Some key principles that guide my advice to clients
Things I keep coming back to again and again:
- Everyone has something worth blogging about, and anyone who is willing can gain from having a blog.
- Small business owners should understand and control as much of their Internet presence as possible. This doesn’t mean you yourself have to do every single thing, but you should understand and control it, as much as you do with the brick-and-mortar side of your business. (If not more.)
- The individual beats of learning technology and Internet stuff are not difficult; the number one obstacle to that learning is the idea that it is hard. It is not. 70-year-old men who have never used a computer before sit down and learn this stuff. Therefore you can.
- The power of the Internet and the “social web” is on a par with natural phenomena like electricity, fire, supernovas, and nuclear technology. It is immeasurably and inconceivably powerful. It also has elements of magic, and miracles, and incorporates things like serendipity and synchronicity and karma. It’s the power side of it that scares you, but you can’t do much about that (beyond taking basic safety precautions). Focus on the other stuff – the fun and the magic.
- Your experience has value. It’s up to you whether you do anything with that or not, but it’s there.