GRAND RAPIDS – The Michigan Small Business & Technology Development Center and AVID Commerce are partnering to provide MI-SBTDC clients with new Internet specific consulting, marketing and technology services.
The partnership will assist Michigan businesses in analyzing the effectiveness of their Internet initiatives and appraising the market potential to grow their businesses online.
?Michigan entrepreneurs and small business owners receive no-cost counseling and low-cost training through the MI-SBTDC. This new partnership strengthens the services we are able to offer small businesses in Michigan,? said Carol Lopucki, State Director of the MI-SBTDC.
?Our partnership positions us to provide our Strategic Opportunity Analysis Report (SOAR) studies as a pro bono service in conjunction with MI-SBTDC,? said Stephen Antisdel, Managing Director of AVID Commerce.
?The SOAR report provides immediate, tangible benefits to Michigan businesses, helping them cope with the downturn by explaining how to improve the effectiveness of their Internet presence. The report also gives them an indication of the potential to grow their business in the online channel,?
With Internet expertise dating back to 1996, AVID Commerce has helped companies in multiple industries achieve significant growth online. One example is WorkingPerson.Com, with operations based in Buchanan, Michigan.
AVID was engaged to reengineer the WorkingPerson.com web site and online marketing in 2005. Results have been noteworthy, including a ?50 Companies to Watch in Michigan? award in 2006; they were picked for Internet Retailer ?500? awards in both 2007 and 2008, (placing them among the 500 largest web retailers by revenue); the company also won a spot on the ?Inc 500? last September based on a cumulative three year growth rate of over 700 percent.
?Our partnership with MI-SBTDC will help us find and assist other WorkingPerson.com like companies in Michigan,? said Antisdel. ?These innovative businesses are going to be an important growth engine that will help pull our State out of the current economic downturn.
?The first step in our process is to understand a company?s competitive advantage,? continued Antisdel. ?Companies interested in a SOAR study are asked to provide us with a confidential client profile. We then collect and analyze additional data to identify the strengths and weaknesses of the client?s web site relative to its primary competitors, comparing dozens of online performance metrics.?
The AVID SOAR study provides businesses with an independent analysis and recommendations related to their Internet initiatives, web site, online marketing and Internet strategy. Michigan companies interested in a SOAR study can contact AVID Commerce or any MISBTDC.Org office for details.
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