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Should I Do
Business on The Internet?
The popular news media has been glutted with stories about the
Internet, so glutted that many people are skeptical about what the
Internet can do for their businesses. This is understandable. Everyone is
saying that the Internet is the "market of the future," that if
you don't get your business on the Internet, you'll be left behind. What
none of them seem to want to tell you are the real reasons you should do
business on the Internet. Before I do that, though, let me dispel some
inaccuracies that I've seen in many ads, flyers, and sales letters.
The most common piece of information quoted about the Internet,
particularly by people who are trying to sell Internet "home
pages" to business opportunists, is that the Internet is the most
expansive market in the world, with estimates of 30,000,000 people or more
currently using it, and tens of thousands more joining in weekly. Well,
this is partly true, but not really 100% true.
The first question you have to ask is where the 30,000,000 number came
from. Personally, I don't know. However, I do know that studies are
showing a truer estimate is closer to 12,000,000. Where are the missing
people?
Well, a lot of hypesters count every single person who's on an online
service such as America Online or Compuserve as being on the Internet.
Unfortunately, not everyone on the online services uses the Internet. Many
of them are content to remain in the "enclosed" portion of the
online services, rather than venture out into the web. If they're only
interested in stock quotes, or downloading files, they may never access
the Internet (though they should - they'd find more and better material!).
Also, many people try online services, find they aren't interested, and
drop the service after their "free trial month." The hypesters
count these people as being among the fabled 30,000,000, as well as being
part of the tens of thousands signing up weekly. They shouldn't.
Another interesting tidbit I've seen frequently is something along the
lines of "you can easily sell anything on the Internet." Well, I
don't know about that. While I've seen plenty of success stories about
people selling tons of personalized T-shirts, coffee mugs, books, cookies,
vacuum cleaners, antiques, and other "hard goods," I know that
the percentage of success stories on the Internet are still far lower than
in the "real world." The truth is, if you want to sell a product
on the Internet and be successful, you should be able to not only sell the
product, but also deliver the product on the Internet. Thus, information
products are the best items to sell over the Internet. You can sell the
other products I named above, as well as a myriad of others, but it's
tougher. Why? Because of the number of people on the Internet, that's why.
Many hypesters make a point of the huge numbers of people on the Internet.
This can work against you, because it makes it tough to target your
market. Just because there's 12,000,000 people out there doesn't mean that
all 12,000,000 are interested in buying an antique chair from you. In
fact, maybe only ¼% would be interested. That's still a very respectable
30,000 people, and if you could sell 30,000 antique chairs, I'm sure you'd
make a great deal of money. However, you need to reach those 30,000 people
with your message.
In the "real world," it might be easy to reach those people
wanting an antique chair by advertising in antique-related publications.
That's targeted marketing. However, on the Internet, things work in
reverse. In the real world, the antique publication is delivered to the
people. On the Internet, those people need to seek you out. Thus, if you
want to market on the Internet, you'd better be willing to work the
"publicity machine," with entries in online databases,
advertising, press releases, etc. It's just like in the real world. Just
because you put a home page on the Internet, you aren't necessarily going
to get rich overnight.
So, now that I've probably discouraged you, I'll again ask the question
that's posed in the title of this report: should you do business on the
Internet?
YES!
How can I say that after sounding so much doom and gloom? Well, even if
there are only 12,000,000 people on the Internet instead of 30,000,000,
that's still a large group of people, and thousands are joining their
ranks all the time. There's bound to be some people who are interested in
what you have to sell.
Plus, it's the way of the future. Wal-Mart has just announced that they
plan to make all of the products you'd find in a typical Wal-Mart store
available for purchase over the Internet. It might be awhile before that
happens, but if it's ok for Wal-Mart, it should be ok for you.
Another good reason is the equalizing factor of the Internet. Even if
you're just running a small business from a single bedroom in your house,
you can compete on even ground with a large corporation. If your website
is designed well, you can be as impressive looking and as technologically
advanced (maybe even more - there are a lot of major corporations with
crummy looking websites out there).
If you're on the Internet, you're poised to have instantaneous contact
with your prospective and current customers. Through the use of email and
autoresponders, you can deliver product information around the world for
little or no cost 24 hours a day. You can't do that on the phone or
through the mail.
If you're on the Internet, you can greatly expand your market. If you're
only marketing locally, you can now market nationally. If you're currently
marketing nationally, you're now in the International market with the
Internet. As long as you have a product or service that is useful to
people in other countries, you have a chance at expanding your profit
base. Don't forget the publicity factor behind being on the Internet.
Having an Internet website for your business is still a status symbol, if
you will. Once you're online, put your email and website addresses on your
business cards, your letterhead, your envelopes, everything. Also, send
out press releases to your local press and any other publications
applicable to your line of work, letting them know about your website. It
might be deemed newsworthy, and you'll get some free publicity for your
website, as well as a bit of status from being "technologically
advanced."
Finally, if you are selling information products, you can deliver the
product immediately to your customer, and you'll have no printing expense,
no delivery expense, nothing. That's a great profit margin.
You need to go into the Internet with a clear head. Forget those
overinflated promises and numbers that the hucksters are spouting. If it
sounds like hype, and it smells like hype, it's hype, pure and simple. And
very few things have generated the unadulterated hype that the Internet
has. However, there are a lot of good, solid reasons to have your business
on the Internet. You can be up in a week... so start today!
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