Tonight was the monthly meeting of Showcase Business Network, an informal local networking group that I attend whenever I can—which is not often, as I have a conflict on Monday evenings during the “school year.” It was great to be back among friends this evening.
And it was my turn to provide the Education Spotlight. I spoke on “Strategies to Make Small Businesses Appear Big on the Web,” and talked about the importance of registering domain names, getting a Web hosting account (that allows more than one domain to be hosted), and participating in social media. As my regular readers know, all are topics near and dear to my heart.
But not near and dear to everyone’s heart in the audience. There was one woman in particular who was very resistant to the idea that Facebook could be beneficial to her business—a geographically limited pet-sitting-and-more business that she builds face to face and one on one.
Before I could respond, several others in the audience spoke up even more vehemently than I would have, illustrating how important Facebook was to promoting their businesses. My 15-minute Spotlight lasted well over half an hour, and I spoke only sporadically after the conversation got started.
Frankly, I count this as a huge success. The fact that it raised such passions on both sides of the argument shows to me that it is a timely topic for discussion.
And now I’m bringing it to you, my readers. Where do you stand on Facebook (and LinkedIn and Twitter and others)? Has it helped you promote your businesses? And if so, how? Has blogging been beneficial? Add your comments below and join the conversation.
