The Internet giveth and the Internet taketh away.
For small and mid-sized businesses – including the smallest, which are just one person — the Internet has provided huge advantages. Relatively inexpensively they can create a basic website or blog and potentially reach a global market. They can get up and running on search advertising platforms, such as AdWords and Bing, and for just a few dollars a day their ads can be mixed in among those of Fortune 500 companies. Social media provides them with free platforms for having ongoing conversations with prospects and customers, to connect with people looking for their products and services and do informal market research.