Farce to Force: Building Profitable E-Commerce Strategies

Though it's a powerful driving force for commerce, early misuse and misapplication of business principles can lead to bad business practices - as well as perceptions that the Internet is not a viable sales channel. Farce to Force sets the record straight. Written by an author extremely well versed in the dynamics of e-business, this timely, insightful book takes the reader step-by-step through the process of choosing the right e-commerce strategy and building a plan to achieve success. It is packed with helpful templates and powerful techniques to implement effective strategy, as well as examples of successful e-commerce marketing techniques and additional resources to build programs.

Getting swept up into the excitement of the dot.com boom, many managers left traditional business sense behind. E-commerce expert Sarah McCue offers a practical guide to help small and midsize companies get back on track and back to the basics. Based on lessons learned from the dot.com rise and fall, this practical resource reintroduces proven business practices in the context of e-commerce as it illustrates how to establish and implement effective Internet strategy. Offering insight into the secrets of e-commerce, Farce to Force: Building E-Commerce Strategies focuses on the nine functional areas of e-commerce, offers in-depth coverage of challenges and opportunities unique to e-commerce, highlights effective Web sites, addresses Internet marketing issues, and much more.

Dr. Sarah McCue is former manager of the Information and Communications Technology for Development practice at the United Nations Development Program, and currently with the World Bank. She has 15 years of experience working on business and government issues with the UN Industrial Development Organization, UN Conference on Trade and Development, World Bank, and the International Trade Centre in Geneva on trade, e-commerce, and e-government issues. A former president of the North American Association of Small Business Educators, Dr. McCue is also a successful author. Her Secrets of Electronic Commerce (IITC/UNCTAD/WTO, 2000) is adapted in more than 40 countries, while Trade Secrets (Wayne State University, 2001) is now in its third edition in the United States and has been adapted in more than 60 countries. She also wrote The Federal Role of National Export Development Organizations and drafted the E-Commerce Strategy for the U.S. Small Business Administration. In addition, Dr. McCue is the founder of Women with 2020 Vision, an online mentoring program for girls and young women in developing countries who aspire to start a business in 2020, and also creator of www.TheRememberingSite.org to allow anyone anywhere to write their online autobiographies. She earned her Ph.D. in Political Science and International Business from Wayne State University.