Small Business Owners More Optimisitc About 2010

0 Comment(s) | Posted Dec 28, 2009 by Peter Wylie

Peter Wylie

Small businesses are becoming slightly more optimistic about their prospects in 2010, according to  the Discovery Financial Services Small Business Watch.  The number of small business owners who thought their business prospects would improve in the next six months increased for the first time since August.

But despite the increase in positive sentiment, small business owners are still wary of the economic outlook as we enter a new decade.  Nearly half of all owners surveyed thought the economy was going to get worse in 2010, and only 18 percent of owners said they planned to increase investment spending in the next six months.

With the general outlook and small business sentiment still gloomy, small businesses should contemplate ways they can stand out to compete for scarce business.  Free small business marketing resources online, such as Facebook, Twitter, and LinkedIn, can provide excellent return on investment for small business owners who need to produce growth in early 2010.

Since the main investment in building presences on these services is time spent learning and practicing social media marketing, small business owners have more leeway to experiment in this area if general cash flow is tight and investment budgets are low.  Instead of purchasing an expensive traditional marketing campaign in print, television, or radio—which are becoming less effective as audience fragments—small business marketers should add a social media piece to their marketing strategy. 

Customer acquisition through social media outreach is often less expensive than through other media, so it makes sense to leverage these increasingly popular avenues during the current, uncertain economic climate.

Filed under: Emerging Media, Entrepreneurship, Online Communities, Small Business