18 JANUARY/FEBRUARY 2018 • FOGHORN FOGHORNFOCUS: SALES & MARKETING I am of an age that, back in the day, “social” meant being around people. Today, it means something entirely different. Business owners today are expected to be social…by having content about their services and products online accessed through a variety of electronic devices. And, the quicker the better. Slow loading content is, apparently, even worse than being anti-social. A year ago, Marco del Rosario, Digital Marketing May Cost Small Businesses By Karen Rainbolt, FOGHORN Managing Editor Navigating your risks, day and night. As the owner of a passenger vessel you face tough decisions every day, from hiring qualified crew to making sure your vessel is in prime condition. At Aon, we spend day and night thinking about your maritime risks so buying insurance doesn’t have to be another tough decision. We work with you to develop creative approaches and customized solutions that deliver more efficiencies, improved profitability and greater value. For more information, please call 1.800.730.7053 or visit passengervessel.com/member-resources.html#insurance Risk. Reinsurance. Human Resources. Navigating your Aon Risk Solutions Marine Global Account Manager at Google, spoke to attendees of the PVA Annual Convention at MariTrends 2017 in Seattle, WA. In his presentation, The Digital Shift: Where Are Your Users Spending Their Time?, del Rosario explained that Internet users reward owners fast-loading websites by spending more time on their page, giving the website owner a higher like- lihood of making a sale. Del Rosario cautioned convention attendees that if a website takes too long to load, chances are the majority of people surfing the web will simply move on to another site. His statement was based on analytics amassed from millions of Google users’ habits supporting the notion that when it comes e-commerce, speed matters. What Could the End of Net Neutrality Mean for Small Businesses? So, what could happen if Internet speeds slow down. What might that mean for small businesses’ web traffic? In the recent past, a “free” Internet has been the rule, rather than the exception, in the U.S. According to the Washington Post, “net neutrality rules required Internet providers to treat all websites, large and small, equally.” L a s t m o n t h , t h e F e d e r a l Communications Commission (FCC) voted 3-2 to change that. In a December 14 article, Washington Post reporter Brian Fung explained net neutrality: “Under the Obama-era rules, Verizon was not allowed to favor Yahoo and AOL, which it owns, by blocking Google or charging the search giant extra fees to connect to customers. Under the new rules, that type of behavior would be legal, as long as Verizon disclosed it.” So, what does the issue mean to small business owners? In the days leading up to the decision on December 14, 2017, detractors railed against the move, saying that Internet providers could slow down some content, po- tentially making some websites slow to load when consumers are browsing the Internet with the intent to make a purchase. Some lawmakers cautioned the