Essay on How the Internet Helps Small Businesses

The internet is changing how small businesses market themselves and changing the nature of competition. Companies must focus on differentiating themselves on quality and must encourage their customers to interact with them outside of normal business.
It only takes an hour to teach yourself to read WebPages and surf the web and if you're not already using the internet this could be the best small investment you make in your career. The suggested sites give a good insight into some of what the internet is capable of, and what many of your visitors will already have seen when they arrive at your website. As the pace of fashion accelerates and product cycles get shorter and shorter, the internet is bringing it to its natural conclusion: customized production of a single item. Just for you.

For a long time mass customization has been a marketer's dream: the fantasy that machines could be built that automatically tailors products to the customer's requirements. That technology is now here. One limitation was capturing the customer's specification economically. But now that the internet is enabling customers to deliver their specifications in a structured form, everything from books to houses can be tailored online.

"Mass customization means that the consumer can get only and exactly what he wants, at a price he is willing to pay," says Joe Pine, who together with Jim Gilmore, wrote the book 'Markets of One' about the emerging trend. "When companies mass customize their goods and services, consumers no longer have to sacrifice what they want exactly by buying mass-produced offerings designed for some average, and non-existent, customer," adds Gilmore.

"In some cases the actual product can be customized, such as with information or music, and immediately delivered over the internet. In all cases, information and other representations.....................

ESSAYS ON TECHNOLOGY