Posts Tagged ‘internet’

Here in our little community we might be a bit behind the times. Still, you can’t help wonder when it comes to the mobile web, where the line these days between the reality and the hype?  It’s no surprise that many small business owners are either getting stressed out or simply rejecting social media outright.  It’s not hard to understand. Today we shop, plan our trips, get our entertainment, communicate and  interact in so many ways that it’s easy for small businesses to get overwhelmed when they think about reaching out to their potential customers.  Read the rest of this entry »

Has Google Street View been through your town yet?  If you live in a city of under 100,000 that’s a fair question.  While some guy in London may be worried that the world can see him tossing his cookies outside the pub, a city like Baraboo is lucky if Google’s Street View driver bothers to clean the lenses.

Honestly I’ve never quite understood privacy concerns with Street View.  Truth be told, anything captured by the Google camera can just as easily be seen by the nosy neighbor. I doubt sharing the image with some guy in Spokane is going to do any more harm.  One thing is sure, Street View certainly gives you an unvarnished view of a community.  There’s some real value in there for communities that pay attention.   There are a lot of ugly streets out there.  Now here in Baraboo, we only rate about 4 streets that made it on Street View.  And most of those, are lost in a fog.

Is your community on Street View?  What are your thoughts?

When I started my business here in Baraboo in 1996 I saw a lot of funny faces when I mentioned words like “Internet” and “Website”.  Back then, especially in smaller communities where even dial-up access was sketchy,  the internet was often thought of as some weird thing that only geeks and oddballs would use.  Certainly no self-respecting business would spend money on a website or what’s worse, advertise on a website!! Yeah, we know where those days went.   Today you would be hard pressed to find a business without a website, especially in a tourism heavy market like ours we we need to reach out to visitors hundreds of miles away.  Funny thing though, these days as I mention Facebook, YouTube, Twitter, Linkedin or some other social media, I’m often greeted by that same reaction that mention of the internet brought 1996.  For some reason there are those who seem to think “Twitter” is where people without friends post about what they ate for dinner!

In truth people use social media in many ways. (Millions of people, I might add.) They keep in contact with their friends and family. They stay up to date with news and events. They gather information before buying a product or reserving a hotel.  They meet new people, make business connections, find jobs and more.  News outlets put headlines, weather alerts and school closings on Twitter. Schools post the day’s lunch menus. Companies run sales promotions and post Facebook-only coupons. Reporters follow Twitter to figure out what to write about!!! It goes on and on.  Meanwhile of course for every one business who sees a reason to get “social”, there are a hundred more who say of their potential customers, “They’ll call if they want to talk to us.”  Really?

I just read a smart blog post by Brian Solis called, “the Socialization of Small Business“. It’s a must read for anyone who owns a business.  There’s a great quote in there, ” If a conversation takes place online and you’re not there to hear it, did it actually happen?” Of course it did…and it continues – with or without you.”

To keep abreast of what’s going on in the Sauk County area, especially when it comes to community, tourism and outdoor recreation I invite you to visit us on Twitter, Facebook, Flickr and more.. Just search “SkilletCreek” or use those buttons on the top right side of this page.