Broadband Investment Broadens Horizons
In today’s tough economy, small business owners with a high-speed Internet connection are realizing the benefits of a web presence, and growing dependent on reliable broadband connections to reach new and existing customers.
Broadband Internet allows for the purest ideal of free market capitalism; a system in which only the best products and services rise to the top. Thanks to this platform, there is literally nothing that stands between the proprietor and their customer, no matter how far apart they may be geographically. With its low-cost barrier to entry, the Internet provides an open platform for small business to jump to the next level. Even the smallest mom-and-pop style businesses are able to transform themselves into retail powerhouses.
Digital Demands
As a commercial photographer, I rely on broadband perhaps more than most. The Internet is simply the way business is done in my industry. I couldn’t compete without a reliable and secure broadband connection. Fast turnaround is crucial in most cases. Being able to deliver jobs electronically as soon as they are done is critical to my clients, and therefore to my survival. Broadband has also allowed me to collaborate on shoots virtually over the web, negotiate and book jobs, find talent, props, and freelance services, and keep abreast of the best equipment offers and sales.
In today’s current market, an online presence is everything. When a potential client or an out-of-town buyer is looking for a particular type of photography, they will refer to Google 95 percent of the time. Without this online presence, my market would travel no further than local word of mouth and the Worcester Yellow pages.
Federal Communications Commission Chairman Julius Genachowski recognizes the importance of broadband to small businesses. The plan he unveiled on March 17 will ensure that small businesses — which remain the engine of private sector growth — can compete in today’s expanding marketplace. The plan not only proposes funds to provide access to broadband, it provides the tools and education to help small, diverse businesses take advantage of broadband.
Small businesses owners across the country will benefit from the fast implementation of this plan by Congress and the Obama administration.
Providing broadband and the know-how to use it to small business will give our lagging economy a much-needed shot in the arm at a critical time by linking our most dynamic entrepreneurs to a broader and deeper marketplace.
Larry Stein is president and CEO of Larry Stein Photography Inc. in Worcester. He can be reached at ls@larrystein.com.
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