Very Virtual — Entering the lists

Every other week, Internet analysts report that the Web is growing exponentially, so all the little people all over the world can close the...

Every other week, Internet analysts report that the Web is growing exponentially, so all the little people all over the world can close their little mom and pop stores, get savvy and set up shop online. Customer lists formerly restricted to the retired clerk round the corner and the old, uncreditworthy, curmudgeony bat next door will apparently swell to include landed gentry in the Lake District, grunge stars in Seattle and real estate barons in Kyoto. In the intervening weeks, however, the same analysts report that Internet commerce is a stillborn concept.

But there’s no real contradiction between the findings, because a lot of the experiments on the Net have been misdirected. For instance, supermarkets went online in Malaysia and Hong Kong with a lot of fanfare, only to discover that Asians classify shopping as a recreational, social activity. They dress up to go out and shop for groceries. They want to see and be seen, make friends, have a good time. To them, sitting down at a computer terminal to buy a cabbage doesn’t seem like fun.

Today, the only people selling well on the Web are information brokers, who provide products like the New York Times and the Wall Street Journal, or accountancy services. For software distribution, it’s the medium of choice. Distinctively branded high-end goods also do well, because customers do not need to inspect them prior to purchase. British BMW (bmw.co.uk), for instance, is one of the leading success stories around. But, totally enthused by the Web, everyone forgot the possibilities of the most basic — and therefore most powerful — connectivity tool: email. In any given territory, mail use always grows much faster than Web use, because it’s easier on the nerves, the pocket and telecom resources. By 2001, according to a Forrester Research estimate, half of America will have access to mail. The figures for Web aren’t half as rosy.

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People woke up to the possibilities of email relatively recently but already, there are a whole lot of distribution lists out there. For people on the lookout for a good deal, the best is probably the International Business List run by Ray Gabriel (mail to INTLBIZLOFCOM.COM to subscribe), which has people offering everything from bulk soyabean to power plants. It is advisable to start with a sponsored or ad-supported list like his, learn the ropes and figure out how to frame advertisements (and how not to irritate people) before going on to for rent’ lists like Rosalind Resnick’s service and Postmaster Direct (postmasterdirect.com). Also, these lists operate on the principle that information exists in order to be shared. In other words, you should try to contribute — and your contributions should not amount to spam.

There are also mail addresses for sale. Revtechmarkascella.net, for instance, recently offered 25 million addresses for $99. These services are not too reliable, of course. They are mostly mined from Usenet postings, so there is no guarantee that the addresses are genuine. Besides, addresses tend to be come outdated rather fast as users change providers. A good list is always a more reliable option.

These days, it’s also rather easy to host a small mailing list yourself. Gone are the days when you had to have Majordomo or listserv installed by your ISP (VSNL wouldn’t dream of it). Even a mail client like Pegasus has list features. So long as you can foot the phone bill, you’re rolling. Shareware and Beta versions of Pegasus are scattered all over FTPspace, the commonest file being 253UP16.ZIP. When the list firms up, you could put in a subscription form on your Website and watch traffic rise exponentially, both on the list and the site. That’s synergy for you. Archive the discussions on the site and you have content that grows automatically, strengthening you Web presence. It is now acknowledged that few people go for the bells and whistles of the Web. They prefer good content, and a list always helps.