Tip of the Day: No moola in online networking
October 31st, 2007, 1:00 am · Post a Comment · posted by Jan Norman, small-business columnist
Chat rooms and forums may serve a purpose, but it’s not to boost the small-business bottom line. That’s what a whopping 72 percent of owners told Discover credit card’s Small Business Watch, a monthly random survey of 1,000 entrepreneurs with fewer than five employees.
Other findings:
- 67 percent like to network in person at trade shows, business meetings or chambers of commerce
- 6 percent use e-mail for networking
- 55 percent wouldn’t consider using a service or small business they heard about on a social or business networking Web site.
The anti-online bias is age related: 41 percent of 18- to 29-year-olds are members of online networking communities, while older owners are much less likely to join.
If you have a resource or tip to help small-business owners, send it to me at jnorman@ocregister.com. If I use it, I’ll use your name, company and Web site.












