Just because you can communicate with hundreds of people virtually via email, doesn't mean you should. The phone still exists because it's a valuable tool -- especially for small business owners.

Over and over again in the places I frequent on the Internet, I hear calls for help from small business owners for different services. One needs promotional items, another needs an accountant, yet another needs some other type of service -- you've probably heard it too.

And time and again I see people responding to those calls for help with a casual attitude via email. They're trying their best to make that connection using a method that has no emotion and plenty of personal detachment.

Don't make the same mistake. Email is fine as a medium for communication but lacks a lot in helping you acquire a new client. There's just something about connecting with a real live person that can take you a long way to success.

Make that phone call!!!

Denise O'Berry

With more than two decades of operational and management experience, Denise O'Berry has developed a sharp eye for how businesses get bloated with inefficiencies, cross-purposes and miscommunication -- and how they can retool for a sleeker, smoother, strategically focused organization.

An entrepreneur who quickly built her own successful consulting business, she helps other small business owners set priorities, take action to grow their business and create the balance they want between life and work. Her clients have ranged from telecommunications giants like Verizon to Mom-and-Pop retail shops with a primary focus on those having 10 or fewer employees and up to $2.5 million in annual sales.

Denise frequently speaks to professional organizations, is the author of three booklets, and several "how-to" manuals. She writes a weekly small business column, hosts an online small business owners forum and is called upon regularly by publications such as Entrepreneur, Bank Rate Small Business, Florida Trend, Inc., various newspapers, radio and television to provide expert comments on small business issues.