In the past 30 days, I have done a podcast, a teleseminar and a webinar. Thirty months ago, I wouldn't have even known that a webinar was an interactive seminar on the Internet! In our age, we are seeing the tools of business reinvented overnight. As the longshoreman philosopher Eric Hoffer wrote, "In a time of drastic change, it is the learners who inherit the future."

What's the single biggest change I have spotted in those 30 months? The invasion of highbrow technology into the once low-tech world of small business:

• In New York City, I recently got a shoeshine. Did I gaze at the crowds walking by? No, I was tuned into CNN on the shop's big-screen TV.
• Kids wear braces, right? They clock time in orthodontic treatment rooms. Is it any surprise that more and more of them are now equipped with Internet-accessible computer terminals? A reader, Mandolyn McIntyre, wrote me recently that dentists now have "the power to automatically text message appointment reminders" to their customers. This reminder sure has a new byte to it.
• There's an increase in the number of doctors with computer terminals or Wi-Fi access in reception areas so queued up patients can sign-on to read their email. In a few years, that rack of dog-eared Newsweek and People magazines may be a waiting-room dinosaur.
• When I popped into the local Asian takeout recently, the owner was clicking away at her computer. "Doing the books?" I asked casually. "No, taking an order. Mr. Mackay, do you realize what's happened since we started offering online ordering? Our average ticket is up 25 percent!"

Most small business people are far more computer savvy today. What's more, costs have plunged and availability has surged. Earlier this year, Steve Rucinski wrote on podcasting for Small Business Trends and noted: "With forecasted sales of over 120 million MP3 players and 200 million MP3 enabled cell phones in 2007, the potential audience for podcasts continues to grow at a strong pace." Rucinski says you can launch your own podcast studio with a $500 kit. "Internet based radio stations are emerging to serve the small business audience," adds Rucinski.

How should small businesses keep a handle on the technology surge?

• Look for the trends that are right for your niche. Don't just pump up your Internet presence to be techno-chic. There are millions of customers out there who will hold you accountable to the Internet promises you make. Set new expectations, and customers will challenge you to meet them.
• Flush out the mechanical bottlenecks. You can spruce up your high technology to be the hottest in cyberspace ... but if you don't have enough phone lines and receivers to handle demand, what will it matter?
• If you're in the service sector, definitely scout what's happening in the mega-cities. That's where the innovations like big-screen shoeshine parlors or in-cab passenger videos surface first.
• Computer files offer an unprecedented opportunity to keep customer records. Those same files allow you to pinpoint what really rings the register. If you're a carpet cleaner, for instance, you might find 80 percent of your January revenues are in lifting red wine stains out of ivory white plush.
• Get competent and reliable technical assistance. Setting up an e-menu or a podcast studio might cost peanuts. They can also bankrupt your reputation if the technology isn't maintained and updated.
• Ask your customers, especially younger ones: What can we do to make your life more informative or easier? Recently I read about a group of funeral homes offering a paid service to preserve DNA samples of a loved one. Sound morbid? Consider the breakthroughs in gene tracking, and what your health-conscious grandchildren might want to know about great-granddad's genetic markers.

The Internet is like the computer was before it. Both are tools. They can revolutionize how you administer and publicize your business, regardless of the size of your bottom line. But there is no substitute for the product itself. Stay abreast of the trends, but stick to the business of keeping your core products and services competitive.

Mackay's Moral: Minus know-how, the cutting edge can cut a deep gash.

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