Hello from the newest member of Enterprise Nation

Dan Martin, Enterprise Nation's new head of content, introduces himself to the community and looks forward to what's ahead.

Hello Enterprise Nation! I'm delighted to join the team.

So who am I?

I'm an online journalist with 13 years of experience writing about small business owners and the issues that affect them.

I have to admit that I stumbled into small business journalism. I used to work for Sky News as a very poorly paid researcher and after a particularly tough 12 hour night shift I knocked up a resignation letter and registered for a three month postgraduate journalism course.

Like many wannabe hacks my dream was to be a travel writer and zoom around the globe filing copy about weird and wonderful places. But a few weeks into my course I spotted an ad offering unpaid work experience on the now defunct BusinessEurope.com website, which actually offered advice to UK small businesses.

I ended up working there for two years (they decided to pay me eventually!) before we went bust and were bought out by a rival. I stayed for 18 months before being made redundant, and ended up at Sift Media in Bristol, where I remained for nine years.

I had a brilliant time growing the BusinessZone community and also launching small business competition The Pitch. But when the chance to work here came up, it was an opportunity too good to miss!

I've admired Enterprise Nation since it launched and have known its passionate founder Emma Jones since the start.

With its heart in the home business community it represents a vibrant and inspiring community of kitchen table startups, bedroom ventures and dining room enterprises. But it's not just that. It's now an impressive events business offering advice and networking opportunities to all kinds of small businesses and it also has a strong campaigning voice.

Enterprise Nation has done a great job at producing content over the years, and my role is to do even more.

With a dedicated person focused on editorial we can make the community even bigger and better. Whether it's practical advice that improves your business, campaigns that put your points across to the people in power or lessons from successful entrepreneurs who've been there and bought several business t-shirts, I'll be doing it all!

I also haven't completely left my past behind. My departure from BusinessZone was a friendly one and we are planning future collaboration which means we can support an even greater number of small business owners. To start off with Emma Jones has kindly agreed to be a judge at The Pitch, the competition I founded in 2008.

I can't wait for the next chapter in my career and I look forward to getting lots of input from you, the Enterprise Nation members. You can email me on dan@enterprisenation.com or drop me a tweet @Dan_Martin.

Together we can make an even bigger enterprise nation!