Internet Marketing – A Critical Component to Having a Real, Successful Business in the 21st Century
Chances are that when you were growing up, your idea of owning a business was a corner store, a hair salon or barbershop, or something similar. “Small” business right? Or your parents or relatives owned a chain of franchises. Either way, it was a traditional, bricks & mortar business. One with employees, inventory, payroll, insurance, up, downs, all the “stuff” you go through when you own a small business. Until the last 10 years, the internet wasn’t even considered by many small businesses as a way to market. Even now, many traditional business owners have no idea about where to start when it comes to internet marketing.
The Dot Com Bubble
In the mid to late nineties, there was a mad rush to the internet by a bunch of start-up technology companies. Everyone was trying to capitalize on the “next big thing”. The companies, led by young, super-technical geeks were raising millions of dollars from investors to launch web-based companies. The problem was that they were hitting a market that wasn’t there yet. Many households still didn’t have a computer at that time, sure the numbers were increasing rapidly, but these companies needed to make starting showing some profit fast. Then the bubble burst, most companies folded up shop and only a handful survived (Amazon, Yahoo, Google etc.).
Laptops, Google PPC
For a few years, while the internet was continually growing exponentially. Households continued to buy home computers and computers started becoming more and more affordable. Additionally, more focus was starting to shift towards portability. Laptops starting getting lighter and lighter, smaller and smaller. Then Google, one of the lesser known companies during the dot com bubble, came out with an advertising method called ppc (actually Overture, bought by Yahoo, first came up with this concept). This method has, and will continue to, change the way business is done online. People were starting to get more and more comfortable with making purchase online. Internet related sales skyrocketed and companies began to realize that they needed a presence online, outside of their information only websites.
iPod, iPhone, Smart Phones
Then came the iPod and iPhone, not to mention smart phones. With these advances, people have instant access to the web. Ability to search, find, purchase all at their fingertips. You have the power of what you once had to pay $3000 for and setup in a room in our house, all in the palm of your hand. People can research a company, product, reviews, opinions…just about anything they want about a purchase they are about to make before they make it!
Still Walking Into Stores
Yes, people still go to stores to shop. The fact is, people have a need to interact in person. You are always going to have stores. Places where someone can come in, feel the merchandise, talk to a live person, feel good about the service they were given and be a happy customer. But the fact is that online shopping continues to grow at a record pace. As the younger generations starting earning money, their first place to go when it comes to buying something will be online.
So How Do You Engage In Internet Marketing
That’s the million dollar question, “How Do You Engage In Internet Marketing”. Well, there are several ways. There’s Pay Per Click (including Google, Yahoo, Bing), Blogging, Article Marketing, Video Marketing, Social Networking (including Twitter, Facebook, YouTube, among many others). Many people have gained the skills and offer great resources for small businesses to obtain the skills or outsource the activity of internet marketing in these areas. You can choose to spend the time and resources to gain the knowledge for yourself or someone within your organization. You can choose to outsource the activity to another company to build on your behalf. Or you can outsource some things and do some things for yourself. Either way, you must do something with regards to internet marketing.
The Future Of Business
There is no doubt that the future of business will be rooted in internet marketing. As society continues to move more and more in a virtual direction, any business that is serious about competing in the 21st century, has to have an internet marketing strategy. And for those that are looking to start a business during these times, an internet marketing business is the best option you have to succeeding independently for years to come.
Parag Paleja is a business coach and mentor based out of Houston, TX, that assists serious entrepreneurs in building a profitable online business with multiple incomes streams. Parag and his team have assisted hundreds of people, from doctors and lawyers to high-school drop-outs and single parents in generating profits that exceed 6 figures or more in their first year. For more information and to contact Parag, visit: http://www.BusinessSuccessLeaders.com/?t=im120109
Author: Parag Paleja
Article Source: EzineArticles.com
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