I own a small company that sells tractor equipment. Nothing too big, b

I own a small company that sells tractor equipment. Nothing too big, but I've got three branches around the country. I started working when I was very young, and quickly became a sales rep for car parts company. Since I've just turned 60, you can imagine I've always managed my business using ink and paper, xerox, telephone calls and regular mail. And eventhough my kids have used computers forever, I've never so much as sat down for a game of Pac-Man at one.

The morning of my recent 60th birthday, my best friend Mike knocked on my office door with a flat, gift-wrapped parsel with a ribbon and I immediately knew what it was. I put on my best ironical smile, rolled my eyeballs up and took the laptop from the wrapping, opened it and sat on my chair with my arms crossed, as Mike showed me the basics. "What do I want a laptop for?", I said. "Are you kidding?", said Mike "Now you can communicate with your three branches instantly! You keep telling me they use computers don't you? Well, now you can keep an eye on earnings directly, and share files and information permanently, without the cost of telephone calls! It is called 'networking'!" He said it as if the word 'networking' would somehow explain all the other words I didn't understand, like 'file'.

As time and insistence from various colleagues and relatives went by, I gradually started using my laptop more, taking it everywhere (which is something I didn't want to do at first) opening up to online communication, 'networking' with my company's branches, and started learning of fellow businessmen who had had acceptable experiences with advertising on-line.

This is what really changed my whole perspective on computers; because through advertising on-line I had the power to reach a wider market, even abroad (which was something I had always avoided due to its travelling requirements).

The first advise I was given on on-line trading was to start offering small parts at an auction page to get used to the payment and shipping methods, but I soon realised that with my own site I could make sure the company image I really wanted was what my prospective buyers saw. My own company web site would be the best advertising on-line I could get. I got in contact with a web site development company that (not without some careful explaining) gave me some good pointers; now I can sell twice the amount of equipment at better prices, and reach customers I wouldn't have dreamed of advertising for through the mail or the media, all thanks to that little flat thing on my desk. Who would have thought...