trivia.... :)mulla711
March 2, 1998
Spectra uses the 'Net -- intelligently -- to boost its golf sales
Rajiv Sekhri Courier Staff Reporter
To keep up with the growing golf industry, Mariemont-based Spectra Discount Golf knew it needed to expand.
But the company, which had sales last year of $120,000, didn't have the resources to hire a sales staff or build additional production facilities. So it joined the global flea market on the Internet at discount-golf.com.
Now, the 10-year-old business that makes discount golf clubs hopes to double sales in 1998 with global orders.
Since Dec. 10, when it went online, Spectra has received more than 440 e-mails. On average, one out of 10 of those inquiries turns into a sale, which average $350 to $500 each.
"It's unbelievable the number of people that surf the Internet," said Walt Maerki, 79, one of Spectra's two partners.
Bob McGraw, 47, who sold his insurance agency in 1996 to become Maerki's partner, said: "Our customers used to be a stream of local golfers wanting a good deal on clubs before the start of the season. Now we're getting business literally from all over the world."
Spectra has been able to attract online customers because its Web site is easy to find and it's selling a product that has a strong affinity group on the Internet, experts say.
Spectra, which has a 40 percent profit margin, charges between $300 to $500 for a set of clubs that Maerki said would cost $1,000 if it were a well-known brand name.
Operating out of a cramped 3,000-square-foot office, Spectra also sells T-shirts, mugs and pens personalized with company logos. McGraw and Maerki have family members help embroider the logos on clothes and caps.
Experts say that just putting up a Web page for your company doesn't mean online shoppers will find you. They should be able to find you quickly through a so-called "search engine," such as Lycos, Alta Vista, Hotbot or Yahoo. Those programs allow 'Net surfers to target information by typing in a key word or concept.
Maerki and McGraw said they didn't know the first thing about marketing on the Internet or about search engines. As a result, they hired Multimedia Production Services' Terry Erdt to pilot their journey into cyberspace.
After setting up Spectra's Web site for around $2,000, Erdt made sure it was easily accessible through search engines. For example, if a shopper types in golf or discount golf on Yahoo or Lycos, Spectra's Web page will be within the first 10 choices.
"You have to index your site properly," said Erdt, who charges Spectra around $50 a month to update the site.
To stay in the top 10 search-engine choices, however, requires constant attention. Discount golf companies around the globe go on the Web everyday and Spectra has to constantly check to see if it's in the top 10.
McGraw, who has become Internet-savvy over the past couple of months, said he ensures Spectra's status by surfing through rankthis.com, a site which tells you how your company fares on various search engines.
"Search engines are key in getting people to know where you are," said Tom Zins, vice president of Sharkbytes Inc., a downtown-based Web-site design and marketing company.
But he added that 'Net surfers are getting more proficient and now know how to search for specific items rather than just type in general terms. For example, a couple of years ago a surfer may have typed in "golf" if he were looking for golf resorts. That would have brought up all kinds of information, including golf publications, golf product stores, etc., Zins said. Today's consumer is more likely to narrow his search.
Besides effective indexing, Erdt and McGraw are creating a database of the people who are e-mailing them. They plan to e-mail these prospective customers a quarterly golf newsletter, which they'll also post on their Web site.
The newsletter will have information about new products and golf news, McGraw said. It'll also contain a trivia question contest. Winners will be given small awards, such as golf balls.
"We want customers to get used to our products and come to our site," McGraw said.
Experts say sports enthusiasts already have a strong affinity on the Internet, a plus point for Spectra.
To make money online, "you have to find groups who have formed a community on the Internet," said Jeremiah Kane, an Internet adviser at Ben Ezra Weinstein & Co., a consulting firm in Albuquerque, N.M.
"You need to find people who have a strong bond to the product," he said. For example, beer and environmentally-safe goods also have a following on the Internet, Kane said.
Spectra, McGraw said, is also interested in forming a following in foreign countries by targeting customers by language groups. Then, not only will golf enthusiasts be united by their interest in the sport but also by language. Currently, Spectra is translating its Web pages into Japanese.
Sharkbytes' Zins said it's very important to target audiences through language because "a large part of the world does not speak English."
McGraw has also listed his home page on golfweb.com, a popular Internet golf site.
Golfweb allows McGraw to post free classifieds, which allows people on golfweb to go to Spectra's home page if they're interested.
On a recent weekend, the company got 30 product and sales requests. On the office floor and on vacant chairs lie parcels ready to be shipped to New Zealand, Poland and Singapore.
Seeing the success, Maerki says: "I'm glad we hired a professional for the Internet. We had experimented with some homemade stuff, but that wasn't worth a damn."
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