E-Commercials Online ads could benefit your business--but you have to know what you're doing.

The growing number of Internet users has caught the attention ofbusinesses both large and small, which are spending anever-increasing percentage of their advertising dollar on thisrelatively new medium. According to the Internet AdvertisingBureau, an industry trade group, Internet spending on advertisingin the first quarter of 1998 rose to more than $350 million, anastounding increase of 271 percent from the same period in1997.

There are some very good reasons advertisers are flocking to theInternet, says Pete Petrusky, director of entertainment and mediaat PricewaterhouseCoopers LLP. "Those motivations include thetargeting potential of net advertising, its interactivity, the highlevels of user involvement, and the metering systems that are ableto measure the type of traffic being delivered," saysPetrusky.

To get the best value for your advertising dollar, Petruskysays, you must first determine what your marketing objectives are."There's no such thing as a typical return on investmentin Internet advertising," he says. "The ROI reallydepends on what the company wants to achieve and what audienceit's trying to reach. If it has a product or service targetinga specific demographic and it knows that demographic is online,then it can reach them. Internet ads can also help test marketproducts and services. The unique interactivity of this mediumallows businesses to get feedback, generate leads and even closesales. And, of course, they can sell products on thismedium."

Petrusky suggests that small businesses that advertise on theInternet should leave expensive branding ads (ads intended tocreate or extend brand awareness, such as the "ThinkDifferent" campaign from Apple) to the big guys andconcentrate on selling their products or services. "It'sprobably more cost effective to use the medium as adirect-marketing vehicle rather than a branding or advertisingvehicle," Petrusky says. "There are many advantages toonline direct marketing. There's no paper, no postage,call-to-action responses are shortened, and companies can be moreresponsive to their customers. In terms of selling products,it's a whole new ballgame."

An eye on the future: In July 1998, BinaryResearch sold the rights to the software to Symantec Corp.Innovative Software has since acquired a more powerful cloningsoftware package, ImageCast IC3.

"Before, I had to go out and [promote] the need for cloningsoftware because people didn't understand how it could beuseful," Luty says. "But it should be easier now thatpeople are familiar with the concept."

Fast Track

Name and age: Jim Luty, 44

Company name and description: Innovative SoftwareLtd. markets software utilities that allow network administratorsto quickly copy and transfer applications from a network server tomultiple PCs.

Based: Milwaukee

Founded: 1996

Start-up costs: $6,500

1998 sales: $25 million

Number of employees: 25

Ghost story: As a computer consultant, Luty oftenspent long hours loading software into each machine of a largenetwork. On a friend's recommendation, he downloaded Ghost fromits developer, Binary Research in New Zealand. Impressed, Lutybought 50 copies and canvassed computer outlets for buyers.

Despite its apparent usefulness, retailers found the utility tooexpensive, so Luty offered shareware demos of Ghost to members ofAOL and CompuServe. "The demand was definitely outthere," says Luty, a former computer retailer himself.

Luty then created his own Web site and began advertising thesite in newsgroups frequented by computer consultants like himself.Once sales picked up, he signed an agreement with Binary Researchto be the worldwide marketer of Ghost and opened InnovativeSoftware Ltd., running the business out of his home.

Contact Source

Innovative Software Ltd., cgaeding@innovativesoftware.com,http://www.innovativesoftware.com