The E-commerce Question and Answer Book:
A Survival Guide for Business Managers
Author: Anita Rosen
Rating: 
Pros:
- Excellent for beginners and intermediates in starting an e-commerce business
- Easy to understand and find what you’re looking for
- Makes good use of bulleted highlights in each section and explains them in good detail
- Answers many questions commonly asked about having an e-commerce business
- Makes great use of information tables frequently making it easy for visual learners to pick up on certain details
- Glossary in back of the book provides definitions to some technical e-commerce buzz words many people are still not yet familiar with
Cons:
- Could have included more detailed information about some of the topics like marketing and web design
- Focuses on small and medium businesses most of time, while leaving out home-based business owners
- Some diagrams and graphics would have been a nice touch
This book has some really great information in it for small businesses who are interested in making an Internet presence. Whether you’re a beginner at e-commerce or a seasoned Internet guru this book by Anita Rosen would make a great addition to a collection of books dealing with starting a business.
“The E-commerce Question and Answer Book” is one of those kinds of books you don’t have to read from front to back. If you’ve been on the Internet selling for any length of time you’ll find that some chapters are best skipped over. Why? Because you already know or are familiar with the subject. For instance, chapter one starts off answering questions about what the Internet is. However, if you are a beginner to the Internet and are interested in setting up an e-business reading the book all the way through will provide you with some really important base information needed when you consider setting up business on the Web. Notice I said “base information.” While some sections of the book provide really detailed and easy to understand information about different e-commerce topics, other sections of the book, especially dealing with marketing and web design, could have been expanded more I think with more links to different web sites for even more detailed information. The E-commerce Question and Answer Book tends to focus on businesses selling tangible products. However, if your business is service-based don’t dispair as all you have to do when reading the book is replace the products the talking about with the services your offering and you’ll find the book equally informative for you and your business.
The book contains six broad topic chapters and is each chapter is broken down into individual concentrated sub-sections about that topic. A nice added touch that I found interesting is the fact that at the end of each chapter there is a “Chapter Summary” section which goes back and touches on the highlights of the chapter.
Here’s a list of the chapters:
- Chapter 1: The Internet Today
- Chapter 2: Identifying Your Direction
- Chapter 3: E-Commerce Technology
- Chapter 4: Creating E-Commerce Services
- Chapter 5: Hosting and Supporting E-Commerce
- Chapter 6: Marketing an E-Commerce Site
In conclusion, “The E-commerce Question and Answer Book” should be in everyone’s book collection. It’s makes as a great reference guide for referring to when your stumped by an e-commerce question. Not to forget it will give you some great insight to starting and maintaining your e-business. Without a doubt this is one book that will be read more than it is sitting in your bookcase collecting dust.
To get a copy of “The E-commerce Question and Answer Book” and for more reader reviews click here: http://www.merchantseek.com/ecommerce_QA_book
Review by: Jim Conley II, CEO/Founder of MerchantSeek.com
