Tag Archives: Arlington County (Virginia)

About 2275 days ago Computer Security

Protect Your Business from Phishing

The latest news about “phishing” is not good for small and mid-size businesses. Phishers – people who send fraudulent emails and try to lure unsuspecting recipients into revealing confidential information on a phony website — are no longer impersonating only big commercial banks. They’ve started using the names of smaller companies, too. Phishing is a nightmare not just for the consumer recipients — who have doubled in number since 2004, according to a recent Gartner Inc. report — but also for the businesses whose brand names are being misused. When customers receive a phishing email that purports to be from your company, the company’s good name gets tarnished. That’s not exactly a good way to brand a growing business. And there is always the risk that your company could be sued. Phishing, unfortunately, isn’t going away anytime soon although it is changing in nature. Gartner found that phishing emails are impersonating banks less often and other types of companies more often. Many of those other brands are also big companies like eBay and PayPal, or financial firms, such as mid-size banks, but the threat to more types of businesses is growing. The good news, according to Gartner analyst Avivah Litan, is typically “really small businesses aren’t attacked because criminals don’t know about them.” However, any brand can be at risk. Here’s what you should know to protect your small business: Be the master of your domain Know the domain names that your company has registered and proactively register variations of those names. This way, if phishers try to set up a website imitating your business, the obvious variations on that name are already spoken for and hopefully customers are less likely to be fooled. The best defense, the cliché goes, is a good offense. Eyes wide open Continuously monitor the Internet for suspicious new domain registrations and changes to existing domain registrations, says Todd Bransford, vice president of marketing at online monitoring company Cyveillance, of Arlington, Va. “Early detection of a registration of a domain that’s similar to your organization’s domain could allow you to minimize or even prevent a phishing attack.” If you would rather farm out the monitoring of domain registrations, there are online fraud prevention companies, like Cyveillance and other one called MarkMonitor, that can do this for you. The rates for monitoring companies are typically run upwards of thousands of dollars per month. Teach your clients Educate your customers, suggests Bransford. That means let your customers know how you plan to contact them – via mail, telephone, or email. “Post a clear policy on your site, in plain English describing how you will contact them,” says Frederick Felman, chief marketing officer of MarkMonitor, a San Francisco firm. Felman says also specify “what type of info you will ask for…. and what you will NEVER ask for,” such as passwords. Remind your customers to use the anti-phishing features in some Web browsers, as well. Browse well Alert browser companies and email providers about those fraudulent URLs used by phishers so that each URL you identify is blocked at the browser or when the email is sent, advises Felman. Internet Explporer 7.0 and Firefox 2 do a great job of blocking phishing sites. Litan cautions, however, that this solution is not a cure all. Deter this Have a strong authentication, anti-phishing message prominently displayed on your website, Bransford says. This should include a mechanism for reporting suspicious emails or suspected phishing attacks such as a special inbox (i.e.phishing@yourdomain.com ). Customers are on the front line of these attacks and can be the first to alert you that your business has been targeted. Take that extra step Felman suggests including electronic signatures with your emails so that email providers know when an email sent by your company is really sent from you. Disaster preparedness Have a plan in place in the event your company becomes a victim of phishers. Remember to take care of your customers. Provide those who believe they have become victim information on what to do, such as contacting the major credit bureaus. You might also want to provide them with free credit reports for a certain time period, as a gesture of good will. Remember to alert other customers — put a notice on your website at a minimum and perhaps also contact them by mail – to alert them about the potential fraud. Contact authorities and report the crime immediately. Also contact the Anti-Phishing Work Group. Have a plan in place to notify website owners and Internet Service Providers to get phishing sites taken down, says Felman. Gather the numbers in advance. Just like with stolen credit cards, it can be a real hassle to deal with looking for numbers in the middle of a crisis. If that doesn’t work, monitoring companies can take care of all of this quickly for you, if you hire them after an attack. Cyveillance’s Bransford also suggests having a public relations strategy ready, too, to minimize the damage. The bad news is that there’s nothing a small business can do to provide 100 percent protection from getting hit. If even big companies like PayPal aren’t able to stop it, cautions Gartner’s Litan, that doesn’t bode well for smaller businesses.

About 2334 days ago Wireless Networks

Combining Voice and Data Networks

New couplings of traditional voice networks over more modern data connections have given small and mid-size businesses more choice when investigating telecommunications systems. If you’re just setting up your business or you’re wondering if there’s a better way of getting phone service for less, you should take a look at marrying voice over Internet protocol (VoIP) with an Internet protocol public branch exchange (IP-PBX) system. IP-PBX comes in many forms A traditional PBX system is basically a large box that businesses purchase and place in the datacenter. A PBX switches internal calls and enables internal users to place calls to the outside world via the traditional public switched telephone network (PSTN). An IP-PBX system is different because it relies on your data network — the very same network you use to access the Internet — to let you place phone calls. There are actually several technologies that vendors bill as IP-PBX systems. Nora Freedman, research analyst in enterprise networks at IDC, the Framingham, Mass. research firm, says vendors are crashing the market with many delivery methods for IP-PBX to try to figure out what small and mid-size businesses will find most attractive. For example, you can purchase a hardware-based IP-PBX or a software-based IP-PBX. You can opt to pay a third-party provider for IP-PBX service — or even purchase hardware and let a third party manage it for you. Finally, you can conduct all of your calls purely over the data network or select a hybrid system that uses the network in house, and then translates voice data so it can travel over the PSTN when you make external calls. Cut costs and boost employee productivity Regardless of which IP-PBX solution you choose, the benefits are similar. You can provide users access to IP telephony, the Internet, and the PSTN through one cable per person. And you can expand the ease of three- or four-digit extension dialing beyond the main office. So if you’re in the Connecticut office and you want to call someone in the Pennsylvania office, you simply dial the extension — and avoid paying long-distance charges. “This allows businesses to have, on the exterior, the appearance of being a consolidated whole while they’re actually geographically distributed,” Freedman says. Better yet, that one extension can follow you wherever you go, depending on the IP-PBX solution you choose. When Delta Resources, a small services and consulting company based in Arlington, Va., outgrew its four-line telephone, the company began researching options. Keegan Mills, technology director at Delta Resources, selected a IP-PBX system, which sends voice data over the company’s T-1 LAN connection. This setup alleviates the need to have a receptionist answering the phone at each office; one receptionist in one office can answer the phone and transfer calls to any employee, no matter where they are. “I don’t have a physical phone anymore,” Mills says. “I have a piece of software that runs on my laptop and a Bluetooth headset. So whenever I connect to the Internet, I can attach my laptop to the local network and turn my phone on. If I’m connected to the virtual private network, I’m extension 118 no matter where I am.” As a result, employees are more productive in and out of the office, and the company saves money on phone costs. IP-PBX may be cheaper IP-PBX systems, over time, may be much cheaper than traditional PBX systems. They make the voice network easier to scale and simplify inter-office moves: Just plug an IP handset into its new location, and the extension will follow it. For Mills, a traditional PBX was never even an option. “It’s a no-brainer,” he says. “If you don’t have a PBX, don’t even look at a traditional PBX anymore. It doesn’t make sense.” Market research firm Dell’Oro Group recently noted that the IP-PBX market revenues rose 10 percent in the third quarter of 2006 and will likely surpass revenues of traditional PBXs in 2007. But because the IP-PBX market is still relatively young and offerings are so broad, Freedman says small business owners shouldn’t be afraid to explore their options. “Don’t look at just on-premise equipment versus hosted equipment because sometimes you can leverage your existing provider account to get a better deal by bundling it with an extra service” if your provider also offers VoIP, Freedman says. “Cast your net wide. The vendors are so eager to attract the [small business] end of the market, so they’ll be creative.”

About 2699 days ago Business Software

May I Help You?

The customer enters McGrath Acura of Westmont, Ill. Within seconds, the salesperson pounces. “Hello. My name is Grace. How can I help you?” “Just looking,” the visitor replies. “Let me help you with that,” Grace continues. “Are you looking for new or preowned?” It’s a conversation you’d expect to hear at any auto dealership. Except that this didn’t happen in the show room. The exchange took place online, at acurabymcgrath.com. Last year, general manager Ken Girard added a new feature to the dealership’s website: live chat. Now, instead of waiting for a visitor to click on a button and ask for help, a service agent detects the visitor’s presence on the website and initiates a real-time conversation. “It really sets our site apart,” Girard says. For most of its brief history, online shopping has been a largely anonymous process, with Web-based merchants content to wait for browsers to initiate an interaction. But now, more businesses are adding technology that allows them to step up and make the first move and offer a virtual “May I help you?” The idea is to introduce a human factor into virtual shopping. “People like to buy from people,” says Farrakh Azhar, CEO of Live Admins, a Chicago-based company that helped Acura of Westmont create its live-chat experience. “It’s the same as walking into a store and having a staff person greet you. It makes a connection, a one-on-one conversation.” Even now, years into the Internet revolution, e-shopping remains a dicey business. Research shows that 98% of visitors leave without making a purchase. Indeed, about half of all Web shoppers who put an item into a virtual shopping cart leave without buying it, according to the E-Tailing Group. “As an industry, we need to look at why 98% of the people who visit us leave without making a transaction,” says Robert LoCascio, CEO of New York City-based LivePerson, a provider of inbound and outbound chat technology. “Especially since the rate of impulse buying is much higher in the offline world. Why are we still at 2%?” He and others insist that the answer lies in making virtual salesmanship more proactive. Web shoppers should not have to sacrifice service for the privilege of shopping in their bunny slippers at 2 a.m., LoCascio says: “We can do more.” Mark Denham, CEO of 247 Workspace, is onboard. The company, a seller of office furniture based in Los Gatos, Calif., added chat to its website in early 2005. The goal was to provide more qualified leads to the company’s sales reps. Because most customers are other business owners looking for things such as conference tables and cubicles, the sales process is often long and complex, involving a great deal of back-and-forth between the sales rep and the buyers. “There are a lot of choices and particulars in our sales process,” Denham says. “We were finding that having an individual try to sort through 600 pages on our website was overwhelming.” The outbound chat aims to simplify things. It looks a lot like Instant Messenger, though customers don’t have to download software for it to work. Not every visitor to the site gets a greeting. But if you hang around for a few minutes or get seven or eight pages deep into the content, a live agent will say hello and offer to help. In most cases, the agents simply help visitors find the information they’re looking for. “Individuals who have engaged in text chats have a much higher sales probability than a standard lead,” Denham says. “Once we engage in a conversation, we find the probability of a sale goes up dramatically.” Other companies use the tactic with a bit more restraint. Jesse Kelsey, marketing project manager of eRug.com, says he loves to shop online precisely because he knows he won’t have to fight off a lot of pushy salespeople. So his company, based in Redwood City, Calif., is designing a live-chat system that will give shoppers an unmolested five minutes. After that, a text box will appear, saying, “If there’s anything we can do to help, our design consultants are here for you.” The company’s four design consultants will do the chatting, and Kelsey promises that it will be a soft sell. “We offer to help, but we don’t scare the customer away. We don’t want to turn anybody off,” he says. That’s a wise mindset, says Martha Rogers, founding partner of Peppers and Rogers, a management consulting firm in Norwalk, Conn. Approaching Web shoppers, according to Rogers, is a dangerous game. “One reason people shop online is because they don’t want to be harassed by the sales help,” she says. “If they want live help, they know where to get it. The idea that salespeople can now follow you around online is not very appealing.” Maybe not to all shoppers, but anecdotal evidence suggests live-chat technology works. The Internet service provider Earthlink boasts that 15% of its initiated chats result in a customer signing up. E-Trade Mortgage, based in Arlington, Va., added an “invite to chat” program in early 2004. In the first six months, the program improved customer satisfaction ratings and the company found chatters were more likely than nonchatters to become customers. And it also works for smaller outfits–which can get the service for as little as $99 a month. Rackspace, a Web services provider in San Antonio, gets about 80% of new sales via an initiated chat session, according to founder Patrick Condon. And LoCascio found 25% of visitors to his site who were engaged in a chat ended up buying something. “Humanizing the experience helps make the sale,” he says. Resources Tech website TopTenReviews has a live-chat buyer’s guide. For more advice, read “How to Screw Up Live Customer Chat (and How to Fix It).”

About 3339 days ago Computer Security

Safe Specs

The way the security-industry experts see it, if you’re a small-business owner, Internet security is your problem. Not your IT department’s problem. Your problem, and your responsibility. That doesn’t mean you, as CEO, must fiddle with the actual nuts and bolts protecting your valuable information. But it’s in your best interest to understand what’s at stake, help craft an overarching strategy, and stay on top of security initiatives — just as you would with any other major activity in your company. Following are three suggestions for doing that. 1. Make security a business priority. The National Cyber Security Summit Task Force, an industry group, recently issued a “Call to Action ” urging companies of all sizes to help “strengthen America’s homeland security” by taking a comprehensive, high-level approach to shielding their systems. “Information security is not only a technical issue, but also a business and governance challenge,” says the report, which suggests specific security-related tasks for CEOs and other top executives. “Effective security requires the active engagement of executive management to assess emerging threats and provide strong cyber security leadership.” That approach is at least as important for small companies as big ones, says Larry Clinton, chief operating officer of the Internet Security Alliance , a nonprofit trade association based in Arlington, Va. However, he continues, many SMB owners don’t understand just how vulnerable their companies may be. According to ISA research, SMB executives generally feel they’re safer than their Fortune 500 brethren when it comes to network break-ins, crippling virus attacks, and other security breaches. That’s a dangerous misconception. In fact, most hackers are equal-opportunity intruders, meaning they scan the Internet for any available security loophole, whether it’s at a global financial institution, a midsized manufacturer, a local retailer, or a home-based business. Viruses and Internet worms don’t necessarily target companies of any particular size, according to the ISA and other organizations specializing in online security . But because small enterprises often have less stringent security than large corporations, Clinton says, they often get hit more frequently. Case in point: The Mydoom worm (and several later spinoffs) that flooded the Internet in January 2004, slowing servers and, in some cases, installing programs that could allow outsiders to penetrate systems, steal information, and remotely control computers. “One in three small businesses was affected by Mydoom,” Clinton says. “For larger companies, it was one in six.” And the damage may be proportionately more severe for SMBs, says Clinton, who recently testified about SMB issues at a U.S. House of Representatives subcommittee hearing on improving public awareness about cybersecurity measures. “Large companies can afford to take some hits,” he points out. “Smaller ones have smaller margins. A major outage or million-dollar damage can put them out of business.” Substandard or outdated security also puts SMBs at greater risk from targeted attacks from, for instance, disgruntled former employees or shady competitors. For that reason, small-business CEOs “need to understand that, in today’s world, their security plan is just as important as their marketing plan,” Clinton says. “It’s now an integral part of their business. They don’t need to do the work themselves, but they do need to have it in their business plan.” 2. View and treat security as a work in progress. New threats keep evolving, as do new solutions for combating them. Among the latest at this writing are browser-based attacks , which rose 25% between 2003 and 2004, according to the Computing Technology Industry Association . Those attacks involve harmless-looking websites that are actually booby-trapped with malicious code that crashes visitors’ browsers, sabotages their computers, or lets attackers access sensitive or confidential information. For that reason, it’s important to realize that security is always, always a work in progress: “The idea that ‘I just bought security software, so now I’m safe for the next four years’ is a fallacious one,” Clinton says. The growing use of wireless networks, instant messaging, and other new technologies creates new security risks. SMBs must also constantly adjust policies and practices to cope with threats and keep employees, contractors, and customers posted on those changes. One widespread example: Many companies now restrict or ban the use of e-mail attachments, which can carry viruses. 3. Start with the basics — but don’t stop there. First, if you haven’t already done so, take those simple low- and no-cost steps that security experts have drummed into our heads for years: Choose hard-to-guess passwords and change them often. Back up all important data frequently. Use and update virus-scanning software. In addition, disseminate security best practices. For example, encourage employees to turn off their computers or disconnect them from the Internet when they’re not in use. Limit access to sensitive and confidential information. Enlist managers in making sure unused e-mail, voice mail, system access, and other accounts are shut down as soon as workers or contractors leave the company. (For more recommendations, see ISA’s free, downloadable SMB cybersecurity guide . Written specifically for small-business entrepreneurs and executives, the 37-page PDF includes actual case histories as well as advice. Meanwhile, develop a business-oriented security plan. A free downloadable Cisco Systems Inc. report , What You Need to Implement a Network Security Solution , recommends considering the following strategic questions as you do: Government regulations, industry standards: If applicable, what must you fix to comply? Customer protection: How can you safeguard individual and corporate customers’ confidential information — and how can you assure them that it’s protected? Risk level: What are your most mission-critical applications? What do you see as an acceptable level of risk? Corporate policies: What in-house rules will you establish? How will you monitor and enforce them? Finally, keep in mind that nothing is ever 100% safe. Your best bet is to aim for flexible, scalable, well-integrated approach to security so that when problems arise — and it’s smartest to assume that they will — you can respond quickly and minimize the impact. With that in mind, security expert Tom Kellermann, senior data risk manager for The World Bank in Washington, D.C., suggests in his “Electronic Safety and Soundness” guidelines that you approach any security initiative with three sobering axioms in mind: Attacks and losses are inevitable. Security buys time. The network is only as secure as its weakest link. Websites with Information Security Information Internet Security Alliance Resources include Common Sense Guide to Cyber Security for Small Businesses , a free downloadable 37-page PDF file with information and real-life examples. National Cyber Security Alliance Resources include an online beginner’s guide to Internet security threats and a quick online self-test to help determine your organization’s vulnerability. Also maintains a user-friendly security glossary . National Cyber Security Partnership Resources include an online CyberRisk profiler and a risk checklist , both designed to help visitors pinpoint and improve their company’s security weaknesses. U.S. Computer Emergency Readiness Team (US-CERT) Resources include the National Cyber Alert System , part of the U.S. Department of Homeland Security; system provides updates on Internet security threats. Additional Online Resources Overview of Internet attack trends , from the CERT Coordination Center at Carnegie Mellon University Information on the federal government’s National Strategy to Secure Cyberspace , part of the larger National Strategy for Homeland Security CSO (Chief Security Officer) magazine resource center Seven simple computer-security tips for small-business and home-computer users, form the National Infrastructure Protection Center Vendor Resources Microsoft Corp.’s e-Security Guide for Small Businesses . ServGate Technologies Inc.’s white papers on network security, spam control, and virus protection Cisco Systems Inc.’s white paper, What You Need to Implement a Network Security Solution, a seven-page PDF file VeriSign Inc.’s Internet Security Intelligence Briefings , updated periodically with information about fraud and attack trends

About 3979 days ago Telecom and Wireless

IM Is Here. RU Ready 2 Try It?

Special Technology Report In the late 1980s, Rhonda Sanderson happily moved her tiny public-relations agency from downtown Chicago to suburban Highland Park. The move cut her commute from 30 minutes to about 30 seconds: she’d set up shop in an office building across the street from her home. But a decade later, Sanderson & Associates Ltd. was growing, and Sanderson found that the top job candidates — recent college grads — viewed her location as a distinct drawback. Having just escaped from smallish midwestern college communities, they weren’t interested in launching their careers somewhere even smaller. “They wanted to live and work in the big city,” says Sanderson. Sanderson, a single parent, didn’t want to uproot her high school-age daughter to move back downtown. Instead, she bought a small building in a trendy Chicago neighborhood and moved several of her employees there. After she had satisfied everyone’s lifestyle demands, Sanderson had just one nagging concern: how would she, the suburban CEO who schlepped into the city just two days a week, stay in the loop the rest of the time? “I thought, ‘Will I have to call them every single minute?’ ” she says. As it turns out, Sanderson does talk with her seven staffers dozens of times daily — but without picking up the phone. Instead they chat live on-line, using a free instant-messaging (IM) program installed by an employee. Today “it’s fair to say we run the whole business on IM,” says Sanderson, whose company, with revenues in excess of $1 million, specializes in representing national franchises such as Meineke Discount Mufflers and Back Yard Burgers. “Every [internal] communication is by IM. Everything. This arrangement wouldn’t have worked without it.” There’s no playing phone tag, no wondering whether somebody got that urgent E-mail message, no delaying a response to a crisis. Sanderson is never more than a few keystrokes from her Chicago employees — as long as everyone is near a computer. “I feel much more secure handling my office this way,” she says of the constant real-time contact. “I feel the need to be connected to them.” CEOs nationwide are discovering what teenagers and twentysomethings, including Sanderson’s daughter and staffers, have known for years: IM is an addictively fast, simple, and cheap way to communicate. There’s nothing exotic about the technology. It’s basically real-time E-mail, either in-house or over the Internet. But unlike E-mail, IM is, well, instantaneous; as soon as the message writer hits “send,” the message pops up on the receiver’s screen. And unlike E-mail, IM doesn’t generate in-box clutter. Conversations usually vanish when they’re finished (although programs increasingly allow one to save them), and users, because they control their lists of authorized contacts, are less likely to receive “spam,” or unsolicited messages. The best-known IM programs are free; even commercial products are relatively cheap. Although an IM conversation typically involves just two people, power users may conduct several conversations simultaneously or create a chat room where any number of users can join the discussion. With some programs, users can even swap graphics, video clips, or voice clips. And unlike any other form of communication, IM monitors physical presence. With a glance at their contact lists, users can tell who’s logged on and available right now. Even though IM began as a way for kids to pass notes electronically (see “The IM Generation,” below), it’s clearly becoming a vital tool in businesses. IDC, a research company based in Framingham, Mass., says that about 40% of U.S. companies already use the technology. Jupiter Media Metrix, headquartered in New York City, says nearly 17 million Americans used the largest free IM services at work in March 2002, up from 10 million in September 2000. Gartner Inc., in Stamford, Conn., calls IM “the sleeping giant of the Internet” and predicts that by next year employees at 70% of all companies will use IM for business or personal communication. By 2005, Gartner says, at least 50% of U.S. businesses will rely on IM to interact with customers — and most consumers will use IM more frequently than they use E-mail. Naturally, IM works best in businesses in which employees are tethered to computers. Large high-tech and telecom companies like IBM and AT&T have used the technology for years. But it’s picking up speed in less likely industries. For instance, manufacturers are beginning to use IM kiosks in factories to keep managers in close contact with floor supervisors. Retailers that have been using live chat on their Web sites for the past few years are beginning to use it in-house as well. Jennifer Convertibles in Woodbury, N.Y., uses IM to communicate with managers in its 200-plus stores nationwide. Rami Abada, the chain’s president and chief financial officer, says the low-cost IM network, which replaced a costly voice-mail system, has saved the company $50,000 to $60,000 a year and eliminated 7,000 calls a week that were going into voice mail. Now smaller companies, too, are getting the message that IM is free or cheap, requires no special hardware and no training, and can even be kind of fun. (See “Instant Lingo,” below.) And despite some of IM’s drawbacks — such as legitimate concerns about security and productivity — they’re finding plenty of ways to use it. For many growing companies, IM’s main appeal is simply being able to reach anybody instantly — even when both parties are already busy. Being there: In the Chicago office of Sanderson & Associates on a hectic Friday morning in April, Kelly Templer was on the phone with a reporter. She checked her contact list to be sure Sanderson was on-line. She was. Templer opened her IM on-screen window and typed in: “I have a reporter from AP on the phone. I want him to interview Tommy about IFE [a franchise trade show], he also wants other franchise info — what should I do?” She hit “send,” and Sanderson, on another call in the Highland Park office, saw the message pop up. Sanderson immediately shot back: “Give it to him! Offer him interview with Don DeBolt or some other expert if he wants independent source. Try to get info on exhibitors to him.” Neither had skipped a beat on their respective phone calls. Bolstering virtual management: At Tax Technologies Inc., a two-year-old tax-preparation and software company, vice-president Jeff Wenger, who’s based in Bradenton, Fla., uses IM to manage a team of software developers and testers scattered all over the United States. Because all IM programs indicate which users are logged on, Wenger can tell, for instance, when developer Anar Patel, in Warren, Ohio, is available and when Adrienne Morey, in Phoenix, is on-line. (Team members can, and do, converse with one another by IM all day — and sometimes all night — about work in progress.) Wenger says the setup allows him to hire top employees who can work and live wherever they want, “whether it’s the mountains of Colorado, the beaches of Florida, or the big city.” Using IM has cut his daily telephone time from three hours to less than 30 minutes. Other organizations rely on IM to stay in touch with telecommuters, road warriors, or local field staff. Companies that have overseas employees, partners, or customers may find the technology particularly cost-effective. Managing crises: AtomicPR, a $1.9-million San Francisco high-tech PR agency that was launched in late 1999, just before the dot-com bubble burst, built real-time communications into its business model and culture. The company’s 15 employees say that IM provides them with a competitive advantage in a tough economy. Today the business uses IM for both in-house and client communications, and the staffers have found it invaluable for responding rapidly to a crisis. In one case, account supervisor Mike Crusick contacted company cofounder Andy Getsey by IM at 7 a.m. on a weekday, when both were still at home, to report some bad news: a press release had just come over the wire that a client was being sued by a competitor. Andy to Mike: Wow. I’ll do a quick plan for [client], then give her a call. It’d be best to have recent real-world examples too. Can you find a few similar suits and corporate responses ASAP? Thx. Mike: Here are links to announcements/responses in similar suit. Andy: Thx. Can you find 2 more from different suits, too? Hurry. Andy: PS. Would you call the rest of your team and let them know what’s happening ASAP? Andy: PSS. And tell team to hold on related media communications until we talk to [client]. Mike: Of course. Mike: More links to difft suits. Andy: Check Andy: Just emailed [client] 5 point plan. CC’d you and team. Calling her now. Mike: Roger that. Andy: Just talked with [client]. Buzzing there! Went over the key points and examples. She’s going into internal meeting at 9 — will call us immediately after. Thx for help. I’ll be at office in an hour or so. Mike: Great. I’m headed into the office now. See you there. Busy morning already Instant inventory tracking: At Pacific International Marketing, a produce-trading company in Salinas, Calif., with revenues under $100 million, sales managers use IM to simultaneously alert 35 salespeople in five cities to market changes. A typical message: “Stop selling broccoli at $7; it’s dropped to $6.” That’s a big improvement over the decidedly low-tech tradition of simply yelling across the room to local traders and then calling around to remote offices to spread the news. And, says president Tom Russell, the time savings is no small potatoes in his industry, where prices can fluctuate 100% in 24 hours and product shelf life is measured in days. As Russell puts it, “The minute we cut some product in the field, it’s beginning its journey to the Dumpster.” He estimates that IM has saved him thousands of dollars in phone calls — and an untold amount in losses caused by information delays. Kibitizing on transactions: One of IM’s most practical and widespread uses in small companies is allowing behind-the-scenes collaboration. At $22-million YellowPages.com, an on-line ad directory based in Henderson, Nev., the company’s 42 employees “ping,” or contact one another by IM, throughout the day. “My Chicago guy is pinging me right now,” Dennis Warren, senior vice-president of corporate development, says during a telephone interview. (His reply: “OTP. SB.” Translation: “On the phone. Stand by, I’ll get right back to you.”) But the technology’s real value, he says, is in letting salespeople get the answers they need. For instance, a rep who is trying to close a deal on the phone might use IM with Warren: “Can I offer her a 30% discount?” Warren can decide and reply on the spot (“Yes,” or “Try 15% first”) without making the employee — or the potential customer — wait. At StudentUniverse, a travel service in Watertown, Mass., that caters to college-age customers, agents often use IM to send questions to a manager, aiming to get an immediate response without putting the customer on hold. Customer-service director Phil Dobbyn credits IM for helping cut his staff’s average time per call by 25% in just a few months. Finacorp Securities, a bond brokerage in Newport Beach, Calif., with revenues under $5 million, uses IM for everything from telecommuting to providing tech support for its on-line arm, Tradebonds.com. But IM’s greatest value is linking salespeople to the firm’s compliance officers to get fast answers to regulatory questions. Some managers own up to swapping messages with one another during conference calls with outsiders. StudentUniverse CEO Espen Odegard occasionally uses IM to confer with his cofounder or his lawyer during sticky negotiations. Other executives cue each other during calls; in fact, AtomicPR senior account manager Misha Gulak used IM with Getsey during a phone interview with Inc, reminding Getsey about a point she thought he should make. Instant gratification, of course, comes with a price. For starters, IM, like E-mail, can transmit viruses that existing security software may not detect. (For that reason, security experts recommend using virus-scanning programs that specifically cover IM.) But because anybody can download free IM software from the Web, tech staffers may not even realize employees are using it. And IM isn’t always secure, as the CEO of a now-defunct California dot-com learned when he found copies of his private messages posted on the Web. In May, Microsoft warned that its popular free IM program, MSN Messenger, contained a serious security flaw that could leave users vulnerable to computer hackers. (The company provided a free on-line “patch” to fix the problem.) With that in mind, Tax Technologies instructs users not to transmit confidential client information. StudentUniverse’s messages include their own version of the surgeon general’s warning: “Never give out your password or credit-card number in an instant message conversation.” Obviously, any new link to the outside creates new opportunities to leak corporate secrets. For that reason, IM programs increasingly include monitoring functions that allow companies to capture or log transmissions. Many IM programs — particularly the free ones — won’t work with one another, meaning that if you have only Yahoo Messenger, you can’t use IM to communicate with a client who has only AOL Instant Messenger. That’s exactly why the American Homeowners Foundation, a publishing and lobbying organization based in Arlington, Va., stopped using IM last year. Initially, the foundation’s directors hoped to use the technology to quickly correspond with the far-flung authors who write the organization’s books. But they ultimately found IM more frustrating than useful, says vice-president Chris Christensen, citing the plethora of incompatible programs. Michael Osterman, an electronic-messaging consultant in Black Diamond, Wash., predicts that the industry will adopt a common standard within the next year or two. In addition, some people find the barrage of read-me-right-now messages annoying or disruptive. “Your attention gets very fragmented. It gets in the way of good solid thinking,” says Carl Stormer, StudentUniverse’s cofounder and executive vice-president. “It’s almost like white noise; you don’t notice it till it’s gone.” Other executives occasionally shut off IM or change their status to “busy” or “do not disturb.” Managers at some companies worry that employees will spend too much work time using IM to chat with pals inside and outside the company. Others — such as StudentUniverse’s Norwegian-born Odegard and Stormer, who use IM daily to correspond with their families in Norway — view it as a perk they can offer employees, as long as personal use doesn’t get out of control. They also emphasize that IM isn’t the right tool for every business missive; employees should still turn to E-mail when they need a record and to the phone for the personal touch. Finally, they acknowledge that IM sometimes provides solutions to problems that don’t exist. For instance, employees at StudentUniverse admit that they sometimes swap messages with nearby coworkers rather than step next door or down the hall. Stormer says, “That is like taking the elevator to the first floor.” Yet even critics recognize the technology’s promise. For example, ActiveBuddy, a New York City developer of IM products, offers free homework help, stock quotes, and sports scores; the company also created IM promotions for the band Radiohead, teen singer Lindsay Pagano, and the movie The Lord of the Rings. Other companies are exploring IM’s potential for real-time auctions, travel booking, technical support, and stock trading. Meanwhile, the earliest adopters remain true believers in the technology’s value. “Our development team is 5 to 10 times more productive in our virtual environment than in a traditional office setting,” says Tax Technologies’ Wenger. “It’s disruptive,” says Dane Madsen, CEO of YellowPages.com. “But so was the Internet and so was E-mail. You adjust.” Anne Stuart is a senior writer at Inc. Instant Lingo In instant-messaging culture, spelling and grammar matter less than trading messages at the speed of a championship tennis match. So fans of IM write in standard business shorthand: FYI, ASAP, OK, thx, cc. They also rely on those annoying acronyms that hard-core E-mailers have thrown around for years: BTW (by the way), LOL (laughing out loud), TTFN (ta-ta for now). But as if it weren’t telegraphic enough, business IM seems to be adapting its own code. Among the ones we found: BRB: Be right back. BTN/5: Be there in five (minutes); be right there. C&B or c/b: Crash and burn. Convo: Conversation. G2G: Got to go. IC: I see. JK or j/k: Just kidding. JW or j/w: Just wondering. NP or n/p: No problem. OTL: Out to lunch. OTP: On the phone. OTR: On the road. Ping: To send someone an instant message (“I’ll ping you later”). Pop: Ditto. SB: Stand by (as in “just a minute”). SN: Screen name, or on-line identity. TTYL: Talk to you later. The IM Generation Most youthful IM aficionados use the technology for exactly the reason you’d expect: to converse, instantly, with everybody they know. Simultaneously. “I have 11 windows open,” Jessica Nurnberg, 15, of Oklahoma City, typed during an interview using IM. Translation: As Nurnberg answered Inc‘s questions at lightning speed, she was chatting with 10 other friends, swapping messages on everything from homework to hot ninth-grade gossip. Other young IM fans cite more practical uses, such as: Passive promotion. Kevin Colleran, 21, wouldn’t dream of spamming his 200 IM buddies with ads for his on-line business, Clubvibes.com Boston, a nightclub directory. But Colleran, a Babson College senior who holds several national “young entrepreneur” titles, uses the Clubvibes logo in his buddy icon (the on-line ID badge that appears during IM sessions). That way, he raises brand awareness without raising hackles. Real-time brainstorming. For a sociology class, Marie Aschenbrenner, 18, of Penticton, British Columbia, was assigned to a debate team taking a “pro” stance on globalization. Team members researched the issue, then met on-line the night before the debate. Working into the wee hours, they drafted and rehearsed their arguments — entirely by IM. Coordination of schedules. Emily Giles, 15, of East Greenwich, R.I., uses IM to quickly organize gatherings. “U can ask a bunch of people if they can do the same thing all @ the same time,” she wrote in standard IM (rather than standard English) during an IM interview. “Its easier 2 keep track of who can do what n who cant.” Homework help. Casey Koppelson, 17, of Newport, R.I., sometimes uses IM for French-class assignments. If Koppelson needs the French phrase for “mow the lawn,” she sends an IM inquiry to SmarterChild, a free on-line homework helper. SmarterChild instantly searches its database of information and sends back a message with the words: “fauchez la pelouse.” Matchmaking. Sarah Kornblum, 16, of Natick, Mass., uses IM to introduce friends from different towns. “They chat on here for a while and get to know each other a little bit and THEN go out on a date,” she wrote. “So far it is working pretty well, if I do say so myself.” Many under age 25 can’t imagine life without IM. “I really don’t know what I did before,” says Aschenbrenner, who had never used IM before she started college last September. Now she’s so IM-dependent that when she stayed off-line for a whole day, her brother called to check on her. Please E-mail your comments to editors@inc.com. Related content: IM Product Sampler IM Legal Primer IM Etiquette

About 4374 days ago E-Commerce

Browser Beware

Special Report Before you rely on an online ratings service, get to know the source — and how it makes money When you’re shopping online, whom can you trust to give you the best shopping experience? That’s the quandary facing consumers and small-business owners alike who are buying goods from unfamiliar Web stores. And with so many online companies vying for your hard-earned dollars — not to mention the fact that so many of them are in questionable financial condition — it’s natural to want to look to a trusted third party for a recommendation. But before you rely on an online ratings service like BizRate.com or Gomez.com, you’d better read the fine print. Consider the experience of Jehremy Foster, who was in the market for a camcorder this past December. He thought the camera would make a good Christmas present for his wife, who was then six months pregnant. An experienced Web shopper, Foster, 30, browsed consumer comments in an online camera forum until he settled on the model that seemed best for his soon-to-be-growing family: a Canon ZR10. Foster’s next stop: MySimon.com’s comparison-shopping service, where he sorted by price a listing of online merchants that sold the Canon camcorder. Noting that the lowest-priced vendors were listed at the top, Foster scanned down the list until he found vendors that rated at least two out of three possible stars on Gomez.com, an online ratings service. Family Photo and Video — a company that Foster had never heard of — had a Gomez rating of two stars and was selling the camcorder at the then-attractive price of $697. The prices other vendors listed for the same item ranged from $735 to $1,069. Foster says that he then searched for Family Photo and Video on BizRate .com, which rates 2,000 online merchants based on customer-survey information. The photo store rated an 8.3 out of 10, which sounded pretty good to Foster, so he placed the order online and crossed that item off his gift list. But the next day, Foster says, he got a call from a salesperson at Family Photo and Video that he found disturbing. The caller was pushing him to buy accessories and extra batteries for the camcorder he had just ordered. “It was totally bizarre,” says Foster. “Once the salesman realized I wasn’t going to buy anything extra, he was very rude and short with me.” (Family Photo and Video customer-service supervisor Mike Tate responds that sales reps follow up with customers primarily to confirm orders that might be bogus, and to offer promotional discounts. “There’s no pressure to buy,” he says, noting that Family Photo’s salespeople don’t work on commission.) Unsettled, Foster tracked down Family Photo and Video’s off-line address. When he found out that the business was located in New York City, he logged on to the site for the Better Business Bureau of Metropolitan New York. There, to his mounting dismay, he found numerous complaints about Family Photo and Video — although the store was listed under another name, Abe’s of Maine. A general Web search for Abe’s of Maine led Foster to Photo.net, an online community of amateur and professional photographers, where he discovered some 70 complaints from people who said they had been burned by Abe’s of Maine. The complaints alleged everything from getting billed for $400 shipping charges to the old bait-and-switch routine. (A favorite ploy of certain camera merchants is to say a hot camera model is in stock and then ship a different model.) Foster wondered how Family Photo and Video had managed to get such seemingly favorable ratings from both BizRate.com and Gomez.com. Foster’s unfortunate experience notwithstanding, Tate says the ratings accurately reflect his company’s level of service. “We have a toll-free number, and whatever the problem, we will handle it,” says Tate. More than half of Family Photo and Video’s business comes from repeat customers, he adds. And given the site’s typical daily volume of about 200 orders, he maintains that receiving roughly 70 negative remarks on Photo.net during what was actually a five-year period isn’t a bad record at all. Still, Jehremy Foster’s story begs the question: How is it that the online ratings systems don’t reflect the bad experiences of people like Foster and visitors who post messages on Photo.net? The short answer is that ratings services are designed to spotlight good online merchants, not to warn consumers about bad ones. After all, the vast majority of online ratings sites are operated by companies that need to make money in order to keep providing their services. Most of the companies receive some part of their revenues from the merchants they are rating. Such a relationship between the ratings services and the companies they report on presents at least the appearance of compromising the quality of those ratings. San Francisco-based CNET Networks has considered posting consumer feedback regarding online merchants but has so far steered clear. “We don’t have the ability to verify whether a particular poster is truly a buyer from that merchant or whether it’s another merchant looking to slam their competitor,” says Dan Miller, director of CNET’s Shopper.com, a comparison-shopping service. CNET tracks feedback from consumers about resellers but doesn’t publish the individual comments. The feedback is offered to the merchants, and Miller says that most consumer complaints reported to CNET are resolved within two days. To help authenticate the complaints, consumers are asked to submit a customer-order number with a complaint about a vendor. In the future, Miller hopes to add to CNET’s merchant information the number of complaints the site has received about each vendor, as well as how many of those complaints have been satisfactorily resolved. Ratings services are designed to spotlight good online merchants, not to warn consumers about bad ones. If the situation is complicated for ratings purveyors, it’s even more befuddling for the average consumer, who’s likely to simply take the ratings at face value. But the fact is, using ratings sites effectively requires knowledge of the raters’ business model and of the degree to which the company’s economic interest could skew the way the information is presented. Without that knowledge, consumers might find themselves in trouble, especially, it seems, when they’re in the market for camera equipment. In May 2000 a computer-industry worker in Benicia, Calif. (who asked to be known only by her online alias, Cneber), ordered an Olympus C-3030 Zoom camera from Best Stop Digital, an online merchant she had found listed on CNET. Best Stop Digital’s site said that the highly in-demand camera was in stock at the attractive price of $850, while other merchants were listing it about $200 higher. A few days later, when Cneber hadn’t received the camera but found that her credit card had been charged for the purchase, she called Best Stop Digital to ask for a tracking number. She learned that the camera she’d ordered wasn’t in stock and probably wouldn’t ship for several weeks. When she asked the customer-service representative to cancel the order, she was put on hold and then disconnected. Further calls to Best Stop Digital were transferred, put on hold, or disconnected, and Cneber says that eventually no one answered the phone at all. Cneber, whose account is corroborated by documents and correspondence she shared with Inc. Technology, then sent an E-mail message to CNET to alert its product reviewers that a questionable merchant was included in its listings. She also recommended that CNET drop Best Stop Digital from its vendor list. She says that CNET responded with a message that the company made no guarantees regarding the quality of merchants that were listed on its site but not “CNET certified.” CNET’s Miller says he’s sorry about Cneber’s experience and confirms that CNET had received earlier complaints about Best Stop Digital. Miller says he suggested to Cneber that she contact her credit-card company for help with the charge. (Her account was credited for the amount of the purchase a few weeks later.) In this case, Miller says, CNET couldn’t mediate between the company and the consumer, because CNET’s best information indicated that Best Stop Digital had gone out of business and had been dropped from CNET’s ratings. (Best Stop Digital is, in fact, still in business, but the company didn’t respond to Inc. Technology‘s repeated requests for comment.) Miller says that CNET is well aware of cyberspace’s bad apples, who “are hurting the credibility of online retailers everywhere,” he says — not to mention the credibility of online information sites. To be a CNET-certified vendor, a merchant must supply CNET with up-to-date information on its pricing, shipping and handling, and inventory, as well as its site’s customer-service policy. The company must also honor the prices advertised on its Web site, conduct its transactions on a secure server, process orders promptly, deliver merchandise in professional packaging, and respond to all E-mail messages and phone calls from customers within two business days. According to Miller, CNET recently added a “code of conduct” that applies to all its listed vendors, whether they are CNET certified or not. The code prohibits certain bad practices, such as making orders contingent on the purchase of additional materials. CNET is also aware of the complaints about formerly CNET-certified merchant Family Photo and Video/Abe’s of Maine that are posted on Photo.net. “We can’t verify those complaints. We can only act on what we know,” explains Erik Kokkonen, a CNET vice-president. If a consumer complains to CNET about one of its vendors, a CNET staffer will contact the vendor and give it a certain amount of time to fix the situation. If the merchant is repeatedly unresponsive, CNET will kick it off the list for 5 days for the first serious offense and for 15 days for the second serious offense. If there’s a third offense, the merchant’s contract with CNET as a certified vendor is terminated, but the company can still remain on the site as a regular listed vendor. “We are in the business of bringing buyers and sellers together,” says Kokkonen. “But the reality is, we have a responsibility to the sellers to make sure we’re treating them fairly as well.” Where to Turn? Cameras and electronics are product categories that are especially rife with consumer complaints, especially with the prevalence of so-called “gray market” goods (“off-brand” versions of products that manufacturers produce to sell inexpensively abroad without warranties) that make their way into the U.S. market. But consumers need to be aware of the economic imperatives of the ratings services, no matter what kinds of goods they are looking to buy. Performing that level of research can be a big job, since there are so many different kinds of online services that aim to improve the Web shopping experience. (See “The Top Ratings and Comparison-Shopping Sites at a Glance,” below.) BizRate.com is one of the most visible comparison-shopping and vendor-rating sites on the Net. The site’s ratings section ranks 2,000 “partner” merchants on a scale of 1 to 10 based on data from consumer surveys. Using 10 shopping criteria, BizRate.com surveys shoppers, once at the point of sale and then again after goods have been shipped, in order to get feedback on the buyers’ fulfillment experience. BizRate.com calls its partner merchants “Gold Stores,” although that somewhat lofty designation may often be misleading, as it would seem to imply that the stores offer unusually high-quality products or service. According to BizRate.com president and CEO Chuck Davis, the company, located in Marina Del Ray, Calif., aims to include all online merchants in its surveys. It doesn’t charge vendors for a basic listing. However, vendors can pay for “preferred” placement in the marketplace section, which means that the merchant’s listing will appear at the top of any consumer search of that section. BizRate.com provides a daily feedback service to Gold Store merchants and sells additional detailed reports for about $3,000 a month. BizRate.com also makes money if buyers click through to the seller’s site to make a purchase. “We do no rating ourselves,” says Davis. “All we do is set up the infrastructure for unbiased buyer ratings.” BizRate.com’s ratings may seem free of commercial taint, since companies can’t pay to influence the surveys, but there is still room for murkiness. For instance, a merchant’s rating is based half on its front-end store and half on its back-end fulfillment, so stores with questionable practices can still receive a rating of 5.0 and above if they merely have a nice storefront. “It can be difficult to tell exactly what the numbers mean,” says Preston Gralla, author of The Complete Idiot’s Guide to Online Shopping. “What’s an 8.4 versus a 9.5? Those numbers might be based on criteria that aren’t important to you.” Gralla advises that shoppers take advantage of a BizRate.com feature that allows consumers to rank merchants according to specific criteria, such as on-time delivery. “If a merchant has 91% on-time delivery, that means something,” says Gralla. On Gomez.com, another online ratings site, it’s especially difficult for consumers to assess whether a merchant’s score reflects variables that are important to them, and for a very good reason: Gomez.com doesn’t disclose all of the details about the criteria it uses to judge sites. “That would be like Coke giving away its special formula,” says Julio Gomez, chairman and CEO of Gomez Inc., in Waltham, Mass. “For each of the 75 industries that we cover, we have about a dozen criteria that we use to judge each site.” Gomez engages 30 industry analysts to generate the ratings rather than relying on consumers. (Gomez.com does publish basic information about its overall methodology, however.) In addition to running its own ratings site, Gomez.com provides merchant-ratings information to online comparison-shopping and consumer-information sites like MySimon.com, DealTime.com, and CNET.com. What online shoppers who come across a Gomez.com rating may not realize is that the Gomez score doesn’t take into account any aspect of the fulfillment experience. According to Julio Gomez, sites are scored only on the quality of the online experience they present to shoppers and on whether they have certain policies, such as accepting returned merchandise. So under Gomez.com’s system, it’s possible for a merchant with a slick online presence but questionable or even shabby business practices to receive a rating of two or even three stars out of three possible stars, as Jehremy Foster discovered when he encountered Family Photo and Video’s two-star Gomez rating. CEO Gomez answers such criticism by saying that his company concentrates on rating the consumer’s online experience, period. “We’re very focused on what we do. We are just about the customer experience on the Internet,” he says. His company doesn’t rate a merchant’s fulfillment performance, he says, because it wouldn’t be possible for his analysts to order products from all the 6,500 online merchants that are Gomez.com certified. “If someone out there would like to do that, they’re welcome to it,” he says. As it happens, Julio Gomez’s former employer, Forrester Research Inc., a Cambridge, Mass., market-research firm, appears to be doing just that. Forrester offers a free online consumer service called PowerRankings, which combines extensive consumer-survey data with expert analysis to rank the top E-commerce sites on the Web. According to Tom Rhinelander, research director at Forrester, no company can pay to get on (or off) the PowerRankings list. Here’s how the ranking system works: Forrester commissions a survey provider and research house (currently the NPD Group) to poll 20,000 customers of online E-tail and travel sites. From that data, Forrester analysts identify E-commerce sites that contain enough consumer data to justify inclusion in the PowerRankings. Since its resources are limited, Forrester ranks no more than 10 companies in each of the 13 industries that its rankings cover, which means that shoppers are unlikely to find unfamiliar merchants on the list. Forrester’s analysts open accounts with, and shop at, the sites in question, placing real orders for products; they then return all the merchandise. Based on those responses, Forrester prepares the rankings, giving the consumer-opinion data two-thirds weight and the in-house expert opinion one-third. “We believe the consumer data should carry more weight than expert opinion. That’s part of our methodology,” Rhinelander says. The PowerRankings list isn’t wholly free of the whiff of commercialism, since some of the companies on the list are Forrester’s clients. But Rhinelander says the company’s clients aren’t able to influence the ratings, even if they want to. Clients sometimes “call up and moan about the rankings,” he says. “The only way that will get any traction is if we get something wrong, and that can happen.” For consumers who are looking for a beacon of brand-name credibility on the Internet, there’s always the Reliability Seal of the Better Business Bureau OnLine (BBBOnLine). BBBOnLine is drawing on the bureau’s nearly 90 years of off-line credibility, making it a name to believe in, if not blindly trust. Consumers can search BBBOnLine to see if a particular merchant has received the organization’s certification. In order to achieve the Reliability Seal, online businesses must have been in business for at least a year and be members of their local bureau. The difference between BBBOnLine and other ratings services is that the companies that get the Reliability Seal must have already met certain qualifications. With straight sponsorship sites, virtually any company can pay to be listed. BBBOnLine has credibility because local bureau chapters are well situated to vouch for the legitimacy of businesses in their areas, according to Steve Salter, director of operations and administration for BBBOnLine, in Arlington, Va. Usually, local bureaus make an in-person visit to the companies that apply for membership, he says, which weeds out many of the worst types of operations. Checking with the Better Business Bureau sooner might have saved Jehremy Foster some headaches, although in the end he did receive the camera that he had ordered from Family Photo and Video (a.k.a. Abe’s of Maine). But Foster says his faith has been shaken. “I don’t trust any of the online ratings systems anymore,” he adds. “From now on, I’m going to either have a personal recommendation or stick with a known entity.” Lauren Gibbons Paul is a freelance writer based in Waban, Mass. The Top Ratings and Comparison-Shopping Sites at a Glance BBBOnLine What it is A service for certifying online merchants’ reliability and security and for finding out about consumer complaints lodged against merchants. How it works Consumers can search the site for companies that have received the BBBOnLine Reliability and Privacy Seals. Consumers can also file a complaint against a vendor online. How it makes money Like regional BBBs, BBBOnline charges companies membership dues that range from $100 to $10,000 annually (depending on the member company’s size). What you may not know BBBOnline doesn’t yet offer complete merchant data from all its 130 member organizations, so link to the bureau’s regional sites to investigate companies. BizRate.com What it is An online comparison-shopping and merchant-ratings service based on consumer-survey information. How it works Consumers can search for particular products in a variety of categories and see the rankings of merchants that sell the products online. In the Store Rating section, users can search for a particular store name and read detailed profiles. How it makes money Merchants pay BizRate.com to advertise their promotions. BizRate.com collects referral fees from merchants that get business off its site. BizRate.com also sells companies detailed market research culled from user surveys. What you may not know Although BizRate.com sites are ranked on a scale of 1 to 10, consumers are unlikely to find any site with a rating lower than 5. The designation “Gold Store” on BizRate.com means only that the merchant has agreed to put BizRate.com’s surveys on its site. CNET What it is An online news, reviews, and comparison-shopping portal. How it works Consumers can search CNET for product reviews and price comparisons. Consumers can also view comments from other shoppers in unmonitored message boards regarding a particular product or vendor. How it makes money CNET sells banner ads and also receives a referral fee from vendors when users go to their sites. All merchants in CNET Networks’ price listings pay to be listed. Some merchants pay a premium for order of placement or prominence on the list. What you may not know CNET makes no guarantees regarding the quality of merchants that are listed on the site but aren’t “CNET certified,” although it will investigate complaints about any listed vendor. Gomez.com What it is An online merchant-ratings service based on expert analysis. How it works Users can view ratings of the top vendors for the quality of the online shopping experience in a number of categories. How it makes money Gomez.com receives fees when consumers purchase products from certified vendors. It also sells consulting and in-depth reports to vendors. What you may not know Gomez’s ratings don’t take into account the consumer’s experience after an order has been placed. So the ratings don’t reflect either order fulfillment or customer service. MySimon.com What it is A comparison-shopping service. How it works MySimon.com allows consumers to compare prices on items offered by online vendors. It also lists Gomez.com’s ratings information for some vendors. How it makes money MySimon.com sells advertising to vendors. What you may not know MySimon.com aims to list as many merchants as possible that offer a particular product, but it lets vendors pay for preferential placement on its lists. PowerRankings of Forrester Research Inc. What it is An online merchant-ratings system based on consumer-survey data and expert analysis. How it works Visitors can view rankings of 10 merchants in 13 categories that include apparel, toys, banks, and electronics. How it makes money Forrester makes no revenues associated with its PowerRankings list. The company makes money through its primary business — market research and consulting. What you may not know The PowerRankings list rates no more than 10 companies in any single category. Please e-mail your comments to editors@inc.com.

About 4647 days ago E-Commerce

Upstarts: Internet Convenience Services

Making E-commerce Easier The massive consumer rush to buy stuff online has created some real-world logistical problems — problems these start-ups hope to solve Shopping on the Web is pretty simple. You just point and click — and wait. Sure, the Web gives you endless variety, terrific deals, and 24-7 convenience. But when it comes to actually delivering the goods, E-commerce isn’t quite as fast and painless as the hype would have us believe. For some consumers, ordering on the Web just isn’t worth the hassle. 30% of Internet shoppers have cut back on their online purchasing because they don’t like having to wait for orders to be delivered, reports the Yankee Group. With such a big chunk of the E-commerce market at stake, there’s plenty of incentive to make Internet delivery radically simpler and quicker, and a new crop of Web-based start-ups is aiming to do just that. I want it, and I want it now In the brick-and-mortar world, instant gratification is something we take for granted. You walk into a store, and you walk out with the merchandise you want. So it’s no surprise that consumers want the same immediacy with E-commerce. Call it the Kozmo.com phenomenon, after the well-known Internet service that delivers snack food, videos, books, and CDs within an hour to time-starved — or maybe just lazy — urbanites. Kozmo.com isn’t the only start-up focused on shrinking delivery times. Sameday.com, based in Los Angeles, strives to give any Internet retailer a way to deliver products to customers on — you guessed it — the same day those products were ordered. In 1998 founder, president, and CEO Alex Nesbitt, with backing from Bill Gross’s Idealab, launched what was then called Shipper.com to offer next-day delivery to E-commerce companies. He changed the company’s name and focus after realizing that the demand for same-day delivery was even bigger. To deliver that quick turnaround, Nesbitt has bet on a system of large, centralized warehouses in which the company’s customers maintain inventories of their most popular products. The company launched in Los Angeles last year and now, with 36 warehouses around the country, offers ultrafast delivery in New York, Chicago, San Francisco, Memphis, and the Dallas-Fort Worth area. When retailers link their E-commerce sites to the Sameday.com site, Sameday.com becomes one of several shipping options that buyers can choose from. Sameday.com also has its own Internet mall, where Web shoppers in Los Angeles, for instance, can order baked goods, books, music, toys, gifts, and electronics from the company or its partners. Picking, packing, and shipping charges are in the $6-to-$8 range, a slight premium above traditional second-day shipping. The start-up also charges retailers additional fees for receiving and storing inventory. As Nesbitt sees it, aggregating deliveries from one central warehouse is the key to keeping delivery prices low. But rolling out the service hasn’t been cheap. So far he’s raised $25 million in three rounds of venture capital; he aims to break even sometime in 2002. To do that, he says, Sameday.com will have to gross $200 million from 20 million deliveries a year. On a recent Thursday in Los Angeles, the company made just 200 deliveries. But Nesbitt is confident that demand for his service will grow. “The question for E-commerce companies is, how do they make that instant gratification available at a cost point that consumers find attractive?” he says. “We bring the cost of speed down dramatically.” The online strip mall Whereas Sameday.com is about time, WhyRunOut.com is about convenience. Grocery shopping, dry-cleaning retrieval, film drop-offs, video pickups and returns — WhyRunOut.com aims to unburden people of the mundane tasks that so often eat up a perfectly good Saturday morning. Unlike most Internet grocers such as Webvan or Peapod, however, WhyRunOut.com offers same-day delivery: order by noon at the WhyRunOut.com Web site, and you get your groceries and other goodies in the afternoon or evening. And unlike Sameday.com, WhyRunOut.com manages speedy response without a central warehouse. Instead, the company teams up with local merchants. WhyRunOut.com’s professional “shoppers” fill orders at a number of stores, then deliver goods and services straight to the customers. WhyRunOut.com collects fees from retailers and charges consumers for each delivery. “Our target segment, busy suburban families, would rather trade money for time,” says founder Dan Frahm. What about the cost of paying people to roam the aisles and wait in checkout lines? Frahm admits that his model misses some of the efficiencies of a central warehouse. But, he points out, grocery stores are already fully stocked with merchandise and located close to consumers’ homes. “Yes, there’s some labor there, but it’s half what you have if you set up your own warehouse system,” he says. Frahm started WhyRunOut.com in 1998 with $50,000 in savings, at first doing the shopping and schlepping himself to hone the concept. Lately, the company has been operating in beta-test mode, with 30 employees and fewer than 1,000 customers in its home territory of Orange County, Calif. Currently, Frahm is seeking venture funding to underwrite a marketing campaign. One thing that’s helped, he says, is being able to ride the coattails of some better-known Internet grocers. “Customers know that home delivery is out there, and other Web grocers helped make it an acceptable way of life, which we could never have done on our own.” Look, Ma, No PC These days you don’t even have to have a computer to shop the Internet. At least that’s the aim of Vistify. Founded in Phoenix in April 1999 and now located in San Francisco, the company focuses on the household-replenishment market — or, in plain English, goods such as groceries, personal-care products, and housewares. Instead of ordering on a PC, users can choose products by touching pictures on the screen of an Internet appliance that might sit on their kitchen countertop. (Vistify has developed its own streamlined, Jetsons-esque prototype. The company also plans to offer its service on TV screens, among other media.) Vistify itself won’t sell products or deliver them, says chief marketing officer and cofounder Menekse Gencer; instead, it will offer goods through partnerships with other providers, such as Internet grocers and delivery services. At press time, the company was planning a trial rollout for the end of the year, in Colorado. For those who can’t wait for their Internet appliance, there’s Quixi, launched in New York City in October 1999 by Evan Marwell and Robert Pines. Quixi lets users shop the Web through their cell phone and a live, human intermediary who searches for information and makes purchases online using the subscriber’s stored (and privacy-protected) credit-card number and delivery information. Users pay $19.95 a month, plus some additional transaction charges. Quixi receives 5% to 10% of revenues from each online sale that it processes. Employing human helpers isn’t cheap. But Pines says that Quixi’s back-end technology is designed to minimize the time that live helpers spend on any particular transaction. The company has contracts with outside call centers, limiting its investment in infrastructure, although Quixi might eventually save money by bringing the call centers in-house, Marwell says. With around $28 million in venture capital under its belt, the company began a beta-test phase in June, offering the service free during the summer before its official September launch. In its current form, Quixi is something of an interim solution, admit Pines and Marwell. Eventually, its human-mediated Internet interface may be rendered obsolete by voice-recognition software or ubiquitous personal digital assistants. So Quixi hopes to gain a foothold in those very markets through partnerships with companies that are developing those technologies or by developing such applications itself. At the same time, says Marwell, Quixi’s intended market is people who value convenience more than the dubious prestige of being early adopters. “We almost view ourselves as being a bit of a gatekeeper for customers, not forcing the technology on them before they’re ready,” he says. –E.B. Is there any there there? Onna Iucolano, vice-chairperson of Shop.org, an Internet retailing trade organization, and former chairperson of its research committee, spoke with Emily Barker about the recent expansion in same-day delivery services. Inc.: Are there a lot of same-day delivery start-ups out there? Iucolano: There is a great deal of focus on delivery and fulfillment, and I would say that has come about as a result of activity in the last 18 months. Most Internet retail was very much focused on the front-end activities — the look and feel of the Web site, taking and processing an order — and in reality that was 50% of the battle with respect to what the customer wanted. The stumbling block was on the back end, with respect to being able to actually deliver the finished product to a consumer. Inc.: Then is the potential market the whole of Internet retail? Iucolano: I don’t think it’s that big. It’s sort of like the FedEx model of a few years back. You used to put a package in the mail, and it got there when it got there. Then FedEx in its brilliance convinced us that we had to have it overnight. So it created a market. It’s really interesting how a lot of these products and services create their market just because they exist. Inc.: How’s that? Iucolano: Given the choice of having a book in two days or having it in an hour — well, you probably never thought of having it in an hour, and all of a sudden it’s available to you. Right now the market for same-day delivery is probably relatively small, but it’s one of the fastest-growing areas of opportunity. Internet companies are all taking and processing orders, but they’re all spending a ton of money to do that. It’s too early to tell who the winners might be. Inc.: What do these companies need to succeed? Iucolano: Customer demand. The customers have to be convinced that they really need things the same day, outside of the floral business and the gift business. Video and food make a lot of sense. Anything else that’s going to work will be products that consumers latch onto and say, “I need that right now!” whether they really do or not. Getting and Sending A selection of start-ups that focus on two of the most common headaches for Internet shoppers: packages that arrive when you’re not at home and purchases that need to be returned Company: PaxZone, in Chicago Business concept: Establishes a local network of businesses to which residents can have their E-commerce purchases delivered. Also offers consumers a drop-off service for merchandise returns. Recently expanded to San Francisco. Competitive advantage: Services are free to consumers; PaxZone charges a fee to retailers since its service reduces the extra charges incurred when carriers are required to make repeat trips to residences. Major hurdle: Service may not be easy to scale up. PaxZone must sell its concept not just to consumers but also to retailers, delivery services, and the local businesses that serve as drop points. Company: Brivo Systems Inc., in Arlington, Va. Business concept: Markets software that works in tandem with a “smart box” for home deliveries. When a consumer makes an Internet purchase, the order generates a unique Brivo password that the delivery person uses to open the customer’s wireless-controlled drop-off box. Competitive advantage: Brivo’s software can be adapted to open garage doors and other receptacles too. It also handles “reverse” deliveries from the consumer’s home, such as returns or dry-cleaning pickups. Major hurdle: Since consumers are likely to balk at having to pay subscription fees to receive deliveries, Brivo is developing partnerships with online retailers that will pay for the service. Company: The Return Exchange, in Irvine, Calif. Business concept: Offers Internet retailers online software and services for handling returns. Customers register their returns on the retailer’s Web site. The merchandise goes to a Return Exchange processing center, where it is either shipped back to the retailer for resale or resold through an online auction such as eBay. Competitive advantage: Since the Return Exchange handles all phases of a return, it provides turnkey service for Internet retailers who don’t want to deal with returns themselves. Major hurdle: There’s no lack of competition in this space, from both E-start-ups and brick-and-mortar companies that specialize in handling returns. Please e-mail your comments to editors@inc.com.

About 4647 days ago E-Commerce

Upstarts: Internet Convenience Services

Making E-commerce Easier The massive consumer rush to buy stuff online has created some real-world logistical problems — problems these start-ups hope to solve Shopping on the Web is pretty simple. You just point and click — and wait. Sure, the Web gives you endless variety, terrific deals, and 24-7 convenience. But when it comes to actually delivering the goods, E-commerce isn’t quite as fast and painless as the hype would have us believe. For some consumers, ordering on the Web just isn’t worth the hassle. 30% of Internet shoppers have cut back on their online purchasing because they don’t like having to wait for orders to be delivered, reports the Yankee Group. With such a big chunk of the E-commerce market at stake, there’s plenty of incentive to make Internet delivery radically simpler and quicker, and a new crop of Web-based start-ups is aiming to do just that. I want it, and I want it now In the brick-and-mortar world, instant gratification is something we take for granted. You walk into a store, and you walk out with the merchandise you want. So it’s no surprise that consumers want the same immediacy with E-commerce. Call it the Kozmo.com phenomenon, after the well-known Internet service that delivers snack food, videos, books, and CDs within an hour to time-starved — or maybe just lazy — urbanites. Kozmo.com isn’t the only start-up focused on shrinking delivery times. Sameday.com, based in Los Angeles, strives to give any Internet retailer a way to deliver products to customers on — you guessed it — the same day those products were ordered. In 1998 founder, president, and CEO Alex Nesbitt, with backing from Bill Gross’s Idealab, launched what was then called Shipper.com to offer next-day delivery to E-commerce companies. He changed the company’s name and focus after realizing that the demand for same-day delivery was even bigger. To deliver that quick turnaround, Nesbitt has bet on a system of large, centralized warehouses in which the company’s customers maintain inventories of their most popular products. The company launched in Los Angeles last year and now, with 36 warehouses around the country, offers ultrafast delivery in New York, Chicago, San Francisco, Memphis, and the Dallas-Fort Worth area. When retailers link their E-commerce sites to the Sameday.com site, Sameday.com becomes one of several shipping options that buyers can choose from. Sameday.com also has its own Internet mall, where Web shoppers in Los Angeles, for instance, can order baked goods, books, music, toys, gifts, and electronics from the company or its partners. Picking, packing, and shipping charges are in the $6-to-$8 range, a slight premium above traditional second-day shipping. The start-up also charges retailers additional fees for receiving and storing inventory. As Nesbitt sees it, aggregating deliveries from one central warehouse is the key to keeping delivery prices low. But rolling out the service hasn’t been cheap. So far he’s raised $25 million in three rounds of venture capital; he aims to break even sometime in 2002. To do that, he says, Sameday.com will have to gross $200 million from 20 million deliveries a year. On a recent Thursday in Los Angeles, the company made just 200 deliveries. But Nesbitt is confident that demand for his service will grow. “The question for E-commerce companies is, how do they make that instant gratification available at a cost point that consumers find attractive?” he says. “We bring the cost of speed down dramatically.” The online strip mall Whereas Sameday.com is about time, WhyRunOut.com is about convenience. Grocery shopping, dry-cleaning retrieval, film drop-offs, video pickups and returns — WhyRunOut.com aims to unburden people of the mundane tasks that so often eat up a perfectly good Saturday morning. Unlike most Internet grocers such as Webvan or Peapod, however, WhyRunOut.com offers same-day delivery: order by noon at the WhyRunOut.com Web site, and you get your groceries and other goodies in the afternoon or evening. And unlike Sameday.com, WhyRunOut.com manages speedy response without a central warehouse. Instead, the company teams up with local merchants. WhyRunOut.com’s professional “shoppers” fill orders at a number of stores, then deliver goods and services straight to the customers. WhyRunOut.com collects fees from retailers and charges consumers for each delivery. “Our target segment, busy suburban families, would rather trade money for time,” says founder Dan Frahm. What about the cost of paying people to roam the aisles and wait in checkout lines? Frahm admits that his model misses some of the efficiencies of a central warehouse. But, he points out, grocery stores are already fully stocked with merchandise and located close to consumers’ homes. “Yes, there’s some labor there, but it’s half what you have if you set up your own warehouse system,” he says. Frahm started WhyRunOut.com in 1998 with $50,000 in savings, at first doing the shopping and schlepping himself to hone the concept. Lately, the company has been operating in beta-test mode, with 30 employees and fewer than 1,000 customers in its home territory of Orange County, Calif. Currently, Frahm is seeking venture funding to underwrite a marketing campaign. One thing that’s helped, he says, is being able to ride the coattails of some better-known Internet grocers. “Customers know that home delivery is out there, and other Web grocers helped make it an acceptable way of life, which we could never have done on our own.” Look, Ma, No PC These days you don’t even have to have a computer to shop the Internet. At least that’s the aim of Vistify. Founded in Phoenix in April 1999 and now located in San Francisco, the company focuses on the household-replenishment market — or, in plain English, goods such as groceries, personal-care products, and housewares. Instead of ordering on a PC, users can choose products by touching pictures on the screen of an Internet appliance that might sit on their kitchen countertop. (Vistify has developed its own streamlined, Jetsons-esque prototype. The company also plans to offer its service on TV screens, among other media.) Vistify itself won’t sell products or deliver them, says chief marketing officer and cofounder Menekse Gencer; instead, it will offer goods through partnerships with other providers, such as Internet grocers and delivery services. At press time, the company was planning a trial rollout for the end of the year, in Colorado. For those who can’t wait for their Internet appliance, there’s Quixi, launched in New York City in October 1999 by Evan Marwell and Robert Pines. Quixi lets users shop the Web through their cell phone and a live, human intermediary who searches for information and makes purchases online using the subscriber’s stored (and privacy-protected) credit-card number and delivery information. Users pay $19.95 a month, plus some additional transaction charges. Quixi receives 5% to 10% of revenues from each online sale that it processes. Employing human helpers isn’t cheap. But Pines says that Quixi’s back-end technology is designed to minimize the time that live helpers spend on any particular transaction. The company has contracts with outside call centers, limiting its investment in infrastructure, although Quixi might eventually save money by bringing the call centers in-house, Marwell says. With around $28 million in venture capital under its belt, the company began a beta-test phase in June, offering the service free during the summer before its official September launch. In its current form, Quixi is something of an interim solution, admit Pines and Marwell. Eventually, its human-mediated Internet interface may be rendered obsolete by voice-recognition software or ubiquitous personal digital assistants. So Quixi hopes to gain a foothold in those very markets through partnerships with companies that are developing those technologies or by developing such applications itself. At the same time, says Marwell, Quixi’s intended market is people who value convenience more than the dubious prestige of being early adopters. “We almost view ourselves as being a bit of a gatekeeper for customers, not forcing the technology on them before they’re ready,” he says. –E.B. Is there any there there? Onna Iucolano, vice-chairperson of Shop.org, an Internet retailing trade organization, and former chairperson of its research committee, spoke with Emily Barker about the recent expansion in same-day delivery services. Inc.: Are there a lot of same-day delivery start-ups out there? Iucolano: There is a great deal of focus on delivery and fulfillment, and I would say that has come about as a result of activity in the last 18 months. Most Internet retail was very much focused on the front-end activities — the look and feel of the Web site, taking and processing an order — and in reality that was 50% of the battle with respect to what the customer wanted. The stumbling block was on the back end, with respect to being able to actually deliver the finished product to a consumer. Inc.: Then is the potential market the whole of Internet retail? Iucolano: I don’t think it’s that big. It’s sort of like the FedEx model of a few years back. You used to put a package in the mail, and it got there when it got there. Then FedEx in its brilliance convinced us that we had to have it overnight. So it created a market. It’s really interesting how a lot of these products and services create their market just because they exist. Inc.: How’s that? Iucolano: Given the choice of having a book in two days or having it in an hour — well, you probably never thought of having it in an hour, and all of a sudden it’s available to you. Right now the market for same-day delivery is probably relatively small, but it’s one of the fastest-growing areas of opportunity. Internet companies are all taking and processing orders, but they’re all spending a ton of money to do that. It’s too early to tell who the winners might be. Inc.: What do these companies need to succeed? Iucolano: Customer demand. The customers have to be convinced that they really need things the same day, outside of the floral business and the gift business. Video and food make a lot of sense. Anything else that’s going to work will be products that consumers latch onto and say, “I need that right now!” whether they really do or not. Getting and Sending A selection of start-ups that focus on two of the most common headaches for Internet shoppers: packages that arrive when you’re not at home and purchases that need to be returned Company: PaxZone, in Chicago Business concept: Establishes a local network of businesses to which residents can have their E-commerce purchases delivered. Also offers consumers a drop-off service for merchandise returns. Recently expanded to San Francisco. Competitive advantage: Services are free to consumers; PaxZone charges a fee to retailers since its service reduces the extra charges incurred when carriers are required to make repeat trips to residences. Major hurdle: Service may not be easy to scale up. PaxZone must sell its concept not just to consumers but also to retailers, delivery services, and the local businesses that serve as drop points. Company: Brivo Systems Inc., in Arlington, Va. Business concept: Markets software that works in tandem with a “smart box” for home deliveries. When a consumer makes an Internet purchase, the order generates a unique Brivo password that the delivery person uses to open the customer’s wireless-controlled drop-off box. Competitive advantage: Brivo’s software can be adapted to open garage doors and other receptacles too. It also handles “reverse” deliveries from the consumer’s home, such as returns or dry-cleaning pickups. Major hurdle: Since consumers are likely to balk at having to pay subscription fees to receive deliveries, Brivo is developing partnerships with online retailers that will pay for the service. Company: The Return Exchange, in Irvine, Calif. Business concept: Offers Internet retailers online software and services for handling returns. Customers register their returns on the retailer’s Web site. The merchandise goes to a Return Exchange processing center, where it is either shipped back to the retailer for resale or resold through an online auction such as eBay. Competitive advantage: Since the Return Exchange handles all phases of a return, it provides turnkey service for Internet retailers who don’t want to deal with returns themselves. Major hurdle: There’s no lack of competition in this space, from both E-start-ups and brick-and-mortar companies that specialize in handling returns. Please e-mail your comments to editors@inc.com.

About 4739 days ago E-Commerce

Sites for Singles

Best of the Web Here’s what a panel of seasoned entrepreneurs learned when they reviewed selected Web sites designed to help soloists excel In the age of the Web, no soloist is truly alone. Out on the Internet, we dug up several sites that claimed to deliver information and services to single-person businesses. Among them, we chose to evaluate Guru.com, FreeAgent.com, and Workingsolo.com specifically because they drew a bead on the solo business community, ignoring the larger world of small business. Several sites, including a few we chose not to review — Ants.com, Freelancers.com, BrainBid.com (at press time, still in beta tests), and Elance.com — offered matchmaking help for soloists looking for temporary gigs and companies looking for contractors. We elected to focus on sites that purported to offer expert advice and other resources to visitors who were starting or already running full-fledged, albeit one-person, businesses. To add expert insight to our own, we lined up some soloists to evaluate the sites, including a purveyor of products for lefties, an artist, a corporate-finance consultant, and an online yarn merchant (wool, not shaggy stories). Our panel rated the sites on such criteria as ease of navigation, overall content, and whether they appeared to be an effective means of finding a job or finding a soloist to fill one. Our tour revealed Guru.com and FreeAgent.com to be worthy resources for novices (note the word novices; we’ll come back to it later), particularly because of those sites’ searchable databases of work opportunities and soloists. To deliver on their promises that soloists will find good work there and that managers will find good contractors, these sites are dependent on the number and quality of the visitors they receive. That said, both sites have improved tremendously over the past few months: as their traffic has increased, the quality and volume of their databases have both risen. Furthermore, both sites are good places to pick up insights on taxes, contracts, and all the other ins and out of the solo life. (Guru.com’s Tax and Finance advice section, for instance, is a gem that offers visitors some great tips from expert Rich Hellmold.) Workingsolo.com, despite a decent pedigree, struck almost everyone as a thinly veiled ad for books and consulting services. Back to that novice thing: Our panelists have been in business for themselves for at least 2 years; our most experienced soloist has been an entrepreneur for 30. As a group, they found these three sites sadly lacking in content that would be of value to sophisticated businesspeople; most said the sites might be useful for beginners and wanna-bes. www.guru.com What it offers: Easy access to databases of jobs and contractors; advice columns; and discussion forums on the solo life are the main attractions of this site. What it’s good for: The databases are particularly rich and varied, listing both jobs and contractors in areas ranging from business management and technology to wedding musicians and wellness specialists. Don’t waste your time on: If you’re truly experienced, you won’t find much new information here. What our panel had to say: “It’s a good place for new entrepreneurs to get a handle on what’s required.” Panelists also gave it high marks for the specific advice generated by Guru.com’s tax-and-finance forum. On the downside, one panelist felt the site would benefit from more links having to do with raising money. www.freeagent.com What it offers: FreeAgent.com is the real deal, a rich, well-appointed resource of jobs and soloists. And it supplies a wealth of advice on deciding whether to go solo in the first place. What it’s good for: We liked the site’s handy tools, such as a calculator that helps you project how much money you’ll take home as a soloist; its advice on matters like pricing and taxes; and its well-written articles on concepts like managing creative types. FreeAgent.com also offers business services (tax payment, invoicing, and collections, among others) for a $199 setup fee and monthly charges ranging from $119 to $274. Don’t waste your time on: Finding everything you need here. For instance, the site fell short when it came to providing advice on advertising and marketing. What our panel had to say: Our soloists admitted they would likely revisit the site, but they were not highly confident that the site would land them paid work. www.workingsolo.com What it offers: Created by Terri Lonier, author of several Working Solo books, this site serves up a smattering of useful tidbits, including some decent statistics on the solo life. What it’s good for: A free monthly E-mail newsletter. Don’t waste your time on: Looking for truly objective advice. It’s telling that Lonier’s company, Working Solo Inc., specializes not in helping soloists but rather in helping companies sell to the soloist market. What our panel had to say: One can’t escape the feeling that the site is an infomercial for Lonier’s books and consulting services. And the links to other sites, one reviewer told us, were obvious and tired: “Hey — I already know about SCORE,” he wrote. Information destinations In surfing the Web, we found that some sites geared specifically for the SOHO (small office, home office) market had solo-relevant material. Here are a few interesting destinations that occupy a gray area: more solo than small biz, but not quite pure solo. www.soho.org What it offers: This site has a decent selection of articles and an advocacy page covering developments in the battle for the rights of SOHO workers, such as suggested changes to the federal tax code and bankruptcy-law reform. What it’s good for: How-to articles on areas including marketing, legal, and finance are each followed by links that lead to relevant Web sites. Don’t waste your time on: Trying to find a job here; it provides no databases. What our panel had to say: This site is good for a beginner but too basic for most practitioners. www.icenationwide.com What it offers: A straight-up matchmaking service. Hiring companies pay a fee, but contractors don’t. What it’s good for: Seeking technical contractors or finding techie gigs. Don’t waste your time on: Learning more about the company itself — an “About ICE” listing led only to a form on which visitors could provide feedback by E-mail. What our panelists had to say: They missed the articles and advice the more well-rounded sites provided. But one panelist was intrigued with “spider” technology that promised to harvest job listings from a hiring company’s own Web site and automatically post those listings on Icenationwide.com and other unnamed “partner sites.” The spider weaves its Web for a cool $1,000 a month and offers some discounted fees for longer-term use. www.paulandsarah.com What it offers: Sarah and Paul Edwards, coauthors of numerous self-employment books and a syndicated newspaper column called “Your Home Office,” deliver their folksy empowerment message. What it’s good for: Motivation, inspiration, and cheerleading: a Daily Calendar Message (usually an inspirational paragraph culled from one of the pair’s books) is intended to fire you up for a hard day’s self-employment. Don’t waste your time on: In-depth advice for experienced entrepreneurs. Tips on marketing, taxes, and other topics are useful but meager. What our panelists had to say: “This site appears to be a glorious ad for the authors’ books,” wrote one. Ned Snell is a freelance writer based in Arlington, Va. The Savvy Entrepreneur’s Guide to the Solo Web Would our soloists go back? What is the site good for? Soloists’ quick take www.guru.com “Power for the independent professional” Occasionally, if they had a specific need Training/learning, reference Good for new entrepreneurs; “clearly identifies myriad topics facing entrepreneurs in an evolving marketplace.” www.freeagent.com “A brave new workforce” Occasionally, if they had a specific need Training/learning, applications, one-stop shopping Good mix of basic services. But “all contract jobs I looked at were for on-site only, not remote work.” www.workingsolo.com “Connecting you to the SOHO entrepreneur” Never Training for novices “Promotional blurbs about Terri’s books … very little content of immediate use.” www.soho.org “Small office home office” Never Training/learning, reference “Good for a beginner, but too basic for most experienced practitioners.” www.icenationwide.com “Independent Contractor Exchange” Occasionally, if they had a specific need Reference, getting jobs Too few resources available; shallow content and tools www.paulandsarah.com “The place to be … on your own but not alone” Occasionally, if they had a specific need Training/learning, reference “Visitors thinking about leaving the rat race and going solo will find lots of book references that may aid in making this decision.” Our Panelists Martha Bator, artist Beth Brody, founder, Brody PR Michael Cramer, founder, Adagio Teas Jake Fannin, president, Employment Publishing Mark Hall, marketing consultant Raymond Hutchins, founder and president, SecurityDecals.com Inc. Robert Huebner, product designer, Driveway Safety Mark James, proprietor, 2kdata.com Constance Mazelsky, principal, Constance Mazelsky Communications Elliot McGucken, CEO, Classicals & Jollyroger.com LLC Sue Neiditch Schwartz, owner, YarnXpress.com Roger North, corporate-finance consultant Stever Robbins, founder, VentureCoach.com Inc. Andrea Ross, publisher, Ross Publications Inc. Carolyn Williams, CEO, The Left Hand.com Please e-mail your comments to editors@inc.com.

About 4739 days ago PCs, Laptops, and Notebooks

Top Sites for Tech Buying

CEO’s Start-Up Toolkit: Best of the Web A panel of entrepreneurs searches for the best spots to shop online Does anybody buy computers in person anymore? If you buy technology today, the odds are pretty good that you make some of the purchases online — or at least choose some items based on information you’ve found online. Your most important choice may therefore be not which product to buy but which site to start with. With our crew of entrepreneurs, we reviewed three of the top multivendor retailers, with an eye to their overall effectiveness as tech-buying sites for Inc. Technology readers. We didn’t evaluate the quality of the products sold there but rather considered whether the site would help readers make quick, productive work of buying computers, peripherals, and/or networking hardware (all from multiple manufacturers) for a small company. (Note, too, that for this trip we ignored the single-source, direct-market sites such as Dell.com and Gateway.com. But, of course, you may want to give those sites a try.) Another buying site not reviewed here but worth checking out is Zones.com, which features a unique set of business-to-business buying tools. But what good is an online technology source without unbiased online technology insight? To accompany our source reviews, we first looked at a selection of “product comparison” research sites, places that promise unbiased reviews, comparisons, specifications, and other data to help you make informed decisions when shopping online. Where to Do Your Research www.zdnet.com What it offers: Oodles of product information and articles; links to buying sites What it’s good for: Locating in-depth articles and analysis Don’t waste your time on: Expecting to navigate the site without getting a migraine; the layout is too busy. What our panel had to say: Our reviewers were un-wowed by ZDNet, although one panelist, the CEO of a consulting and publishing firm, found the site’s “Anti-Virus Guide” very valuable. He also appreciated how much content ZDNet offered from a single access point. Still, he wished the presentation had been better. He recommended an “at a glance” organizational model in which lists of products in a category or resulting from a search are shown with review data on a single page. www.cnet.com What it offers: Lots of good tech information and links to buying sites What it’s good for: Product reviews, articles, “Editors’ Choice” awards Don’t waste your time on: Clicking on the links to “premier sponsor” sellers, which muddy an otherwise unbiased presentation What our panel had to say: CNet.com is broad in the same way that ZDNet.com is, but it’s much better organized and easier on the eyes. The site features not only product information and comparisons but also articles, tech news, tech-job notices, how-to instructions, and even product auctions. In addition to doing broad product searches, visitors can display “Editors’ Choice” picks and lists of the most popular products in various categories. The site presents it all within a happy balance of good design and readability. The combination of product news, reviews, and access to technical products makes CNet an easy stop. Panelists liked CNet. One dubbed it “simple, concise, and focused,” and observed that “there are other comparison-shopping engines, but the combination of news, reviews, and shopping for technical products makes this an easy stop.” www.productopia.com What it offers: A friendly gateway to product information and links to buying sites What it’s good for: Training-wheels-easy tours of product categories Don’t waste your time on: Getting advanced techie-type info; the content is skewed to newbies. What our panel had to say: Productopia is exactly what it sounds like: a consumer-oriented, all-purpose repository of information on all types of products, including cars, appliances, clothing, and more. The pages that deal with computers are adequate though clearly skewed to novices. In the plus column, however, there are “user reviews” and discussion groups that may offer some firsthand insight into products you’re considering buying — although we could find very little information about the items we tried. Both Mac and PC products are available and offered as equivalent choices for the same tasks. For example, computers that were selected as “Style Picks” (apparently for how good they’ll look sitting on your desk) included an Apple iMac as well as PCs from Sony and Quantex. Despite the site’s consumerishness, panelists were impressed with Productopia, which got unanimously high marks for its search function, presentation, and navigability. www.techshopper.com What it offers: A handy way to research and buy from a single site What it’s good for: Research, but not purchasing Don’t waste your time on: Trying to locate customer service; panelists had trouble tracking down that link. What our panel had to say: The reviewers approved of TechShopper, although one wished that the site’s customer service had been made more apparent. Another panelist was surprised and impressed by the amount of Mac information that was available, though he conceded that the site was skewed to the PC market. “If you’re not sure what you want, then this site is great to clarify,” commented one reviewer. “But if you just want to click and buy, too much effort is required to get to the final step.” www.dealtime.com What it offers: One-site searches for a product’s price and availability on multiple other sites What it’s good for: Great searches Don’t waste your time on: Looking for consumer comments to back up your choices. You won’t find any. What our panel had to say: In addition to doling out product information on pet supplies and jewelry along with computer information, DealTime searches online stores, auctions, classifieds, and buying groups and delivers a list of places where shoppers can find what they want at the best price or terms. Great finds: DealTime.com searches for places you can shop for the lowest prices or the best terms. Panelists loved DealTime’s navigability and search function. One entrepreneur especially appreciated the site’s tracking feature, which automatically sends customers updates on products that they have flagged for tracking for up to two months. One panelist would have appreciated some pictures of the products in the initial search-response list. She also would like to have seen comments from other consumers to assist her in making her decision. www.mysimon.com What it offers: One-site convenience for searching for a product’s price and availability on multiple other sites What it’s good for: It’s friendly to very new shoppers. Don’t waste your time on: Navigation. It’s more difficult than it seems at first glance. And the “Simon” cartoon character is annoying. What our panel had to say: Like DealTime, mySimon searches online stores for products in order to help you find the best deals on the Web. The site’s name and personality derive from its mascot and spokesman, a cartoon character you might like only if you also like the Office Assistant character that offers help in Microsoft Office. Panelists drubbed mySimon. “This site is difficult to navigate, it’s nonintuitive, and it presents itself as unbiased when in fact — unless they are just bad at what they do — their search engine fails to find many products I know are available on numerous sites on the Web,” said one entrepreneur. “They have a great idea and an unbiased shopping search engine. However, they sell advertising and present some stores in a biased fashion, so they don’t do what they claim to do.” Another panelist liked mySimon only slightly better but also lamented the small range of products her searches turned up. Where to Buy www.beyond.com What it offers: Lots and lots of software What it’s good for: Software, handhelds, and business discounts available with registration Don’t waste your time on: Looking for desktops and notebooks. Plus, the Recommendation Guide is too simplistic to offer much expert guidance. What our panel had to say: Panelists liked Beyond’s “Top 10″ lists of the most popular products in a category and the links to Top Products by Top Publishers and Top Manufacturers, which provides fast access to the latest and greatest from Microsoft, Symantec, and other heavy hitters. One panelist called Beyond “unique, deep, and competitive.” Another panelist found Beyond of “limited use” because of its dearth of Mac hardware. Our panelists said that Beyond.com goes above and beyond in offering a broad selection of software. www.buycomp.com What it offers: A complete range of computer products, including hardware, software, and networking options What it’s good for: Product searches and special sales Don’t waste your time on: Expecting to find everything you need in one place — or a strong B2B personality What our panel had to say: This site packs all of the useful product-search tools, including keyword and shop-by-brand searches, and it appears to be a good place to check for special discounts and sales. Move quickly, though; sales may be offered on a very limited number of units, in some cases. Wait half an hour, and they might be out of stock. Though the site looks and feels like a substantial warehouse, it’s surprising how limited the selection is at times. And the site makes no real attempt to address the special needs of business buyers. Panelists thought BuyComp was OK but agreed that although “the notion is good, the entire process of business-to-business ordering, tracking, and promoting customer satisfaction is not yet quite there.” This same panelist wanted to find out more about such things as order turnaround time and support contracts. www.cdw.com What it offers: A complete range of computer products, including hardware, software, and networking options What it’s good for: Well-managed business accounts and good search and organizational tools Don’t waste your time on: Looking for product reviews. You’ll find only product specs, not opinions. What our panel had to say: This site appears to be well tailored to the business-technology buyer. From a “My Company” link on the home page, you can set up a customized “CDW@work” extranet for your company. (You can use the extranet to communicate product selections and standards to your purchasing team and also to set up and administer employee purchase programs and to access customized pricing.) Panelists rated CDW about average overall. One offered, “The site is good at delivering the basic information, but nothing special.” He felt that the corporate-account features were easy to set up and use but added little value. Listing product specifications without any accompanying reviews was also cited as a CDW downfall. Ned Snell is a freelance writer based in Arlington, Va. Research Sites Would our CEOs go back? What is the site good for? CEOs’ quick take TechShopper.com www.techshopper.com Occasionally, if they had a specific need Selection; accurate product information “I liked the layout: easy to use, simple, straightforward.” DealTime.com www.dealtime.com Occasionally, if they had a specific need Strong product information for research “For setting up or expanding an office, it would be very useful.” mySimon.com www.mysimon.com Occasionally, if they had a specific need Thoroughness “Not too much different from all the other shopping sites out there.” ZDNet.com www.zdnet.com Occasionally, if they had a specific need New-product announcements; free downloads “Too detailed; very similar to other sites; nothing special about it.” CNet.com www.cnet.com Once a week Usefulness of content; industry-specific information “It allowed me to get the information I needed.” Productopia.com www.productopia.com Once a week Outstanding consumer-goods section “It is a consumer service with limited business applications.” Buying Sites Would our CEOs go back? What is the site good for? CEOs’ quick take CDW.com www.cdw.com Occasionally, if they had a specific need Basic information “They deliver the basic information, but nothing special.” Beyond.com www.beyond.com Once a week Links to top publishers and manufacturers “Unique, deep, and competitive.” BuyComp.com www.buycomp.com Occasionally, if they had a specific need Product quality; accuracy of information “Good concepts, but fuzzy on such things as order turnaround time and support contracts.” Our Reviewers Al Acitelli, CEO, BestInService.com Credit Reporting Jay Graves, president and cofounder, DataMark Inc. Susan Howington, vice-president business development, Lee Hecht Harrison Linda Kellogg, founder and CEO, Start-Up Resources Inc. Beth Marcus, CEO, president and founder, Glow Dog Inc. Dan Maude, president and CEO, Beacon Application Services Corp. Marion McGovern, president, M Squared LLC Debbi Milner, CEO, Jade Systems Corp. James Morel, president, 1-800 Postcards Gerry Philpott, president and CEO, E-Poll.com Eric Schechter, president, GAME: Great American Marketing & Events Al Shariff, owner and president, GlobeTrends Inc. Srikanth Sundararajan, CEO and president, Pretzel Logic Software Inc. Vincent Trantolo, chief operating officer, Annotate.net LLC Maura White, founder and CEO, GoBabies.com Mark Zweig, president and CEO, Zweig White & Associates Inc. For more on the gear you really need to start and grow your small business, see our CEO’s Start-Up Toolkit. Please e-mail your comments to editors@inc.com.