#Smallbizchat LIVE is a monthly video chat where small business owners can get answers to their questions. The focus of #Smallbizchat LIVE is to end small business failure by helping participants succeed as your own boss. Please join us live every third Wednesday of the month from 8-9 pm ET Live on my SmallBizLady Facebook Page, YouTube Channel, and LIVE on Twitter.
Building Wealth Through CryptoCurrency
Tonya M. Evans recently joined the Penn State Dickinson Law faculty to continue her work in blockchain and cryptocurrency, data, technology, entertainment law, and social justice. She also owns the Advantage Evans™ Academy which teaches students how to leverage cryptocurrency and hosts the Tech Intersect Podcast. For more information www.AdvantageEvans.com
SmallBizLady: What’s the difference between Bitcoin and blockchain?
Tonya M. Evans: They are related but not the same. Blockchains are a novel way to verify and record transactions and is a decentralized alternative to the traditional, often siloed client/server database model. It is a publicly accessible record “or ledger” of transactions. Bitcoin is a purely digital form of currency and its transactions (ex: Alice sends 1 Bitcoin to Bob) are recorded to the Bitcoin blockchain. Bitcoin is a type of cryptocurrency and there are presently over 7000 different cryptocurrencies. Cryptocurrency is the first use case for blockchain software technology. Crypto is to the blockchain as email is to the internet. Bitcoin dominates the crypto market and was created by an anonymous individual or group (Satoshi Nakamoto, in 2009.
SmallBizLady: What industries will blockchain technology impact most? Where are opportunities for innovation and growth?
Tonya M. Evans: Because the first use case for blockchain technology was the cryptocurrency, obviously the banking and finance industries are being most immediately impacted. In fact, recently Visa, Mastercard, Paypal, Venmo, and CashApp have all changed their tunes and pivoted toward making access to crypto easier. And most countries are considering a central bank digital currency to supplement or even replace physical cash. But finance isn’t the only area.
Here are some areas of potential disruption and, therefore, the opportunity for the forward-thinking entrepreneur: [source: CB Insights 2020]
- Voting
- Infrastructure Security
- Identity and Provenance Verification
- Education/Skills Credentialing
- Internet-of-Things (smart devices) and Mesh Networking
- Decentralized Cloud Storage
- Forecasting and Prediction Markets
- IP and Digital Rights Management
- Royalty Distribution and Micropayments
- Real Estate
- Insurance
- Healthcare
- Supply Chain Management
- Government and Public Records
SmallBizLady: How can small business owners, especially underestimated populations, prepare for the future of money and entrepreneurship?
Tonya M. Evans: Preparing for the future of money begins today. It begins with studying the trends in innovation and exploring how they may disrupt old ways of transacting value or doing business and serving clients and customers in the fast-paced, digital economy. Underestimated groups have a great opportunity to not get left behind as they were during the dot com boom, when women, black and brown communities were historically locked out of the tech and finance worlds. We are on the precipice of the next iteration of the web, Web 3.0. That includes technologies like blockchain, crypto assets, AI, ML, automation, robotics, IoT, and more. We can and must secure a seat in the future of money and entrepreneurship. Find your lane, leverage your existing interests, talents, and skills and prepare for the future … today.
How to Build a New Strategy for Your SMB
Kenny Harper is an Award-Winning International Speaker & Story Teller, Certified DigitalMarketer™ Advisor, Harvard Faculty Club Mastermind Leader who began his journey to entrepreneurship by rocking stages as a musician and after realizing he had the talents but not the business knowledge, he reinvented himself and became a devoted student of business growth strategies. Now Kenny is an accomplished certified business coach on a mission to inspire and empower those with the attitude, expertise, and drive to amplify their business by sharing proven strategies and effective systems. To serve his mission, Kenny connects with other “rockstar professionals” who are devoted to growth and empowering others. For more information: www.kennyharper.rocks
SmallBizLady: What are the ways that you can differentiate yourself in the market?
Kenny Harper: An easy way to do this is by having a branded approach. While your competitors may offer a similar product or service, you can differentiate by branding your service in a way that helps it to stand out and elevates it above the competition. When you differentiate your offer, it is no longer perceived as a commodity that can be easily be replaced.
SmallBizLady: What is the cost of losing a customer and how can you avoid it?
Kenny Harper: The most common way people lose customers is through perceived indifference. The customers simply don’t feel the love they felt when you were aiming to gain their business. This can be very costly to your business as not only do you lose the immediate and future sales but you also have to replace the customer which can be very costly in itself. To avoid losing customers, it is helpful to have a strategy that aims to check in with them periodically to gauge their interest and satisfaction and a strategy to show appreciation. What you focus on grows so be certain to put time to retention in your growth strategy.
SmallBizLady: Why does most marketing fail and what can do to improve results?
Kenny Harper: Most marketing fails because it is very tactical with a very little strategy. Time and time again, I see businesses deploy a marketing tactic, not get the result they were seeking and then move on to the next trend only to repeat the process. When you want to create consistent and predictable results you need to document a strategy from outreach to sale, identify the metrics to track to measure success and optimize and select the right tools and tactics for the job. When you implement this systematic approach, you can produce consistent results.
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