FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla., Dec. 20, 2012 /PRNewswire-iReach/ --

Amazon.com vs. mortar and brick

Posted on December 20, 2012 by gsrpbs

For years we have watched as most mom and pop stores and franchises have gone out of business. The local hardware store became Home Depot and Builder's Square. The local diner is now a fast food franchise. One conglomerate swallows-up another. For a small business the world of brick and mortar has become obsolete.

(Photo: http://photos.prnewswire.com/prnh/20121220/CG33673)

Having grown up in the world of mom and pop stores, I find this discouraging and sad. New generations will never understand the single or twin movie theatre with giant screens, an electronics store that wasn't 50,000 square feet. Finding a salesman that cared and was actually helpful. In the physical world what we have left are franchises and conglomerates that own the franchises. Even many franchises are getting pushed out of the way for bigger and not necessarily better stores. The lines get long and the competition decreases.

After 25 years in business with two retail franchises and a software business, I decided it was time for a change. The real world costs too much, even if you try to compete with the big boys, you can never match their prices, there is no way to buy what they can in bulk and get their discounts, plus the cost of payroll, inventory, rent, utilities and everything else that goes in to a small business.

After a great deal of research, I have come to realize the only solution is the internet. While it is true most major companies are now on the internet, you can still get franchises or become an affiliate for these franchises or specific products. The playing field becomes more level. The size of your store does not matter, payroll is minimal if needed at all, inventory can simply be transferred as needed, the rent and utilities can actually be written off and save you money if you work out of your own house. For individual still wanting to work for him or herself, this is the last stop.

Figuring all this out is the easy part. Just like any business in the real world, you still need to know what to sell, what to promote, and how to promote it. While you aren't paying for tv ads and radio spots, you still need to drive traffic to your website vs the immense competition. So now we are back to the mentality of the real world, what makes your site, what makes your products better than the next guys?

The reality, just like in the real world, very little. But unlike having a corner store where there might be 20,000 potential customers in the neighborhood, in the interenet there are billions around the world, hopefully enough for everyone. All a person needs to do is how to get a small cut to buy from them. There really are many ways to to this, some are free, some are cheap and some are expensive. Some ways of driving traffic work and some do not, some are more honest than others, some places are like throwing money away. Once you start a course of doing business everyday, I do not think you can ever get all the answers, much is trial by error.

All I can say at this point is that I have become an Amazon affiliate, my site is at http:www.ronaldsonlinestore.net and I hope you will come by and check it out.

http://www.ronaldsonlinestore.net

http://amazonaffiliatesite.wordpress.com/

Media Contact: RONALD JACOBSON AMAZON.COM AFFILIATE, 954-326-8125, GSRPBS@YAHOO.COM

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SOURCE www.ronaldsonlinestore.net