The Upper Peninsula of Michigan is a magical, wonderful place packed full of nature's beauty.
And while that's great and all, it would not do much for our regional economy if not for the unique and innovative entrepreneurial spirit embodied by our residents. Business in the U.P. would consist of a couple of mines, a hospital and a megastore or two. Fortunately, we are actually doing better than much of the country and indeed the world, for these are troubling times in the global economy.
My name is Jason and my primary job is running (or juggling rather) a lot of web sites and social media profiles, among doing other geeky things like programming and security research. Over the course of several articles, it will be my pleasure to share some of my experiences with you here at Upper Peninsula Second Wave.
In this first article, I am going to give you a little background on what you can accomplish with a clever combination of ingenuity, elbow grease and social networking. Creating something out of nothing has never been easier or more profitable!
When you take a bike ride or walk around any town in our peninsula the uniqueness of our businesses definitely stands out. You won't see 7-11s on every corner, and indeed you'll be hard pressed to find a chain store unless you're along a small stretch of highway on the outskirts of a populous area. Instead you will find every shop with a different name, a unique persona and friendly people who work hard to create an economy for themselves where previously none existed.
Small businesses owned by locals are the norm here and they provide the majority of jobs across the U.P., so let us briefly examine how that landscape has changed in the new millennium.
For creative and passionate people, there is always space in the local economy to provide a unique service or product. Businesses such as salons, pizza parlors, graphic designers and delivery (of people or goods) are businesses that almost can't go wrong, especially if they carve out a niche which sets them apart.
We always have room for manufacturing as well - unique things like
trophies,
beverages and
niche foods. Oh, and if you haven't noticed yet, the U.P. also has quite the
art scene coming into focus. Producing
photos,
paintings or
clothing designs from home can be a great, and flexible, way to provide your own income.
Great, so now you're thinking... "How can I support myself and get out from underneath the oppression of working for the man?" Or perhaps, "Now that I've got ideas, how do I create something from nothing when I live deep in the woods and don't have much of a (if any) budget?"
The answer is, of course, social media. Wait! Don't get turned off by the cliche and over-used term. Social media is really just the mainstream term for the Internet, which actually formed due to the need to socialize with others who were in physically disparate places.
Follow this series of articles here on
UPSW and you will learn about a variety of tools and techniques that you can use to help get your business off the ground. Here is a quick little nutshell of information to get your gears turning before I let you drift back into the cyber ether until next time.
•
Buy a domain name. Your business will have no legitimacy on the Internet without one, and you should make it your primary email address so that people on the Internet will take you seriously. Don't cement your business name until you own the matching domain name. Forward it to Gmail so you don't have to worry about the technical aspects and still get all the goodies like free mobile calendar and office applications.
• Put a web site on it. Don't worry about being super sexy or having hundreds of pages and slide shows right away. Get that thing launched and grow it consistently. Give it life and don't let it die. No money or knowledge? Try
Google Sites.
• Make a
Facebook Fan Page named after your business (and thus your domain name). Use it. Get your friends to like it and ask them to share your posts. Look for local web sites that you can advertise on, especially free regional social networks like
Mackinac or
Marquette Social (full disclosure: those are my babies). They have brought many local photographers and businesses to the attention of a broad audience that would not have known about them otherwise.
• Hook up with some
Twitter. It's nearly impossible to define to someone who doesn't use it, but there is no denying its mystical powers.
• Post, share and comment! You must engage with your clients to build loyalty and brand recognition. If you aren't putting posts in front of someone's face, someone else will and they'll get your clicks and discussions!
If you start knocking off things on that list, I promise you'll start to grow a small plant that can one day become a bountiful garden of self-reliance. You may not get sales overnight; loyalty and trust take time to build... and the only way to do that is by engaging with your audience.
Did I mention you should post more? Post. More.
Jason Edward White is an Upper Peninsula resident of 15 years and serial entrepreneur. Follow his
Twitter,
Facebook, or web site as he begins to unveil the secrets to his web success and watch his growing news organization which covers the
Upper Peninsula from end-to-end.