What Are Small Businesses Waiting For?

Small Business Solopreneurs: What's the up-side of being laid off from someone else's company? How can you start up a business you're passionate about on a shoe-string budget? How can search engine optimization (SEO), dynamic content, blogging and social marketing help bring attention to your enterprise?

Current Status: As a solopreneur writer-editor and Internet marketing coach, every business day I add to my knowledge of Internet marketing -- and HR options, better risk management for financial services, osteopathy, yoga breath, acupuncture and other complementary modalities. I'm happy when I'm learning, and even happier when I'm writing about what I'm learning. This is the essence of working for yourself: enjoying the challenge and the doing of it. Love what you do sounds trite, but mostly because we tend to avoid this simple rule for a balanced, satisfying life -- in favor of a dumb belief in struggle.

This Is Interesting: According to the Center for Media Research, 56% of small businesses still do not have Web sites. That is an amazing figure! Web sites can be set up for $0 - under $500. Web hosting can be had at Blue Host or GoDaddy for about $7 per month. Google ads can start at $10 - $25. What are these businesses waiting for?

Because 70% of Internet traffic is directed by queries to search engines, blog posts from your Web site target the exact type of customers you want -- simply by talking about your product or service every other day. Two major sources of Web traffic are blogs and social networks. Signing up on Twitter is free and takes about 5 minutes per business day. Your target customers are there, so you should be there to meet them, offering value and demonstrating your expertise and love of what you are doing/offering.

The Soap Box: Breathing. It's automatic, right? Nope. Shallow breathing is more or less what we do unconsciously. Just enough to get by, not deep enough for optimum health. Try this:

Quick Stress Relief How-To:

1. Sit up straight and begin breathing deeply. As you breathe, take your mind to the muscles in your feet, ankles, calves, knees and so on till you reach the top of your head. Think "soft."
2. As you relax the areas related to breathing, make your breaths even slower and deeper.
3. Unfocus your eyes, taking in a panorama, not just one object.
4. Consciously leave the stress response behind and enter the rest response.
5. When you reach the rest response, continue your slow, deep breathing for about 5 minutes, focusing on your breath so that your mind does not wander back to work mode.