Search Engine Marketing
How the Web Has Aided Entrepreneurs
Written by Jay Shapiro for Gaebler Ventures
If you're an entrepreneur and you're still thinking 'old school' and haven't gotten around to using the web for promotion, you're missing out. It's time to get with it.
There can be no doubt that the internet has aided many industries, and has benefited the entrepreneur enormously.
On the surface it appears that the main advantage is lack of need for a bricks and mortar premises. Arguably it is the way the internet is used as a platform for the entrepreneur to market his or herself that provides the most significant gain for the budding entrepreneur.
The birth of social media and Web 2.0 has pushed the web in the direction of consumerism. It is not just products that people are consuming, but information too. Many entrepreneurs are now looking at different business models that do more than sell product or services.
The value of information: Many entrepreneurs look to create websites that offer information that is needed or wanted by tens, thousands, sometimes hundreds of thousands of people. The entrepreneur's aim is to provide an audience for advertisers, and make money through the ad revenue.
There are two tricks here that the entrepreneur needs to master:
- Find the information people want.
- Apply the right ad agency for maximum profit. This is also being used as a sideline too.
The technology of the web is also enabling entrepreneurs. Mobile web technology phones and laptops enables people to search for services without sitting at their desks. Want to book tickets for a show, make a reservation at a restaurant, then choose the right app and you're ready to rock and roll. Entrepreneurs that are in the right market can tap the industry, by ensuring that their company is found on by the app, or developing an app that people want.
Software is a huge market and always has been. Good web developers can make money if they think of a useful, good application and subsequently develop it. Think of people like Mark Zuckerburg who invented Facebook, or Jack Dorsey who was behind the development of Twitter. These guys brought something new to the table, and marketed themselves the right way.
Herein lies the rub, marketing yourself. For many budding entrepreneurs, the web has been a new best friend. It allows us to reach millions of people with our ideas, and our reach is growing everyday using sites such as Facebook, Twitter, and Delicious (formerly del.icio.us.)
Our ideas are no longer confined to ads via conventional mediums, as we can now engage directly with our customers, and tell them how wonderful our company is, and lay the foundation to build trust between ourselves and clients. Trust, as we all know, builds repeat business, and provides the only way to grow our company.
Entrepreneurs are using the web all the time to bring their ideas to life. It saves on overheads, it reaches millions, and it allows for exploration of opportunities without the need for a large financial outlay. It is providing an opportunity that we have never had before.
If you have an idea and you're not using the web to market it you should be.
Jay Shapiro is a freelance writer based in the UK. Jay has a particular interest in the emotive aspects of the entrepreneur's character. "Alongside the nuts and bolts of business, the character of the person is often the ingredient responsible for success."
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