These days, there’s not much difference in the risk factor.
  
  
• Where has that bl**dy picture gone?
  This is all about losing your assets.
  Finding the pictures you want to use can be an absolute nightmare on any project. It can take two days or more to scour through all the CD-ROM and hard drive collections of images you have.
  
  
• How to Hire the Best Web Developers
  All you need is to hire some great Web developers who can write HTML and Java. How do you find and hire these people?
  
  
• The Coming (Even Worse) Shortage of Good Web People
  There is a bitter pill to swallow and those in positions to hire had better go get a large glass of water.
  
  
• Information Systems Project Management - Book Review
  This excellent and very readable book can help you get your Web projects done on time (and maybe even within your budget).
  
  
• Secrets of Successful Web Sites - Book Review
  Project Management for the Worldwide Web
  
  
• The AMA Handbook of Project Management - Book Review
  This fine collection of essays forms an authoritative overview of the project management field.
  
  
• Getting a Project Done on Time
  Review of a Project Management Book from AMACOM