[ubuntu-uk] Marketing to the Small and Medium sized business

[Nik Butler]

Following on from a previous thread regarding What Non-techies like 
about Ubuntu Matthew Macdonald-Wallace wrote

"A few short video clips about how Linux has helped small businesses and 
non-technical people would be a real boost to anyone's "marketing" 
arsenal..."

As a few ( or many ) may know I am self employed in the most basic sense 
of the word. I dont use Contractor Agencies[1] or have a third party 
finding me work on a regular basis and I have no "contract" to work for 
one company for a fixed period of time. All my employment comes directly 
from finding new clients by Marketing and  Word Of Mouth. The Sales 
cycle on this can be very short since the value of word of mouth 
advertising is much greater since your reputation and your credibility 
is being discussed by your own clients. Marketing Ubuntu, or many open 
source applications , is hard work for people at my end of the OSS 
delivery spectrum though since there little or no material other than 
previous evidence. Ive been asking the question and looking around and 
im fairly convinced that a large area lacking for us in the Ubuntu-UK 
marketing sphere is the SME case studies. We seem to have some great 
case studies for the Larger enterprise environment and some good single 
desktop Ma and Pa end user tales but very few if any Ubuntu Desktops 
running a Business tales. I am quite fortunate that Suzy Miller of 
Certainshops has recognised in the Ubuntu ethos as a similar aspect to 
her own companies desires and as such is willing to give Ubuntu on the 
Desktop a serious trial and report bac to us.

Several of my clients in both Civil Engineering and Finance are also 
making use of Open Source applications and are beginning to wonder if 
they need Windows on the deskopt at all. I am beginning to see a 
opportunity to build some good case studies for Ubuntu Desktop usage a 
the SME level and I want to find more. Specifically I want to find more 
people in the Ubuntu-UK Community like myself, full time self employed 
promoting Ubuntu desktops to Small and Medium Sized businesses. To date 
my only contact with a similar 'peer' has been David Goodwin of 
PalePurple although its clear that PalePurple is focussing clearly into 
the LAMP market and as such doesnt directly fit my search.

So over to the community, is there anyone else out there like me doing 
this day in day out marketing directly at the Federation of Small 
Business or BNI Meetings is there anyone else using Chamber of Commerce 
or Business Network or Profitnet groups to talk about Open Source and 
Ubuntu Desktops ?

I am keen to know if you are out there and if you want to help me build 
the marketing material for SME sectors ?


Regards, and thanks for reading


Nik

[1] For all the Contractors out there reading this getting ready to 
launch the flames of war. this is not a dismissve posting nor is it 
derogatory comment on being a contractor . You guys are able to work 
within a "Corporate" structure and handle that type of client. I am not  
a corporate person and I dont fit well in their ethos since I tend to 
think in straight lines and tend to get things done directly rather than 
through tact and diplomacy. So please dont jump on this thread as a 
opportunity to critice and take the thread off message.