With the economy and turmoil in many parts of the world, companies must do all they can to lower operating overhead by increasingly using technology, having many employees work remotely and outsourcing whatever they can.
Organizations are going to be placed in a position where their Internet presence is going to play a critical part to their business success. I believe that many business will move away from the traditional “brick and mortar” in exchange for online stores. This will present opportunities to minimize overhead costs which will increase the amount of “work capital” in terms of Financial Capital.
Many people will begin to produce work from the comfort of their own homes (if they desire to be successful). The greater the Internet presence the less of time and money invested will be invested into traditional marketing. I believe that the Internet will be the igniter to “Word of Mouth” which I believe is still the most effective way of getting your message out. Just turn on your television and you will see that word of mouth is powerful even if it is build off of speculation, opinions and assumptions. These trends are actually present, and will spread amongst those who desire to increase their influence. We just have to be sure that the right message is being conveyed, that our consumers understand our message, and that it turns them into producers of quality IN-FOR-MATION.
Another major trend for 2012 will be the use of mobile technologies at all levels from micro to giant enterprises. Plus the growing utilization of cloud services that will help with operating costs, making it possible for small business to share the same resources of big corporations to reach smaller and further areas.
Globalization is still a growing trend that more and more corporations will start using to reduce cost. More trends we may see are economically still a struggle for credit and massive layoffs still coming, not much improvement in the USA economy, keeping up with budget cuts among government agencies, growing interest among small businesses to participate as government vendors, and incorporating more technology and resources into small business.