Small Business Center

It’s time for another Small Business News roundup.  Here are the news links and blog posts that are shaking up the small business online community for March 8, 2010 hand picked by the team at Small Business Trends.

Operations

Small Business celebrates the Oscars! Hey, what small business leader has time to watch a movie? But if you happen to slip one into you’re busy schedule, here are some cool lessons you can learn, from author and speaker Barry Moltz.  Small Business Trends

Motivating employees in a small business might be a no-brainer for some. Here’s a primer for those of us who may need a bit more help. HarvardBusinessReview.org

Need to sell your business? Call a lawyer. An attorney with entrepreneurship in his blood answers some questions about how they can help. NYTimes.com

Social Media

Just say no to more LinkedIn invitations. When is it time to put an end to endless network building? Global Copywriting

But before you write off that LinkedIn account completely! Here are five ways to make your virtual Rolodex turned business media network really rock. Online Marketing Blog

What Rambo could teach every marketer and small business owner about blogging. It’s all about the risks you take. Much like this post. Flowtown.com

Marketing

What small businesses can learn from Obama, Dunkin Donuts and American Express. And why your business simply can’t ignore the texting revolution. OpenForum.com

Do you have free content about your business online? If not, it could be costing you and your business huge numbers of new customers. Duct Tape Marketing

Forget about e-commerce and get ready for m-commerce. The M stands for “mobile” and it will completely change the way you do business online … again.  SEO-SMO.net

Tech

Touch screen technology enables more mobile small business. Read a review of the latest in tablet computer technology for the small business owner or professional on the move. SmallBizTechnology.com

Who is the “mayor” of your small business? Don’t know what we’re talking about? Better read this. Catalyst Marketers

What if online content creators can’t make money from advertising? An increasing number of online visitors not only want their content free but are employing software to block the advertising that pays for it. WSJ

Policy

Not every cloud has a silver lining. Despite economic gains and government efforts, a recent survey shows optimism among small business owners has not improved.  NFIB

You ain’t seen nothing yet. A proposed health care reform package still being fought over in Washington will likely cost us WAY more than we thought. National Review Online

Startup

Nowadays even a “startup out of a garage” must be global. But managing the cultural intricacies of dealing with a world market instead of one just around the corner takes much more than just an Internet connection. NYTimes.com

“It is time to rework work. Let’s get started,” declares the authors of the new business book Rework by 37signals founders Jason Fried and David Heinemeier Hansson.

They want to change how businesses are run, and to borrow a segment title, “Make a dent in the universe.” They are definitely knocking on the universe’s door.

I read a review copy, and was inspired to rework my own thoughts on entrepreneurship and business strategy.

What Worked Well in Rework

This is a book you don’t want to judge too quickly. On first blush the short content seems gimmicky for a book claiming to have a revolutionary outlook.  The chapters cover an arc of business growth with intriguing names:  Takedowns (addressing the barriers to starting a business), Go (Getting started in business), Progress, Productivity, Competitors, Evolution, Promotion, Hiring, Damage Control, and Culture. Within each chapter is a bold statement, a short page or two of explanation, and a memorable image, all with a ready-for-e-book feel.

Ah, but what seems lacking on the surface can be fulfilling when examined.  Rework will pleasantly surprise you once you delve in.  This book offers simple been-there-done-that advice  — and it is anything but shallow.

It distills the typical business subjects to essentials, then offers inspired suggestions with a sharp imaginative eye. Here’s one piece of realistic advice that rings true:   entrepreneurs should seek alternative means to get their business  exposure besides major media publications.  In the “Forget about the Wall Street Journal” segment they write:

“Pitching a reporter at one of these place is practically impossible… you’re better off focusing on getting your story in a trade publication or picked up in a niche blog.”

The Takedown segments get the ball rolling, with sharp headlines throughout the other chapters.  Hansson and Fried explain why Meetings are Toxic and Press Releases are Spam.  Especially powerful was the segment on the “Myth of the Overnight Sensation”:

“It’s not the whole story.  Dig deeper and you’ll usually find people who busted their asses for years to get into a position where things take off…. Trade the dream for overnight success for slow, measured growth…. You have to do it for a long time before the right people notice.”

I loved the musings on “Learning from Mistakes is Overrated”:

“You might learn what not to do again, but how valuable is that?  You still don’t know what you should do next…. Evolution doesn’t linger on past failures, it’s always building upon what worked.  So should you.”

Every idea proposed shows imaginative ways to spur you to intriguing decisions.  Example:  letting your customers outgrow you:

“When you let customers outgrow you, you’ll most likely wind out up with a product that’s basic….  Small simple needs are constant. There’s an endless supply of customers who need exactly that.”

Steps in the growth process are turned on their head without being dumbed down.  Tips such as “Hire managers of one” will re-imagine the hiring process for leaders.  “Resumes are ridiculous” says resumes are “filled with action verbs that don’t mean anything.”

Rework relies on the authors’ perspective, who deliberately set about creating a small business and avoided being bogged down by external factors such as venture capital or extensive research.  That’s the perspective of this book.

References to outside sources to support their views do appear, like in the overrated mistake learning example (it mentions a Harvard study on entrepreneurship and failure).

Readers are cautioned to de-emphasize traditional tools for early efforts — “Your Estimates Suck” dovetails into the concept that not having a plan is okay. It is based on the authors’ experience.  These ideas are valuable for startups or small businesses with a few employees.

What Might Have Worked Better

In a few instances subjects contradict or need more explanation than a page or two.  A tip to “Pick A Fight” – calling out your competitors – seems to contradict a later query “Who cares what they’re doing?”  which is about ignoring your competitors.  Moreover, the Audi example in the “Pick A Fight” segment breaks a marketing rule to never mention your competition (doing so can remind your customers of the competition’s advantage over your product).

Miscues are rare, though.  In a brisk and comfortable pace Rework experiments well in reframing business.  It offers  practical steps for establishing culture, strategy, and productivity.

Who Should Read Rework

The advice in Rework fits small service firms with simplicity at their operational core.  Refreshingly the authors own up to their perspective, offering no apologies for its honest language, or for the fact that it is written mostly from the 10-year experience of running a 16-employee software firm.

Rework may not fully appeal to firms with engineered products or joint ad-hoc projects that want more detail regarding processes.  Managing a joint project between businesses can require coordination to make a profit.   Such joint collaboration is not deeply covered, a particular point given the increased tendency to coordinate small businesses remotely together.

Rework is right for entrepreneurs and small businesses that offer services and are intent on steady solid growth and profitability.   If you have a services type of business, this book will be ideal for you. The flexibility to scale advice, coupled with clear explanations, is what makes Rework a rousing success in its mission.  In its originality Rework has found a clever way to stir the entrepreneur in everybody.

This week’s list of contests has some great opportunities for recognition and cash prizes. This list of competitions and awards for small businesses is brought to you every other week as a community service by Small Business Trends and Smallbiztechnology.com.

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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 Black Enterprise Small Business Awards
Enter by March 16, 2010

The Black Enterprise Small Business Awards were created to provide special recognition to African American entrepreneurs who embody the Black Enterprise entrepreneurial spirit. They are looking for companies and individuals bringing new products to the forefront, redefining sales strategies, and discovering new and profitable markets.

Winners will be announced at a special awards luncheon in Atlanta on May 17, 2010 at the Black Enterprise Entrepreneurs Conference. Official Award Submission PDF Form is found here.

Limitless VC Contest
Enter by March 16, 2010

One remarkable entrepreneur will receive 50% of the BizBreak app profits + $3,000! + mentoring from top entrepreneurs like Mike Michalowicz, Andrew Warner, Ross Kimbarovsky, Cameron Johnson, and Yanik Silver.

Submissions are made in the form of a video to youtube describing your business and what you will do with the money. 10 videos will be chosen for the finals which will be voted on by the public. See site for details and rules.

The New Deal for Small Business
Enter by March 19, 2010

Create a video of five minutes of your business. Upload your video to YouTube then send the link to VRNewDeal@verticalresponse.com. Your video needs to feature you and your small business, as well as answer three questions:

* What does your business do?
* What makes you do what you do?
* What will you do with the money if you win?

First Place: $5,000, Second Place: $2,500, Third Place: $2,500. Additional details about terms and conditions can be found at the competition website.

The Miami Herald Business Plan Challenge
Enter by March 29, 2010

Have you hatched a great idea for a business? If your business is less than 1 year old or exists only on paper, you can enter our 12th Annual Miami Herald Business Plan Challenge, co-sponsored by Florida International University’s Pino Global Entrepreneurship Center.

This year, we will have three tracks: one open to anyone in South Florida, an FIU track open to students, faculty, staff and alums of the university and a third one for high school students. Winners will be invited to a luncheon in their honor where they will meet with The Miami Herald’s business editors, reporters and judges, as well as a Hall of Fame luncheon hosted by FIU’s College of Business Administration.

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.

Chicago City Treasurer’s Office 2010 Business Plan Competition
Enter by April 5, 2010 at 5:00 p.m.

The Business Plan competition is sponsored by Harris Bank, with Chicago Community Ventures as the managers of the competition. There will be ten semifinalists selected. Business plan summaries will be accepted from those hoping to start up a small business, and existing small businesses owners hoping to reach their next level. Business summaries must be submitted on the official competition template available here. Cash prizes will include – 1st Place $5,000; 2nd place $3,500; and a $1,500 3rd place prize. A new business mentoring program will assist all the finalists.

It’s Time for Business with Office 2010 Video Contest
Enter by April 22, 2010

Small and startup businesses in Washington state can enter to win $10,000 in the “It’s Time for Business with Office 2010 Video Contest” launched by the Greater Seattle Chamber of Commerce in partnership with Microsoft Corporation.

To participate, contestants must go to itstimeforbusiness.com/contest and download a free trial version of Office 2010 to use in their business. Any business or organization with seven or fewer full-time employees is eligible, so long as they have a Washington state business license and comply with all contest rules. The winning entry will receive a $10,000 grand prize. Best foreign language video and best video by a woman-owned business will receive $1,000 prizes.

Cringely’s (NOT in Silicon Valley) Startup Tour
Enter now through Mid-April 2010 (check site for details)

Robert X. Cringely, author of the technology blog “I, Cringely” (www.cringely.com), has launched a plan to restart America called “Cringely’s (NOT in Silicon Valley) Startup Tour.” People are invited to nominate startup companies in six different categories, discuss them, and vote for favorites on a special website created just for the tour.

After about six weeks of collecting nominations and reviewing candidates, Cringely will announce the top 24 companies. He will then take the show on the road this summer, with a camera crew, to visit all 24 companies to learn about the businesses and the entrepreneurs who started them. Ultimately, the stories he collects will become a 12-hour reality TV series to be broadcast on a major cable network.

2010 Inc. 500/5000
Enter by April 30, 2010

The Inc. 500/5000 list is a distinguished editorial award, a celebration of innovation, a network of entrepreneurial leaders, and an effective public relations showcase. The Inc. 500|5000 ranks companies by overall revenue growth over a three-year period. All 5,000 honoree companies are individually profiled on Inc.com. The top 500 are featured in the September issue of Inc. magazine.

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.

How’s the first quarter of 2010 — and the rest of the year — looking for you and your business?

Are you primed and ready to make money this year?

Have you put a plan in place to promote your business and maximize your success?

Here are ten quick, easy-to-implement things you can do that will guarantee your online business will be making you money this year:

Write down your personal affirmation for the month and the year.

The goal here is to help you step back from the hustle and bustle and stay focused on what’s important to you.

Get your story, idea, product, or service announcement out into the marketplace seven different ways, all at once.

Choose from these options to make a powerful impact:

1. Press release
2. Blog post
3. Facebook
4. E-zine blast
5. Email announcement
6. Videocast
7. Downloadable audio snatch
8. Free e-book
9. Podcast
10. Teleseminar

Use free classified ads to promote your business.

If you have a knack for writing short ads, you will be able to increase your site traffic by using free (or pretty darn cheap) classified ads. Place ads where you know your target audience will see them.

Introduce yourself to three potential referral sources.

A nurturing referral relationship can be quite profitable. So think of professionals who would be good referral sources for you. Then make contact with them today.

Add three success stories to your website.

You already may have testimonials from your clients on your website. Now create a space for their before-and-after success stories. Remember to include a link back to their sites so everyone gets some love.

Add a tantalizing promotional “special” to your email signature space.

Put a brief promotional line about the special product or service that you are giving away (or offering at a reduced rate) this month.

Write each of your clients and customers a personal, hand-written “thank you” card.

Thank them for sticking with you through the 2009 recession. Be sure to include a coupon they can use for a special product or service.

Offer a deal, such as “buy-one-get-one-free.” This will increase your sales!

Follow up with all your 2009 leads that showed an interest in your product or service but didn’t buy.

Call (don’t email) them and see if they now have a need for anything you offer. 

Let your clients know about something big you’ll either be doing or offering in 2010.

Here are some big ways to make an impact and get their attention:

• Book launch
• DVD training program
• Keynote speaking engagement
• Public seminar
• Corporate training program
• Boot camp
• Mentoring and apprenticeship program
• Weekend retreat
• Television show
• Membership website program
• Special teleseminar series

As a business owner with an online presence, you need to offer special buying opportunities throughout the year. This list will help you do just that.

Implement one idea each day. You’ll not only be promoting your online business, you’ll also be making certain it will be a success this year.

Editor’s Note: this article was previously published at OPENForum.com under the title: “10 Things You Can Do to Make Your Online Business Money” It is reprinted here with permission.

If you’re like a lot of small business owners I’ve talked to since we rang in 2010, you probably sympathize with this statement: “Enough with the doom and gloom already. I don’t want to know how awful the economy is, I want to know how to make a profit anyway!”

A couple of weeks ago, our very own Anita Campbell tackled that issue with an Intuit Community webinar titled, “Make 2010 Your Most Profitable Year Ever.” Joining her for the webinar was expert Andy Birol of Birol Growth Consulting.

In spite of a few technical difficulties early on, it was another of Anita’s information-packed sessions with a mountain of actionable take-aways for small business owners, sponsored by Intuit.

Anita started the webinar with a couple of poll questions, which elicited the information that a surprisingly high 71% of participants didn’t know what their customer acquisition costs are. From the second question, we learned that most business owners either know who their most profitable customers are (50%) or they have a general sense but aren’t 100% sure (43%).

Birol used the poll results to launch into a discussion of how to analyze your customers in order to maximize profits.

TIP: If your most profitable customers are increasing their purchases, keep them happy and find more like them by asking for referrals. If their sales are low/flat, enhance your products and services to generate more sales from them.

TIP: If your low profit customers are increasing their purchases from you, reprice your products or services to more accurately reflect the costs of serving them or selling to them. If sales to these customers are low or flat, reduce or rethink your costs for serving or selling to them and how those costs can be reduced so that these folks become more profitable.

TIP: Fire customers that earn no profit (break even) or cost you money.

Profitable growth does not necessarily come from expanding your customer base. Instead, growing profitably — that is, making a profit while your business grows — comes from selling more to the customers you already have.

The underlying theme in all this, which might better have been introduced first, is that it costs less to sell more to existing customers than it does to sell more by acquiring new customers.

Your current customers already know and trust you. That gives you the chance to establish your expertise and experience, which will differentiate you from your competitors.

TIP: Differentiation gives you a stronger brand and more pricing power, so work to establish that expertise and experience in the minds of the marketplace.

On the subject of pricing, which often gives small business owners the willies, here is a terrifically quotable quote from Andy:

“Price, for me, is the single most important demonstration of self-confidence that a business owner can have.”

And finally, profitable growth comes from being willing to take what you make or do and re-package it for new sales or distribution channels.

In short, the general way to grow your business profitably (even during this recession) is to focus on your existing customers, sell your expertise and the wonderful experience of working with you, beyond just your product or service; and packaging your offerings for sale in multiple channels.

And, just for fun, there was a list of 45 ways you can improve your profitability in 2010:

Increase Prices

1. Raise prices
2. Eliminate discounts (or lower discount %)
3. Services: define scope and fight scope creep*
4. Push higher priced products, weed out low profit products
5. Use marketing to convey your differentiation and value

Increase sales and customer retention

6. Improve customer retention through better customer services, better communications, increased value-add
7. Cross-sell additional products or services
8. Upsell to higher priced, higher value products
9. Serve your most profitable customers well
10. leverage additional sales and distribution channels
11. Add self-paying sales like commissioned sales reps, PPC ads, affiliate program

Invoice!

12. Invoice promptly
13. Make sure invoices are complete and accurate
14. Use technology and automation to tighten invoicing and collection processes

Improve productivity

15. Reduce waste through controls
16. Train employees
17. Automate routine tasks
18. Upgrade inefficient equipment and software
19. Supplement tracking systems and analytics (a.la. Google) and “manage to your metrics”
20. Ask employees for cost-saving suggestions.

Reduce fixed costs

21. Find smaller offices; sublet; move
22. Employ part-time staff in place of full-time
23. Subcontract to independent contractors
24. Do preventative maintenance
25. Reduce staff if necessary
26. Change sales compensation to more commission, less guaranteed base

Reduce variable costs

27. Negotiate better deals with suppliers
28. Find less expensive suppliers
29. Take advantage of advance purchase discounts
30. Find cheaper materials and supplies (assuming quality is still there)
31. Hold online meetings instead of traveling
32. Create self-serve resources for customer service
33. If it’s not essential, eliminate

Manage capital wisely

34. Keep your books up to date, and review P&L versus budget forecasts regularly
35. Know your key indicators: DSO; customer acquisition cost; gross profit margin
36. Offer advance payment discounts
37. Put slow payers on “watch list”
38. Collect past due invoices quickly and personally
39. Don’t overinvest in inventory
40. Insist on shopping for alternatives
41. Negotiate for as much time as possible to pay your creditors (e.g., 30 – 45 day terms)
42. Make loan and credit card payments on time, to avoid extra interest and penalties

Be tax smart

43. Keep good up-to-date records to take advantage of all deductions
44. Actively engage in tax planning
45. Follow your tax calendar scrupulously to avoid unnecessary penalties, interest, and attorney and tax advisor fees

If you’d like to watch the webinar event you can check it out at, “Make 2010 Your Most Profitable Year Ever.”

Facebook has been getting a heck of a lot of buzz lately as the social networking site continues to add value for brands and small business owners. Late last week they improved local ad opportunities for SMBs and just yesterday they announced a partnership with Eventbrite to help business owners monetize events advertised on the site. The combination helps to make Facebook an even more attractive marketing channel for SMBs to utilize.

If you didn’t catch yesterday’s announcement, Facebook has partnered with Eventbrite (instead of competing with it) to allow small business owners to sell tickets and/or register to events directly through their Facebook Event page. Previously, attendees were directed offsite in order to do so. Allowing the registration process to happen on Facebook itself should be a welcome improvement to both businesses and users.

Yesterday a page went up on facebook.eventbrite.com to announce the new feature. [The page has since been removed.]

Collect money for your event with Eventbrite

Eventbrite is partnering with Facebook to enable you to collect money for your event. Your attendees pay with credit card and Eventbrite collects the money on your behalf and sends you a check when your event is over. We charge a small service fee for every ticket sold. 5.5% + $.99c, which attendees pay, costing you nothing.

Eventbrite has helped event organizers around the world sell over 10 million tickets. We’re excited to help you sell your and put some delightful cash in your pocket.

The announcement offers SMB owners a great way to market new events and create visibility. To date, many small business owners have been utilizing the Facebook Events feature to spread word of mouth regarding physical events they were holding, product release dates, giveaways/contest, new promotions, etc. But there wasn’t a way to capture that attention directly on the site or to provide a compelling call to action to get people to register and hook them. Now that they can register directly from the site, even when money is exchanging hands, there is.

I really like the news of the integration because I think it helps to strengthen the Facebook marketing platform for SMBs by allowing them to tie in everything else they’re doing on the site. For example, with the new roll out SMBs can easily:

1. Create a Facebook Event to market something upcoming
2. Use Facebook’s highly targeted advertising platform to promote the Event to the right people.
3. Use the new Eventbrite partnership to close the conversion immediately

Facebook’s allowing SMBs owners to create a perfect storm of marketing where everything is done more powerfully and in one centralized location. Facebook advertising converts exceptionally well because of how targeted and personal the ads can be. Taking that power and combining it with increased functionality is a win for everyone.

If you’re interested in getting more acquainted with Facebook as a marketing channel, I was at SMX West last week and covered a great session about Free Ways To Market On Facebook. The speakers presented some pretty great information on how to use Facebook Groups/Fan pages, what makes stories pop in your News Feed and some of the best ways to market on the site. It may be worth a read.

Policy makers, the media, and many other people care about small business owners’ perceptions, making the monthly optimism figures put out by the National Federation of Independent Businesses (NFIB) and Discover Small Business Watch (DSBW) noticed statistics. The goal of these measures is to tell us if small business owners are becoming more or less optimistic about prospects for their businesses and the overall economy.

Because these indices get reported and discussed in the media, it’s important to recognize their strengths and weaknesses. First, the overall numbers sometimes mask big differences between groups of entrepreneurs because the surveys are given to very different business owners. Some are male, and some female; some sell products and others provide services; and some serve consumers and others serve businesses. The respondents vary in age, income, number of employees, and years in business.

If the optimism and pessimism of all of these business owners moved in lock step over time, the tendency to focus on the average of all of them wouldn’t be a big deal. Whether optimism was high or low would pretty much be the same for everyone. But when the levels of optimism of different groups don’t all move in the same way over time (they aren’t that highly correlated), then knowing the average but not what’s happening with the different groups hides important information.

I don’t have data on the Optimism Index for different groups of respondents to the NFIB survey, but I do have it for the DSBW from December 2006 through January 2010. So I can talk about those correlations.

While the optimism levels of all of groups are positively correlated, the correlations aren’t super high. For instance, the correlation between the optimism levels of the owners businesses that are one to two years old and those that are six to ten years old is only 0.44 over this time period.

Similarly, the optimism levels of business owners 18 to 29 only correlate 0.64 with those of business owners 65 and older, and optimism levels of owners making under $20,000 per year only correlate 0.66 with those making between $75,000 and $100,000. Thus something common affects the optimism of owners of different ages, those running different aged businesses, and those making different amounts of money, but different factors also drive their levels of optimism.

Second, the responses of the business owners to different questions on the surveys don’t all correlate highly. For instance, there is essentially no relationship (correlation of -0.02) between the share of business owners who say the economy is getting better and the percentage that say they have experienced temporary cash flow problems that caused them to hold off on paying some bills over the past 90 days. And the percentage of small business owners who say that the economy is getting better and the percentage that plan to increase spending on business development correlate only 0.36, while the percentage of owners who say the economy is getting better and the percentage that plan to hire correlates only 0.30 over the August 2006 through January 2010 time period.

What about the question everyone wants to know about right now: are businesses going to hire? Over the August 2006 through January 2010 time period, the share of owners planning to increase spending on business development is a better predictor than the percentage who say that overall economic conditions are improving (a correlation of 0.73 versus 0.36).

But here’s a piece of evidence that shows what a lot of people in Washington are worried about. If the data are split into two time periods – from August 2006 to June 2008 and from July 2008 through January 2010 – the correlation between the share of small business owners planning to spend more on business development and the percentage planning to hire is greater for the first period than for the second. That pattern suggests that the factors driving the spending and hiring plans are more different now than they were in the pre-financial crisis period.

What about the two optimism indices themselves? They’re pretty highly correlated. From December 2006 through January 2010, the NFIB and DSBW optimism indices correlate 0.85. Because the NFIB surveys its members (who tend to run larger businesses than the respondents to the DSBW), that level of correlation suggests that both indices are picking up general trends rather than factors affecting larger versus smaller small businesses or NFIB members versus nonmembers.

The overall measures correlate more highly than specific items. For instance, the NFIB’s measure of the percentage of small business owners who answer “better” minus the percentage that answer “worse” to the question: “About the economy in general, do you think that six months from now general business conditions will be better than they are now, about the same, or worse?” correlates only 0.40 with the percentage of respondents to the DSBW survey who answer “better” minus the percentage who answer “worse” to the question: “Generally speaking, are the economic conditions for your business getting better or worse in the next 6 months?” Unfortunately, we can’t tell whether this low correlation results from the types of businesses surveyed by the two groups or the difference between the NFIB’s focus on general conditions and the DSBW’s focus on the respondent’s business.

None of this says that there is anything wrong with these surveys. They provide us with useful information about what’s going with small business owners’ thinking on an up-to-date basis. We just need to be cautious about how we use them. We can’t assume that the patterns over time are going to be the same for both surveys, between questions on each survey, or between different groups of respondents to the surveys.

When you’re a small business, positive word-of-mouth is critical to growth. One of the best ways to get that buzz going is through publicity.  But how do you compete with the big guys, and get publicity?  Here are the only three steps you need to get great publicity FREE:

Step 1:  Have A Great Product, Service or Business

Most small businesses think that what they sell is great. 

The Key:  To get publicity, you need to provide what the media thinks is great.

Here are some examples of what makes products interesting to the media:

• A truly new product (just launched in the last few months or about to be launched)
• Unique, breakthrough product
• Works well, tastes great, etc. (In most cases the media will test out your product if they are interested in featuring it in a story)
• Colorful packaging / visually appealing – especially important for visual media
• Product ties into trends – organic/green, political, etc.
• Priced right – less than key price points ($100, $50, $25, $10) or priced high if truly a luxury item

Here are some examples of what makes services and businesses interesting to the media:

• New service, company or book (just launched in the last few months or about to be launched)
• Unique, breakthrough service, concept or business
• Provides ways to save money
• Offers something for free
• High rate of revenue and employee growth
• Ties into trends

Step 2:  Approach The Right Media Contact With A Great Pitch

You should only approach media that cover your type of product or business.  This means that you’ll need to read, listen to or view these media outlets prior to pitching them.

Once you determine that your business or product is a good fit for their editorial coverage, you need to find the right contact.  You can do this in several ways:

• Call up the media outlet and ask who the person is who covers your area
• Look at the print masthead or producer credits
• Search online 
• Buy a list – you can find these online

Then you need to pitch the contact. Include why your product or service is a great fit for that media outlet, as well as a product or service description.  Don’t forget to include your contact information.

You can pitch via phone or email.  Here, you can see a sample pitch for a product or service business.

Step 3: Follow Up

This is the part that trips up most do-it-yourself publicists and even P.R. folks.  Once the media has expressed interest in your product or service, you must be persistent in contacting them. 

Often you’ll need to follow-up with them several times, via the phone or email, until you have gotten media coverage.

By following these steps, your chances of getting publicity are greatly increased.  And once you get publicity, you’ll see more buzz, more sales and more credibility for your business.