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Running An Offline Business vs. An Online
Business
Running a software company as an "offline" business
is very different than running a software business
online. While the goal of selling software may
be the same, the means used to actually achieve
those sales can be very different.
Offline enterprise software companies will often
have an extended outside sales force that will
travel to potential customer locations and demo
the software. Traditional software companies will
also run seminars or training sessions from time
to time that may or may not be mandatory for their
customers. Some of these techniques have been
adopted for online software companies, with some
online software companies scheduling online demos
or holding webinars (website-based seminars),
but it really isn't standard fare for the typical
"online" software company. It is far more common
that an online software company will offer trial
versions to promote their software.
When moving a software company from offline to
online, consider the following:
Continuity
As with all aspects of a software business, it
is important to provide continuity in branding,
philosophy, and policy. Consider your online presence
simply as an extension of your offline business,
and use the same principles online as you would
offline. Continuity should exist within the brand.
In other words, the image portrayed online should
be consistent with any existing offline branding.
Use the same color schemes, logos, tag lines,
and company philosophy online as the ones that
exist offline.
Online Shelf Space Is Free
Unlike retail stores, the "shelf space" online
is essentially free and unlimited. That doesn't
mean that you should clutter your website with
excessive materials; it simply means that you
can choose what to promote, as well as the amount
of exposure the promoted items receive, and all
at a relatively low cost.
Loyalty
Traditional retail software businesses, with
face-to-face customer interaction, can be very
different from a virtual business, where customer
contact is limited to phone, email, and interactive
forums. It is more difficult to use these online
channels to build customer loyalty.
It is important that online software companies
encourage communication with customers. Online
software companies can use website forums, blogs,
RSS feeds, social networks, email, or even work
to build an online "community" around their software.
Strong communication is important to building
customer loyalty. It takes more work to build
loyalty online than offline. Online software companies
should provide communication in a variety of formats,
so that customers can choose how they want to
receive information or updates.
Expand Your Audience
The Internet is global. It is not uncommon for
online software companies to routinely sell into
foreign markets. Offline software companies, on
the other hand, are often somewhat limited by
geographical borders. Take the opportunity to
pursue foreign markets at very low costs with
an online presence.
An online software business can be a lucrative
extension of an offline software business. Having
an online presence is no longer simply a nice
addition to an offline company -- it really is
a necessity in this day and age. Consider this:
if your company does not have an online presence,
chances are good that your competition does, and
they are taking business that could be yours!
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Developer
101
Running An Offline Business vs. An Online Business