Typically, small technology firms are founded by incredibly talented engineers-turned-entrepreneurs. They have the vision to develop a product that people will need and they’ve been successful enough finding customers, otherwise, they wouldn’t have gotten as far as they have. While they’re not marketing people, they are smart enough to have an idea how to get the word out about their products. If they’ve tried advertising, or worse, engaged an advertising company or consultant, there is a good chance they’ve been turned off.

“My customers find me by word-of-mouth, I don’t need to advertise.”

Well, for many businesses that is absolutely true. The problem many advertising companies and marketing firms have is when all you have is a hammer, everything looks like a nail. There are excellent companies out there with experience in print advertising, web marketing, or search engine optimization. When faced with your company’s needs, they figure what’s worked for other clients should work for you. Since most companies offering to help small businesses with their advertising needs know, well, advertising, that’s what they recommend and often it ends up  leaving that smart entrepreneur wondering why she engaged a consultant in the first place.

In fact, for some businesses, advertising in leading journals and industry publications works, and for some it doesn’t. If word-of-mouth is working for you, what are you doing to get more word-of-mouth? If you think trade-shows are too expensive, are you considering other ways of using them?

Have you thought of motivating people to spread the word? Do you have a vehicle for them to do so? Maybe they can comment on your company blog, or present a paper at a trade conference? Print advertising and web banners may not be the best thing for your business, but that doesn’t mean you should sit back and wait for people to hear about you. Eye On Technology can work with you to identify the best channel to communicate with your customers and then develop the tools to do it. If you don’t have the time to edit a blog, we can be a resource. Whether it’s downloadable PDFs on your website or a simple content management system customized for each prospect, these modern tools provide value long after your customers have turned the page past your last, expensive, print ad.

There’s no question that, for some companies, print advertising is a critical part of their business. It might even play a part in your business now or in the future. Just don’t complain if the one-size-fits-all solution you get from some advertising firms and market consultants didn’t make you look as good as you thought.

Ever seen one of those exhibitions at a hip gallery downtown? Maybe it was a photography exhibit and it was a series of pictures of…well, anything. Garbage cans, hubcaps, people with their back to the camera, trees, rocks…it really doesn’t matter. How, you might sometimes think, did a bunch of pictures of rocks make it in to the gallery? I take a lot of pictures as a hobby and I know I can take better pictures than some I’ve seen in galleries, so I certainly wonder this sometimes.

The answer is focus. Not how well the photographer adjusted the focus of the camera of course; the series could have been a several blurry images, after all. Instead it was the artist’s focus on something in particular. No matter how many lovely photos I’ve taken while traveling around the world, all they ever amount to are very fine snapshots and post cards. If you check out my stream of photos, you’ll likely click away, satisfied that you’ve seen some nice images, but remembering little.

For years I’ve had a travel blog too. (That’s the second, and last plug, in case you’re counting.) Really, it’s my own blog and I figured I could write whatever I want there. While I am proud of my loyal fan base of, I don’t know seven readers? it too suffers from lack of focus. (My web stats tell me that many more people get lost there per week, but I am just assuming that only around seven are repeat customers.)

What shall friends, who’ve enjoyed what they’ve read, tell their friends about my blog? Is it really a travel blog, or a tech blog, or ramblings of some guy? How would Google’s ad words target the right content? How will people describe your business? Starting here, this new blog at Eye On Technology brings some focus to my other blogs topics, but more importantly, seeks to become a resource for our customers at the same time.

Companies founded on technology are often struggling to find a home for their amazing work. They take just about everything that looks like an application, hoping that one of them will hit. Small firms have little choice, but focus can at least enable them to make the best of the applications they already have.

Focus is a what turns pictures of a bunch of rocks into art. Focus is what turns a blog about cooking recipes into a book and a movie. Focus is what can change your business from a struggling garage shop into a successful venture.

Meanwhile, here, we’ll try to focus on technology topics, and ideas that might help your business. Please help our team out with your comments now and then.