Miller Robin. The online rules of successful companies: the fool-proof guide to building profits

Published by Pearson Education; 1st edition; 2002. ISBN-10: 0130668427. ISBN-13: 978-0130668424. (204 p., ill.).
Series: Financial Times Prentice Hall.
Subjects : Electronic commerce-Management. Internet industry-Management.
What Makes the Internet So Powerful? - Building a Web Site that Works - Profitable Ecommerce - Promotional Web Sites for Offline Businesses - News and Discussion Web Sites - Email and Chat As Profit Builders - Site Promotion and Advertising - Site Promotion and Advertising - Cost Control and Futureproofing.Product Description.
There's now enough history to identify specific rules for systematically building the profitability of virtually any business online. In this book, Robin Miller systematically introduces these rules, and shows exactly how you can use them to maximum advantage, whatever you market - products, services, information, or advertising. Miller is exceptionally well-placed to write this book: he is editor-in-chief of OSDN, the parent organization of hugely popular sites like Slashdot and Freshmeat.businesses that have been profitable virtually from day one. Drawing on his own experience and the hard lessons learned by thousands of companies, he has delivered a hard-nosed, practical, streetwise guide to reducing your costs and increasing your revenues until you're making a healthy and sustainable profit. Miller identifies disastrous mistakes and shows how to avoid them; presents tactics for accomplishing more with less; shows how to anticipate trends and technologies without wasting scarce time and money; and demonstrates how you can use the Internet to support all your business activities, both online and off. This book is not about technology or "e-commerce": it is about success.
The Online Rules of Successful Companies: The Fool-Proof Guide to Building Profits is chock full of real-world examples and solid, common sense ideas for embracing the Internet and putting it to work for you. The goal here isn’t to help you position yourself for that red-hot initial public offering. The goal is to help you use the Internet to build a solid, sustainable, and profitable business. Along the way, you’ll get plainspoken advice about designing a successful Web site; about the strengths and weaknesses of selling goods online; about how to get noticed; about how to use the Net to hold down costs; and about how to use other, non-Web services of the Net (e.g., live chat, email) to establish a bond with your customers or audience.In this book, Robin "Roblimo" Miller introduces specific rules for systematically building the profitability of virtually any business online, and shows how to use these rules to maximum advantage, whatever you sell-products, services, information, or advertising.
Miller is exceptionally well placed to write this book: He is Editor-in-Chief of OSDN (Open-source Development Network), the parent organization of hugely popular sites like Slashdot and Freshmeat-businesses that have been profitable virtually from day one. Drawing on his own experience and the hard lessons learned by thousands of companies, he has delivered a practical, streetwise guide to cutting your costs and raising your revenues until you're making a healthy, sustainable profit.
Miller shows how to avoid disastrous mistakes; how to accomplish more with less; how to anticipate trends without wasting scarce resources; and how to use the Internet to support all your business activities, both online and off. This book is not about technology or "e-commerce": It is about business success.
The rules of profitable business online. What works now-and what never works
Driving costs out of your online business. Reducing the cost of hosting, software, coding, and more
Using your site to support your offline business. Dirt-cheap ways to increase your in-store traffic and profits
The do's and don'ts of email, chat, and community. Connecting with your customers-one-on-one
The myth of the "abandoned shopping cart". What you can-and can't-learn from incomplete transactions
Powerful promotion without the expense. And expensive techniques that are utterly worthless
The streetwise guide to online profits.
Increase your online revenues and reduce your costs-one step at a time
Build business-focused Web sites that work
Use email and chat to build profits without alienating customers
Information layering: clearing away the clutter that keeps people from buying
Practical solutions for brick-and-mortar companies, Internet companies, and click-and-mortar hybrids
Why have so many companies lost a fortune on the Internet, accomplishing nothing — while others have made far smaller investments and earned millions? In The Online Rules of Successful Companies: The Fool-Proof Guide to Building Profits, leading Internet entrepreneur Robin "Roblimo" Miller illuminates the crucial rules that make the difference between success and failure online.
Miller's successful Internet ventures have ranged from the legendary Slashdot community to one of the world's first profitable online limousine services. In this book, he offers no-nonsense advice for building your online profits in the only way possible: by driving revenue up and costs down.
Discover how to make sure your Internet presence supports your entire business, both online and off. Learn which low-cost site promotion techniques work-and which expensive techniques don't. See your site as customers see it, and fix the problems that keep them from buying. Learn how to use email, chat, and "community" features to support your site-and how not to. From low-cost software to effective advertising, Miller shows you what's working for thousands of companies online-and how to make it work for you.