Small Biz Geek: Design, Marketing & Technology Help

Small Biz Geek is aimed at UK self employed/small business owners with a beginner to intermediate knowledge of design, marketing and technology.

My name is Darren and this website is an online notebook stuffed with ideas. 💡

Hailing from Ilkeston in the Derby/Nottingham area of the East Midlands, England, I’m passionate about teaching what I know and learning what I don’t.

Furthermore, I run a website design service and love to work closely with self employed individuals and small businesses.

What Type of Small Biz Geek Are You?

This is the kind of geek you probably are:

Beginner to intermediate skill level
Uses Windows operating system
Uses a Linux shared web host
Running WordPress.org website
Can write basic CSS and HTML

What Type of Business Person Are You?

This is the kind of person you probably are:

Business owner, manager, employee, freelancer, virtual assistant, technical support
Often works from home or remote location
Might also work from commercial office or premises
Reader of books, listener of podcasts
Enjoys learning and digging deep into the details
Hates spammers

Computer Love…

Society is firmly entrenched in computers. The charming allure of digital screens has fast-tracked communications and offered up convenience surpassing all past predictions.

Whether you’re controlling your boiler thermostat or trading in the financial sector, the varied applications of computer technology have touched every aspect of modern life.

While consumer habits favour and fuel technology, it’s fair to say it presents a non-negotiable situation often viewed with trepidation.

Disruption to the Status Quo

The cyber age is throttling the traditional manufacturing economy spawned by the industrial revolution of the 1700’s.

Early mass production led to the bespoke cottage industries of 18th Century England becoming disenfranchised if not completely uprooted.

Although large electricity companies still mine fossil fuels, and third world countries rely mostly on manufacturing, the age of industry is pretty much over.

It has been superseded by what began in the 1960’s as the digital revolution. It’s still going on today.

The Spinning Jenny seemed radical at the time

Disruptive innovation has both created and threatened markets for a long time. Henry Ford was able to find a way to use his Model T production line to double the wage of mechanics in Detroit.

Ford’s mass production lines were instrumental to the war effort and changed manufacturing forever in post World War 2 America.

With a sharp rise in commercial output, mass marketing was born.

Although new developments astonish us initially, they become part of the norm. Technology is predictable; it will always try to do things better, faster, cheaper.

Think about the following technological advancements:

Electricity disrupted gas
Aeroplanes disrupted balloons
Fax machines trumped letters
Hard drives are virtual filing cabinets
Scanners have threatened the photocopier market
Mobile phones have made public phones redundant
Email has just about replaced fax
SMS created a convenient alternative to voice calls
Cloud computing is gaining ground as a substitute for fixed data centers
Internet mobile devices have a larger market share than desktop computers
Social media is uniting kindred spirits (as well as sulking teenagers)

Coping with Change

Thirty years ago, USB sticks, search engines, Photoshop, podcasts, YouTube, Skype and iPhones were unheard of. Now these technologies are as common as a cup of coffee.

Unfortunately, monolithic organisations, Luddites and traditionalists always defend the old ways out of fear and nostalgia.

Meanwhile, the innovators, early adopters and visionaries are trail blazing a new world characterised by pixels on a screen.

Where do you see yourself in all of this?

Free Learning Resources

Everything you have invested in over the last 10 or 20 years is changing. Even the education you received is under threat.

Schools were invented to instill compliance in young people in preparation for the manufacturing workforce – a workforce that is being dismantled in our post industrialist society.

Universities no longer guarantee a career because alumni students are being outclassed by hungry individuals with real world experience. The institutions serve us less and less.

A degree is just another paid for product from a vendor who sold you the idea of having letters after your name.

“Formal education will make you a living; self-education will make you a fortune”
– Jim Rohn

The internet represents the largest library of free learning resources in history. Now is a great time to reach potential and existing customers via the internet and other modern communications.

For the sake of survival, anyone running a small business knows the importance of wearing many hats, spinning many plates and juggling their daily duties. If you don’t have the financial resources to compete with larger brands, you need to find another way to make money.

Someone once said, “If necessity is the mother of invention, creativity is the father.”

Using Common Sense Online

There are dozens of ways to get information to help your business, whether it’s YouTube videos, audio podcasts, books or blogs.

Take advantage of the excellent free advice available, but do remember to keep your wits about you.

The internet is still a relatively new frontier and for this reason, there are hundreds of thousands of scam artists pandering to the get-rich-quick, something-for-nothing suckers looking for silver bullet solutions to problems.

SEO is a prime example of promises easily made and rarely delivered on.

The disinformation tends to filter down to well-meaning business owners who misunderstand the subject or try to implement outdated practices.

Of course, there are plenty of genuine SEO consultants but they’ll always be honest with you.

If something seems too good to be true, don’t be afraid to scrutinise an idea, proposition or product. Throw stones at it to see if they go through or bounce off.

The World Wide Web? More like the World Wild West!

Small = Flexible

The advantage to being your own boss is having the freedom to try new ideas or tools.

A large organisation with a top down hierarchy usually wants to waste time with endless meetings before implementing untested systems. (Obviously, no one in an organisation wants to look bad if things do not work out.)

Smaller, independent firms often feel they have less to lose and are far more likely to embrace innovation.

Your survival might just depend on using novel means to position yourself in the market.

Design, Marketing & Technology

Design, marketing and technology are a means to an end. Whatever a business is selling, they are first and foremost a problem solver.

Design can be conceptual as well as visual. Spreadsheets, management systems and coding are every bit as valid as logos, leaflets or business cards.

Marketing is the process of identifying and serving a particular group of people with a particular problem needing a particular solution. As a result of planning and analysis, the design is commissioned to deliver a specific message to those with the problem.

The technology are the set of tools we use to deliver our solutions. Some people use hammers and saws while others use mice and keyboards.

You & Your Small Business

Whether you’re a consultant, one man band, small organisation, shop, office or factory, I want to help.

Let me teach you – in plain English – how you can use design, marketing and technology for decreasing costs, increasing income, streamlining operations and saving time.

There are lots of ideas outlined on this site that can help you take control or find inspiration.

I am willing to share my thoughts and discoveries in as much detail as possible. Journal entries are publishing on the second Tuesday of each month.

Technology can help us with our goals, whether it is software or hardware.

Luckily for you, I’m slightly obsessed with these things!