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Print ArticleIt’s a tough economy out there, and everyone is looking for ways to cut costs and generate a little extra cash. Fortunately, that has become easier than ever thanks to the Internet. Almost every device on the planet, from laptops to cell phones, can access the Internet, and while much of that interconnectivity has been squandered on rather silly pursuits, many useful and interesting technologies are waiting out there for businesses to use to their advantage. Here are some internet-related technologies that can help your business to save or even possibly make money:
VOIP
What is it?
VOIP stands for “Voice over Internet Protocol” and has steadily grown more widespread since the advent of broadband connections. VOIP services allow users to make phone calls through their internet connection. Many VOIP services, such as Skype (found at Skype.com), include voice mail, conference calling, call forwarding, video conferencing with others that use the service, and toll-free numbers.
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VOIP services are generally much less expensive than normal phone plans, provided the user is already paying for an internet service. Skype offers a $4 per month plan for unlimited calls to any phone in the United States and Canada, which includes free calls to other Skype users. For a few more dollars, users can get an “online” phone number that anyone can call like a regular phone line, and if the Skype user does not answer, it will forward the call to a number of their choice. Thus, VOIP can potentially eliminate expensive phone bills entirely or augment an existing phone service to remove hefty long distance fees.
What’s the catch?
The primary drawback to VOIP services is that they are dependent upon the internet connection to work, so if the internet goes down, so does the service. They also require the purchase of a relatively inexpensive adapter to work with a regular phone as opposed to a headset/microphone combo attached to a computer. Lastly, most VOIP services do not have the option of dialing 911 for emergency assistance, so another option would be required for emergency calling.
EBAY
What is it?
EBay is an online consortium of people buying and selling various goods ranging from collectible action figures to high-end electronics.
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In the beginning, eBay resembled little more than a worldwide flea market hosted on the internet, with a variety of esoteric sellers hawking the junk in their attic to equally esoteric buyers. However, over the years a number of people have developed online stores on eBay that sell their goods directly from the manufacturer or warehouse. This allows buyers to get the same item found in a retail store brand new for a fraction of the price. EBay’s ever increasing popularity ensures that virtually any consumer product can be found on its site.
Of course the “flea market” component of eBay has evolved to offer opportunity to save money too, as many eBay sellers look to unload used items that are still in perfect working order that they have outgrown or no longer need. A hot item amongst fabricators this past year was the ever handy forklift, and a quick search of eBay yields a number of used forklifts and their accessories up for sale and auction.
EBay is also a fantastic place to find items, parts, and repair kits for items that are no longer manufactured or supported. An old, broken tool in the shop could conceivably be repaired and put back into service after finding the parts on eBay, saving the cost of purchasing something brand new.
On the flip side, selling excess materials and equipment can provide some much-needed revenue as well. There’s always someone looking for that dead color sheet taking up space in inventory or a part of that broken tool in the closet, and many times they’re willing to pay top dollar for it. Some fabricators have even opened eBay stores where they sell countertops directly!
What’s the catch?
While many sellers do offer a “buy-it-now” option, most items are auctions. Thus, competitors can bid up the price higher than one would prefer or simply flat out out-bid you. In addition, waiting for the auction to end and the seller to ship the product can be inconvenient if something is needed immediately.
Also, like any online retailer, the sellers (and buyers) can be less reliable than a retail outlet visited in person. However, eBay combats this with a robust user ratings and comments system, which will identify reliable people from whom to purchase.
Selling on eBay also requires time setting up and monitoring the auctions, as well as shipping the items and potentially answering questions about them.
What is it?
Most people only know Google as a popular search engine, but in the last few years they have begun expanding into a number of different areas, such as mapping, drawing, E-mail, and advertising.
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Google’s search engine, along with many others out there such as Yahoo, MSN, and Ask.com, is fantastic for finding do-it-yourself tutorials and forums full of people willing to walk complete strangers through everything from rebuilding an automobile’s transmission to tech support. Google’s GMail E-mail service is also free and gives users enormous amounts of mailbox space, and GMail accounts also come with free chatting and video conference options built right into the mailbox.
Google AdWords is a cheap and effective way to get noticed on the web. It does not require the advertiser have their own website, and the user gets to choose how much they’re willing to spend. Of course, every fabricator should have a website to promote, and Google AdWords can help tremendously in increasing the site’s visibility, since most search engines now determine webpage rankings by the number of clicks a page receives and the number of other places it is linked, both of which will increase with AdWords. Also, Google’s ads are targeted based on the type of webpage hosting AdSense, thus helping to ensure the people looking at the ad are actually interested in that market.
Google AdSense is the flipside of AdWords, where website owners are paid to host these ads, and it can be an easy way to make a few extra dollars on the side for website owners. It is about as unobtrusive as advertising gets one the Internet, and generates money with no maintenance by the website owner.
What’s the catch?
Searching can take time, and poor searching will often not yield the desired result. Do-it-yourself projects also take time and come with their own mishaps and adventures that sometimes can be more costly than hiring an expert.
Google AdWords will only be as effective as the amount of money put in and generally requires considerable clicks to really pay off. Google AdSense does help generate income, but unless the website has a high amount of traffic to ensure lots of clicks on the links, it won’t pay very much.
