...and What You Can Do to Make Sure You Come Out on Topby Dr. Kevin Nunley
http://www.DrNunley.comDay 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 on-line 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 the
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
complicated, 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. 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 may 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 may
well be a future that gives the Internet new and greater
prominence.
Kevin
Nunley provides marketing advice and copy writing for
businesses and organizations. Read all his money-saving marketing
tips
at
http://DrNunley.com/. Reach him at
kevin@drnunley.com or
603-249-9519.
