Forums: Discussions for entrepreneurs and small business.

What do you think 2007 will bring?

2006 was the year of the blog. Everyone and the dog had a blog by the end of 2006. Newscasters no longer needed to stop and define blog while they got stories from "his official blog."

It was also the year of the podcast. Podcasts - just like blogs - had already been growing in popularity by 2005, but 2006 was really the year they took off! If you didn`t have a podcast, you were a smallbody (not wanting to say nobody.)

My forecast is that 2007 will be the year of video. Websites will begin to be expected to have some kind of video, whether for demos, greetings, advertising. I also believe (or should I say hope) it will be the year that international e-commerce prices drop.

In other arenas, 2007 should also be an outstanding year. Under seven, over seven, lucky seven.

In world politics, with Fidel on his way out and Saddam already gone, Iran, North Korea and Venezuela may be the new new-dominators.

In the money markets, China and others may decide to gradually begin to transfer much of their international reserves to Euros.

OK, that`s all I can come up with. What have you got?


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Get Your Name in ".com" at the International Internet Authority

I agree! I think 2007 will be the year of the video(online)... a year of the beginnings of online shows becoming more popular, raising curiousity and getting the attention of business owners and tv execs. It won`t be long before there will be a choice of shows on your home tv from either the regular cable stations or online content....some already have this. This will open up an entire new market. Alot of folks who could never of dreamed of creating sitcomes, movies even infomercials for their products will start to do so, in a way that they can afford. Advertisements will grow to video.

Bundled online services and/or communities will start to grow, creating a connect and building new territories.

I think 2007 will be the year of the business woman. A year that we may start to see even more new business by women.

Online shopping through video seems probable, in an infomercial kind of platform. By 2008, i see a lot of online demostrations of folks products for sale. We will see video ads everywhere from everyone and then the big dogs will start getting into it in a sophisticated manner, that will be in your face at every turn.

that is my forcast...just a thought.

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Our Goal Is Your Success!
Founder Girls with Goals

2007:

Year of the kid. Year of the Boomer. Year of the Senior. Year of the Rich. High-end. Super-service. Social communities. Knowledge transfer. Adventure. New experiences.

R@

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Richard Arnold · Key Concept Writers · Business Communication: The "Key" To Success· Law of Attraction Blog · Life Ain`t Brain Surgery Blog

I`m thinking it`ll be the year of e-commerce. Yeah, yeah, I know...it`s already been e-commerce time! :-D But with previous years continuing an incredible growth rate, and with traditional sales outlets seemingly being a bit "enh..." I think e-commerce will be a "sudden" and "overnight" thing.

In other words, it`ll be the big "buzz word," and will consolidate all the infomercials about how to make gazillions online, along with the growing trend of people who are getting out of the corporate rat race. I believe this year is the first for the oldest Baby Boomers to reach 62, and become eligible for SS. Give that fiasco, it`s another driver toward the small- or micro-business sector development. And that means e-commerce as well.

CraigL,
If I may add: I`m hoping it`ll be the year of international e-commerce. :-)

You guys may not know it but outside of the US, setting up an online store is quite expensive. I`m looking forward to a drop in International Merchant Account prices for all.


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Get Your Name in ".com" at the International Internet Authority

I agree, year of the boomers. And the year they get busy online in e-commerce. With the possibilties for them to gain income or spend it.....we are bound to have an increase in growth for new commerce, new communities and larger sales dollars.

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Our Goal Is Your Success!
Founder Girls with Goals

stonesledge, CraigL, keycon and anyone else out there reading this, I`d really like to get your views on this statement:

2007 will be the year of "local" website. In other words, any website delivering local, geographically restrictive content, will have its boom this year.

What do you think?


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Get Your Name in ".com" at the International Internet Authority

I have to say I`m a tad bent out of shape by Craig`s List following this principle. When I`m looking for something on the Web it`s because I`ve already done the local search in other ways. More often than not, I`m either researching a phone number for a local place (`cause I`m too lazy to get out the phone book), or I`m ready and waiting to buy through the mail system.

I`m not a big fan of "local only," unless it`s explictly for physical services. So I`d look for a handyman or physical therapist in "local only." Otherwise, if a site like a restaurant says right on the main page that it`s located someplace far away from me, I just click away from the site.

With the Craig`s List example, I want to search ALL of the Chicago area, metropolitan and suburban. I`m not interested in having a limit to only the Far West Suburbs. Yes, I know that from the search perspective, it can find across the various locales, but I just don`t like it. I feel restricted, somehow, because I wouldn`t mind driving into the North suburbs, or into downtown Chicago.

I guess what I`m saying is that when I list something, I get the feeling that because it`s locally constrained, I`m going to lose visibility with possible customers who really aren`t all that far away. It`s the visibility thing with me.

 I actually have a new client who wants to solve this problem, atleast here locally in Virginia. I will be developing a web site for him for local business services to list what they do and products they sell. We have the local online newspaper but this is geared more toward services, kind of like a local service magic. The one thing we discussed is searching capabilities. He suggested by the telephone area code instead of zip, towns or sections of a city. This would add a less restrictive search and have more results. I think it was a simple solution.

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Our Goal Is Your Success!
Founder Girls with Goals

I`d search on both ZIP and area code, but also town name. Around here in the Chicago area, we`ve twice now, in the past 10 years, run out of area codes.

The result has been massive confusion and disruption as the phone company introduces new area codes. Nobody knows anymore, what area code applies to anything.

Then there`s the entire insanity of cellphones, where area codes have seemingly no relationship at all to location. I live way outside of Chicago, but my cellphone has a city area code. But Kathy, who lives in the same town, got some area code that didn`t even exist in the past.

The one thing that seems to be staying the same is the name of a town or city. So far, anyway.... :-)