Why Internet
Business Will Stay Strong
EVEN IF THE ECONOMY GOES BAD (And what you can do
to make sure you come out on top)
-- by Kevin NunleyDay after day news media
warns us the world's economy may be in serious
trouble. Storm clouds are on our economic
horizon. Japan, once the most profitable nation
in the world, is having deep money troubles.
Experts say Japan is now where the United States
was at the start of our Great Depression back in
the 1930s. Russia, Latin America, and Southeast
Asia are also having serious economic problems.
Hunker down, a world depression could be on the
way.
Does this
gloom and doom apply to the Internet? Will
thousands of small Internet business be forced to
close down? I don't think so. Here's why.
Internet
business is still brand new. Even the old-timers
have only been online for three or four years. In
many ways, we're just now figuring out how
Internet business works. And guess what? It
appears to be very different from regular
business.
Small and
versatile is a big advantage.
Big
businesses dominate the traditional business
world. The Walmart's and MicroSoft's have
steadily forced smaller, family-owned businesses
out of the way. Not so on the Internet. Three out
of four Internet businesses are very small, often
only one person working from home. Some of the
most successful web sites are run by a single
person still working a regular job. They take
care of their Internet business before work,
during lunch, and late into the evening.
Small
businesses are versatile. They can change
directions at a moment's notice. That's a big
advantage when times are hard. A big company has
specialized employees and materials stockpiled to
fill a particular need. If the economy changes
and that need dries up, the big biz is stuck.
Meanwhile, the one-person Internet business can
change its direction in an afternoon. You can
take down your big web site offering investment
advice and put up an equally impressive web site
showing people how to get out of debt. No
employees to retrain. No leases to get out of.
Internet
business can personalize.
Every
indicator of how the future will be points to a
much greater demand for personalized services.
Instead of buying a one-size-fits-all service
from suppliers, you will enjoy services and
products that are closely tailored to exactly
what you want and need. Internet leaders,
including Bill Gates, have said they believe the
future of the Internet lies in personalized
services supplied by small companies and
individuals.
The
Internet may be at odds with the Market. This
idea is a tad demanding, but I think it's
important to understanding why the Internet
probably won't feel the pinch of a bad economy.
Market economics, the basic principles that
govern business, doesn't seem to fit the Internet
very well. Market economics generally encourage
big companies to get bigger, buying up and
out-maneuvering smaller companies. The biggest
companies dominate their industry. Sometimes they
grab a huge percentage of all sales in their
particular field. This is very hard to do on the
Internet. It may be impossible to build an
Internet-based monopoly. I could raise millions
of dollars and create the biggest, coolest web
site business in history. That doesn't keep you
and 1,000 other aggressive folks from doing the
same thing tomorrow and taking my advantage away.
What can
you do to profit from coming hard times? Economic
downturns can be scary times. It's hard to know
if you should start or expand a business or keep
your money in the bank. Don't spend money you
don't have to. Yet economic hard times can pose a
terrific opportunity for people working in a new
area like the Internet. While traditional
business models stall, Internet business surges
ahead on the shoulders of a very different way of
doing business.
Make your
Internet presence BIG. Expand your web site. Jazz
up the look. Add lots of helpful articles, add
links to useful sites, and create alliances with
other entrepreneurs. Keep your web site as
focused as you can. Let people know you
specialize in an area or line of products. When
customers need a particular thing, they'll know
you're the specialist that can give them
personalized help.
Finally,
remember the wise old saying: When business is
bad, advertise. The Internet shows little honor
to those who come in with lots of start-up money.
Instead, the Net rewards those who are popular.
The more visitors your web site and email box
have, the more power you have on the Internet.
Publicize your web site, your business, and your
name. Distill your name and main benefits down to
a short, easy sentence and put that sentence
everywhere you can without spamming. Advertise in
email newsletters. Put banners on sites like your
own. Send out press releases to media.
Participate in newsgroups.
Paint
your promotional efforts with big broad strokes.
Spend as much as half your time promoting. By
looking big and providing tightly focused
products and services to a well defined group of
customers, you can ride the Internet wave into
the future. It could well be a future that gives
the Internet new and greater prominence.
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