We’d like to give a special shout-out to Smiledog.ca for taking a few moments to answer some questions for this week’s Friday Spotlight. SmileDog is a small-medium sized business service provider that specializes in virtual answering services, virtual receptionists, as well as helping to create an effective virtual office. Their company has been around for over 4 years now and is looking to increase their success via effective online marketing campaigns. Here is a quick background about their company:

smiledogca1

1. What was the inspiration/background behind your company?
 Starting Smiledog was a personal challenge to see if I could start and successfully grow a virtual service business from scratch, after having some success with owning two successful franchised companies.

2. What company achievement are you most proud of?
I am most proud of our company name. It is a unique brand in our industry and customers love it since it easily represents the philosophy we are trying to promote. The name is based on Dale Carnegie’s original customer service concept “You should smile when you answer the phone.” The dog part of the name represents a loyal, friendly service.

3. Why do you think internet marketing for your business is so important?
When we started this business most of the web tools available today did not exist. We can service any business in North America and there is only one viable way to reach them, and that is to make sure our website shows up in the search engine results.

4. Would you like to share a creative marketing tip for other small business owners?
I use Stumble-upon to find a lot of technology-related sites that I can use to help grow my business - check it out!