May 17, 2008

Small Business Makes $1 MILLION on the Web

(Newport News, VA - January 26, 2000) - Leroy Newman, President and CEO of PenSoft, a leading manufacturer of payroll software since 1983, today announced sales from PenSoft's website has surpassed the $1,000,000 mark since the site's inception in January 1996. PenSoft, located at 11790 Jefferson Avenue, Suite 100, Newport News, VA 23606, says its website recorded sales of over $22,000 its first year online and has since grown a spectacular 2000%. Website sales have been a significant factor in the company's overall growth.

It all began in 1995 when a Virginia Center for Innovative Technology (CIT) grant to Christopher Newport University's SEVAnet offered a low-cost opportunity to explore the value of marketing on the web. SEVAnet was created to work with small Virginia businesses to provide them with the expertise and technological knowledge to create and maintain their websites. PenSoft, a nationwide payroll software company, had been researching the web's ability to expand its marketing opportunities. SEVAnet offered PenSoft the opportunity to market its payroll software to a broader audience.

"SEVAnet helped PenSoft with site development and employee training in the early days," said Newman. "Their assistance helped us surmount the steep learning curve involved with bringing a small business online." PenSoft's online presence grew as its knowledge of conducting e-commerce progressed. "We have developed relationships with other software developers looking for a payroll solution for their business, human resource, or accounting applications," says Newman. "Several large franchisers also work with us and promote PenSoft Payroll as the payroll software of choice to their franchise owners." According to Newman, "Establishing an internet presence through a website allows small companies to appear big and to compete with large companies without the enormous costs of media advertising, effectively leveling the playing field."

"The internet knows no bounds," says Linda Koch, PenSoft's Marketing Director. "It has offered us the opportunity to explore the international market," said Koch. "We released our first Canadian edition of PenSoft Payroll this year, and are looking at several other international markets as well."

One of the biggest challenges in internet marketing is gaining high visibility among the literally hundreds of thousands companies online. "We keep current with search engine and directory requirements and foster online alliances. Keeping abreast with the changing world of internet search engine and directory requirements keeps our site high in the search engines," says Koch, "and, if you don't stay high on the list, you won't be found."

In 1999 PenSoft spun off its internet payroll services operation, PenGold Online. PenGold (www.pengold.com) offers affordable secure web-based direct deposit services for small to mid-sized companies nationwide, and will soon launch online tax deposits and payroll services.

This year, PenSoft graduated from SEVAnet, and with the help of its new T1 line, has brought PenSoft's servers inhouse. "Having the servers inhouse has afforded us the flexibility we need to keep our site up to date," said Newman. "It has also allowed us to be more responsive and to implement the active server pages necessary to automate the ordering process and provide our customers with an interactive customer resource site."

For more information, call PenSoft at 757-873-2976 or visit PenSoft on the web at www.PenSoft.com.

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For more information about PenSoft Payroll, click here.