The small and medium-sized business (SMB) market is undergoing a technological and generational shift. From the management of basic business operations (accounting, payments, marketing, etc.) to the way consumers make purchases decisions, digital media and technology has completely transformed commerce. While online shopping is still only a small fraction of purchases (~10%), the influence of…
Dex Media’s June acquisition of YP to create DexYP was a disruptive event in the local search industry, combining two giant competitors who were pursuing very different strategies. While both companies were in the business of making SMBs’ phones ring, Dex was making a big bet on expanding beyond media into something more akin to…
Disruption of the disruptors: in one sense this is the nature of competition and market capitalism. New companies displace older one as appetites change and new technologies appear that make older ones obsolete or less efficient. But something else may be happening now. We may be entering a cycle of perpetual “disruption” (a term I…
I recently spent about eight hours locked in a room with a bunch of local/SMB market veterans talking about what’s happening in the “local market.” That means different things depending on the context, but here it meant consumers and SMB marketers. What was fascinating to me about the discussion, among other things, was the contrast that…
Digital technology and “the cloud” are transforming the way small businesses (SMBs) manage their operations. As one example, Amazon has started to disrupt the supply chain. According to a new LSA survey, roughly 70% of SMB respondents said they are members of Amazon Prime. Of those, 72% are using it to buy parts, products or…
YP Canada has parted ways with CEO Julien Billot amid concerns the company’s path to digital transformation has stalled, with digital growth not keeping pace with expectations. Billot’s departure was announced last week and CFO Ken Taylor was named interim CEO. No permanent replacement has yet been named. Robert MacLellan, Chairman of the Board of…
Events in the tech world are increasingly validating the LSA’s decision to launch the Tech Adoption Index, an initiative that measures and analyzes the small business shift to the cloud to manage all aspects of their business operations. On this week’s On Target podcast (below), Charles Laughlin and Neal Polachek, the industry analysts working with…
Google has pushed its way into the HR software space with Google Hire, a tool that helps SMBs recruit talent. The idea behind Hire is to give companies a platform for tracking progress in hiring a candidate — including email communications, interview notes, etc. With Hire, companies no longer have to manually track these details….
Nearly half of small businesses have adopted cloud-based tools and many more will in the next 12 to 18 months. This shift to the cloud may be the most disruptive trend yet facing local marketing and media sellers. As it stands today, a new study found that 22% of SMBs are already making use of…
Nearly half of small and medium-sized businesses (SMBs) have adopted cloud-based tools in at least one area of their businesses and many more will over the next 12 to 18 months. As SaaS businesses establish trust with their SMB customers they will expand into adjacent services, including local marketing. This shift to the cloud may…
