I was sitting in a meeting the other day where the conversation was turning into how we contact with our customers. We then discussed how this has changed drastically in the past few years and how people need to start getting on board now before they will be completely left off the bus. Even though many people consider 2.0 to be extremely new, it is not. I think that if you look at the curve of the cycle of users, it has finally started to hit the majority. Social Media as well as other new forms of technology are tools that small business owners now use to reach their customers. It is a combination of these tools as well as some of the older ones that we utilize to let our customers know who we are and what we do.

The discussion started to change though, does the average person want to know how to use all of the forms of media, or do they just want to understand them? So many people ask the question what everything is, so they can just be informed of what is out there. It seems to me that many people who complain about some of the new forms of marketing are the ones who either don’t understand them and/or don’t use them to their advantage. I still commonly hear from business owners that the people who use these forms of technology are not their customers. I will disagree with you as more people are using this technology every day. The largest growth in users for people in viral media is people over the age of 65 and housewives. This combined with the large majority of people under the age of 30 and others who have found its benefits makes up a large body of users. Also, all of these people under the age of 30 will not always be below the age of 30. This new form of marketing is going to be a norm in the way we reach customers. Individual names of the companies that we use may change, but the general philosophy of what they do will not.

The only way to truly understand the new forms of media and marketing is to use them. Using them for one day is not going to do the trick either. Notice, I did not mention to definitely use them for your company. Try them out for yourself individually; you can start slow by just reading or participating in blogs or forums. The key to understanding is to be engaged in what is going on.

These forms are not going to replace all of the old things that business owners have done over the years, it will just enhance the process of reaching customers. Just think of what is going to come out next. Would you ever even of imagined that what we are doing now would ever be out there? What do you think is going to be the next big thing for small businesses in the form of technology?

Kyle Hensel is the Area Director of the Clayton State University SBDC in the Georgia SBDC Network. For more information, please go to www.georgiasbdc.org. He can be reached at This e-mail address is being protected from spam bots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it

When looking at a small business, it seems to come back to customer service quite often. Many small business owners say that one of their competitive advantages is that they can give high levels of customer service. Those that know me, know that I argue you should be doing that all the time anyhow, and that customer service is not a unique point of difference (UPD). Hopefully no company starts the day giving a pep talk to their employees saying that they should consider giving average customer service for the next day. It is a part of the job to offer all customers regardless of how you feel about them, high levels of service. I think that everyone can agree though, that there are challenging customers out there.

Many people that I know have commented that over the “Black Friday” shopping holiday the employees were extremely helpful and went out of their way to help the customers. I would agree, but this week I have not had the same experiences. Has this attitude started to change already since last week? All businesses need to make sure that this is a year round goal to treat your customers with adequate levels of service that will make them come back. Whether you are serving the needs of your business clients or every day consumers, a smile (even over the phone) and going the extra mile for a client or customer can mean the difference between a regular customer and one you may get once a year.

Make sure to train every member on your staff how you would like to treat the customer. The employees who are the first line to the customers can be the most crucial element to you getting a return customer or one even to begin with. This attitude needs to be replicated throughout your entire organization. Make superior service a required, everyday requirement in your business and it should start to pay dividends for you.

Kyle Hensel is the Area Director of the Clayton State University SBDC in the Georgia SBDC Network. For more information, please go to www.georgiasbdc.org. He can be reached at This e-mail address is being protected from spam bots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it

Guest post by Christine Adolf of Brownbook.net

Customer testimonials are one of the most effective marketing tools for small businesses both off and online. Using customer testimonials in your company’s marketing collateral will provide potential customers with a viewpoint other than yours or your employees. If you have a website for your company, providing a page of positive testimonials can show would-be customers why they should choose to do business with your company over your competitors’. You can also ask satisfied customers to write reviews and testimonials in other online media such as review websites, where prospective customers will be able to find you when they search for your company, product or service online.

While customer reviews of your business or product are a great marketing tool, many people view them skeptically if they appear manufactured or unauthentic. Instead of reviews that are simply compliments, ask customers to give specific examples of why their experience in doing business with you was so positive.

Another thing you can do to enhance a customer testimonial is to provide multimedia along with the review. Posting photos or videos illustrating the business interaction will put a human face on the business and will make the review stand out.

Using the internet to showcase customer testimonials is a cost effective alternative and a great complement to producing offline materials. Asking customers to send an e-mail to their friends, share a link on their Facebook profile or post a picture to Twitter (Twitpic) for all their friends and acquaintances to see is an immediate customer testimonial that reaches a vast amount of potential customers.

When speaking with customers either in person, by phone or through e-mail, ask for their approval in utilizing any positive feedback they provide for future use. You can also go a step further and ask them to tell their friends, write an online review or pass out promotional materials branded with your company’s logo.

Harnessing a positive customer experience with your product, service and business in general has the ability to turn the satisfied customer into an evangelist for your business. Happy customers are often the ideal marketers a company can have, as they are genuine, enthusiastic and free!

Guest post by Ronan Keane

No business is an island in the online ocean. There are other businesses that sell complimentary (but not competing) products or services, bloggers who write about your industry and distribution channels that stretch across the globe. Big businesses are constantly negotiating and entering into partnership agreements and small businesses can reap the same benefits. Making connections with online partners can help you grow your small business whether you’re a one person entrepreneur or a fifity person company.

Give Me Four Reasons

Starting up a web partnership doesn’t happen instantaneously, but there are plenty of compelling reasons why you should invest the time into researching and building online partnerships for small businesses.

1. 1. Reach more customers: This is the big one. Advertising online is often a tricky affair that seems more like experimental art than science. You can take some of the uncertainty out of reaching new customers by partnering with businesses or bloggers that already attract visitors that would be interested in your offerings. For example, if you sell high end gourmet foods, you might look to partner with a well known food blogger or an online retail store that sells specialty cooking equipment.
2. 2. Save money: Two pocketbooks are more powerful than one. Splitting out the costs of a cross-promotional internet marketing campaign is beneficial to both partners. There’s more to this than just linking to each other or sharing the price of advertising. Leverage each business’s existing connections to reach potential customers and clients that would normally cost you a lot of advertising dollars to access.
3. 3. Expand your borders: The internet is a global phenomenon. When you’re ready to reach across borders, web partnerships can help you get a foothold in new markets. Look for partners that are well established in other countries or in specific local markets. For example, if you provide web-based data backup services that would be a good fit for internet users in Europe, look to partner with an internet services provider or computer retailer in the UK.
4. 4. Reach the media: A partnership agreement is a great way to meet the press. A joint announcement stating the businesses involved and the purpose of the partnership is an occasion to put out a press release and have your marketing teams follow up with key media people. This is even stronger if you can tie it into a current theme like marketing through online videos or using new web technologies to power your partnership.

Upcoming: We’ll look deeper into web partnerships, cover the types of web partnerships you can consider and get into tips and resources for starting a web partnership.

About the Author:
Ronan Keane is Chief Marketing Officer of MyBizHomepage, Inc. www.MyBizHomepage.com is the only free web-based financial service that includes MyBizDashboard, a new, secure easy-to-use online financial dashboard designed specifically for entrepreneurs and small businesses. The service has two private label partner programs available.

Are you monitoring what others are saying about you on the Internet? If you are not, you really should start thinking about it. With all of the new technology on the Internet including social networks, blogs, Twitter and others, it is easy for individuals to write anything that they want to at any particular time. Unfortunately, this can come at a price for a business. For example, there were many people out shopping this past weekend and not every one of them was happy 100% of the time. Do you think it could be at least possible that one of them may have complained or vented on the Internet out of frustration? I think that is entirely possible as I have seen many instances of that first hand. Now seeing that most of the technology is viral based marketing, this could mean that 1 complaint could possibly be seen by thousands if not more people. What if this was your company that was being complained about? Is there a way that you can find out when people are talking about you on the Internet? If so, how much will it cost?

Well, there is such a thing for you to monitor yourself on the Internet, and it does not cost a thing. It is as simple as going to Google and setting for alerts. Every time your company, name, or the topic that you select is mentioned online, it will send you an email with a list of where it was mentioned. After you have the list, you can look through them to see what others are saying about you and your company. This may be a way to solve customer problems, or see something that your customers really like about your company.

You have a brand whether it is for your company or individually. You need to make sure that you protect your image online as well as offline. By signing up for Google Alerts, you can at least start monitoring what others are saying about you.

Kyle Hensel is the Area Director of the Clayton State University SBDC in the Georgia SBDC Network. For more information, please go to www.georgiasbdc.org. He can be reached at This e-mail address is being protected from spam bots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it

It is that time of the year again where shoppers trudge out of bed in the wee hours of the morning to receive the door busters from whatever chain store they decide to line up in front of. Even though lines and sales are not expected to be as big this year, I am sure that many will still line up for the deals. What are they looking to buy? Look here. After the door busters are over, they complete the rest of their shopping in the other stores and businesses. As a small business owner, you probably don’t expect to have crowds banging down your doors at 5am, but you have a more important job when you open your doors.

Many of the shoppers you will get are tired and grumpy as they have waited in lines and marched along in line for hours. This is the time that you have the advantage and you can outshine everyone. Provide customer service, smile, and have a welcoming environment, doing this should make your regular and new customers happy. The larger stores have done you a favor this Christmas; they have lowered consumer’s expectations for service. When you the small business owner comes in with an ounce of energy and service, they should be happy with the result.

While they are there, try to make contact with the customers so that you can try to market to them in the future. Ask if they would like to sign up for you newsletter or receive information about promotions. Ask them if they need anything in particular that you don’t have and special order it. Always make sure to sincerely thank them and invite them back.

Use your advantages as a small business owner this year. Make a memorable experience for your customers so they want to come back to you.

Kyle Hensel is the Area Director of the Clayton State University SBDC in the Georgia SBDC Network. For more information, please go to www.georgiasbdc.org. He can be reached at This e-mail address is being protected from spam bots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it

While many people are coming to know terms like SEO and SEM, Search Engine Optimization and Search Engine Marketing, respectively, we have forgotten about the tried and true art of Public Relations as an web communications medium. The web, in many ways, makes this much more easy than to do than in the traditional way. Getting articles from websites is much easier than searching newpapers and video on the web is a just as easy and costs next to nothing when compared to the high cost of getting something carried by television. With the emergence of Web 2.0, more and more sites let people add their own comments and exchange information to yield endless possibilities. Try guest blogging on popular or related blogs, starting Facebook, Myspace, or Hi-Five pages and then ask your family, friends and co-workers to add it. Write articles about yourself on online encyclopedias, like Wikipedia or go to forums and answer questions and link back to your site or answer questions on sites like Yahoo! Answers to create positive impressions about your organization.

Jarrett Byrom is the Web & Marketing Coordinator for the SBDCNet.org; He can be reached at This e-mail address is being protected from spam bots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it

Don’t fix something that isn’t broken. That is a saying that everyone has probably heard a thousand times in their life. What if you do not know if what you have is broken? For the longest time, the economy was looking good as sales were on the upswing. Within the past few years, sales are leveling off for many and in some unfortunate cases sales are declining. Many small business owners are feeling the crunch and tightening their hold on their business. As times get more hectic, the problems that you did not know you have will start to come out for you to see.

It is definitely time to get back to the basics in all areas of the business. Entrepreneurs are cuttings costs and making sure that their spending is at a minimum. Many businesses (small businesses included) are bracing for a slow holiday season that normally pulls companies out of the hole. I was in a retail store before Halloween that was already offering 50% holiday discounts!! This was certainly not a good sign of the times.

One thing I ask you to do though is focus on your customers too. When I say that, I mean the right customers. Marketing and advertising dollars are close to an all time low as many companies just do not have the time or sometimes energy to market. Here are a few ways to help you find your market and customers. When you do advertise, make sure you do it to the customers who will eventually buy from you. I know that sounds easy to say but hard to do. Hopefully for the past few years when times were good, you were tracking where all your sales were coming from. Did you notice that maybe you sell to one type of industry or set of customers more than others? If you did, do you know why? Once you find out who buys the most from you, try to sell to that industry or customer. That customer group must have a need for what you are trying to sell, or maybe you have a reputation in that industry that may lend to helping you find similar customers. It is always easier to sell to someone if you have expertise selling to a group similar to them.

Make sure that you are also being efficient in your communication; I have clients who use Google Talk to communicate with their customers if they need immediate help. Other forms of technology can also aid your customers in being able to reach you, or for you to remind them that you are out there. Your time is valuable, and you need to make sure that you and your employees are being not only effective, but efficient in your efforts.

Start focusing on the basics again; focus on a group of customers that you know will buy from you. Track where your sales come from, this would be a good way to find your niche if you did not know it already. Make communication an essential part of your mix that is beneficial for you and your customers. Streamline communication, but make it easy for your customer to get in touch with you. Frustration by the customer will just lead them to go the competition that needs the sales just as much as you do.

When you make it through these rough times, you will be even stronger and you will have processes that will hopefully lead to growth down the road.

Kyle Hensel is the Area Director of the Clayton State University SBDC in the Georgia SBDC Network. For more information, please go to www.georgiasbdc.org.

by Jimmie Wilkins

Market analysis involves both a broad analysis of the business environment and market forces, and an in-depth analysis of the business, competitors and customer base in order to understand where each is today and where each will be in the future. Before you can begin your market research, you need to understand your market. Generally, there are three stages to market analysis: customer, distribution channels and competitor analysis.

Customer analysis:

Defining and understanding the customer starts with understanding market segmentation (or target marketing). This is the process of dividing your market into smaller, more manageable sectors that contain customers with similar characteristics, such as:

Demographic: age, gender, family size, income, occupation, religion, race, nationality, etc.

Geographic: region, state, county, city, population density, etc.

Psychographic: lifestyle, attitudes, values, social class, culture, etc.

Behavioral: user status, usage rate (heavy, light, nonuser), loyalty, innovativeness, etc.

The next defining process for customer analysis is identifying the set of needs, wants, risks and barriers a customer might consider in the purchase of your product. A “need” is being able to use your product to solve a problem. A “want” might speak to the style or color or creativity. A “risk” could be that the product would fail to meet the expectations of the customer. A “barrier” could be a price-point sensitivity that is unacceptable in your marketplace.

Distribution channels:

Channels are the means by which products get from your company into the hands of your customers. It may be mail-order, direct sales, resellers, trade shows or even the Internet. Options vary by company, product line and industry.

Channel analysis follows the same needs/wants/risks/barriers method used with customer analysis. Look at the strengths and weaknesses of channel alternatives to determine the best route to your customer.

Competitor analysis:

You need to take a serious look at the overall competitive environment to gain an understanding of the business environment, market forces and long-term trends. Then, you need to take an in-depth look at selected competitors to understand their strengths and weaknesses. Awareness of strengths will keep you from trying to complete where there may be no room to succeed.

Once you understand your market, you can begin to do market research for your new-business/new-product roll-out. Define your market in a customer-oriented way. A common mistake is to be so product-oriented that you cannot define your customer. You don’t need to sell to everyone. Be clear on who your customers are; vary your message to match the needs and wants of the different markets you have identified as your “ideal customer.”

From here, you begin market research that is focused specifically on your true market.

2008 Copyright - Jimmie Wilkins

Not a day goes by that I do not hear a complaint either about working with younger generations, or trying to reach them. The millennials as they are called are a section of “Generation Y” that are currently in the early stages of our workforce or about to leave school. So many people talk about how they do not have an attention span, they use cell phones alot and they play on the Internet more than they should. We need to face it, this is a brand new form of generation that we have not seen before. So many companies have talked about how their customers are not in this generation so they do not need to know how to reach them. One thing to keep in mind though, these customers are getting older and will soon be part of your customer base. There are also many people, not just millennials who are embracing the new forms of marketing and technology.

So what are all of these forms of new promotion? With all of the new forms of technology, there are many new ways to reach customers. It all depends on who your market really is. One of the keys is to be creative and to diversify where and how you are sending it. With the use of smart phones, restaurants are even marketing themselves with the use of GPS and how long the wait is at the restaurant. Social Networks, blogs, smart phones, internet connected televisions and social media are ways that companies are now reaching their markets. The world is now connected online more than ever before. According to the Harvard Business Review’s Working Knowledge Blog, of the 6.5 billion people in the world, about 1.5 billion have Internet access, more than 300 million have broadband access to the home, and 3 billion have cell phones, a growing number of which offer Internet access. The interesting thing about mobile technology is that many people never let it get more than a couple of feet away from them. I am one of those people.

I am not telling you to go out tomorrow and use social media and wireless technology to reach everyone out there; I just think that every business owner should start trying it. It is definitely here to stay and people are using it. The number of users is also growing every day. Soon it will just not be to reach the millennials, it may be close to everyone.

If you need assistance implementing new strategies into your marketing mix, contact your local SBDC office. They will be more than happy to help your business grow to the next level.

Kyle Hensel is the Area Director of of the Clayton State University SBDC in the Georgia SBDC Network.