There's no doubt about it . . . folks go online to find information. They use the information to learn what's happening in the world around them (news), to communicate with others (email), to be entertained (games, video, music), to connect with others in niches (social networking), and to comparison shop.
Of course there are many similar activities and hybrid reasons why folks fire up the computer and log online. But the basis of most everything that's done falls under the broad category of looking for information.
Knowing that information is paramount is like having a great selling mystery partially solved. If you want to make money online . . . you will most often be successful if you can provide the right kind of information to the group (prospects and customers) that's eager to find it.
I would say, without hesitation, that the business of providing information online is as close to "the perfect business" model as one will find. Here's why . . .
Think for a moment about a physical business. Choose any brick and mortar store down the street you like or think about your favorite shop at the local neighborhood mall.
Undoubtedly this store will have walls, a roof, carpet, employees, opening and closing times, products on the shelf or some type of service that can be purchased, a cash register, counters, aisles, lights, bathrooms, advertising in the window, dedicated or shared parking outside, and many other things that all businesses seem to have - or do they?
Try to imagine an alternative type of store: one with an absentee owner and no employees, no walls, no roof, no carpet, no bathrooms, no cash register, no counters, no aisles, no lights or other physical attributes.
But it does have what shoppers come for: products with descriptions and advertising, a checkout and payment system, and help if you need it.
This store is open 24/7/365. No need to physically travel to this store since it’s brought right to you and your computer screen with lots of sights, colors, action and sound.
Can you imagine the advantages of taking a store into the home of the customer? Of never closing? Of promoting your goods or service non-stop, 24 hours a day, anywhere in the world?
Can you ponder the possibility of operating such a store without employees to pay, without a building to maintain, without having to physically be there . . . ever?
Could there be such a perfect business?
Of course there is . . . and you already have some experience with it because you have surfed the Internet and seen what other entrepreneurs have created.
Hopefully, you've already made online purchases and have experienced the instant gratification that the net offers with the delivery of certain types of products.
Business conducted on the Internet is close to being the perfect business; but there is an "if" attached!
You see, not all Internet businesses are created equal.
For example, groceries, books, cars, land, and sailboats are currently being sold on the Internet along with every other conceivable product and service.
But in many instances, the Internet is a means of advertising, selling, and transacting payment only. There is still a physical good or product that has to be delivered to the customer. That’s the bad news.
Product delivery involves time, inventory (in most cases), packing, shipping, and other physical activities. These activities are performed by employees who want to be paid a salary and want to have a roof over their head while they work . . . can you imagine the audacity of those folks?
There is a “more perfect” business however. It is the Internet business of selling digital information.
Information can be created and delivered online in the form of reports, newsletters, tutorials, ebooks, graphics, downloadable music, videos, the written word (like a text document), software, scripts, e-greeting cards, and on and on.
Information can also be delivered, not as a product, but as a service. Services can be sold online through regular purchase, subscription, member-only web sites, as mentoring, digital transfer of expertise and proprietary offerings or systems, databases, email, varied other applications, and on and on.
Can you guess why this type of business product is so compelling for the creator, the store owner, and the customer?
In the next post I'll get specific about all the advantages of being in the digital information business. Until then, let your mind wander about all the different types of information that you might sell to a hungry group of like-minded folks online!
