Over the next week, we will be looking at some of the economic policies presented by Barack Obama and John McCain, and how some of those policies might affect your business. Please keep in mind that we cannot explore every facet of each candidate’s stance on the economy, but will be discussing specific elements. Learning about the candidate’s campaigns is important so that you can cast an informed vote. One of the best ways to learn what each candidate believes is to visit their websites. Please also keep in mind that our discussions over the next week are not designed to sway your vote in any direction, only to provide information and analysis for you to consider when you make your choice on November 4, 2008.

For this discussion, we will focus on an element of Barack Obama’s economic plans, and that is to deploy next generation broadband. Let’s first examine what this entails (this information comes from Obama’s campaign website).

· Broadband extended to every community

· Reform the Universal Service Fund

· Better use of the nation’s wireless spectrum

· Promotion of next-generation facilities, technologies and applications

· New tax and loan incentives

Let’s look at how some of these items might affect your business. The most obvious item is the extension of broadband to every community. If every community obtained broadband internet access, more and more prospects would surf the net and use it to find information, as well as products and services. The internet would be available on the go to more prospects as well. Through internet marketing, your business would be able to reach more prospects.

How does that happen? Better use of the nation’s wireless spectrum helps. If you recall our discussion on the switch to digital television in February 2009, we looked at how that switch might influence use of the internet. By switching to digital broadcasting, more networks can take up less space on the limited broadcasting spectrum, thus opening channels for other services, such as internet.

Promotion of next-generation facilities, technologies and applications is another crucial step toward achieving the goal of extending broadband to every community. By investing in technological development, the hope is that the programs and services required to implement and maintain a large scale, nationwide broadband network will be able to support that goal.

Reforming the Universal Service Fund and new tax and loan incentives will further help to achieve that goal in a more efficient manner according to Obama’s campaign. Ultimately, if this plan were to proceed as outlined, your business could look forward to reaching more prospects with more ease. From there, all your business requires is stable and adaptable internet marketing strategies to attract those prospects to your company’s website, and help convert them into loyal customers.