North by Northwest

I met with Tom Fulmer of Space Coast Entrepreneurs this morning to record a podcast for his show, "Extra Mile Radio". It was a really great time with a lot of good insights and information. We discussed social media, its role in the modern marketing mindset, and the affect it is having on the new way we do business. He asked me an interesting question, "What do you feel is the greatest need of small business owners in today's economy?"

The answer, to my way of thinking, is simple.

Direction.

Our world is full of ideas. I find that most business-people I come into contact with are doing everything they can just to keep their head above water in the deluge on information, technology, and applications. They have all the tools, many times without even knowing what they are for. They just have them because someone has told them that they ought to.

But what they need, what will really allow them the freedom and security and confidence to plunge ahead with their new-found armament is direction. When my wife and I got married we took our honeymoon in the mountains of Tennessee. For a beach boy like me and an L.A.-born city girl like my wife, the winding roads and rolling hills of that beautiful state were fairly daunting! Fortunately, my parents were nice enough to loan us their Garmin for our trip, and we found our way. That little gadget, with its monotone, female voice and brightly-lit LCD screen, gave us something that, without it, would have made our trip just terrible. It gave us direction. It guided us through unfamiliar territory, taking the pressure of left and right turns off of our shoulders and allowing us to focus on enjoyable things like where to eat and what shows to see!

It today's technological wilderness, we often need a Garmin to guide us. What so few people realize, however, is that often they have it within themselves to find that direction and guidance. Proper planning and goal-setting coupled with a little education on how new technologies are being used will help clear the smoke and allow you to find your path. If you already know where you want to end up, and the achievements you want to make along the way, you simply need to learn how those goals and plans sync with the tools you have aquired, and suddenly you will find that all of this "Internet stuff" isn't as hard as you thought!