One of the challenges that I am frequently confronted with is proving the worth of the Internet to a small business owner. Time, an entrepreneur’s most precious resource, stands to influence almost every decision that is made. So, the discussions I have begin with a similar pattern: “Why should I make use of (x internet tool) for (x business objective) when I barely have the time to do my books, or order inventory?” My rebuttal is simple and standard, “It’s too powerful to ignore.”
Now we hear this everywhere, right? Books, magazines, blogs, newspaper articles; they all attest to my statement. Business is going the way of the web in all forms. It extends from direct commerce to marketing and financing. The Internet has a place for it all. However, the Internet does not only effect business, it effects those who are the consumers. This is the point in the argument where I fortify my previous rebuttal in saying that communication has totally changed and is constantly evolving.
Think about it… let me give you a couple of examples. First, let’s highlight the goliath of social networking we all know as Facebook. Currently, Facebook is home to over 800 million users (Over 1 million are in Kansas). Each of these users, on average, has a network of about 130 people (friends). So, lets say that Jane Doe has something to say on her wall about your business. As soon as that information is posted, her 130 friends see that information. Now, lets say that 20 of her friends repost the information and make it visible to their 130 friends and then 20 of their friends do the same. You see where I am going with this? It’s information transfer at an exponential rate and your business needs to know about it.
Second, let’s discuss a recent flub by a PR agency to further drive my point home. Ocean Marketing, a marketing and PR agency, had a client in the video game industry that makes specialized controller modifications for those with disabilities. O.M. was in charge of customer relations, website development, brand management, social media, the whole shebang. When confronted about delays in shipping the gaming product by a customer, O.M. PR personnel handled the situation poorly. In fact, they were downright rude (the actual content, I can’t post, not G rated).
So, no big deal right? Wrong. The customer contacted a well known online gaming newsletter, who posted the email correspondence to their website. This post was then exposed and discussed on a variety of message boards, including Reddit. This exposure galvanized a huge upheaval that was targeted at Ocean Marketing and its client. O.M. was flooded with emails, their Facebook and Twitter were smashed with traffic, and their clients product was given one star reviews on such sites as Amazon. Needless to say, Ocean Marketing was released by their client, but the damage had been done to both the PR firm as well as the gaming product line. One disgruntled customer, who used the Internet as a tool to voice his dissatisfaction, caused all this.
So, as you can see, the question as a small business owner should be drastically different. Instead of asking “How would I have time for that?,” the question should be, “How could I ignore that?.” The truth is, you can’t. The Internet, and all the power that it encompasses for business, cannot be ignored. I’ll be here to help whenever you decide to start using the Internet to your advantage, just let me know.
Collin Billau
Interim Consultant – WUKSBDC
http://www.zdnet.com/blog/feeds/ocean-marketing-pr-implodes-with-poor-customer-service-emails/4476
http://www.facebook.com/press/info.php?statistics
http://www.socialbakers.com/united-states-facebook-statistics/kansas
http://www.amazon.com/Avenger-Xbox-360-Adapter/product-reviews/B0051JSJ44/ref=dp_top_cm_cr_acr_txt?ie=UTF8&showViewpoints=1
