Vast Opportunities on the Internet

Everyone who is looking to break out of their 9 to 5 routine is seriously looking at the opportunities opening up on the internet. It is true that ever since money making opportunities started appearing on the internet the businesses have been more or less centred on the USA and to a lesser extent on Europe and Australia. The rest of the world has more or less been out of this loop. However, statistics coming out recently make it evident that the vastly exploding internet user community in the rest of the world is fast outpacing the possible opportunities in the traditional world of internet marketing. For instance, as of end 2005 it is estimated that the total world population that has access to the internet has crossed one billion; one billion mind you, as compared to the total US population of around 250 million. This will only increase and provide huge opportunities for anyone who can identify the needs and opportunities that become available elsewhere. Obviously, there will be specific issues relative to different markets that need to be addressed. Language and differing cultures play a significant part in this exercise. For example, China today has taken over number one position in terms of the number of people who log onto the internet as unique users. China's Internet population surpassed Japan by the end of 2002, jumping to the second place in the world following the United States and today it is estimated to have already reached the number one position, ahead of the United States. Although the total penetration of PCs accessible to the population, as a percentage, is much less than in the USA it has crossed 100 million. Although young people still account for the majority of Internet users, the makeup of the age groups has been changing. In 1998, 91 per cent of all netizens were between the ages of 18 and 30. By the end of last year, that number had dropped to 51.3. At the same time, the percentage of netizens younger than 18 has grown to 18.8. Some 14.2 million adults aged older than 35 have joined the ranks of Internet surfers in the past six months, expanding the group's share to 17.8 per cent. This group includes some 3 million senior citizens aged 50 and above. It is interesting that using the Internet for leisure ranks second among users, more than study, getting to know friends, research or sending or receiving e-mails. Shopping online or doing other e-businesses accounted for only 0.4 per cent of Internet usage. This will surely increase in days to come and provides a ground floor opportunity for anyone looking for new markets. Joint Ventures with Chinese internet entrepreneurs seems to be the way to go given the lack of a broad based English knowledge among the population of the world's fastest growing economy. **All data taken from The China Internet Network Information Centre's (CNNIC) report