PC Mall Launches New Site for Small Businesses


Entrepreneurs seeking business expertise — especially in the field of IT — will want to check out the Small Business Network at PCMall, a new site launched by PC Mall.

“PC Mall works with many small businesses.  As we’ve been helping these businesses over the years, we’ve noticed a huge need for access to business and IT expertise that is hard to find when you’re a small business,” explains Kristin Rogers, Executive Vice President of Sales and Marketing for PC Mall. “So we built SBN to help our customers succeed and decided to open it up to the entire small-business community.”

Small Business Network by PC Mall

The goal of the site is to combine expert advice with exclusive discounts on PC Mall products, plus a professional social networking component. Membership is free; all businesses with 100 or fewer employees are encouraged to sign up.

I took a tour of PC Mall and here’s what you’ll find:

  • You can get access to a “knowledge bank” of white papers, downloads and articles about small-business best practices. There are also discussion groups where you can get answers to your questions from experts in fields such as IT, sales and marketing, as well as from other business owners.
  • You can also network with other business owners, business executives and IT professionals to build your contact network and find business opportunities. The site offers discussion groups on a variety of topics (restaurants and green marketing were two active topics when I visited) and you can chat live with other members. You can also start your own discussion group; upload your own photos and videos; and join industry groups in fields such as retail, real estate and more.
  • The SBN Store’s discounts and special offers for Small Business Network members include financing and leasing programs. Members also earn Small Business Network Rewards Points by making purchases and by being active on the site (for instance, you get 100 Rewards Points — enough for free shipping — just for joining).
  • The Small Business Network is strong on IT in particular, offering resources on topics such as digital signage, network and mobility, help-desk services and business productivity. You can also find plenty of pre-built IT solutions for your business.
10 Comments ▼

Anita Campbell Anita Campbell is the Founder, CEO and Publisher of Small Business Trends and has been following trends in small businesses since 2003. She is the owner of BizSugar, a social media site for small businesses.

10 Reactions
  1. I love the idea of providing small businesses with all the free IT resources. The networking could be cool, but I wonder how many small business owners will have the time to be a regular at yet another social networking site. I’ll be sure to check it out.

  2. A link to the site would help…

  3. Oooops! Thanks for letting me know Defunkt Shirts! Link has been added.

  4. I have same thoughts as Robert Brady: Will you have “time” for another social network site? I will check it out and see if it has “sticky” content. I haven’t heard about PC Mall before.

    Talking about online business, have you heard more about Bloomberg’s purchase of BusinessWeek? I have to visit Business Exchange more in the future. My profile on bx.businessweek.com is high up on the list of the search engine when you search on my name.

  5. Sounds like a good place to find great information and connect with others like myself. Will have to check it out further.

  6. This site has included most of the content of all types of business and its strategies. Its worth a watch. Like it…

    Thank you for making such a useful resource.

  7. Anita,

    Thank you form the information on site that I was totally unaware of.

    The folks at PC Mall have shown us that by providing great information, they can find another way to get to market.

    The Franchise King
    Joel Libvava

  8. Lame site. Total marketing tool for PC Mall which owns MacMall .. and they are terrible for customer support and ordering.