It surprises me the number of people who seem to think that the Internet is the way to millions in this crazy world. So many approach me and say “I’ll just throw up a website then sell it for millions” without actually wondering if their idea is worth a bean in the first place. Let alone working out whether they will actually be able to sell anything.

So, why is it that the Internet is portrayed in such a way? Personally I believe it’s something to so with the way Internet businesses have been portrayed in the media. We see lots of news about multi-million pound business being formed in entrepreneur’s bedrooms and scribbled on a bit of paper before being snapped up by venture capitalists.

The truth is, it’s actually the hardest place to make money – because everyone is trying it.

It’s so cheap and easy to create a website now that everyone is at it. Just do a search for ‘free web site’ or ‘free blog’ and you’ll find thousands of places to set up your own little bit of web real estate. It really doesn’t matter that they’re rubbish, look terrible and have absolutely no value at all, they’re still cluttering up the Internet and therefore getting in the way of your superb site making any money.

So we have to look elsewhere to promote some of our newest websites and this is where the traditional off-site activity comes in. See my post of Google – if it’s good enough for them, surely it’s good enough for you?

Well yes, it is. The thing is, people do different things and look for their supply of goods and services in different ways. Also, some are just terrified of the Internet and so want to make sure that any company they buy off also has a shop or office that they can pop over to and scream at someone if something goes wrong? This probably explains why we are so happy to stand in the queue at Argos rather than do all our shopping on line.

Let’s face it, if the Internet was that good there would be no shops left at all, and there are. So why?

Humans are generally social creatures and unfortunately, for all the postulating of the online gaming fraternity, the Internet is a generally individual, solitary experience. We are alone when we’re shopping online for most of the time and this goes against our nature – so we still crave that little bit of social interaction.

This is why the shop will always be here. It’s here to stay, believe me, the Internet will not  take over completely because it’s just not human and if we all agree with this, we need to admit that we can’t just confine our advertising to online means, we need to step into the real world every now and then.