????橡皮圖章生產商MarkMaster首席執(zhí)行官凱文?高文在尋找大公司的業(yè)務機會時，依賴的不只是傳統(tǒng)銷售推介這一種方式。

????他經(jīng)常使用Ariba的在線市場來競標大公司發(fā)布的項目。

????總部位于佛羅里達州坦帕的MarkMaster擁有100名雇員，年收入1,200-1,500萬美元，高文估計公司有15-20%的銷售來自Ariba。雖然不能透露客戶名稱，但他表示：“美國前10大銀行中有9家都是我的客戶?！?/p>

????高文稱：“我們有高超的Ariba使用技巧。”他的公司使用這套系統(tǒng)已有12年了。

????對于很多想找大客戶的小公司而言，即便是在數(shù)字時代，最佳方式也一直是通過傳統(tǒng)的行業(yè)展會等現(xiàn)場方式拓展人脈。財富500強公司歷來對與小供應商打交道非常謹慎，常常設有復雜的審查流程來保護自身品牌。

????不過，近年來，在線市場的迅速擴張為中小企業(yè)贏得大客戶提供了機會。正如很多小公司所見，大公司們對于通過這些數(shù)字渠道上發(fā)布工作和項目越來越感到放心?！坝袝r發(fā)布的工作（價值）會達到數(shù)百萬美元，” Ariba首席營銷官蒂姆?米納漢表示。

????Ariba因為與財富500強公司合作而聞名，而小公司則開始越來越多地在像oDesk這樣的網(wǎng)站上找項目，這些網(wǎng)站更多地是提供類似網(wǎng)頁開發(fā)等小公司能夠勝任的項目。面對在一些大都市地區(qū)技術支持人才缺乏的挑戰(zhàn)，大公司通過oDesk在人才競爭不那么激烈的城市尋找外包公司。oDesk執(zhí)行董事長托馬斯?雷頓稱： “外包公司可以找到任何規(guī)模的客戶?！?/p>

????雖然為一家這樣的網(wǎng)站準備報價費時又費力，但一些企業(yè)主表示，他們很高興地發(fā)現(xiàn)，通過這種方式確實可以獲得大企業(yè)的項目。

????加州圣瑪利亞的米歇爾?沃特森曾經(jīng)是一所中學的英語教師，如今是自由職業(yè)編輯，她就通過oDesk接受了一家大型搜索引擎公司和一家大型在線市場的聘用，承擔內容編輯項目。oDesk的企業(yè)服務團隊聯(lián)系并對她進行了面試。通過面試后，她在oDesk項目經(jīng)理的監(jiān)督下，管理著小型的撰稿人團隊。她說：“這是段很不錯的經(jīng)歷。”

????當然，小企業(yè)要想通過這些網(wǎng)站獲得高收入工作并不容易。麗薩?梅利亞姆一個人在紐約市打理著一家營銷公司，多年來，她已經(jīng)同很多家大公司合作過。雖然她偶爾也能通過eLance這樣的市場獲得一些大公司的工作，比如說2008年為一家大型地區(qū)快餐連鎖店做的一個項目，但大部分大客戶關系的建立都是通過其他途徑。

????“大多數(shù)正規(guī)并有預算的公司會通過人脈和推薦尋找資源，”她說?！八鼈儾粫秧椖空宫F(xiàn)在形形色色的人面前。因為這樣對于它們自己的客戶也沒有好處。來自四面八方的幾百條回復會把人淹沒。但是，除了報價，根本沒有其他辦法來評估這些供應商?！?/p>

????一些小企業(yè)主表示，低價的海外承包商瞄準預算緊張的小企業(yè)客戶，已占據(jù)了一些熱門市場。

????

????Often, he uses Ariba, which hosts an online marketplace where entrepreneurs can bid on jobs that business Goliaths want to fill.

????Tampa, Fla.-based MarkMaster, which has 100 employees and revenues in the $12-$15 million range, gets 15-20% of its sales through Ariba, Govin estimates. While he can't disclose the names of his clients, he says, "I have nine of the top 10 banks in the U.S."

????"We have mad Ariba skills," says Govin, whose company has used the system for 12 years.

????For many small companies looking for big-company accounts, the best way in the door has traditionally been through old-fashioned networking at venues like trade shows, even in the digital age. Fortune 500 companies, traditionally careful about doing business with small vendors, often put in place complicated vetting processes to protect their brands.

????However, the rapid expansion of online marketplaces has, in recent years, offered an opening for smaller players to come in through the back door. As many small firms are finding, big companies are increasingly comfortable posting jobs and projects in these digital venues. "We have jobs that are sometimes [worth] millions of dollars," says Tim Minahan, chief marketing officer of Ariba.

????While Ariba is known for working with the Fortune 500, small businesses are increasingly finding work on sites like oDesk, which is probably better known for serving small firms looking for help with tasks like web development. Faced with shortages of the tech help they need in certain metro areas, big companies are turning to oDesk to find contractors in cities where talent wars are not as intense. "Contractors find clients of all sizes," says Thomas Layton, executive chairman of oDesk.

????While preparing a bid for one of these sites takes time and effort, some entrepreneurs say they have been pleased to discover that it's possible to win jobs with substantial sized companies this way.

????Michelle Watson, a former high school English teacher who is self employed as an editor in Santa Maria, Calif., has been hired for content editing projects with a large search engine company and a large online marketplace through oDesk. She was contacted and interviewed by oDesk's enterprise services team to oversee small teams of writers under the supervision of oDesk's project's managers. "That's been a nice experience," she says.

????To be sure, it's not always easy for a small player to win high-paying jobs through these sites. Lisa Merriam, owner of a one-person marketing firm in New York City, has worked with many large clients over the years. While she has won the occasional project for a big company through markets like eLance -- such as a project for a large regional fast food chain in 2008 -- most of her big-client relationships have come through other routes.

????"Most serious companies that have a budget are going to find those resources through networking and recommendations," she says. "They are not going to put it out in front of the rabble. It doesn't benefit the client to use those. You end up getting buried in hundreds of responses from people from all over the place. You have no way to evaluate them other than price."

????Some small business owners say that low-priced, overseas contractors who cater to small business clients on very tight budgets have dominated the popular marketplaces.??