Bob Savar never planned to become the president of a web design and development firm.
In fact, he came to the Internet almost by accident.
Bob, who has a 25-year history in the health food industry, had gotten an e-mail account on AOL, and after spending time browsing the Internet, he thought it might be helpful to create a website for his distribution company.
A young man named Kevin Gilper, who was, literally, working out of his bedroom, built his first site.
Meanwhile, Bob added his new URL to the articles he wrote for trade publications in the health food industry, and readers immediately took notice.
"Within a couple of days after the article in the trade journal was published, I had gotten about 10 calls from other health food manufacturers and vitamin companies asking who I used to build the website, even though none of them had actually seen the site! After the third or fourth call, I told them `I have this kid who can do it for you.´"
"I didn´t know it then, but that was the beginning of the business!"
It was the beginning of the business, and it was a business that had nothing to do with health food! World Wide Web Communications, Inc. now has over 700 clients, mostly in the New York City and Delaware Valley areas.
And the young man that built Bob´s first site is still with him six years later, although he´s now in the boardroom rather than the bedroom. Kevin Gilper now serves as the Chief Technical Officer.
"The initial marketing plan was to develop websites for the natural foods companies, but I realized that this market was too narrow. These companies were dispersed throughout the entire country, it was hard to get to them. So I realized that since we had the tools to create websites, we should open it up to anyone."
The result of their widened scope is a company that has created successful brochure and e-commerce sites for companies ranging from restaurants to funeral homes to not-for-profit community groups.
It is their work with this last category—the not-for-profit community groups—that has earned World Wide Web Communications (www.wwwcomm.com) a niche in the competitive world of web design and production.
WWWC partner Barry Tesser told us why they decided to target these groups.
"One of the marketing concepts that peaked my interest when I got together with Bob was working with community organizations and chambers of commerce. It was a way of developing relationships with them while helping them implement an online marketing strategy for their members or constituency.
That, to me, was really appealing. I saw an opportunity to network with small to medium sized businesses that were more or less localized, and that worked with one another both in communities and for products and services."
"We coined the name `Community Web Centers of America,´ which gave us a great marketing concept, and we thought that that would be the next model that we would try to develop and mature. I think we did an excellent job initially developing that model.
We have numerous neighborhood associations in Manhattan, we have numerous not-for-profit organizations that have their own constituencies, we have townships and chambers of commerce, and we´ve developed great relationships with the directors of these organizations."
Says Barry: "We´ve done websites for different Chambers of Commerce, and they have been able to generate income through their sites. We´ve helped them build business directories- they can give their members a free listing, and can charge them a yearly fee if they want to include a description or a link or email addresses."
"They all have calendars so members can see what activities are coming up. They use it as a way to communicate with existing members. They also have e-commerce elements, so new members can sign up on the site using their credit cards, and current members can renew their memberships."
Bob agrees. "It´s a real time saver for them, and saving a Chamber of Commerce time means saving them money!"
WWWC believes that one of the most important features of the web sites they are creating for community groups and business owners - is that content is controlled by the user. Many people who haven´t taken advantage of the Internet are afraid that, once they build a website, they are tied to developers who will take increasing amounts of money to manage and update it, but their approach gives their clients the tools to manage their own sites.
For example, the Cherry Hill Regional Chamber of Commerce site was built with a series of "self-administerable" modules that allow the staff to edit the text on the homepage on demand. They can also change their calendars, their photo galleries and many of the areas of the site.
Barry says they´re also encouraging their clients to maximize the effectiveness, efficiency, and low cost of email.
For these groups, it´s an excellent tool for both marketing and organization. To this end, they´ve developed www.EmailMarketingCampaign.com, a service for creating and managing direct email campaigns.
We wanted to know about a few of their customers, companies and industries that are new to or underrepresented on the Internet.
The Frank E. Campbell Funeral Home site is unique in the mainstream media. It isn´t often that one reads about a funeral home using the Internet to address the needs of their constituents.
Primarily, the funeral home is using their site as a brochure. They provide their company history, photographs of their facilities, details about their services and informational articles on funeral planning and related issues.
There are directions to their location from around the City. In essence, it replaces or enhances their print catalog.
This is particularly useful because when the need for a funeral arises, the family members who need to take care of the necessary arrangements are often doing so from a different city or even a different state. This online brochure provides them with all the important information they will need to consider even if they must do so from a distance.
Another example of a traditional bricks-and-mortar operation taking advantage of the Internet with the help of WWWC is Harold Ellis Drugs & Surgical.
This family owned Medical Supply company had been in business for over 45 years, selling surgical equipment to medical students. They were looking for a way to boost sales, but felt that their lack of familiarity with computers and the Internet precluded their ability to take the company online.
They knew, however, that the medical students they relied on for business were active computer users. With the help of WWWC they have successfully made the leap online.
Lily Scott Handbags are now a sought-after accessory for the Hollywood crowd. As boutique sales began to take hold, the company decided to expand into online sales. The money spent creating a web site with e-commerce functionality was comparable to or less than the cost of creating a desirable print catalog alone.
The site can be updated and managed by the Lily Scott team, and the initial investment has resulted in greater profit for their growing business.
Many companies fear that implementing an e-commerce site will be prohibitively expensive. Bob feels just the opposite— compare the investment to adding another physical location and the cost is relatively small, and as more companies enter the Internet arena, e-commerce is a function they can´t afford not to have!
We asked Bob and Barry what they believe are the biggest challenges facing a new customer.
Bob: "The challenge that most businesses have is how to integrate their Internet presence into their business model."
"When we are contacted by a business owner, the very first thing that we do is to sit down with them to learn and understand what their business is and what their objectives are."
"We spend most of our initial interviews listening- what they´re trying to accomplish, trying to understand how the Internet can help their bottom line, attract new customers, help them communicate with existing customers, whatever it is. Only then can we (or any legitimate provider) put a written strategy together for them."
Barry: "If they´re using their site as a marketing vehicle, then they have to make sure that it´s kept up to date and that it truly reflects the business, and that they´re getting the maximum mileage out of it."
He feels that the biggest challenge for businesses growing their web presence is knowing how to maximize their investment in the Internet.
"For businesses that already have websites, the biggest challenge is to get their site in tune with whatever the new technology is."
"Our biggest challenge, keeping up with technology. As our clients´ eyes and ears, we have to keep them abreast of new technology. So they can see what is coming, what is available, and how it fits their goals for their company."
