Since childhood, Linda had been fascinated with the ornate and intricately detailed dolls her grandmother collected. Since she already had extensive knowledge and experience with dolls (thanks to her grandmother), she was confident she could build a successful business selling dolls to enthusiasts and collectors.
While working on an e-business project in college, Linda had done some research on the costs of doing business online, and understood the importance of integrating the Internet into her business model. She knew that any business, however small, can be big online with the right mix of promotion, information and service. Furthermore, she would be remiss as a businessperson to ignore the value of e-commerce for her business, and she already knew that a very large, established community of potential customers already existed online.
In her due diligence, however, Linda learned that to have a Web site designed, programmed, and hosted could cost her as much as $5,000 to $10,000 minimum. Add thousands more for e-commerce capabilities that would support online transactions. Her limited budget simply could not support those costs, especially since much of her available capital was being invested in inventory.
Following-up on a recommendation from a colleague, Linda contacted WebNow, an online service for small businesses that automates the process of setting up a Web site and provides a variety of services either for free or for a fraction of the costs typically associated with establishing an online presence.
Linda wanted a Web site with a unique address for her business ("www.lindasdolls.com"), and knew that the way to succeed online was to build a community and to communicate regularly with her clients. For $24.95 a month, plus a nominal fee for registering her Web address, WebNow gave Linda the ability to do all of this--with little to NO programming. Her clients can view her inventory, download a regularly updated inventory list with pricing, and read her monthly newsletter.
With WebNow's eSuccess Tools, Linda can send out weekly e-mail updates to her clients informing them of order status, new inventory, or special offers to create and order brochures that she could distribute in her community. WebNow even helps her promote her business online with "ProFinder", WebNow's own Internet marketing agency.
In no time at all, and with almost no major investment or overhead, Linda's Dolls was transformed into an online e-business.
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