Small Business Center

Don’t miss out on these great upcoming events, especially the Small Business Summit on March 16th – which features an appearance by Anita Campbell, Founder of Small Business Trends. (Note that several events in this week’s list have upcoming early bird deadlines.)

This list of events, conferences and webinars for growing small businesses and entrepreneurs is brought to you twice a month as a community service by Small Business Trends and Smallbiztechnology.com.
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Facebook For Business
March 2, 2010, 8:00pm EST, Webinar

This 75 minute class will cover: How to use your profile for business, Joining groups, Emailing through facebook, Creating and monitoring a business page, and Social networking etiquette.

This web class is designed for you, the small business owner. If you are looking for ideas on how to market on the web or are just getting started, this 75 minute web class will give you the tools you need to understand and get you motivated about marketing on the web.

Think BIG Kansas City
March 3, 2010

Join us for one jam packed day of experts who have “been there, done that.” Experts who are willing to show you how they did it and how you can succeed as an entrepreneur.

Our rapid-fire presentation style will leave your brain overflowing with ideas – and you ready to take your next step. We’ll provide the Inspiration, Education and Motivation. You provide the Aspiration and Perspiration. No one ever said it was easy. Nothing worthwhile is ever easy. But if you are serious about 2010 and becoming more successful as an entrepreneur or starting up a new company, this conference is for you!

Using Technology to Operate your Business
March 4, 2010 6:00 PM — 8:00 PM, Queens, NY

Need Help Jump-starting your business? Don’t know what tools you need to run more efficiently? Not sure how to get started or what to spend your money on first? If so, this session is for you! Whether you are in the concept phase of your business or recently started a few years ago, this workshop will enable you to run your business more efficiently through the use of technology. In this session you will learn: – Different E-mail Systems – Pop accounts, iMap, Exchange, and Gmail – Software Applications – The different kinds that every business should have to manage their customers and money. – Decision Making Tools – Deciding what will work for you, your budget, and your future growth. Cost: $15 fee in advance, or $20 at the door. to register: email fmora@queensny.org or call (718) 263-0546 (There is no ability to register on the Institute site.)

The Five Factors of High Performing Sales Teams
March 4, 2010, 11:00am EST, Webinar

In this free 30 minute webinar you will discover the five factors that can impact a sales team’s performance. Though often overlooked in many companies, these factors, when measured and cultivated correctly, can make an immediate difference in areas such as increased revenue, market share and new market acquisitions.

Many business owners struggle with marketing simply because they don’t know how to put together a strong strategic marketing plan that builds and sustains their business. This bootcamp walks them step by step on creating a marketing plan and offers a consultative review of their individual plans.

BLAST Marketing Plan Bootcamp
March 4, 11, 18, 25, 8:30pm EST, Teleseminar

Many business owners struggle with marketing simply because they don’t know how to put together a strong strategic marketing plan that builds and sustains their business. This bootcamp walks them step by step on creating a marketing plan and offers a consultative review of their individual plans.

Turn Clicks into Conversations & Relationships
March 10, 2010, 10:00AM PT, Webinar

It takes more than a tweet to turn a follower into a customer, and a customer into loyal advocate. This webinar featuring Brent Leary will cover tools and techniques needed to turn content into conversations, conversations in the exchanges, and exchanges into long lasting customer relationships. Areas of focus will include tools for social listening, automating content creation and distribution, and steps for enhancing your customers’ experiences with your company by facilitating opportunities for them to connect with each other.

InfusionCon 2010
March 10-12, 2010, Montelucia Resort & Spa, Scottsdale, Arizona

InfusionCon 2010, which is completely free and open to Infusionsoft customers, is geared toward providing entrepreneurs and small business owners with proven marketing strategies to help them accelerate the growth of their business using Infusionsoft’s solution. This year’s event is expected to bring more than 1,000 entrepreneurs together for two full days of networking, keynote speeches from industry experts and informative workshops.

Keynote speakers for this year’s event include Harry Dent, a noted economist and founder of the a long term economic forecasting technique known as the Dent Method and best-selling author and small business expert John Assaraf. Long-time entrepreneur and Small Business Trends LLC CEO Anita Campbell will also be on hand to lead an InfusionCon session.

Updates can also be found by following the #infusioncon hashtag on Twitter.

GROWCO Grow Your Company Conference
March 14-16, 2010, Orlando, FL

In 2010, Inc.’s GROWCO Conference pulls together a dynamic program with a curriculum designed specifically for the nation’s rising entrepreneurial stars, including smaller organizations that want to make an appearance on the Inc. 5000 and Inc. 5000 honorees that want to break into the higher ranks of the list or repeat their success in years to come. High-profile growth experts teach seminars that will give attendees actionable information with which to develop or maintain their own growth initiative. Cost is $895.

Fifth Annual Small Business Summit
March 16, 2010, NYC

The Summit is for small business owners and entrepreneurs who want to meet the challenges of the new economy head-on and THRIVE in 2010. The theme this year is Business & Technology: Strategies for the New Economy.

We have some incredible speakers lined up for this year’s Summit, including Seth Godin, who will be talking about being indispensable to your customers. The Summit is always about generating great ideas from some of the best talent in the business world, but also about networking, making profitable connections and having fun.

New this year is the Small Business Strategy Award. One attendee will be recognized for entrepreneurial strategic excellence that has led to significant increased profits, expanded market and/or improved market position. Apply directly online.

Early bird registration (before March 1st) is $149 for the all day event.

Western Regional Business Matchmaking
March 16, 2010, Los Angeles, CA

The Business Matchmaking Western Regional Face-to-Face Event will be hosted at the Marriott Los Angeles Airport Hotel located in Los Angeles, CA on Tuesday, March 16, 2010. Participating firms will receive advance education and tools to prepare for face-to-face meetings with buyers from federal, state and local government agencies and major corporations.

* Individual business counseling and guidance provided by SCORE, SBDC and other resource partners
* Access to the Business Matchmaking System in advance of the event to be matched with participating procurement representatives and setting a schedule for appointments with buyers
* Face-to-Face meetings with procurement representatives of federal, state and local government agencies and major corporations
* Small business specific and topical workshops available throughout event day
* Exhibits and networking with regional small business resources including access to capital, SBA loans, insurance, federal qualification requirements, women and minority business tools, certification, etc.
* On-site Internet access and email capabilities provided at the HP Tech Center
* Access to representatives from private sector co-sponsors for information about their companies

E-3…Engage, Empower, Energize
March 18, 2010, Newark, NJ

A no charge full-day conference for experienced business women seeking to grow their businesses. Breakouts, individual consulting, “Pitch-it” contest, keynotes, etc. This will be at the New Jersey Performing Arts Center and will include breakfast and lunch. Sponsored by New Jersey Association of Women Business Owners’ Women’s Business Center.

How to Present Your Business Plan
March 18, 2010, Providence, RI

This interactive presentation will feature two veteran business developers who have worked with companies throughout New England on growth, turnaround, and acquisition strategies. This workshop is part of a series leading up to the Rhode Island Business Plan Competition starting in April 2010.

Astoundingly Simple Secrets to Making Social Media Work for You
March 23, 2010, Webinar

Can you really turn garden-variety online acquaintances into a supportive network who will help you spread a message or build a career? Do social media sites like Facebook and Twitter offer the opportunity to extend your brand and message or are they just a colossal time-suck?

Learn the ins and outs of social media, where it intersects with old-school marketing, and how you can use them in tandem to build your network, strengthen your personal brand, and spread the word about your business to the people who need to hear it. You will learn how to come up with your core marketing message, translate it into the language of social media, and evaluate which social networking sites will work best for you.

The Mobile Office with Ramon Ray: Productivity Anywhere!
March 24, 2010, 10:00AM PT, Webinar

Navigating the technology acronym soup of mobile technology can be daunting these days, not to mention expensive if you don’t make smart decisions around your technology and service choices. You will learn about mobile technology and how to simply safeguard your very important business information.

Social Reputation Management: Protecting and Strengthening Your Brand Across the Social Web
March 24, 2010, New York City

This conference that will share the best case studies on how communicators and marketers listen to conversations, monitor and comprehend what is being said, and engage through the social web. The case studies will be followed by moderated interactive roundtables. Use promo code SBT to receive a discounted rate of $155.

Brooklyn Business Expo 2010
March 24, 2010, Brooklyn, NY

The Brooklyn Business Expo 2010 will bring together the brightest business leaders from the most dynamic companies throughout Brooklyn and the adjoining counties.

The Brooklyn Business Expo 2010 provides an environment for businesses to enhance their relationships, research the market for the leading products and services, and learn about the latest best business practices. This will be the largest biz-to-biz expo in Brooklyn.

The Stimulus Package: Update 2010
March 24, 2010, Brooklyn, NY

This seminar, moderated by CNN contributor and president of Optimum Capital Management, Ryan Mack, is designed to show you how you can still benefit from stimulus funds. Panelists include Ann Kayman, CEO at New York Grant Company; Bruce Niswander, director of the Office of Innovation, Technology Transfer and Entrepreneurship at Polytechnic Institute of NYU; and Michael Williams, dean at the Graduate School of Business at Touro College who will discuss the following:

* The Stimulus Program: What’s the impact on the economy so far?
* How can I still benefit from the Stimulus bill?
* How will the government’s proposed three-year spending freeze effect small business and how can businesses plan now?
* What are smart, “hidden” ways that businesses can save more money in the “new” economy?

MarketingSherpa’s Email Marketing Essentials Workshop Training
Multi-City Tour

Theory works well in a classroom, but how does it translate in the real world? What makes MarketingSherpa’s Email Marketing Essentials Workshop unique is our trusted Case Study approach to learning. Using Case Studies and research as a basis, every tactic discussed during the course has been proven. This one-day workshop is based on MarketingSherpa’s Best Practices in Email Marketing Handbook. You’ll receive a FREE copy ($497 value) to be used as your textbook during the course that you can take back to your office for future reference. Use it as your on-the-job reference guide to build a ‘best in class’ email program that will meet and exceed your marketing goals. Register now to get $100 off regular price of $995.

March 25 , New York City
April 6, Philadelphia, PA
April 20, Washington, DC
May 11, Denver, CO
May 13, Seattle, WA
June 21, Chapel Hill, NC
June 25, Atlanta, GA
July 20, Minneapolis, MN
August 10, San Diego, CA
August 13, Phoenix, AZ

10 PAGE BUSINESS PLAN DESIGN WORKSHOP
April 16, 2010, New York City

This workshop enables leaders to prepare Complete, Convincing and Compelling business plans to obtain grants, VC and corporate finance, partners and customers for start ups, spin-outs and expansions. We leverage the ‘10 PAGE BUSINESS PLAN DESIGN FRAMEWORK’™ built on a proven track record of raising over $300 million of financing.

140 Characters Conference
April 20-21, 2010, New York City

The 140 Characters Conference: New York City (#140conf) provides a platform for the worldwide twitter community to: listen, connect, share and engage with each other, while collectively exploring the effects of the emerging real-time internet on business.

The format at the #140conf events is unique. Individual talks are 5 and 10 minutes, keynotes are 15 and 20 minutes and panel discussions are no more than 20 minutes. During the course of the two days more than 140 people will share the stage in about 70 sessions.
“Early Bird” registration of $100 ends on March 5th.

OSDBU Procurement Conference – Procurement Matchmaking
April 21, 2010, Chantilly, VA

The 20th Annual OSDBU Procurement Conference is a national conference fostering business partnerships between the Federal Government, its Prime Contractors, and small, minority, service-disabled veteran-owned, veteran-owned, HUBZone, and women-owned businesses. More info and registration here.

New Marketing Experience 2010
April 13, 2010, San Francisco, CA

Imagine a world where you can take your One Big Idea™ and tap over 100 other participating conference attendee and experts and each of their One Big Ideas. All in a structured, fast-paced and highly interactive one-day program under the direction of Chris Brogan and the team from New Marketing Labs.

Unlike other programs, this event will facilitate you working directly with your peers in a group of 15-20 professionals to explore in detail the topics covered in the program. In addition, each attendee will leave with one book from the conference with all of the big ideas from the attendees as well as the results of the deep dives on the topics discussed.

The 11th Annual Department of Energy Small Business Conference & Expo
May 10-12, 2010, Atlanta, GA

The Department of Energy (DOE), Office of Small and Disadvantaged Business Utilization, is proud to present The 11th Annual DOE Small Business Conference & Expo, at the Georgia World Congress Center, Atlanta, GA, May 10-12, 2010.

The event will feature plenaries, educational workshops, an Exhibit Hall with 200+ exhibitors/sponsors, as well as business matchmaking sessions. Over 1,600 attendees will represent all levels of federal, state, and local government agencies, the small business community, large/prime contractors, and many more!

Creative Freelancer Conference
June 5-6, 2010

The Creative Freelancer Conference is the first and only full-scale business conference for self-employed creative professionals. The goal? To help you maximize your freelance income by sharing best business practices and sage advice from seasoned solopreneurs who’ve learned through experience what works, and what doesn’t. The program is geared toward freelance graphic designers, copywriters, illustrators and photographers, as well as solo practitioners of interactive, interior and industrial design. Anyone who makes a living selling creative services on a freelance basis (or would like to) will benefit.

Early bird pricing through March 12.

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 Events & Contests Submission Form (We do not charge a fee to be included in this listing — it is completely free to list your event.) Only events of interest to small business people, freelancers and entrepreneurs will be considered and included.

There’s a good news-bad news story about small business expansion plans in the some recent data from Discover Small Business Watch, a survey of a random sample of 750 small business owners with five or fewer employees. The good news is that things improved in January. The bad news is they got worse again in February, leaving us pretty far from where we were before the recession started and without any sort of trend towards improvement yet.

The figure below plots the answers of respondents to the monthly question about their business development spending plans since the survey began in August 2006. The blue line shows the percentage of owners planning to increase spending and the red line shows the percentage planning to decrease spending.

There was some improvement so far this year over the end of last year, but there’s still 22 percentage point gap between the fraction of owners that plan to decrease spending and the fraction that plan to increase it.

The situation with hiring plans is less clear. As the figure below shows, the share of small business owners who plan to hire jumped in January 2010 and showed a steady decrease in the fraction that plan to lay people off from August of last year through January of this year. But then things got worse again in February, with the percentage of businesses planning to hire dropping to 5 percent. As a result, we again have fewer owners planning to hire than planning to lay people off.

Moreover, we are far from the consistent pattern of more owners planning to hire than to lay off like was present from the survey’s initiation in August 2006 through August 2007. And just 5 percent of small business owners intending to add staff doesn’t bode well for improvement in the employment numbers in the small business sector any time soon.

Our daily roundup of today’s headlines about small businesses….  Tracking what people are talking about today in the world of small businesses and entrepreneurs.

Credit

• Jeff Cornwall. Current Small Business Problems Will Not be Solved Solely by Focusing on Lending, Says Report. The Entrepreneurial Mind
• Martha C. White. Obama Administration’s Small Business Loans: Will They Really Work? The Minnesota Independent
• Phyllis Furman. Loans Remain Tough for Small Business, Startups. NYDaily News
• Paul Davidson. Credit Unions Want Congress to Lift Limits on Small Business Lending — But There are Two Sides to That Story. USA Today

Healthcare

• Samuel Gregg. Why More Regulation Probably Won’t Save the Economy. National Review Online
• NFIB. Small Business Owners Want Less Political Drama Over Healthcare, More Solutions.  NFIB.com
• The Cato Institute. Why a Free Market Can Cure the Health Care Crisis. Healthcare.Cato.Org
• The Quincy Cove. Small Businesses Interviewed About High Insurance Costs. Quincycove.com

Hiring

• Intuit. Small Business Shows Signs of an Economic Rebound. Small Business Trends
• Scott Shane. But Hiring Has Not Bounced Back According to the Discover Small Business Watch.  Small Business Trends

Marketing

• Niccolinas Soto. Capitalizing on Social Media: A How-To Guide. Smallbiz Central
• John Janstch. Standing Out with — of All Things – Rockabilly.   Duct Tape Marketing
• Becky McCray. How to Track Your Daily Marketing Activity. Small Biz Survival
• Martin Lindeskog. A Great Big List of 100 Small Business Podcasts.  Small Business Trends Radio
  

Tech

• Steven Andrés. Big Fish or Small-Fry, Don’t Wind Up on a Hacker’s Hook. NetWorkWorldAsia.net
• Financial Web. Small Business Accounting Programs Can Create a Simpler Life. Internet Brands
• Hewlett Packard. Elite 7100 Small Business Desktop Increases Productivity. Small Business Trends

Operations

• Seth Godin. I Don’t Feel Like It. Inspiration for the Business Leader. Seth’s Blog
• U.S. government. Business.gov Collects 2010  Small-Business Tax Information in One Handy Place.  Business.gov

Startups

• Adam Toren. Too Much on Your Plate Can Kill Your Startup (and So Can 4 Other Things). YoungEntrepreneur.com
• Dharmesh Shah. The 10 Most Tempting Software Startup Categories. On Startups.

A couple of weeks back I raved about Google Alerts and all the different ways that I used them. I mentioned that I use them to track keywords, identify content theft and even to track links coming into a site. I look at Google Alerts as a great multi-purpose tool that can help you track lots of different things. However, when you’re serious about finding a tool to monitor your social media presence, Trackur is where Google Alerts go to grow up and one that SMB owners should really be aware of.

You may remember that I interviewed search expert Andy Beal about Trackur back in September and he chatted about the importance of protecting your brand as a SMB owner, what to track and how his tool Trackur could help. Well, last week Trackur released a free tool for SMB owners that I thought was worth mentioning sharing.

The new tool is called Trackur Free and the functionality is the same as you’d find in a paid Trackur subscription. With it, you can set up a search and Trackur will look for mentions in traditional and social media, scouring through mainstream sources, blogs, tweets, images, videos, etc and deliver you the results via the Trackur dashboard, RSS, email or CSV export. What separates Trackur Free from the paid product is that you can only track one keyword. That said, if you’re a small business owner who’s already using Google Alerts for the “other stuff”, it may be worth using Trackur to keep an eye on that one money term that you’re really focused on. Where Trackur Free trumps a simple Google Alert is that it runs every 30 minutes and graphs mentions over time so that you can easily see if buzz is growing and how sentiment is changing. As I mentioned, it’s a bit more mature than a simple Google Alert.

Personally, I like the idea of using Trackur as your “specialty” tool and Google Alerts to pick up the easier to find stuff or terms you’re just casually monitoring. I use Google Alerts like a fire house to give me lots of different information in different areas, Trackur is considerably more refined.

Worth noting is that Andy has chosen to make the tool retroactive. So if you read our interview back in September and signed up for a free trial, your account has already been moved over and you can start using it. If not, you can sign up for a free trial to give it a look. If you’ve resisted because of the associated price tag, now’s your chance to look under the hood. The importance of knowing what people are saying about your brand is going to diminish anytime soon. In fact, it’s only getting stronger.