Bizapalooza: An Online Event to Crank Up Your Bottom Line


Bizapalooza Bottom Line

Find it hard to get away from your business to attend conferences in person?  Air flights and hotel charges just not in your budget? But still hunger for valuable resources?

We’ve got the answer.

The first ever Bizapalooza virtual conference aims to provide just as much content and information as an in-person event, but without the inconvenience or cost. The event, which will be held online July 16-18, 2013, will include presentations from well-known small business experts like Anum Hussain of Hubspot; Bridget Weston Pollack, Marketing Director of SCORE; Jim Kukral; and Sabrina Parsons, CEO of Palo Alto Software.

There are more than 20 speakers who will present at the event.

Inspiration in Numbers

It’s a well-documented fact that there are some 28 million small businesses in the US alone.  Bizapalooza Founder, Ivana Taylor, (you might know her as Small Business Trends’ Book Editor) thought, what if every one of those businesses — and from other countries, too — had the resources and knowledge to grow their businesses enough to hire just one more person? What sort of impact could that have on our economy?

Creating 28 million new jobs is no easy task, but Taylor understood the power of the individual business owner in making that happen. She looked at the reach she had as a blogger, author and social media user, and realized she just might be able to reach millions of small business owners through her network.  “If I could reach a sizable number of those business owners, then I could provide them with a useful resource, like a virtual event, that could help them create just one more job,”  Taylor noted.

From there, Taylor decided to create a virtual event that brings the fun and energy of the rock concert experience to building and growing a business.  She considers Bizapalooza the business version of the 1990’s Lollapalooza music events.  But instead of grunge-wearing teens, the attendees would be committed business owners. There would still be a killer soundtrack, of course.

Bizapalooza Details

The topics will be as varied as the diverse group of speakers Taylor has organized. Some topics slated for the agenda include:

  • Rock Your Business; What You and Your Company Can Learn from the Business of Rock and Roll” (David Fishoff, Rock and Roll Fantasy Camp)

  • How to Select an Online Marketing Company and Not Get Scammed  (Tim O’Connor, Marcademy)

  • How to Become a Twitter Ninja  (Melinda Emerson, The Small Biz Lady)

  • How to Increase Your Blog Readers by 10x  (Anita Campbell, Small Business Trends)

  • DIY Press Releases: Go from Zero to Publicity in 30 Minutes (Susan Payton, CEO of Egg Marketing — and yours truly)

And that soundtrack? Not a joke. Taylor compiled a playlist of all the presenters’ favorite rock songs to inspire the rock n’ roll theme for the event.

The virtual conference is free to attend. Register here: http://smallbizapalooza.com/

4 Comments ▼

Susan Payton Susan Payton is the Communications Manager for the Small Business Trends Awards programs. She is the President of Egg Marketing & Communications, an Internet marketing firm specializing in content marketing, social media management and press releases. She is also the Founder of How to Create a Press Release, a free resource for business owners who want to generate their own PR.

4 Reactions
  1. Shawn Hessinger

    Hi Susan,
    Thanks for sharing. It seems like it would be a wonderful event. Have to see whether I can clear enough time in my schedule to attend. And I’d suggest others in the community look at their availability and about the possibility of doing the same.

    • The good thing is: I believe the presentations will be available after as a recording. So you can still benefit even if you’re not there in real time!

  2. Martin Lindeskog

    Susan: I look forward to the event! I am not so much into rock music, but I will listen to AC/DC’s Moneytalks… 🙂