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The SBA is Ready for Its Close-Up... on YouTube?

By GEOFF WILLIAMS, AOL SMALL BUSINESS
Posted: 2009-11-04 15:24:12
Filed Under: Small Business Finance, Small Business Funding, Small Business
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It's a little surreal to imagine the Small Business Administration (SBA) amidst videos of Susan Boyle and animated dancing pandas, but they've been part of the YouTube generation for two months now. While their channel is nowhere near as popular as, say, the dancing wedding entrance that appeared in the summer, it seems to be an effective enough platform for the SBA. It currently has 203 subscribers, and the SBA introductory video has been seen by over 4,000 people. It's not setting the world on fire, but it is there, where the SBA can put its videos within reach of anyone, of course, but particularly those under 35, which the agency has made clear they'd like to reach.

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    Their joining YouTube has had some critics. Shortly after it debuted, George Cloutier, author of Profits Aren't Everything, They're the Only Thing, told Reuters, "SBA officials should be spending less time worrying about YouTube and more time on the thousands of small businesses that fail every week. We'll lose half a million to a million small businesses while they're worrying about the next generation."

    And more recently, Susan Wilson Solovic blogged about the SBA star turn at Small Business Television and was equally dubious about the merits of marrying the government organization with YouTube. "There are countless sites on the Internet that provide training videos and other 'how-to' information, so why doesn't that SBA focus its energy on figuring out a strategy to get financing into the hands of small business owners?" wondered Solovic, whose essay appeared across the blogosphere, including prominent sites like The Huffington Post and AllBusiness.com.

    "Small business lending is up only slightly after plummeting last year, and entrepreneurs remain unable to get the funds they need to keep their doors open," continued Solovic. "You'd think this would be the top priority at the SBA -- not posting videos and sending out news releases."

    I can see the critics' point, but I think it was a smart decision on the SBA's part and don't see this as a sign that the corporate apocalypse is upon us. I seriously doubt that YouTube is actually the SBA's top priority, as Solovic suggested, and it doesn't bother me that some tax dollars from the estimated $825 million SBA budget for 2009 are being diverted to produce these videos. (The Huffington Post huffed, "Your Tax Dollars Are Paying for the SBA to Post Videos on YouTube!") If the SBA weren't on YouTube, you could easily make the argument that the government agency is out of touch and not concerned enough with reaching those young, twentysomethings operating startups.

    Sure, plenty of the SBA's videos are self-serving, but there are educational videos about how to market yourself better and financing a business. It's hard to fault that.

    Once these videos are posted, like everything else on the Internet, they're there presumably until the apocalypse. And while that means some information will be outdated, the SBA seems to be working on building a video library of educational and historical content that might be useful for years to come. Some may consider it unseemly to start producing videos for YouTube at a time when the business community looks to the SBA for economic guidance, but on the other hand, the folks being hired to produce these videos have been getting some relief from the recession. They probably wish every government agency and corporation would be so unseemly.

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    Geoff Williams is a freelance journalist and author who frequently writes for AOL Small Business and whose articles have appeared in publications ranging from Entrepreneur to CNNMoney.com. He also is the co-author of the upcoming book, Living Well with Bad Credit.

    2009-11-04 13:08:46
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    realoldbulldogs 07:13:41 PM Nov 24 2009

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    janstuart1 08:15:55 AM Nov 10 2009

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    FreeCreditReport Band Gets Beatdown From JansDeals.com Viral Video Spoofs Annoying Ads; Makes Point That Increasing Business Is More Important In a new viral video, a group spoofing the annoying band from the free credit (JansDeals.com) ads gets the beatdown from Stuart, founder of JansDeals.com. Why? Because as Stuart says in the video, "Forget about hipster bands singing songs about free credit reports! In this economy you need to increase your sales." The video can be seen here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Is9OLFeQiH4

    franksdreamland 08:03:12 PM Nov 05 2009

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    http://homebasedflorist.blogspot.com

    lunsfordwj 08:41:10 AM Nov 05 2009

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    I doubt the SBA is focused on Youtube. Someone at the SBA decided to post something is all. Anyone can post on Youtube. Only the most unusual, or most entertaining, pops up out of Youtube to the mass media in the non Youtube world.Got a commercial you wish to try? Put it out on Youtube to see if it gets attention. Low cost, easy to produce.

    a500hp6 08:23:32 AM Nov 05 2009

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    If the SBA is to "get the word out", another word for that is advertise, then why not You Tube?The cost of putting the video together is constant but You Tube is free and easy to share with greater accuracy - more so then paying to put it on TV and radio!

    govtofmars 08:11:13 AM Nov 05 2009

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    I am amazed by the people who think this is a dumb idea. Sure, there are plenty of other sites. If no one is on them, they are useless sites. Marketing is a matter of bringing your message to your audience. If your audience is on YOUTUBE, what's the problem???

    lapapa 07:23:21 AM Nov 05 2009

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    I have long years of experience working with the SBA through a volunteer organization. This is ridiculous: the target audience of YouTube will produce very few candidates for SBA services. The comment from Mr. Cloutier is correct, and the SBA should be focusing on preserving existing small businesses who are suffering. Remember, they are the primary sources for taxes and for generating jobs from which their employees or contractors to pay taxes. Congress is so stupid they will kill the golden goose. Or perhaps they are merely setting the stage to make Ayn Rand's prediction come true, and Atlas will finally shrug.

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