On last Friday at the MBE
Conference, Congressman Elijah Cummings, (D-MD) delivered another classic
motivational speech. I don't think he
intended for it to necessarily come across that way but it did. It was one of those moments that you just had
to be there. Most importantly, what he
said was learn technology. He described a situation many years ago where there
was an opportunity to gain a contract.
Many of the other small businessmen began going around the room to
exchange phone and fax numbers when he realized he didn't even know what a fax
machine was. He immediately called his
office and realized why he didn't know what one was - he didn't have one. He ended
up providing the number for a nearby fax machine down the street so as to not
appear to be without one. I think it's
pretty clear to know that Congressman Cummings was just as degreed and educated
at that time as many of us are now so just because we have fancy degrees and
titles doesn't protect us from not knowing things. Educated or not, he was able to respond on
the fly and get what he needed done but he still urges us by saying, "Don't be
like me, learn technology!"
I understand totally what
he means. I had a friend call me just
the other day as she started a new business venture with little knowledge that
she would get her first opportunity so soon.
I don't think it was even the fact that she was ill-prepared, she just
said publicly what she was going to start doing, someone over heard her and
within a few days she had an opportunity.
The problem was she had no flyers for the event and no business
cards. She called me and needed both
almost in an instant and almost instantly she had them. Why? Because I was aware of the technical
tools to make it happen. I created both
the business cards, flyers and posters with her name, contact information and
even pictures so everyone in the room knew exactly who she was. Using free Wi-Fi, I sent them in a flash a
few hundred miles away and by that afternoon she was good to go. I could have added a pretty decent website
given an additional hour.
In a similar story, I
decided to run an ad in a magazine recently and called the office that was promoting
the advertising. When I called the company,
I was under the impression that I would simply supply them the information and
they would create the ad. Boy was I
wrong! He quickly told me that they only
printed the ad in the magazine and perhaps I should go to an ad agency and have
one created and then send it to them in one of a few accepted formats. Remember, small businesses have to be nimble
and efficient to be effective. There was
no time to start calling around because the deadline had passed when I called
them. He was simply giving me an
opportunity for a spot just because I had visited his office before. No time-No worries. I consulted my time tested laptop and opened
up a software I nearly swear by which is Microsoft Publisher. Within minutes, the ad was completed and sent,
right down to the exact size specifications. If you are not prompt, either you will always
be a small business or you will eventually be out of business.
For those who are thinking
everything technical requires a computer, think again. Technology doesn't mean computer, it means a
way of doing things better. Just because
computers are frequently used in making things better doesn't mean you need one
for a technological enhancement. Case
and point. On a weekend get-a-way to The
Hamptons, I watched a number of men do the gentlemanly thing by bringing in
their family's luggage. Apparently in a
will of strength they wanted to prove that they still had muscle and gave the
old heeve-ho to the suitcases while dragging them to the elevator. Now why would you do this when a fairly and
apparently new technology called the wheel has been added to another new technology called the cart that
happenstance sits in the ENTRY FOYER to the hotel? Simply, place the luggage on the cart at the car
and roll it all the way to any room on any floor without hardly any
effort. That's technology.
However, for those who
want more of the computer savvy technological solutions, join us at the Small Business Technology Forum at my estate on next Saturday, April 4 at 4 p.m. and
we'll share everything we know while you share everything you know. At the end of the day, we'll be all the
wiser. The price for all that wisdom and
knowledge is a very low recession proof twenty bucks and technically speaking,
you can even use technology to pay if you choose. No pun intended. You can live if your pockets temporarily stop
producing money, but never, ever let your mind stop producing ideas as even the biggest ones cost you absolutely nothing.
Those needing directions,
simply send us an email and we'll forward a map to you with step by step
directions.
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