I teach online marketing workshops for entrepreneurs, and a recurring mantra of mine is that “small businesses can easily out-compete big business on the Internet,” especially in the engagement marketing arena.

It’s meant to offer a ray of hope for the micro-entrepreneurs — who often feel defeated in their marketing before they even start – but it also happens to be true.

In my Engagement Principles executive white paper (I’d call it a manifesto, but that frightens people), I not-so-bravely suggest that authenticity trumps hype and corporatespeak every time.

And in markets where entrepreneurs — even micro entrepreneurs — bring a passion for their market or product to the table, they’ve got a leg up on those who don’t, a category which typically includes their larger (sometimes much larger) competitors.

They also have the ability to “Market Bravely” - a view espoused by Arthur Ceria in this Chief Marketer article:

Corporate bureaucracy drains the life out of marketing campaigns. By the time everyone at the table has had their say, an innovative idea is generally transformed into yet another iteration of the same old safe thing. Then everyone wonders why their “new” blog/widget/forum/flash demo flopped and resolves never to do anything that inventive again.

Rather than dissect each new idea to death, adopt a start-up mentality when launching a new product or service. Since you’re basically starting from scratch, capitalize on this fresh slate.

Startups aren’t afraid to be innovative. Their mentality is all about risk taking, customer engagement and honestly. One can go after the competition full speed ahead without abandoning logic or taking undue risks. Rather than burn money on trial balloons like big companies, a must startup rely on deep knowledge of—and consistent interaction with—their market to decide what risks make sense.

Big companies can (and are) enjoying the benefits of engagement marketing, but then again, so are small companies.

Engaging with consumers and prospects around shared passions and values doesn’t exclude larger companies from playing, but it does often tip the scales towards smaller, more aggressive organizations — especially those willing to risk transparency and authenticity while banning corporatespeak.

Stay engaged, Tom Chandler.