Making The Internet Work For Your Company

Good sites are simple and easy to navigate. Complex sites are time-consuming and difficult to navigate, and will discourage visitors. It is mandatory, by the way, to post Safe Harbor Statements, a.k.a. disclaimers, on the site. Don’t leave your Home Page without one!

Websites are often used as a substitute for a brochure. If you opt to do this, make sure your company’s materials are designed to print out on a standard 8.5” x 11” page. All too often we see sites that lose their entire right side when printed — obviously not a good brochure substitute!

Things you might want to consider if you choose to go for additional Web pages include:

• The company’s stock quote — you can be linked to a service that provides this
• An overview of the environment of your marketplace, discussing trends and developments
• Your Unique Selling Points (USPs) — why you are better or at least different from competitors in your field
• Analysts and firms covering your stock, with their phone numbers, so interested parties can obtain copies of their reports
• Annual Reports and other SEC filings
• Contact information for your company’s Transfer Agent
• An e-mail form to request more information
• Recent media mentions of your company

The Internet offers your company the ability to:

• Expand your exposure among prospective investors and the media
• Reach a worldwide audience
• Enhance your corporate image
• Archive broadcasts indefinitely for future reference
• Post a “Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ)” section

Designing Your Site
I would be remiss if I didn’t mention a few distinctions about websites. The primary reasons people log on to your site are to:

• Find an IR or PR contact — names and phone numbers
• Check basic facts about the company — officers’ names, ages, backgrounds, HQ locations, etc.
• Grasp the company’s perspective on itself and events
• Check financial information
• Download images to use in conjunction with a media story
• Download timely news releases

E-mails, Chat Rooms and Rumors
If you are interested in what is being said in Cyberspace about you and your company, there are companies such as eWatch (ewatch.prnewswire.com) and Companysleuth.com that will monitor chat rooms and message boards on the Internet and report back to you on any posted or expressed opinions about your company.

If you read negative postings about your company you may feel provoked to respond with an angry or defensive message, which obviously wouldn’t be good. You might also accidentally say something that you really aren’t ready to disclose. I understand that it is tempting to respond to correspondence in e-mails, Internet chat and message boards. However, I cannot offer more definite counsel to you on this issue: DO NOT RESPOND! NEVER!

Do not wage your battles in chat rooms, on message boards, or in any sort of e-mails. Doing so has resulted in trouble for more than one company. The SEC does not consider any of these mediums as a platform for “fair disclosure.” Therefore, if you make comments to one person and not to others this could potentially put you in a position of having inadvertently provided “inside” information.     Also, let your employees know that if they are not an “authorized spokesperson,” their discussion of company information in any forum is detrimental to the company’s interest and can be used against you, seriously jeopardizing the company from legal and regulatory standpoints.

At IRG we have a firm policy that the only e-mailed questions we answer are the most basic — for example, a request for an investor kit. The danger with e-mail is that these can be cut, pasted and generally taken out of context. Our typical written reply to any e-mail question other than a request for company material is: “Thank you for your inquiry. We would be happy to speak with you. Please call us during regular business hours or e-mail us your phone number and a convenient time for us to return your call. Thank you again.” When we speak to those who call us, or return their calls, we answer only those questions that have previously been addressed in public filings and releases.

I firmly believe a company should have a sense of humor when they review “chat.” We advise monitoring chat rooms and message boards, but again urge that you do not respond on the Internet. When a caller asks us to verify a rumor, most often negative of course, we remind the caller that “any weasel can post on the Internet.” We also find it effective to take the Socratic approach. We ask this caller: “Are you familiar with all recent company announcements? Have you listened in on any of the company’s conference calls? What is your view of the overall sector?” This is highly effective. I also suggest, if the rumor is major or recurring, whether an outright lie or a significant exaggeration, that you put out a press release addressing the issue.

The Silver Lining in the Clouds
On a positive note, many chat rooms are online extensions of magazines, whether trade or consumer. Thus, postings about your company can sometimes be positioned to provide an opportunity for media coverage. In fact, you may be surprised to learn that the majority of magazines have Web sites, and most of these sites use original material from their online reporters. You may have also noticed that many news and talk shows encourage viewers to visit their Web sites.

To keep track of the online buzz, it pays to subscribe to a clipping service that screens the Internet in search of your company’s name. Then, if you want to comment on posted information about your company, you will be better able to target the publication or company that owns the site. For example, try to find out if there is a reporter who will interview you, and if you are interviewed prepare to be as direct as possible with your answers. Many a rumor has been started by the classic “No comment,” or worse, a company officer’s unfulfilled promise of “I’ll get back to you.”

Webcasting
In the wake of Reg. FD, audio-visual Webcasting sprang up as another resource to make conference calls available to a wider audience. Vcall (www.vcall.com) and Thomson Financial (www.thomson-webcast.net) are two of the service providers that focus on distribution. They hire or outsource to technology providers who do the streaming video. Vcall claims to be equally focused on the professional and private investors, as they assist publicly traded companies in the dissemination of their conference calls. Vcall also claims to reach a subscriber base of some 150,000 investors, which gives them the potential to add call-in listeners likely to listen to a new company’s story. Thus, a Web cast, in conjunction with a conference call, can potentially add the service’s own subscribers to your audience. (Note: This is for informational purposes only and is not an endorsement of Vcall or any other service.)

Typically, Web casting fees are offered at a flat price. That service usually includes a customized page for your company on the provider’s site, a live audio broadcast of your conference call, replay for an average of ninety days, your financials posted on the site, and a fixed number of “listeners” for the live call. For an added fee you can decide who those listeners should be. They also set up a link to your Web site so that you can let your visitors know about the Web cast. You receive a transcript of the Web cast (which incidentally should never be copied nor/or released without your attorney’s sign-off), and a few other customizable options that vary from provider to provider.