Some small business owners still resist lure of social media

While it seems that every small business owner has an iPhone 4, a Twitter following and a Facebook fan page, not all entrepreneurs are embracing social media.

Angelita Silva, owner of Riverside Haircuts & Styles, relies on word-of-mouth and a simple sandwich board outside of her salon to draw in business. Lacking a website, Facebook or Twitter accounts, Silva maintains that business is just fine, the Bradenton Herald writes. Likewise, the owner of Bakery Di Europa, Mindy Cress, counts on local business referrals for her bakery’s wedding cake orders.

Among businesses that have not invested in the social media phenomenon, three camps exist, David Grace, owner of Abacus Web Services told the paper. There are those “who just don’t get it, don’t see a need for it, and those who know this is where they can get more business from,” he says.

While owners like Silva or Cress rely on customers and business partnerships, they may be handing their competitors a large swath of the market. Pedro Perez, owner of Nuevo Advertising Group, explained that when someone does an online search and a business doesn’t show up, there are ten-to-one odds that a direct competitor will appear.

A survey conducted by marketing research firm Ad-ology found that in 2009, 31 percent of small businesses replied that they do not use social media because their current customers do not either, while 29 percent revealed that they did not have the time, staff or resources to devote to it.