Webonomics : Nine Essential Principles for Growing Your Business on the World Wide Web

Rating:
Summary: Outstanding Useful Presentation
Review: Quit reading the reviews and buy the book. You won't be sorry.

Rating:
Summary: A lot of Hype
Review: After seeing a lot of hype about this book I ventured out to the local Borders and read this book in the Cafe. I was disappointed. While the statements about Web commerce are accurate, others have made similar observations long before this author. To the credit of the author, he is probably the only one to put all these observations together. However, the book says little about about the future and what business models budding entreprenuers should be adopting. We need more insight into that subject, rather than summarizing where we have been.

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Summary: My pick for best Web marketing book of 1997
Review: You wouldn't believe the questions I am asked. Occassionally, someone inquires, "What business should I go into to make money on the Internet?" Duh. Now I have a book to recommend: Webnomics.

Many Web marketing books are a thinly veiled Internet 101 wrapped in a business shell. Webnomics ("the study of the production, distribution, and consumption of goods, services, and ideas over the World Wide Web") is a careful reflection of what has worked on the Web and why it has worked. Schwartz organizes the book into "nine essential principles for growing your business on the Web," one per chapter, but don't mistake this for a simple book. Sure, the principle is simple, e.g., "#4 Consumers will shop online only for information-rich products." But why it is true, and how to see how this applies to your product or services, that is where Schwartz shines. Using examples from dozens of successful, and not so successful, Web sites, he outlines the reasons for their performance.

This isn't a book for the green Web marketer, but the more thoughtful one who is willing to analyze and think and learn. It is my pick for the top Web marketing book of 1997. -- Dr. Ralph F.Wilson, Editor, Web Marketing Today (http://www.wilsonweb.com/wmt)

Rating:
Summary: Need to Know
Review: Evan Schwartz has written an intelligent, interesting and unbelievably useful book for Web practitioners and marketers. The book is divided into 9 principles, each well illustrated with discussions and references to Web sites. I told everyone I know doing business on the Web to read the Wired article... and the book is even more valuable. Way to go Schwartz.

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Summary: Why Did I Write WEBONOMICS?
Review: The book grew out of my reporting for my widely discussed WIRED article, "Advertising Webonomics 101." After receiving scores of requests to develop more fully the ideas in that 2/96 article, I set out to write a book about commerce on the Web that was informed by the real experiences of companies and consumers. Most books about the Internet are technical, describing how to program and design Web sites. The few business books on the topic tend to engage in hype and wishful thinking about how the Web is the best mass marketing medium ever invented. I set out to write a business book that deflates the hype and attacks the conventional wisdom. The most important thing is to approach the Web economy without preconceived notions developed from doing business elsewhere. The "NINE ESSENTIAL PRINCIPLES" are designed as concrete lesssons. Companies and entrepreneurs should learn them until these strategies become second nature

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Summary: Essential to doing business on the WEB
Review: "Evan Schwartz has written the first book that credibly defines the economics of the Internet. In clear, direct language, he details marketing strategies essential to any business person seeking to profit from the Internet. WEBONOMICS is THE handbook of interactive marketing tactics and strategies. Evan outlines what works and what doesn't work in marketing to the on-line consumer. With a commonsense approach, WEBONOMICS provides a realistic structure for commerce on the Net. Les M. Ottolenghi, CIO Carlson Wagonlit Travel

Rating:
Summary: Yeah - this is the one!
Review: Evan Schwartz has written a most provocative and entertaining commentary on the late-1990s phenomenon known as the Web. While it is a quick way to learn the business of the World Wide Web, it's also filled with interesting stories and insights into what makes it work--from a human rather than technological standpoint. When Evan calls for a 'new psychology of Web advertising,' he clicks exactly on the icon. And his section on 'Advertising the advertising' cuts right to the chase. If every marketer read and adopted the approach endorsed here, there would be a whole lot more bang for every Web-buck spent--by both site producers and advertisers. [e-mail]

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Summary: Excellent Theoretical Analyses
Review: What we are really talking about is "Business," and not "Technology." Electronic Commerce is all about "selling" on the Internet, and not "building websites" on the Internet. In this sense, doing business on-line is not so much different from doing business in the real world. Building websites on the Internet is not equivalent to doing business onling. Websites are just tools that we can employ to help us do business. We just have an alternative medium to do our jobs better (hopefully), but having tools or media does not guarantee success.

Although the Internet is something "virtual," and many sides of the cyberspace are considered "unreal," there is great realness in it. One cannot overlook the real sides of the Internet if one wants to succeed in EC. People are real, no doubt about it, and so is cyberspace. People were crazy about creating websites. People were excited with newly developed technology. They were going to the wrong direction. Focusing entirely on the technical side of EC leads to no sale. Without sale, any websites are useless. That is the message that Schwartz wants to convey in this book.

The nine principles are valuable advice indeed, but what I really recommend is the theoretical part. The theory is the essence. Practical methods are products of the theoretical essence. The same essence may produce different methods. But methods without essence may lead to wrong direction. Although some of the examples are dated, what is more important is the analytical process presented in this book. Although the Internet keeps changing so quickly, there are essential principles for doing business online. This is a book with great value, a good reference for EC and any business on the Internet.