10 Years in Business–Tip #24: Solopreneurs Need to Know Technology!
October 6, 2011 by Lizabeth Phelps
In my special report, What I Know For Sure: Lessons Learned in 10 Years of Business, I list 75 topic areas that I have bumped into over ten years. And every day in October, I will randomly choose one of the 75 and expound on it. So here’s today’s:
Tip #24 Hate technology? You don’t have to love it, but you must learn everything you need to know about technology. If you have a lot of capital, you can hire techies, but if you don’t, it’s on you. There’s no escaping it. It’s here to stay and you won’t make it in business without it. TIP: Prioritize the platforms you’ll need and just tackle them one at a time. Tip #25: Technology you need to understand: Video cameras; video editing software; YouTube; all other social media; your autoresponder/shopping cart; your merchant account or PayPal; WordPress; Optimize Press for instant sales pages and squeeze pages; desk mic; audio recording software (free on-line)—for the basics.
I don’t know how this lands on you, but so many of my start-up clients get stopped by technology. Some of the older ones actually think they can have a business without it. It’s just not possible. There are so many facets of marketing so many things you need to do, that you must become adept at technology. You will need a website and to know your website–even if you have a developer. You will need to sell your services in written pieces, which means sales letters and squeeze pages–and that entails software. I recommend and love Optimize Press.
One of my favorite pieces of technology is my desk mic. I send my clients audio messages regularly when I don’t have time to type or when I want them to hear my voice. I use Free Hi-Q Recorder for the audio software (very rudimentary but all you need for this function) and a Logitech desk mic.
I have a Canon FS200 video camera–with a mic function (which is very important). It’s simple to use and I get good quality videos from it. I also have a Logitech webcam. And for video software (my inner movie-director was found 2 years ago! I never dreamed that would happen. Try it! You may love it!)…I use Adobe Premiere 8. I’m sure there’s an updated version now, but this has been easy enough for me to learn. And you need this. You need to do videos and edit them.
I use Authorize.net and Practice Pay Solutions for merchant account. For autoresponders I use both Aweber (which I love and highly recommend, though they do not have an e-commerce function, which forced me to go over to) 1 Shopping Cart. They are okay. Don’t love them. HATE that they make you pay to get phone support–and their navigation is awkward and non-intuitive way too much of the time. The other option is Infusion Soft, which I haven’t looked into at this point.
And I don’t want to forget Talk Fusion, which allows you to embed videos into your emails (which I use regularly) and also have live video broadcasting features and video conferencing. I am a distributor for them, so if you check them out, you’ll be doing so under my profile.
Be sure to get all 75 tips from my 14-page special report here.
And today’s special offer is the ability to take The Audience Leadership Assessment–my 108-question assessment that tests your strengths and weaknesses in 7 core competencies of public speaking. This is a GREAT assessment and you can take it for just $20.01 today and tomorrow only! Go to: http://inspiredleadershiptraining.com/speakingassessment/
Speak Your Mind