Tweet

Is Technology Helping You or Keeping You From Taking Action?

Guest post by: Janis Pettit

Article Overview: As small and solo business owners, technology is the wonderful tool that allows us to run our businesses with little overhead (from home if we want to), to automate so many time-consuming tasks, and to reach thousands of people in our market.

Is Technology Helping You or Keeping You From Taking Action?

As small and solo business owners, technology is the wonderful tool that allows us to run our businesses with little overhead (from home if we want to), to automate so many time-consuming tasks, and to reach thousands of people in our market. However I often see technology hold people back because of:

• a fear of technology and learning the skills they need
• a fear of putting anything out there over the Internet unless they're convinced it's perfect.
• a failure to put safeguards in place in case a major technology problem occurs

Are you agonizing over every e-mail you send to your list, every web page you put up, every tweet or social media message you send, trying to be sure it's perfect? Or are you avoiding mastering the technology you need to double or triple your income? Let me share how that could be holding you back.

I also want to share how best to protect yourself so when technology fails you, so you can recover as soon as possible.

In the past few weeks it seems we had a technology hurricane whip through my business. First my business computer crashed unexpectedly because an internal part just wore out. That left me without access to many of my business folders, documents and my Outlook database and emails. Since my computer was dead, I had to quickly purchase a new one and run my business temporarily from my laptop. It wasn't easy and although I had to re-create some documents, luckily many of the key documents I needed immediately were located on my laptop as well.

Most importantly, all of my data had been backed up regularly onto an external hard drive, so as soon as my computer expert got access to my new computer, he was able to load all of my data and emails and we re-installed all of my software. This was about as much fun as visiting the dentist and took some time, but I didn't lose anything valuable. Meanwhile I was able to access my daily email on my laptop.

Shortly afterward, we experienced a plethora of problems-corrupted audios, problems with my e-mail marketing program where links in e-mails we sent were somehow corrupted and a problem with my membership site going down. All of this required my team and me to stop what we were doing and work with the appropriate support team to get the problem resolved.

It also meant that some of my coaching club members had difficulty accessing the membership site for two days, and a mass email I sent to my list had links that didn't work, even though we had inserted them correctly. As frustrating as this was, people did not only understand, but they emailed us to let us know there was a problem right away.

Of course we all try to make sure that everything works for our clients, but sometimes technology isn't perfect and things break down. Sometimes it's human error-like the times when we've accidently inserted an incorrect link (which happens to everyone). The important thing to remember is that you need to keep getting your message out there. Go for reasonable accuracy, not perfection. Don't agonize over "dotting every I" and "crossing every t". You don't need to re-write and edit every e-mail message over and over.

The problem with perfection is that it doesn't exist. Perfectionism is often a way for us to put off taking action that will put our message out there in front of our market on a weekly basis.

On another note, if learning technology skills is holding you back, this also requires you to let go of your fear of doing something wrong and go for learning one step at a time. Almost anything you need to know is available to you by typing your question into a simple Google search. You'll find all sorts of tutorials and instructions.

Finally, put safeguards in place to protect you in case you have computer problems.

• Do weekly or bi-weekly backups to an external hard drive.
• Have a backup laptop you can use to retrieve data in an emergency.
• Set your emails to remain on your server for 10 days of so. This way if you can't access it on your computer, you can login to your server or website's control panel and read it there.
• Keep all of your software CD's in one place so you can find them quickly to re-install your programs onto a different computer. Keep all of the product keys for downloaded software in one file where you can find it easily in case of an emergency.

Technology may have occasional glitches, but it is a powerful and profitable tool. Don't let fear hold you back from using it to get your message out quickly and in a big way and make the running of your business so much easier.

Related Articles
  Major Benefits of Using An Outside Facilitator
  The Truth About Technology
  The Benefits of Taking Action
  Are You Upset
  CRM for a Small Business
  Stuck In a Rut? - Action is The Key That Will Set You Free!
  Amazing Self-Help Tips That Are Proven To Work!
  Is This Four Letter Word Hurting Your Business?
  Home Based Business Strategies
  Take Action Now and Achieve Your Goals Sooner
  Action Or Self Delusion?
  Why Are You Afraid Of Taking Action?
  Stuck In A Rut? - The Best Way To Escape Your Problem Is To Solve It!
  Keeping Track Of Your Projects For Your Home Based Business
  Beliefs Actions Results
  Take That Next Step Now and Begin Earning an Online Income!
  How much ACTION are you REALLY willing to take?
  The Seduction of Technology
  What To Do When Your Webinar Technology Fails
  Learn Together With Your Kids

Article Tags: small business and technology, small business coaching, small business consulting



Related Forum Posts
Re: What to do at the first roadblock? - GT said, I think seeing that the glass (i.e. market or opportunity) is only half full is a good mindset to have rather than looking at the sheer number of competitors. I would have to agree. I think this is a great thing to think about in almost any situation, whether home or business. As I mentioned, attitude is 95% of the battle. Keeping it positive is the only way to get the things you really want in life. Helping others helps, too. See the quote in my signature.
Re: New Video - Should I Get A Job Or Start A Business? - Hi Evan, I was curious to know what you'd suggest and I think you gave excellent advice. Taking a year out to try and start your own business is a great idea. Taking a year out after college is a well established option so I guess it doesn't prejudice your chances of getting a job should you wish to do so later on; it probably improves your chances if you've been getting valuable experience of managing a business and of course, if all goes well, you won't need to find out. Definitely a video for my website. Thanks! David
Re: How to Stay Motivated - Thanks for posting this, Matthew. Keeping the motivation strong is something I've really been struggling with. Donna, I think I was just not pushing as hard as I need to and getting maintenance instead of progress.
Re: Quote of the Day - "No man can become rich without himself e - I wholeheartedly agree! Helping others is a great way to help yourself, by bringing more meaning to your life.
Re: Tactics for Blog Traffic - Keeping up with your blog with a new post at least once a week should be atop every blogger's to-do list. The Google "Freshness" approach rewards new, original content.


Share this article with your friends. Fund someone's dream.

Leave a comment below or share on the left and you'll help support entrepreneurs in Africa through our partnership with Kiva. Over $50,000 raised and counting - Please keep sharing! Learn more.

Newsletter

Get advice & tips from famous business
owners, new articles by entrepreneur
experts, my latest website updates, &
special sneak peaks at what's to come!

Name:
Email:

Popular Articles

Why SEO is important for your online success

Paint A Word Picture - Excite Your Customer

How to Improve Your Time Management

Suggestions

Email us your ideas on how to make our
website more valuable! Thank you Sharon
from Toronto Salsa Lessons / Classes for
your suggestions to make the newsletter
look like the website and profile younger
entrepreneurs like Jennifer Lopez.