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The Best of the Small Business
Web
By Leigh Buchanan, editor of
Inc. Technology.
You don't have to be a 'dot-com'
to thrive on-line. Twenty smart companies show you how
Five years ago
the commercial Web was a hammer used by entrepreneurs and
executives for a single purpose: to bang marketing messages
into visitors' skulls. Today it more closely resembles a Swiss
Army Knife: each company's site acts as a scissors, blade,
or corkscrew to perform the distinct task required by its
host. Some sites are direct-sales machines. Some manage complex
and multifaceted customer relationships. Some serve as platforms
for heretofore undreamed of services. And yes, some just look
good and inspire warm feelings toward a product or a brand.
The point is
that great Web sites do not have to be all things to all people.
The following profiles -- all winners of Inc. Technology's
first annual Best of the Small Business Web competition --
celebrate sites that succeed in one or more of the following
five categories:
- Return on
investment (ROI): Sites that contribute significantly to
a company's bottom line
- Utility: Sites
that perform extraordinary feats of service
- Innovation:
Sites that offer novel services or reinvent their host companies'
businesses
- Design: Sites
that are visually appealing
- Local sites:
Sites that serve customers in a circumscribed geographic
area
We chose the
20 companies profiled here from a pool of some 400 entries,
almost all of them submitted over Inc.'s Web site in
June and July. We also considered a number of nominations
from Inc. staffers. Entrants were required to be privately
owned brick-and-mortar companies with $50 million or less
in revenues. Since high-tech companies enjoy a number of advantages
in such a competition, we discouraged those businesses from
participating. The only technology company on our list is
being honored for its employee Web site.
We hope that
all of you will find at least one company here with which
to identify: someone with a similar business, a comparable
problem, the same lack of resources, a shared dream. Even
if you don't find a model, you may find the motivation to
get to work on your own site. Think big, think small: it doesn't
matter. The Web can do something for just about everyone.
And given the right strategy, it can do it brilliantly.
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