There’s no doubt that the commercialisation of the Internet had a massive impact on business. The Internet enables any business to reach a global audience something never before possible. As such it’s allowed people to grow businesses in what would previously be unreachable niches. It’s also created some incredible business success stories. So here’s what I think are the top business ideas that have been enabled by the Internet.
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Internet Search Engines – Before we had access to the billions of pages of data that make up the World Wide Web we didn’t need Internet search engines, yet these days we couldn’t live without them. As Google has shown with it’s meteoric rise in value it’s probably the most profitable internet business idea ever.
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Ebay – The Internet’s very own car boot sale. Without the Internet we’d still be stuck spending Saturday mornings in a wet, windy and muddy field rather than browsing all week from the comfort of our own homes. Without the Internet Ebay wouldn’t be possible, with Ebay the Internet is the biggest flea market ever.
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Comparison shopping – While I’ll always advice a business not to compete on price, once you’ve decided on a particular make and model you might as well find the best price and comparison shopping engines are a great boon to consumers.
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Affiliate marketing – While sales on commission is not exactly new the Internet has enabled it on a scale never before seen and it’s enabled many of us to make a good living selling anything from cufflinks to holidays.
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Amazon, the global bookshop – I’m a book worm and quite frankly I could not survive without Amazon, the fact that they carry (or can appear to due to the wonders of Internet technology) every single book in publication (and many out of publication) puts a smile on my face every day.
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Information Businesses – The great thing about information as a product is that the incremental cost of selling it is insignificant allowing businesses to sell it over and over again with at almost 100% gross profit. The Internet has enabled millions of individuals and businesses to profit from selling their expertise.
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Community sites – Community sites have grown up around just about any hobby or interest imaginable from model trains to music fan clubs the global scope of the Internet enables enthusiasts that are geographical dispersed to come together and share their enthusiasm as never before.
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Internet Advertising / PPC – No doubt the engine room of the Internet economy, without advertising many internet businesses ideas would not be viable. They’re also great business ideas as they have presented advertisers with the opportunity to truly measure the Return on Investment (ROI) of their advertising.
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ITunes – Dragging the music industry kicking and screaming into the 21st century, need I say more.
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Instant Messaging – Since 1997 I’ve depended on instant messaging services to enable me to work with teams spread all over the world. I can’t imagine doing businesses without it.
What do you think, have I missed your favourite Internet business idea? Post a comment below and let me know.
This post is my entry in the Litemind list group writing project.
This blog is about business opportunities and ideas that I spot, think of or hear about and think are useful and interesting. It is intended to provide ideas and inspriation for you to help you find the right business idea for you to then grow it into a successful business.
Have to agree with these John..
The way Google revived PPC shows their caliber, and it was all becuase of the fact that SE’s were getting popular by the day…
Affiliate marketing defines the Internet.. everything is viral and to my mind information businesses are the future.
Hi John,
One I would add probably under the heading of community would be the emerging ‘list’ business. Think about Craigslist, Reddit, or Digg. They build the community and then use the list as a leverage to get advertising and big offers from Google! Excellent list though. Especially the affiliate marketing one. More powerful than most realise I think.
Luke
Luke,
I consider them (list sites) to fall into my category number seven.
Great list John but what about blogging.
Suddenly everyone can be a writer and attract readers if they do a good job.
The Internet is fantastic and now we are here, it’d difficult to remember how life was life before you could find the answer to almost any fact.
Again I consider blogging to be covered by the community category.
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Hi John,
Great list and great idea for a post. Indeed much have been said about the new business models arising from the Internet.
What you have said are only the front-end portion of the Internet that has impacted the world. Being an E-Business Business Developer myself, I have seen many backoffice applications over the Internet using webservices – realtime inventory management on ecommerce stores and triggers to restock e.g. Walmart.
Another aspect is in customer service. Call centers today are renamed to Contact Centers to show the multiple media through which customer service can be delivered e.g. Instant messaging, emails, dynamic FAQs.
Hope this adds to your list.
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[...] The Top Ten Internet Business Ideas by John – I know many people who don’t think #4 is a good idea and some who’d say #7 is a waste of time. If you belong to one — or both — groups, why don’t you write an article to express your opinion? Another option is to take each list item and discuss how sites in your niche could benefit from them. [...]