This was quite literally the rally cry that swept the nation after gold was discovered at Sutter’s Creek. By 1864 the gold rush had ended, leaving in its wake tens of thousands of broken men and women who had gone out to California seeking their fortunes.

We have seen some semblance of this phenomenon in the past related to all things Internet. In the mid nineties we experienced the cyber rush as companies and individuals sought their fortunes online. Dotcom mania swept our nation like gold fever, with a similar net effect. How quickly we forget the past…

The vast majority of the forty-niners did not strike it rich. The real money was made by the industrious entrepreneurs of the day who realized that these miners needed to be fed and clothed. They also needed a place to stay and equipment with which to ply their trade.

William Randolph Hurst III, direct descendant of the man who won the San Francisco Examiner in a hand of poker during that era, is credited with the first use of the term “picks and shovels” as it relates to the Internet. You see, Mr. Hurst understood that it was the farmers, restaurant owners, inn keepers and suppliers of everything from shovels to newspapers who made the real money. People with names like Stanford, Levi and Straus. These tycoons, and many others, made fortunes on everything from blue jeans to prostitution.

To date, it has been the “picks and shovels” companies that have flourished and prospered online. These companies have implemented business plans geared towards helping other businesses harness the true value of the Internet – community, collaboration and communication. This is especially significant as we move from an economy based on the valuation of tangible assets to one based on the real value of information.

Opportunities abound for today’s enterprising Netrepreneur. For example, the applications service provider or ASP business model also referred to as SaaS (software as a service), which is the automation and outsourcing of business functions, in many cases dealing with the distribution and use of software utilizing the Internet as the primary medium, has grown exponentially to a multi-billion dollar industry in the last several years. Furthermore, this model has grown faster than eCommerce originally did.

In addition to back office automation we are confronted with the ever present need to find and use information effectively. Websites and blogs online that support this function are called Portals. These websites rely on the sharing of information among customers, business partners, vendors, stakeholders and constituents, centered on a general topic area or industry. The Portal owner benefits financially from the affiliate relationships that he or she has with numerous vendors and suppliers represented on the site. An excellent example of a Social Media portal is none other than The Social Media Portal (SMP), Which bills itself as a resource that maps global social media, social networks and user generated content (UGC).

Portals that address a very specific need, application or segment of an industry are called Vortals or vertical portals. Vortals provide seemingly endless amounts of information and support to all involved on a relatively narrow subject area. The Vortal business model lends itself to the entrepreneur or small business owner who has a very particular interest, passion or skill.

Let’s not forget about information aggregators or intermediaries, Infomediaries for short. These websites  and blogs provide specialized information to producers of goods and services and their potential customers, increasing the value through aggregation. Infomediaries provide valuable data about consumers and their buying habits. These data are made more valuable when they are carefully analyzed and used in target marketing campaigns.

Do you have information you want to sell? Could you do it online? You may want to consider it. The online information industry will grow dramatically over the next several years, further offsetting the traditional publishing and media industries!

These are but a few of the information centric “picks and shovels” company types presently supporting real commerce on the Internet. Others include, knowledge networks or expert sites, efficiency based manufacturing models, virtual merchants, advertising, marketing, branding and promotions… If you can think it up you can come up with an application on the web.

So, do it!