If you want to start an Online Business but are technologically illiterate, don’t worry, we have the solution. Before we get into that I want you to know – I hate labels! So let’s get one thing clear, someone has come up with this term and I don’t like it! However, I’ll use it so the internet search engines help people find this article. With that established, let’s get into it.
Being Technologically Illiterate is a real problem.
We’ll look back at 2020-21 and think that was one hell of a time. For many reasons. Some obvious and some unapparent. I won’t go into the obvious ones. They live in our minds as permanent as the media headlines live on the internet for eternity. However, the unapparent one that astounded me was how quickly some people became versed in the language of technology—everything from Facetime, Zoom, Collaborative Softwares, Online Shopping.
Interestingly this wasn’t the case for everyone. Showing my mum how to pair her android device with her new headphones for her daily Covid exercise outing was an eye-opener to the fact: Technology illiteracy is a real problem – for some.
Technology literacy is defined as:
1. Level of very reduced or nonexistent knowledge on the handling and use of tools, such as basic computer programs, Internet use, and so forth.
After a long year navigating technology, you’ll fall into one of two broad categories:
- Learned how to use technology over the course of the year
- Still clueless
If you’re unsure what category you fall into, complete the following exercise:
One a scale of 1 to 10.
- 1 being – I don’t know how to use an iPhone
- 5 being – I don’t know how to unmute myself on Zoom
- 10 being – I quit all technology because it took over my life, and I now live in the woods
Where do you score?
Suppose you’re a 5 and above. You’re ready to start. Don’t delay. Pick any of the free super guides on the blog and start. If you’re in the woods and need some income, you may want to reconsider the whole internet-free life.
If you’re a 5 and below you have two contrasting options.
Option 1: Hire a specialised Online Business team
Option one. Study the BATON framework Kyle describes in his recent article. I mean really study it because your next move will be to hire people with specialised knowledge for each stage within BATON. Here’s a snapshot of what speciality someone would need to bring to the table within each stage:
- Business: Startup, Lean Startup, Market Research, Product Market Fit, Launch
- Audience: Marketing Strategy, SEO, Social Media, Content, Advertising
- Tribe: Community Management, Email Marketing, Retargeting
- Offer: Sales, Landing Page, Customer Service, eCommerce
- Network: Growth, Scale, Accounts
There’s an obvious challenge with Option 1. You need cash money! If you’re reading this and cash money isn’t a block, then neither will technological illiteracy be. In which case, there are some things money can’t buy. For everything else, there’s MasterCard.
Option 2: Become a beginner
If cash money is a challenge, I’d recommend reading Kyles’s recent post titled Online Business Ideas for Beginners. It will provide both the motivation and the framework to understand Online Business without any mention of technology. Because irrespective of what the latest YouTube ad says about the next hot thing, technology comes second to business foundations.
This insight alone should make you feel more confident about starting an Online Business even if you feel like your technologically illiterate.
Again, if Option 1 is out of the question (which I’m glad it is, as you’ll learn little that way), then I want to get real with you. It’s time to stop beating yourself up about not being tech-savvy. Or feeling like you’re being left behind by the kids who’ve mastered TikTok.
Change your perspective on technology.
Instead, shift perspective and put yourself in the shoes of my 7-month-year-old for a moment. Actually, he’s pretty much shoeless 24/7. Instead, put yourself in his teddy bear onesie.
Now you’re in his onesie, ask yourself the question: Would I, a little cute baby dressed as a teddy bear, not try to learn how to shuffle? Once I’ve learned how to shuffle, would I not try to learn how to crawl? Walk? Run? Handstand? To much?
The reality is, of course, you’d try. It’s built-into all of us to try regardless of how uncomfortable it first is. You should see my baby try to crawl – boy, it looks uncomfortable. Sometimes you need a couple of guys on an Online Business blog to get you kickstarted.
And that’s the message I want to leave you with, whether it’s learning how to do a one-armed pushup or simply going from crawling to walking. You’ve got to try. Don’t let the fact they’re labelling you as technologically illiterate, stop you from starting your Online Business.
Fancy testing out your new-found motivation? Pick something easy from a free guide we created at the start of 2020 to help people with the financial storm about to hit. Not for the purpose of making money. Instead for the purpose of trying and getting familiar with technology.