5 Ways Small Business Owners Can Network, Barter, Share, Exchange, Joint Venture, and More

Small Business Owners: Who Do You Know?

Some days I sit staring at a blank computer screen and wonder, “What do I know?” What expertise do I have that I can share with small business owners? What would actually help?

Some days this question just stumps me because some days my brain is filled with nothing more than the equivalent of a fart (hence, the brain farts). That’s it, nothing more, just hot stinky air. Then it occurs to me that I’m asking the wrong question. I should be asking,

“Who do I know?”

That’s a good question for any small business owner on any given day. Who do you know?

On days when business sucks, your brain is stuck in park, or you otherwise have no other good ideas, ask yourself this questions and let it rattle around in your brain for a while, like a big shiny marble.

5 Ways to Partner with People You Know in Small Business
Who do you know who can help your small business? You know lots of people, you just don’t remember who they are. Or you’re not thinking about them in the right context. Here are five examples of how small business owners have called on me in the last week to network, barter, share, exchange, joint venture, or buy. Who do you know who you could call on for these things?

1. Go Ahead, Ask Me!
I know this one is obvious, but it remains one of the most effective ways to get business. I was chatting on the phone recently with Rick at the local smoke shop. At the end of our conversation, he said to me, “We just got some new cigars in. Stop by let’s take a look at them.” Guess what? It’s on my list. I like the guy, I like the occasional cigar, and I trust him. He asks, I go.

2. Trade Tiddlywinks
On one of my business networking sites, an enterprising entrepreneur advertised a very specific offer. He offered to promote a one-sheet about your business at an upcoming fair in giveaway bags if small business owners in his network signed up for his upcoming event. The barter offer was very clear with no hidden agendas. A lot of people took him up on his offer.

3. What’s Up, Doc?
If your brain isn’t working, maybe someone else’s is. A business buddy of mine recently called up and said, “I need 30 minutes. I’ll give it back to you when you need it.” He needed some new marketing ideas to jump start his small business. He wondered if I had heard or read anything nifty lately. His offer? If he could pick my brain for 30 minutes now, he would act as a sounding board for me later. This only works, of course, if you like the other person’s brain, but sometimes beggars can’t be choosers.

4. The Medusa Approach to Business Development
A few years ago, a business gal pal of mine called me up. She proposed that we form a little local business gal pal network to brainstorm business development. Once a year, we four gals get together and brainstorm about business development. We each come prepared with the business plans for our small businesses, as well as the biggest challenges and questions we face. We spend four hours focusing on each person’s small business. We offer solutions, tips, resources, support, and a lot of laughter. We come away ideas, inspiration, hope, and creativity for our small businesses. Can you think of a few business pals you could grab to form this kind of mastermind group?

5. Friend of a Friend
There’s only six degrees of separation between you and anyone you want to meet. Really. Studies have been done (“Six Degrees: The Science of a Connected Age” by Duncan Watts is a fascinating read on this). So if there’s someone you really want to meet, who could really help your small business, find out if that person is a friend of a friend. Or a friend of a friend of a friend of a friend. It’s all good. Just keep goin’ down the line until you hit that sixth degree. You’ll meet that person, even if it is Clint Eastwood or Barack Obama.

Bonus Round: Karma Points
As always, for those who love extra credit, there is a bonus round. If you’re really, really bored, you could always build up Karma Points. Yup, you could do a good deed for a business pal just because you have a heart the size of Chicago. Will you get paid back this lifetime? Maybe, maybe not. But all good karma comes around. Who knows, maybe in your next lifetime you’ll be Bill Gates. You never know!

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Photo credit: 3-legged race

Tags: barter, share, small business owners, small business partners

Therapy for Small Business Owners – The List of a Million Questions

I wasn’t born with a silver spoon in my mouth but I was born with a laptop on my lap. I come from a computer science family and worked in three software development companies before I got out of the rat race. I know a thing or two about computers and the internet.

Having said that, I still have a MILLION questions that I am dying to have answered about online marketing, social media, offline marketing, online forums, and how to stay on top of it all. I recently read a post on the Indie Business Blog that pointed out that time was the new overhead. Forget wages, insurance, rent, and utilities. The new thing that eats up all our resources in small business is time.

Time as the New Overhead
We need time to keep up with all our friends and contacts on Twitter, Facebook, Ryze, and our blogs, not to mention answering emails, writing super-excellent blog posts, and submitting top-quality articles to article directories. And guess what? If you really want to dominate your niche you need to do all of this 5 or 7 days a week! Aack! Can you say overwhelm?

Many small business owners who are just getting their toes wet in online marketing and social media are in total overwhelm. The sheer volume of the information stream out there is incredible. Not only do we need to read it all, we need to respond to it, answer important questions that people are asking, and reach out to people we want to be our customers.

Dealing with Overwhelm — The List
So how can we deal with this overwhelm? One technique that works really well for me is to make the list of a million questions. About 15 times a day questions that I need answered pop up in my head. Needless to say, I don’t have the time right then and there to go find the answer. Most of these questions need to be researched by searching Google, poring through the feeds on my feed aggregator, posting a question to a forum, or asking for help on Twitter. Well, that’s not going to happen when I’m in the middle of my conference call with clients who are paying my mortgage!

So I jot down my questions on my list of million questions. The list resides in a 10 cent spiral notebook I bought at Walmart during the last “back to school” special. Really fancy, right? So far the list hasn’t reached a million questions, but does take up about 34 pages.

So how does this list help me? Here are 7 ways it helps:

1. By writing my questions down they don’t hang around in my head, nagging me.
2. I don’t have to write the questions on my hand (it gets crowded and ballpoint pens don’t work so great on skin).
3. It reminds me of the directions I want to pursue in my small business marketing when I get confused (which happens a lot).
4. I can show it to my hubby as proof of my voluminous productive work when he accuses me of spending all my time surfing the web for horse tack or, heaven forbid, horses for sale!
5. When I have a spare moment and feel tempted to get tweet about non-business items, I turn to my list instead and post 2 or 3 questions to online forums and check on answers to past questions.
6. When I feel like I’m not making any progress in my marketing education, I flip through the list and look at all the early questions that I have gotten answered. Then I literally pull my arm out of its socket congratulating myself for having come so far!
7. I often post the questions on my blog or in a forum to generate conversation and learn something. A well-phrased question of importance posted to the right location can generate a lot of learning and traffic. Plus, you’ll be surprised at how many other people have the same questions as you – they are just too chicken to ask.

The list of a million questions is a totally simple, almost childish device, but I always think about it like this: “It’s cheaper than therapy!” In today’s business climateI really believe it’s possible for small business owners to suffer post-traumatic stress syndrome just from handling the day-to-day operations. It is overwhelming.

But just think about this: a 10 cent notebook from your local discount retailer can save you years of therapy if you just take the time to jot down all your insane questions. Get them out of your brain and onto paper, where they can’t drive you crazy. Then, in your saner moments, get them answered. Voila! You’re one step further in your marketing progress than you were before, possibly without adding any more gray hairs!

What works for you in dealing with overwhelm?

Photo Credit: Question!

Tags: list of a million questions, new overhead, overwhelm, small business owners, social media