Small business adoption of technology-based solutions rarely keeps pace with the expectations of vendors, analysts and pundits. When it comes adoption of digital marketing and social media tools, however, small business adoption is fast and furious. Recently, we (Hurwitz & Associates) conducted a survey sponsored by email marketing vendor
Tag: social networking
Interest in Social Media among Small Businesses Correlates to Number of Years they have been in Business
Related insight to my recent blog Small Businesses interest in Social Media increasing rapidly , related to the Number of Years a small business has been in existence. See figure below:
What is Social Networking, and Why Should You Care?
(Originally published in Small Business Computing, April 7, 2009) Technology insiders tend to throw around technical terms and business jargon, assuming people outside the industry understand what it all means. By its nature, technology vocabulary is often confusing and complicated, and insiders often add to t...
What Will Social Networking Displace?
Just a couple of years ago, many people were still debating whether digital social networking was just a flash in the pan. With social media growth surging, that that debate is over. People have moved on to try and figure out where social networking is headed—as evidenced when I Googled the “future of social networking” and got 542,000 results. Now of course I didn’t read all of them, but a co...
Impressions from Sage Insights 2009
Last week, I attended Insights, Sage North America’s annual partner event. I’ve attended this event for several years now, watching the company’s attempts to create a cohesive brand and strategy across its many small and medium business (SMB) solutions. At last year’s Insights, Sage had just hired Sue Swenson
Tweeting Practices that Drive Me Crazy (in no particular order)
Don't get me wrong. I think Twitter can be extremely effective as a business social networking tool. Tweets that raise a thought-provoking question, point to useful information, rally for a cause or introduce a new idea or issue are all good! And it's fine when people share interesting or funny things that happen to them throughout the day.
Demandbase—Can it Turn Your Web Traffic Into Treasure?
Like most analysts, my schedule is usually chockfull of briefings from vendors. Some of these are boring, some are interesting, and once in a blue moon, a vendor comes along with a solution that everyone should know about. Demandbase (www.demandbase.com) is one of these solutions. I initially came across the vendor late last fall, when I was judging for the Destination CR...
Reading the Top Trends Barometer at the 2009 Small Business Summit
Just got back from Small Business Summit 2009—an awesome event put on by Ramon Ray (www.smallbiztechnology.com) and Marian Banker (www.primestrategies.com ) at the Digital Sandbox in New York City. Turn out for the Summit was terrif...
2009 Small Business Trends: No Longer Business as Usual
In 2009, it’s no longer business as usual. The sharp economic decline has led many small companies to slash operating costs and cut staff to the bone. In the wake of small businesses’ initial shock and awe, uncertainty has become the new normal. With little fat left to trim, smal...
My Top Takeaways from Lotusphere 2009
As always. IBM’s Lotusphere has been chock full of announcements about new products, upgrades and partnerships. At Lotusphere, “resonance” was the overarching theme, framing the benefits of having multiple applications work in harmony to amplify the benefits of individual solutions, and create better business outcomes (or something like that, I’m paraphrasing here!). One level down from that, ...