Choose to share in the Brag Basket

What wonderful news will you choose to share this week? The basket is open all weekend, from January 28-30, 2011.

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

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.

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Capturing the best ideas for your business

Great marketing ideas for your business bombard you all the time. Your ability to capture the best of those ideas and execute them is one measure of your success.

Photo by koalazymonkey on Flickr

Those new promotion ideas come at you from all over. And you're reading online right now, coming up with even more. But those ideas are just slipping away.

To grab those slippery ideas, you need a system. One old fashioned way is an index card file: one new idea per card. Write down just enough to remember the idea.

• After every business conference, make up five new idea cards. 
• Read business books with index cards for page markers, filling them out as you go. 
• Carry index cards in your hip pocket. 
• Call promising ideas into your voice mail, to write down later. 

Now you've got a big pile of index cards. What are you going to do with them?

Keep the box on your desk. When you lament of slow sales or low performance, pull three cards out of the box. Pick the one idea that sounds best right now, and put it into action immediately. Put the other two back in the box for later.

You don't have to do paper, but it's more fun than a flat computer file. I'm a fan of Evernote for storing lots of things, but I think there is something to pulling out a physical piece of paper and focusing on one idea for a moment.

And you can do other kinds of ideas, besides marketing and promotion. Start a separate file for each subject. If you have one specific business subject you are focusing on learning, make an index card file for it. 

How do you capture and execute new ideas in your business?

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Webinars on social media for small business

My friend Des Walsh is offering a series of free, monthly webinars on social media for small business.

Des and I met at BlogWorld 2008
(He's drawing me a map
to his small town.)

The first issue will be TODAY, Monday, Jan. 24, 7pm USA Central Time.

Here is how Des describes it.

Going through to December 2011 (at least), this series of free monthly webinars will provide a way for business owners, entrepreneurs and freelance professionals to tap into current developments and thinking about social media in a business context, or “social business”. One of my aims is that the webinars will help participants ask better questions about social media. It will also provide a “space” to help participants develop social media roadmaps for their own businesses or careers.

I have a great deal of respect for Des. He is a savvy business person and knowledgeable on social media. He is also a small town kind of guy, with an understanding of rural issues. All of that adds up to a great resource for those of you looking to keep up on social media marketing.

You'll find the webinar details at DesWalsh.com.

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The eagerly awaited Brag Basket

I know one of you is eagerly awaiting the Brag Basket this week, so here it is! What wonderful news will you choose to share this week? The basket is open all weekend, from January 21-23, 2011.

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

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.

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Mistake: All talk, no action

Occasionally, we profile small business mistakes, so we can all learn and improve our businesses.

I called a local plumber and left a voicemail explaining what I needed done. Two days later, he called me back, and left me a voicemail. He said if I would call him back, we could talk about it. I didn't want to talk about it! I wanted him to do it! Or schedule a service call, or even say he couldn't do it. Talk would not move the job forward.

When you communicate with your customers, put the emphasis on action. The plumber could have told me when he expected to be available, or he could have asked for specific information he needed. Either would have been better than offering to talk about it.

For bonus points, be prompt in making your callbacks.

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Smart tradeshow handouts

These were the smartest trade show handouts at the Dallas Safari Club show this year. Vancouver Island Guide Outfitters printed targets on one side, and their flyer on the other.

Magic formula: a useful item, inexpensive, with room to feature your business. 

What creative and useful trade show handouts have you seen?

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Celebrate 5 years in the Brag Basket

Small Biz Survival is 5 years old today! And it's Friday, and that means Brag Basket. How perfect is that?

I promised Copyblogger we'd have cake.
Photo by Gerry Snaps

The Brag Basket is all about sharing. It's here so you can introduce yourself, share some good news, or congratulate a friend. So it's not really bragging.

The basket is open all weekend, from January 14-16, 2011. Happy Birthday, Small Biz Survival! Here's our very first post, laying out a bit of our manifesto. 

Speak up and add yourself or another deserving soul in the comments. We all cheer, and everyone gets cake. 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.

And here's to five more years, building together.

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The Next Group of Farm Entrepreneurs

The average age of US farmers is over 57.
Photo by Becky McCray

Here is a chance to double down in San Francisco on 24 January 2011.

Two million young people—many of them from rural backgrounds—have served in the U.S. military since the attacks of 9/11. These veterans are facing extremely hard times, with very high rates of unemployment. Farming can be their ticket to a bright future and they could help solve our nation’s severe shortage of new farmers.

If you are a post 9/11 veteran who might be interested in becoming a farmer, OR if you are an entrepreneur who has a service that would benefit such a farmer, you should go, or look for similar opportunities in your area.

Are you a post 9/11 veteran who is finding it hard to rejoin the greatly diminished work force and you enjoy being with nature? Look into the Farmer-Veteran Coalition. Did you grow a bean in a Dixie cup in Kindergarten? You can do this.

Does your business offer a way for the budding farmer to connect with his or her customers? Get involved.

And you readers of SmallBizSurvival.com, make sure you share with any veterans/future-farmers you encounter.

Can't make this event? Look around, and find a way to bring together veterans and farmers in your community.

Blogger blogs still work for small business

Image by iconshock

Blogger is one of the easiest ways to start a blog for a small business. Easiest, but not the best respected. To the blogging elite, the blogspot.com address has become a kind of badge of shame.

However, Blogger continues to introduce new ways to make your blog look good and work for a small business. Despite all the peer pressure to use WordPress, the secret is that what you share is more important than where you share it.

I've used WordPress, TypePad, Posterous, Tumblr, and more. Blogger still works for me and my small business. It's up to you to decide. Use the tools that suit you best.

The best location for a new visitor center

What's the best location for a new tourism visitor center?

"Instead of mall location, a smartphone location." 

My friend Scott Townsend pointed this out on Twitter.

Why?

"So much more info (maps, tours, photos, calendars, social media links, etc)"

Have you started building your smartphone location?

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My Weekly Planner

After I told you about my project folder, Jen asked for my day-to-day planning tool. So here it is: a simple weekly calendar.

If you can't see the video below, click here to open the original post.


Before I start my work week, I review the projects in my project folder and assign the next actions to particular days on my weekly planner.

I use the six most important things list every day to keep my focus on my priority items.

Of course, this is the ideal. I don't live up to it all the time, but I work at it.

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All 20 Trends Driving Rural Small Business in 2011

Each year, I do a rural small business trends article for Anita Campbell's Small Biz Trends. Here's the 2011 Trends Driving Rural Small Business.

In addition, I like to bring some bonus trends to my email subscribers, items that don't fit into that article, but are important for rural economies, along with some more analysis from me. The email subscribers have already received it, but now you can read Part 2 of the 2011 rural small biz trends here.

Finally, you can download a PDF Report of all 20 trends. To save it on your computer, right click on the link, and choose Save Target As. For Firefox or Chrome users, choose Save Link As.

Please do share this report with your staff, organization members and businesses that would benefit from reading it. Note: You must ask permission before you reprint it in any publication.

If you'd like to subscribe to our email newsletter, sign up below.

Note: I will never sell or distribute your contact information to any 3rd party. Every issue will have instructions on how to opt out.

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Kick off 2011 in the Brag Basket

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

The basket is open all weekend, from January 7-9, 2011. Happy New Year! 

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.


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More good stuff from Small Biz Survival

Small Biz Survival has grown. It isn't just blog posts any more! Here are some other places to connect, and other resources you can use.

Social Networks and Community

• Facebook
  I post links to a few of our best articles, and I try to allow lots of room for community discussion. Find us on Facebook.
• Twitter
  I share links to all Small Biz Survival articles and links to my shared items from Google Reader. And I'm always up for a good conversation. Follow us on Twitter. 
• Shared Stories
  I monitor news stories about rural small business and entrepreneurship, and I share the best on Google Reader. I also share blog posts from a whole range of interesting authors. Check out my shared items page, or pick up the RSS feed. 

Ebooks and Reports

• Rural Small Business Trends 
  A free report with 20 of the top trends driving rural small business in 2011.
  
• Business Ideas
  A free ebook with 20 Small Business Ideas for Small Towns. Brought to you by Network Solutions.
• Shop Local
  An inexpensive ebook guiding you to a successful Shop Local campaign in your small town.
  
• Writing Tips
  A free compilation of four articles of Writing Tips for Small Business Owners, by guest author Denise McGill.

Newsletter and Get All Posts by Email

• Newsletter
  Our weekly email newsletter with bonus items, links to great stuff in the archives, and more stories designed to share with others in your community. Sign up here.
  
• Posts by Email
  If you'd like each article we post here delivered to your email, sign up here. 

Marketing for Rural Tourism, Hospitality and Economic Development
In a separate project with Sheila Scarborough, Tourism Currents teaches tourism professionals how to reach more visitors with social media.

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Tell your compelling business story

I love it when a small business tells their story in a compelling way. Here is one terrific example.

(If you can't see the video below, click to open the original post.)


I recently ordered from NutsOnline.com, because I loved the way they presented their family history all over their website. Their fun personality shines through in every product description, in the testimonials on every single page, and in the emails they send.

Takeaway for any small town business: 

Tell your unique story. It's something no big business can compete with. 

By the way, the chocolate almonds are delicious. Really, really delicious.

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Get the heck out of Dodge

Here's a terrific poster I saw in Dodge City, Kansas.

Turning around the phrase, "Get the heck out of Dodge," the Dodge City/Ford County Development Corporation has "Get the heck into Dodge!"

Ten bonus points for their excellent website address: DodgeCityHasJobs.com - Their whole site gives a wonderful impression of the community and their current economic strength.

It's a good example of taking a seemingly negative phrase and making it positive. It's also a good example of going with what you're known for, at the same time that you build a new perception. The website showcases the early history alongside the current economy.

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Want the annual rural small biz trends? Sign up for the newsletter

My annual rural small biz trends email is coming soon. To get it, sign up for my email newsletter.

Trends is always the most popular email of the year. See, each year I do a trends post for Small Biz Trends. And each year, I have more to say about trends. There are some extra trends that don't make the main article, that I share with subscribers of the email newsletter. And this year, there are some major points of analysis about natural resources, social media, and people trends.

My 2011 Trends Driving Rural Small Business post is now online, so the email will follow late Monday.

Sign up for the newsletter to get it http://eepurl.com/fQW5

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End of year accounting reminders - mileage and inventory

Time for two critical end of year accounting tasks: mileage and inventory.

Use your vehicle for business? Write down your mileage at the beginning of the year. Learn more about deducting business use of your vehicle.

Sell products? Take an inventory of all products on hand at the turn of the year. Make products? Inventory your raw materials. Learn more about inventory and cost of goods sold.

Happy New Year! Take the actions now that will make it a great one in your business.

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