Is Your Business Afraid of the Internet?
My Business is Afraid of the Internet Bill Gates, CEO of Microsoft, once said that there would soon be two types of businesses, those online, and those out of business. Those words still ring true today, and many small businesses are missing a huge boat by not getting online. A good portion of small businesses have been around for a while, long before banner ads and even email became so wildly popular. These owners built their business from the ground-up, working hard and long to develop their products and services. These owners see great value in hard work, and for that they should be applauded. As technology increases, hard work changes forms. Today, every business, from a babysitter to a widget manufacturer should have a website. An estimated 60% of homes in the US now have broadband, and nearly 90% have at least one computer. These numbers cannot be ignored by business owners and marketing teams. People are flocking to the Internet to find phone numbers, local merchants, and new friends. No longer can businesses dismiss the Internet as a fad. The amount of online sales in 2003 surpassed $6 Billion. Even if a business has no physical merchandise to sell, there are still plenty of reasons to have their information online. Contact numbers, addresses, and maps can save receptionists time on the phone. Forms that need to be submitted can be printed and filled out before customers come in. Newsletters can help promote any business and upcoming sales. Websites can be very cost-effective to build. For just a small investment you could be online in a matter of days. No business should be afraid of the Internet. If your business is, or you are, you?d better get hold of someone that can help you, and fast! by William Hanke About the Author
Will Hanke is a self-proclaimed geek who owns and operates Lighthouse Technologies (http://www.techlh.com), a web development and hosting company based in Arnold, Missouri. For questions or comments, email him at will@techlh.com. And buy yourself a good virus program so he doesn?t have to fight your emails with anti-virus spray.
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My previous article I wrote called "One Point Two Billion"
attracted quite some attention, the downloads through all
the article syndication services has been astronomical
compared to any other articles I wrote which are still with
them.
It seems the numbers game is popular not only with the
accountancy profession, but with just about anyone running
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the world.
The internet has proved to be the great leveller, even a
grandmother I know has made hundreds of thousands of dollars
just from publishing a couple of e-books, business of that
magnitude is not now confined to those people with large
sums of investment capital, teams of accountants, planners,
secretaries, swanky offices etc. Anyone, even you, can make
money regularly on the internet, just aim for a goal and
'go for it!'
The costs of setting up have never been lower, the ease of
making web pages has never been easier, ( I make my web
pages in Notepad, which is on every Windows computer), and
the potential audience for your web pages has never been
larger. So what are you waiting for?
The sheer mountain of information available through e-books
on any subject and especially on setting up a business on
the internet would take you a lifetime to read through, so
just be selective and read only what you need to know about
and get started in that business. Businesspeople who have
'been there-done that', have written up an enormous amount
of e-books to pass on their knowledge and experience,
pitfalls to avoid, how to spend your advertising dollars,
and just about everything else you need to know about to
ensure success. So profit from their experience, avoid the
pitfalls, do what they say you should do, and you should be
in a profitable business in no time, just the way they did it.
No large sums of investment are needed, just time and
dedication.
If you provide an excellent service that benefits all your
clients, they will recommend you to their friends,if on the
other hand you want to be a 'scammer' and a 'fly by night'
operator determined to 'rip-off' as many people as possible,
you will come to grief. You will find your web hosting
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You get out of life exactly what you put in.
There are still mysteries about life we still don't understand
and this is the reason we come to grief, but on the other hand,
if you work for the benefit of others, this 'mystery of life',
for want of a better name,cuts in and helps us along, we go
with the flow and good things start to happen.
I could tell you of many experiences I have had, both good and
bad, which I have learnt a great deal from, but space precludes
that, maybe one day.
All right, you win, I will tell you of one particular incident
more recently and then move on with this article.
I carried a St.Christopher medallion on a gold chain in my wallet
for six years, given to me by the wife of a good friend overseas,
'it will keep you safe' she said. I received a new wallet for a
Christmas present and changed everything in the old wallet into the
new one, except the St. Christopher medallion, it was looking a
bit 'worse for wear' and I decided to put it in the cupboard.
That day I lost my mobile phone!
For two whole days I felt a loss which can only be described as
a 'bereavement'. I had lost touch with the network I was attached
to night and day, seven days a week, I felt bereft. I did not know
if someone was trying to ring me, whether something was urgent I
had to know about, my sense of loss was total.
Was this to do with the St. Christopher medallion? I thought surely not.
That was on the Tuesday, by Thursday morning I had decided to put
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My mobile phone turned up via a 'good samaritan' who would take no
money as a reward whatsoever.I was never more pleased to see my mobile phone.
So what happened here?Was it something to do with the St. Christopher medallion? Was it because I had 'bad thoughts' that it was the 'worse for wear'so discard it as inconsequential? I don't know the answer.
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