HAVE YOUR INCOMING SALES CALLS SLOWED DOWN A LITTLE LATELY?

Maybe it's not the high gas prices, or the real estate market, or the economy. Maybe it's because your company isn't changing with the times. People are buying goods and services differently now. You have to adapt to survive.

Traditional marketing methods - phone books, newspapers, storefronts, and networking - aren't as effective as they were just a few years ago.The cheese has moved: people are researching and buying on the Internet now.

Do you know who is the fastest growing pizza company? It's Papa John's. Do you know why? It is because they specialize in Internet selling. Here's what CNN.com had to say about it:

The nation's third-largest pizza delivery chain trumpeted the $1 billion milestone Wednesday, noting that its U.S. online sales have been growing at an average clip of more than 50 percent per year. In 2001, the chain's online sales totaled $20.4 million. Last year, its online sales approached $400 million.

"It took us seven years to reach our first billion in online sales, and at our current pace and growth rate it will take us less than three years to hit our next billion," said Jim Ensign, vice president of marketing communications at Papa John's.

Wouldn't you like to be in Papa John's position? Online sales have skyrocketed from 20 to 400 million in a few short years. Sales are expected to go higher. Are they worried about gas prices? They made a full commitment to the Internet because they know when people want things they jump on the Internet. Their move to the Internet took insight, courage, and conviction. You've got to give them their due.

This parallel universe called the Internet is important. Insightful companies (like Papa John's) realize it's time to shift to the Internet. From our (Internet Man) perspective, we see most businesses still view the Internet as esoteric: something outside of, or in addition to real business. To them, it's not important. They don't give the Internet the respect it deserves. It shows in how they allocate their marketing budget. For example, we see businesses spend a few bucks on the site, only to spend big money on a phone book ad. Papa John's saw the importance of Internet while others didn't.

Papa John's said online business is driving higher overall sales at their stores. Online orders account for about half of overall sales at a couple of restaurants.

"I knew it would be a big part of our business, but this has blown my expectations away, and I think it's even going to go higher."

I understand why most businesses are reluctant to commit to the Internet. It's risky. Up to the last few years I went along with them. Not now. Things have changed. Now it's risky NOT to be on the Internet. The goal is a steady flow of business. Today the opportunity is on the Web. Think about the new, wildly successful companies. Almost all of them are Internet savvy.

Imagine hundreds of people coming to your business every day. Imagine your business growing steadily. This is the vision. It takes time and effort. Papa John's invested 15 million into their Internet program. They had the vision and the courage to make it happen. You should do the same. Find a trusted, experience Internet firm and develop a solid Internet business. Once you get established, your business will get better and better.

ARE YOU FLUMMOXED BY THE INTERNET? MAYBE IT'S YOUR WEB DESIGNER.

Admittedly, there are a gazillion web designers. Some estimates are as high as 10 million Web designers in the United States alone. They teach web design in high school.

The question is, who do you trust?

When you think of Internet, what company comes to mind? If you're like the people around us, only one name comes to mind: Internet Man. When the email isn't working, who do you call? You call Internet Man. When there's a problem or an issue call Internet Man. Everybody does.

Internet Man is synonymous with Internet. We own the niche. Our persona is exactly like our name: simple, direct, and to the point. People call, they get answers: no fooling around, no excuses, and no games. Just like the name implies, we're here, we're working, and we're taking care of business.

What's in a company name?

The company name is arbitrary, right? It's clever among the younger generation of web designers to pick "we're not too serious about this" company names. The question is, are they capable of picking my company up and carrying it to the promise land? If you've ever wound up pushing-on-a-rope trying to get your Web designer to do something, you know what I'm talking about.

Like the name implies, Internet Man means Internet. When you get tired of the nonsense, give us a call. One business person to another: we will get the job done.

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