About This Site (and Me)

Big Bright Bulb exists because starting a business is pretty easy, but running one—particularly a profitable one, and even a tiny one—can totally. Kick. Your. Ass.

click here to skip to the part about me.

Getting started

Before you start a business, you’ve gotta figure out What you wanna do, Who you’re gonna do it for, and, most of all, you need to go deep within your Self to work out Why it’s worth doing at all.

The Why of what you’re doing is most important because your believe-it-to-the-bone reason to give up the relative security of a day job and take on all manner of obstacles is going to get you through the ass-kicking bits of running your business. Write it down. Pin it up.

After you lock down those three things, you’ve gotta work through How you’re going to do this worthy work that you can’t help but do.

Your How is my Why

It helps (a lot) to work with the right people and the right technology. Knowing and having what’s right for you will save you from the false starts, aching drama, and misspent money that come from hanging with rogues and using crappy apps.

I know, because I tried to start and run my business surrounded by the wrong people, using whatever they used, and doing whatever they did without considering whether or not it was right for me.

Now that I’ve dug my way out of that hole and know what to avoid, I can point you toward the better bits for running your tiny online business and help you figure out what’s right for you.

It also helps (a lot) when access to the right stuff doesn’t cost a lot. A lot means different things to different people, so let’s get clear on what a lot is from where I sit.

I know folks who don’t blink at spending $1,000 each month on their everyday business expenses.

Dude. That’s not just a lot, that’s a helluvalot. From where I sit, you can run an online business for 6 months up to 1 year on $1000. I mean, I do.

My position is we can—at least initially—run a business on lunch money…and a cheap lunch at that: $5 per day, Monday through Friday, which is around $110 a month.

That means if you’re working a day job, you can pack a bag lunch instead of eating out and have enough cash to run your side hustle.

Or if you already have your own business, the first few hours you work this month can support your entire business until next month.

Who this site isn’t for

If you run a business that requires more than 5 employees, if your business grosses more than $500,000 a year, or if you like to spend more money than you have to on stuff you don’t really need, then I can’t help you with that. I’m not that guy.

But if you’re looking to run a lean business and get a good value on what you spend—and not only with what you use but how you use it—then I’ve got all kinds of stuff for you.

Sidenote: If you haven’t started your business, this may not be the right site for you yet. You’ll find excellent advice on starting out, especially if you’re trying to quit your day job, at Pam Slim’s Escape from Cubicle Nation. Great person, great articles, great book.

What you’ll find here

There are plenty of ideas on topics from pricing to business models to marketing to everyday operations.

As the year goes on, I’ll be plumping up other areas of the site with product recommendations, book reviews, and tutorials for popular web apps (to get beyond their basics and squeeze every bit of value from your investment).

Why should you listen to me?

Good question! Not one I’m qualified to answer, though. That’s totally for you to decide.

What you see is pretty much what you get, so read around the site and see what resonates for you. When you find something that does, sign up to get updates by email (they’re free) so you don’t miss out on anything. I’ll send a message whenever there’s something new. I won’t share your address or SPAM you, promise.

Who am I, anyway?

Oh right! Sorry…it’s easier (and more fun) to talk about what I do than who I am. And come to think of it, I’m danged wary of folks who do the reverse.

That skepticism is a big part of who I am, by the way. It’s what gets me reading and thinking and pondering and asking and poking around. Sometimes where I have no business being, to be sure, but I use my superpowers only for Good. And yeah, also for profit…which is also good.

So I’m skeptical and curious by nature and, though it’s tough to tell sometimes, a dedicated introvert. Not a quiet one, though. Which I guess makes me a problem-solving critical analyst who likes to tell stories. And read them.

Stir in my degrees in Architectural Design and Instructional Design for Online Learning, and I’m at my best when figuring out how stuff works (or should work), explaining how to use it, and making it all look pretty good.

My life: The Twitter-length version

Anything I could tell you about my day-to-day life can fit in a tweet:

1 hubby, 1 cat, 1 car, 0 kids. Part of a nutty family full of friends and unrelations. Love knitting, hate cleaning, need to do more of both

My burning yearning

Ever want something so badly that your heart aches to think of it? So badly that working through how you can make it happen keeps you up at night? So badly that you’re nudged to carry on even when you’re beat up, run down, and ready to be passed over?

Yeah, me too.

My burning yearning is to live on the Left Coast in a walkable city with zero debt, simple comforts, enjoyable and profitable work, and plenty of space to play Dance Central.

As of today, I have 2 of the 6.

Everything else

Anything else you wanna know can be divined from the tea leaves of questionnaire-based assessment:

	Assessment	My score/rating/result
	Myers-Briggs	INFJ (heavy on the J)
	Kolbe A	8-7-2-3: Strategic Planner
	Jungian Archetypes	Sage – Magician – Seeker/Creator Shadow: Warrior
	StrengthsFinder 2.0	Learner, Strategic, Intellection, Input, Analytical

7 things the tea leaves won’t tell you

My favorite color is green
I like love am addicted to CSI-type shows
I think buying TV shows from iTunes is totally worth it to avoid commercial interruptions
Audiobooks are my radio
I read dictionaries
My fiery temper is only slightly managed by my irregular Buddhist practice
I like odd numbers
Clearly, I can’t count

Best,