Online Rules of Successful Companies: The Fool-Proof Guide to Building Profits, The

Online Rules of Successful Companies: The Fool-Proof Guide to Building Profits, The

by Robin Miller
Released October 2002
Publisher(s): Pearson
ISBN: 0130668427

Read it now on the O’Reilly learning platform with a 10-day free trial.

O’Reilly members get unlimited access to books, live events, courses curated by job role, and more from O’Reilly and nearly 200 top publishers.

Start your free trial

Book description

In The Online Rules of Successful Companies: The Fool-Proof Guide to Building Profits, leading Internet entrepreneur Robin "Roblimo" Miller (developer for Slashdot and Freshmeat Web sites) presents systematic rules for building the profitability of your business online, whatever you sell - products, services, information, or advertising. Miller offers streetwise advice on accomplishing more with less; anticipating trends without wasting resources; avoiding disastrous mistakes; making the most of email and chat; and using the Internet to support all of your business activities, both online and off.

Table of contents

  1. Copyright
    1. Dedication
  2. Praise for The Online Rules
  3. FINANCIAL TIMES Prentice Hall
  4. Financial Times Prentice Hall Books
  5. Foreword
  6. Introduction
    1. Every Game Has Rules
    2. Learn From the Past
  7. One. What Makes the Internet So Powerful?
    1. Examples of Successful, Tightly Focused Web Sites
      1. Selling Mexican Food Online: MexGrocer.com
      2. Delivering Information Online: Wired News
      3. Pure Ecommerce: NoteTab
      4. Online Community: Slashdot
      5. Brochureware: Robin's Limousine
    2. A Web Site Is Not a Business
    3. The Difference between an Online Business and an Online Hobby
  8. Two. Building a Web Site that Works
    1. Avoiding the Worst Mistakes
    2. Information Layering
    3. Basic Web Design Usability Rules
    4. When In Doubt, Steal
    5. Selecting Web Designers
    6. Dealing with Hired Web Designers
    7. Maintaining Site Focus
  9. Three. Profitable Ecommerce
    1. Sell without Shame
    2. Get to the Point Right Away
    3. Clear Product Descriptions Are Essential
    4. Site Navigation for Ecommerce
    5. Information Layering Accommodates Almost All Shoppers
    6. Database-Driven vs. Static HTML Sites
    7. The Myth of the Abandoned Shopping Cart
    8. Tell Your Customers Who and Where You Are
    9. Answer Your Email and Your Phone
    10. Do You Really Need Ecommerce?
  10. Four. Promotional Web Sites for Offline Businesses
    1. Location, Location, Location
    2. Are You Going to Answer Email?
    3. Start Small, then Grow
    4. Make Sure You Own Your Name
    5. Adding Prices and Other Content
    6. Avoid Web Obsession
    7. Put Yourself in Your Customer's Shoes
    8. Giving Your Web Site Visitors What They Want
    9. The Last Word: Stick to Business
  11. Five. News and Discussion Web Sites
    1. The Economic Realities of Online Advertising
    2. Tech News as a “Natural” for the Web
    3. You Are Not C|Net
    4. Beyond Tech News: General Media Online
    5. Moving Offline News Online
    6. The Standalone News Site
    7. Ultra-Niche, High-Value News
    8. Subscription News Sites
  12. Six. Email and Chat As Profit Builders
    1. Responding to Customers' Email
    2. Resisting the Lure of Spam
    3. Using Opt-In Promotional Email
    4. News As Email
    5. Maintaining Credibility in Email Newsletters
    6. Email Discussion Lists
    7. Thoughts on Email List Management
    8. Email Is Never Private
    9. Chat and Instant Messaging As Business Tools
    10. Viruses and Other Email Hazards
    11. Email and Chat Are Changing, Not Static
    12. The Most Important Email and Chat Rule
  13. Seven. Site Promotion and Advertising
    1. Directories Are Not Search Engines
    2. Simple Tricks That Help Get Favorable Search Engine Rankings
    3. More Advanced Search Engine Tricks
    4. Advertising Your Web Site Online
    5. Advertising Your Web Site Offline
    6. Choosing the Right Domain Name
    7. Protecting Your Domain Name
    8. Try Not to Argue Over Domain Names
    9. All Your Promotions Must Work Together
  14. Eight. Cost Control and Futureproofing
    1. A Distributed Work Force Saves Money
    2. Cost-Effective Web Hosting
    3. Save Money with Open Source Software
    4. Linux
    5. Apache
    6. Perl vs. PHP vs. Java
    7. Stick to Industry Standards
    8. The Curse of the Obsolete Browser
    9. Interpreting Site Statistics
    10. An Endless Learning Process
  15. Resources

Product information

  • Title: Online Rules of Successful Companies: The Fool-Proof Guide to Building Profits, The
  • Author(s): Robin Miller
  • Release date: October 2002
  • Publisher(s): Pearson
  • ISBN: 0130668427