Entrepreneurs Ditch Lead Generation Stalwarts For Networking Online

Small business owners looking for new customers are shunning traditional techniques like cold calling and direct marketing in favour of building relationships online, new research by BusinessZone.co.uk reveals.
By: BusinessZone.co.uk
 
Oct. 28, 2008 - PRLog -- Small business owners looking for new customers are shunning traditional techniques like cold calling and direct marketing in favour of building relationships online, new research by BusinessZone.co.uk reveals.

According to the poll, conducted in association with UK Business Forums and WeCanDo.Biz, entrepreneurs ranked internet communities as more effective for generating new customers and clients than telephone cold calling, door-to-door selling and direct mail, all methods once viewed as the backbone of new business lead generation.

Three fifths (59%) of business owners revealed they had won customers as a direct result of networking websites with two thirds (67%) saying that such services had brought them closer to their target market.

In addition, three quarters (78%) admitted they were open to purchasing from contacts made via web communities, while more than half (52%) said they planned on increasing the amount of time they dedicate to online networking in 2009.
But not all business-focused networks are catering to SMEs' needs. While winning new business was seen as the main reason for online interaction, respondents ranked 'career advancement' as the least important, a direct conflict with the primary driver of professional networking sites such as LinkedIn and Xing.

This suggests that although such services may assist employees in sourcing new jobs, they do not help small business owners looking for new customers.

"Our study confirms that online networking forms a key part of the modern business owner's life," comments Dan Martin, editor of BusinessZone.co.uk and administrator of UK Business Forums.

"Clever entrepreneurs are ditching traditional methods such as cold calling and direct marketing and recognising that building relationships on the web is much more beneficial for the future growth of their business.

"The report indicates that it is the networks with a primary business focus like BusinessZone.co.uk, UK Business Forums and WeCanDo.Biz that will continue to attract the most entrepreneurs compared to more mainstream sites like Facebook and LinkedIn which have much less relevance to company owners."

Editor's Notes
To download the survey results in full, visit http://www.wecando.biz/surveyresults.php

For more details contact Dan Martin, editor of BusinessZone.co.uk and administrator of UK Business Forums, on dan.martin@businesszone.co.uk or 0117 915 8638.

About BusinessZone.co.uk
BusinessZone.co.uk is a leading online community for entrepreneurs running small and medium sized businesses. The website provides free resources including practical advice features, expert blogs, a guide to start-up finance and the opportunity to network with thousands of other company owners. For more information visit http://www.businesszone.co.uk

About UK Business Forums
UK Business Forums is the UK's most active online forums for entrepreneurs providing reach to over 32,000 registered members. It is positioned solely as a website for discussion, engagement and interaction, generating 7,000 posts a week, and over 1,000,000 page impressions a month. For more information visit http://www.ukbusinessforums.co.uk

About WeCanDo.BIZ
WeCanDo.BIZ is an online new business network for sales leads and business referrals. It is free to join. It enables businesses owners and managers to promote their companies to a growing community of members, who can then endorse them as suppliers. Members with the most endorsements get listed higher in the WeCanDo.BIZ Trusted Business Directory and Search. Using social networking methods to build a network of contacts, members can also share details of businesses they recommend and use tools to help generate business. The service is available to business owners/managers, sales, marketing and purchasing professionals at http://www.wecando.biz

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BusinessZone.co.uk is a leading online community for entrepreneurs running small and medium sized businesses. The website provides free resources including practical advice features, expert blogs, a guide to start-up finance and the opportunity to network with thousands of other company owners. For more information visit http://www.businesszone.co.uk
End
Source:BusinessZone.co.uk
Email:Contact Author
Zip:BS1 6HZ
Tags:Small Business, Entrepreneurs, Smes, Online Networking, Networking, Social Media, Lead Generation
Industry:Small business, Entrepreneur
Location:Bristol - Bristol - England
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