The Internet has really leveled the playing field for small and REALLY small companies. It has allowed a virtual world in which any company, large or small, can create a global corporation even with a payroll of one.
What did I just say … a global corporation of one? How is this possible? Several factors related to the Internet have converged to make this possible: 1) Internet speeds are fast enough to make collaboration on a worldwide basis as simple as being there “in person.” 2) a plethora of really good applications that facilitate collaboration abound 3) the concept of the “free agent”, i.e. people who work on a contract basis is not only accepted, but now common place and … guess what … many of the collaboration software are free.
All of these factors, along with a few others, have made virtual business development, in many cases, more efficient than having your own dedicated payroll. In fact, I run a virtual company that utilizes contractors from around the world. Website development is done in Costa Rica, graphics developed in Malaysia, articles written in India and the US and a virtual assistant or two in the Philippines.
One of the cool things about working with contractors is that you have no payroll or “fixed” overhead. The contractors are rated by other employers who have used them in the past, just like the eBay rating system. Before you engage / hire, you know whether the person is any good or not in the area for which you are hiring.
One of the tools that I use to develop my business include Yugma, a free collaboration service. The service allows me to share my desktop with any number of participants. The participants can share slides, presentations, and even write on a whiteboard as if they were there in person.
Another incredible tool that I use is called MagicJack. With my assistants in the Philippines, I need a way to call them and for them to make calls to me. Of course, there’s Yahoo IM or Skype to Skype, but what if they need the ability for to call someone’s landline or mobile in the US – anybody – or vice versa. Yes, you could buy Skype out credits or use Vonage, but the cost eventually becomes too expensive. MagicJack runs on VOIP, connects to your USB port and costs $39 for the 1st year and $19 per year thereafter … for UNLIMITED calling to and from the US. Yes, UNLIMITED.
Then, there are a number of great and, yes, FREE, file sharing services. Google Docs is one that we use on a daily basis. All of our PDFs, documentation and policies, training forms, linking structures, etc. are shared online. Anyone with access to these docs can collaborate, add and share their work … 24×7, secure and FREE! Did I say free?
I’ll share more of these great tools in future blogs. In the meantime, it’s a great time to be doing business development. Never in the history of our world could a one-man operation be a global company and compete so effectively.
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