David Benjamin is the Recruiting Manager for The Sales Matrix, a Michigan based sales consulting firm. Most recently David started his own consulting practice helping professionals and business’ integrate social media practices for their business. He has been asked to speak for Associations, Universities, and Organizations on the various topics ranging from social media integration to resume and interview tips. Of late, he has been helping recruiting departments get trained on using the online networking sites to help brand and recruit for their organizations. David also co-founder Voices of Detroit, a business round-table podcast series highlighting talented entrepreneurs and community leaders who are leading the renaissance of Detroit.

What is your business?

My business CyberCletch LLC provides virtual assistance to businesses.  We provide a variety of services to companies freeing them from details and allowing them to focus on what they do best.  Most of our business is focused towards the set up and maintenance of online marketing efforts, but we also create marketing pieces for print, provide database support, create/manage email drip campaigns and more. Since we forge long term relationships with our clients, they use us as an ongoing resource for many of their needs.

How did you choose the business that you are in now?

My business chose me, a Realtor asked for assistance back in 1999. Through the assistance I provided her, others asked me to help them as well. I’d been in business about 5 years before I found a name online for what I’d been doing: Virtual Assistance. I’ve tried to quit or slow down a couple of times in the past 7 years, but clients keep drawing me back, so I’ve learned to embrace it as a calling instead.

What’s one major challenge your company has recently had to overcome?

The major challenge is always time.  Since my business is in a growth phase there is a constant struggle between having enough income with adding and training new team members. I find myself filling in when I should be focusing more on the structure and promotion of the business.  It’s ironic because it’s the exact same problem I solve for other entrepreneurs! I am overcoming that challenge by limiting the number of new clients I accept in a month.  Psychologically it’s very difficult for me to tell a potential client they’re going to have to wait to use my services but my sanity will be saved and the time will allow me some precious hours to complete work for my own business.

What’s the most important thing a company can do to stay competitive?

I don’t worry about being competitive and I don’t believe other service based companies should either.  When I first began my company nearly 10 years ago, I was concerned about finding the right price point. My philosophy is I am who I am and I will attract clients similar to me.  I’m honest, ethical, I work hard on behalf of my clients and I will only work with people I respect and enjoy. I focus on providing services that help my client’s business and everything else just falls into place.   All my clients, to date, have been referrals or business owners who I’ve met in person.

Share with us one advantage you’ve recently experienced as a small business? 

Every year I’ve operated my business there’s been an advantage. The major long term advantage has been my ability to gear my business up or down to meet the needs of my family. When my children were small, I planned my work hours around their schedule and only worked with a limited number of clients.  The most recent benefit is the ability to work from anywhere I have a good internet connection.  Eventually, I hope to have the chance to work from overseas while seeing more of the world.

Has the digital landscape changed your business model and or practices? If so how?

Initially, I was responsible for a lot of print marketing; most of the work we do is related to online marketing now.  Exchanging large files has become so much easier with the introduction of services such as gotomypc and dropbox.  I also communicate with my team members and clients through an online project management platform making the exchange of information, files and updates simple.

What is your business recognized for and how does it differ from its competitors?

My business is recognized for its longevity. I still have my first clients; about 80% of them have been with me for more than 6 years.  Since we work with clients long term, many of the strategies are a work in progress. This makes it easier on their monthly budget as opposed to having to invest significant cash all at once for a large project.  We differ from our competitors because we’re a full service company.  If we build a blog, we build it because the client will keep us on a monthly retainer for other technology and marketing services. We become part of that company’s team as opposed to typical short term project based work.

What are some of the challenges you’ve faced as a small business owner?

I use social media (twitter,  facebook, yahoo groups, group sites) to trade information and socialize.  There’s no competition, just support and unselfish sharing of resources.  It’s even better when we get together in person. There are a lot of fabulous people all running their businesses differently within the same industry.

Have you found the “competition wall” has fallen down as result of the social web, or are companies still very much competitive with each other?

In this industry, I see social media breaking down the competitive walls because the companies are no longer impersonal. Competitors know and support each other. In many cases, where there are businesses operating with a team of virtual assistants, we share team members and recommend other VA’s that might assist our competitors.  Of course, I use the word “competitor” loosely; I don’t consider any of these companies a competitor although they would traditionally be defined as such. There’s enough business to go around.

The current economic climate created an initial increase in the number of small businesses, do you feel this will continue?

I would like to think that the surge of small business owners will remain but I’m skeptical.  The call of a secure job with benefits will often outweigh the uncertainty of income.  The true entrepreneurs will remain, the forced entrepreneurs will go.

What struggles are your clients facing in this economic climate?

Clients are struggling with the same issues they did in a good economy, except it’s exacerbated. Those who fear change are now terrified because it’s being forced upon them and they no longer have the safety net of a money surplus. Most are working twice as hard for half as much.  There isn’t the leeway to make costly mistakes and there’s a feeling they must “get it right” the first time. Clients who are open to change, understand the importance of technology and are willing to be creative are seeing more success in their business.

How do you see your business breaking the mold of traditional marketing?

I suppose I’ve never subscribed to the traditional marketing theory. I’ve always looked at what everyone else was doing and recommended slightly different methods to make my clients stand out. I’ve never marketed my own company so I can’t answer that although I suppose using social media would be considered breaking the mold.

Is social media a “four letter word” when it comes to your business?

If LOVE was included! I love social media because the opportunities are huge for marketing yourself to people that you may not have otherwise come in contact with. I love that as clients and business owners we can choose whether we want to do business with each other long before talks about the potential exchange of money and services occur.

Has the social web changed how you have had to communicate with your audience?

My business has always been referral based and social media allows interaction with many more people over a significantly shorter period of time. My strategy is simple: to be available and approachable should someone want more information on the virtual assistant industry. If they like what they hear, they may use my services or recommend them to someone else. In turn, I evaluate other businesses to determine whether I want to use their services. I believe people with similar values will develop familiarity through social media and will eventually end up doing business together.

Henry Balanon, iPhone Developer from LittleGuysSupplies on Vimeo.

Henry Balanon is the founder and lead developer at iPhone app company, Bickbot.com . He writes for GigaOm’s theappleblog.com covering Apple iPhone software development and also detroitstartups.net covering Metro Detroit startups. He is a foodie contributor for twohungrydudes.com as well as a Metro Detroit Yelp Elite.

What is your business?

At the core, simplData does two things: we develop custom web applications to help our customers organize their data and we take designers’ sketches and make their website ideas work.

In the end though, we handle a plethora of web-related tasks from server setup and maintenance to Wordpress installs to helping organizations think through their purpose on the web. Our goal is to really help organizations accomplish what they need to do in a simple manner on the web and do it in a way they can understand.
 
Is social media a “four letter word” when it comes to your business?

Social Media means different things to different people, but in the end it is a new way to make connections with the people around you. Is it a four letter word to my company?  Absolutely not.  In fact, use of social media tools is very much encouraged.  Oddly enough though, I am not specifically using social media tools like Twitter and Facebook to make business connections. I am using those tools to make personal connections. 

One thing I have noticed is that making personal connections on a tool like Twitter has the potential to lead to some incredible business connections. In fact, I would not have a business today without the connections I have made through social media tools like Twitter. I’ve been looking for an official source for this statistic, but from what I understand 75% of jobs come from word of mouth. This has been more than true for me: 95% of my business has come from the connections I have made through Twitter specifically.

Have you found the “competition wall” has fallen down as result of the social web, or are companies still very much competitive with each other?

There is certainly an aspect of competition on social media sites like Twitter, Facebook, and LinkedIn, however in my experience other small business owners are more than happy to help each other out. Like any business, web development companies have waves of work. I’ve found that partnering with a few other web development companies helps make those waves less of an issue. It’s all about developing a good rapport with your “competition” and then sharing the workload among each other. We are all in this together and there is plenty of work for all of us to succeed.

Have your traditional marketing tactics changed as a result of the social web?

I have no plans on using formal marketing. I’m not opposed to it and it may happen one day. I really have found that word of mouth connections are incredibly valuable AND it doesn’t cost anything.

What does being a “little guy” mean to you?

Running your own company can be incredibly rewarding. It takes a lot of hard work, a lot of learning new things and certainly a lot of risk. It is totally worth it! There are some incredible opportunities you will have to interact with new people, build/see new products and work in an environment totally of YOUR choosing.  I mean, really, who can argue with a shorts and flip-flop dress code?

What advice would you share to other small business owners or people thinking of starting their own business?

You absolutely have to go for it. If you don’t make the move now you never will. I heard that phrase from so many places before I started my company and I told myself that I would make the leap as soon as I was ready, but I took my time. I look at it now and wish I had taken the leap years ago. Seriously–take the leap now, start your company and start changing the world!

Sarah Worsham is CEO & Web Strategist at Sazbean Consulting and blogs at Sazbean.com. Sarah is passionate about creating Internet strategies to help companies reach their business goals. Sarah provides guidance through Internet Marketing, Strategy & Business consulting. Connect with her on Twitter,  Facebook or the Sazbean Facebook Page.

What is your business?

My business is The Voice Works Studio, LLC 

What’s the most important thing a company can do to stay competitive?

Stay honest. Stay transparent. I think that as much as clients want to be treated well and have a professional interaction, they want to know and trust their service providers on a personal level.  For example, as a voice teacher and artist business coach I do not put on a front that I know all the answers and have never struggled as a singer, I will share my personal experiences if I think they will help a client, even at the “risk” of appearing “unprofessional.” I put those in quotations because it is silly to think you cannot be honest with people and not maintain a professional relationship. Also, if a client needs a solution that I do not have an answer to, I will tell them I have to do some research, or refer them to someone I think can help. 

Share with us one advantage you’ve recently experienced as a small business? 

I have total control over my business operations, schedule, and how I approach my craft. I refer only to people I trust and can be very picky about who I work with professionally. 

Has the digital landscape changed your business model and or practices?

Absolutely! I love that I teach voice lessons via Skype to a student in Canada sitting my home studio. I love that I recently got an email from a young singer in Africa looking for advice about her local singing competition. I love that my websites and blogs can evolve and change as I do, and as my business model changes. I love that encouraging students to explore social media as one leg of their personal business plans can be effective ways to communicate and market themselves. For the entrepreneur just starting out, there are so many low-cost ways to try out different things on the web before committing considerable capital to a business plan.

What is your business recognized for and how does you differ from your competitors?

My business is recognized for providing a holistic approach to music instruction – in that I make sure my students are not just taking voice lessons with no discernible goal in mind. Whether they are professionals or hobbyists, I make business (or volunteering if they don’t feel like making money) goals a part of lessons, so that there is a purpose beyond singing pretty songs. I find that people will lose interest if there is no greater reason for their studies. 

Is social media a “four letter word” when it comes to your business?

If that four letter word spells L-O-V-E, then yes! I tend to approach social media in a very relaxed way though. I used to get really worked up and worried about doing everything “right.” Then I stopped that. Now I have fun. I don’t look at any numbers related to my online activity. It makes me squirrely.

The current recession has created and surge of small business owners, do you feel this is the way things will remain after things “get better”?

I don’t think so. I do believe that many of the small business owners will combine forces or sell their companies when the economic landscape improves. As much as the life of an entrepreneur is exciting, many people are doing it just to survive right now. I think most personalities like the stability of corporate-style work. But I do think the changes we see now will significantly shift what corporate-style looks like. In particular to the honesty/transparency mentioned above. Consumers are sick of being taken advantage of. 

Edward has served as Corporate Counsel for a select number of businesses and individuals in the Detroit and Denver metropolitan areas and has assisted and provided counsel to Fortune 500 companies as well as small businesses throughout Southeast Michigan solving wide ranging business disputes involving entertainers, artists, executives and other business professionals. He is also well versed in the areas of estate planning, probate litigation, and other civil litigation.