Digital is how we do business. Our marketing, our offerings, and how our customers engage with us, all in a digital world. It’s how they learn more about us, our philosophy and perspective. They learn about and eventually trust our expertise. Digital trends reflect our business engagement trends. From understanding how to utilize technology to knowing how to select the right technology that complements our business. The tools and resources we can find in technology certainly help us grow our business, scale our audience and widen our impact.
In the beginning when Blue Zenith Design + Strategy started, we were just emerging from the worst recession. Technology, at that point, was geared for large businesses enterprise systems that fueled bigger business operations. But with that recession came opportunity. To those that were laid off and without a paycheck, entrepreneurship and small business became an accessible option, and digital became a way to make your mark on the world. We now have tools and resources that are targeted for smaller businesses and entrepreneurs, to provide us options with what we need to grow our business.
The power of technology
With technology comes power. The Wow! power to stand equal within your industry. Ten years ago, social media was just coming of age. My Space was the newest rage, Facebook had just opened to the public (2007), YouTube was taking the world by storm. The Time’s Magazine Year of YOU celebrated those of us that contributed to the user-generated content through these social channels.
With this, came ways our voice could be heard – personally, and also for business. These same tools that allow us to stay connected, allow our businesses to build and grow a following. And it boils down to authenticity. To stand out in the noise, you need to be your authentic self. Same rules apply now to our business voices on our websites – your voice, your message, has been influenced by social media and how we connect there – this needs to be just as authentic and true to yourself, as in our personal accounts.
Digital is personal now
Digital means to stand out, we need to stand tall in who we are. It means that we bring the social and relationship building into our website with content, images and philosophy.
Digital tools and technology, ways to stay connected, has blended business and personal. From Google My Business, Four Square, Yelp, Better Business Bureau, Thumbtack, Yellow Pages, White Pages, online business directories allowed people to find us. We no longer need actual physical yellow page directory books – but the online directories that took its place.*
Digital has fueled creativity, from the apps that have become part of our daily lives, to the cloud based applications that provide us the opportunity to work anywhere. If your business has a need, I’m sure there are online tools that can help you with that. There are a multitude of online tools that can be found that can grow your business in so many infinite, wonderfully, different ways.
We envision the future becoming more intertwined with digital tools. Cloud based tools are not just for enterprise businesses anymore. There’s affordable ways to share information, to incorporate those tools into a smaller business model. From calendar scheduling to sharing documents, to automation tools, I can only see more options provided to entrepreneurs over time. I am excited to see what’s new, emerging over the horizon!
*Footnote: 1- https://blog.hubspot.com/blog/tabid/6307/bid/10322/the-ultimate-list-50-local-business-directories.aspx
You don’t have to do it alone!