Leveraging Broadband to Grow Your Small Business

November 7, 2013

Leveraging Broadband for Your Business 33 Presentation for: Newark Tech Week

Presented by: Rania Kort

The NJ State Broadband Initiative

The New Jersey State Broadband Initiative

About the State Broadband Initiative

• Why and How the Internet Matters to Small Business

• Why and How the Internet Matters at the National and Global level

• How Are Small Businesses Leveraging the Internet Today? • What Do Small Businesses Need to Increase Adoption?

• Adoption Barriers • How we are addressing those barriers • The Internet Adoption Workshop Series

• Next Steps

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About the State Broadband Initiative

Federally funded grant awarded by the National Telecommunications

Information Administration (NTIA)

New Jersey Office of Information Technology was awarded the grant, which

goes through January 2015

Background

To build awareness of the importance of the internet for small business growth

To better understand the Internet needs of small businesses in NJ

To provide technical assistance and educational resources

Small Business Program Mission

Support economic growth, global competitiveness and job creation

Foster communication and collaboration statewide with

organizations that support small businesses

Help formalize a program and plan to help small businesses

increase internet adoption

Goal

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Partner

“…. to retain, attract and grow businesses and enhance small and minority business capacity …. “

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http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9rzYua2TiD4

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Why it Matters for Small Businesses to be Online


Why It Matters for Small Businesses to be Online

1 It is where buyers go

…. make buying decisions

…. to find businesses

….and make purchases

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Why the Internet Matters to Small Business

Research

Buying Decisions

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85% use it to find LOCAL businesses

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General Use of Broadband for Small Business

• Planning

• Market Research

• Obtaining Competitive Intelligence Online

• Identifying Customer Needs

• Marketing, Sales and Customer Service

• Online Marketing and Lead Generation

• E-commerce

• Bidding on Contracts Online

• Global and Instantaneous Exposure to Markets

• Online Support Services

• Customer Communication

• Operations

• Online Purchasing

• Virtual Inventory and Online Inventory Management

• Online Collaboration Across Supply Chain

• Support of “Green” Operations

• Finance/ Investing

• Online Billing

• Electronic Credit Checks

• Electronic Payments

• Streamlined Accounts Payable

• Support of “Green” Operations

• Sourcing and Partnering

• Advertising Job Openings Online

• Accepting Job Applicants Online

• Search Online for Specific Talent

• Creative Employment Compensation

• Remote Working Arrangements

• Qualifying Strategic Partnering

It enables small businesses to use it in all areas of their

business:

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2.



It is a platform for innovation that is at the center of a business ecosystem 3.

Innovation

Marketing

Sales

Service & Support

Fulfillment/ Operations

Products/ Solutions

Strategy

Increases market access

ability to compete

locally and globally

Increases

effectiveness

Reduces costs More efficient

Innovation

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http://www.youtube.com/user/broadband4us/videos

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NwM2TAgBfRQ



Small businesses that are NOT using it

are not only losing many opportunities to grow,

but are risking losing their business

…. to competitors who are leveraging its power.

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Broadband Goals at the National Level


Leveraging the Power of the Internet is included in

the national economic goals

And since small businesses are considered a significant contributor to the economy,

• funding and technical assistance programs are focused

to help deepen their skills on how to adopt and leverage the Internet

as a initiative for : advancing global competitiveness

creating jobs

stimulating innovation

The National Broadband Plan

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The National Broadband Plan

National Broadband Goals

1. 100 million US homes to have access to affordable broadband at 100mb/sec

2. US to lead the world in mobile innovation with fastest most extensive networks

3. Every American to have affordable access to robust service and the skills to subscribe

4. Every community to have affordable access to at least 1 gigabit/sec broadband service

5. Every first responder to have access to a nationwide wireless interoperable broadband public safety network

6. America to lead in the clean energy economy and for every American to have the ability to track and manage their real-time energy consumption

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How Are Small Businesses Leveraging the Internet Today?


“ Many small business owners are still not adopting internet marketing approaches and modern technology. “

How are Small Businesses Leveraging the Internet Today?

0

20

40

60

80

100

Yes

No

not

Source: http://www.yodle.net/files/smb-sentiment-report.pdf

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Big adoption gap in leveraging technology to grow

http://www.yodle.net/files/smb-sentiment-report.pdf









How to Find New Customers

Concern

Finding

New Customers

Affording Benefits

Keeping Current

Customers

Keeping up with the expenses

Top concerns #3

#1 #2

#4 4

#1

Concern #3

How to Keep Existing Ones



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Most are putting little or no money into getting customers

Do not spend $ on marketing 38%

23%

21%

Are investing

~ $3000 /yr

18%

~ $3000- $6000 /yr

And more than half (56%) do not measure the results of their marketing programs



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The Internet is the vehicle that can address the top concern for small businesses but small businesses are still struggling trying to figure out how to adopt it.


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What Do Small Businesses Need to Increase Adoption?


Internet Adoption Barriers

According to a survey we conducted with NJ small businesses, the top 3 barriers that are keeping small businesses from leveraging the Internet

- Lack of knowledge

- Lack of time

- Lack of resources

NJ Small Businesses

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Awareness Training

Planning Your Internet

Business Strategy

Technical Assistance

Using the Internet to Compete and Grow

How we are helping address the barriers

Finding and partnering with organizations that support small businesses

Adopt

Present

Small Business Advisory Council

Share/Reinforce

Identifying

Possible

Funding

Options

Internet Marketing Plan Interview

on the Newark Small Business Show

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Graduates| Online

SMALL BUSINESS

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nnhpZLefinU&list=UUWdeNCALYsBhDChSKgiWGzw



The Internet Adoption Workshop Series

1. Learn the difference between having a website and having a website that brings in leads & sales

2. Learn what tools and platforms exist to expose, promote, and advertise your business

3. Learn how to select competitive keywords for your business and where to use them

4. Learn the strategies and tools for getting you to the top of the search engines

5. Learn the tools to create credibility and exposure in your market on an on-going basis

6. Learn how to deliver a compelling marketing message through Internet-enabled technologies

7. Learn innovative ways to leverage the internet to package our products and service customers

A comprehensive overview of how you can use the Internet to grow your business



The Internet Adoption Workshop Series

1

2

3

4 5

6

7

8

• 1 session/ week for 8 weeks • Sessions will be on Tue/Sat • Homework

First Program to Start in January- February 2014

Internet Strategies and Tools

Website

Ecommerce

Search Engines Directories, Platforms &

Marketplaces

Online Advertising

Mobile Marketing

Content / Video

Marketing

Social Media and Email Marketing

Internet Marketing

Plan

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>> Some of the Adoption Programs

o Connect2Compete Program o Lifeline Universal Service o Connected Nation o Computers For Youth

o EveryoneOn Program

o OneEconomy

o FreedomPop

o Internet Essentials

Technical assistance, location advisory, incentive analysis, grants or assistance with crowdlending or crowdsourcing campaigns may be available through BCDC for qualified candidates

Available Programs to Increase Adoption (available to low income households and qualified families)

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Next Steps


If you are interested in the program

Next Steps

Get priority to appear on the small business show

Get your video and use the tips you learned to market your business immediately

Get featured in the next newsletter for more exposure

First Name: Last Name: Email: Business Name Industry # of years in business Size of Company Your Biggest Challenge Your aspiration

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STAY CONNECTED!

http://connectingnj.state.nj.us

THANK YOU!

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http://connectingnj.state.nj.us/

http://connectingnj.state.nj.us/


Questions? / Feedback?


Resources

Statistics http://www.themainstreetanalyst.com/2013/06/03/small-business-success-using-the-internet-and-social-media-infographic/

http://success.1and1.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/06/SBS-Research-Final.png

http://www.dowitcherdesigns.com/blog/the-power-of-online-reviews-for-small-businesses/

http://www.dowitcherdesigns.com/blog/the-power-and-value-of-online-reviews/

http://www.themainstreetanalyst.com/2013/06/03/small-business-success-using-the-internet-and-social-media-infographic/




















































