Business-to-Business Internet Marketing, Fourth Edition - Lifecycle ...

222 BUSINESS-TO-BUSINESS INTERNET MARKETING
8
Using Business Communities
and Exchanges
222
Unlike any medium before it, the Internet creates a sense of community.
Early on, there were newsgroups, bulletin boards, and chat rooms.
At first, bulletin boards met the needs of technical audiences with a
hunger for information and advice, but as information sharing became
commonplace, full-fledged communities started to populate the Internet.
Now communities have advanced to the stage where there are different
classes—not just communities, but portals, vortals (vertical portals),
hubs, auctions, exchanges, e-marketplaces, and more—a dizzying array
of options, each with its own twist.
Although many of these communities are designed for consumers to
chat, trade, and interact, the fastest-growing area of Internet-based community
is on the business-to-business side. Deloitte Consulting
(www.dc.com) estimated that b-to-b e-marketplaces alone grew from
about 500 in June 1999 to 1,400 just one year later. Of course, that was
before the dot-com shakeout of early 2001.
Nonetheless, it makes sense for the b-to-b marketer to think of every
form of business community as a potential marketing opportunity.
You can capitalize on the concept of community not only by participating
in communities on the Internet, but by creating one of your own if