The TIE small and medium enterprise SIG had it launch event on July 17 2007 with a panel discussion titled “How to Market Your Small Business Differently by Applying Methods Others Don’t?” The large number of attendees bore testimony to the fact that this was a much needed SIG.

“We hope this SIG will serve the needs of Small and Medium Entreprises. In addition to panels focused on certain topics we hope this SIG will provide an opportunity for members to talk about their business and present talks in areas of their expertise,” said Jagjit Jain, who helped form this SIG.
The panel featured Mike Schultz, Principal in the Wellesly Hills group and publisher of Raintoday.com, Ameeta Soni Vice President, Marketing and Business Development for VFA, and Bob Pokress, co-founder and CEO of ImageFortress.com who shared their insights on marketing practices for small and medium business enterprise.  Lisa Van der Pool , a reporter for the Boston Business Journal served as the moderator. “ Small businesses account for 65% of America’s new jobs.  Thus it is a very important aspect of the economy” said Van der Pool. She opened the panel by asking the panelist to describe the form of marketing that gives the best return on investment. 

Panelists spoke of techniques including speaking engagements at special events, direct mail, email, telephone, search engine optimization and reference from customers as marketing options. Speaking engagements at groups topped the lists of successful marketing strategies. A lot of emphasis was placed on WOMA (work of mouth marketing).“We started a business journal called RainToday.com. It really helped us establish our credibility in the consulting business” said Mike Shultz.They also urged making use of customer good will to help sell your product.  “ Let your customer do your sales work for you,” said Ameeta Soni.  

On the subject of PR, it was felt that if you could get the attention of reporters that write for trade journals that your customers read and get a feature article, you may have hit the jackpot. “In a previous company we were fortunate to have been featured on a major news network just as we were about to launch a new product. That four minute piece was the best piece of PR we had ever had. It came because we attended a trade show and showcased our state of the art technology” said Bob Pokress. He also cautioned against getting PR early before you may ready to launch the product.

Ameeta Soni urged small business owners to find opportunities to piggy back their PR on the backs of PR that was done by their customers.  There was a general consensus among the panelists that SMEs should spend marketing and PR money carefully since cash may not be as freely available for them.
 
Some panelists suggested the use of email marketing and search engine optimization. Bob Pokress felt that for his company the ads on Google had been useful to not just get the word out but to seek marketing information on what terms people are searching to get to particular companies or product.

 Ameeta Soni urged SMEs to study their space carefully and choose a strategy that works for them. She felt that there was not a one-size-fits-all solution for all companies and that each company must use the technique that may best suit them.

The event concluded with a rich discussion between the audience and panelists that shed light on several other PR and marketing ideas. To learn more about these events , please checkout http://tie-boston.org.

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