Mary Schmidt Marketing Troubleshooter

I’m pleased to announce that, in addition to my other gigs, I’m now the editor of the New Mexico edition of the MicroEnterprise Journal. The Journal is a weekly on-line business news periodical covering political, economic and market issues affecting microbusinesses. Originally published as WAHM & Mompreneur Webzine, and then as Wahmpreneur News Magazine, The MicroEnterprise Journal has been in publication continuously since September 1999.

There are many definitions of a microbusiness, with the most commonly accepted definition being: a microbusiness is a small business with fewer than five employees and less than $35,000 in startup costs. However, The Journal defines a microbusiness as “a business that is so small that no one person employed by the business (including the business owner) does only one thing, and in which all employees have multiple responsibilities in management, production, and sales.” In other words, a microbusiness is defined less by its size than by how its size dictates the way in which it operates. (Hmmm. Sounds like 99% of New Mexico businesses.)

Here’s my introduction from the very first edition (today!):

As a New Mexico native and microbusiness owner myself, I know up close and personal the challenges our readers face. And, I have a real soft spot for “Mom & Pop shops” of which we have so many here in New Mexico; my own Mom & Pop were entrepreneurs (an armored car service of all things!) down in “Little Texas” Hobbs. They transformed a wild idea into a business, worked incredibly hard, and created jobs. But, they had to make it up as they went along, scrambling for capital and customers (this was long before a lot of the state programs — and the Internet ). Luckily, these days microbusinesses have at least some resources (including this Journal.)

So, every week I’ll be covering a range of topics — from public policy to marketing to web technologies — all from your (and my) perspective. I’ll be talking about the things that keep all of us awake at night, such as access to capital and health care costs as well as some trend analysis here and there (Mom & Pop on the Web and such.) I’ll also be doing some microbusiness profiles, talking to a variety of New Mexicans about their lessons learned in building their businesses.

If you’re a micro biz (or thinking of starting one) - check out the Journal. It’s a low cost monthly subscription and you’ll get news, data, and perspective that is difficult (if not downright impossible) to get elsewhere.

Tags: micro business, New Mexico business