The new web services make it far easier for people to post their message, content or service. However this is a double-edged sword. As it gets easier, so it gets more crowded and increasingly difficult for any businesses to stand out. For example, there are about 27 million blogs listed on Technorati alone and numerous discussions aboout how the A-List is harder and harder to break into so how do you use that medium to kick-start your business?

Beyond visibility, the question is how you then make any money. Search and advertising revenues are often the key commercials which need high volumes to be worthwhile. This is why altruistic sites have been so successful – because anyone approaching it purely commercially wouldn’t have invested the time and money those guys did because the risk is greater than the reward.

There is a huge amount that the new web services have to offer SMEs and the key is to clearly demonstrate how they address the 3 key drivers for every small company owner: How do I increase revenue? How do I reduce costs? How do I save some time?

your comment on the difference between UK and US attitudes towards entreprenuers is spot on. Plus once you have achieved successful in the US people will respect you more. In the UK, we think less of you if you become too successful.