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Are you using the internet to grow and protect your business?

Let me explain through the story of Jimmy, a businessman in the small developing Central American country of Belize. He is snapping at the heels of and winning many customers from the world's largest cruise ship.

The internet poses important opportunities and threats. This story highlights them.

Several weeks ago I went online to hunt for information on what to see and do in the ports of call for a western Caribbean cruise. We had booked directly with Royal Caribbean for their ship Independence of the Seas and I wasn't given any information about their shore excursions when booking or checking in online.

It turned out that one of the main attractions in Belize was cave tubing - floating down a river in huge tyres, through caves.

The search results came up with a vast number of comments posted by individuals on different user-generated content sites (such as Travelocity, Cruisecritic, Cruiseclues, Cruisereviews). People from all over the world detailed not only their tubing experiences, but also commented on the different tubing operators. There were lots of uploaded photos, videos and of course the websites of cave tubing tour operators. I found nothing in the search results originating from any of the actual cruise operators such as Royal Caribbean, Carnival or Costa.

Assured by the good word of mouth, a convincing website, and knowing from experience that ship tours would be much more expensive, I booked with Jimmy of http://www.cave-tubing.com/. Actually I reserved, as payment wasn't required to make the booking.

It wasn't until we got off the veritable floating New York City of cruises - 4268 passengers - and on Jimmy's bus with 24 other strangers, then drove through the streets of Belize that comprehension set in.

It was the fact that an individual, without the normal resources we take for granted, whose clientele is singularly international, could create a thriving business using only the internet. That he could compete so magnificently against the Goliaths of business - the cruise industry. That he could battle against their onboard non-stop marketing machinery of sell-sell-sell. All this man did was put up a website and provide a good service and experience to back it up.

But the piece de la resistance was that as Jimmy was saying his final goodbye to the group, his words were: "If you enjoyed your experience, please write about us on your favourite cruising website."

Are you doing what Jimmy did correctly?

* Website name: cave-tubing.com

* Videos showing exactly what customers will experience.

* Easy to do business with.

* Providing good service and a great customer experience.

* Recognising and utilising the power of the new web 2.0 - user-generated comments and how important these recommendations are for business.

* Replying within 12 hours.

What else can you learn from Jimmy?

Web 2.0: A modern water fountain

Be where your customers congregate. You can't be an ostrich with your head in the sand. User-generated content has been growing at a phenomenal rate and it's not just for kids. Chatting with two couples while waiting for the tender to return to the ship, I asked: "Are you friends travelling together?" "No," they said, "we met online while doing research for our cruise ... "