Jorge Escobar says,  “Every business must now have a web presence.”

Escobar is  a smart young Latino who seeks to help even the smallest of businesses during the COVID-19 pandemic. This young businessman believes in the American dream and in small business. So much so, that he found a way to complete his college education in Kentucky, at the University of Pikeville, by sending videos to soccer coaches from his native El Salvador showcasing his soccer skills. Jorge had already completed his certification on the road to becoming an airline pilot  like his father (no small skill to attain in his country), but his real passion was marketing.

After graduating from the University of Pikeville, by using his network of contacts in El Salvador and the USA, he landed a position in San Diego as a Research and Design Coordinator for a growing Training and Events company, SBC, Inc. Here, at the beginning of his professional career, Jorge was responsible for client marketing presentations and internal marketing for the firm. But Jorge also wanted to learn more about other aspects of business and how to apply his business skills. He took advantage of his Spanish skills here as the company did significant work all over Latin America and the US.

“I learned so much here because the team was always working  and I had a direct reporting relationship with the company President,” Jorge says.  He learned how to perfect his skills here, began to learn how to better apply his marketing savvy to business, and learned more about the power of prospecting, managing social media, and the importance of customer loyalty as measured by the Net Promoter Score (NPS) system.

Jorge did everything possible to establish permanent residency during his stay in the US during his one-year student work visa but, unable to qualify under U.S. Immigration rules, he moved back to his home country of El Salvador, having made an agreement with the president of SBC, Inc., that they would continue to work together and that he would keep managing part of his role with the company virtually.

In El Salvador, Jorge moved back to his family home, but never left behind his vision to work in an American business.  Jorge found full time work in El Salvador with two smaller marketing firms. Now, he has a position with an Amazon reseller and has received the training and promotions to be in charge of the online sales of Gerber clothing. All the while he has continued to work with SBC remotely in his evenings and weekends. With all of his marketing and digital tools management training, he has created an affordable web solution for anyone starting a business.

Jorge recognized that in this global pandemic small businesses needed help, more than ever, in establishing their presence on the web. For sure, many have an established presence on social media sites like Facebook and Instagram, but he points out that they need to have their own place on the web to make it easier for the customer to find them and recognize them as a real business. He started looking for what might be the easiest way to help, and while working with some web developers in his home country, he recommended that SBC start a $149 web page solution. His idea was to help some of the smallest of businesses have ownership of their identity on the web  so as not to be solely reliant on Google and the other social sites that can change the rules at any time. Jorge’s idea has begun to get some traction and the small businesses he is helping in the middle of this global crisis are very appreciative.

“We need to find a way to help any size business on the web, because in this current downturn thousands of businesses around the world are going to need help being found, while they are forced to stay home no matter where they are,” he says.

Initial clients are sellers of art, a small chicken roaster in Nicaragua, a Soccer coach in California, and a specialty gift company in Panama, just to name a few. Every client now has a place to direct potential customers with a website that gives them more control, while making an investment that fits inside their own economic situation.

This idea has not only allowed Jorge and his newly developed digital team in El Salvador to help small businesses, they are also building much more sophisticated e-commerce sites that are also making a difference for medium sized businesses during this challenging time.

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