| What
is the Internet? You
have read about it. You have heard about it. In a nutshell, the Internet consists
of hundreds of thousands of computers linked together throughout the world. These
inter-networked computers can "talk" to one another and send data to and forth
- every single second, minute and hour. What's
the Big Fuss About the Internet? The
Internet is fast. And we mean really fast. An electronic message or document can
reach the other side of the globe in 2 seconds flat. You cannot do that with any
courier service in the world. Not Fedex. Not UPS. Not DHL. Definitely not our
home-grown Singapore Post. Don't
Be a Charity to Your Phone Operator
Well, you may
say the fascimile machine quite fits the description too. But 'fax' - as fascimile
is commonly known - cannot be transmitted in electronic format. The other party
cannot edit the document you sent. Furthermore, you cannot send a software or
data file over. If you fax internationally on a regular basis, your company probably
runs up a huge telephone bill every month. This helps the telephone operator's
bottomline - not yours. The best thing about the Internet is that the costs are
negligible compared to traditional media such as the printed, radio and television
media. It's
Like Having Your Own Newspaper. Did
we say it right? Absolutely. You decide the kind of information you want on your
own 'newspaper' - be it your company profile, board of directors, product information
and pricing. You are the Chief Editor on your company 'newspaper'. The
Internet is probably the best business invention in this century. Think about
it. You can place product information on your Internet website. This eliminates
lengthy waits from prospects and customers for your company's brochure package.
And they don't have to wait till you open at 9am the next morning. With a few
clicks on their computer, they get to know your products. And you save administrative,
printing and postage costs. The Internet helps your bottomline. Supplement
Your Advertising...
We are not saying
that you should stop advertising in other media. The best strategy is to supplement
advertising in the printed or television media with your inexpensive electronic
'newspaper'. Consider
this scenario: a customer sees a small advertisement with your Internet address
in the local newspaper for your new product. The customer sees it, hit a few keys
into the computer, and behold, your colour brochures on your 'newspaper' appear
almost instantly in their full glory - on the prospecive customer's screen. What's
in an Internet Name, anyway?
Plenty. A good Internet name speaks volumes about your company. A good example
is www.microsoft.com - almost everyone can recognize it belongs to Microsoft Corporation.
This forms part of your intangible assets - 'image'. Do you want to be known as
home.pacific.net.sg/~abc or www.abc.com.sg? The choice is clear. Once
Your Internet Name is Gone, it's Really Gone. In the United States, many MIS and
marketing people were blissfullly unaware and unconcerned when the potential of
the Internet for business first emerged in 1993. They were thinking, "Let the
other companies try it first. I can learn from their Internet sites later." Sounds
like a clever idea, doesn't it? Two
years later when the Internet finally took off, the same people were shocked to
find that they cannot obtain the most suitable Internet names. They had to settle
for unsavvy names that do not reflect their company in a professional manner.
In Singapore, have you wondered why Singapore Airlines does not have www.sia.com
and why Creative Technology does not have www.creative.com? (* Creative has since
bought back the domain from the original owners since this article was written)
Obviously their marketing or computer departments got into the Internet game late.
There are many companies with the initials 'sia' and with names starting with
'creative'. At one stage, Creative Technology promoted their Internet name as
www.creaf.com - hardly an intuitive name for a great multinational. If some smart
marketing folk at Creative had pushed for www.creative.com years ago, he or she
probably would have gotten a pat from the CEO today. Worse,
some companies had to fork out tens or hundreds of thousands of dollars to opportunistic
individuals who had applied early and held on to the company's Internet names.
In almost all the cases, you cannot sue them. Even in the rare case that you can,
it will be an expensive affair. Get
the idea? If you don't make make a big fuss about getting onto the Internet now,
your boss may make a big fuss about you later. What happened to these U.S. companies
could happen to yours - unless you act early. No
matter how unique you think your company name is, there is always a risk of losing
it to another company who registers for it first. After all, millions of businesses
around the world apply for domain names. The
Internet Waits for No Company. Yes,
we cannot emphasize this enough - once your Internet name is gone, it is really
gone. Only one company can use a specific Internet name. Apply while it is still
available. [
First written in 1997 by iLABS and faxed to potential customers. Since then many
of our Singapore-based customers have benefitted from this write-up and proceeded
to protect their domain name. ] | 
