Creating and operating profitable solo work-from-anywhere digital businesses

Bizwiki.co.uk, the"UK's free business listing site that anyone can edit," is a great place to list UK businesses.  If your UK business listing hasn't yet graced Bizwiki's pages, you really ought to go add it right now.  (I'll wait while you sign up and add your business.)  Here are some things I've learned about Bizwiki and how it can help you with your small business.

Quick Note: US businesses should check out Bizwiki.com. 

Why should I submit my business to Bizwiki?

Well, it's free, for starters.  Plus you'll get a backlink to your company website.  Also, people searching for businesses at Bizwiki can find your listing.  And did I mention that you can add or edit your business listing anytime?  And that you can add or edit listins for other businesses too?  There's really no disadvantage to adding yourself.

How does Bizwiki work?

Bizwiki, like Wikipedia, is an open collection of articles that anyone can change.  The community makes sure that no spam remains in the system and that listings are accurate.

Is Bizwiki fully functional?

Yes.  It's still in "beta" testing mode, but everything should work just fine.

What if my business isn't in the UK?

The UK version of Bizwiki is merely one of several planned versions.  USA, Canada, Australia and New Zealand Bizwiki launches are coming in the next several months.

What do you like/dislike about Bizwiki, Easton?

A fine question.  Overall, I like the Bizwiki site.  While it could use a bit more color and spice, the basic functionality is there and the company keeps you up-to-date via the Bizwiki corporate blog.  As a business blog lover, I'm highly interested in the ways in which companies use blogs as communication tools.  I'm pleased to see that the Bizwiki team has been using their blog to explain things like why you have to register and how to actually add your business.

Did you ever set out to accomplish something important (to you at least) with the grandest of dreams and a plan to reach your goal in a series of steps that you had previously outlined?

You were going to be relentless in following a daily or weekly schedule and have the persistence to maintain your effort day in and day out, without missing a step.

Whether the task was writing in a daily journal, exercising on a regular basis, finishing that certain book, loosing those unwanted 25 pounds, or studying for a class, you were going to be the stalwart one that moved forward like clockwork without missing a beat until you had reached your pre-planned destination.

You know what I'm talking about.  You also know that sometimes, life gets in the way!

Here's a very powerful marketing strategy for every small business owner that has ever wanted to "force" his clientele to identify with him.

You realize by now the popularity and effectiveness of including stories in your ads.  Human stories, that is, where the personal emotions of pain, hurt, love, greed, jealousy, sorrow, joy, etc are particularly strong and aroused in the customer.

Gripping stories tend to break down barriers, engage customers, and humanize the sometimes sterile world of Internet business.

A great, believable story will grab an unsuspecting prospect and lead him toward an action step that you have designed if you have been engaging enough and haven't lost the prospect to boredom or mediocrity!

Times are changing and every solo business owner needs to design his little company in a way that it can be globally competitive.

Before the Internet, it was often sufficient that a small business only worried about the competition in the local community.

You owned a gift shop and your customer pool was everyone within walking distance, easy driving distance, probably within the radius of your community and maybe a few other small towns within 25 miles.

If you could compete with the other gift sellers locally you probably did OK!  Folks knew who you were, what you had to offer, and that they would find what they needed in your shop at a reasonable price.

How many ways are there for a small business to fail?

Don't try to count them . . . life is too short as it is . . .

I want to talk a bit about one of the dangers of solo Internet business.

I have always preached the message of niche specialization for the solo business owner.  I say you should dig down deep and become an expert in a very tightly focused market.

Some have taken this message to mean that you should only focus on one product, or one single revenue stream.  Whether it's a book, a device, a piece of software, a special service, whatever.

Every small business owner wrestles with understanding how to increase his business.

The bottom line is this:  "How do I bring additional revenue into the company?"

Well friends, you have just two choices:  sell more or charge more.

Regardless of how complicated you try to make this puzzle, these are the only two things you can do to increase your business.  Everything else you do supports your ability to make additional sales or charge more for the products and services you sell.

Now comes the critical question:  "What can the business owner do to increase sales?"

I was asked this simple question in a roundtable discussion of business owners recently, and to my utter surprise, a very lively dialogue carried on into the night as the group of us debated the challenges and opportunities that affect small business today in comparison with "the way it used to be" just 10-15 years ago.

My opinion, and that of several others that specialize in online business, was that indeed, small business has changed dramatically for those that have discovered and subsequently embraced the new technologies that empower the small business owner.

Of course, the Internet comes to mind as the "killer" tool that has changed the way business is done today from what it was just a few years ago.  There are other advancements, mostly technological, that have had a huge impact as well.

Small business is never easy.  I don't care what tales and stories you hear of entrepreneurs coming up with the perfect idea at the perfect time.

Most such tales are just that.  Millionaires aren't typically created overnight and they don't automatically and magically appear when an Internet company goes public.

So to suggest that a great piece of entrepreneurial advice and wisdom can be boiled down into three tiny words is really heresy in many ways.

I don't mean to trivialize the great labor it is to think of, design, and create a small solo business.

This is simply a fun little exercise to see how short and simple I can make a great business principle become.

Those that have followed the Lone Wolf blog posts know that I am a huge proponent of doing whatever possible to spread the word about your business and products via public relations activities and press releases.

I've blogged on the subject a number of times.  Why?  Because a small business desparately lives and dies on other people's advertising.  By that, I mean that your business can languish in obscurity or rise to great heights simply by the press and acknowledgement you receive from high traffic and "trusted" online sites.

When you are able to tell your story and talk about your products outside the paid advertising circles where the customer continues to be skeptical, you have a great opportunity to gain trust and credibility because your business is in the "objective" news.  I know that doesn't make total sense since you can buy your way into the news.

I think you're going to see more and more of this kind of networking activity in the real near future and I believe it will elevate the blogging "scene" to greater heights and a more universal appeal among small business owners and their customers.

It was only a matter of time until the blogging "craze" took on a full life of its own with conferences, workshops, courses, awards, and who knows what else.

I wouldn't be surprised to soon see college level courses in blogging and full time corporate positions (like V.P. of Corporate Blogging?) that focus on spreading the company story and engaging company customers with a more human interaction (blogging vs. boring telephone numbers listed for corporate "suggestion boxes.")