As a communications professional who was schooled in marketing, I can attest to a greater need for small business marketing dialogue. I find institutions of higher education focus so much on corporate-type marketing that they neglect to realize that small businesses make up a significant portion of the national economy, and should therefore merit greater focus.

Additionally, so many small businesses equate marketing and advertising as the same thing. In actuality, advertising is an extension of marketing, which as Cheryl points out, is driven by research. The insights gained from marketing research help ensure the small business is communicating to the right people, at the right time, in a compelling fashion. Unfortunately for many such companies, they simply assume that they are taking the right course of action, when they may be wasting significant dollars.

Because the Web is emerging as a significant marketing resource, Web logs such as this can be highly valuable.

p.s.For other small business readers, Cheryl is a fellow “classmate” of mine in Shonnie Lavender’s “Simple, Successful Blogging Program.” I STRONGLY RECOMMEND this telecourse, if you’re interested in learning how to plan, develop, and market a Web log.