IBM, Staples.com, Namezero.com, eAttorney, GiveMeTalk.com

MarketingToSmallBiz.com
Practical News & Tips for Marketing
to SOHOs on the Internet
May 31, 2000 - Vol. I, Issue 3

Please forward to your friends & colleagues in the Biz.
We depend on your help to grow our circulation!

1. NEWS: Namezero.com, IBM e-Cities Tour, Staples.com,
Broadcastspots.com

2. CASE STUDY: eAttorney, Inc.

3. PRACTICAL KNOW-HOW: GiveMeTalk.com

4. JOBS: Intuit, Broadband e2e

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own free subscription by going to our Web site today:
http://www.MarketingToSmallBiz.com

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NEWS
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-> Namezero.com Relies on Word-of-Mouth To Promote Its
Free Domain Registration

Small business owners are the most cost-conscious bunch
you'll ever meet. That’s why Namezero.com was able to
recently announce that it has registered over 400,000
members, making it the largest single registrant of
domain names in the world. It's all because the best-kept
secret on the Internet provides free domain name
registration. A few small business owners are kicking
themselves right now for paying $35.00 or more to
register a domain name at networksolutions.com or any of
the other domain registries. Remember, this news just
emphasizes a major trend affecting everyone who markets
to small business owners online -- SOHOs want free to
low-fee services. If you can provide that, you can
attract small business owners in droves.
http://www.namezero.com

-> IBM Targets SOHOs with Low-Cost Internet Tools

Headlined by small business expert and public TV host
Hattie Bryant, IBM launched a multi-city Small Business
e-Cities Tour this week. IBM's goal? Convert SOHOs by
offering advice and tools for using the Internet to help
cut small-biz costs. After delivering a step-by-step
tutorial on evaluating and selecting e-commerce options,
IBM hopes to sell SOHO owners their own custom Web site
for less than $500. IBM's initiative is powered by two
such tools: the IBM Web Starter Kit (for Web site
development) and IBM's Small Business WebConnections (for
company email and access for up to 100 employees). The
tour started on Tuesday in Baltimore, with future stops
planned for Minneapolis, Nashville, Atlanta, and Raleigh
and Charlotte, NC.
http://www.ibm.com/smallbusiness

-> Yea/Nay: Staples.com Nabs "Small Business" Phrase on
Yahoo! (At Least for Now)

Ever wonder whose advertising pops up when you search
keywords for your industry? Staples.com appears to have
cornered the market on Yahoo! the day we searched on the
phrase "small business." The Staples banner, promoting a
$15.00 discount on a $100 purchase, came up 9 out of 10
tries. We'd have to say that this is a Yea-within-a-Nay
for Staples, mainly because not everyone can afford to be
such a big hog when it comes to ad placements, nor should
they be. Individual users tend to ignore most banners
seen on general portal sites, as compared to banners on
more targeted sites. If you include banners in your
online ad mix, our best recommendation is to seek out
vertical portals with a small business focus and place
your banners there. Or ignore our advice, become a big
company and you can advertise anywhere you like with a
lot less targeting.
http://www.staples.com
http://www.yahoo.com

-> Media Buy of the Week: Broadcastspots.com

Launched on January 1, 2000, Broadcastspots.com is one of
those sites that allows media buyers to buy available
spots on broadcast radio at the very last minute, any
time of the day or night. Inexpensive media placements
include spots on radio stations as well as nationally
syndicated programming. If you buy radio, you know that
station avails in selected local markets can range
anywhere from $15 to $100 and up, depending on the
station's reach. Buys at this site cost less, since
unsold radio avails are extremely perishable. Check out
the recent agreement with The Arbitron Company. It allows
Broadcastspots.com media buyers to access radio audience
ratings, an essential ingredient in determining where to
place your broadcast dollar. For more info: PJ McCarthy,
Director of Affiliate Sales, at (435) 783 8469
http://www.broadcastspots.com

---------
CASE STUDY: eAttorney, Inc.
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-> Watch Marketing ROI Like a Hawk: eAttorney

THE SITE: eAttorney, Inc. is an Application Service
Provider (ASP) and portal for the legal profession.

TARGET AUDIENCE: eAttorney targets the "97% of the legal
market [that represents small law firms], rather than
focus on the top law firms." eAttorney services over 300
law firms, 30,000 legal professionals, 40,000 students
and 45 law schools.

MARKETING MIX: With a demographic that "really wants to
touch things" and reads about 9 to 12 publications a
month, most of eAttorney's ad dollar (60%) goes into
print ads to reach a majority of customers who are not
even online yet. "We're trying to motivate a demographic
that’s untapped, difficult to reach and very busy," says
Ashley S. Russ, Senior Vice President of Marketing for
eAttorney, Inc.

The remaining marketing mix focuses 10% of the budget on
direct response and 10 to 15% on Internet advertising.
10% is earmarked for site development and review.

CAMPAIGN RESULTS
"We really monitor our ROI," says Russ.
Campaign tactics include "getting on the phone and
calling [users] so when we do a print ad, we are
motivating [them]."

PLACING LINKS: eAttorney has had excellent results with
its reciprocal link campaign, considering it to be the
Number One way to draw traffic. "We negotiate with like-
legal Web sites. That's a free marketing campaign for
small businesses like them," says Russ.

PRINT ADS: "If I do a print ad in the northeast –
targeted to a region or city like the New York area –
I'll know if attorneys are signing up from New York the
next week. If I'm advertising in New York and they're not
referencing the ad, I know it's not working."

ONLINE TACTICS: On eAttorney 's Internet campaign, Russ
quotes a 720% ROI. Online media placement includes
keyword buys on America Online. "We negotiated keywords
under $100 on AOL just targeted to the word 'judges'. The
average consumers didn't care [about this keyword]. The
media buy was a gold mine, producing leads for 50 to 60
attorneys every day.

http://www.eattorney.com

---------
PRACTICAL KNOW-HOW: GiveMeTalk.com
---------
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-> Ted Ganchiff of GiveMeTalk.com On Using Webcasting To
Reach Small Business

"Our user base is in the top 30 percent of Internet users
who are tech-savvy," says GiveMeTalk! Founder Ted
Ganchiff, a.k.a. Employee Number One. GiveMeTalk was
originally designed to let individuals broadcast content
for free. When business owners noticed GiveMeTalk's easy-
to-use editing tools and free streaming media server
space, they started to use the site as a free business-
marketing tool.

Now, Advertisers such as Staples.com have started to take
notice too. With over 3,000 broadcasters, the folks at
GiveMeTalk! find that free Webcasting helps users promote
all types of services -- everything from financial advice
to health tips -- many aimed at busy SOHO professionals.

"Internet companies have bought lots of print media and
TV to tell everyone [they exist]. It's very expensive to
go out and reach people [this way]. Webcasting allows you
to target more intelligently."

Commenting on the type of Internet broadcast to create,
Ganchiff observes that "A lot of people who [market to]
small business tend to create crass and superficial
content." Small business owners aren't interested in
this. By contrast, they are attracted to the educational
content found on GiveMeTalk.com. “"Treat yourself as a
partner of the small business,” says Ganchiff

EDITOR’S TAKE: Following our conversation with Ted,
MarketingToSmallBiz.com surfed over to GiveMeTalk.com to
search on the keyword phrase "Small Business." We found
that the highest-rated programs targeted small-biz
managers who want to administrate their growth by
learning “Pension planning for small businesses” and
“Small business computer networking”. Not surprisingly,
neither of these programs was delivered (or even
sponsored) by a major pension fund or IT network provider
-– but they could have been. Clearly, this is the sort
of money-saving, efficiency-improving content that SOHOs
fail to get from Big-Time marketers, because they live in
a different reality. Companies targeting SOHOs with
content should keep that in mind. Our favorite program
title was: “Windmill-generated electricity” –- for when
you really gotta cut costs.

http://www.givemetalk.com/

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JOBS
----------

-> Intuit Needs Director of Commerce

Leads the strategic and business planning and development
of the Intuit Electronic Store. Responsible for
merchandising, cross selling, customer service, order
processing and site management. Focused on driving end-
to-end consumer, small business and partner experience.
Coordinates efforts with business units plus brand and
site managers. Reference Job Director of Commerce #11517A
in subject line. traci_wicks@intuit.com

-> Broadband e2e Seeks Vice President Marketing

Broadband e2e offers complete productivity solutions
combining high-speed Internet access with Web-based
software applications for small- to medium-sized
businesses. This position is responsible for the
development and implementation of public relations,
advertising and outbound marketing. Duties include
directing the public relations and advertising agencies,
recruiting and hiring marketing staff, and overseeing the
development of sales materials. employment@bbe2e.com

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MarketingToSmallBiz.com INFO
----------
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202.232.6830

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