One of the most important factors in an Internet business and one that is getting a lot of emphasis and a lot of help is the idea that customers want to be engaged. They dont want to be receptacles for the information of the Internet business. Instead they want to be able to converse in real time, to offer their ideas and have them heard and to be able to make purchases instantaneously. They want instant access to the Internet home business staff, to its sales staff, its customer service staff and perhaps most importantly, its technical support or help desk.

Technical vendors offer a lot of opportunity for an Internet business owner to offer this interactivity and engagement and at little cost and virtually no risk. Some products such as live chat and click to call can be purchased as a revenue share. What this means is that the home business owner can collaborate with a vendor to offer these services and let the vendor take a portion of the proceeds that these products help bring in the door.

A live chat feature on a home business Web site can give an entrepreneur an incredible competitive advantage. A consumer who has a question can simply click on the live chat and converse with the business representative in real time. Some of the latest presence aware products are great for the small Internet home business owner who doesnt have the staff to offer live chat. What the presence aware function does is signal the system when the business is available for a chat and display the icon on the site but remove the icon when no one is there for a chat.

Click to call is just what the name suggests. With just a click of the mouse on the site of the Internet business a consumer can call a business representative by phone from her or his computer at no charge to the consumer.

Other interactive offerings that help an Internet home business merchant make that sale are Buy Now and Ask the Seller features. Buy Now is an ecommerce function that lets the consumer add items to her or his shopping cart, check out and make a credit card payment all from the Internet. Other handy features allow consumers to rate a product or a merchant.

All these interactive and engaging features offer the consumer the instant gratification folks have come to expect from the Web and offer the Internet home business owner instant payment and thats all terrific.