Push or pull? This is the question.

We hear that crisis is almost over. Some countries report that recession is over. What about us, the small business owners, how is this affecting our business strategies?

If somebody decides to start his own business faces this dilemma now, to invest in products and services and pursue potential clients and hope that sales will be significant and profit will follow.

But is this true? According to recent figures many small businesses are changing strategies, looking for a lower expenditure, in other words avoiding investing before knowing what clients need and want.

Social media is becoming the new way of pulling clients, however it is very difficult for sector experts in traditional markets to change behavior. Let us take an example from an industry, for instance a manager decides to leave a multinational firm and open the own practice. His brand is not known, but the multinational behavior is in the comfort zone. First tactics will be based on previous habits , in other words he will push hard on old relations recommending  new way of doing business.

After some months he ends up by being frustrated, the shift should come from a different mindset aligned with the use of different strategies.

I read recently that 45% on the recruiting is done through Facebook, Linked In and other smaller networks, which is more than double versus 2008. The trend is to build awareness and be found as a person, which means that the personal brand is becoming more significant than your past employers.

The next challenge is to invest time and to take action in your personal brand if you want to survive.