Food Delivery Ordering on the Internet

Q:I asked a question earlier related to marketing an Internet business to a small business non Internet related. To specify more on what I'm doing is setting up a local fast food delivery place with their menu and ordering on the Internet. The business seems very interested and we are still waiting for their response but I would also like to hear some ideas on how to sell this idea more effectively.

A:The facts would appear to support this myth. Fewer than one in a hundred business sites produce direct revenues in excess of their hosting costs. Those who do produce direct revenues, and therefore may be categorized as "conducting business on the Net", offer some form of either an online deliverable (ie. pornography, programs or data), or solve a problem (ie. support, information, rare books, flowers for your mother-in-law, etc.) The issue here is that the majority of businesses have yet to learn how to integrate the Internet into their marketing program. They see it as an end in itself and fail to recognize that it is nothing more than one more means to pursue the same end they have been working towards as long as they have been in business. Like innocent children, mystified by the flashing graphics, they expect "it" to do something or fulfill a need which they, heretofore, have failed to fulfill on their own. The popular press and those in the business of hosting and providing page design and Internet access have a vested interest in perpetuating the myth of a global marketplace. From a pure marketing practicality, myth has far more appeal than reality. In fact, without the myth, participation in the Internet would not have achieved even one hundredth of the exponential growth we have seen to date. In this newsgroup, however, we should be well past the industry's misdirection and hype to the point were we can begin to look at the bottom line. You are right. It all comes down to ROI. It has nothing to do with cyberspace, "on-line communities" or surfing and everything to do with local business. It is not an issue of how to "sell" a business on a web site, rather it is an issue of whether a business can see a return on investment using an electronic medium and, if such a return is possible, how best to invest in that endeavor. To see a return one must full appreciate the reality, nature and scope of the investment on is making and properly allocate sufficient resources. This can be a bitter pill.