The internet has a significant role in making the world smaller and distances shorter. It has made possible trade and communication to be discussed and completed regardless of the countries of origin of the business parties. Whether it's on the busy streets of Bangkok or in the fjords in Norway, people can get together and do business at the speed of sound and light.

Millions of products and services are being traded online every day and intrepid internet marketers have taken advantage of this new ballgame to continuously promote their products to more and more potential clients. It has been around for many years, building businesses and making dreams come true and internet marketing shows little signs of stopping.

Advantages of internet marketing

Meet a wide audience

Jumping on the bandwagon may seem cheesy to some business-minded people, but if the bandwagon is headed where you want to go, why not grab a seat? It's only natural and practical to use the internet to market your products because it is a feasible way of maintaining contact with regular clients and promoting the product to newer ones.

Small businesses can compete with the giants

The internet has a place for nearly everyone – from big manufacturers to medium-sized companies to niche marketers to neophyte irregular traders. And since websites are open 24/7, internet marketers keep their businesses visible without worrying about infrastructure and marketing or administrative costs.

Whether you're an upstart or a hundred-year-old firm, you can take advantage of the cheap, if not free, means with which to do business online.

Cost effective

Internet marketing allows transactions that are virtually hassle-free. Even promotions can be pushed at nearly no cost to the marketer. Probably the only cost that an internet marketer has to worry about is hosting fees for his site, if he uses one to run his business. Since there is no need for a physical office (most internet marketers prefer to do business at home), overhead costs like rental and storage are cut to a minimum.

It's fast

Internet has freed marketing professionals and businessmen from slow processing due to distance. It has made communication available at an instant, whether the client lives at the end of the street or at the end of the continent. The internet has made true and relevant the old adage, 'time is gold', allowing marketers to grab opportunities immediately and close deals in minutes.

Promotes self-help

Internet marketers do not need to hire extra staff to handle sales. In fact, a good percentage are quite capable of handling their business on their own. There is also no need to waste time on face-to-face promotion and counseling since site visitors need only click on the information on the site to know more about product information and benefits.

Most of your site content remains relevant for a long time

Conventional methods of promoting or maintaining a product's market visibility become stale after just a few weeks or even a few days. Ads in magazines and newspapers only remain fresh until the next issue comes; and then they become history. Site content can remain valid for many years and will only require editing to change prices, add new information and extend dates.

Internet marketing is not without its disadvantages and risks, but so are other more conventional marketing methods. A lot of people have reached a significant level of success with it and in fact have made it their career. There may be some who have been burned by internet marketing, but if you think about it, this is not uncommon even in offline businesses.

What internet marketing does is offer an alternative way of doing business. It's here, it's available and if you've weighed the risks against the advantages well enough, you'll probably realize that internet marketing is well worth a shot.