Well, the kind wishes and pep talks keep on rolling in after yesterday's somewhat self-pitying emails about having turned another year older.

I'm grateful to all of you who took the time to write!

Now, back to business.

I've had plenty of musicians, and documentary filmmakers, and other creatives on the Tom Woods Show, and I've asked nearly all of them the same question:

On the one hand, technology is on your side: you no longer need a recording contract with a major label to get your music out there, and you no longer need to be with a huge production company to make a documentary.

On the other hand, precisely because you don't strictly need these things anymore, it's possible for just about anyone to do them -- so now you face much more competition. It's a double-edged sword.

So which factor outweighs the other?

In general they say the lowering of barriers is the key, and that they can deal with the increased competition. But the point remains: this is at once a particularly exciting and yet also challenging time to be in business.

Not all of us are making music or documentaries, of course, but we all face difficulties of our own. Globalization means more competition. Rapidly changing technology means a race to stay on top of things. A million things competing for your customer's attention makes it harder to get noticed.

So I myself am constantly learning, always interested in acquiring sound, effective strategies for growing my businesses.

If you're the same way, and I trust you are, I hope you'll be attending the free session I'm running with the great Paul Counts called "Five Simple Ideas to Grow Your Business." This will almost surely be new information for you.

Click here to reserve your spot:

https://event.webinarjam.com/register/231/1z9l3ul4

Tom Woods