The Global Microbrand Project

I recently stumbled upon a blog post by Hugh McLeod about a term he coined, the "global microbrand". Here is a definition in his words.

"The Global Microbrand is nothing new; they've existed for a while, long before the internet was invented. Imagine a well-known author or painter, selling his work all over the world. Or a small whisky distillery in Scotland. Or a small cheese maker in rural France, whose produce is exported to Paris, London, Tokyo etc. Ditto with a violin maker in Italy. A classical guitar maker in Spain. Or a small English firm making $50,000 shotguns."

The microbrand in and of itself is nothing new. Storefront owners, Avon moms and eagar business men have been peddling their wares on street corners and at swap meets for decades. The appeal of a small businesses that cater to a niche market (don't you love buzz words?) of small but dedicated customer bases. At times these businesses eke out a good living, but as we all know, only half of businesses that start actually wind up making it out of the first year alive.

But what would happen, if you were able to take this small business to the web? We have all heard of the Google's, the eBay's, and a slew of other small business ideas that go from being something obscure to completely dominating the web. Good for them is what I say! The problem is, the idea that someone can make a living on the internet becomes all the more daunting for those of us who just want to make an honest living doing things we love on the internet. Who are we to compete with these mega corporations? Who are we to try and start a legitimate business on the web, when it seems that the only opportunities are scams or are more trouble than they are worth? I know I don't have the programming skills or the new killer idea that is going to take over the world.

In comes the Global Microbrand. Who says you have to be huge? Who says you have to be on the lips of every pimple faced uber geek (no offence to all my pimple faced uber geek friends)? Why not do just what storefront owners and Avon moms have been doing for decades, but instead of on the street corner, on the web? Yes it will take work. Anything worth doing takes work. Anyone who tells you anything differently, has something to sell.

Given all this, just what is the whole idea of a global microbrand project? Well, having read Hugh's article and browsed other pages on the subject, I decided, why not create my own microbrand?

If this whole idea works the way I understand it, anyone can create their own microbrand out of just about anything. A blog, a small crafts business or even a bike driven coffee shop, heck, anything can be a microbrand. The question then is, what does it take to make the microbrand global? Is it a clever pitch, a slick app ridden website, web2.0 logos? What? WHAT, DAMMIT!!!

That, my friend, is the goal of this here humble blog. Lets find out together what it takes to start a global microbrand.