Small Business Summit Helps Owners Learn to Thrive in the Digital Age

Five Best Practices for Customer Experience Management Programs

In October, small business owners will congregate in New York City for the 9^th Annual Small Business Summit. Produced by Ramon Ray, small business evangelist and writer for SmallBizTechnology.com, and Marian Banker, entrepreneur and small business advisor, the summit brings together business owners from a variety of backgrounds to share, network and learn.

This year’s summit appears to be leaning toward the tech side in its agenda. It includes a bit of sparring on the topic of Google vs. Microsoft, which features presentations by Michael Spadaro from Profound Cloud, a Google Apps partner, and Melanie Gass from Microsoft.

Other sessions bring the digital age to the marketing realm with “Do Flyers, Posters and Tweets Mix?” which explains how old-fashioned marketing tactics can still bring in customers for small business owners in the high-tech world.

For small businesses, making the leap to digital marketing can be a scary experience. For those who are unfamiliar with all of the latest social media sites and how to get their business into the mobile world, finding someone to show them the ropes is an integral part of making sure their business not only stays afloat, but also moves forward. Along those lines, two other sessions, “Why Customer Education Beats Sales in a Mobile, Local and Distracted World,” and another on creative marketing both offer strategies to capture the attention of potential customers and win them over through various marketing techniques.

Knowing how to access social networks and the mobile web are all helpful, but knowing what to say to customers in the digital world that will make them take notice is also quite different than in old-school marketing. Other sessions promise to teach business owners how to write copy and content, which potential customers will actually read in emails, blogs, and on company websites.

For more information or to register to attend the event, visit the Small Business Summit website. Early bird registrants receive a discount when they sign up before August 31.

Kim Mays has been editing and writing about IT since 1999. She currently tackles the topics of small to midsize business technology and introducing new tools for IT. Follow Kim on Google+ at google.com/+KimberlyMays6 or Twitter @blumoonky.