Abracadabra
Sometimes, the best things in life really are free.
Today’s start-up tool is perhaps the most ubiquitous information portal in the whole wide world: the search engine.
Anyone, I mean anyone, setting out to start a business, regardless of what that business’s products or model may be, must spend a few hours sitting in front of a computer typing in searches.
After a fashion, it is easy to believe that I am just preaching to the choir. After all, you are all net savvy business folks who made it to our website, very likely through the use of a search engine. Yet, I have been surprised in the past by basic inexperience most people have with this essential internet tool.
Many believe that the purpose of a search engine is to locate specific website or a website focusing on a specific subject, and it can certainly be used to this end. The most powerful application of the search engine, however, is to find things you did not know you needed to know. The length and breadth of the internet ensures that you can acquire, perfectly free, a masters level education in any subject merely by typing in a few key words and reading, reading, reading.
Try this exercise: Go to google.com and type in “start-up company” and hit search. Now, follow absolutely every link on the first page, reading the attached websites thoroughly and following any links on them that happen to interest you. You will quickly discover at least: a website which posts 3-5 articles a day describing potential startup company ideas, a scholarly essay about starting a technology companies in the post-bubble era, a VC/Angel investor clearinghouse, the subsection of a job’s site specializing in jobs at start-up companies.
Now, return to google and try “start-up business”, then “new company”, “new small business”, then, just for kicks, “small business startup”. You will note that each search generates a new list of links, distinct from the previous list. Each list, when explored thoroughly, reveals dozens of gemstones.
Next: think up a list of at least ten ways to describe your own start-up business’s product, services, or niche. Type those words in using various configurations and combinations. Set aside a few hours for this because each search will reveal new ideas and new links. I guarantee you will not regret the result.
Have patience, a little imagination, and you will greatly expand your knowledge without paying a penny. The important thing to remember is that you can never know too much. There is always more out there, and thanks to the search engine, you can find it with just a few magic words.
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