There are countless success stories of individuals and businesses who have leveraged the strength and spread of the internet to capitalize on opportunities online by establishing profitable and successful businesses in forms of websites and blogs.
You may have contemplated jumping-in to claim a piece of the pie, but often thought to yourself that it is too late and the market is already saturated. But is it? There are still tons of opportunities online.
Depending on your viewpoint, the answer varies. If you compare the growth and global use of the internet to when electricity, TV or the radio were introduced, you will realize that the internet is still in its infancy (I know this is hard to believe) and that it still hasn’t hit critical mass.
If you think you’ve seen revolution, hold your horse and wait till you see what’s coming through the pipeline. As much as you think the internet is saturated with websites and blogs that cover your idea or topic of choice, understand that there is always an opportunity to claim a piece of the profit pie. This can be said for pretty much anything in life in fact.
Will the journey be as easy as it was some years back? Similar to trying to compete with GM or Ford, probably not! Because the market is more saturated today than it was yesterday, it will take more effort and time than it would’ve in the past. After all, there must be some benefit for “first movers”, or they wouldn’t move at all. Again, this can be said for pretty much any industry or market.
However, if you get in the game today, you will be a few steps ahead of someone who will be in the same position that you are in today a few months down the road. They will in-turn face an even steeper curve.
Bottom line is that it is NEVER too late and there are still plenty opportunities online. And while there are still tons of niches or subjects that are not covered or covered poorly or inadequately on the Internet targeted for the Western market, the real opportunities online which are much easier to enter target the international markets specifically.
Statistics show that most monetization (or making money) efforts on the Internet are heavily concentrated toward the North American and Australian markets. Other nations / continents are rapidly catching up however and thus creating the vast opportunities online.
Let’s examine some facts further. In a recent e-commerce conference I attended in California, it was mentioned that in 2005, there were fewer than one billion global internet users. In 2009, this number grew to 1.6 billion and is projected to grow to 2.27 billion by 2014.
North America and Australia have well under a billion in population, so where is the growth going to come from? The bulk of this growth will come from the Asian continent, representing almost 45% of the global online population by 2014.
That means that the combined growth in North America and Australia – you can also throw in Western Europe in the equation – will only be a handful of percentage points per year, while other markets grow more than 10% per year.
This is not surprising is it? Just look at a macroeconomic view of the state of affairs here. The global economy is poised to grow, but similar to internet usage, which is a mere microcosm of the bigger picture, the growth in already developed and relatively stable nations will only account for a handful of percentage points. The growth is in growing economies.
I am not implying that the growing online population will immediately mean growing online spending and therefore revenues for entrepreneurs like yourself, but people must understand that the landscape is changing globally, and understanding the components of the change is what will position you to capitalize on this trend in the future.
For example, as the banking systems and online payment infrastructure (PayPal and credit cards) solidify in emerging markets, and as consumers begin to trust the internet and transact more over it, you will see a similar revolution to what you are witnessing today in developing markets.
If you want to start making money using the internet, whether selling hard goods, information products, affiliate commissions, real estate or displaying advertisements for vendors, now is the time to position yourself to your target market.
The internet is vast and still wide open. It is just a matter of perspective. That said, one can succeed and profit very nicely without leaving stable and developed markets.
But if you are someone who has been precluded from entering the market and claiming a piece of the profit pie due to limiting beliefs such as market saturation, I hope this discussion gives you something to think about.
Further, think about this for a minute. The West has always been ahead of the world historically. If you are in the West, you can argue that you have seen the future of other developing nations who are catching up. It is true.
To give you an example, a successful franchise like TGI Friday’s or Cold Stone in the USA, if implemented in Dubai, United Arab Emirates, will become successful overnight ten folds over.
There is a reason why foreign companies hire Westerners and pay them incredible expat packages. Because these expats have seen the future and can lead the developing companies in developing nations to where they can be in the future. The internet is no different.
So if you have been a long victim of your limiting beliefs, I encourage you to leave the past behind and get started now. Like I said, the sooner you get started, the sooner you will become successful and others will only be lagging behind you, battling a steeper learning curve than you have to.
Thanks to technological advancements, there are several turn-key tools that you can use to get online immediately and build a successful business. If you want to establish a successful blog like this one, I highly recommend Yaro’s Blog Mastermind Program (2012 Update: Program has been discontinued).
If you want to build a successful and profitable website, there is no better single solution than Site Build It. My wife and I built our Dubai Information site with it, a website that started as a hobby and now making serious passive and residual income for us.
If you want to build a niche content website around a subject you are passionate about, consider the Niche Profit Classroom. I have used the principles taught in this program over and over again with great success.
Though each of these tools is superb in their own way and industry of focus, you need to pick one and only one that you can focus on with all your effort, and which appeals to you most. You can read a bit more about the tools I personally used / and still use to build my private online empire here.
Whatever you do, remember the most critical step is to actually get started.
Do you think there are still opportunities online? Have you started to capitalize on them? Why / Why not?
Have a look at my earlier compiled collection of some of the most easy and unconventional part time opportunities online here.
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Alright you got me thinking about it. I guess that is the first step. Now I go into my research stage and w’ll see how that comes out.
I’d like to know where it ends up. Please come back and update!
A little unsolicited advice. I preferred to read your blog with the right sidebar vs. all of the sidebar stuff on the left. Because we read from left to right, it’s very distracting from your posts. Just my two cents.
KC – unsolicited advice is always welcome and very much appreciated. This is something new I am trying because of what you said. Because we read from left to right, i am hoping readers can see the subscribe option better which will help them stay abreast of new developments on the blog. I appreciate your comments, and I am hoping that I get more feedback just like yours. The feedback, in addition to the stats will reveal whether this format works or not. I may switch it right back if that is indeed what you / readers want.