Doing As We Say, Not As We Do

I want to start by saying that the Small Business Development Center network is full of some of the smartest business people you will ever meet, so if we give you advice or invite you to come in and sit with us to talk, or you need help with your business that you should jump on every opportunity to pick up even the smallest tid bit of information in a seminar. Having said that, I also want to tell you that not only are we every bit as busy as all the small business owners we meet with but we are also just as guilty at not doing some of the most important things in today's business world, the same things we tell our clients they HAVE to do.

Let's use this blog as an example. We tell our clients that they absolutely MUST use their website to stay in touch with their customers and clients. They have to keep those websites fresh, up to date, and full of great new content. All of which is great in theory of course. When push comes to shove and it all starts to hit the fan or time gets tight during the day, the things that are easiest to push to the side are in fact those websites, Facebook pages, and of course...your blog.

This is my first time sitting down to write on behalf of the SBDC here in Kentucky, although I did blog some for the organization in Florida and I have to tell you, sitting down to write and pass on helpful online information is not exactly the first item on my agenda every day. It is probably not even in the top 10 if I am being honest. It slots in there someplace between "delete useless spam email" and "counting down the last 10 seconds on the microwave so I can fill my belly with this delicious frozen lunch".

So when you sit across the desk from us or in one of our seminars and you tell us that you know you have to do the online stuff and take advantage of social media but you just don't have the time- trust me, we know exactly how you feel. Does that mean we forgive you? No way! ha! I am here to tell you that while we are just as guilty as the small business owners we council, we will continue to hammer home the importance of using these digital media tools to your advantage even if we are slow to make those updates ourselves.

With so many people just a google search away from possibly locating you and your business you have to make sure you are doing everything you can to have that key word they type show up on those search results linked with your business. One of the best ways to do that is to make sure your website, your blog, and your Facebook page stay as current as possible. Search engines LOVE websites that are always new, fresh, and updated on a regular basis. I know it's feels more like a chore at times, and I know you would much rather be doing something hands on with a customer, on a job site, or doing the day to day running of your business, we all would. But blogs are big business, Facebook is the hottest business interaction tool out there, and even Twitter is one of those things as a business owner you may find more of an annoyance than a help, but I can assure you the world is watching.

As we approach the end of 2009 and we all begin to make the list of New Years resolutions that we will break by January 2nd (come on, you know it's true!) I am going to add: "Keep our blog, Facebook page, and website updated at least twice a week if not more". We will if you will! Talk to you soon.

Sean Moore
SBDC Training Coordinator
sean.moore@uky.edu
http://www.ksbdc.org/
http://www.sbdcatuk.web.officelive.com/