Small Business Can Use a Big Approach

By design, I work with small B-to-B companies who are unsure how to use the web in their business. They range from having no website at all to having a brochure online. Many say "the web just doesn't work in our industry". I usually reply that it sure works for your competitor.

Much of the early work with clients is education about the medium and it's tools. I debunk bad information they have from any number of sources and sometimes have to backtrack into general (non-web business strategy). When I am lucky enough to gain their confidence we start the process. From that point they are only hampered by small budgets, lack of time to devote to the project and little or no photos, case studies or customer testimonials.

I try to give them a simple (strategic) model for them to implement regarding using the internet for their business.  It looks something like this;

• Build the best professional website you can to start with.
• Immediately start the SEO (Search Engine Optimization) process
• Discover and initiate a SEM (Search Engine Marketing) strategy (low hanging fruit first)
• Develop a habit of using the analytics to make decisions
• Realize the work is never done

The goal of my business is to partner with companies that see this as a viable way to go to market.  I find that if I will be honest, prove myself relevant to their needs, establish my knowledge about the process, they reward me with their business.  HEY...that is the same thing Google does....maybe we are on to something.

I will try to write about each of the bullet points above.  In the meantime, good selling.