I notice CNet picked up the news.:
news.com
Also yesterday BLLS was quoted and mentioned in USA Today. Davis.com seems to have a handle on press coverage. BLLS certainly is getting their share of media attention, and in fact a pretty good analyst following as well.
usatoday.com:80/life/cyber/tech/cte856.htm
Net retailers give small businesses a hand
By Doug Levey, USA TODAY
PALO ALTO, Calif. - The next electronic commerce superstars don't want to be household names. In fact, they don't want consumer business at all.
They're part of one of the fastest-growing segments of Internet commerce: companies that sell services and products to small businesses.
Not only do these new Internet companies compete with local print shops, Web-site designers and other neighborhood businesses, they often offer better prices and more personalized service.
To survive, brick-and-mortar stores are being forced to form partnerships with these new e-commerce players or risk losing their customers.
They are competing in valuable territory. The USA has almost 22 million small businesses. Most (52%) are online already, according to a survey done for Visa USA. And 34% of small business owners say they use the Internet daily.
Many of these businesses are run by individuals who are scraping to find ways to save time and money. Moving tasks like ordering office supplies onto the Web can do both. "You rarely hear of anyone who
isn't overwhelmed with work," says Neal Berry, who runs two small businesses in Atlanta. He orders most computer equipment and supplies for his six-person Web-site design company via the Internet.
With two children at home and businesses to grow, Berry looks to the Web to learn, about how to recruit, train and retain qualified employees. Time he saves by using Internet-based suppliers is time he can use working with his customers.
Michael Wiginton, owner of a Mail Boxes Etc. franchise in Duluth, Ga, says lnternet-based companies are helping him offer new services to customers. By partnering with start-up Eletter, a company that lets companies use the Internet to order and send direct mail letters, Wiginton now plans to offer bulk mailing services to customers who have only a few hundred pieces to mail. In the past, a mailing of fewer than 1,000 pieces was considered "too expensive." Eletter CEO Manish Mehta says his company frees small-business owners' time. "They don't have to stuff envelopes themselves."
Another fast-growing area of internet commerce is that of setting up Web sites for small businesses. Unlike large retailers, such as Macy's and the Gap, tiny companies don't have computer experts on staff to handle such duties
Until recently, the only option was local Web consultants. Now, Go2Net's Hypermart and Ticketmaster Online-CitySearch (www.citysearch.com) are among major Internet companies hosting Web sites for smallbusiness. And because they are mass marketers and national brands, they can provide the same personalized service and customization but at lower cost.
Microsoft's LinkExchange, an Internet advertising agency, opens up new avenues for small companies. A neighborhood business isn't likely to have the thousands of dollars required to buy banner ads on Internet portals, such as Yahoo and Excite. But LinkExchange pools advertising buys together. For a few hundred dollars, a company can get banners on key sites through LinkExchange, says marketing Vice President Deb Whitman.
America Online's Compuserve also caters to small businesses, offering a variety of services, including connections to professional groups where customers can share information, ideas and feedback.
Billserv.com, based in San Antonio, is trying to bring electronic billing to companies too small to use major vendors, such as Transpoint, CheckFree and Intuit.
"We're going for the smaller guys," says David Jones, senior vice president and co-founder. The company bundles the billing of several small firms and then sends the batch through CheckFree's system.
While many companies see a large market among small businesses, not everyone focuses there. Seattle-based ImageX, an online printing company, tar gets Fortune 500 companies and concentrates on serving the branch offices of those companies.
CEO Rich Begert says business-to-business e-commerce is more challenging than the retail side. "But the revenue is better; the repeat business is better." |
