Small Business Trends

It’s easy to watch someone else get all the glory. All you have to do is stand and listen. But if you’re an entrepreneur who craves media attention, you may ask yourself, “Why isn’t that me in front of the camera?”

Molding your business into an industry and media darling takes time and planning. If you truly want free publicity, it’s up to you to start and maintain the process of becoming an industry leader. Here are three painless steps to begin.

1. Write a comment or rebuttal whenever you see an article regarding your industry or a situation that impacts on your business.

Articles are published in trade journals, local newspapers, state-based magazines, and on Web sites. Save each submitted comment in a Word or Notepad document, along with…

Did you ever notice … it seems that everyone is always more interested in the things they are NOT supposed to know, things such as secrets?  It’s true — people love secrets and are attracted to knowledge of “insider information.”  And we’ve got some of that here for you.

We’ve got some of our own ”insider information” to share, thanks to YOU, the Small Business Trends community.

You see, one of our most popular articles in the last year has been our collection of “Marketing Secrets.” Over the past several months people have been referencing the article, linking to it, and best of all - even talking about how they used some of the secrets successfully.

So we thought it would be a good idea to take a second look…

Last month we asked you to share your best Twitter Tips with us and in return we would enter you in our most recent giveaway.

The prize?  A beautiful, brand new HP 1116NR netbook computer.

We received about 150 tips (some multiple tips from the same person).  The tips came in via Twitter, through email, and as comments on the blog post.

After our editors reviewed them, we ended up with 137 excellent usable tips that are currently being composed into a downloadable document which we will make available to you very soon.

Using the Random.org tool, we chose one lucky winner at random.

Congratulations to Cynthia Sutton the winner of the HP mini Netbook computer!

Cynthia’s winning Twitter tip for small businesses in the category of “time management” was:

“Set specific…

Small businesses are agile. They’re known for being innovative and creative. They’re able to test and try things far easier than a larger company. As a small business, you want to use this to your advantage. Yes, I know you’re swamped with limited resources, but so many of the great things you can do for your company don’t actually require that large an investment.  You just need the nerve and foresight to try them. Like starting down the road of using online video to connect with and engage customers and boost your search engine rankings.

But…we don’t have time for that!

Before you mentally list off all the reasons why online video won’t work for your small business, let me tell you why it will.

As a small…

We’re holding another one of our “roundup” posts where we ask for your tips and advice. This one will be about using Twitter in your business.

We invite you to submit a tip.  Then we’ll include it in our roundup of “Tips from the Trenches: How Small Businesses Get the Most from Twitter.”

It’s excellent marketing exposure for you.  It’s also a wonderful way to learn from others.

To participate, all you need to do is answer one of the following questions:

• Getting Started: How would you suggest other small businesses get started on Twitter?
• Smart Marketing: What’s the right way (or wrong way) to promote your business on Twitter?
• Observing Etiquette: What is your #1 Twitter etiquette tip for small business owners?
• Spreading Your Message: What is your best tip for getting…

I was just reading an article about energy savings that got me reflecting on my own “green” business practices.

The year 2009 is the year that I am paying much more attention to being green in my business. How about you?

(1) We’re doing a lot more with recycling. We’ve been taking old computer and other electronic equipment to a central electronics recycling location.  Amazingly, we live and work in a location that does not require us to separate recyclables. Supposedly everything is separated at a central plant and then recycled (if you believe that). But we’re looking at some voluntary recycling options, starting with the electronic equipment.

(2) Another big area of focus is in power management on office equipment, for energy efficiency. We’ve replaced some inefficient equipment and are…

True confession: In planning workshops I use this “fact” a lot:

An SBA study in the middle 1990s showed that 43% of the businesses that went under that year were profitable at the time.

It tells a very important story. It speaks truth. But it might not be true. I vaguely remember such a story, but I’ve searched for it, and I still can’t find it. It might also be true, but I’m not sure.

Furthermore, which tells the truth better: the story as I tell it above, with facts (43%), or the real truth, which would be:

I’m pretty sure I saw a study once that showed a surprisingly large number of companies going under even though they were profitable.

So, you tell me, am I lying?…