Businesses using the Web could be divided into three
broad categories. (People can be divided into three categories, you know: Those
who divide things into two categories, those who divide things into three categories,
and those who don't divide things into categories!)
The first category
are those whose business model is such that the Internet *is* the business. In
other words, if it weren't for the Internet, there would be no business...the
business has been created from scratch for the very purpose of taking advantage
of the possibilities of the Internet.
An example of this type of business
would be The Mountain Zone http://www.mountainzone.com. The Mountain Zone, for
whom I provide on-line marketing services, is a 10,000+ page Website specializing
in mountain sports. It is a pioneer in building virtual community, where people
of like interests come together not only to "consume" the useful information that
is published, but to *collaborate* with others, and to *conduct transactions*.
To this first category, selling information, products and services and
carrying advertising (plus charging fees in some cases) are the mainstays of their
revenue-generating model. They have no revenue-generating sources outside the
Internet.
The second category are those whose business exists outside
and independent of the Internet, but which use the Internet as an additional selling
channel.
These businesses often carry advertising to help support the
cost of the site.
An example would be Eddie Bauer http://www.ebauer.com,
which has retail outlets, a mailed catalog business, plus an Internet shopping/ordering
site.
The third category are those who business exists outside
and independent of the Internet, and who don't directly sell products and services
on the Internet. These businesses look to the Internet purely as a means to support
customers, prospects and other stakeholders with information, service and problem-
solving tools.
An example would be Boeing http://www.boeing.com, which as
yet does not take airplane orders on-line (probably an issue of bankcard limits
). But it does use the Internet to provide all sorts of information to the outside
world, including investors. (The distinctions in these categories are not static.
For example, we will see businesses who once existed only outside the Internet
who evolve all the way to doing business *only* on the Internet).
Having
made a distinction between these three categories of Internet business, it's important
to note that NetNurturing is relevant for all of them! All need to keep and grow
customer relationships if they are to survive and thrive. Neither can make it
on one-time customers.
That's why increasing share-of- customer becomes
a vital objective, and why strategies must be developed to achieve the objective.
Now that some of the groundwork has been laid for the NetNurturing philosophy,
we can dig in and start getting specific about strategies, tactics and examples.
I look forward to your comments, questions and suggestions.
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Letter" as the subject and "Remove from mailing list" in the body. Copyright 1997
All rights reserved. Terry Roberts Consulting & Services. Excerpts may be used
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