Going Solo

If you’ve been to more than one conference over the past year, chances are you’ve noticed guys in white suits hanging around. If you’re braver than me you might have spoken to them, and learnt that they had something to do with The Next Web. (I’ve always had an irrational fear of “dressed up” people — clowns, stag nights, etc… and even harmless white suits, it seems.)

Luckily, we have a bunch of common friends (see photo below for example), and a few introductions later I was happily plotting with Ernst-Jan by e-mail to establish a media partnership between Going Solo and The Next Web.

Boris, Stowe, and Ernst-Jan

Ernst-Jan wrote a really good post introducing Going Solo, and I’d like to quote part of it here:

I don’t know about your countries’ society, yet I think you might notice the same development: more people start their own business. Several factors stimulate tech and new media professionals to quit their jobs and start an entrepreneurial adventure, some examples:

• personal branding has never been easier, just start a blog and work on your social media magic.
• hobbies get out of hand. When Dutch marketing consultant Marco Derksen started his blog Marketingfacts, he probably didn’t realize it would turn into a business. I’m sure you can name an example from your own country.
• the start-up culture sparks up a fire. Pioneers like Kevin Rose inspire thousands of young ambitious guys.
• You don’t have to be ashamed. Being an entrepreneur wasn’t really prestigious. Yet now universities and schools stimulate their students to start a business after they’ve graduated.

From my personal experience I can tell that being a freelancer isn’t always easy, especially in the beginning. What should I charge? How do I plan my days? Where can I find like-minded people? (on blogs!)

Ernst-Jan will be joining us in Lausanne to live blog the conference for The Next Web blog. Keep an eye open for the man in white, and don’t be shy — say hi!

A year ago I was in London, and dropped by at the Blogging 4 Business conference. I was hanging out in the lobby when some guy stopped by me as he was rushing out, introduced himself, and told me I wouldn’t know him but he was a fan of Fresh Lime Soda, before running off. Quite an experience!

A couple of weeks ago, I sent an e-mail to Alex Bellinger, who does SmallBizPod, the UK’s first small business podcast. I’d been advised to check out SmallBizPod as a possible media partner for Going Solo. Alex got back to me straight away, and he reminded me that we’d already met: turns out he was “the guy” in the Blogging 4 Business story!

Anecdotes aside, I’m really happy to introduce SmallBizPod as a Going Solo media partner. Alex will be doing a series of interviews of the speakers early this week for the next episode of his podcast. Looking forward to hearing it!

Alex’s podcast features interviews of entrepreneurs and other topics of interest for small business owners and soloists. Here’s what he has to say about SmallBizPod:

Back in March 2005, I became one of only a handful of people in the UK to start podcasting. Looking around for a subject I realised there were no British-based podcasts on business. Since I’d just set up my own business and had spent many years focusing on the small business sector, a podcast on entrepreneurship seemed like a good way to go. SmallBizPod was born. It’s now listened to by thousands of people from all over the world.