The Alexandria Small Business community met on Tuesday at the monthly Business Development Roundtable hosted by the Alexandria Small Business Development Center at their new office at 625 N. Washington Street in Alexandria, Virginia. The offices are swanky, and it turns out that I used to work in 675 across the adjoining circle of the building complex; I feel like it’s a coming home every time I’m here at the Alexandria SBDC. This month’s format for the roundtable was quite different, and (disregarding the fact that it was my brainchild) it was a great meeting of minds! We basically took volunteers who wanted ideas for their blogs, newsletters, website content including FAQs, tweets, Facebook Page posts, and other Web content, and everyone in the roundtable threw out ideas about what they (and the business’ target audience) wants to hear from them. Some people offered themes, while others offered specific topics that would be of interest to audiences. I think everyone who volunteered to get ideas left with at least 5-15 really great ideas for their Web marketing content, blog or newsletters.

We had a few new small businesses at the roundtable so it was good to see new faces, and many of the steadfast regulars who always provide great, thoughtful and supportive conversation at the roundtables. We’ll be doing the same format again to catch the small businesses we couldn’t get to this month. Contact us if you’d like to get on the list; we already have a business owner in the queue.

If you’re interested in joining us for the roundtables, they occur January through November on the third Tuesday of every month. They’re a free program of the Alexandria SBDC at their classy new digs, a great networking opportunity, and have different topics including marketing, human resources, accounting and finance, and so on. I’ve been an attendee for several years, the facilitator for going on three years and really have enjoyed all the great advice and contacts I’ve made over that time. I hope you can join us if you’re in and around Alexandria!