Many people are unaware of the potential of the Internet, and believe it to be an expensive and unnecessary medium. These views are very misleading.

Getting access to the worlds largest reference library / market place, is very inexpensive. Most ISP's (Internet Service Providers) charge between £5.00 - £15.00 per month and most offer unlimited Email facilities and give generous web space. Of course, if you only require the facility to use the WWW, then there are even FREE ISP's available, and even some of them offer similar Email and web space facilities. All you have to pay for is the cost of the phone call (usually local rates) that connects you.

Cost
As mentioned in the previous section, getting on line is very inexpensive, and in some cases FREE, and you can't get more inexpensive than that.

E-Mail
Communicate anywhere in the world with customers and employees and pay NO long distance telephone charges. You can also send (attach) other documents to your e-mail.

Supporting Customers
Provide personalized support for your customers with answers to common questions; assistance on specific products or services, provide a variety of ways in which you can be contacted. Do all this without answering a phone or hiring additional staff.

Business 24 hours a day - 365 days a year
This is one of the major advantages of being on line and having a Web Site. Your actual place of work may close at a specific time, but once on the Internet, you're business is always open. Imagine never again missing an important enquiry or order because there's been no-one to answer the phone. Email lets anyone, anywhere, relay questions, order enquiries and general comments to you, and a Web site lets the world see what products / services you have to offer. All this without hiring any other staff.

Reaching the World
The Internet is being used on a regular basis by millions worldwide with more "connecting" every day. Many of the new users come from countries around the world. They want to buy the "latest and greatest" products. They have money. With the Internet they can become your customer! How much do you think it would cost you to advertise in the Times of London, the Tokyo Daily, and Moscow Today? Compare that to the cost of a web site. The information you provide on your web site is instantly available to every one of these users.

Foreign languages
You may be asking yourself, "this is all well and good, but what about the people from other countries, not all of them are going to understand an English language based web site". This is true. But web site information can easily be translated into many different languages, so you can literally let the world know who you are.

Save Money
When making a long distance phone call, even if you're only talking for a few minutes, you will end up paying several pounds. Email allows you to send the same message in seconds for a few pence. And if it must be a conversation, there is also software available to let you 'chat' in real time to a associate thousands of miles away, again at a fraction of the cost of a long distance call.