Increasingly, even small businesses can generate new opportunities from beyond their zipcode. As the CEO of a large company, there is nothing I enjoy more than meeting visionary entrepreneurs and seeing their small businesses take off. [source: Entrepreneur] Two that come to mind are “Cakes by Darcy,” a bakery in Roswell, Georgia, that makes the
The customer has always been king. Customer engagement is the holy grail of marketing; creating an emotional attachment to a brand can create loyalty, which means longer-term, less price sensitive and therefore more profitable customers. Customer engagement can make a significant financial difference: research from Gallop in 2014 found that customers who are fully
We have undoubtedly witnessed a fundamental shift in the way traditional businesses operate and engage with their customers over the last ten years. The explosion of the Internet and mobile technology, and the seemingly endless potential of the ways that they can be used, is outstripping and sometimes undermining structures of working that have prevailed
We have become an instant gratification society. A lot of this is due to the convenience of the Internet, and how it's accessible from anywhere, just with a simple search on our mobile devices. Even the days when we used to sit at our desktop computers, researching a local business, are passing by quickly. [source:
Highlights of the Pew Internet Project’s research related to mobile technology. [source: Pew Research Center] As of October 2014: 64% of American adults own a smartphone. As of January 2014: 90% of American adults own a cell phone 32% of American adults own an e-reader 42% of American adults own a tablet computer Some smartphone