Circular Targets Net-Savvy Market

Net’s Best, an Irvine-based start-up, has come up with a new way for Internet firms to reach consumers.

Net’s Best produces a biweekly, full-color Sunday newspaper circular for e-commerce companies that has appeared in some of the nation’s largest papers, including the Miami Herald and the Los Angeles Times. Unlike most ads, Net’s Best circulars don’t run in every paper. They go only to households with the highest Internet penetration in a given area. For example, Newport Beach residents might receive a circular full of ads for Internet companies, while less-connected Santa Ana residents might not, Net’s Best co-founder and president Bill Weimer said.

“We target only those households interested in the e-commerce message,” Weimer said.

E-commerce companies pay Net’s Best to appear in the circular. Net’s Best pays newspapers a fee to run the circulars.

Jim Sterne, president of Santa Barbara-based consulting firm Target Marketing, lauds Net’s Best approach. “Reading the newspaper is a much more relaxed experience than surfing the Net,” he said. “Therefore, if I see something I like in a circular, I’d be far more likely to take notice of it than a banner ad.”

Competitors abound. Netserts.com of Charlotte, N.C., for instance, offers a similar product at a lower price than Net’s Best.

Still, Net’s Best is a hit with some customers. “They give us a nice bump of traffic and get our name out there,” said Keith Clougherty, chairman of Roxy.com, a 3-year-old e-commerce consumer electronics company with sales of about $25 million.

Founded in 1998 with $1 million in venture money, Net’s Best is profitable and expects to generate sales of $4.2 million this year. Weimer, 36, a former vice president of sales and affiliate relations at Fox Sports New England, expects earnings and revenues to triple next year.

*

Marc Ballon covers small business and entrepreneurial issues for The Times. He can be reached at (714) 966-7439 and at [email protected].