One of the hardest things when starting a consulting business is explaining to other people what you do.  I suppose some entrepreneurs don’t go through this bump, but we did (and some would say, still are). 

I’ve been asked numerous times what I do at Brown Couch.  For a while I was answering that I help small business owners take care of their customers, but that sounds like I am a temp who comes to your store to help you gift wrap sales during peak times.  So, that didn’t quite work. 

In truth, I help small business owners organize their webspace and email marketing.  I say organize, rather than create, because most businesses already have something setup up.  Usually, it the site they started with 5 years ago, when they launched their business and by now, it’s been corroded by the tide of constant updates and piecemeal changes.

What’s my approach?  First and foremost, I try to understand the business goals behind the website.  For most small business owners, the site isn’t a store, it just a means of marketing themselves and showing themselves as a legitimate business.  Then I find a solution that is the most cost effective for that business.  Sometimes, it’s  complete redesign of the site, other times, I take the pieces and make them whole again. 

So, that’s what I do.  I pick up the separate pieces of your business website and make them consistent with your business image.  I also help your business setup an email marketing or newsletter services, to ensure that it’s also consistent with your business.

I finally decided to take a morning to attend a seminar on Social Networking organized by NEWBO and presented by Susan LaPlante-Dube from Precision Marketing Group. 

Here is what I’ve learned: being successful is in part about making connections and knowing the right people.  Perhaps the guy who sat next to you in high school algebra is now a VP at a firm you’ve been trying to recruit.  Facebook and LinkedIn may be able to help you reconnect with him and close that business. 

I am not writing this to give you a course on Social Networking – you’ll have to contact Susan for that.  I am writing this to bring the point home that small business owners get too wrapped up in their business needs and forget to seek out and attend seminars and workshops that can help them expand their knowledge base.   My recommendation would be 1 workshop or seminar per week.  If you feel that your business can’t afford that expense, consider having your own staff do a seminar (I would do it off-site to give everyone a break from the office).