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eBrands: Building an Internet Business at Breakneck Speed, Phil Carpenter. Harvard Business School Press. 2000. 320 pages. ISBN 0875849296. Fab Price: Rs 1,107

Hot on the heels of today's most discussed topics, the Internet and brands, is Phil Carpenter's book, eBrands. Preferring the practical case-study approach over the traditional, academic one, eBrands details brand building on the Internet with interviews, analysis and other nitty-gritty from insiders. The book is a selection of six Internet businesses, which are successful brands today: Yahoo, Fogdog Sports, iVillage and Barnesandnoble.com included.

Carpenter, director of corporate marketing for Remarq, a start-up, opines that : "In an environment characterised by extreme choice, perplexed customers will turn to the familiar. They will establish relationships with specific Internet brands and do business with them repeatedly." You will find that Carpenter has done his homework meticulously. It reflects in the cases, which elaborate not just on the learning but also mistakes of the subjects. For example, of CDNow's, online CD retailer's customer acquisition program, he says, "CDNow is already paying an average of $45 per person for each new customer.... this puts even more pressure on CDNOW to wring greater value from online shoppers".

Reiterated in the book is the fact that branding goes beyond logos and marquees to everything a company does, starting from talking to a customer to public relations. While this is nothing new for marketing folks, it's a good pointer for net entrepreneurs from other backgrounds. All the marketing rudiments that make an e-business work are very well outlined in this book.

101 Best Dot.Coms to Start : The Essential Sourcebook of Startup Wisdom, Financial Tips, and Inside Secrets for Building a Business on the Internet, Lynie Arden (Editor), Tom Nash (Editor), Philip Lief Group. 2000. 600 pages. ISBN 0767906047. Fab Price: Rs 403.75

The book's authors have also written The Highly Successful, 101 Best Businesses To Start And, 220 Best Franchises To Buy. High on the e-business wave, follows the handbook on the The Best Ways To Create A Successful E-Business.

With more consumers inclined towards shopping online, entrepreneurs now have a whole new window of opportunities. Starting your own business, a dream long unfulfilled for many, is now simple. 101 Best Dot Coms to Start, banks on this idea and provides a guide to all the tools an entrepreneur will need. It categorises e-commerce into specialty tours, gourmet good, art and antiques to sports memorabilia and more, while pointing you to the huge number of options available. Everything you need to know while starting your own online outfit is here, including Web start-up costs, revenues, staffing needs and more. You also have inspiring stories of some online business successes. If you're in the Internet business or plan to get into it, you'll find 101 Best Dot Coms to Start extremely useful.

B2B: How to Build a Profitable E-Commerce Strategy (1st edition), Michael J. Cunningham. Perseus Publishers. 2000. 205 pages. ISBN 0738203343. Fab Price: Rs 650.25

Going by the predictions, a huge chunk of the trillions of dollars of web transactions will happen in the B2B segment. It's no wonder then that many companies are attempting to create a space for themselves here. Despite the anticipated potential, the B2B field remains unexplored and B2B wannabes unequipped to make an entry.

Central to the book is a blueprint for developing a successful B2B web strategy, a first of sorts. The success stories of VerticaNet, Travelocity and Cisco are there for your appreciation. Also included are instances of smaller businesses getting into the B2B market, to demonstrate the segment's low entry barriers.

Michael Cunningham, an expert in B2B strategy and technology, has offered for readers definitive action steps for this line of business. He compares B2B to traditional business, explaining that they only differ in terms of the speed at which transactions are conducted. How this form of business reduces transaction expenses, enhances buying power and makes the most of niche markets are detailed as well. "Be B2B..." is a how-to on succeeding in the B2B marketplace, something all net entrepreneurs will benefit from.

Compiled by Radhika Peddi
[email protected]

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