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.

1. 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.
2. 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.
3. 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.
4. 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.
5. 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.
6. 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.
7. 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.
8. 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.
9. ITunes – Dragging the music industry kicking and screaming into the 21st century, need I say more.
10. 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.

http://www.businessopportunitiesandideas.co.uk/502/the-top-ten-internet-business-ideas

This entry was posted on Friday, December 21st, 2007 at 1:40 am and is filed under Business Management, Business News, Business Ownership, Business Reports, Small Business. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.