Before creating this blog, I took my own advice and did some planning. I’ve done a bit of blogging before, and writing online content in various places, but I wanted to make sure that when I wrote for the signature blog for my SSS for Success brand, that I not only did a great job, but that I created the kind of content that was reflective of me, my philosophy and the message that I hope will forever resonate with the brand: Small Business Survival Specialists: Social Media Covered!

For those that don’t know, SSS for Success (Small Business Survival Specialists) is actually an offshoot of the EASY Brand Marketing Program where it operated as a tertiary service within the program’s “S” step of “Securing the most effective ways to build and maintain customer relationships using technology”. The overwhelming response to the Technology and Social Media portions of the program, coupled with the true need of many Middle Tennessee business owners to bring their business into the 21st Century, made SSS for Success the Small Business Survival Specialists they are today, specializing in preparing small and medium-sized organizations to take advantage of the free and low-cost marketing avenues that exist in the online arena.

As part of my planning process, I followed my own tips for creating a blog calendar, and have subsequently outlined what I’ll be blogging about for the next few months. My goal is to begin with the Social Media Planning Process, and take you through the steps of integrating social media effectively within your company’s marketing plan.

I read a lot of business books and tips on how to improve your business and carve out your own niche and make sure that your message gets delivered to the right people. During this time, I’ve somewhat struggled to clearly define who my “niche market” is, based on these seemingly rigid terms that demographics-based questions bring to the forefront. I now know that my “niche market” or target audience (whichever language you prefer) are small business owners who don’t want to waste their resources (neither time nor money) on social media tactics that don’t work. I’m interested in people who know that social media and technology is an ever-changing field, but that they continually want to evolve and continue to grow their business by capitalizing on the fertile ground that lies therein. My ideal customers are people won’t know that they don’t know a lot about social media, but they’re open-minded enough to learn. I try my best to make technology not as intimidating as it’s often perceived, and I hope that over time people began to realize this.

Now, I want to share a little bit about me, to put this out there, and maybe answer some lingering questions that there may be about the blog’s design, and the design of my company’s website. I take a lot of flak for not focusing more on the “bells and whistles” of a graphics-heavy design that provides lots of eye-candy for readers. This is intentional. I’d much rather spend an hour putting together two awesome blog posts and a podcast, than I would sitting on the phone with a graphic designer trying to explain my vision, or understand their concepts.

I’m essentially looking to cut pass the fluff, and get to the heart of the things that people need to understand in the Web 2.0 environment. For me, this is about “survival mode”. And in “survival mode” you’ve got to master the basics. And that’s pretty much it for an introduction. Plus, I’m already past my own self-imposed 400 word blog post limit, so I’ll end this here by encouraging you to let me know: How can I help you today?

Kindra Cotton, Small Business Survival Specialist

An Introduction to the SSS for Success Blog and Podcast Series