Free Market Thoughts – The Web is the Last True Free Market

Everyday that I spend researching new web trends, creative internet marketing, and other successful business in the web arena and I am realizing that the best part of the web is the entrepreneurial free market approach. Sure you got people that steal identities, spam scammers, and other individuals who use the web for unethical things, but that does not mean it’s not a true free market. In life, there are the good and the bad and it will always be that way, and so will the internet. Luckily there are a lot of good people out their helping companies protect their property. A true free market is regulated by private companies or indivduals instead of the government. The web is a prime example of free market regualtion by private businesses. Many companies employ software coders to protect their information, or they outsource that process to private companies. It’s a very successful approach from a companies standpoint to employ intellectual property protection experts because they don’t have to wait for government paper pushers to get things done.

I would vote it is virtually impossible to stop piracy, but companies will pay for this data to find out how to salvage the value of their intellectual property. A good friend once told me that “knowledge is the only thing that can’t be taken away from you”. To most extents of the argument that took place over his concept is true, except when we talk about composing knowledge into text or speech. Whether it’s software coding, article writing, test taking, seminars & hands on training; people will take this information when it’s given and use it to their advantage in their surroundings. This is not an excuse for piracy but a psychological view on the act of data consumption by a human being. … READ MORE

Five Website Trends to Watch in 2011

Five Website Trends to Watch in 2011

If you’re like many small businesses, you try to keep up with technology and follow the latest new “trends”, especially when it makes sense for your business to do so. But – how do you know which online “trends” are only fads, and which ones are actually useful for business? Although the answers may vary depending on whom you ask, here are a few stand-out online trends that we think are worth watching – or implementing – in 2011:

Mobile

Mobile devices like smart phones, PDAs, Blackberrys, iPads, etc., are everywhere – it’s been reported that more than 90% of the U.S. population today has a mobile device! Businesses have already started to take advantage of this emerging trend by developing mobile websites, apps, advertising, and mobile marketing initiatives to help them stay in touch with their customers anytime, anywhere.

Social Media 

As the use of social networking sites like Facebook and Twitter continues to grow, businesses will have even more reason to build a solid social presence for interacting with customers and potential customers. Businesses want to be where the customers already are, and right now, they are on the social networks. In addition, businesses get a tremendous SEO benefit from their social networking efforts, because search engines now index the social content found on Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, YouTube, etc.

Online Marketing

Online marketing includes a wide range of initiatives today; from specialized websites and landing pages, to email marketing campaigns, to marketing on the social networks and mobile marketing programs. There are many low-cost or no-cost online marketing initiatives, making it affordable for most businesses today regardless of their size. Online marketing results are also measurable, and can be tracked via any number of criteria (number of clicks, search terms used, number of opens, number of page visits, … READ MORE