More than three-quarters of US microbusiness owners say they are very (42%) or extremely (35%) happy to work for themselves, according to Vistaprint's newly launched Small Business Happiness Index, which tracks the pulse of US microbusinesses. Moreover, 35% say they wouldn't even consider working for someone else.
Below, additional findings from Vistaprint's report, featuring the Small Business Happiness Index.
Hard work pays off. Though 46% of surveyed microbusiness* owners say they're working more hours than they did a year earlier, 56% now have more customers than they did at the beginning of 2011 and 46% are on track to earn more this year.
Referrals are the top marketing tactic (41%) for microbusinesses, followed by event networking (16%), social media marketing (10%), email marketing (8%), direct marketing (6%), and online advertising (6%).
Nearly two-thirds of microbusiness owners (65%) say they use some type of social media for marketing; among them 49% say they use Facebook more than other channels, whereas 7% use LinkedIn and roughly 2% use Twitter.
Looking for great digital marketing data? MarketingProfs reviewed hundreds of research sources to create our most recent Digital Marketing Factbook (May 2010), a 296-page compilation of data and 254 charts, covering email marketing, social media, search engine marketing, e-commerce, and mobile marketing. Also check out The State of Social Media Marketing, a 240-page original research report from MarketingProfs.
*Microbusinesses are defined as small firms with 1-10 employees, making up an estimated 95% of all US businesses, or more than 25 million companies.
About the data: Findings are from a survey of 1,100 microbusiness owners and customers of Vistaprint, who primarily work out of their homes and generate less than $100,000 annually in revenues, March 15-31, 2011.
