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September 01, 03 Features http://westchestercountybusinessjournal.com/090103wiaw01.html People Calendar In Focus Surviving in today's business climate Economic Development And Business/Residential Relocation Reader Services |
Ifay Chang, chief executive officer of IPO2U.com Inc., displays a set of his Mi-Cards. The business card-sized CD-ROMs allow users to conduct e-commerce with participating businesses. E-commerce in your pocket Ex-Polytechnic dean's 'revolutionary concept' With just your name, title, phone number, fax and e-mail address, your business card can help you attract new customers or clients, new prospects — and ideally new income. Imagine how much more you could generate, says Ifay Chang, chief executive officer of IPO2U.com Inc., if that little card contained your marketing materials, a link to your Web site and a way for people to order products and services by calling your 800 number via the Internet. Multimedia glitz has been available on miniature CD-ROMs since the 1990s. But for more than a year, Chang has been working to embed more than bright colors and a sales pitch on business card-sized CD-ROMs. By combining custom content, such as discount coupons, plus Web and Internet phone links, he says, his Mi-Cards — short for "magic information cards" — should help businesses build stronger relationships with customers and prospects. "In one medium that can fit in your wallet, you can have a directory, marketing materials, your advertisement, your Web site," said Chang, former dean of Polytechnic University's Westchester campus in Hawthorne. "That is more power than you have just taking out an advertisement, whether in a newspaper, a magazine, a Yellow Pages directory. Now, you can have the binding force of the e-commerce business community right in your pocket." Chang also hopes the cards will help build customer traffic for his IPO2U, a 4-year-old Hawthorne Internet telephone services provider. The company has targeted its services toward merchants who need to process phone orders made via the 'Net, businesses that needed to link far-flung staffers and home consumers who travel often and need to reach callers worldwide. TARGETED AUDIENCES Over the past year, Chang has developed Mi-Cards for targeted audiences. The first Mi-Cards issued last year, dubbed "downtown business calling cards," contained Web-based electronic directories of, and links to, lower Manhattan businesses eager to bounce back from 9/11 and the weak economy. Developed in collaboration with the Manhattan Chamber of Commerce, the cards also featured a memorial tribute to those who lost their lives Sept. 11, 2001, complete with essays, poems, songs, photos and videos produced during and after the terrorist attacks. For the New York Metropolitan Transportation Council, the federally created multigovernmental agency that oversees how federal funds are spent on regional transportation projects, Chang issued Mi-Cards that contained the sort of regional demographic and transportation project data the agency must make public. Before the December holiday season, Chang will roll out his latest Mi-Card, featuring discounts from hundreds of retailers Creating community via Mi-Card comes at a price. Businesses pay at least $300 for a listing. Prices rise from $800 for a larger "pavilion" space to $2,500 for a larger "resident" business space, and $10,000 for "anchor" advertisers, seeking to promote themselves within the largest spaces. Heidi Jaquish, spokeswoman for Verizon Information Services, which publishes the Westchester/Putnam SuperPages, said Verizon directories offer free listings and charge about $300 for the smallest display ads, with larger ads of up to two pages costing more. Jaquish could not give the price of larger ads, but said Verizon charges more for ads in its most widely read sections, such as those for attorneys and physicians. In many cases, she said, Verizon offers discounts for "bundling" ads by placing them in multiple directories or running the ads both in print and online. Jaquish said more than 600,000 copies of the Westchester/Putnam directory are delivered to local businesses and residences. "It's not all about price. The value of an ad in a directory is also dependent on who actually sees it. Distribution is key, and we're available in more than 90 percent of businesses and homes," Jaquish said. To increase that reach, Verizon is expanding into electronic guides by offering a replica of its SuperPages directories that businesses can download into their local area network. The company also publishes an Internet directory, SuperPages.com, and builds Web sites of up to 15 pages for smaller enterprises looking to go online. That may be, Chang says, because many businesses he talks to prefer the easy-to-store Mi-Cards to the bulky paper directories. As for the far narrower reach of CD-ROM cards, Chang says he is negotiating agreements to Mi-Card's distribution. Among the options being explored are media outlets, from newspapers to direct-mailers. "Imagine thousands of businesses doing business with each other using the cards. You're creating a huge new business community. It's a revolutionary concept," Chang said. |
Top Stories Five banks expanding in county Peekskill remodeler builds reputation Engineering firm expands in county Expo to offer brighter energy ideas for businesses Weisz buys third property on Westchester Avenue Business group urges support for pipelines UJA-Federation creates new local position FOCUS Hospitality Caterers continue to grow despite slow economy Optimizing feedback in hospitality Local hotels hoping for fall turnaround Starwood Hotels goes to the dogs Starwood launches minority business program Smoking ban may be good news for restaurants Lodging experts headline conference SPECIAL SECTION TECHcetera Semiconductor industry on track for growth IT spending begins to strengthen |
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Copyright 2003, Westfair Communications Inc. |