Small Business Center

Everyone loves getting something for free, right?  Of course you do.

So we’ve decided to implement a new feature here at Small Business Trends.  Each month we plan to hold a drawing and give away stuff to you.

There will be something different every month.  Whatever it is, it will be something of interest to entrepreneurs and small business leaders.

This month, we have 8 copies of the book, “Build a Green Small Business: Profitable Ways to Become an Ecopreneur” by Scott Cooney.  We’ll hold a random drawing and choose 8 people.  Each will receive a book.  This particular drawing is open to anyone anywhere in the world.  The deadline to enter is February 24, 2010.

To learn more: Visit the Small Business Trends giveaways page.

Bookmark the  giveaways page, where we list each month’s contest or drawing.  We’ll also include discounts and special offers.  Check back often to see what’s new.

I spend a lot of time talking to small business owners and startups. I speak with them through my SEO consulting company, during phone calls about social media projects and even just while I’m on my way to and from conferences and taking the train. It’s something I enjoy doing because I like hearing their stories, their successes and the struggles that they’re facing. Often it’s nice to know you’re not the only one going through something and to have a chance to commiserate. I work out of my apartment. I’m not exactly overflowing with social interaction these days.

Through talking with people, I’ve found there are often common factors in the startups and businesses that do well compared to those that struggle. Here are some things I think small business owners should strive to do or remember when working in their business.

Think Niche

Don’t set out trying to solve every problem that your industry has ever experienced. Instead, focus on one problem, the smallest problem, that you can solve in order to be helpful to someone. Once you’ve conquered that one, work out until you’re able to solve more and more problems without straining yourself or your resources. If the Web has taught us anything, it’s that niche sells. All different sorts of little microcosms have been revealed. You just have to find the one you best serve. And remember, it’s not the biggest ideas that do well, it’s the most simple.

Serve Your Needs First

If the idea is to serve one need really well, how do you know what need to focus on first? It’s easy. Focus on yours. What do you wish existed to help make your life easier? What tool could be invented to change the way you do things? What process could be made simpler or broken down? Whatever would help make YOU more productive/happier/content in your day, that’s where you should begin. Because fixing that one area will probably help someone else, as well. As they say, necessity is the mother of invention.

Stand Out

Call it a point of difference, call it an angle or call it creating experiences. Whatever term resonates with you the most, the point is you have to find a way to stand out in your market. Regardless of what you do, there are going to be plenty of similar-minded companies trying to do the same. That’s just the nature of the beast. In order to do well and to be successful you need to have something about you that makes you different, and it’s probably not going to be price. It could be your story, a character you create, a social media presence, a core value, etc. Whatever it is, identify it and then market it. Embody it.

Craft a Story

New research tells us what we already knew – people like sharing articles that inspired awe. We are affected by stories and we seek out companies and peoples with compelling ones. Craft a story that represents your brand. Something that is real and authentic and sharable. The more personal you get with your audience, the more connected they’ll feel to you and the more invested they’ll be in your brand. Being cold and mysterious may have worked a few years ago (or in high school), but it doesn’t any more. These days, customers want real transparency. As was mentioned yesterday, customers now value an honest and transparent company more than the services the company actually provides.

Don’t Fear Technology

Every SMB owner is going to have a different comfort level when it comes to technology. Some will struggle with the idea of creating a Web site, others will fear entering the waters of social media, and some will have a hard time selling without seeing someone face-to-face. Whatever obstacles you face, find ways to incorporate technology into your business and everyday life. Refusing to evolve and insisting on doing things ‘the way they’ve always been done’ can often hold your business back and prevent you from reaching the next level. Technology can be scary at first, but it can also open up brand new channels you never had before. Don’t fear it; embrace it.

Delegate

You cannot do everything by yourself. I know. The idea of delegating tasks to employees, virtual assistants or even partners often sounds like a horrifying concept. However, it’s important. It’s simply impractical to think that you have enough time in your day to become an expert in everything. Luckily, we have the Internet to better connect us with folks who we may be able to delegate tasks to. If you can’t build a Web site, delegate it to someone who can. If you’re not good with numbers, delegate your accounting. If you can’t blog, hire someone to do it. Your trick is to delegate tasks so that you can run your business. If you try to do everything you’re going to burn out on frustration and limit business growth.

Learn Everything You Can

Never. Stop. Learning.

Soak up everything you can about your industry and what it takes to run a business. Regardless of your field, chances are at least part of it is constantly in flux. There are always new and improved ways of doing something, areas where technology has changed, and new books or conferences that will inspire new ideas. Read everything you can get your hands on to help your business continue to grow and evolve.

Be a Work In Progress

Or perhaps just realize that you are a work in progress and that you need to be agile. Early assumptions and beginning business plans are never perfect. Things will come up that you never could have expected and the market will change to expose new holes for you to dip into and take advantage of. Be fluid enough to take advantage of natural opportunities that will arise. Creating an initial business plan is a good first step…but your success will be in your ability to abandon that plan when it makes sense and do what needs to be done. Successful companies are exceptionally good at this.

Above are some of the qualities I’ve noticed in social companies. What do you think is necessary for startups to become successful?

It’s great to get recognition for your small business and it’s even better if that recognition comes with great prizes. This list of competitions and awards for small businesses is updated every two weeks and brought to you as a community service by Small Business Trends and Smallbiztechnology.com.

-
* * * * *

Mom Invented:  California Product Search
Enter by February 20, 2010

Anna’s Linens, a leading home goods retailer and seller of the entire Mom Invented® family of products, is in search of the next great product — invented by you. We’re looking for you to submit your most creative product ideas for a chance to win $1,000 and see your product sold at Anna’s Linens stores.

There will be three  in-person pitch events at Los Angeles area Anna’s Linens stores where you’ll get to talk about your new product idea face to face. They encourage you to submit your idea online, then bring your emailed submission form and any supporting prototype samples or images to one of the live events. If you can’t make it to one of the in-store events you can submit your product idea online or by mail.

Cisco Heroes of the Human Network Contest
Enter by February 27, 2010

CDW announces the Cisco Heroes of the Human Network Contest, designed to give big recognition to three small businesses across the U.S. The contest will spotlight businesses that have had success streamlining business processes, enhancing the customer experience, and improving employee efficiency – all key ingredients to staying afloat during tough times.

The grand prize winners will be featured in a video case study documenting their experience and will receive a $1,000 CDW gift card to spend on Cisco Small Businesses products, as well as a Flip MinoHD video camera. Judges will select winners based on a 250 word essay describing how a Cisco Small Business Solution and the use of Cisco Small Business technology has helped applicants propel their business.

Small Business Strategy Award at Small Business Summit 2010
Enter by March 1, 2010

Has your business set milestones and thrived in spite of the severe economic downturn? If so, we’d like to hear from you. We’re looking to honor one business with the Small Business Strategy Award 2010 to recognize entrepreneurial strategic excellence that has led to significant increased profits, expanded market and/or improved market position.

Our Award committee will select the three finalists and the winner will be recognized and receive the award at the Small Business Summit in New York City on March 16th.

Intuit’s Love a Local Business Contest
Enter by March 3, 2010

In a nationwide effort to help support the growth of small businesses, Intuit is hosting the “Love a Local Business” sweepstakes. Fans of local small businesses can nominate their favorite hometown haunt, which will make them eligible for a drawing to win a $1,000 Intuit Growth Grant, which includes a $500 Visa gift card and $500 in Intuit business services, such as Intuit Websites and Web Listings. One of those five winning local businesses will receive a grand prize of $5,000!

In addition, each business that is nominated will appear on a custom Google Map displaying favorite businesses from across the country. The more nominations a business has, the more chances they have to win a grant. Intuit has already awarded $55,000 in small business grants. Now it’s time to show support for your favorite neighborhood shop! Go to Love a Local Business for more information.

B2B Social Media Integration Case Study Challenge
Enter by March 12, 2010

This is your chance to join an expert panel at the B2B Forum session. How did your company boost ROI by integrating social media into your marketing strategy? Tell us your success story, and you could be telling it to the B2B marketing world in May. Complete this form and tell us your story!

The winner will become a panelist in the “Case Study Swap Meet! Proven Success Stories Integrating Social Media into Overall Strategy” session at the B2B Forum taking place on May 4-5 at the Seaport World Trade Center in Boston, MA.

The Rhode Island Business Plan Competition
Enter by April 5, 2010

The Rhode Island Business Plan Competition, open to everyone, seeks to promote entrepreneurship and development of start-up and early stage companies. Winners and finalists in the 2010 Competition are expected to receive more than $130,000 in prizes.

The Better Way Challenge from Verizon
Enter by May 31, 2010

Sign up for a free 30-Day Trial of the Verizon Collaboration Center and be automatically entered to win a Flip MinoHD video camera; 15 per month will be given away randomly to those who sign up for the trial.

There is also a separate video contest: submit a video describing the challenges you face as a small business getting your whole team on the same page and you’ll receive an additional six months of the Verizon Collaboration Center for free.

If Verizon and Cisco select your video, you could be entered to win an exclusive business consultation to help you take your business to the next level in one of these two prize levels:

Grand Prize: An exclusive two-hour business consultation with entrepreneur Guy Kawasaki plus a $2,000 reward card.

2nd and 3rd Place Prizes: An exclusive one-hour business consultation with the Cisco Internet Business Solutions Group – an organization that provides customers with innovative approaches to complex business opportunities – and a $1000 reward card.

Click here for official rules and to enter.

The Shopify Build a Business Contest
Runs January 1 – June 30, 2010

This contest is open to legal residents of the United States who are at least 18 years of age and starting a new business. To enter you must open a new store on Shopify.com. The winner will be selected based on their two best selling months between January 1st, 2010 and June 30th, 2010. The store with the two best selling months will win $100,000. Achieve the same for your store category and win $5,000 as a runner up prize.

The Cleantech Open Ideas Competition
Opens for Entries July 2010

The Cleantech Open runs the world’s largest clean technology business competition and is looking for the best clean technology ideas from around the world. Just for telling your idea, you could win a prize package of services worth $100,000 to help you start a business to grow your idea! Winners of each individual National Competition, get to represent your country as a Global IDEAS finalist at the annual Cleantech Open Awards Gala on November 16, 2010 in San Francisco.

There, your idea will be presented in a five-minute pitch in front of a crowd of 3,000 investors, entrepreneurs, sponsoring companies, corporations, members of academia, press, and others interested in hearing your ideas and getting involved.

The crowd will vote via text message for the “People’s Choice” and you could win $100,000 in marketing support, legal advising, conferencing services and more to help launch your business!

The competition will open in July 2010. Sign up to receive the newsletter to get updates.

iNGie Award from Cabinet NG
Enter by August 15, 2010

Cabinet NG will recognize our customers who have best used CNG-SAFE software products to improve their bottom line and at the same time operate their businesses in a more environmentally friendly manner. “iNGie” awards will be presented at the 2010 Collaborate Conference in Huntsville (dates and location to be announced soon).

Awards:

* The first 20 companies to apply receive 2 free passes to 2010 Conference in Huntsville (approximately $500 value).
* Winners get a $1,000 credit which can be applied toward annual maintenance or CNG products.
* Winners will also receive an Amazon Kindle™.
* Recognition at the 2010 Conference dinner.

Award categories and online applications can be found here.

To find more small business events, contests and awards, visit our Small Business Events Calendar.

If you are putting on a small business contest, award or competition, and want to get the word out to the community, please submit it through our Small Business Event Form (We do not charge a fee to be included in this listing — it is completely free to list your award or contest.)

Please note: The descriptions provided here are for convenience only and are NOT the official rules. ALWAYS read official rules carefully at the site holding the competition, contest or award.

Many small businesses continue to experience cash flow problems – the majority, in fact, according to a survey by the Discover Small Business Watch.

That cash flow is an issue right now for small businesses might sound obvious to most of you that run your own businesses, but a worsening trend might not be. So here’s a chart that shows what has been going on with small business cash flow over the past three years.

The figure plots the percentage of respondents to the Discover Small Business Watch monthly survey of a random sample of 750 small business owners who answered “yes,” they are experiencing temporary cash flow issues. Although there has been a slight down tick over the past two months, the chart shows a (noisy) trend towards an increasing share of small business owners experiencing these problems. (The thick blue line is the actual data; the thin black line is the linear trend plotted from it.)

I tried to see whether other patterns fit the data better than the upward linear trend. Unfortunately, they don’t. An increasing share of businesses experiencing temporary cash flow problems is closest to what has actually happened over the past three years.

Many economists believe that the Great Recession has ended and the economy is now growing again. While that might be true, it doesn’t appear that the recovery is strong enough or broad enough to have fixed the cash flow problems in the small business sector, at least not yet.

A few weeks ago I was struggling for a blog post and Anita suggested that I share some of my favorite business Twitter people. Using examples to highlight people doing things well is often just what the rest of us need for that advice we always hear to finally ‘click’. With that in mind, below is a list of some of my favorite business Twitterers and the people that I learn from on a consistent basis.I’d love it if you’d be willing to share some of your own personal Twitter Stars. Together we can create a great list of people to follow.

Jonathan Fields: You’re probably already familiar with Jonathan. I’ve mentioned him here on SmallBizTrends, he’s the author of Career Renegade and he also writes one of my favorite blogs on entrepreneurship . Jonathan stands out in my Twitter stream for a number of reasons. He constantly provides links to fantastic articles, he’s into the conversation (which can’t always be said of the Twitter Elite) and his stream instantly puts me in a good mood. Every morning Jonathan tweets hello to his audience and asks who he can help today. It gets everything started on the right foot, but it’s also a good reminder that helping others is our end goal. We became entrepreneurs to provide a valuable service or product for other people. If there’s a reason for all this madness, that’s it.

Chris Brogan: I like to refer to Chris Brogan as the Santa Claus of Social Media – he’s everywhere spreading good cheer. He’s the co-author of Trust Agents and a personality that most of us are aware of in this space. However, that’s not why I include him here. Yes, he’s a Must Follow because of the information he shares, his skills for conversation, and overall helpfulness. But for me, Chris is a constant reminder that I can push myself further and connect with more people in a day. It amazes me the time Chris dedicates to giving back and chatting with the community. If he can find time to answer the many, many replies that he gets during the day, then so can I. His Replies tab probably resembles Santa’s inbox in December. Only longer. Much longer.

Mike Germano: Mike is co-founder of the new media agency Carrot Creative based in Brooklyn, NY. Where many Twitterers use the platform to tweet links to valuable content, Mike takes a more personal approach. He doesn’t do too many link drops. Instead, most of his tweets are about his company, the meetings he’s in or about any of a number of things that Mike is excited about. And Mike is often excited about something. Following Mike Germano is like adding a bit of Red Bull to your Twitter stream. I follow Mike hoping that his enthusiasm, passionate and all out kick-butt nature will rub off on me. When I’m lucky, it does. And when I’m not, he’s at least piqued my interest about what’s going on over at Carrot Creative.

Jim Kukral: Jim’s tweeting style is the polar opposite of Mike (and yet they’re both my favorites). If Mike is more personal, Jim is all about business. His Twitter feed is filled with plenty of awesome link drops to content I would have missed otherwise. Every day I find myself finding great articles, new bloggers and new ways of thinking via Jim. He rocks.

Danny Sullivan: Danny’s the editor of SearchEngineLand.com, a site dedicated to educating readers about search and SEO, and the founder of the Search Marketing Expo conference series. He’s the steady and true voice of the search industry and has taught me some of my most hard-learned lessons, both in search and out of it. Danny provides an enormous amount of important search content on a daily basis, was recently recognized as one of The Web Celeb 25 by Forbes, and is great at separating the wheat from the chaff. Every industry has their father, Danny is that to the search world.

Brian Clark: Brian, aka Copyblogger, help keeps my writing gene feeling inspired. He’s great for conversations but also shares valuable content on the art of writing, headlines and connecting with the third tribe. If you’re a SMB owner trying to get into blogging or even hoping to spruce up your site content to attract visitors, Brian is your man. Better yet, Brian Clark is The Man.

Tamar Weinberg: If you want the signal without much of the noise, then Tamar becomes an absolute must follow. She wrote the book on social media (literally), gets how the community stuff should be and tweets out a stream of high quality links to help others learn the ropes. If you’re trying to learn how to do social media, Tamar is not only a great example herself, but she can point you to the others who know their stuff. She provides the most signal with the least amount of noise.

Aaron Wall: Aaron Wall is one of the smartest SEOs in the game, hands down. He’s someone who does more than he talks, which means his Twitter stream is filled with only the stuff that you should absolutely be aware of. If you’re interested in SEO, what really makes a brand or how Google’s latest news affects you, Aaron’s a Must Follow. His blog, SEOBook, is also an absolute Must Read.

The Bloggess: Some may find this to be an unconventional choice for a “business” list (though I hope not), but I think The Bloggess is a great follow for entrepreneurs and small business owners. She can be a little NSFW or silly, but behind that The Bloggess tells a powerful story of how being yourself attracts the right people. Jenny’s probably not everyone’s cup of tea and weaves between insightful to crude to slightly offensive, however her wit is undeniable. Her commitment to not become what people want or expect her to be is an incredible reminder and example for the rest of us.

Above are some of my personal business Twitter favorites. I’ve added these guys, plus some others, to a Teaches Me Stuff Twitter List. Feel free to give it a follow to catch them in action.

I’ve always loved jingles. I’ve always wanted one for my web site. I found one that I thought was perfect for Ancestry.com once. I sung it to myself every time I heard their name.

So I was inspired by a small business that started over the holidays. People like case studies about how small businesses succeed with social media. Here is an example of a business that was started with social media. It was started, get this: over this Christmas and New Year’s, by a musician in Sweden who has never had a business online.

His name is Love Harnell and he’s a musician

I found out about Love Jingles through an email (great blogger PR) and then I called and got an interview with Love Harnell. I’m not used to calling men other than my husband Love but he let me know the Swedish pronunciation which is more like Louve (as in the Paris art museum).

He writes and performs jingles for brands. He makes a video of his performance and then promotes it. His story has been on Mashable and Adrants. Yahoo! has signed up to celebrate their 15 year anniversary with a jingle. So has a 12-step program (it booked 14 days to tell their story in song).

The idea is decent but it’s the way he markets it that people talk about

If you’ve heard of the Million Dollar Homepage or IWearYourShirt.com, this is in the same style. Here’s how it works – each day of the year you sign up to have a custom-made jingle and every day the price goes up. So on January 1, 2010 it cost $1 and then on January 2 it is $2. I got in for $85. You can upgrade to have your logo added on the video and on the blog post.

Time to Market and Costs

Time to market: a few weeks.

Cost to start: good luck, connections and talent.

Advertising: his friend Nils at Pronto Communication emailed 10 bloggers (which is how I found out about it), told his clients and the word started to spread.

Potential revenue if he sells every single day at the minimum price: $67,000.

How LoveJingles Works

Everyone gets a live recording of their jingle on YouTube, and a blog post with their video (in other words, customers help create the content). Then it’s promoted on Facebook, Twitter and Flickr. Even though it’s less than a week old just type Lovejingles.com into Google to see how many references there are to the site already (over 5,000). This is the new advertising.

LoveJingles.com was started in an industry that has been bleeding – music. It’s a perfect example of making something worthy of talking about (all done word of mouth). It has viral built right into it (meaning it markets itself by the great stories from the various people who’ve purchased jingles).

What can your small business do in 2010 to leverage social media and get a lot of buzz? It’s more about your imagination than your budget. Love has definitely Crushed It. Let this case study inspire you to do the same.

You may be asking yourself why both. Frankly, I wondered if these organizations competed with each other. So I set out to do some research and find out what the true value of each is to a contractor in today’s economy.

Angie’s List is an online resource for consumers to find reputable contractors. Members rate their experiences with contractors and any contractor who wants to advertise on Angie’s List must have a rating of B. Angie’s List was and is set up from the consumer’s point of view. As stated in a US News and World Report article, Angie’s List is “an invaluable repository of informed judgments on an increasingly deep inventory of service providers.”

The Better Business Bureau was started by the business community as a way to combat false advertising. The business community wanted to be able to protect those reputable contractors as well as the consumers. According to the BBB website, “It is a public service organization that advocates ethical, responsible conduct in the marketplace.”

There are some realities to the economic landscape of today.

• Money is tight. Discretionary spending is not as available as in the past.
• There are scammers out there; a tough economy increases the number of scams.
• People like to buy from people they know, like, and trust AND from people their friends and neighbors know, like, and trust.

Considering these issues, contractors are most likely wondering what they can do to secure the business that actually exists.

By registering with Angie’s List and the Better Business Bureau a contractor is accomplishing a couple of things.

1. Telling the world that they are reputable and licensed

Angie’s List and the Better Business Bureau provide consumers with critical information they need to make those buying decisions. Consumers know that with both organizations they can submit queries and complaints. It gives the consumer a partner in making sure they get their money’s worth.

Both of these organizations work to help not only the consumers but the reputable contractors. When you have these entities fighting for tougher regulations and resolutions for consumers it helps the decent contractors. These efforts help weed out the bad, disreputable contractors.

Everybody wins when a light is shone on those doing sub-par work or bilking consumers out of thousands of dollars. That is part of the benefit of these organizations.

2. Welcoming feedback and input regarding their services

By interacting with consumers, contractors are entering into relationships with future clients. Homeowners these days want to be able to investigate and then engage their vendors. When a contractor is registered with Angie’s List and the BBB they are basically saying that they are above board, qualified and quality companies.

Understanding that consumers are more discriminating contractors should want to know how they view a contractor’s work. When you think about it, the remarks made on Angie’s List are the equivalent of testimonials and referrals.

3. Utilizing effective marketing tools

When a homeowner contacts the BBB looking for information on contractors, the BBB provides them with a list of accredited contractors. This helps the homeowners and the contractors. The BBB is, in effect, referring the contractors to the consumers.

Angie’s List is a place more and more consumers turn to when looking for a contractor. Here they can find out from their friends and neighbors which contractors are worth their salt. Also, with Angie’s List, contractors with an overall rating of B or better have the opportunity to advertise. The information received by the consumer is the credibility of the contractor.

What better message can a contractor send than credibility? And the best part? This is where the consumers are going to gain information! So the contractors are fishing where the fish are biting – one of the best sales strategies around. This is the reason I believe contractors should join both organizations. It shows consumers they are reputable and serious about their business and the quality of their service. It provides the contractors with quality conduits to their prospect base. In a very competitive environment like the one we are in now, business owners need to use the best, most cost effective resources at their disposal. These associations are just that.