This week we interviewed Justin Williams from Jennings Technologies in Medford, NJ about how his company is marketing their services.

 

What service/product(s) does your company provide?
We focus on Digital Marketing, Managed IT Services, and Information Security Services. We work with clients in the Philadelphia metro area that have 10-150 employees and help them use technology to save money, make money, and reduce risk.
When did you launch your business/how long have you been in business?

Jennings Technologies has been partnering with clients to deliver innovative technology solutions that help Make Money, Save Money, and Reduce Risk since 2004.

What is your elevator pitch?

Jennings Technologies strives to build lasting partnerships with all of our clients and we strongly believe that it allows us to provide the best possible solution to very important business problems. Honesty and forthrightness help any type of relationship grow strong and it is our belief that a strong relationship is a key factor in helping businesses solve problems through the use of technology. Relationships are the foundation of every good digital marketing campaign, web development project, or IT project we build and implement; if we don’t understand our clients we can’t be the best.

What marketing tool(s) does your company currently use?

We employ a variety of real world and digital marketing techniques for our clients and selves. Some of the tools we use are WebCEO, Google Analytics, Wordpress,Constant Contact, Twitter, Myspace, Google Adsense, and Google Adwords.

What has been your greatest marketing tool?

Google’s suite of tools has by far been our most valuable asset in marketing efforts.
What are the biggest challenges your company faces in marketing its product and what are you doing to overcome those challenges?

Like a lot of growing companies we face the dilemma of a saturated technology market. There are many places to get digital marketing solutions or a managed IT services plan. We stay competitive through strong relationship building and an “As a Service” pricing model. We offer most of our services for one flat rate on a payment schedule that works for our clients.

A lot of companies are shifting their marketing efforts to online tools and free social media marketing. Has your company made this kind of shift, and if so in what ways are you marketing online?
We market primarily online. We believe in walking the walk and we implement the same solutions for our company as we do for our clients. We regularly update our website with new content and press releases, we maintain a company blog online called True Colors, we are part of different social media groups like Twitter and LinkedIn, we believe strongly in organic seo and pay per click campaigns, and we are constantly trying to stay ahead of the curve by researching and using emerging digital methods.

How are your company’s sales tactics or way of doing business being affected by this recession and do you have any advice to other small business owners?

We are hearing worries and financial horror stories from many small and midsized businesses who we work with. Sales are down and budgets are strapped. There is a digital marketing revolution occurring right now that can help you grow your business and in many cases cut marketing costs. We actually wrote a great article on this entitled “Recession Proof Your Business” which can be found on our online publication True Colors.

Any cost saving tips?

Yes. Make sure you invest in a solid presence on the web that helps your business drive in quality leads which create sales for your business. Step outside of the box and get creative. You may be able to replace some of your traditional marketing methods with exciting and powerful methods in the digital world!

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As part of our ongoing interview series with entrepreneurs and small businesses, we interviewed Penny Haynes in Holly Springs GA. Her business, Encouraging Enterprises, Inc. helps its customers through its two websites: CommercialCreationCenter.com, and OnlineCommunityMagazines.com. Be sure to follow @pennyhaynes

What service/product(s) does Encouraging Enterprises, Inc. provide?

Commercial Creation Center - personal assistance plus simple software to create and post audio and video to promote your business 

Online Community Magazines - you offer a complete multimedia marketing and publishing system to every member of your online or offline community
When did you launch your business?    

Started in 2004 with audio/video training, publishing and services

What’s your elevator pitch?   

How do you market yourself to increase your income without going broke? I solve that problem by giving you the most effective and affordable online marketing technologies - video and audio.  My clients get top search engine rankings and create instant rapport with their potential clients.

What marketing tools does your company currently use?

RSS, Audio, Video, Social Media, Social Networks, Advertising

What has been your greatest marketing tool?

RSS/Audio/Video, which give me top Google rankings

What are the biggest challenges your company faces in marketing its product and what are you doing to overcome those challenges?     

The money to expand my reach via more traditional methods, such as hiring a salesperson.  I am working on cross promoting with other entrepreneurs, and am hosting contests and online international events (http://InternationalPodcastingExpo.com).

A lot of companies are shifting their marketing efforts to online tools and free social media marketing. Has your company made this kind of shift, and if so in what ways are you marketing online? 

That’s basically ALL the marketing that I do.  Podcasting, Blogging, Articles, Twitter, LinkedIn, Facebook, TubeMogul

How are your company’s sales tactics or way of doing business being affected by this recession and do you have any advice to other small business owners?        

The recession has stopped me from continuing to go to offline conferences and expos.  I did that twice last year, and due to the recession, I haven’t recouped those monies yet.

Any cost saving tips?  

Use RSS, Audio and Video - it’s inexpensive and effective as a marketing tool.  Also, write an ebook, create a free excerpt, and try to get it circulated.

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 As part of our on going interview series with small businesses using social media marketing, we interviewed Leonard Knight of Entrepreneurs of Knoxville (E.O.K). For all the twitter people out ther make sure to follow @eoktown

What service/product(s) does your company provide?

EOK aims to create a culture and climate of successful entrepreneur activity in the Greater Knoxville area by connecting entrepreneurs to the needed resources through the E.O.K. network.  The E.O.K network includes our online community of members, association with other local business resources, and person-to-person relationships to support and create profitable businesses.

When did you launch your business/how long have you been in business?

We launched E.O.K. in the spring of 2008.  The idea started out with a few guys meeting over a cup of coffee and sharing ideas about what projects in which they were involved, with the hopes of creating profitable businesses through the sharing of ideas and potential projects.

What is your elevator pitch?

E.O.K. exists to serve businesses of all sizes and entrepreneurs to equip them with the tools needed for success.  Membership is free and open to anyone.  Basically we try to get a bunch of smart people in the same “room” and talk about what interests the members.  We are not a business card swapping network, but a network of professionals and entrepreneurs trying to start and/or grow businesses.

What marketing tool(s) does your company currently use?

Our main marketing tool is our website, which is a Ning site.  We have weekly meetings covering a variety of topics related to starting and maintaining a business as well as social events for the members to meet and greet each other.  We use a variety of social networks and media to communicate our message and events to the public (i.e. twitter, linkedin, podcasts, etc.)

What has been your greatest marketing tool?

The website and word of mouth.

A lot of companies are shifting their marketing efforts to online tools and free social media marketing. Has your company made this kind of shift, and if so in what ways are you marketing online? 

• We created a twitter ID for EOK (eoktown); the website’s activity log feeds the tweets.  Members of EOK reference (eoktown) in their tweets to their followers.  This has generated traffic to our site as documented by Google Analytics.
• We created a linkedin group for EOK.  Linkedin members search for Entrepreneurs or any of the other terms we have in our description.  This group has generated traffic to our site.

How are your company’s sales tactics or way of doing business being affected by this recession and do you have any advice to other small business owners?

We are a non-profit in the business of helping other small business owners.  We assume the recession will have an affect on us with reduced donations.  We counter this by leveraging volunteers, finding grants, getting the support of foundations, and asking for member donations.

Any cost saving tips?

Offering membership for free and asking for volunteers to promote and direct the daily operations of E.O.K.  People have been very responsive to the service oriented atmosphere of E.O.K.  Basically, the group exists for its members, and they get out of it whatever they are willing to put in.  The grassroots growth has been fun to watch this year, and with the down economy, we only expect our membership to increase.

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