Small Business Trends

Online small business is about bringing together community.

And what better way to do so than by bringing together two of the Web’s quickest growing and complementary small business communities, BizSugar.com and Bloggertone.

We’re proud to announce the return of the Sugartone “Sweet Business Blogging Contest” contest bringing members of both the BizSugar and Bloggertone communities together for the purpose of sharing and promoting some of the finest small business news, information and tips online.

Our theme for the contest will be “Making your business amazing” and this time around, Hewlett-Packard will join us as sponsor for the competition offering two exciting prizes for the winners.

BizSugar is a small business news and social media site allowing members to share, comment and vote on their own content or other resources from across the Web crowd sourcing the finest tips and information from a community of more than 51,000 members.  

Bloggertone is a business blogging community welcoming contributors on a variety of related topics including sales, finance, marketing, management, growth, technology and global business issues.

The site’s about page describes it as “…a place where business professionals like you can stand out.  Our readership includes entrepreneurs, senior managers and professionals across many industries.”

Want to take part? It’s simple:

• Create a blog post. It’s got to be original content, not published anywhere else on the Web, draw from your expertise in some aspect of business appropriate to our two communities and fit within the theme of “Making your business amazing.” (Check out both for examples of the type of material others have submitted before you.)
• Now, submit your post. You can submit blog posts to Bloggertone for publication starting Monday Aug. 30 at 4 p.m. GMT/9 a.m. EST and the submission part of the contest will run until Monday Sept. 6 4 p.m. GMT/9 a.m. EST.
• Now vote, vote, vote. Your Bloggertone submissions will be added to the BizSugar community where BizSugar members like you can vote and comment on your favorites beginning Monday Aug. 30 at 4 p.m. GMT/9 a.m. EST through Thursday Sept. 9  4 p.m. GMT/9 a.m. EST. (Becoming a  member of the BizSugar community is free and easy. Sign up here.)

 The winners:

• First Prize. The blogger receiving the highest number of votes on the BizSugar community will receive a $350 HP gift certificate
• Second Prize. A second prize, a $250 HP gift certificate, will be awarded for the “most engaging comment” as selected by our judges.

For more on the specifics of the contest check the official announcement here.

NOTE: If you’d like to help us spread the word about the SugarTone contest, just grab one of these great SugarTone banners and paste it on your site. (We promise it won’t leave a mark.) It’ll help us promote the event and get even more people involved. Thanks!