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Getting Started If you like the prospect of getting business from the Net, it's not difficult to get involved. First: you need to be on the Net yourself. Net subscriptions are beginning to standardize at roughly $20 per month with unlimited access time. Second: You need a web page or home page, (same thing). There are computer programs that allow you to create your own home page but I believe you're better off hiring a Web-Master, (a company that specializes in creating the pages.) Expect to spend between $1000 and $2000 for the initial home-page construction followed by a reasonable monthly maintenance fee. Animation can be included into your home page or background music for example. The page must be user-friendly and fun. It must stand on its own and encourage your potential customer to place an order—leave that to the pros to design. Web-Master Tricks When Mrs. Smith pulled a list of plumbing companies the list was quite long. Customers won't look through all of these listings, so it's important that your address is near the beginning. A Web-Master will embed hidden commands into your home page that better positions you towards the top of the list—another good reason to use a pro. Priority is not based on seniority or alphabetical order. Advertise Your Web-site Address The Web address is how the customer finds your electronic brochure—your home page. The address is much like a telephone number. A Web address should be posted on yellow-page ads, business cards, letterheads and all correspondence. Telephone directories are beginning to publish Web addresses in their listings for a nominal fee. Register on Major Search Engines A search engine is a computer program that reads your request; Mrs. Smith typed in ABC Plumbing.com. Search engines send out electronic spiders that crawl all over the Net to find references to items you're searching for, then make them available to you. With a simple form, you can register your address on the popular engines like YAHOO, allowing customers to find you faster. Get Involved Now I have three basic business beliefs: know your industry; envision where your industry will be in the near future; and get there first! How do you suppose this column came to be? Certainly NOT because I was the 25th person to suggest it to the editor! What Else Does the Net Offer?
Is The Net For You?
 Peter Morici "Plumbers Protect The Health Of The World." 
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Looking for new equipment? Perhaps the manufacturer has a home page that you can browse through. Wouldn't it be great to type in: INSPECTION CAMERA and get a list of all the manufacturers. Click here, click there and see pictures, prices and options. Perhaps a few notes on field repairs or new products and attachments for existing equipment. No salespeople to talk to until you're ready and window-shopping anonymity. Don't believe that you're completely anonymous though—companies measure the "hits" on their home pages and your address is being recorded somewhere, to be sure. Don't be surprised if you begin receiving "junk" E-Mail.
Look at the facts: The Internet is already twenty million strong and growing in leaps that Evel Knevel would envy; school districts are getting logged-on with governmental assistance and the Internet is the most heavily advertised medium in recent history. We must always be looking for ways to increase our customer base and the Net can help us do that. The tools are all in place. As the general public begins to accept Internet shopping; there is bound to be an ever-increasing shift away from yellow-page effectiveness and towards home page browsing. You may decide not to get involved, that's OK. But, consider this: as you sleep your competitors are accumulating service calls from new customers that never saw your ads.| Peter Morici - [Intro] | [Articles] | [Email] | [Website] |
| The views expressed in this article are those of the individual author and do not necessarily reflect the views of the management or staff of MasterPlumbers.com |
