Marketing Your Small-Business Website
in an Economy Like This

An Extraordinary Window of Opportunity

Wait. Letting people get to know you? Being compassionate? Saying nice things about the competition?

Small-business owners and managers may think they don’t have time for this kind of thing. But social marketing — part of what’s called Web 2.0 — has already become an important strategy, and right now there’s an extraordinary window of opportunity for small businesses that are determined to compete. You can take advantage of the fact that social marketing is not even on the radar of most small businesses. Yet.

Many large and midsize corporations have been using Web 2.0 strategies — particularly social marketing — since the beginning of this decade. Their marketing professionals discovered some years ago that offline marketing can no longer take companies where they want to go.

Small businesses don’t need to adopt the whole range of Web 2.0 strategies that the big guys use, but you need to start understanding the basics of social marketing right now.

Useful content and competent search marketing are fundamental, but it’s already clear that social marketing will be necessary for the online success of 21st century small businesses. If you’re determined to excel in your online competitive environment, take care of the fundamentals yourself, and then begin committing some of your time and creative energy to social marketing. Save your money for gas and groceries.