Constant innovation, constant change, constant challenge to old ways.

There is a wave of entrepreneurs inhabiting the planet and the rest of us should sit up and take notice. The Internet really is a tool for the common person and many “common” people are making it their own and earning a great living from it.

In the beginning of the Internet, well, when it really fell into the hands of Joe Public, there was a sarcastic comment that “on the Internet, you really can be a dog”. It meant that “anyone who was no-one could be anything they wanted to be”. And, while it was tongue in cheek back then it is a profoundly true statement.

I’ve been reading some fantastic blogs over the past few years and we now have a couple of entities creating blog awards. These awards, while not massive in terms of payment, are a true reflection of how the world values information and the “new” world of blogging. Many of these blogs are run by individuals who simply had something to say. Many have gone on to have guest writers and to form affiliations with others - great idea.

And they are, slowly but surely, creating a new economy. Many of them promote the “free” philosophy: write for free, provide tools for free and promote others for free.

Some are asking people to pay for their services but many (Steve Pavlina, Darren Rowse, Leo Barbauta and the like) all provide really good information for nix and yet they have very large followings of people who hang off every word they write & speak.

Darren is the first to admit he is a geek. I haven’t been in personal touch with Leo or Steve.

These individuals and the thousands like them are creating a new economy that many traditional businesses may want to take note of. Sure, they are not amazon.com, nor are they e-bay but they are beginning to look like seek.com with their employment ads. They send people around the world to mini-malls and adsense ads when they pique their interest - so they are generating a new source of income. (Steve Pavlina suggests $40,000 per month!)

So where will this all end? Will it end? I know some governments are looking at how they can tax Internet Income. That will be a hurdle we will all have to deal with but it may not be for a while.

The key to all this, especially from a CRM perspective, is that these people are using the web to deliver value. In fact, the Internet and a couple of tools are all they are using. Traditional businesses are using the Net in far more traditional ways: newsletters, email, e-invoices, job advertisements.

But is there a hidden treasure trove for traditional businesses to maximise the Net for both them and their customers?

Is it time to review what we do and re-invent it via the web?

Do people just want the information and how we deliver it has become immaterial?

Can we, as traditional businesses, find more ways to deliver value (not: simply deliver more) and have our clients become more dependent on us and more involved with us?

If we can do this, how do we do it? What do we change? What do we add?

In the early 20th century there was a railway company in the US who, when flight became an option, dismissed it saying: “we are a railway company.” I think it was UPS who said “we are a delivery company, the mean is irrelevant.” The railway company is no more. They didn’t value the new economy of flight.

These pioneers of the new economy (Pavlina, Rowse and the like) are the models we need to research, look into and emulate into our own traditional businesses. Otherwise we will end up like the railway company.