A brief twitter conversation between Benjamin Ellis and Chris Garrett caught my eye, gist of which is SMEs are hard to reach when it comes to technology.

Thing is, small business owners aren’t interested in technology the way techies are. The only way I see a route to their hearts/wallets is to wrap it all up in the benefits to their business. And use lots of simple analogies.

And before anyone accuses me of suggesting that techies treat SMEs as stupid that’s not what I meant. Techies need to keep their explanations very simple otherwise we send SMEs to sleep.

It’s like the question of accessibility. During a discussion at a Web Standards Group (WSG) meeting in London a while back delegates were bemoaning the fact that businesses weren’t interested in making their sites more accessible, even if they became more legally compliant. But to me it was obvious that you don’t go into a client talking about accessibility compliance, but instead talk about SEO and the benefits of better rankings as a result of the work techies carry out. Talk about improved task flow and retaining customers because they find the site easy to use. In fact, don’t mention accessibility until the end, with a throwaway comment like “Oh, and it’ll also make your site more accessible, which is a legal requirement these days.”

I hate to say it, but to use a marketing cliché talk benefits not features - then the techies will start to get the attention of SMEs. Getting back to the point about reaching SMEs, what SME is going to turn down the opportunity to improve the bottom line once they understand which tech tools are going to help them achieve that.

In conclusion, if we speak to SMEs in their language they’ll start listening. But we need more Tech Evangelists speaking the SME language. It’s a challenge for the techies but they CAN do it.

[Sent from my mobile]

Right now I’m giving what’s called a 10 minute Presentation to my fellow members and vistors to the Lincoln BNI Tennyson Chapter, which meets once a week on a Friday morning.

The purpose of BNI is to provide the framework for members of a chapter to pass business to each other by way of referrals.

And the purpose of a 10 Minute Presentation, given by one member each week, is to help the other members understand more about the presenters business, so they can more easily refer business.

So right now I’m doing just that!

Cat wants feeding. Ever noticed how focused they are when they want something? We could all learn a lot from our furry, feline friends.

Nothing for it but go feed her.

Busy, busy, busy week but not as hectic as the last one. At least I feel as though I’m catching up. Bar anymore interfering cats. Ah, cat just gone off to hassle daughter for food - think I’ll get on…

[Sent from my mobile]