The Emperor of China, and how he rewarded the inventor of chess, is the earliest example of growth at double rate, and yet it has been happening all around us since well before then.

In his 2001 paper, Raymond Kurzweil recognized that “…the emergence of the first technology creating species resulted in the new evolutionary process of technology. Therefore, technological evolution is an outgrowth of–and a continuation of–biological evolution.”

the whitepaper went on to illustrate The Law of Accelerating Returns, which simplifies the understanding of such phenomenon as Moore’s Law and sheds the spotlight on why technology is moving at such a rapid pace.

So if you’re running an online business, Kurzweil is required reading. And so indeed is the option of Internet business home-study course.

So new is the Internet still, that methods and practices of conducting business online are changing fast, and will continue to do so for some time.. Therefore, what may have worked for people even six months ago could be old-hat now.

However, one single thing is common to all businesses still. Without exception, all online businesses can atttribute their success to this: A targeted, and self-propelling list of prospects which grows exponentially.

It is therefore of vital importance to choose which automatic listbuilding software is right for you.

If you choose wisely, you could be working only a few hours each week and earning enough to be on holiday for the rest. Get it wrong and you could be chained to your desk.

No one should make such a decision lightly. It is one which should be investigated thoroughly. Running an online business should be the most time-freeing things you do. It should give you more time with your family, to travel and to relax. But only if you have a true automatic online company, can it be so.

The biggest reason why the Internet gives us so much more opportunity than any medium before it is because word-of-mouth marketing, as we used to call it offline, is the much more powerful viral marketing online. And viral marketing is a great deal quicker and more precise than good old Chinese Whispers.

Lets look at a comparason…

Typically, restaurants get about 75% of their business from repeat customers or referrals. However, when you go to a restaurant and have a good meal, at least one which you might tell your friends about, you will need to remember exactly what its called and what street it is in so that your referral has an idea of where to go to experience the same.

There is plenty of room for error therefore.

On the other hand, when you are sent a URL from someone to go and visit a site, it may come to your inbox, or perhaps you saw it on a blog or even on Twitter. Then, because of its digital nature, it can not be typed incorrectly or mislayed. It will remain unchanged. And when you click on that link, arrive at a page without anyone having to give you directions.

If you don’t use viral marketing to grow your online business, then why have you got an online business?