The best thing about the book is that it profiles actual companies- some old line, others Internet born- and describes in detail their successful (and not so successful) strategies. We learn from both their successes and early failures.
The use of actual case histories makes the book much more valuable than simply reading some expert's opinions and theories on what may or may not work on the Internet. These are proven strategies.These companies are out there getting results today!
As business people we can either learn these lessons here in the pages of the Clickable Corporation or learn them painfully and at greater expense in the open marketplace. I, for one, am glad I learned my lessons here.
A definite buy!
The first chapter is just to get you interested, motivated, and primed for the rest of the book. The authors examine a few popular misconceptions (they are misconceptions based on the authors' opinions, not necessarily reality) that one may have about the Internet - like 'Internet customers are vulnerable to theft'. This is no longer a misconception, it is a reality for the many Internet customers whose credit card numbers have been stolen on the Internet as evidenced by some recent high-profile Internet crimes. After addressing the so-called misconceptions, the authors then briefly discuss the 8 principles in the rest of the book.
The 8 basic principles are that you have to provide - INFORMATION, CHOICE, CONVENIENCE, CUSTOMIZATION, SAVINGS, COMMUNITY, ENTERTAINMENT, and TRUST. Now that we have all seen these basic principles work for various successful websites, I don't think anyone would argue that these principles are wrong. It was refreshing to read these principles in the context of how they were used by the 25 companies.
I had to ignore the fact that the authors of the book were part of the now defunct Arthur Andersen. The book's website is no longer functional. This may not have anything to do with the book not following its own principles but possibly everything to do with the now infamous Arthur Andersen and Enron scandal. The book's website was tied to Arthur Andersen's website so when the latter's website was taken down, the book's website automatically came down with it. It's a pity because I would have liked to see what the site contained and if it followed the principles presented in the book.
When I purchased a copy of this book, it was a bargain book at Amazon and I have not regretted the purchase. At a bare minimum, I use the principles in the book as a sanity check when maintaining my various websites. I would definitely recommend buying this book if it is still being offered at a bargain price. Enjoy this simple read!