Is it time to rent office space

One of the milestones of small business is your first office space. But how do you know when the time is right? And where do you find space that works for a small business?

My favorite "home office" on safari

Know your plan
Jeffrey A. Landers divides home-office businesses into two group, with two distinct solutions:

• If you want to grow a big business, move out of the home office as soon as possible
• If you want to stay one person scale, keep the home office and find a supporting space.

I received a review copy of his book, The Home Office from Hell Cure, where he explains more and offers a quiz. If you're struggling with home office problems, it's well worth checking out.

The Brag Basket is always free

What wonderful news will you choose to share? The basket is always free and open all weekend, from February 25-27, 2011.

This week's basket photo by Jason Tester

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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Competing with free by adding value

Free is a pretty compelling price. How can you compete with that? Is it possible to add enough value to be worth more than a competitor that is free?

Cheap or Free
Photo by Chris Brogan

The recent controversy within the social media community over Chris Brogan's Blog Topics newsletter provides a pretty good example. I've known Chris for years, and we've done business together, but I have no connection with his blog topics service.

Charging for Blog Topics
Chris is offering a weekly e-newsletter of blog topic ideas and charging just under $10 a month for it. This caused backlash from people who didn't like him charging for what seems like a very simple service: a list of blog post topic ideas. I heard it referred to as a 'rip off' since others offer blog topic ideas for free.

Charging money for something of value is not automatically a rip off, even if others offer a similar thing for free.

Getting the most out of conferences before you go

The past couple of weeks, we've been talking about how to get the money to attend those important conferences. Now, let's talk about how to make the most of those conferences. Let's start with preparation before the event.

It's all about planning. You need to know the five W's of your conference before you ever go.

Mark Williams and Bryan Person
at SXSW 2010

Who

• Who do you want to meet? Think customers, partners, competitors, mentors, and vendors.
• Who could you cooperate with?
• Who could send you customers? Who could you send customers for an affiliate offer?
• Who have you talked to several times, and you just need to push it over the edge and get something going with them? 

What

• What do you want to talk to these people about?
• What project are you working on that is too big for you alone? 
• What are you wanting to learn? What sessions should you make time for?

When and Where

• Set meetings up before you go.
• Are there sessions you don’t want to miss? Invite a friend to meet you at a particular session that relates to a project you’re working on.

Why

• Make an index card of your goals for the event.

A couple of other points 

• Order some business cards, if you're in a business card kind of industry. I still use a few (about a dozen) at most big conferences.
• Post something relevant on your blog.
• Post a recent photo of yourself on your blog or Twitter profile. Yes, you. Just do it.

What before-the-conference tips do you have?

Next in the series: make the most of your time at a conference.

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When saving a dollar could lose your community

[Melyn Johnson is the Main Street Manager in Guymon, Oklahoma. She always amazes me with her innovative projects in tourism and community development. She is also incredibly generous at sharing her knowledge. She wrote this piece for her "On the Bricks" column, in the Guymon Daily Herald. It's been reprinted in other area papers, and she kindly shared it with us. -Becky]

Just recently in conversation someone told me that they purchased their insurance online. Ouch. That really hurt. Biting my tongue is what hurt. The inclination for me to pull out the soap box, climb atop the box, and deliver a personal opinion was strong. But I maintained self-control. Until now.

Online? Really? The very thought gives me heartburn.

Building entrepreneurial communities training online

From the rural entrepreneurship newsletter:

e2 Training Goes Online!

Craig Schroeder, with the RUPRI Center, will present a three-part webinar series on Energizing Entrepreneurs (e2) this spring. Participants are strongly encouraged to register for all three sessions to gain the full benefit of this training and successfully apply it in their work.

The first session is a foundational introduction to entrepreneurship, and the development and support of local entrepreneurs as the bedrock of effective economic development. Participants will have an opportunity to relate the session content to their own community's support of entrepreneurs.

The second session digs into strategies for supporting entrepreneurs within an Entrepreneurial Development System (EDS) approach, including youth engagement, to nurture entrepreneurial talent and growth within a community or region. The session will help participants create a resource team of local and regional partners to support their work with entrepreneurs.

The third session is focused on steps for successfully mobilizing an EDS, and builds upon the previous session content and activities. Upon completing this session, participants will have the basic resources and knowledge to implement an EDS in their community or region.

Participants who register for the webinar series will receive an e2 Resource Toolkit in addition to the PowerPoint handouts for each session. For information on dates, cost and registration, please email Craig at craig@e2mail.org.

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Add some color to the Brag Basket

What has added color to your world this week? What wonderful news will you choose to share? The basket is open all weekend, from February 18-20, 2011.

Colorful Baskets by Miss Sydney Marie

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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Not finding conference sponsors? Sponsor yourself

Last week, we talked about finding conference sponsors from your local network, working with local businesses. Today, let's talk about being your own sponsor.

Adele McAlear shared her
experience with local sponsors
on last week's post

Why put your conference attendance into someone else's hands? Take charge and send yourself to the event. If it is worth attending, isn't it worth sponsoring yourself?

Here's how: 

1. Total up all your expenses for the trip.
Airfare or transportation, hotel, conference registration, meals, pocket money, and anything else that you'll have to pay.

2. Figure how much you'll need to save per month.
Count the number of months between now and the conference. Divide your total expenses into monthly amounts.

3. Make a plan to get there.
Figure out a way to dedicate some revenue to your conference fund.

• Offer a special sale. 
• Put one item on sale, and dedicate profit from it to your fund. 
• Set aside a percentage of all your sales. 
• Commit to an extra hour of work each week. 
• Make and hold one extra selling appointment per week. 

Let your customers know what your purpose is. You'll be surprised who is willing to spend a bit extra to help out, while still getting a good deal for themselves.

4. Not enough time? Start now for next year.
Yes, a full year out. If that's what it takes, do it.

How do you find the money to attend conferences?

Next week: How to earn your conference costs back, or getting the most out of conferences and events before you ever leave the house.

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8 ways to define your niche

Defining a distinct niche is key to building your small business. The narrower the niche, the wider the opportunity. Easy to say, but hard to do. Where do you find your niche? How do you define it?

Niche Marketing is Not Wrong

Jay Ehret speaking at the 140 Conference

Our friend Jay Ehret at The Marketing Spot wrote, "Why I don't find a niche" also titled as "Is Niche Marketing Wrong?" Great provocative title! I'll tell you more about Jay's niche at the end of this post.

Here are eight ways you can define and narrow down your small business niche.

1. Build at an Intersection
Look for a knowledge intersection. Start by listing out areas you know and skills you have. Where could you make those overlap?
Examples:

• Updated marketing skills for tourism: Sheila Scarborough and me in Tourism Currents
• Economic development for small towns: Jack Schultz's Agracel

As you read each of these other ways to carve out a niche, think of how you could overlap several of them into an unassailable position.

Elephants are a bargain at two for a quarter

Elephants in the Caprivi Strip, Namibia

Business management advice I heard twenty years ago:

"If they're selling elephants two for a quarter, that's a great bargain, but only if you have a quarter and only if you need elephants."

David N. Dinkins, 1990

Bought any elephants lately?

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Knock the snow out of the brag basket, and share something good

What wonderful news will you choose to share this week? The basket is open all weekend, from February 11-13, 2011.

Basket in the Snow
by Iguanasan, on Flickr

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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Finding local conference sponsors

Do you have conference sponsors? Are companies willing to pay you to attend a conference and represent their brand?

The Awesome Table at SOBCon '09,
an expensive but well-worth-it conference.
Becky McCray, Neenz Felaefine, Paul
Merrill, and Sheila Scarborough.

In some fields, it's considered common practice. In other fields, it's practically unheard of. I remember hearing legendary former Texas Governor Ann Richards speak, when her tour was sponsored by a pharmaceutical company. So sponsor relationships come in all sizes. 

There are several guides out there to finding these kind of sponsors to send you to a conference. My recommendation: Want to get Sponsored? You'd Better Be Sponsorable by Peter Shankman. He covered how to create an effective pitch statement and an example of providing value to your sponsor through blogging and other promotion. 

But what if you could work with local business? How would your approach need to be different? 

An easy tool to monitor the web

You know you should be keeping an eye on what is said about you online.

But most monitoring tools are too complex for the average person who doesn't spend all day online. And you sure don't want to share them with anyone who isn't a techie.

The simple monitoring tool: Addictomatic

Yeah, Addictomatic is a silly name. But it makes up for it with a good, solid service.

• It's simple and straightforward. 
• It sucks up a variety of the web, social media sites, blogs, and news.
• You can share the results with anyone, whether they know anything about computers or not. 

Who it's good for

Small business:

• Monitor your business name
• Monitor your competitors
• Monitor the superstars and trendsetters in your industry

Tourism: 

• Monitor your town name
• Monitor your main attractions, and see who's doing good stuff
• Monitor your regional neighbors for ideas

Picking just the sections you want

You can easily customize what is included. Don't want the YouTube section? Click the X to close it. 

Get it just how you want it, and bookmark it. Then come back whenever you want for updated results. 

What to do with what you find

Ah, but that is another story for another day. 

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5 Things NOT to Do When Connecting with People on Social Networks

[Stephanie Ward is a fellow Oklahoman, who happens to now reside in The Netherlands. She's been a good friend and coach, and I'm proud to offer this guest post from her. - Becky]

By Stephanie Ward

Everyone has an opinion about social networking and you’ll find a great disparity among people on what you should do, and should not do.

The thing is, you are connecting with real people so why not treat them that way? It just takes a bit of attention and hardly any extra time.

Before we get into the ‘5 don’ts’ when connecting on social networks I want to give you a general overview of how three social networking platforms work.

How to Draw the Line Between Free and Paid

"Can I pick your brain?"

Drawing the line between free and paid is a continuing discussion point here, as freelancers and consultants of all kinds are asked over and over for free advice and unpaid help.

But those free articles aren't enough to really help you create lasting change. So I've created something that can.

It's a toolkit, with six steps to build a business foundation, worksheets, and short audio.

It isn't free, and here's why.
I want you to do more than just read through it, and I sure don't want you to just download it and never open it! By putting a value on it, I'm encouraging you to value it, too.

Ready to quit giving away so much of your work for free? You'll find it at How to Draw the Line Between Free and Paid.

You are invited to share in the Brag Basket

What wonderful news will you choose to share this week? The basket is open all weekend, from February 4-6, 2011.

Rainbow basket
by Flylice, on Flickr

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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The 4 types of Agritourism visitors

My friend Cort Anderson has offered us this gift, some of what he is hearing in an agritourism workshop. The lessons are certainly useful for all types of tourism related business.

Today was the first day of Agritourism: Your Next Cash Crop? a five day workshop put on by the Kansas Dept. of Commerce and Sunflower RC&D at Pratt Community College.

Two things stuck out from today's session taught by Jan Jantzen. The first were the four things that visitors are looking for in agritourism and the second is the four types of visitors.

According to Jantzen visitors are looking for an authentic experience they can participate in and learn from. The key words are experience, participate, learn and authentic. These are things they can't get from other types of recreation. They also use these experiences to strengthen relationships.

The other thing we learned were the four main types of agritourism visitors. Younger seniors, age 55-65, who have a lot of disposable cash. Baby Boomers who are looking to catch up on lost time spent working. Families are the third group. The last group are grandparents with grandkids making up for time they didn't spend with their children.

The idea is to pick one possibly two of these groups and tailor your experience and marketing specifically for them.

--
Cort Anderson is a photographer and software trainer working on developing a photography tour business in rural areas.

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Building Entrepreneurial Communities

Building entrepreneurial communities means doing everything you can to welcome, develop and support entrepreneurs. And it doesn't have to be hard.

Woodward, Okla., is known as an
entrepreneurial community.

That was my take away from the webinar that Dave Shideler and Oklahoma State University presented on Building Entrepreneurial Communities. Here are some of the key points that I typed up as he went.

Improve your small business blogging with a 100 post series

When you blog for your small business, coming up with new ideas for posts can be a real problem. One solution is to start a 100 post series.

One hundred posts on the same topic sounds scary, but it's really a great focusing tool. Pick one topic, broad enough to have plenty to cover, and right at the core of what you blog about.

Chris Brogan kicked off this idea when he started a series called the Social Media 100, dedicated to "helping you grow the value of your social media and social networking efforts." He made it all the way through 100 posts in eight months. The publisher of his first book then picked up the series as the source material for his second book, Social Media 101. Here's his original launch post, where he explains the 100 posts on social media idea. (He originally thought he'd do 100 in a row, but the reality is that other things will pop up.)