WORKING the Web

Black Enterprise, August, 1999 by Deidra-Ann Parrish

The company maintains the two sites for about $200 a month, and despite the initial missteps, the enhancements Sokera made have resulted in a dramatic increase in sales and public awareness. Upon its launch in 1997, Fatima's Beautiful Braids relied exclusively on point-of-sale transactions, which totaled approximately $5,000 for the first year. The site was launched in 1997 and revamped in mid-1998, at which point sales began to climb steadily. The site now accounts for half of the company's total sales activity, which tripled in 1998, ending at approximately $15,000. Continually increasing online sales and an anticipated jump in retail sales put this year's projected earnings in the neighborhood of $50,000 to $75,000.

Sokera also has a distribution agreement with Sally's Beauty Supply, the country's only national beauty supply store. Sokera credits her Website with helping her seal that deal. "People saw [our site] and started asking their local stores if they carried our product."

A (PROM)ISING START

A Website is a powerful agent because it gives a local enterprise worldwide presence. Suddenly a local company has the potential to be a national or global enterprise. For Garfield Bowen, that's the purpose of his Website (www.promguide.com). For the past 11 years, his Jericho, New York-based business, Prom Guide Communications Ltd., has published Prom Guide, a magazine distributed free to teenagers in New York, New Jersey and Connecticut. Bowen says his current Internet strategy is to put the publication in a position to go national. Although Prom Guide has a long, solid history in its local area, posting a Website two years ago has created a strong buzz outside of New York "I get hits from all over the country--500 per week--from people wanting to know what we do, how we do it. It is building name recognition."

McElroy cautions businesses with global expectations: "Opening a storefront to the world is risky for businesses that aren't prepared for the potential influx of new activity." There are companies whose Websites were so effective that they generated more activity than the company could handle and ran the enterprise under.

There are other risks, too. McElroy warns, "There are scams out there, businesses who make slick offers and don't deliver, designers who don't know what they're doing, hosting companies with shoddy service." To secure the best terms, exercise due diligence. Contact the International Webmasters Association (626-449-3709; www.iwanet.org). Or enlist a consultant, get references and read the fine print in your contracts.

Bowen says having his site has proven nothing but beneficial. In addition to building name recognition, it's helped support his revenue stream. Prom Guide's $250,000 in revenues are derived from magazine ads, and attendance fees and sponsorships for various special events throughout the year. Being able to broadcast event dates and promotions on his site is a great way to secure his events. "There's no way I could afford to promote my events to all my readers if it weren't for the Web," Bowen says. "I use it as a billboard to advertise everything I do." His voice mail, business cards, fliers and magazines all point readers to the Website to increase its reach.