It was another day of volatility in the financial markets today. The question seems to be the same question everyday for the small business owner.

“Do we move forward with our growth plans, or hold back and wait to see what is going to happen next?”

In late January, the International Monetary Fund (IMF) projected the world GDP to grow at 4.5 percent with the U.S. and Germany leading the recovery among the advanced economies, as reported in Bloomberg News. Then, in February, came the political unrest in the Middle East coupled with State and local government budget problems here in the US. Many would say that these negative issues are not going to overpower the resilience of the US economy. Nonetheless, more volatility.

While the financial markets continue to rattle back and forth, new technologies are emerging. These changes are effecting the way the customer wants to communicate with a supplier. For the Business Owner, traditional marketing is producing less results. Social Media is the new way to market. But Social Media takes an understanding of technology and new processes. And even with the technical knowledge, two or three months need to go by before the Social Media program takes roots and has a really positive effect on business and the bottom-line. (Although, positive effects can be realized quickly through the Promotion part of the Social Media Program. But that subject is for another post.)

Social Media is here to stay. The customer wants their suppliers to be available in a way that was not known in the previous decade. The Social Networks hold the new marketplace for all businesses today.

An example was highlighted in the WSJ.com reporting on a Bakery in New York. The article went on to state that “The shop has seen a 15% to 20% increase in sales since it started the social-media blitz, Mr. Rhee says. It’s also getting a wider reach; people in California, for example, are asking via Facebook and Twitter if Spot Dessert ships its concoctions.”

The Small Business Owner really need to move forward. It is true that the US economy is resilient. That is not to say that it does not change. Small Business Owners just need to change with it. The way to do this is to partner with those that do this as a living.

Let us know if you want to discuss what a Social Media Program would look like for your organization. We do the entire program for you, even the Posts. We have designed proficiency into our Social Media Program so the cost is kept down and under control for our customers. The volitility that exists these days in the financial markets is not welcome in our businesses.