What is SCORE?
SCORE is a national nonprofit organization dedicated to counseling small business professionals. A resource partner of the U.S. Small Business Administration, SCORE has nearly 400 chapters across the country and over 10,000 volunteers.
These volunteers are working and retired business executives, who donate their time and expertise to advising and instructing men and women in the industry.
What services does SCORE provide?
SCORE’s services are essentially twofold: it presents organized workshops discussing the salient aspects of small business ownership, and it also provides free, private, one-on-one counsel with its members. For example, workshop attendees who would like further information may contact the member who conducted that workshop, in order to continue their learning experience.
How does SCORE devise its workshop schedule?
SCORE’s strength lies in the fact that its members are executives who have successfully navigated the tricky waters of business ownership. As such, these professionals are uniquely qualified to give you advice based upon their first-hand knowledge. They have also done much of the legwork for you in terms of identifying the tools and tips that small businesses need to experience success in today’s competitive environment.
For example, it is becoming increasingly important for organizations, both large and small, to build, maintain, and effectively market an online presence. SCORE’s members have identified this trend and have responded by creating a workshop dedicated to helping business owners understand the basics of website design for small businesses. In tandem with this, SCORE has devised another workshop that explores Search Engine Optimization and online marketing for small businesses, to help owners investigate options for promoting their company online.
The vast majority of SCORE workshops are relatively small, ranging in size from about 15 to 40 people. More importantly, they maintain an informal, relaxed environment, one in which participants are encouraged to ask questions and share their own experiences. Website design for small businesses and Search Engine Optimization, in particular, are tricky subjects; the instructors recognize this fact and are more than happy to clarify any aspect of the workshop that might be confusing to people.
An interesting upshot of attending the SCORE workshops is that small business owners are given the opportunity to meet and network with those in their field—professionals with similar interests and knowledge of the local business environment.
3210 Consulting Founder and President Lexa Gandolfo sat down to talk about her involvement with SCORE and the SCORE workshops she conducts regarding website design and Search Engine Optimization for small businesses.
How did you become involved with SCORE?
LG: I first learned about SCORE when I was in the process of developing my own business. In particular, I was interested in getting advice on some of the nuts-and-bolts aspects of business ownership, such as record keeping and accounting. I’d heard that SCORE was comprised of high-ranking executives, both working and retired, who had been involved in both large and small corporations and had been very successful in their ventures. I attended some of the workshops that SCORE offers, and received some invaluable one-on-one advice from various members as well.
How did your experience with SCORE develop from participating to actually teaching certain workshops?
LG: As my association with SCORE developed, it occurred to me that there weren’t any workshops available that focused on website design and how to give your company a presence on the Internet. My experience in the online industry has taught me that having a web site was as invaluable as having a business card, and I firmly believe that all small businesses can benefit greatly from developing and promoting an online strategy. So I approached my SCORE mentor, Tim Hanlon, and the members of the SCORE board and discussed my idea with them. After a several month process involving conversations and presentations, including a talk with SCORE Chairman Lee Surut, I was given the go-ahead to develop a workshop tailored to small business owners who wanted to increase their knowledge of web design and online marketing.
How have your workshops evolved and changed over time?
LG: One of the most rewarding aspects of teaching SCORE workshops is that its participants are so responsive. They have given me some wonderful feedback regarding the structure and content of each session. One bit of feedback that I began to hear more frequently was that while participants were interested both in website design and in Search Engine Marketing, they felt as though there was so much information related to the two subjects that they didn’t have enough time to absorb it all within a three hour timeframe. And so I decided to split the two subjects out into their own separate workshops: one devoted to website design and developing an online presence for small businesses, and one devoted to Search Engine Optimization and online marketing for small businesses. Although the two subjects are certainly closely related (you can’t have SEO without a website, and you can’t have a successful website without SEO; I would encourage people to attend both sessions), there is more than enough useful information about each topic to warrant separate discussions.
Describe a typical workshop.
LG: The workshops can vary in size; I’ve taught sessions with 14 people, and sessions with over 35 people. I usually structure my presentation so that there are well-defined breaks after every major theme within the presentation, so that people can ask questions and solidify what they have learned. But I am more than happy for people to ask questions during the presentation as well; I want to make sure that people really take these topics on board and I don’t want them to feel as though they have to wait for a break in the discussion to clarify their understanding.
Participation is greatly encouraged in my workshops; I truly believe that the best way to learn is to listen to other people’s questions. One of the most important aspects of web design is a website’s usability: does your target audience understand what you’re trying to present? This same principle can be applied to website marketing as well. The questions that attendees in my workshop ask about web design and promotion are very similar to the questions that website users ask themselves. By listening to each other’s questions, participants can anticipate these concerns and develop websites that truly “reach” their core audience.
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