Internet Business Blog

Consulting with small business owners and new internet ecommerce startups on a daily basis I come across the ‘800 number’ issue all the time. By traditional brick and mortar standards, a toll free 1-800 is not necessary but by Internet Business standards, it is an absolute MUST!

Owning a toll free 800 number will increase conversion rates by as much as 30%*

I’ve found this to ring true (excuse the pun) across all niches, and it makes sense. Not only does an 800 number make your internet business look more professional, it gives the customer piece of mind that you are in fact an established business.

Owning a toll free 800 number will increase productivity.

This point is often overlooked, but simply cannot be denied. Let’s face it, we aren’t perfect. Most people aren’t able to offer customer support throughout the entire business day unless there is specific staff on board for that – in which case you should already have an 800 number. Set up specific blocks of time when you are able to assist your customers (spread throughout the day). Answer the phone, return voicemails, and follow up on any loose customer related issues during this time. When you’re not working customer service, turn the ringer down and get to work. I promise, you’ll be much more productive this way in an ecommerce situation.

Owning a toll free 800 number will separate work and home life.

Don’t do internet business from your personal cell phone. I did 1,500 orders in 8 months, and the amount of phone calls that generated to my cell phone at all hours (day and night) became too much to handle. Do yourself (and your family) a favor and keep your business line completely separate from your personal.
*In my experience.

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I’ve always heard that Kid’s isn’t necessarily the best niche on the internet but it’s awful hard to argue with Club Penguin who just cashed in a potential $700 million on their sale to Disney.

From the NYT:

Disney said it would pay $350 million for Club Penguin, a virtual community… More than 700,000 users now pay $5.95 a month to customize penguin characters and then chat and play games with other “penguins.”

“Kids are starting to go to the Internet first, so it is important for us to operate in that space,” Robert A. Iger, Disney’s chief executive, said in an interview.

Three parents in Canada are paid $350 Million for the site, plus another $350 Million if they meet performance targets in two years. Not bad for a site created just two years ago. From what I can tell they did not necessarily optimize or promote Club Penguin to its fullest potential, relying on viral and social networking / bookmarking to spread the word. It looks what they did worked, and these parents will be able to set up one heck of a college fund for their children.

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The Wall Street Journal reported today that internet giant Business.com has been sold for a whopping $345 Million. Telephone-directory company R.H. Donnelley Corp. finalized the deal for the Web-based B2B and B2C directory on Thursday.

The Business website was founded by entrepreneurs Jake Winebaum and Sky Dayton in early 1999. Both partners were thought of as insane for putting a $7.5 million price tag on a single Internet domain name (Business.com) at the time.

WSJ:

This deal represents the increasing influence of the Internet in the yellow-pages and white-pages business of Donnelley, which publishes paper and online directories in many states under the AT&T, Dex and Embarq names, among others.

Business.com works as a web directory. It allows users to search for business services, while collecting a bounty for sending Internet traffic to individual merchants via inclusion payments.
I have used Business.com in the past as both a business owner and consumer. As a business owner, I didn’t see a whole lot of traffic for the price but that was more because of my particular niche than anything else.

A sale of this magnitude makes the initial $7.5mil many years ago seem like petty cash. I hear that Winebaum, one of the original founders, will be returning to the website following the takeover.

This makes one wonder what Business.com will sell for next time around. Anyone care to take a guess?

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