Running a small business is especially challenging these
days. Under the best of circumstances
being an entrepreneur requires courage, optimism, creativity, balance and
determination. Playing all the usual
roles of chief negotiator, brand manager, human resources director, psychologist,
financial officer and salesman is like juggling cats. Add to this the shaky economy, and it is
like cat juggling while standing on a teeter board. And now, just when you think you have
everything “under control” you get tossed a flaming cat called “social media
marketing”.
Don’t panic. We are going to talk this through in steps. Fortunately you are entrepreneurs and your natural reaction is that there has to be an opportunity in this crisis.
For those of you who may still be more skeptical than optimistic, let’s look at the example of the music industry. The record business used to have large barriers to entry. The recording equipment was expensive and an artist had to have physical distribution to get into record stores. Finding an audience required radio, paid promotions, buy-ins at stores. It took big money.
Don’t panic. We are going to talk this through in steps. Fortunately you are entrepreneurs and your natural reaction is that there has to be an opportunity in this crisis.
For those of you who may still be more skeptical than optimistic, let’s look at the example of the music industry. The record business used to have large barriers to entry. The recording equipment was expensive and an artist had to have physical distribution to get into record stores. Finding an audience required radio, paid promotions, buy-ins at stores. It took big money.
Today an artist can make a record with a decent microphone,
a computer, and some relatively inexpensive software. Significant distribution can be accomplished with
very little, if any, physical product using services such as itunes and
tunecore. Artists are finding their own
audiences through social media. As a
result of this phenomenon there are many fewer middlemen between an artist and
his or her audience. In fact, the music
business as we knew it is gone or soon will be.
And yet there is more new music available now than ever.
How does this apply to small businesses? We also used to face large barriers of entry into
the marketplace but technology has begun to level the playing field for us. Super efficient shipping companies allow small
businesses cost effective distribution to customers. Affordable software systems allow for rapid
and precise bookkeeping and financial modeling. We can save money on travel by video conferencing
with business associates and by using virtual offices. Most importantly, we can effectively engage
our customers in conversations without the costs associated with traditional
advertising and marketing. Like the music business we can bypass entire industries
that used to stand between us and our customers.
The opportunity to engage with consumers and customers, to
get the feedback necessary to shape products and services, to create brand
advocates, and to increase sales is definitely worth investigating. In the next
few blogs we will discuss some facts and myths that should be of interest to
the small business manager. We will also
focus on the question of how to make your brand stand out in the crowd. I
encourage you to join this discussion by posting your questions or comments.
The author, Philip Stephano, is a social media marketing strategist in Bucks County, PA and founder of PrimalTweet. He is passionate about helping local and regional business around the country to use social media as an effective tool to find local prospects and customers. To learn more about Stephano go to http://about.me/philipstephano 
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