Michael Rogers talks with Don Kirkland, the majority owner and company president of marketing solutions firm ArborOakland Group, a Michigan 50 Company to Watch for 2018, about the importance of understanding your target audience and message.

There are many great reasons for entrepreneurs like you to belong to the Small Business Association of Michigan.

“When you look at the Small Business Association of Michigan, and if you say, I'm going to compare this to other associations, you are probably under serving your thoughts.”

Steve Trecha is the co-founder of The Cozy Corner of Ogemaw County, a collaborative project that unites small businesses to mutually attract customers and boost the local economy. He also serves on SBAM’s board of directors.

“You have an association here that's really laser focused on helping small businesses, and it could either be through a service offering or product offering. What I find really, really valuable are the networking opportunities because I learned every day as a board member, when I am either attending a work session, or I'm in discussion with another small business owner, I see my job as a business leader to continue to learn, continue to leverage, continue to apply, continue to drive results. These are people that do that, and I think there's 26,000 members in the Small Business Association of Michigan. My gosh, just think about if you were to tap one of those just once a week and pick up a new idea. There's 50 new ideas. What if you did that a couple of times a week, there's hundreds of new ideas. Then you go back inside the operations of SBAM, and what you find is a really, really high quality, high knowledge, high intensity staff that are really focused on the mission, the mission of SBAM, and these folks not only can provide great insights in terms of ideas. But also they're continually looking at how do you share these ideas? How do you leverage these ideas? How do you do this in a way that can drive economic development for small businesses, and as a consequence, obviously continue to build Michigan. Think about it. In Michigan, approximately 50% of the people that are employed are employed in small businesses, over 98% of the businesses in Michigan are small businesses. So it just logical that the focus should be on continuing to build small businesses in the state and SBAM does a great job doing it. In fact, I encourage all small businesses continually to become part of this to become even if it's just a matter of getting online and reading about what they're up to. And then as you have time to get involved and get engaged, see what you can learn and also see what you can contribute back.”

Leverage the value of your involvement with the Small Business Association of Michigan. Learn more by calling today at 800-362-5461.

Michael Rogers talks with Nicol Pasuit, CEO of TechStak, a company that connects technology service providers to businesses, to learn more about how customers today expect and demand that small business owners be on top of tech trends.

Michael Rogers talks with Karen Smoots, who won the 2018 SBAM Innovation of the Year award for her GreenGloveDryer, a device that uses the heating ducts in your home to dry gloves, boots, hats and shoes.

Michael Rogers talks with Cathy Koch, the president and CEO of K-Tech Systems, to get her insights on how augmented and virtual reality can help you manufacture faster, cheaper and more efficiently.

There are many great reasons for entrepreneurs like you to belong to the Small Business Association of Michigan.

“You know, I have to say that I've been very impressed with working with the Small Business Association of Michigan.”

Nicol Pasuit is a VIP member of SBAM and the CEO of a company called TechStak.

“The folks that I've been engaged with, they have just been so receptive so welcoming and responsive. The SBAM engage events have been fantastic. Being able to network with other small businesses is absolutely a must-have and and I encourage other small businesses to be able to go to the SBAM engage events.”

Leverage the value of your involvement with the Small Business Association of Michigan. Learn more by calling today at 800-362-5461.

Michael Rogers talks with Jim Mitte, who owns Turtlehut Internet Marketing in Brighton and is a member of SBAM’s Leadership Council, to learn more about the value of having audio visual content on your small business website.

Michael Rogers talks with business coach and consultant Tom Borg to get his insights on how to improve customer service at your small business.

There are many great reasons for entrepreneurs like you to belong to the Small Business Association of Michigan.

“Oh my goodness. It’s one of the best memberships I've ever written a check for, I can tell you that”

Karen Smoots is the inventor and owner of the Green Glove Dryer and recently won the Michigan Celebrates Small Business Innovation of the Year Award.

“‘So if anybody listening again is contemplating or considering becoming a member of SBAM, it's not expensive. It's the most affordable check you're going to write, but probably one of the best resources you're going to get. I mean, they have a summit where they bring everybody together and try to grow your business. Those are things that you can't put a price on. These are people and an organization that wants to see you successful and and I think we're so fortunate in the state of Michigan to have that.”

Leverage the value of your involvement with the Small Business Association of Michigan. Learn more by calling today at 800-362-5461.

Michael Rogers talks with Marie Chantal-Dalese, President and CEO of Chateau Chantal Winery and Resort in Traverse City, to get her suggestions on how to handle the challenges of employing a highly seasonal workforce.