We have a friend and business associate who started working with computers in the very early 80's. As a journalist at that time he was writing news stories about computers. When he first started in 1983, he connected a modem to his computer, dialed in, and got data delivered to my computer via that modem. He immediately discovered the world of the BBS’s - the Bulletin Board Systems - which were independent systems operated out of homes, and often as a hobby that was rapidly growing into an industry . . . an industry that was making people money operating small businesses, delivering information and news, and handling some product sales and information.
As soon as he discovered this whole network of BBS’s that were blanketing the country, he immediately saw that this was a marketing method for the future and immediately started making his own living syndicating news and information and selling it to these operators in a weekly news magazine. He provided them with unique content that would bring callers back and make people want to subscribe and attract more users.
He made it his specialty to market this program and instantly started helping other people market their software and programs on the BBS’s. This is the secret of how one man was making money online 10 years before the Internet! For a time he even published a large trade journal for BBS operators as the BBS’s grew into an industry that was generating profits for people. Naturally, the Internet came along and literally swept the BBS industry clean. At one time there were almost 100,000 bulletin boards operating across the country. It’s now diminished to probably less than 5,000. Most of those BBS’s, by the way, are operating as gateways to the Internet for their callers.
The Internet has had a major impact on the industry. Our friend promptly shifted his focus a bit and started helping his clients learn how to make money on the Internet. For example, many of the profitable techniques of the BBS’s turned out to also be very profitable when used over the Internet.
The Internet eliminates many of the boundaries that were weaknesses the BBS’s, so the Internet literally has all of the advantages of the BBS’s and none of the negative angles the BBS’s suffered from. There’s no long distance clock ticking, running up a meter when a customer calls in. It’s almost always a flat rate fee. You have instant e-mail to anyone in the world. The impact of the Internet on our society has not even begun to be felt!
A good example of this is a recent Shell Oil Company Poll of people and how they feel about the last year of the millennium and the beginning of the new one. The poll asked people what they felt was the one technological development that had the most impact in our last century. Nearly twice as many people answered “the computer”- and thus the Internet - as those who listed the automobile! If you think about the impact the automobile had on society, it’s easy to see where people are going with this. What we found interesting about this is that both of these inventions involve mobility. The automobile took people to products and services more frequently. It increased the economic well-being and the ability of the consumer to actually buy more and do more.
Just think of the opportunities that the automobile opened up! The Internet’s power lies in its ability to bring the world of opportunities, services, and goods to the home without any need to fire up the automobile and head out traveling - it’s all done in the comfort of home! The impact is tremendous! And what better place to be marketing your products and services than on the Internet? According to the poll, the Internet even overshadowed television! What does the Internet hold in store for the future? What are we going to see in the next two years on the Internet? It’s potential is so high, it’s totally unpredictable. That’s why it’s so important for you to be there with a website generating your own information, services, and sales, and products. The numbers of people going online are exploding . . . and the amount of commerce that’s going to be happening is just unbelievable!
As soon as he discovered this whole network of BBS’s that were blanketing the country, he immediately saw that this was a marketing method for the future and immediately started making his own living syndicating news and information and selling it to these operators in a weekly news magazine. He provided them with unique content that would bring callers back and make people want to subscribe and attract more users.
He made it his specialty to market this program and instantly started helping other people market their software and programs on the BBS’s. This is the secret of how one man was making money online 10 years before the Internet! For a time he even published a large trade journal for BBS operators as the BBS’s grew into an industry that was generating profits for people. Naturally, the Internet came along and literally swept the BBS industry clean. At one time there were almost 100,000 bulletin boards operating across the country. It’s now diminished to probably less than 5,000. Most of those BBS’s, by the way, are operating as gateways to the Internet for their callers.
The Internet has had a major impact on the industry. Our friend promptly shifted his focus a bit and started helping his clients learn how to make money on the Internet. For example, many of the profitable techniques of the BBS’s turned out to also be very profitable when used over the Internet.
The Internet eliminates many of the boundaries that were weaknesses the BBS’s, so the Internet literally has all of the advantages of the BBS’s and none of the negative angles the BBS’s suffered from. There’s no long distance clock ticking, running up a meter when a customer calls in. It’s almost always a flat rate fee. You have instant e-mail to anyone in the world. The impact of the Internet on our society has not even begun to be felt!
A good example of this is a recent Shell Oil Company Poll of people and how they feel about the last year of the millennium and the beginning of the new one. The poll asked people what they felt was the one technological development that had the most impact in our last century. Nearly twice as many people answered “the computer”- and thus the Internet - as those who listed the automobile! If you think about the impact the automobile had on society, it’s easy to see where people are going with this. What we found interesting about this is that both of these inventions involve mobility. The automobile took people to products and services more frequently. It increased the economic well-being and the ability of the consumer to actually buy more and do more.
Just think of the opportunities that the automobile opened up! The Internet’s power lies in its ability to bring the world of opportunities, services, and goods to the home without any need to fire up the automobile and head out traveling - it’s all done in the comfort of home! The impact is tremendous! And what better place to be marketing your products and services than on the Internet? According to the poll, the Internet even overshadowed television! What does the Internet hold in store for the future? What are we going to see in the next two years on the Internet? It’s potential is so high, it’s totally unpredictable. That’s why it’s so important for you to be there with a website generating your own information, services, and sales, and products. The numbers of people going online are exploding . . . and the amount of commerce that’s going to be happening is just unbelievable!
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