E-Commerce Information

My previous article I wrote called "One Point Two Billion" attracted quite some attention, the downloads through all the article syndication services has been astronomicalcompared to any other articles I wrote which are still withthem.

It seems the numbers game is popular not only with theaccountancy profession, but with just about anyone runninga website who is interested in more sales from anywhere in the world.

The internet has proved to be the great leveller, even agrandmother I know has made hundreds of thousands of dollarsjust from publishing a couple of e-books, business of thatmagnitude is not now confined to those people with large sums of investment capital, teams of accountants, planners, secretaries, swanky offices etc. Anyone, even you, can make money regularly on the internet, just aim for a goal and 'go for it!'

The costs of setting up have never been lower, the ease ofmaking web pages has never been easier, ( I make my web pages in Notepad, which is on every Windows computer), andthe potential audience for your web pages has never been larger. So what are you waiting for?

The sheer mountain of information available through e-books on any subject and especially on setting up a business onthe internet would take you a lifetime to read through, so just be selective and read only what you need to know about and get started in that business. Businesspeople who have 'been there-done that', have written up an enormous amount of e-books to pass on their knowledge and experience, pitfalls to avoid, how to spend your advertising dollars,and just about everything else you need to know about toensure success. So profit from their experience, avoid the pitfalls, do what they say you should do, and you should be in a profitable business in no time, just the way they did it.No large sums of investment are needed, just time and dedication.

If you provide an excellent service that benefits all yourclients, they will recommend you to their friends,if on the other hand you want to be a 'scammer' and a 'fly by night' operator determined to 'rip-off' as many people as possible, you will come to grief. You will find your web hosting account rapidly terminated, your e-mail account likewise, andyour name plastered all over the forums and newsgroups.You get out of life exactly what you put in.

There are still mysteries about life we still don't understandand this is the reason we come to grief, but on the other hand,if you work for the benefit of others, this 'mystery of life', for want of a better name,cuts in and helps us along, we go with the flow and good things start to happen.I could tell you of many experiences I have had, both good andbad, which I have learnt a great deal from, but space precludesthat, maybe one day.

All right, you win, I will tell you of one particular incidentmore recently and then move on with this article.

I carried a St.Christopher medallion on a gold chain in my walletfor six years, given to me by the wife of a good friend overseas,'it will keep you safe' she said. I received a new wallet for a Christmas present and changed everything in the old wallet into thenew one, except the St. Christopher medallion, it was looking a bit 'worse for wear' and I decided to put it in the cupboard.That day I lost my mobile phone!

For two whole days I felt a loss which can only be described asa 'bereavement'. I had lost touch with the network I was attachedto night and day, seven days a week, I felt bereft. I did not know if someone was trying to ring me, whether something was urgent Ihad to know about, my sense of loss was total.

Was this to do with the St. Christopher medallion? I thought surely not.That was on the Tuesday, by Thursday morning I had decided to putthat 'good luck' St. Christopher medallion into my new wallet.My mobile phone turned up via a 'good samaritan' who would take nomoney as a reward whatsoever.I was never more pleased to see my mobile phone.

So what happened here?Was it something to do with the St. Christopher medallion? Was it because I had 'bad thoughts' that it was the 'worse for wear'so discard it as inconsequential? I don't know the answer.

There have been too many such incidents in my life it would take volumes to relate the details.

We don't know these 'mysteries of life' but one thing is important-keep a positive outlook to everything and everyone and good things will happen for you.

It's difficult to visualize how many people that are out there who canlog on to your website. It's also difficult to understand what kindsof people they are, what background and education they have had. Whythey are logging on to your new site. What do they expect to see, or learn, or buy?

How will they benefit from visiting your site?.

Will they buy a good product, or learn something, or get some amusementor entertainment from it?.

Here are some figures to think about:-• Adults aged 65 and over are the fastest growing age group taking to the internet, according to Nielsen/Netratings.The number of adults from around the world over 65 who use the internethas grown by 25% over the past twelve months, with 9.6 million now accessing the web.The number of female seniors has seen the most significent growth,jumping 30%. Male seniors jumped by 20%.
• 44% of Western European internet users shopped online during 2003. Jupiter Research).
• 55% of the population of Spain are expected to be using Broadbandinternet by the end of this year.Jupiter Research).
• 50% of the U.S. population expect to be using Broadband internet by 2008.(Jupiter Research)
• 1 in 5 internet users download music according to Nielsen.
• Online shoppers in Australia for DVDs. is now the fifth fastest .growing online purchase category after travel, concert tickets,accomodation, and books, growing by 30%ACNielsen Consult).
• 22% of U.S. consumers shop online at work.
• 67% of 12 to 24 year olds online in the U.S. have downloaded musicfrom the net.
• 40 million Americans have downloaded music from the net, equivalentto one-fifth of the U.S.

It's not hard to see that the net is a hive of activity and people arepaying for things they want, music in particular.Content has not been a thing that people have been keen to pay for except sex sites, one of the most successful ecommerce businesses of all time. Newspapers online charge for content with some success, but a survey by Jupiter Media Metrix claims that 70% of adult online users don't see why they should pay for content. The researchers project that revenues will only grow to $US5.8 billion by 2006 for online content!

Of that revenue the highest earners will be "Audio and Video Entertainment and Games'. This survey also shows that 42% of net usersgrudgingly expect that over time they will have to pay for content onthe net.

So, which way will you go?.

Will your site be a subscription only site charging a monthly fee to access the content? Look at the history of one such subscription onlysite called Salon Magazine. They changed to a subscription only site and over the first six months only signed up 25,000 users, out of3.8 million users per month who used the site previously.

Statistics are a wonderful thing as many accountants know too well. Willyou be guided by all the statistics available through all the researchcompanies out there when you build your website?

Yes, the numbers game attracts a lot of attention has I stated at the beginning of this article. Always remember though, that all these users in these stats are only human beings and want, need, and desire prettymuch the same things you do, and set up your website accordingly. Thereare enough humans out there to visit your website, whatever you decide to do.

Oh, and did I mention?

The worlds population of humans is now 3 BILLION!