The rise of Information Technologies and the digital revolution we have witnessed over the last few decades has remodelled the way organizations conduct business. There’s no way to say how tremendous this impact has been for consumers and businesses – the information is just a click away; reaching customers around the globe is faster, and employees can work remotely from anywhere in the world.

IT continues to be a strategic enabler for 81% of organizations. 

But small businesses and solopreneurs are also acquiring an array of tech – everything from smarter apps, augmented data storage, and artificial intelligence (AI) – to work efficiently at a fraction of the price and level the playing field with larger organizations.

Anyone who has ever started or tried to start a business by themselves knows that it is one of the toughest thing to do. You look at your business and say “I could really do a lot more and potentially grow my business exponentially if I had more time and resources.” Concurrently, they’re bothered about marketing. How will the likely customers know that it’s there?

They can’t be reluctant to adapt.

Such moments that break down all the barriers to transformation reshaped the way we perceive entrepreneurs.

Neil is right. Your blood, sweat, and tears alone can’t keep your business afloat.

In this digital and information economy, entrepreneurs need to cultivate new creative skills in themselves and become digital marketing savvy.

Let’s look at some of them.

The Cloud-Savvy Operations

Usual suspect on “Rising technologies” lists for quite some time now; Cloud is a great way for companies with lacking the infrastructure to get on their feet and become competitive from the get-go. Still, Cloud is hardly exclusively reserved for small businesses and startups. 

• We are seeing more and more of what we consider business behemoths moving entire systems from their on-site premises to the safety of an online cloud. One thing’s for sure: Cloud is here to stay. 
• With the cloud, your staff has guaranteed access to essential files and applications. Whether you’re operating small business phone systems or an intricate network of proprietary software, the cloud can keep every member of your team in the loop about the project. 
• Every entrepreneur with a desire to gain an edge over the competition should be accustomed to working in such an environment.

How to Code?

Understanding the basics of one or several, programming languages is on the way to become the literacy of the 21st century. Now, coding may seem intimidating at first glance, and deservedly so, but that does not mean that we cannot narrow the choice of all these alien technologies to four, which may prove to be very useful in entrepreneurship.

• CSS and HTML are the core technologies for displaying web pages. Python and Java are two very spread out programming languages whose implementation we can see on several platforms each day. 
• Developing web design and coding skills does not necessarily require institutionalized education. 
• All the necessary information and tutorials are easily accessible through various online courses and dev communities, where people share their knowledge and experience.

Be Passionate About Blogging

Content is intended to be King in SEO. Done right content can build a successful organic traffic pipeline.

If you’re an aspiring entrepreneur, you might think writing a blog is a waste of time. Wrong.

Regardless of whether your website is service-based, affiliate-based or product-based, a blog will work for you.

• The focus of this approach is on communicating to potential customers one-on-one as much as possible. It’s all about the natural conversation.
• Define your audience —who they are, what they do, and what they like. You’ll write solutions to their problems you know about them. Search engines, Google specifically, count mostly on the search intent rather than specific words or phrases that users enter to find the right answers to their queries.
• Help people by answering their problems. Explore Quora, Yahoo answers, and forum communities to find questions that are related to your product or services.
• Include a short note (or CTA) at the end of your blog post that “we’re offering A which solves problem B!”
• Keep sending valuable content to your email list that you have built so far.

Blogging allows you to get more search impressions, and the more you publish and market this content, the more of a chance you have for one of your posts to be read by a potential customer on your site where you sell your products or services.

Graphic Design Skills

No matter how good someone’s product or service may be, if it fails to grab public attention, it will remain in obscurity forever. In this kind of situation, tackling graphic design skills may prove to be a very valuable asset. Logo, typeface, and colors will breathe life into some brand and give it a recognizable face and personality.

Even the people who know nothing about design know that Adobe Photoshop is a very powerful design tool, so if someone wants to develop such skills, this is a great place to start. Learning the graphic design essentials from numerous available sources will give entrepreneurs a great theoretical basis.

Marketing

To establish your brand, services, or website, you also need to market your website, blog posts, products, and services on Google, YouTube, Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, LinkedIn, and Pinterest. 

Content, whether on your company website, blog, social media page, or newsletter, is the quickest way to provide information to your target audience. From sharing your company’s history on your website to providing tips and tricks through social media and blog posts, every time quality content is generated, it provides validity and integrity to your brand that customers look to when determining whether to do business with you.

You need to furnish your social media presence and follow a rock-solid strategy to reach an entirely new audience of potential customers and people who will visit your site.

Automation helps.

Hootsuite is a social media management platform offering a lot of features to help you manage your social media accounts from one place. It also allows you to schedule messages, connect with team members, and review analytic reports of your social media accounts. It can be really helpful and save a lot of time.

The Art of Communication

Social skills and the art of communication are as old as humanity itself. Still, like any other part of our lives affected by the “Digital Revolution”, communication is also undergoing some noticeable changes. Email is becoming the preferred medium for business communication, and if you are to attend a conference or a meeting, the chances are that it will be conducted through Zoom or Skype.

The smartest thing entrepreneurs can do then is to reinvent their social skills and abide them to “new rules”. Handling the very technology, labelling messages, synchronizing inboxes across various devices, and even eco-systems is only a part of their job. The other, even more, important skill set – every entrepreneur should have, is to use these communication channels effectively. Writing an effective email seems simple, but it does require practice.

Bonus Tip: Keep Informed

It’s important to be passionate learners and have fingers on the pulse of on-going events. Entrepreneurship is more than just making easy money; it’s also about trying to be the most unimpeachable subject expert in your industry.

Every new age spawns different kinds of entrepreneurs. Recently, we saw an onslaught of successful “internet” billionaires, but with the things in the business as they currently are, this talent pool is still far from depleted. If the upcoming challengers want to enter this race, proficiency in some of the important skills we mentioned above is all but necessary.