“When we added a website and shopping cart system, our numbers went through the roof,” cried Malissa Minge, Sales Director for Bertie Thornberry Corp, a internet communication technologies manufacturing company, “this, teamed with high positioning in the major search engines really created a whole new market for us that was never expected.” It’s no secret that the internet is a driving force in the internet communication technologies sales market. Most consumers will research their purchases online before actually going to a store, so that they understand internet communication technologies product specs and use requirements before having to deal with a live salesperson. “I prefer to take my time and read about it all online first,” said Guire Jennison, a recent customer of the Matilde Bentzinger Chain Outlets, “I’m not a high pressure sales type, and rather just go to the store and check out sas soon as possible.” “After starting an internet internet communication technologies sales division in 2003, we saw our sales increase three-fold,” said Ossie Whitmer, director of marketing and sales for Lawrence Nassimi and Poehlein Lisowski Associates, “and this resulted in the creation of more jobs and employment opportunities in our company. Our number of employees has doubled, and our number of IT staff has quadrupled in a year’s time.” “With internet internet communication technologies sales booming, we may have to cut back on in person sales teams,” said Sanyaro Przybyla, director of Human Resources for Batko Hanner INC, “mainly because we are losing money in that operational area. As we move forward, we’ll give those employees new job opportunities in our internet communication technologies company before we actually lay them off, so that they can continue to grow with our company if they so desire.” And, as internet sales in the internet communication technologies industry explode, parallel growth is being noted in the internet marketing field, particularly search engine and affiliate marketing. “Search engines and affiliates have doubled our numbers,” said Kushi Skinkle, director of marketing for Stickler Manjarres INC., “and where there was once one or two big internet marketing firms, now there are well over ten in our industry. This growth speaks to the power of the information super high way.” Marketing online, however, is not as easy as it looks. Thousands of websites compete for top positioning in the search engines, and, as search algorithms change and top search engines create new market areas, some websites can lose out. One day, you might be number one for “buy internet communication technologies”, a week later, number 100. The difference between these positions is obvious: no one wades through 100 results for a internet communication technologies product unless the first 99 are extremely poor. In general, most competitive industries online rely on top 10 placement, because of the reality of how web surfers behave. Stickler Manjarres isn’t alone with these new ideas. Remona Sarp, who manages one person company, believes the internet marketing boom has created a huge market for small time business owners. “For the first few years of my career,” said Calnan Tsuchiya, “I was working 9 to 5 at a marketing firm, doing the typical corporate thing. Now, however, I have my own website, production center, and payment processing. This allows me to work from home under my own rules and with unlimited income potential.” Without a doubt, in the pre-internet marketing days, most internet communication technologies resellers only used the internet as a means to communicate via email with current customers. “Things in the industry really turned a corner when people began to acquire, not maintain customers online,” said Tammi Oberley, a noted internet marketer and web designer. “When acquisiton via online services got big, companies in the internet communication technologies sector finally woke up to the idea that the information super highway was here to stay - in a very big way.”