Blackhole
The blackhole is a reference for the never ending unknown troubleshooting that will come up while building a business online.
It’s inevitable that you’re going to run into technology questions regularly. The quicker you come to terms and accept this fact as part of the gig, the better it will be.
Questions like…
- What service to use for analytics, hosting, SEO?
- How much time to waste on formatting?
- What plugins to use?
- Where to get graphics?
- How to serve video?
- How do I take a screencast?
On and on and on…these questions will always be around the corner.
Know this: it’s more important that you validate your business and make a sale, than buy, learn or develop any technology involved system. Use low tech solutions at first.
Derek Sivers of CDBaby.com used a home grown database and made up the music recommendations by himself for years. CDBaby sold for millions.
Questions will come up. Choose the path of least resistance to start, ask someone you trust for the best method and move on.
With that out of the way, you’ll still have questions about technology and issues will still come up.
Troubleshooting is part of running an online business. Having someone on your team or a regularly reliable resource is essential.
Build up these resources and contacts as you build your business.
Social sites like YouTube, Quora, Reddit, Facebook and Twitter are good places to get recommendations and quick fixes for common problems.
Use their search boxes, as obvious as that might sound.
Get direct support. If you don’t have someone in your technology corner, start a conversation with IT Arsenal or submit a Build Your Own Request for immediate support. The Blackhole is the starting point for many of IT Arsenal’s products and services. It’s sort of why IT Arsenal exists : )