Leveraging What is Available to Build Your Business

Let me state the obvious. What made Google, Facebook, and Amazon a powerhouse in their respective industry? They took a burgeoning technology call the internet and made a fortune out of it. Is this genius? Well maybe not genius but it was very smart in using new or even existing technology to build something. You look at Instagram or Tik Tok, and without the smart phone cameras they would not exist.

Even before the advent of the digital revolution, concepts were born out of using what exists such as the credit card. Diners Club is recognized as the first company to issue a credit card. They used the idea of a Two-Sided business model where for this to work, they needed a vendor that will accept credit cards and a customer that carries the card and charges on it. Without them, Diners Club would not be able to build this business. They recognized the convenience this would offer to the customers.

So what surprises me, especially with small to medium sized businesses is why they don’t use technology more to increase their marketing campaign. For example, a local pizza shop can go onto Facebook and post pictures of the food offering and menu. They can target their posts to the local area they are serving and even offer discounts that can only be offered off of Facebook. With these discounts they can track how much of the increased business is due to these postings. Likewise with LinkedIn, especially if you are a B2B company, you can target your postings to an industry in a specific geographical area, which will increase your visibility. This marketing effort is cheap and even free depending on how you use this.

Today, there is so much available for businesses to use, especially social media, that you can greatly expand your reach with literally a push of the button.