Internet Strategies to Improve Farm Business Management - Module 2: The Internet as a Communications Tool

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Module 2: The Internet as a Communications Tool

Your success as a business owner is highly dependent upon your ability to communicate with customers, input suppliers, employees, professional advisors, and others. Charles Schwab, a well-known investment expert, once said, “I'll pay more for a man's ability to express himself than for any other quality he might possess.” Keep in mind, though, that communication is not limited to one-way edicts. Rather, the word refers to the exchange of ideas and information between you and other people. Therefore, being a good communicator means that you are able to convey information to others. It also means that you are a good “listener,” taking the things that you hear or read into full consideration.

Communication is important and yet not as simple is it may appear. Students attending Penn State University and many other colleges and universities across the country can major in Communications, studying things like “communication sciences,” “creative writing,” and “professional writing.” In fact, entire books are devoted to the topic.

A Word of Caution

Most of the ways you will want to communicate on the Internet are through writing of some sort. During our interview, Brad Hollabaugh pointed out an important caveat to consider.

“There's always danger in the written word. We're talking face-to-face here, you see my body language and I see yours. Sometimes you're in a hurry and you snap off an email and you said exactly what you wanted to say but, boy, was it direct and to the point. Next thing you know you're getting an email asking, ‘Why did you talk to me that way?'”

The issue of writing clearly and completely is vital. That applies to all types of written communication (website, email, instant messages, etc.). It's also important to be courteous, in an unambiguous way, to your customers. Sometimes extra words help to convey the message you really intend to send.

Without going into great detail, we will tell you that successful communication requires that you consider

the message you wish to convey,
your reason for communicating,
your intended audience, and
how you will receive feedback.

This module will focus on five reasons for business communications. These include:

sales & marketing,
customer service,
public relations,
networking, and
internal management.

We will also discuss some electronic methods for communicating, including emails, websites, and instant messages.

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These materials were developed as part of the Southern Rural Development Center’s National e-Commerce Extension Initiative. They are based upon work supported by the Cooperative State Research, Education, and Extension Service, U.S. Department of Agriculture, under Award No. 2005-45064-03212

Any opinions, findings, conclusions, or recommendations expressed in this publication are those of the author(s) and do not necessarily reflect the view of the U.S. Department of Agriculture or the Southern Rural Development Center.