So, what is the Alternative Business Network? Glad you asked. In the first few years after I started my web design business, I checked out a number of business networking groups in an effort to make contacts, learn the ropes, etc. And while I did get some good out of that, I always felt a bit out of place. Most of the people I met there came from far more mainstream backgrounds than I did and didn't encounter the same challenges I did in trying to make my way into the -- to me -- highly foreign territory of the business world.

Plus, a lot of them had really rigid rules about absolute 100% attendance at their early morning meetings (don't know about you, but by nature I am more likely to stay up until 6 am than get up then), having no more than one person in a particular field of business in any one group, etc., and in some cases a focus on aggressive recruitment that felt almost cultlike. So eventually I started thinking about what my ideal business networking group would look like.

There seems to be a growing tendency toward entrepreneurship and self-employment among the various "alternative" countercultures I'm familiar with, from musical subcultures (goths, ravers, etc.), to sociopolitical movements (feminism, environmentalism, etc.), sexual subcultures (GLBT, polyamory, BDSM, etc.), alternative spiritualities (paganism, occultism, etc.) and more. For that matter, the explosive growth of the IT industry has led to a sort of "geek" subculture that sometimes seems to bridge many of the above interests and several of its own.

For one reason or another, a lot of non-mainstream people seem to be interested in starting their own businesses, and there's no reason why we can't get together and learn from each other. Some of the issues countercultural types may run into in starting and running their own businesses may be universal, others are more specific. A few examples of things you might find discussed here that mainstream business organizations aren't likely to deal with:

• How to tone down an unconventional appearance when meeting with conservative clients.
• What happens when prospective clients Google your name and find out about your less conventional interests?
• How do you market to subcultures who may be highly skeptical of conventional marketing approaches?
• Conflicting values -- can you make money while still having a social conscience?
• Dealing with people in your own community who consider you a sellout for wanting to make a living.
• Feeling like an outsider when dealing with "normal" people. 

Initially, I'm focussing on developing AltBiz as an online resource, but ultimately I'd like to move it into the real world, too, with monthly networking meetings in various cities -- at a civilized hour, of course -- where people can meet, make contacts, share experiences and advice, and offer presentations on their area of expertise or bring in outside speakers. I'm in Toronto, so that's likely where it would start, but I'm very interested in hearing from people in other cities who would be interested in coordinating events in their areas -- contact me to discuss possibilities if you're interested.

In the meantime, explore the site, which is still in its infancy. Feel free to register (it's free) and if you're interested in contributing content, drop me a line and let me know yoru username and what sort of thing you'd like to contribute, and I'll bump your user level up to Author so that you can post. Discussion forums and other new features are also likely to be added soon.