The business landscape has changed. It has gotten a whole lot larger, with a sea of opportunity and it happened when you were focused on being the very best in the local game. Business is global and there is no time like the present to get on board and start expanding your reach for faster growth with quality clients.

I am a Shop Owner

It has never been easier to embark on a global branding initiative for the retailer. You have the unprecedented opportunity to showcase your business to an unlimited audience with limited overhead. Major retailers are investing in complex websites and that concept as scared the smaller retailer away from the idea of opening up a digital storefront. Fear not. There are some simple tools that you can use to facilitate an easy transition into the global marketplace:

Shopify

An e-commerce and website building tool that has pre-built templates and plenty of customization options. It is quick and easy to get this site on brand and operating seamlessly.

WooCommerce

A Wordpress Add-On, this e-commerce platform facilitates easy integration of an e-commerce component to your existing Wordpress website.

BigEcommerce

Another website builder/ecommerce tool, this site is a popular choice for larger inventories and inventory management.

SquareSpace Commerce

For the design savvy and aesthetically minded, this ecommerce solution is known for facilitating beautiful design with ease.

I Offer Business Consulting (or it is a component of what I do)

You can rip a page out of our book, or turn to the leading solutions providers in your industry to see how consulting in the digital realm is amongst the most popular transitions in global business. You can now meet face to face with your clients from the comfort of your office. In fact, our clients that are local sometimes prefer a quick check-in online for efficiency and cost-savings... and we dig that! 

So how do you facilitate your business services through the digital realm?

Google Apps

You can set up hangouts, manage microsites, share documents and facilitate accountability through worksheets in this awesome set of applications.

How we use them: We have micro-sites for every client, we share all of our documents with our clients virtually, we manage our email through google and we manage our calendars through google. In fact, we have a public calendar that our clients can see to help us book their weekly appointments with our team.

Skype

The digital consulting tool of your dreams, Skype allows you to facilitate one on one conversations with a person anywhere in the world. Read: you can facilitate them FROM anywhere in the world as well. Suddenly the thought of a month long jaunt down under doesn't seem so unreasonable. When your business is digital, the world is your oyster.

Digital Conference Tool (ex: Adobe Connect)

Host webinars to educate the masses on your craft with unlimited login capability and a sleek professional interface. Adobe Connect is one of many options, but essentially it is a platform that facilitates a large meeting from multiple locations. Consider the potential of meeting with the board from your office, your home office or even your cottage.

My Business is Service Based

Many entrepreneurs are taking to the digital realm to offer their services on a broader scale. Amongst the most fascinating we've seen of late is a digital book-keeping service. You scan everything to them, they compile your records and send it all back in neat spreadsheets that account for every element of the book-keeping and tax reporting process. The best part, they do it for a monthly fee.

This is brilliant. They are eliminated the costly in person communication, if you are in business you know that face to face is expensive (it takes longer, there is travel time and it is often peppered with social conversation as opposed to productive work). They have also facilitated an easy way to receive and send the important documents all the while creating a data back-up for the customer (something that has long been regarded as a pain is now a necessary step in an easier process.) This is innovation at work, we love it.

So consider your business and how you might make a component of it or all of it founded in the global economy. Some ideas that we have come up with are listed below:

• Lawyer - boilerplate creative contracts for download by freelancers
• Writer - develop a blog writing service for content marketers that are overloaded (see Verblio)
• Yoga Instructor - create a downloadable monthly calendar that is subscription based with a 10 minute morning yoga practice for each day

The possibilities are endless and we are regularly working to generate new income streams for our clients using creative applications of their skillsets. This is the business of today, get on board, there is a lot of freedom at the next stop! Keep up with our blog to continue your journey towards business growth or connect with us to implement a data-driven marketing strategy that's right for your brand.