ISP marketing survival guide Book

	Introduction	xi
	Acknowledgments	xix
Chapter 1	Why Be an Internet Service Provider and the Benefits of Being One	1
	Advantages and Disadvantages of Being an ISP	2
	Types of ISPs	4
	Facilities-based ISP	5
	Non-facilities-based ISP	7
	Which Is Right for Your Business?	9
	101 Questions to Ask Before You Begin Your ISP Business	9
	ISP Business Basics Questions	10
	ISP Marketing and Sales Questions	11
	ISP Customer Service Questions	12
	ISP Investment, Banking, and Capital-Raising Questions	13
	ISP Technology and Network Questions	14
	ISP Human Resource Questions	14
	ISP Exit Strategy Questions	15
Chapter 2	Planning Your ISP Exit Strategy as Part of Your Start-up	17
	What's an ISP Worth?	22
	Lifetime Value of an ISP Subscriber	23
	Easy Techniques to Increase Market Value	24
	What ISP Buyers Want	27
	10 Things Not to Do When Selling Your ISP	30
	Resources for Selling Your ISP	31
	The ISP-Investor E-mail Discussion List Community	35
Chapter 3	Identifying Your Unique Selling Proposition	37
	Identifying What Makes Your Business Unique	38
	Identifying the Right Niche for Your Business	41
	"Get Big or Get Out"	42
	Whom You Do Not Wish to Serve	43
	How Your Pricing Strategy Relates to Your USP	44
	Deploying Your New USP for Maximum Effectiveness	45
	Business ISP versus Consumer ISP	47
	Typical Needs of Business Clients	47
	Typical Needs of SOHO Clients	48
	Typical Needs of Consumer Clients	49
	Four Ways to Ensure You Own Your Market Niche	50
	Goal-Setting Strategies	52
Chapter 4	The Only Three Ways to Grow Your ISP	55
	Strategies to Increase the Number of New Subscribers	56
	Ways to Increase Your Average Ticket Price	59
	Ideas to Increase the Frequency of Repurchase	61
	Building Your ISP Profit Pillars	63
Chapter 5	Your ISP Marketing Arsenal	67
	ISP Marketing Management by Measurement	69
	Developing a Great Marketing Campaign	72
	Increasing Your Marketing Return on Investment	74
	Profit Maximization Strategy versus Growth Maximization Strategy	74
	Developing the Personality of an ISP Marketer That Gets Results	77
	What to Test as Part of Your ISP Marketing Strategies	79
	Why Most ISP Marketing Programs Fail and What to Do About It	80
	ISP Marketing Myths Debunked	80
	ISP Branding Basics Explained	82
	Making It Easier for New Customers to Buy from You	84
	What to Include in Your ISP Dial-up Kit	86
	ISP Marketing Strategies That Produce Instant Results	88
	Shoestring and Grassroots Marketing	88
	Creating Effective ISP Press Releases	90
	Producing Results with Word-of-Mouth Campaigns	93
	How to Get More Testimonials Than You Can Shake a Stick At	94
	Using Direct Response to Drive Subscribers to Sign Up Now	95
	Effective Direct Mail Formats	97
	ISP Direct Mail Tips, Tricks, and Secrets	99
	ISP Drip Marketing Revealed	101
	Finding and Reaching Your Target Customers	102
	The Greatest Asset Your SIP Owns and How to Exploit It	103
	Copywriting Your Way to ISP Profits	105
	Seminars, Lunch-n-Learn Customer Education Programs	106
	Ambush Strategies for Rollouts in New Cities	109
	Making Local Trade Shows Produce New Subscribers	111
	Sponsorship Swaps, Bartering, and Ad-Trading Made Easy	113
	The ISP Yellow Page Ad: How to Get the Highest Return	114
	Proven Ways to Build a Powerful ISP Sales Force	115
	Dial-up Internet Access Sales Strategies	117
	Leased Line, Dedicated Circuit Sales	117
	Web Site Hosting and Design, Search Engine Registration, and Domain Services	118
	What to Include and Not Include in Your ISP Proposal	119
	ISP Telephone Selling Basics	119
	Increasing Your Customer Conversion Rate	120
	Forget Cold Calling--Get Them to Call You via Sales by Attraction	122
	Tracking Your Competitors and Their Customers	123
	Your ISP Pricing Strategy	125
Chapter 6	What to Include in Your ISP Marketing Business Plan	129
	The ISP Business Plan Introduction	129
	The Essential Parts of an ISP Business Plan	130
	Writing Your ISP Business Plan	131
	Executive Summary	132
	Financing Proposal	132
	Business Description	133
	Industry Analysis	134
	Market Analysis	134
	Marketing Plan	135
	Operating Plan	138
	Organizational Plan	139
	Financial Plan	140
	ISP Business Plan Resources	140
	Summary	141
Chapter 7	Strategies to Reduce Churn	143
	What Is Churn and How Do I Compute Mine?	146
	Case Study: What ISPs Can Do to Lower Churn Ratios	147
	Inexpensive Ways to Reduce Your Churn	149
	Strategies for Reducing Bad Credit Disconnects	150
	Strategies for Reducing Churn from Subscribers Who Move	151
	Strategies for Reducing the Churn under Your Control	152
	Factors Influencing Why Your Subscribers Consider Switching Providers	154
	Maximizing Customer Stickiness	156
Chapter 8	The Customer Service Role in Your ISP Marketing Strategy	159
	Rules for Effective ISP Customer Service Policies	160
	Internal Issues That Lead to Bad Customer Service	161
	Mastering the ISP Service Moments of Truth	162
	How to Go Above and Beyond the Call of Your ISP Duty	164
	Attracting, Retaining, and Training the Best ISP Customer Service Staff	166
	What Makes up a Great Customer Service Personality?	167
	What Makes a Poor Customer Service Personality?	167
	Strategies to Attract Top Service People	167
	Strategies to Retain Top Service People	168
	How to Train Your ISP Service People for Optimum Results	169
	Implementing and Managing an ISP Call Center	170
	To Outsource or Not to Outsource Your ISP Helpdesk	171
	Customer Relationship Management	175
	Feedback Forms	176
	Taking an Effective Customer Service Survey	178
	Helping Your Technicians to Understand Marketing	179
	Running Internal versus External Promotions to Drive Sales	180
	Strategies for Running a Successful Internal Incentive Program	181
	The Most Important Secret to Keeping New Subscribers	185
	The ISP Angel Concept	186
Chapter 9	How to Acquire New Subscribers via Strategic Acquisition of Other ISPs	187
	The Typical ISP Acquisition Cycle	189
	Creating Your Own ISP Acquisitions Department	191
	Your ISP Acquisition Checklist for Identifying Great Opportunities	192
	Creative Techniques to Acquire More Bang for Your Acquisition Buck	194
	Defining the Ideal ISP Acquisition for Your Business	194
	Searching for the ISP Fire Sale	196
	Using Historical Data to Protect Your Interests	196
	Geographic Acquisition Leverage	196
	Creative Structuring of the ISP Acquisition Payout	197
	Acquisition Using Equity as Your Capital	197
	Components of the ISP Asset Purchase Agreement	198
	When Acquisitions Go Wrong	201
	ISP Acquisition Safety Net Tips	205
	Managing the Acquisition Transition Period	206
Chapter 10	ISP Case Studies	207
	National ISP Case Study: EarthLink	207
	ISP Industry	209
	Regional ISP Case Study: Atlantic.Net Internet Services	209
	Future for Atlantic.net and the ISP Industry	211
	International ISP Case Study: I-Link	211
	Regional ISP Case Study: iServe Internet, Doing Business as Qserve Internet	213
	Regional ISP Case Study: Snake River Valley Net, Inc.	215
	National ISP Case Study: VillageNet Inc.	217
	Afterword	221
Appendix A	ISP Business Plan Sample	225
Appendix B	ISP Business Resources	263
	ISP Media Sites: Editorial, Opinion, Debate, and Community	263
	ISP Financial Media or Business Sites	264
	Major ISP Trade Shows and Conferences	264
	ISP Trade Magazines	265
	ISP Organizations and Associations National (United States)	265
	Regional (United States)	265
	International ISP Trade Associations	266
	Get Your ISP Listed for Free Exposure	266
	ISP Industry Research Analysts	267
	Miscellaneous ISP Resources	268
	ISP Newsgroups (USENET)	268
Appendix C	Recommended Reading	269
	ISP Business	269
	Business Building Basics and the Internet	270
Appendix D	ISP Glossary	273
	Bibliography	283
	Index	285