globalization of the net
Cybil and her husband Darren have a great website advertising their talents as web designers and IT specialists but they both still have day jobs and regret that they started up at the tail end of the boom and since then have been overwhelmed by the Asian tigers in the globalization of the net.
"We started the website at the tail end of the boom," sighs Cybil, "and we haven't had any luck whatsoever. Our website is our 'baby' and we'll keep it running whether or not we get a 'bite' but it's a real shame that things haven't worked out for us."
"I think the novelty of the Internet is dying off in most of the western world - users are getting a life," laughs Cybil, "but it is taking off incredibly fast in Asia."
"I would imagine that there's a huge market for translators right now," says Cybil, "and an even bigger market for lawyers once people realize that their website is being pirated, translated and sold on the Asian market!"
"Our problem is that just about every new kid on the Net knows how to set up a fabulous webpage and some of them are more on the cutting edge of technology than we are," says Cybil. "And they do it all for free because it's fun."
"Darren and I are, in effect, working for 'free' on the Net, but we are not having as much fun as the new kids as we truly hoped that our business would take off and allow us to become financially independent."
"We are hoping that the 'free' webpage designs we put on our site will attract someone willing to pay for a specialist project," says Cybil, "but by placing samples of our work on the Internet for free, I fear we're merely exposing ourselves to getting ripped off."
"Despite copyright on designs and content, whatever you put on the Net is more or less deemed up for grabs. People who are either too lazy or too lacking in talent to do it themselves thieve source-coding, graphics and content every day."
"We can force the thieves to remove pirated stuff by reporting them to their service providers," says Cybil, "but prosecuting them is not worth the time, money nor effort."
"If the thieves use our work on English sites it's easy to find them, but if they use any other language we can't locate them," says Cybil. "We don't mind if people use our stuff on a personal web page - with our consent - but the thought of some business operator pirating our work in order to save himself the cost of paying for it really upsets us."
"The trouble with the Internet," says Cybil, "is that it started off in its infancy as a venue for the free dissemination of knowledge and despite the juggernaut of the business world taking over the Net - and its search engines - there still exists a hard core of users who feel that people should not have to pay for anything in cyberspace. If it's online - it's deemed free and to hell with copyright."
For any woman thinking of starting a small Internet business - either in tandem with a shop-front in real life, or strictly virtual - Cybil advises against following her lead.
"IT and web design skills may have been premium prior to 2000," says Cybil, "but they're not so marketable now - especially in western countries where workers expect premium wages. Jobs requiring these skills go offshore - we can't compete with Asian wages. "
"Go for something that's highly marketable off the Internet," says Cybil, "especially something that would appeal to the Asian market. Asia is the ultimate future of the Internet - so wrack your brains to sell something that would appeal to the Asian market and translate the website yourself before someone pirates it!"
"If you want to sell a product or a service that's not marketable off the Internet," says Cybil, "there's no harm in setting up a webpage to attract the one in a zillion buyer just as long as you are not wasting time, money and effort and you get a kick out of having a website - like we do."
"A niche product or service, if priced highly enough, could do well in the long run. As for everything else, forget it if you're not a highly competitive and dog eat dog sort of person."
"It's well to remember, too," adds Cybil, "that even with a highly marketable product you'll need to play the search engine game, and that is costly. Finally, there's no guarantee that even a highly marketable product will make you a living let alone a fortune on the Internet. In the future, maybe - who knows?"
"We started the website at the tail end of the boom," sighs Cybil, "and we haven't had any luck whatsoever. Our website is our 'baby' and we'll keep it running whether or not we get a 'bite' but it's a real shame that things haven't worked out for us."
"I think the novelty of the Internet is dying off in most of the western world - users are getting a life," laughs Cybil, "but it is taking off incredibly fast in Asia."
"I would imagine that there's a huge market for translators right now," says Cybil, "and an even bigger market for lawyers once people realize that their website is being pirated, translated and sold on the Asian market!"
"Our problem is that just about every new kid on the Net knows how to set up a fabulous webpage and some of them are more on the cutting edge of technology than we are," says Cybil. "And they do it all for free because it's fun."
"Darren and I are, in effect, working for 'free' on the Net, but we are not having as much fun as the new kids as we truly hoped that our business would take off and allow us to become financially independent."
"We are hoping that the 'free' webpage designs we put on our site will attract someone willing to pay for a specialist project," says Cybil, "but by placing samples of our work on the Internet for free, I fear we're merely exposing ourselves to getting ripped off."
"Despite copyright on designs and content, whatever you put on the Net is more or less deemed up for grabs. People who are either too lazy or too lacking in talent to do it themselves thieve source-coding, graphics and content every day."
"We can force the thieves to remove pirated stuff by reporting them to their service providers," says Cybil, "but prosecuting them is not worth the time, money nor effort."
"If the thieves use our work on English sites it's easy to find them, but if they use any other language we can't locate them," says Cybil. "We don't mind if people use our stuff on a personal web page - with our consent - but the thought of some business operator pirating our work in order to save himself the cost of paying for it really upsets us."
"The trouble with the Internet," says Cybil, "is that it started off in its infancy as a venue for the free dissemination of knowledge and despite the juggernaut of the business world taking over the Net - and its search engines - there still exists a hard core of users who feel that people should not have to pay for anything in cyberspace. If it's online - it's deemed free and to hell with copyright."
For any woman thinking of starting a small Internet business - either in tandem with a shop-front in real life, or strictly virtual - Cybil advises against following her lead.
"IT and web design skills may have been premium prior to 2000," says Cybil, "but they're not so marketable now - especially in western countries where workers expect premium wages. Jobs requiring these skills go offshore - we can't compete with Asian wages. "
"Go for something that's highly marketable off the Internet," says Cybil, "especially something that would appeal to the Asian market. Asia is the ultimate future of the Internet - so wrack your brains to sell something that would appeal to the Asian market and translate the website yourself before someone pirates it!"
"If you want to sell a product or a service that's not marketable off the Internet," says Cybil, "there's no harm in setting up a webpage to attract the one in a zillion buyer just as long as you are not wasting time, money and effort and you get a kick out of having a website - like we do."
"A niche product or service, if priced highly enough, could do well in the long run. As for everything else, forget it if you're not a highly competitive and dog eat dog sort of person."
"It's well to remember, too," adds Cybil, "that even with a highly marketable product you'll need to play the search engine game, and that is costly. Finally, there's no guarantee that even a highly marketable product will make you a living let alone a fortune on the Internet. In the future, maybe - who knows?"
Labels: e-biz, globalization, it, self-employment, web design
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