New York Times: Strategies to Succeed Online

Last week in their small business section, The New York Times had an an interesting article by David Strom called Strategies to Succeed Online. David makes the very good point that the days of a small business throwing up a Web site and that being enough are gone.

"These days, a Web site may not even be the best place to start promoting your products or services. Instead, you can consider setting up a blog, participating in social-networking communities like Facebook and creating a storefront in virtual worlds like Second Life to get the buzz going."

The article features Jody DeVere, Work.com guide author & owner of AskPatty.com, an advice site that helps women find female-friendly car dealers and repair shops. Jody publishes a blog which is the primary way AskPatty connects with new customers, and they also have a virtual coffee shop in Second Life where people (avatars?) can discuss car tips while sipping virtual joe.

Business networking online, as people like Scott Allen can attest to, is booming. I actually met David in a community group on Facebook, when he asked me to do a social media podcast for TechPRWarStories.

It's a small, but rapidly growing, virtual world.

Tags: david strom, jody devere, scott allen, techprwarstories

Comments

[Eric Wolfram]

Another way to get the buzz going is by posting a video to YouTube or blip.tv. The video doesn't need to be funny imitations of Britney Spears, either. As a freelance video editor in NYC, I've created web videos from training videos, conferences and events.

[Shara]

Thanks, Eric. What are the keys to making such videos interesting?

[melissa paxton]

Thanks for the link to David's article, Shara. I have been reading the Small Business section of the NYT for awhile now, and I am really impressed by the quality and relevancy of their articles.

While I am finally realizing that a blog for either of my small businesses (garden company and "tourism with a purpose" trips to Mexico) can be a great marketing/communication tool, I can't get my mind wrapped around why a rural small business owne like me would need to use sites like Facebook or Second Life to promote my garden business.

I guess I feel like those sites (and business/social networking online in general) are fantastic resources for folks with small businesses in larger metropolitan areas or for those working in the internet industry.

But, for many of us small business owners working in more rural locations (where we lose internet connectivity for a week after a wind storm!), I think they are a ways off from being truly effective.

Out here in small town Colorado, I can barely get my gardening customers to use email to communicate with me or to receive their bills. And, when I've asked some of my clients if they would be interested in posting pictures of their garden or commenting on my yet-to-be- developed-blog, they've looked at me with a blank stare and said "What is a blog?" True story!

What I have found incredibly useful are good old fashioned, face-to-face connections. Attending gardening talks and walks (with business cards in hand), spending weekend afternoons at our local nurseries, hanging up fliers advertising my services, and running catchy ads in our local paper, attending town hall meetings and being as present in our community as I can.

In my dreams, our town would be universally computer savvy and we'd have a local social/business networking site that people here actually used!

Until then, I think focusing on in-person networking is more important to my business growth than spending time trying to do the same thing online.

Eric, Shara, other Work.com bloggers, please share your thoughts with me on all of this...

[Shara]

Melissa, thanks for sharing your rural business networking experience with us. You bring up a great point that for many, in-person networking is most important for business growth. I am curious to know if and how you've been able to make use of your gardening guide in your face-to-face interactions with potential clients. Do you print it out? Would a PDF format be useful?

How much do search engines figure into your business planning (if at all)? It is at all important for your business to be found online in Durango?

Also, we are not saying that online networking is the only, or even the best way to do business networking. It depends on the business. As more and more small businesses do go online however, we think it's important to provide advice from those who are already active online so people can maximize their impact if networking online is useful for them.

Thanks again for your thoughtful post, Melissa. And we're looking forward to your gardening blog!

[melissa paxton]

Thanks for your response, Shara.

To answer some of your questions: I definitely tell clients about my gardening guide, and include a link to it as part of my email signature.

And yes, I did make a print out of it to share with one particularly anti-computer client! A link to a PDF of my guide (and all of the totally the fabulous Work.com guides!) would be really helpful for printing and for including in email correspondence.

I also think that a link to my business and (listed on the Durango Chamber of Commerce website for example) gardening website/blog will be useful as marketing tool.

As far as using search engines in my business planning, I do tons of online research on all sorts of gardening related topics: types of plants/growing zones/garden designs/products and more.

Not to sound like a hypocrite, but I also voraciously read other gardener's blogs and post lots of questions to them.

So in a sense I am using online networking to help me run my business more effectively. But as far as using sites like Facebook or Twitter to attract more customers, I'm not there, yet!

[Susan Heathfield]

I'm not sure they are universally useful. I've enjoyed meeting other professionals through LinkedIn and connecting with some old friends and associates. I have yet to try Facebook or Twitter although our software development company's evangelist spends most of her time networking at all of these places online. And, it makes sense for our company that sells software internationally. A lot of our customers are hanging out online and we rely on their word of mouth to be part of our marketing mix.

Just an aside, Melissa, but have considered teaching classes? You could combine the computer and gardening.

My hair salon receptionist told me the other day that she doesn't do email and is never online. This young woman used to work at a university office but doesn't find they add anything to her current life. She told me that, if she wants to talk with someone, she goes to see them or picks up the phone. Sounds a lot like your business.

[Eric Wolfram]

Hi Melissa,
As far as sales go, nothing beats face to face belly to belly conversations -- even in the city. Certainly, for many businesses, the online efforts are secondary to those moments or, at best, a way to increase the chances of those moments happening. Online offerings will be relevant to gardening in Colorado as people adopt the web -- and they are. In fact, just because you meet people who don't know what a blog is, others are online every day. In any case, the key to making good web site content -- even in colorado -- be helpful to someone. Put helpful information there...Your current customers will appreciate it and they will use your site if there is something on it for them. Maybe think of it as a way of engaging your current customers who do use the web, as opposed to a way to drive sales at this moment.