3 things you can learn from drawing

At South by Southwest, I again ran into Frank Robinson, Lockhart, TX. He was just coming out of the session on visual note taking, and he taught me three things about drawing and thinking.

• A mistake is something you did unintentionally, that looks different than what you wanted.

• If you can draw out the problem, you can solve it.

• Drawing on the Right Side of the Brain is a good beginners guide.

Do you draw?

New here? Take the Guided Tour. Like what you see? Subscribe.

I give you permission to brag

Every once in a while, someone will tell me, "I could never brag." Well, let me tell you something; you can brag here. I give you permission.

Even though I call this the Brag Basket, it's not really about bragging. It's about sharing. I started this so you can introduce yourself, share some good news, or congratulate a friend.

The basket is open all weekend, from May 28-31, 2010. Long weekend in the US. : )

Speak up and add yourself or another deserving soul in the comments. We all cheer, and everyone feels great. It lets you meet each other a bit. Reading each others' stories brings us a bit closer to being a community.

How does it work? You write a comment on this post, email me, tweet me, or comment on Facebook. You tell something great about your week, or you give applause to someone who did good stuff this week. Or you celebrate something wonderful that you tried that failed.

This is not an ad. (I delete the ads.) It's a conversation with friends. So jump in. And remember to cheer for each other.

New here? Take the Guided Tour. Like what you see? Subscribe.

Can you sell a sole proprietor or have more than one owner

Because there are so many sole proprietor businesses, two questions come up over and over: Can you sell a sole proprietor business? and Can a sole proprietor have more than one owner?


Can you sell a sole proprietorship?

Pirate Bob, Sole Proprietor

Yes. You are not selling stock like you would in a corporation, and you aren't selling partnership interest like you would in most LLCs. What you are selling is the assets. According to IRS rules, you personally own the assets of your business. So you can decide what to include in the sale of the business. Besides the physical assets, you're also selling your list of customers, your existing good name as a business, and other intangible assets. Sometimes you'll see these intangibles called "blue sky value" or "good will."

The new owner pays you whatever price you agree upon, and you transfer ownership of the assets. At the very least, you issue a Bill of Sale. For some assets, like autos, you'll need to do the usual legal transfer of ownership.

Can a sole proprietor have more than one owner? 
No. A sole proprietor is one person.

If you are considering a short term project with two or more sole proprietors, you might use a Joint Operating Agreement or other legal agreement to document your arrangement. That way each individual remains a sole proprietor. If you don't create some form of agreement, you may be considered a general partnership, which is not a great deal.

If you are wanting a more long term arrangement to work together, or you want to give or sell ownership interest in your sole proprietorship, then you'll need to create a different type of business entity. See When NOT to Be a Sole Proprietor.



If you have more questions about sole proprietorship, ask in the comments.


New here? Take the Guided Tour. Like what you see? Subscribe.

Third Tribe is my marketing mastermind group

Third Tribe has turned into my marketing mastermind group.

I'm taking time to talk about it today, because the monthly fee goes to $97 per month after Monday, May 31, 2010. If you want to lock in $47 per month for the life of your membership, now is the time to join. 

Third Tribe was designed to bridge the gap between two opposing tribes: the hard core internet marketers ("make money at all costs!") and the kumbaya bloggers ("how dare you make money?!").  I'm somewhere in between, in the Third Tribe. I blog, and I'm in business. But you won't catch me making a sales page with yellow highlighter and HUGE red text. You've seen those pages; admit it: they make you feel... icky.

When I first joined, the only thing I did was read and interact in the forums. That ability to ask questions, get answers, discuss what would work best for my business and my customers, was more than enough to justify my membership. My most recent question was about how we should distribute content to our members at Tourism Currents. Should we allow them any opportunity to work ahead, or should we lock them in to one lesson at a time? What marketing and learning considerations play into that? The quality of answers was outstanding! I had people sharing their own perspective as students, as course designers, as marketers, and even a corporate curriculum designer. That was some pretty valuable feedback. That is why I call this my marketing mastermind group.

For a while, I ignored the seminars because I thought they were just going to be more of the same-old interviews with bloggers. I have to thank Greg Balanko-Dickson for asking me some questions that encouraged me to go look at them. So I listened to the first few. Ooooooooo, I was wrong! People that I'd heard talk plenty of times were now talking about the details of their business, things I hadn't heard before.

Chris Brogan's recent interview of John Jantsch was a terrific example. I wrote down a couple of pages of ideas for getting more referrals, for my online and offline businesses. Each seminar comes with a transcript and a Next Action Worksheet. If I was as smart as I should be, I would download and use those. They are full of pointed, sometimes challenging questions.

So if you are a marketer, wanting to learn more about the actual practice of selling through building relationships, this could be your mastermind group, too. If you think you can benefit and contribute to the group and get your money's worth, I hope you will join Third Tribe. If you use my link to join, I earn a small commission. But, if it doesn't sound like a good fit for you, I hope you'll pass on it.

New here? Take the Guided Tour. Like what you see? Subscribe.

Tourism and social media

Tourism has more to gain from social media marketing than any other industry. That's my opinion. It's also why Sheila Scarborough and I created Tourism Currents.


Two quick updates from Tourism Currents:

1. We're getting close to reopening the courses to a new round of students. If you want to know more about how to use social media to draw more visitors to your town, you would probably love Tourism Currents courses. Want to be one of the first to know when we reopen? Sign up for our Early Bird List.
   
   
2. In cooperation with BlogWorld Expo, we'll be presenting a live training event for tourism professionals, CVB's (Convention and Visitors Bureaus), Convention Center promoters, etc. The bonus? It's part of BlogWorld, giving you the chance to connect with bloggers, podcasters, and other online content creators. These are the people who can help spread the word about your destination online. We're planning networking meetings, tweetups, and possibly speed dating to help destination marketers network with the people who can provide them with online coverage. This is still in the early stages, so I'll let you know as we get it worked out.

That's all the latest. I knew you'd want to know. Thanks for listening!

PS - How do you like the new signpost graphics that Kim Fenolio made for us? She makes us look good!


New here? Take the Guided Tour. Like what you see? Subscribe.

Small businesses should promote tourism

Last week, a simple Facebook post about tourism turned into an impromptu brainstorming session. Let's add to it. Here's the original post, a tweet I borrowed from @Miss_Dazey:

from @Miss_Dazey: "Personal opinion: Small businesses should promote tourism. Tourists like neat local places, don't always know about them."

Becky McCray

Karen Hoeltzel Payne and Deb During Debworks Brown like this.


Vikki Dearing: I so agree!!!




GlennaMae Hendricks: And, then, get the local CofC/Tourist Bureau to issue everyone who stops by a map with "neat local places" starred or dotted or whatever--AND put the map up on the website and KEEP IT UPDATED!




Deb During Debworks Brown: and the Chamber and Tourism people need to team up and promote each other. Then there's the walking tours and driving tours you can download from the website. I could go on and on and on!



GlennaMae Hendricks: Now, if "the powers that be" were only listening! (Alternatively, Becky & I & Deb could just be allowed to run the world. ;P)


Join the brainstorming! What can you add?

New here? Take the Guided Tour. Like what you see? Subscribe.

What is your success rate

 Seen at the Kansas Cosmosphere:

Up to the day of President Kennedy's speech [announcing the plan to go to the moon within the decade], NASA and the US military had attempted 80 satellite launches, and 49 had been failures. 
Success rate 39%

What is your success rate? Would setting an audacious goal help you improve? 

How do you inspire others to trust you, even when your current success rate is not that good?

New here? Take the Guided Tour. Like what you see? Subscribe.

Shop Local idea for small business

A local merchant had a radio ad where at the end... they mentioned their local competition and asked us to keep $$ local. Very cool.
@codyks on Twitter

Now that is a commitment to shop local. Also particularly good for small towns.

New here? Take the Guided Tour. Like what you see? Subscribe.

I could never brag except in the Brag Basket

Every once in a while, someone will tell me, "I could never brag." Well, let me tell you something; you can brag here. I call this the Brag Basket, but it's not really about bragging. It's about sharing. I started this so you can introduce yourself, share some good news, or congratulate a friend.
The basket is open all weekend, from May 21-23, 2010. 

Speak up and add yourself or another deserving soul in the comments. We all cheer, and everyone feels great. It lets you meet each other a bit. Reading each others' stories brings us a bit closer to being a community. 

How does it work? You write a comment on this post, email me, tweet me, or comment on Facebook. You tell something great about your week, or you give applause to someone who did good stuff this week. Or you celebrate something wonderful that you tried that failed.

This is not an ad. (I delete the ads.) It's a conversation with friends. So jump in. And remember to cheer for each other.

New here? Take the Guided Tour. Like what you see? Subscribe.

Promote your business with stamps and stickers

Here's a low cost and low tech promotional idea: rubber stamps and adhesive stickers.

They've been around for ever, the ultimate in low tech. But you can use them to promote your high-tech outreach.

Stamp your paper sacks, paper invoices, paper envelopes, or paper receipts. Sticker your packages, wrappers or brochures.

Here are some ideas for high tech messages:

• Like us on Facebook (URL)
• Get specials on Twitter (URL)
• Check in here for deals (FourSquare and Gowalla logos)
• Join our insiders email list (URL)
• Get specials via text message (short code)

(URL=web site address. If needed, shorten it at su.pr, bit.ly, or is.gd so it will fit comfortably on a sticker or stamp.)

Advantages of the rubber stamp:

• Nice contrast low tech/high tech
• Pay once, use forever
• Can stamp cloth, like tshirts

Advantages of the stickers:

• Can hand them out, let customers share them
• Will work on slicker materials, like plastic or mylar bags, or hard surfaces like laptop cases

Use caution when handing out stickers. There is potential for people to misuse them, or stick them where they don't belong. So avoid handing them out to everyone at an event, especially kids. Unless you want to be branded as a vandal and graffiti vendor. 

Facebook Stickers

Here's where the idea for this post came from. I was talking with Scott Townsend of United Linen (Bartlesville, Oklahoma), and he mentioned they received a "Like us on Facebook" sticker. Scott is a video powerhouse, and so of course he video'ed it:


What can you add? What cool low tech/high tech ideas have you seen?

New here? Take the Guided Tour. Like what you see? Subscribe.

Attend the Small Business Social Media Summit and leave with a new marketing plan

I'm excited about the Small Business Social Media Summit in Hutchinson, KS, June 4-6, 2010.

I hope you'll come to hear local business owners who are utilizing social media every day, meet your peers and begin to build a peer network, and leave with a social media plan for your business.

First, meet Deb Brown, the powerhouse who dreamed up this event. She *gets* rural small business:



Real people, real businesses

Next, let's talk about what social media can do for real people, with real small businesses. Here are four real examples:

• Kelsey, 24 year old small business owner at Orange Possum, is active on Facebook. Debworks found a promotion at www.lovealocalbusiness.com on Twitter and recommended Kelsey. Her friends, family and customers voted for her company. She won a $5,000 grant.

• Judy Wrolson, small business owner of Cornerstone Cottage, works with Debworks to build and strengthen her social media presence. Her Facebook only promotions are a big hit in the community – and even bigger hit in her cash register. She’s now branching out and sharing her expertise on her blog.

• Hampton Area Chamber of Commerce created a Monday morning e-Newsletter that goes out to over 200 chamber members. Chamber members submit news, there’s a As Seen On Facebook section, ads are bought by members, and Chamber events are shared – both before and after the event. What’s the biggest hit of the newsletter? The pictures taken at events and the As Seen On Facebook section.

• The Old Stone House Organization, a non-profit in Franklin County, Iowa uses a blog to share news, pictures and videos. They raised over $80,000 to help restore the Old Stone House. The blog gives their out of town supporters a place to see what’s going on and feel like they are a part of the community.

These are just a few of the stories that emphasize the power of Social Media. Join us the first weekend in June, and learn how your company can create a social media plan. This will be the best conference you’ll ever attend. Registrations are still open, and I recommend you register today.

Real presenters, real business owners

Now, let's meet a couple of the presenters, the Bigg Success team, George Krueger and MaryLynn Foster:

And, finally, yes, I did a video, too:


This event could be business-changing for you. Go now, and get registered. If you're still wanting more details, go to the event site: www.smallbizsocialmediasummit.com


New here? Take the Guided Tour. Like what you see? Subscribe.

Rural entrepreneurship notes from High Plains RCD

In July 2009, I attended the High Plains Resource Conservation and Development Board meeting in Taloga, Oklahoma. While I was officially there to present their new website, I couldn't help learning and taking notes.

Dr. Larry Sanders from Oklahoma State University spoke about wide ranging rural business issues, including marketing, entrepreneurship, retaining youth, and tourism. Here are the notes I made from his talk.

• The number one rule of marketing is delight the customer.

• If you have an idea, do something with it. Get out there and find that first customer or group of customers.

• You're got lots of help around you, a real support system. (referring to the RC&D and other community resource people in attendance)

• Most people live where they do because they want to.

• Imagine if we could each find one idea we could take back and help our graduating seniors decide to stay in our community. 

• Go out and see what your local business are doing, and let the rest of the world know it. Find out what they need, and access this business support system to help them stay in business or grow. 

• Ask your tourists what would cause them to stay an extra night. 

• Let them [tourists] get to know you. Maybe they'd like to stay here.

• There is a tide in the affairs of men, which when taken to at the flood leads to fortune. Shakespeare, Julius Ceasar.

RC&D has a big role in rural entrepreneurship. The purpose of an RC&D board is "to encourage and improve the capability of State and local units of government and local non-profit organizations in rural areas to plan, develop, and carry out programs for resource conservation and development." (Public Law 97-98, Sec. 1528) If you live anywhere in the United States, including most territories, you are probably part of an RC&D area. You can find yours at the National Association of RC&D Councils.

New here? Take the Guided Tour. Like what you see? Subscribe.

Share your good news in the Brag Basket

Every week, I open a new Basket. I call it the Brag Basket, but it's not really about bragging. It's about sharing. I started this so you can introduce yourself, share some good news, or congratulate a friend.

The basket is open all weekend, from May 14-16, 2010. 

Speak up and add yourself or another deserving soul in the comments. We all cheer, and everyone feels great. It lets you meet each other a bit. Reading each others' stories brings us a bit closer to being a community. 

How does it work? You write a comment on this post, email me, tweet me, or comment on Facebook. You tell something great about your week, or you give applause to someone who did good stuff this week. Or you celebrate something wonderful that you tried that failed.

This is not an ad. (I delete the ads.) It's a conversation with friends. So jump in. And remember to cheer for each other.

New here? Take the Guided Tour. Like what you see? Subscribe.

Quick facts on the Oklahoma economy

What industries make up the Oklahoma economy? Where are most of the jobs?

@Stargardener asked, and @DeidreDMyers of the Oklahoma Department of Commerce came to the rescue.


2008 Gross Domestic Product for Oklahoma

• Mining 14% (Oil and Gas included)
• Manufacturing 11%
• Real estate 8%
• Health Care and Social Asst 6.8%
• Retail trade 6.7%

2009 Jobs by Sector in Oklahoma

• Retail trade 10%
• Health care and social asst 9.7%
• Manufacturing 6.8%
• Accommodation and food service 6.5%

Myers pointed out that Government leads both categories in Oklahoma, with a GDP % of 15.7 and jobs % of 16.5. Remember that Government includes federal, state, local, military, and the tribal nations.

UPDATE: Myers emailed me the charts that go with this data.Click the images for the larger view.
 

New here? Take the Guided Tour. Like what you see? Subscribe.

Entrepreneurship webinar May 13 2010

The second of the two part series on "Entrepreneurship and Rural Communities" is scheduled for May 13, 2010 at 2 p.m. EDT; 1 p.m. CDT; 12 noon MDT; 11 a.m. PDT.

The May webinar will focus on two innovative programs in Missouri that are focused on place-based economic development. The projects have taken very different approaches. One has taken a broad based community economic development and youth entrepreneurship focus while the other emphasizes local foods and tourism. Presenters will discuss the challenges they faced, how they built their teams, developed their plans and the successes that they've had. These are two very dynamic projects that have gotten national attention for their unique strategies and community engagement styles.

If you missed the April session which featured two programs, Energizing Entrepreneurs and Developing Entrepreneur Ready Communities you can find the presentation materials and the recording at the eXtension Entrepreneurs and Their Communities site.

eXtension Entrepreneur and Their Communities webinars are on the 2nd Thursday of every month.  All of our webinars are recorded and available for on-demand viewing but nothing beats the live presentation so mark your calendars and spend an hour a month learning with us! Please feel free to join us on the 2nd Thursday of the month at 2 p.m. EDT; 1 p.m. CDT; 12 noon MDT; 11 a.m. PDT.

All webinars are one hour long. Free and open to everyone, this session is part of a monthly series. The Web meeting room opens 10 minutes before the start time. Go to connect.extension.iastate.edu/ecop to view. Newcomers to online learning are welcome.


New here? Take the Guided Tour. Like what you see? Subscribe.

Ben Curnett finds the common ground

West Virginian Ben Curnett took time out at SOBCon to talk about small business, tourism, and small towns. How can our unique geography unite, rather than divide us?

Find Ben on Twitter: @bencurnett
and at Matterhorn Marketing.



New here? Take the Guided Tour. Like what you see? Subscribe.

100 tips to get your business going

Our friend GL Hoffman has probably forgotten more about being an entrepreneur than I may ever know. 

His booklet, StartUp: 100 Tips To Get Your Business Going, is an outstanding short, punchy resource. I found myself nodding and agreeing. A lot. If I was teaching entrepreneurship as a course, I think I would use this book to start discussions. If I knew someone starting a business for the first time, I'd hand them a copy.

 

If you want your own copy, you can get it for free, as a PDF download. Download a copy of Startup: 100 Tips to Get Your Business Going.

GL is connected with an excelent resource for job hunters:  LINKUP.com. (job listings directly from company websites - very good stuff with a decent reach into small towns.)

New here? Take the Guided Tour. Like what you see? Subscribe.

Back home for the Brag Basket

Every week, I open a new Basket. I call it the Brag Basket, but it's not really about bragging. It's about sharing. I started this so you can introduce yourself, share some good news, or congratulate a friend.

The basket is open all weekend, from May 7-9, 2010. 

Speak up and add yourself or another deserving soul in the comments. We all cheer, and everyone feels great. It lets you meet each other a bit. Reading each others' stories brings us a bit closer to being a community. 

How does it work? You write a comment on this post, email me, tweet me, or comment on Facebook. You tell something great about your week, or you give applause to someone who did good stuff this week. Or you celebrate something wonderful that you tried that failed.

This is not an ad. (I delete the ads.) It's a conversation with friends. So jump in. And remember to cheer for each other.

New here? Take the Guided Tour. Like what you see? Subscribe.

My blog knows everything about my business

How could your blog know everything about your business? You could tell it, as part of capturing and sharing the valuable knowledge in your small business.


Whenever your small business brings on a new person, there is a period of adjustment and training. You have to teach them what to do, how it's done here, tricks that make things easier, traps to avoid, and all the basics. Then there are stories from the company, founding stories, people stories, and customer stories.

Your current method of capturing and sharing all this info probably works like most small businesses. You bring in a new person, show them only the bare minimum to get them started, and then work in other things as you can. None of it is formal or scheduled, so the training is hit or miss.

But what if you blogged that knowledge? You could use any blogging system (Blogger, TypePad, WordPress, Posterous) to capture and save all the training materials and stories. It's as easy as sending an email. As for security, Blogger allows you to limit a blog to certain viewers, and I'm sure the other systems do, too.

Start on it the next time you bring in a new person. As you teach them something, also add it to your blog. Maybe even have the new person add it as a draft for you to edit and approve. It would give you an instant check on their understanding.

Use the multiple media available to you. Record stories in audio or video. Use video for how-to demonstrations. Use text for complex or lengthy information. Include lots of photos. Involve everyone on your team. Celebrate successes. Profile important customers.

Rick Mahn and I came up with this idea. What do you think? Could you make it work in your small business?

New here? Take the Guided Tour. Like what you see? Subscribe.

Take time for all things

I'm away on retreat, working with a great group of people.

Tweetup at the Swansons' home:
Nancy Swanson, Andrew Swanson,
Paul Merrill, Deb Brown, Becky McCray,
Glenda Watson Hyatt, and Jon Swanson

We're working on our own things, in our own classrooms. But we seem to come together at all the right moments to focus on something someone is struggling with. I've had a couple of moments of great clarity. Moments I wouldn't have had in my regular routine.

In the Business and Professional Women, we used a Collect with the line, "Take time for all things." I don't think that means to try to "do it all." I think it means, for all the things you do, take time for them. And take time away when you need to.


New here? Take the Guided Tour. Like what you see? Subscribe.

Rick Mahn shares his networking secrets

Rick Mahn is a long-time friend, and recently launched his own business.

He took time to talk to me about his online networking secrets, going to in person events, and the parallels between small cities and small towns. He also tells about his new business and using social tools behind the firewall.

Download the audio here.

Find Rick online at his blog: www.rickmahn.com and on Twitter: @RickMahn.

Photo (CC) by Tyson Goodridge.

New here? Take the Guided Tour. Like what you see? Subscribe.

Free webinars through NFIB

The National Federation of Independent Businesses has a good line up of free webinars in May, 2010.

I've been keeping an eye on their webinars since I did one for them back in January.

This month's topics will include the bottom line effects of the new health care bill as well as cap and trade proposals, building your dream team, common causes of employee lawsuits, and using social media marketing. The first one is this Wednesday, May 5, 2010.

There is no charge to register or attend, and in fact, they are offering some inducements. NFIB will be drawing for an iPad.

Link: NFIB May 2010 webinars

New here? Take the Guided Tour. Like what you see? Subscribe.

Tell your small business story to enter The Comeback 2010

Joshua Neckes sent me some information on an interesting contest from Cortera, www.cortera.com. (Coretera calls itself a community-driven credit/business information provider that allows smaller businesses to check on the payment history of vendors and clients. Seems reasonable.)

The contest is called "The Comeback 2010", www.thecomeback2010.com, and is encouraging small business owners to submit inspiring stories for a chance to win $3500 - with total prizes over $8000.

There are four categories for stories:

• The Comeback: Tell us an inspiring story about a time when you went "all-in" for your business against big odds - perhaps a tough economy, or a fierce competitor.
• Cough It Up: Ever had trouble getting reimbursed by a business partner/vendor? We want to hear the story of how you got paid, and recovered the money you needed to grow your business.
• Hanging Out the Shingle: Tell us the story of when you broke from the pack, and started living your small business dream.
• Hometown Success: Share the story of how your company is making a real difference in your local community this year.

Guess which category caught my attention?

The small business can tell their own story, or anyone can nominate a favorite local business. Our friend Denise O'Berry is one of the judges.

The contest runs through June 15, 2010.


New here? Take the Guided Tour. Like what you see? Subscribe.