Mike Pederson, owner of Mike’s Automotive Services in Somerville, MA, has always tried to take advantage of all the latest marketing offerings that are available for small businesses. The shop has a website, a blog, a Twitter feed and a Facebook page. In October, the shop ran a coupon on Groupon for $10 oil changes. They sold 1,705 oil changes.

Below is the article as it appeared on The Boston Globe website.

Small businesses learn to tweet, post and blog

By D.C. Denison
Globe Staff / February 22, 2011

Mike Pedersen, 59, the owner of Mike’s Automotive Services in Somerville, has always tried to keep up with the latest technology, especially when it comes to marketing his business.

“We had a Web page way back in ’94, when it was the cat’s meow,’’ he said, shortly after finishing a repair estimate for a customer.

But lately, he admitted, it has been a challenge to stay ahead of the marketing curve.

“Twitter, Facebook, Groupon — the whole thing has gotten a lot more sophisticated,’’ Pedersen said. “It’s kind of forcing my hand to get involved.’’

It’s one thing for big companies to navigate the digital marketing landscape, hiring specialists to make sure customers can find them on every new social network. But now, small-business owners who have spent years building their marketing around wall calendars and refrigerator magnets feel as if they are being forced to tweet and post to stay ahead of a never-ending succession of online services.

“Many small-business owners over 50 wish that social media had never been invented,’’ said Michael Katz, president of Blue Penguin Development, a marketing consultancy in Hopkinton that has many small-business clients. “There’s definitely a feeling of being overwhelmed. It’s just one more thing to do.’’

Mike’s Automotive does it all. It has an active blog, a Twitter feed, and a Facebook page. You can check in at Mike’s on Foursquare. Avid customers can subscribe to an online RSS feed of Mike’s blog posts. In October, the small auto-repair shop even offered an online coupon on Groupon, the “social coupon’’ site.

“We sold 1,705 ten-dollar oil changes,’’ Pedersen recalled. “It was crazy, and a little scary, to tell you the truth.’’

To read the entire article on The Boston Globe website, visit http://www.boston.com/business/technology/articles/2011/02/22/small_businesses_learn_to_tweet_post_and_blog/.