Internet Resources

1
Internet Resources

• SBDC Business Executive Training Program
• Patricia Egen
• pregen_at_egenconsulting.com
• www.egenconsulting.com

2
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

3
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

4
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

5
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

6
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

7
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)

8
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.h
  tm
• Small Business Association - www.sba.gov
• SOHO - work.soho.org
• Stocks quote.yahoo.com

9
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

10
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

11
Software to Download

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

12
Are people buying on the Web?

• You bet! These are in Billions of dollars

13
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

14
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 ()

15
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

16
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

17
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

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More Design tips

• Dont 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
  youll lose people as they wander off to your
  favorite sites too.

19
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 dont care message
• Bleeding edge technology
• Shockwave, sound, movies

20
Top Ten Design Mistakes - part 2

• Scrolling text and animations
• Bouncing balls and banners
• Complex URLs
• If they are too long, people wont 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.

21
Top Ten Design Mistakes - part 3

• Lack of Navigation support
• Again, which page am I on wheres 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

22
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.

23
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

24
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

25
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 ISPs 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 its
  coming

26
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

27
Whats 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

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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/

29
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

30
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