Small Business Labs recently published a list of 10 trends to watch for small business.
Here are some of their key ideas along with a few of my own for contemplation:
- the recession is ending and business is improving - we see this every day with every one of our clients.
- cost management is key - in terms of marketing and sales this means make sure you know how to measure ROI on all campaigns and initiatives.
- rapidly increasing opportunities for small manufacturers - we see our manufacturing clients located in Houston selling in Germany, CA selling in Taiwan, and FL companies selling in South America - the Internet and inbound marketing are the tools to bring the world to them - but they need outside expertise to take advantage of them.
- Social media is showing up on our client's radar - they are seeing that they can connect with people and build communities of like minded people some of whom (in increasing numbers) become prospects and customers.
- Finding people that have the skills regardless of where they live enables small companies to hire the best partners regardless of geography and the 'cloud' allows them to work collaboratively and in most cased MORE productively than if they were in the 'office'.
Topics: Sales, Marketing, Manufacturing
