Small Biz Geek is for small business owners, managers, freelancers and virtual assistants with a beginner to intermediate knowledge of design, marketing and technology.
Video Transcript
You might have or want a website, but if it’s trite, you’ll never be in the business fight.
I don’t wanna make light of the fact most are crap. Don’t wanna be “talking left while walking right”…
So, I humbly suggest you plan to have the knack to attract, engage, sell and retain…
(over and over again, always solving problems, always fixing pain)
…without the typical written drivel, you know what I’m on about… the classic sort of incoherent chest-beating corporate-sounding abstract word salad claptrap that has no value to add.
As you can tell, I like to rhyme and rap. You might think I’m a twat, but, look… lighten up… yes, business is serious, (but people are weary with this) and people like to laugh!
What I’m saying is: drop the big business act and just ask, “What does the customer want and need?” You build the mousetrap to get decent leads, but don’t be so stingy with the content please – that’s the cheese!
Use words to heed, words that feed, words to help, words that sell. Lean in, Listen, reflect, repeat back and be heard.
Communicate, disseminate, persuade, build trust but don’t just take. Prove your worth and educate, strategically, fearlessly, for there’re opportunities in all industries, yet rivals are often only about survival, so get busy thriving or dying on vines with the passage of time like all the has-beens we’ve seen get dealt the death blow before, cos they chose to snore rather than roar.
Oh my!
Also… f*ck the price war!
No one profits as the “cheapest” AKA weakest, trying to stick out meekly instead of standing up uniquely, so give quality, take pride, don’t hide, step out from behind, keep the key questions always in mind: for whom and for what purpose do you have or want this website?
Find reasons why then kindly design for digital versions of real life online, first discovering how audiences love or hate to browse and use, research and choose, buy and behave, say, think, share, recommend and review with the ultimate goal of driving your business revenue…
Cos if you don’t know where any one is going, any old website will do.
By the way: although it’s important to have search engine success, think beyond being top of Google, since their future direction is anyone’s guess.
You’ll do best wearing your wholistic marketing head instead of being overleveraged on this predictable algorithmic roulette. Yes.
See below if you wanna talk and say hello, I’ll gladly chat with you to tell and show stuff I like to learn and know. I’ll give you the business website “how” if you describe your ideal “who” and “why”.
Gotta run, so until next time… bye!
My name is Darren and this website offers practical help, ideas and tutorials in the blog, as well as reviews and recommendations of handy tools. 💡
A website design service is available to help you market your business and sell your stuff in a way that your prospects and clients actually care about.
What Type of Business Geek Are You?
This is the kind of geek you probably are:
✅ Beginner to intermediate skill level
✅ Uses Windows operating system
✅ Uses Linux web hosting
✅ Operating or planning a WordPress.org website
What Type of Business Person Are You?
This is the kind of business person you probably are:
✅ Business owner, manager, freelancer, virtual assistant, tech support
✅ Often works from home or remote location
✅ Reader of books, listener of podcasts
✅ Hates spammers, scammers and idiotic salespeople
Computer Love?
Society is firmly entrenched in computers. If you’ve still not figured that out, or are “stuck in the nineties”, well, FFS, what the hell have you been doing? Digital this-that-and-the-other has been breathing down our necks for a good twenty years and is integral to commerce.
And yes, you’re correct in saying that anyone who enjoys shoving Bakewell tart up their own backside on TikTok for likes, shares and comments needs to be exiled to Siberia in a Soviet-era Gulag.
Look, whether you’re controlling your boiler thermostat or trading in the financial sector, computer technology is all up in our faces. No putting the toothpaste back in the tube now!
On the other hand, please, please, PLEASE tread carefully in this dangerous world of internet myopia, mass social media groupthink, technology panacea ideology, and misguided, boneheaded marketing and sales disasters.
Asleep at the Wheel
For decades, influencers have been selling shovels and pickaxes for the internet goldmine, and the walled garden of Big Tech social has lulled us to sleep amongst their massively profitable but wildly-changing rented land algorithms.
Yep. The shifting digital sands beneath the very foundations of our businesses are in fact sinkholes that can and do indiscriminately swallow entire livelihoods.
One bloke told me “it’s ridiculous having to rely on Google the way that I do.”
Naturally, he didn’t bother to try and change or improve anything. Typical!
Disruption to the Status Quo
The cyber age has throttled the traditional manufacturing economy spawned by the industrial revolution of the 1700’s. History teaches us much, so lets gorge on facts!
The Spinning Jenny seemed radical at the time
Early mass production led to the bespoke cottage industries of 18th Century England becoming disenfranchised if not completely uprooted, and although large electricity companies still mine fossil fuels, and developing countries rely mostly on manufacturing, the age of industry is now pretty much over.
Disruptive innovation has both created and threatened markets for a long time. Google did it, but that’s already old hat.
In the twentieth century, Henry Ford found a way to use his Model T production line to double the wage of mechanics in Detroit, and Ford’s mass production lines were instrumental to the war effort.
With a sharp rise in post World War 2 commercial output, mass marketing was born.
More and More and More
Let’s fast forward to the present day. We’re drowning in plastic shit that no one needs, yet this cheap imported crap gets sold by the bucket load through the creation of desire and aspiration.
You can refer to that as “demand generation” if you want to brush up on your buzzwords.
Anyway, fancy new developments and innovation astonish us initially, then they become part of the norm. Just remember this: we all have tiny computers in our pockets – and these very devices also happen to be able to make phone calls. Yeah, well, as amazing as that is, I’m a little concerned for my testicles! It’s as serious as cancer.
So, technology is predictable; it will always try to do things better, faster, cheaper, and if you’re upset about the state of society now, it’s only gonna get worse, ‘cos capitalism loves a goldrush (watch out for them grifters!).
Even before the internet, technology was always in development, and includes stuff we’re so used to that we take it for granted. That’s progress. A plastic biro pen is “technology” for God’s sake!
Think about the following technological advancements:
✅ Electricity disrupted gas
✅ Aeroplanes disrupted balloons
✅ Fax machines disrupted letters
✅ Hard drives replaced most filing cabinets
✅ Mobile phones made public phones almost redundant
✅ Email replaced fax
✅ Cloud computing is gaining ground for home-based remote staffing
✅ Internet mobile devices have a larger market share than desktop computers
✅ Social media is uniting kindred spirits (and dividing others)
✅ Artificial Intelligence is [fill in the blank] 😆
Thirty years ago, USB sticks, search engines, Photoshop, podcasts, YouTube, Zoom and iPhones were unheard of. Now these technologies are as common as coffee…and as addictive.
Problems, Problems, Everywhere…
Whatever a business is selling, they are usually a problem solver. Yes, some selling revolves around gain rather than pain, but if you want to be philosophical, a lot of buyers’ reasons behind purchases (and buying is emotional, not logical) comes down to a lack of something.
If you dig beneath the surface of what someone tells you about their reasons for buying, you’ll normally find a problem that goes beyond or is different to what you were told.
For example: kids who don’t have the latest footwear are more likely to feel excluded from their social circles if they don’t keep up. To them it’s a problem with a simple solution. This exasperates parents because it seems trivial, but those kids are, as David Bowie put it in 1971, “immune to your consultation.”
Let’s not get started on people who are desperate to be famous. FFS!
So, if you’re looking to build or create something with commercial intent, have you identified a soluble problem for which you provide a solution? Do that, and you’re on to something.
Assuming you’ve done that, do you have a way to communicate all this to your ideal customer?
Anyway, I have something to sell, and YOU might be in the market, so let’s get on with it…
<– Begin Advert –>
Fancy bullshit websites absolutely do look good. They should be fast loading – and all that jazz – but what the hell is the website for? Why does it need to exist and how is it furthering your business objectives? If you're having someone build you a website, you'd better know who it's aimed at, why and for what purpose, and how you're gonna get it done (the "how" is the part the expert supplies). How Should Your Website Function? If you're curious to know "how the sausage is made", I personally use WordPress together with WAMP to build the site initially offline. Following tests, and when ready, it'll be published live. Whether you want an eCommerce store or a static information repository that helps you sell, there's a solution, and if I can't help you, there probably is someone who can. You'll need to delve deep in to your business, your operations, your goals, your wisdom, your experience...your everything...and, armed with information, knowledge, ideas and research, you and your service provider would figure out how to build this website of yours in a way that makes a meaningful impact. A website is merely a delivery systems for communication. Your communication needs to demonstrate that you understand and can solve problems for the potential client/customer (use sales enablement content, copywriting, systems and processes, market positioning)... ...and remember the golden rule: use project management software! I might not be able to help you (and it's perfectly fine for us to say "no" to each other at any point) but it's fine for us have a conversation to see if it's feasible to hire me to partner with you for the duration of your website project.
<– End Advert –>
Why You Should Read This Website
On this website, we explore various technology, ideas and concepts for the running of a modern small business with an emphasis on solving problems.
Some of this might be totally new to you (or not, if you’re a seasoned pro). There are plenty of reasons to read on and revisit again in future.
Scam Alert: They’re Everywhere All Day…Everyday
One thing we all loathe is scams. These represent not just problems but in many cases, complete disaster and financial ruin.
There are plenty of frauds, scams, cybercrime, with the reports and figures released utterly eye popping to say the least. There’s so much crime, that it keeps entire industries dedicated to stopping it propped up and alive like a snake eating its own tail.
Crime will be with us forever…there always will be liars and cheat. Cyber-enabled crime grows in sophistication by the day and is a total headache for police because it’s often out of their jurisdiction.
I recently studied a long, intense NCFE course – Principles of Cyber Security – just because it felt like too much was potentially going on right under my nose. Being a little bit more clued in as to what that could be seemed a good idea.
Sadly, because of the internet, many of us have become indoctrinated by, addicted to, and willing participants of cultural hysteria, which makes all the social engineering and manipulation easier for criminals.
Often leading the charge and stoking the flames are dollar-eyed Get Rich gurus dangling gold-plated carrots wrapped in clever online clickbait right in front of the gullible, greedy and desperate.
Naturally, it’s fun for me to investigate, expose and generally take the piss out of these people. Might as well make the education fun, right?
Handing Cash Over to Cryptomaniacs?
For example, during the pandemic, there was a huge uptick in Tinder-related cryptocurrency scams. People honestly thought communicating with and sending vast sums of money to complete strangers online was a good business investment.
“Well, that won’t ever happen to me, Darren!” I hear you cry. That’s what everyone thinks…right up until the point that it actually happens.
Good Old-fashioned Pyramid Schemes Plague Social Media
Take me for example: in 2006 I managed to find myself participating in the Amway pyramid scheme. That was a close call! No harm done but, oh my… was that an eye opener.
The SEO Deathmatch
There’s other stuff you should read too..
…like the crap that goes on in the battleground that is search engines, where the competition for attention does not preclude having to watch your back to make sure your business rivals haven’t hired dodgy anonymous agents to sabotage your online presence.
SEO has turned into something of a weird obsession, frankly. And if your business strategy rests on this and nothing else besides, you might want to hold your horses and rethink everything.
People think that ranking for the sake of ranking is a good think. Small business owners call me up and say “I want a website, and I want it to be number one in Google.”
Well, alright, but why? And if you achieve that goal, is the website set up to help you sell with timely content that answers questions, builds trust, explains your product/service, sets expectation etc…
…or is it just a wasteland of wasted words that misses the chance to help you meet your commercial goals? The days of ranking for the sake of ranking are over, especially with Google’s AI Overviews eating up a lot of search terms but not making people want to click through to the website from where Google grabbed the information.
Without going into too much detail, you might want to prioritise website conversion optimisation (CRO) over pure search rankings. Common sense, that.
Can We Ever Actually Trust Online Reviews?
There’s all the stuff about fake reviews too. Yes – that’s something else we all need to be aware of, lest the result of a bad decision made on faith actually lead to a fatality. No exaggeration there!
Personally I’ve had my own genuine reviews deleted, which drives me mad when it happens, and I’ve had nasty rivals or just mischief makers saying all kinds of nonsense about me. Getting those defamatory reviews taken down is not easy.
The Internet CAN Be a Force For Good…
Sorry to sound like it’s all doom and gloom. It’s not all negative, but people really must wake up.
For many people, the use of the internet in general for marketing and sales purposes is very much a “glass half full” proposition, when in fact, there are incredible opportunities to grow your income and have the lifestyle you want, and in a meaningful, ethical manner.
There are brilliant ways to market your business that involve other channels that always were effective when done well – like cold calling and direct mail – but the promises that seemed to accompany the arrival of the internet and its subsequent development have seen many channels become corporate walled gardens with pressure from beneath and above end users to spend money or battle algorithms.
All I ask is that you be careful and make decisions wisely. Watch out for charlatans. Avoid Yell.com. Realise that echo chambers surround us even if it doesn’t feel like you are the one suffering with myopia.
There are plenty of blogs on design and marketing to set you straight and ensure time is spent on the right things while avoiding as much of the shiny bullshit as possible.
Attract, Seduce, Sell: Let’s Build You an Engaging Website
Whether you’re a consultant, one man band, small organisation, retailer, office or factory, give me money to help you get more.
Let me help you use design, marketing and technology for decreasing costs, increasing income, streamlining operations and saving time.
Hire me to build a new website or redesign an existing one while keeping in mind what it all comes down to: your sales.
- Read the journal for tips, ideas, guidance and motivation
- Let’s work together on your small business website
