HubSpot: From Breakthrough to Breakout

I’ve been very impressed by HubSpot, which helps small and medium businesses (SMBs) optimize and streamline their inbound marketing programs (see my 2009 interview with HubSpot Marketing VP Mike Volpe) for a while now. Looks like others are impressed too—as evidenced by HubSpot’s announcement that it has raised $32 million in a Series D funding [...]

SMB Group Top Ten 2011 SMB Technology Predictions

Here are the SMB Group’s Top 10 SMB Technology Predictions for 2011! A more detailed description of each follows below.

1. Mobile Commerce Lifts Off
2. SMBs Demand that Vendors Bring Order to Social Media Chaos
3. App Stores Become a Key Information Source and Channel for SMBs
4. The Shift to Cloud Computing [...]

What is Mobile Commerce, and Why Should You Care?

(Originally published September 13, 2010 in Small Business Computing)
What is Mobile Commerce?
Mobile commerce (also known as mobile ecommerce, m-commerce and other variations) consists of two primary components. The first is the ability to use a wireless phone or other mobile device to conduct financial transactions and exchange payments over the Internet. The [...]

Does Your SMB Marketing Message Need a Makeover? Seven Questions to Ask

Countless technology vendors are targeting the increasingly coveted yet still somewhat elusive small and medium business (SMB) market. We do our share of message testing and market strategy work with them, and attend innumerable briefings from other vendors aiming to make their mark in this crowded space.
All too often, we see some warning signs that [...]

Getting in the Social Media Management Game

Social media management for small businesses is a very hot area. A few weeks ago, I posted a blog about social media management solutions available to help small businesses manage their online and social presence more efficiently and effectively. While this is still a very nascent area in terms of customer adoption, there has been a bumper [...]

What is Social Media Management, and Why Should You Care?

(Originally published on March 4, 2010, in Small Business Computing)
What is Social Media Management?
As described in the column “What is Social Networking, and Why Should You Care?” Internet-based social media make it easier for people to listen, interact, engage and collaborate with each other. But, as the volume of social media venues and conversations rises, [...]

Relevance of Marketing Tools/Media in Customer Acquisition

The topic of lead generation and the role of various media solutions in the lead generation process draw significant conversation. From a survey of small businesses done in the summer of 2009 and detailed in my blog, ‘GoToMeeting‘ from CitrixOnline or ‘Intuit Website’ from Intuit. This form of media effectively cultivates and nurtures demand. ‘Small [...]

What is SEM, and Why Should You Care?

(Originally published in Small Business Computing, November 30, 2009)
Technology insiders tend to throw around technical terms and business jargon, assuming people outside the industry understand what it all means. By its nature, technology vocabulary is often confusing and complicated, and insiders often add to the confusion by over-complicating things. To help add a sense of [...]

Top Takeaways from IBM’s General Business Influencer Summit

Last week, I attended IBM’s General Business (GB) Influencer Summit for analysts covering the mid-market (companies with 100 to 1000 employees and larger enterprises that are not currently spending a lot with IBM, sometimes termed “white space” accounts). I’ve attended this event since IBM began holding them a few years back. IBM recently [...]

Small Business Has a Big Appetite for Digital and Social Media Marketing

Small business adoption of technology-based solutions rarely keeps pace with the expectations of vendors, analysts and pundits. When it comes adoption of digital marketing and social media tools, however, small business adoption is fast and furious.
Recently, we (Hurwitz & Associates) conducted a survey sponsored by email marketing vendor Campaigner. The survey investigates how North American [...]