Category Archives: Micro-Business

Micro-Businesses need Micro-Consultants

In the good old days of consulting (the nineties) consultants wore expensive suits, made PowerPoint presentations, and billed at rates from $50 to $200 an hour depending on the client. They spent lots of time in meetings with management, a little time working with client personnel, and the rest of the time writing reports and preparing their next presentation.

Some of those consultants are still around, but I’ll wager that the herd has been thinned out somewhat because of outsourcing, downsizing and the proliferation of small and micro-businesses.

Have no fear, however, that the consulting business is going away. I think it is transforming  and scaling down to suit the needs of small and micro-businesses.

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Balancing Micro-Business and personal blogs

Bloggers can generate mixed messages when they have several blogs that are cross-linked but not harmoniously related. I feel this can alienate their blogging public(s) and may lessen their chances of doing business.

On the other hand, those bloggers whose personal and business lives are happily integrated seem to develop multiple blogs that work well together. When this occurs, the users benefit from a richer experience.

If your business persona is vastly different from your private blogging persona, you are going to may create a negative impression in your business audience  by tightly linking the two. Even if you attempt to conceal your private blog by writing anonymously, it will eventually be discovered.

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Bloggers and their Micro-Businesses

I am getting the impression that a lot of the blogs that I link to are the social extension of a flourishing micro-business. I have no idea how widespread this phenomena is, but I am no longer surprised when I poke around in a blog and find a link to a full-fledged business website run by the blogger in question.

Few of these bloggers trumpet their wares. In fact, some are so discreet that you may only find their business accidently by Googling their name or specialty.

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Micro-Business 101- Addendum

Update your identity. Your glory days don’t count anymore!

I failed to mention one of the biggest barriers to starting or succeeding as a self-employed person! Sometimes it is almost impossible to get over your glory days as Senior Vice President, General Manager, or whatever you were when you were great.

Note: You may not feel that you are stuck in the past, but if you feel life is treating you unfairly, you ARE living in the past!

This is no joke. You can see people who are stuck in past glory days on almost any  street corner and in the seedier bars. Their comments invariably begin. "When I was…"

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