Maximizing the Potential of the World Wide Web
(September 2003)
by Troy Johnson, Founder AALBC.com
The Internet is a vast place
and contains an amazing variety of web sites. Despite the demise of many high
profile web sites the World Wide Web (Web) remains a tremendous resource for
both on and off-line businesses.
Despite its huge impact on everyday life the Web is actually in its infancy. It
began in 1991, primarily as a resource for academic researchers, and became a
commercial entity shortly after . However the Web's popularity did not really
begin to soar until after 1993 when the first graphical based web browser became
available. Today one can find tens of millions of web sites containing over 2
billion web pages.
I first discovered the Web in 1994. My initial reaction was mild curiosity - I
viewed it as a haven for computer nerds or academics. When I revisited the Web
six months later I was absolutely floored by what I found. It seemed, over
night, a treasure trove of free information became available -- stock quotes,
news, games, and more. Six months after that, I became involved in building a
Web site that supported a sideline business I was running. It did not take long
before building Web site became the main business.
What makes the Web so compelling it that it is truly the great equalizer. The
Web allows individuals to compete successfully with major corporations. Indeed,
many of the Web sites, I'm about to mention, were started by individuals with a
good idea. The Web does not care about your age, race, or how much money you
have. All the Web cares about are good ideas. There is a popular phrase on the
Web which says, "Content is King". The phrase may have become trite, but it
remains truer today than ever before.
Below are 10 web sites I use on a regular basis to manage AALBC.com. These web
sites have helped my business tremendously, and have enabled me to accomplish
things that just a few years ago would have required a small army. Even if you
are not running a business or managing web sites you are sure to find value in
at least a few of these sites.
Google
http://www.google.com/
Google is an incredible search engine - arguably the best on the Web. A search
engine helps you find the information you desire among the millions of web sites
that make up the web. Google's patented search technology returns relevant
results very quickly. If I can't find what I looking for on the Web, with the
Google search engine, I'm very confident it simply is not there. I also track
the popularity of AALBC.com's web pages with Google. If an AALBC.com page
indicates a high number of "hits", I know I'm doing something right.
One Box
www.onebox.com/
Onebox is a tremendous resource for managing your personal or business
communication needs all in one place. For a small monthly fee OneBox provides
AALBC.com a toll free 800 number, voicemail, email and fax services. I can
listen to voicemail and email over the phone or login over the Web and do the
same via a computer. Onebox is an excellent way to manage your communication
both in and away from the office.
PayPal
https://www.paypal.com/
PayPal allows you to accept credit card payments on-line without the hassle or
expense of establishing a traditional merchant account. PayPal makes it very
easy to sell products or services online. You enter the product or service
information and PayPal does the rest. You can be notified via email when orders
are placed. The funds are immediately available, and mailing addresses are
confirmed. You can even generate a UPS shipping label and packing slip, and
with the touch of a button it can be printed. PayPal makes it possible for
AALBC.com to sell low margin items, like books, and still turn a profit.
Cafepress
http://www.cafepress.com/cp/info/
If you ever wanted to sell branded merchandise this is the site for you!
Cafepress produces high quality, reasonably priced, merchandise on demand. All
you do is supply the graphics to be used on the products you want to sell and
set a price. With Cafepress you can sell personalized mugs, lunchboxes,
t-shirts, wall clocks and other promotional items. Best of all there is no
inventory to manufacture and store. You can generate income on based on what
you sell, and you can promote your business without spending a cent on
production and overhead.
Amazon
http://www.amazon.com
Amazon sells almost everything, but they are truly the masters of on-line book
sales. Amazon leads the way, and everyone else follows. If you want to buy or
obtain information about books there isn't a better resource. They have an
excellent affiliate program which allows you to sell books -- your own or books
related to your product or services -- and earn commissions of up to 15% of the
book's sales price.
AdvantGo
www.avantgo.com
AdvantGo truly makes the Web portable. With AdvantGo you can download content
from web sites to read on your Palm Pilot or other handheld device. You can read
AALBC.com's newsletter, for example, on your handheld (visit
http://aalbc.com/enewslet.htm)
for more information. /p>
HMTL
Gear
http://htmlgear.lycos.com/
Building a Web site, especially for beginners, can seem like a daunting task.
HMTL Gear makes it a little bit easier. They provide all the HTML code you
need to add useful features to your web site, including guest books, visitor
polls, headlines, event listings and much more.
Merriam Webster Dictionary
http://www.m-w.com/
Merriam Webster Dictionary. There isn't anything high tech about this
resource. It is just a solid and well respected dictionary and thesaurus. I
keep a window open to this site whenever I have something to write. You can
ever hear words pronounced properly.
CNET.com
http://www.cnet.com/
CNET.com is a one stop shop for all your technical needs. You can comparison
shop everything from digital cameras to DVD players. The product reviews are
informative and often influence the purchasing decisions I make for AALBC.com.
Microsoft's bCentral
http://bcentral.com
Microsoft's bCentral offers a number of useful tools. AALBC.com takes advantage
of bCentral's List builder to manage our mailing list. List Builder allows you
to easily manage large mailing lists, maintain demographic information and track
the effectiveness of your email campaigns. The List Builder software allows
AALBC.com to see how many people receive our email newsletters, how many people
open the email, and best of all, how many people click the specific links in our
newsletter. This helps us determine the features of AALBC that interest our
readers most.
The Web sites described above
are just a few of the web based resources that I use in managing AALBC.com. Of
course these sites represent a small fraction of the tremendous number of
resources available on the Web. I'm sure you'll find these resources, and many
more web based tools, helpful in making your business thrive.
One last note: Keep in mind that the Web is a two way proposition. It is only as
good as what is added to it, whether those additions are made by corporations,
individuals, or governments. African-American businesses, organizations and
individuals must continue to be contributors to the Web, and not only be
consumers of what the Web has to offer.
Related Links
Maximizing the Potential of the World Wide Web (October 2004)
http://writers.aalbc.com/maximizingwww.htm
