5 Trending Opportunities of 2010
2010 is not only a new year, it is a new decade. And with this seemingly normal step of New Years passing, everyone gets a sense of renewed energy with a new decade. If you take a look at the way the face of business has changed over the past 10 years it is pretty humbling to think what might be in store for us in the next 10 years. The last decade spurred the very idea of internet millionaires, eCommerce and has effectively killed off media outlets that don’t offer their readership methods of engagement (video etc.)
So what are the up and coming opportunities for 2010 and beyond? Thanks to new and empowering technologies like Android 3.0, a 4th generation iPhone and advanced cloud computing we are going to see more web based entrepreneurs this decade than every before.
1. Small Business Marketing
Over the last 10 years, only big brands or those with large amounts of capital were able to effectively push their brand and story online to grow their sales and/or clientele. With all the new technologies however that small business have available, but more importantly the aspiring marketers who know how to use them we will see an influx of firms looking to build their business online. Even brands like Pepsi who just announced that they will forgo their annual SuperBowl advertisement for the biggest social media push to date is just more validation around creating conversations about your brand.
The key success platforms will come in various forms depending on the objective, but include:
Social Media
Ad.ly : Arguably the most aggressive social advertising platform available for larger brands to reach their audience. They have recently launched a Twitter analytics tool to help Twitter accounts look at the demographics of their following. They currently give those people with Twitter accounts the ability to monetize their feed from big brands but are about to announce a self service platform. Check it out here: http://bit.ly/44xZT
Sponsored Tweets : An “Izea Innovation” by CEO Ted Murphy, Sponsored Tweets is the best currently available self service platform for aspiring marketers to deliver a brand message and conversation into the stream. http://bit.ly/6ihki3
Small Business Affiliate
Shoemoney Tools : Do you have a good understanding of your market? Do business such as your local dentist and car dealerships have an under represented web presence? Check out the Shoemoney Tools designed with the power user in mind. Check out the service for a rock bottom $3.95 trial. http://bit.ly/shoeoffer
2. Android
Right now the iPhone is dominating the charts, but being tied to one carrier that seems to be overwhelmed by the success and not able to deliver the results that consumers demand. So where is the opportunity? Currently developers for Android are wiping the floor by offering sub-quality apps at a premium price when compared to the iPhone. Applications that are awesome and sell for .99-1.99 on the iPhone are gimped on Android while getting away with $15-$20 price tags. Until more developers get on the platform to create amazing applications at iPhone equivalent price points there is a lot of money to be made my start up developers.
3. Web Based Inventory (Small Business)
One of the biggest challenges for small business when it comes to selling online is the ability to track and manage their inventory when selling across multiple channels. This is something big business have overcome with proprietary databases and expensive merchant solutions. However, the first company to create inventory management that ties into point-of-sale computers as well as online transactions will be able to capitalize on a huge market! I feel that this is the most overlooked category of opportunity.
4. Mobile Transactions
The most talked about mobile commerce platform is easily Square ( https://squareup.com/ ) and many of the heavy hitters in the marchant business are taking notice. The last thing those big firms want is another PayPal situation on their hands, but the company who can effectively tie in the mobile application with quality hardware will win the race.
5. Cloud Storage
Consumers are tired of losing their data, and solid state drives can’t seem to get big enough or cheap enough… fast enough. Google knows that data and knowledge are power on the web and want to capitalize with their Chrome OS which will try and convince people that not managing their data locally is a good thing and that they should trust Google with their precious family photos. DropBox seems very poised to take this market, but any application developer who can overcome a “natural” feel to cloud based storage and syncing between local machines will likely be able to up sell customers from a fremium model.
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