Are You a Plymouth or Canton Business Owner?

One of Patch's goals is to make life ridiculously easy for our communities, and that includes businesses.

To that end, we’d like to introduce Susanne Klarr-Spruit, Patch's Ad Manager for Plymouth-Canton, Novi, Northville and Farmington Hills. She comes armed with ridiculously effective advertising deals that should fit most any budget.

We caught up with Susanne recently to ask her a few questions:

Where did you grow up and go to school?

I grew up in Livonia and went to high school at Livonia Stevenson. I’m a Spartan and graduated with a Communication Arts degree. I’ve been married for 22 years and have three boys, age 11, 15 and 18. I am surrounded by males - even my dog is a male - and couldn't be happier!

What’s your experience?

I have over 15 years of experience on the advertising agency side in account services. My list of clients included Border Books, Blue Cross/Blue Shield, Kelly Assisted Living and General Motors. I also had the opportunity with work with small businesses including a high-end jeweler, a local ice cream distributor and a shopping mall. So I have a breadth of experience dealing with businesses of all sizes.

What are your personal hobbies/passions?

I love to spend time with my three boys, attending sporting events, cooking (nothing says love like a chocolate chip cookie!), snow and water skiing and chilling at the lake.

What are the biggest obstacles facing small businesses today?

Staying on top of the ever-changing media landscape is hard but vital to their survival. Letting go of standard advertising options and embracing the electronic world may be hard but our early adopters have seen great success at Patch. Advertising works but it requires a balance of the right message, targeted to the right audience, in the right place, at the right time. And consistency. Never underestimate the effectiveness of consistency.

How can you best help small businesses become more successful?

I’ll sit together with the business owner and learn what their marketing objectives are and will then craft a strategic advertising plan to help accomplish their goals. And we can create a plan to fit everyone’s budget. And then on to the fun stuff....working on a creative message that is strategic and concise. Its not brain surgery but you have to remain focused on your strategic objectives in the creative process too.

You can reach Susanne at susanne.spruit@patch.com and at 248.719.8427. Get in touch. She'll come out to see you.