Guerrilla Marketing

by Charles Rubin

"Web site, Web site," seems to be the magic marketing mantra every Net wannabe is chanting these days. Encouraged by dozens of born-yesterday web site providers, thousands of companies--from one-person shops to corporations that should know better--are leaping onto the Web with few specific goals and even less preparedness. One firm I know spent weeks preparing a Web site and actually launched it before it dawned on them that they needed a credit card merchant account to process orders from the site. As dozens of orders came in, our Web-happy friends found out that credit card merchant accounts can be difficult to get for firms doing business on the Web.

Another firm I know offered a discount for Web orders but didn't bother to tell its telephone operators about it. People called to check on the status of their orders and got people who knew nothing about the special deal. Many other firms are planning to hit the Web without even a rudimentary understanding of e-mail, discussion groups, or other online marketing weapons. Few of these Web-obsessed marketers stop to wonder how the orders will get to them (e-mail, usually), and few think through the process of taking an electronic order, confirming it, and fulfilling it quickly.

Unless you're an old hand at Net basics like participating in discussion groups, using e-mail, and transferring files, take the Net one step at a time.

• If you're worried about somebody stealing your pet domain name, then by all means register it now. Registering a domain name doesn't mean you have to put it to use in a Web site right away. Instead, pick a discussion group and start participating.
• Come up with a good e-mail signature and add it to your discussion postings, and then you'll be able to practice sending e-mail to people who write you asking for more information.
• Try posting an ad or announcement on an online service's classified area, or on a commercially-oriented discussion group like those in the biz.marketplace hierarchy. Lots of companies take dozens of orders a week from ads like these without a Web presence at all.
• Visit as many Web sites as possible, and pay attention to what you like and don't like about them.

By starting small, you'll hone your Net skills so they're second nature. You'll refine your message so it's just right before you start attacking on major fronts like the Web. And further, you'll pick up lots of free information as you go along about how to avoid mistakes others have made.

The Web is growing incredibly fast by every estimate, but it'll still be there in six months. In fact, secure transfers and seamless video and audio will be that much easier to do by then. So unless you're already getting all you can out of simpler online marketing measures (and I'll be you're not), let the Web wait until you're ready to launch a presence that does your business proud.