My friend, Heather, has a mango farm and makes the most unbelievable mango chutney with a zesty bite you can’t get anywhere else. Natasha, is a jewelry designer who infuses her knowledge of the power of crystals into her creations. Both do not use Facebook, nor do they have their own websites to sell their wares.
This conversation about web marketing came up at a birthday party where both women had brought their products to share and show everyone.
Business is incredibly hard if you have to rely on only word of mouth marketing through your friends and hoping that your friends of friends will host parties for you or tell their friends about your incredible product. I know it used to work in days gone by, but so did donkey carts before cars.
These women business owners, whom are great sales people in person, but are not utilizing today’s tech tools, are not an uncommon story. Facebook, WordPress, Google, SEO or not, they are they still producing their awesome products. Only, they won’t thrive the way they could have if a customer who loved their products could take photos on their cell phones, post it to their social networks and rave about the discovery. Then these “raving fans” could post these women’s one or two page websites showing the mango farm or the crystals, with prices and the business contact info. Of course, a great opportunity these island entrepreneurs are missing is actually having websites with e-commerce portals..or using Square technology or Intuit’s “GoPayment Credit Card Terminal” to do credit card transactions at these parties.
Small business owners selling mango chutney, or citrine jewelry, or bbq sauce, or goat cheese, could be sharing their wonderful products not just within the island community, but with the world.
I am holding TechConKona, a one day, four track small business technology solutions conference on August 2nd at the Keauhou Bay Resort Convention Center to show small business owners how to leverage tech tools which will impact their bottom line. The conference will provide the tools, apps, ideas and know-how, so that people, like my friend Heather, can learn how to open a Facebook account and create a business page to develop a powerful social business marketing tool, and learn about a few website options to create a simple site for her business so she and other entrepreneurs can “get the party started” by allowing people to purchase unique, cool, hand made food and accessories they can’t get anywhere else and then sharing that experience with their own sphere of influence.
I wanted to sing Heather’s praises when I paired her chutney tonight with some bbq porkchops we rolled into quesadilla’s. I also wanted to send some friends at church Natasha’s way when they commented on my citrine earrings. But, I had nowhere to send them easily.
A web presence is everything if you want to turn your passion, talent, hobby into a money making venture.
If you would like to attend TechConKona, get your tickets this week and get $25 off of the ticket price until June 29th. Tell your friends who have small businesses, too!
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