30 Years of Worldwide Web has changed everything. Is it destroying the High Street?

Worldwide web inventor Tim Berners-Lee inventor has called for more control of the internet, which has changed everything in the last 30 years.

We can now self-publish articles, books, videos, live broadcasts and podcasts online.

We can buy, trade and sell online, which is destroying the high street as we know it.

Shop vacancies have hit a 4-year high, which means landlords (which could be your pension fund) are also suffering.

Amazon started 25 years ago and has grown from start-up to one of the most valuable public companies on the planet, with Mr Bezos now the world's richest man.

Starting as an online book retailer, it has become a global giant, selling multiple products and becoming the world's second-ever public company to hit a $1 trillion valuation.

Amazon has sales of over $234 billion and is expected to rise to over $300 billion by 2020.  

One of the reasons the company has grown is their partner programmes which enables online entrepreneurs and retailers to sell goods on the Amazon platform at a fraction of the cost of setting up a physical store.

In the past, you needed technical knowledge and skills to set up websites and marketing ability to work online. You needed to find a way of driving traffic to your site. Amazon has solved these problems.

The internet has opened up a new world of learning, working, socialising and doing business. We no longer need to go back to school or university to learn new skills. We can work from home, start a business or find a new life partner all from the comfort of our home.

Amazon has also enabled thousands of authors to easily self-publish their books online, as I have with my book, Yes, Money Can Buy You Happiness! See link - http://bit.ly/2MoneyBook

If you want to quit the rat race and work from home, but can't quite replace your income from your paid job, why not try and gradually make the transition over a period of time? 

You can learn how to get started on Amazon or Facebook by following the steps of people who have done all the hard work for you and now want to pass on their knowledge.

For more information on Amazon and Facebook courses email charles@charleskelly.net

Word of the Day

Leverage

Leverage simply means using a lever, or form of help, to make it easier to do something, whether it be buying an asset of moving a rock by amplifying your strength.

In financial terms, Ivestopedia describes leverage as using borrowed capital as a funding source when investing to expand the firm's asset base and generate returns on risk capital. Leverage is an investment strategy of using borrowed money—specifically, the use of various financial instruments or borrowed capital—to increase the potential return of an investment. Leverage can also refer to the amount of debt a firm uses to finance assets. When one refers to a company, property or investment as "highly leveraged," it means that item has more debt than equity.

Key points

• Leverage refers to the use of debt (borrowed funds) to amplify returns from an investment or project.
• Investors use leverage to multiply their buying power in the market.
• Companies use leverage to finance their assets: instead of issuing stock to raise capital, companies can use debt to invest in business operations in an attempt to increase shareholder value. 
• Corporate raiders have used leverage to take control of a company using debt secured against its shares in “leveraged buyouts”.

You can also leverage your time and your life by using tools or employing staff and outsourcers. If you are not using leveraging in your life, chances are your life is being leveraged by someone else.