Aug 14, 2011

Will the Big Business Dragon be Slain by the Nimble Entrepreneur?

The Big Jelly and The Entrepreneurial Revolution

The Big Jelly and The Entrepreneurial RevolutionI attended a great event earlier this year called The BIG Jelly in Telford, Shropshire. It was brought to life by three energetic and determined women, Jan Minihane, Fay Easton and Judy Heminsley, all of whom spent many hours organising a fantastic event for home workers, freelancers and small businesses.

One of the key things about home workers is that technology has allowed them access to a huge new global market both in supply and demand. However this can often be a blind spot for those just starting out and the seasoned freelancer who might have missed the signs.

It is all too easy to lose one’s sense of perspective when working in isolation, seeing the same four walls and thinking you have little power. What this special event achieved was the bringing together of about 100 small business people ready to make a change.

And what a change it has made. You only have to do a Google search using #BIGJelly to realise a spark has been ignited.

The speaker that stood out for me was Daniel Priestley with provocative statements such as, ‘There is no such thing as a career’, ‘Everyone and everything is connected’ and ‘We all need a brand built on a micro-niche”.

He also exposed the power of the internet and the possibilities it presents to those thinking of starting a small business. For example:

  • A Facebook page for people who collect fruit stickers now 131 members strong
  • Internet millionaires such as Michelle Phan with over 74 million channel views
  • Online resources such as 99 Designs where you can source professional graphic design at very competitive prices

The big idea in his talk was that the outdated concepts surrounding big business and the economic drive for continuous growth is unsustainable and that the Entrepreneurial Revolution is upon us.

Our world is changing and the old systems are breaking down. People no longer trust the old institutions whose leaders are being exposed as ruffians without values. More and more we will want to do business with those people who we can trust, are seen to be authentic and have a passion for what they do. The focus will be on value and not financial gain for the sake of it.

People are looking to be fulfilled and lead a life which allows them to work on their passion and has depth of meaning. Large organisations can’t provide this and the best people will leave to pursue meaningful work as the new entrepreneurs.

If we can create micro niches to solve specific problems, harness the power of the internet to get our message across and drive down the cost of access to resources that give a competitive advantage, the new entrepreneur will flourish. Large businesses are going to have to partner with these pockets of excellence as they lose the intellectual capital from their work force.

It is my belief that corporations will have to change quickly and radically or else be swept away by this revolution. It’s about time these dragons were replaced by a new breed – the nimble entrepreneur.

See Daniel Priestley on Slideshare for more info on the Entrepreneur Revolution

What is your view of the state of big business and are you ready and willing to join the Entrepreneurial Revolution?

By Andy Britnell Business Blogging, Shaggy Blog Stories 14 Comments Tags: , , , , ,

Jul 19, 2011

Getting listed on Technorati – GV5ABQD742A6

get listed on technoratiI have added a few clients’ blogs to the Technorati directory so I thought it was about time I added mine. I remember it being quite a long process and one of the blogs seemed to be being ignored. I was directed by the very helpful internet geek, Azad Shaikh, to contact Technorati to ask why it hadn’t been submitted. He explained that ‘working from home’, the subject of the site, is considered a ‘spammy’ title and so may have been rejected.

So i contacted GetSatisfaction.com for Technorati and a very helpful lady got the blog listed the very next day.

By the way Azad Shaikh has written this great post giving instructions how to get you blog listed on Technorati. So if you are wondering what the code, GV5ABQD742A6, is doing at the end of the blog title it is there so that Technorati can recognise that I am real and not a robot!

So what are the benefits of being on Technorati?

Some people say that there is not a huge benefit compared to the likes of Twitter or Facebook for driving traffic. However because of the listing process, which allows you to use specific tags and a full description of your site, you’ll get exposure to people searching Technorati for specific information. The result will be targeted traffic actively seeking what you have to offer. Which means they are more ready to engage with you and become loyal visitors.

Another benefit is that Technorati gives you another online profile and another chance for you to appear in a Google search of your name.

Plus Technorati is a great resource for you to find thought leaders who are writing blogs related to your interests. So for research, finding new and interesting blogs and keeping informed it is a great place to hang out.

(NB: Technorati are going through a refurb for their site and a change of process for adding blogs so at the moment it might take a while to get listed)

Update: It only took 5 hours to get my site listed – that must be a record as some can take weeks! Was it something I said :-)

What are your experiences with Technorati good and bad?

Image by fasticon

By Andy Britnell Directory Listings, Shaggy Blog Stories 3 Comments Tags: , , , ,

Jun 28, 2011

The 7 reasons why blogs fail

7 reasons why blogs failMany people start a blog and then lose interest. I’ve seen many blogs with just the bare bones of the theme and little content or the last post was over a year ago. Is it that they lack discipline or dedication, have they lost interest and lack passion about their chosen subject, is the technology getting in the way?

These are my seven reasons why blogs fail

1. No preparation. They haven’t thought about their blog before getting involved with the technology – they just want to get stuck in with no pre-planning or thought. This is a recipe for disaster. Fail to plan – plan to fail!

2. Lack of subject matter/material. Lack of planning what you are going to write about means that it’s more difficult to remain disciplined and have a consistent flow of content. Remember content is king! When planning for this blog I wrote down all the topics that I could cover which has given me a pretty much everlasting pool of ideas to write posts about.

3. Fear of failure. It’s said that people fear public speaking more than they fear death! Well, having a blog is similar in that you are expressing opinions ‘out there’ and others may leave a comment disagreeing with your point. This is probably more scary since there is no body language so you may make a picture inside of an aggresive commenter. That will only increase the fear. The only way to deal with this fear is to take action.

In fact having someone disagree with you is good since it creates a dialogue. When I get challenged in a workshop there is often someone else in the audience with a similar opinion to me who will back me up. The same goes for comments on your blog. Welcome a bit of challenging banter on your blog – it’s interesting and helps you to hone your argument.

4. They are impatient. Blog stardom doesn’t happen overnight. It takes time and dedication to make your mark and you will shorten this time if you have a defined strategy, a well defined micro-niche and put the right time and effort into doing the right things to make yourself visible and credible online.

5. Lack of research. They have failed to research significant factors such as the most relevant blog theme, the right settings for WordPress or other blogging platform they’re using, the best plugins to use for SEO and social sharing, who their audience is and what they want to hear about etc.

6. Lack of passion & knowledge. They’re not deeply passionate about what they’re writing about or don’t have the depth of knowledge required to stand out. I am motivated by new ideas, making a difference, lifelong learning and freedom and this is what my blogging and social media business gives to me. I can be authentic and say what I feel rather than having to compromise my individuality by being employed!
(Check out this post by Daniel Priestley on your ‘message’ in social media)

7. They haven’t niched their market enough. Go for the micro niche and go for depth of interest rather than breadth. If you deal with a micro niche problem you will get them asking you about what else can you do.

There are other reasons for a blog failing but usually it’s the planning, research and self-awareness about what motivates and drives you that are missing. So if you want to start a blog make sure you can be sufficiently disciplined and dedicated to make yourself heard.

What are your thoughts on why blogs fail – your comments are always welcome and I always respond.

By Andy Britnell Business Blogging, Writing a blog 19 Comments Tags: , , , , , , , ,

Jun 27, 2011

Staying creative for blog writing

29 WAYS TO STAY CREATIVE from TO-FU on Vimeo.

I was just writing a new blog post about what prevents us from writing a blog when Judy Heminsley shared this great little video with me.

It covers some of the things that prevent us from being creative and gives us some tips on how to stay creative.

It’s less than 2 minutes long so what better time to have a break from blogging than to watch a useful video!

By Andy Britnell Creativity, Writing a blog 6 Comments Tags: , , , , ,

Jun 16, 2011

This blog has its tail between its legs!

Facebook Competitions - careful you don't get bittenI decided it was time to launch ‘See a Man About a Blog’ on Facebook so set up a page in order to share my knowledge and expertise there. Having helped others set up Facebook pages and knowing that it can take time to attract likes I decided that my best strategy was to have a competition where the first 50 people who liked me would go into a hat and one lucky winner would receive a 1-hour blog consultation.

The reason for having my tail between my legs is that I subsequently found out that using any of the Facebook features, such as the like button, adding comments, posting pictures,etc, to enter someone into a competition is against their terms of service and they could quite legitimately take down the page.

So my strategy was blown out of the water and I will now need to take that competition onto a different platform. So a big apology to those who have liked me already on Facebook as I have now migrated the competition to Twitter.

How to Win?

This will be a Twitter exclusive contest. To win you just need to follow me on Twitter and I will pick a winner randomly to win a 1-hr blogging consultation from my first 100 followers.

Note: for those of you who liked me on Facebook and do not have a Twitter account, please send me a message via my contact form and I will enter you into the draw.

I will either contact you via email or by direct message to advise if you have won.

Of course you can still like See a Man About a Blog on Facebook if you wish to get my tail wagging again!

Best wishes and good luck in the competition

Andy

Other posts on Facebook Competitions and how not to get bitten

Facebook Competitions – 5 Things You Should Know Before You Start One

Unofficial Guide to Competitions on Facebook

Facebook Competitions can seriously Damage Your Health

By Andy Britnell Facebook, Shaggy Blog Stories, Social Media 12 Comments Tags: , , ,

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