In many ways, today's Internet businesspeople are completely on their own. For some people,
lack of bosses, employees and co-workers is one of reasons why they chose to enter e-commerce in first place. Certainly, being able to chart your own path and taking responsibility for your own destiny are admirable goals.There are some downsides to being on your own, however. One of largest problems I have seen with Internet businesses is a lack of "innovative dialogue." That is, I believe that communication with others is a useful (and perhaps necessary) ingredient for creating new, innovative ideas.
I'm not saying that a person can't have a "flash of inspiration," like Newton getting hit on head with his famous apple. What I am saying is that when we share our ideas with friends, family, or colleagues, we often come up with even more ideas we had never thought of before.
Literary theorists call this "dialogism" -- I call it our need to share with each other. That's best part of being part of a community -- we can share our ideas with each other, combine them, modify them, and perhaps come up with something spectacular.
But, how do you do this when you are an Internet entrepreneur on your own? Well, apart from hiring some employees to talk to, or bringing partners in to business, here are a few ways to find community and dialogue on Net:
* Join a discussion board. Many discussion boards are set up to allow businesspeople to share ideas with each other. By becoming a contributing member, you can uncover some great ideas and pass along your own expertise as well. The key here is to be a FULL member -- that is, someone who is willing to read and understand other people's posts, and is not just interested in promoting their own point of view.
