Well it’s about time!!!
http://blogs.msdn.com/mssmallbiz/archive/2007/09/29/5200874.aspx
no boys and girls, I'm not talking about DST! No this is all about brand awareness and support for the Small Business Specialist Community. Abbie and I joined the SBSC program over 2 years ago, and this whole time we have been saying we need marketing support. In the form of Print, Radio, and TV. No not from Microsoft saying, go see Abbie and Bill over at Annabel Watters, PC. No, rather, I have been saying we need that constant support, like the People Ready Campaign. I mean would it be soooooooo hard to say Partner?
Here, let's try it together…Partner.
Now let's try a phrase…Ask your Partner…
One more phrase…Small Business Specialist…
We regularly do Connections events throughout Texas, and the thing that is missing…(ARE YOU READING THIS MSAM???) Say it now…Partner Partner Partner…ask a partner. Work with your Partner. Partner Partner Partner!!! Is your Partner an SBSC? Ask an SBSC about your technology needs. SBSC, SBSC SBSC!!!
To help amplify this, I was at a business today, and the proprietor was explaining that she had no idea where to get IT help. She had contracted a local IT Franchisee, this after 'working' with another IT Franchisee. She asked how could she know who to call for project work or support? The Yellow Pages? She called around a couple of places, and finally asked someone who had a guy. What's great is they proposed and put in a technical solution to a business problem. Problem is that the 'solution' does not really address the business problem. It patches over a couple of the symptoms, but does not cure the problem, and ultimately will end up costing the business more. It is truly a shame, because the business woman is actually a very smart person and has a tremendous business model.
Hopefully the upcoming marketing support will help address this problem in the future. Small Businesses do not know where to turn, and too often they get hooked up with a friend's sister's roommate, who met a guy at 31 flavors texting on his crackberry… a guy who knows technology to some degree, but cannot hear and feel the business issues and then translate that into a strategic IT solution, turning a business problem into a business asset.
So next you need business solutions to business problems, call a Partner, an SBSC, not just a guy!!!