SITE MAINTENANCE.(company Web sites)(Industry Trend or
Event)
Initially, site managers paid the most attention to the one-time
cost of building a Web operation from scratch. But it quickly became
clear that Web budget-makers also need to look at hefty costs . . .
THE ECONOMICS OF WEB-BASED SUPPORT.(Industry Trend or
Event)
Why do customers visit software Web sites? Almost without
exception, the two top traffic-builders these days are online product
sales and self-service tech support. And increasingly, e-commerce . . .
A `USER-CENTERED' APPROACH TO SOFTWARE DESIGN.(Technology
Information)
`Most software is designed by programmers during construction, when
they see the interface from the perspective of the code instead of the
perspective of the user,' says Dick Wolfson, an . . .
l DATA POINTS: WHY NEW SERVICES FAIL.(Industry Trend or
Event)
New Service Launches: What Went Wrong?
Percentage of Participants
Operational Enhancement Professional
Services
. . .
CHECKLIST: SUBSCRIPTION-BASED SERVICES.(Industry Trend or
Event)
Will subscription-based services finally solve the software
industry's perennial problem of boom-and-bust sales cycles?
That's still an open question, but a good many
companies--including giants . . .
THE SENSUAL SHOPPER.(online shopping)(Industry Trend or
Event)
Back in 1977, Paco Underhill was a part-time college instructor who
picked up some spare change by analyzing foot traffic near the Lincoln
Center gift shop. That assignment gradually turned into . . .
ALAN COOPER: ON PERSUADING CUSTOMERS TO LIKE YOU.(electronic
commerce strategies for software vendors)(Internet/Web/Online Servi
Why do so many customers reject the convenience of buying on the
Web? Alan Cooper thinks he knows the answer: Like hard-to-use software,
far too many Web stores are designed by programmers--"the . . .
THE DECLINE AND FALL OF PUBLIC RELATIONS.(the poor state of
high-tech public relations)(Industry Trend or Event)
From the beginning, technology marketers have enjoyed a love affair
with public relations. PR (according to popular wisdom) gets a buzz
going, it generates sales leads, it helps tiny companies . . .
SITE PROMOTION: IF YOU BUILD IT, WILL THEY COME?(promoting online
shopping services)(Internet/Web/Online Service Information)
There's still a noisy debate about the most effective way to
attract traffic on the Web. Moreover, the answers change as new data
emerges and customer behavior changes; last month's . . .
POSITIONING: THE "WHY-TO-BUY-HERE" MESSAGE.(software
vendors' online marketing strategies)(Industry Trend or
Event)
In the physical world, shoppers can easily tell how a store
positions itself against its competition. A neighborhood hardware store
will win customers because of its convenient location and . . .
ORDER PROCESSING: TREATING THE "LOST SALES"
SYNDROME.(software vendors work to reduce sales lost in the online
ordering process)
Clickstream analysis shows that as many as half or more of online
software purchasers drop out before completing the sales transaction.
There seems to be no single reason for these lost sales, but . . .
MERCHANDISING: TURNING BROWSERS INTO BUYERS.(the strategies used
by various web shopping sites to increase sales)(Internet/Web/O
Despite the buying frenzy that occurs on a few auction and
day-trading sites, most Web stores actually have a hard time creating a
sense of urgency. Customers know it's easy to come back later or . . .
THE BEST ONLINE SOFTWARE STORES OF 1999.(Internet/Web/Online
Service Information)
Who does the best job of selling software on the Web? With almost
every software company trying to develop a fast-track Internet strategy,
the search for "best practices" has become . . .
DATA POINTS: THE MICROSOFT LICENSING RATIO.
Judging from the trendline at Microsoft, the future looks dim for
traditional software-in-a-box. The world's biggest software company
now fulfills more than three-quarters (77%) of its non-OEM unit . . .
ON HANGING ON TO HIGH-PERFORMERS.
What keeps top employees from wandering off in search of greener
pastures? Stock options? Promotions? An office with a window? Despite
the urgency of this question (especially lately), there's . . .
HOW TO WRITE MORE PERSUASIVE PROPOSALS.
"Almost all sales people hate writing proposals," says
Tom Sant. "But proposals are a painful reality of doing business in
the '90s. And anyone who sells a value-added solution, or who
delivers a . . .
SERVICE MARKETING: THE MYTH OF "ANNUITY
REVENUE".
Like many analysts, Bob Johnson of ITSMA (the Information
Technology Services Marketing Association) has been watching the
emergence of "application service providers"--software
companies that have . . .
DATA POINTS: THE MICROSOFT BESTSELLER LIST.
Bill Gates' favorite books include The Catcher in the Rye and
The Great Gatsby, but--judging from Amazon.com's "purchase
circles" rankings for the company--the literary taste of other
Microsoft . . .
ON MEASURING THE COST OF CUSTOMER ACQUISITION.(Industry Trend or
Event)
What does it cost to acquire a new customer? Most software
marketers have only fuzzy answers about their own company's costs,
and they're even more in the dark about whether their . . .
THE CLUETRAIN MANIFESTO.
In April, four Web enthusiasts--variously described as
"provacateurs," "marketing gurus," and
"troublemakers"--posted a document on the Web called The
Cluetrain Manifesto (www.cluetrain.com). The . . .
|
|