Make That 3 Billion

MAKE THAT 3 BILLION

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

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

The internet has proved to be the great leveller, even a
grandmother I know has made hundreds of thousands of dollars
just from publishing a couple of e-books, business of that
magnitude 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 of
making web pages has never been easier, ( I make my web
pages in Notepad, which is on every Windows computer), and
the 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 on
the 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 to
ensure 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 your
clients, 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, and
your 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 understand
and 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 and
bad, which I have learnt a great deal from, but space precludes
that, maybe one day.

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

I carried a St.Christopher medallion on a gold chain in my wallet
for 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 the
new 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 as
a 'bereavement'. I had lost touch with the network I was attached
to 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 I
had 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 put
that 'good luck' St. Christopher medallion into my new wallet.

My mobile phone turned up via a 'good samaritan' who would take no
money 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 can
log on to your website. It's also difficult to understand what kinds
of people they are, what background and education they have had. Why
they 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 amusement
or entertainment from it?

Here are some figures to think about:-

1. 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 internet
has 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%.

2. 44% of Western European internet users shopped online during 2003.
(Jupiter Research).

3. 55% of the population of Spain are expected to be using Broadband
internet by the end of this year.
(Jupiter Research).

4. 50% of the U.S. population expect to be using Broadband internet
by 2008.(Jupiter Research)>

5. 1 in 5 internet users download music according to Nielsen.

6. 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).

7. 22% of U.S. consumers shop online at work.

8. 67% of 12 to 24 year olds online in the U.S. have downloaded music
from the net.

9. 40 million Americans have downloaded music from the net, equivalent
to one-fifth of the U.S.

It's not hard to see that the net is a hive of activity and people are
paying 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 users
grudgingly expect that over time they will have to pay for content on
the 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 only
site called Salon Magazine. They changed to a subscription only site
and over the first six months only signed up 25,000 users, out of
3.8 million users per month who used the site previously.

Statistics are a wonderful thing as many accountants know too well. Will
you be guided by all the statistics available through all the research
companies 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 pretty
much the same things you do, and set up your website accordingly. There
are 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!