Articlr

In a very similar fashion to the way that the industrial revolution re-shaped the financial world of business, we have seen the next great revoltuion begin to take shape over the last few years. Unlike the last one however, the gain is there to be had regardless of geographical location and levels of accessibility.

Before the Internet became the main medium through which people communicate, it was extremely difficult to compete nationally, let alone world wide in any business field. The only methods of advertising were all very expensive; TV and radio, national newspapers or magazines (usually for a niche target market anyway) or an ad in the yellow pages. All of these methods are very expensive, but were a reliable advertising method, until the Internet exploded upon the scene.

At several points throughout history, the organisations that adapt to changes in technology the quickest and the most effectively, thrive where others fall. In many cases, the way has been led by pioneers. Henry Ford is a prime example, he nearly invented the mass production line on his own, and in doing that, cut his expenses, vastly improved the consistency of product quality, and created a huge advantage over his competition.

The difference between the companies that adopt new technologies and those that are set in their ways is often profound. Now that is more true than ever as the opportunities for advancement come at an alarming rate.

The Internet has removed the barrier to entry that had previously stood in the way of many would be entrepreneurs. Many good ideas have gone to waste due to a lack of financial backing. With the advent of the Internet and especially Google, that financial barrier behind which many large corporations hid has now disappeared.

A quality sales funnel website will attract thousands of people, looking to buy your product, to your site, for a tiny fraction of what an advertising campaign of that magnitude would have cost before the Internet. A quality website costs next to nothing to have made and around two years of search engine optimisation might cost you 5,000-10,000, and could drive billions of people to your site.

The Internet is in its infancy, we are only just scratching the surface of this information revolution. 98% of all the information online is inaccessible to strangers as it has not been designed for search engines to read. Because of this, many good ideas are going to waste. It is only recently that SEO has reached the public consciousness. In 5 or 10 years what will the Internet look like?

There is little doubt that the companies who change with the changes in information technology, will be the ones on top in the coming years.

The Internet is a truly great leveller, allowing virtually anyone with a good idea and a few pounds for a website to develop a service or a product and to sell it worldwide.