Small Biz Survival

Small Business Letter from America at SmallBizPod UK

2008-07-23T17:08:00.001-05:00

Small Biz Pod is a pioneering podcast in the UK, covering a whole range of small business issues. They also feature some text articles, and Alex Bellinger invited me to contribute a monthly column. He suggested calling it the Small Business Letter from America.

It would be pretty cheeky of me to speak for the whole country, so I give my perspective on national issues affecting small business. Health care insurance costs. Manufacturing and exporting. The stalling economy.

We're halfway through the six month run. What issues or topics do you think hold national interest, and would be interesting to the UK audience?

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Entrepreneur Club interviews me tonight

2008-07-21T10:33:00.000-05:00

On the Entrepreneur Club, our friend Patti Serrano interviews a parade of interesting small business people. Patti was kind enough to invite me to join her tonight. We'll be talking about "Succeeding in a Small Town."

If you want to join us, we'll be live tonight, Monday, July 21, 2008, at 9:00pm EDT / 8:00pm CDT / 7:pm MDT. If you miss the live call, you can listen to the recording on TalkShoe. You can also listen to the Entrepreneur Club archive, while you're there.

Call in:

Dial: (724) 444-7444
Enter: 30914 # (Call ID)
Enter: 1 # or your PIN

Join from your computer:

Through Facebook:

You can join this Call directly through the TalkShoe Community Calling Facebook application.

Listen to the Recording:

If you miss the live call or want to hear previous recorded episodes click here.

Thanks, Patti, for the chance to join you!

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You cannot control 100 percent of the message

2008-07-20T07:52:00.001-05:00

During a crisis, how much of the message can you control? This question comes up because of this quote:

"Toll free numbers are not enough--people don't want to talk at you. They need a reliable way to get hold of you, and if you know how to effectively use blogs and websites, you'll control 100 percent of the message."
--Jonathan Bernstein, president of Bernstein Crisis Management of Los Angeles, quoted in Diversity Woman magazine, July/August 2008, page 25.

I agree with his first thought, greater interactivity. I choked on the last clause. Control 100 percent? In a firestorm?

So I put this on twitter, "'If you know how to effectively use blogsand websites, you'll control 100% of the message.' Jonathan Bernstein,Bernstein Crisis Mgmt. Rly?" (Remember, there's a 140 character limit on Twitter.)

Vicky H., @eeUS, a blogger on parenting and technology, replied, "100% is a lot of percent. Why not 99.99% I always say." She went on to point out, "Obviously he does not have kids. There is no 100%."

Chris Webb, @chriswebb, Associate Publisher at John Wiley and Sons EMEA (UK) and author of CKWebb.com, responded, "You only ever control one half of the conversation."

Lani Anglin-Rosales, @LaniAR, New Media Director at AgentGenius.com, was more concise, "false."

Grant Griffiths, @GrantGriffiths, Owner of G2 Web Media, made two excellent comments. "Not sure you want to control 100% of the message if you are using a blog for marketing. Comments should also control it some." And, "If you are controlling 100% how does that encourage the interaction and conversation so valuable of a benefit of blogging?"

By saying you can control 100 percent of the message, Bernstein has at the very least mis-stated his case. Even in crisis communication, you want to permit interactivity. You can control what you put out. You can influence what others might say, especially in a crisis. What others are saying can be the crisis. But you cannot control 100% of the message by understanding blogs and websites.

In Bernstein's defense, his website includes quite a bit about working effectively through such a crisis, and I didn't find any more occurrences of the claim of 100% control. So he may have spoken before he thought, or misspoken, or even been misquoted. But that's kind of bad for a crisis management consultant and trainer, isn't it?

How can a small business, especially in a small town, best respond to a crisis of communication? What's the best way to respond when you have a firestorm of gossip, or a disaster hits your business, or someone is injured in your business?

Share your thoughts, and we'll do a follow up article with all the best ideas.

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How to keep good tax records

2008-07-19T06:14:00.002-05:00

[Straight from the "IRS GuideWire," 16 July 2008]

In a tax emergency, would you be ready? Well–organized records not only help you prepare your tax return, but they also help you answer questions if your return is selected for examination or prepare a response if you are billed for additional tax.

Fortunately, you don’t have to keep all tax records around forever. Normally, tax records should be kept for three years, but some documents — such as records relating to a home purchase or sale, stock transactions, IRA and business or rental property — should be kept longer.

If you are an employer, you must keep all your employment tax records for at least 4 years after the tax becomes due or is paid, whichever is later.

If you are in business, there is no particular method of bookkeeping you must use. However, you must clearly and accurately show your gross income and expenses. The records should substantiate both your income and expenses.

Publication 552, Recordkeeping for Individuals, provides more detailed information on individual record keeping requirements.

Publication 583, Starting a Business and Keeping Records, and Publication 463, Travel, Entertainment, Gift, and Car Expenses, provide additional information on required documentation for taxpayers with business expenses.

These publications can be downloaded from IRS.gov or ordered by calling 800-TAX-FORM (800-829-3676).

Actually, there is a wealth of free tax information on the IRS Web site, IRS.gov. It’s not just about recordkeeping. Individuals and businesses can find answers to almost any question about federal taxes on the web site. Helpful links found at the top of the home page will take you directly to topics centered on Individuals, Businesses, Charities and Non-Profits, Government Entities, Tax Professionals, the Retirement Plan Community and Tax Exempt Bonds.

In addition to the latest news coming from the IRS, the homepage can lead you to statistics, news releases and tax tips, local IRS offices, the Taxpayer Advocate Service, and thousands of IRS forms and publications. Frequently asked questions and answers are available or you can use two separate search icons: one by keyword and one by answering “I need to . . .”

Why wait? Summertime is a great time to visit IRS.gov. Remember that for the genuine IRS Web site be sure to use .gov. Don't be confused by internet sites that end in .com, .net, .org or other designations instead of .gov. The address of the official IRS governmental Web site is www.irs.gov.

Links:

IRS Publication 552, Recordkeeping for Individuals (PDF)
IRS Publication 583, Starting a Business and Keeping Records (PDF)
IRS Publication 463, Travel, Entertainment, Gift, and Car Expenses (PDF)

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Brag Basket helps you focus on the good things

2008-07-18T06:46:00.000-05:00

Each Friday, I open the brag basket as a fun place to give someone a pat on the back, brag, or promote yourself and your projects.

Tony Katz explained why this matters:

It's ok to have success, it's ok to have great things happen in your life and it is ok to talk about those things. Embrace the good things that happen and the work that it took to get the good things to happen. Then, focus on more good things, and make them happen. The vision is only achieved through the action.

Last time, Rick bragged on Social Media Breakfast buddies, Mark shared some successes with guest posting, and Merlene made frugal fabulous! Then I bragged on submitting some speaking ideas, and on our friend Chris Penn.

Will you put something in the Brag Basket this week? You can brag on a friend, your own project, yourself, others, anything! You don't need special permission or anything. Just leave a comment right here. There's no deadline, so you can brag anytime during the weekend, and I'll open a fresh Brag Basket each Friday.

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If small is a weapon, what is small town?

2008-07-17T07:26:00.000-05:00

Being a small business can be your competitive advantage. You can be quick, responsive, and flexible. You can keep your organization flat.There is an interesting discussion on this going on in the comments at Chris Brogan's Small is a Weapon.

But what about being from a small town? Is that a disadvantage?

Clients from big cities may dismiss you. I get that surprised reaction all the time in the social media world.

"How did you ever get into this from a small town?"

Hey, we have internet, and high speed. We even get sunshine three days a week now. (I never said it was rational, but it is there. A lot.)

Do you get similar reactions? How do you respond? Or do you turn it around and focus on small town clients? Or not let anyone know where you are?

Care to share your experience in the comments?

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Mistakes: Lack of professionalism

2008-07-16T11:44:00.001-05:00

Lack of professionalism just cost a local business my patronage.

If you are going to use your cell phone for business, and advertise that number as the way to reach you, remember professionalism. I heard ringback music instead of ringing. And the song? Toby Keith's "Gonna Get My Drink On." And it ain't a liquor store, or any type of business that made it even remotely cute. Does this inspire faith in their professionalism? No. I hung up. Game over.

Being small is not an excuse for whining. It's also not an excuse for being unprofessional.

Solution

Be professional! Think your whole business through from the customer's perspective. It's important. Every customer contact point needs to reflect your professionalism. Your business will reflect your personality, without you going out of your way to add it. You'll show your caring, your commitment, your skill. But not your taste in music. Okay?

Do you have examples?
Together, we are going to try to help each other out of these most common, deadly mistakes. You can use real world examples, real small businesses. Write it up, take a picture, or shoot a short video. Take care not to embarrass the offenders! Key point: include suggestions on how to do it right!

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Tool: SIMPLE accounting from GoBootstrap

2008-07-15T11:26:00.000-05:00

Computerized accounting is best when it's simple, so I was pleased to get this short email from Kevin Reeth:

I was reading your blog post today and thought you might be interested in a new web site (http://gobootstrap.com) that offers really simple online bookkeeping for businesses that just don't get or want to learn accounting (which in my experience is a lot.)

We opened it to the public last week and have gotten some good reviews (including a nice writeup in VentureBeat.) It's currently focused on self employed folks, entrepreneurs, and small businesses that have to file a Schedule C. Over time, we'll be adding more functionality to include more traditional asset and liability tracking. However, one thing I can guarantee is that we will never use terms like receivables and payables, nor will we refer to a chart of accounts.

Thanks,

Kevin Reeth
CEO and Co-Founder, GoBootstrap.com

I've looked it over, and I like it. I'll be playing with it myself. If you have used the service, let us hear what you think. Does it work? Is it simple enough to stick with?

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Do you get accounting?

2008-07-14T06:17:00.000-05:00

You know more accounting than you think you do. So for this episode of the Small Biz 100, we're going to build on what you already know, to get you through the accounting basics.

When I taught computer accounting classes to small business owners, this was always the first thing we went over together. So let's start with the part you deal with every day: income and expenses.

Income and Expenses
Your income comes from sales, commissions, fees, or any other money you take in. The expenses are all the money going out: utilities, supplies, taxes, payroll, etc. Each category of income or expense is called an account. So you might have income accounts for ad sales, speaking fees, or product sales. And expense accounts for cell phone, office supplies, or legal fees.

If you stack the income on top of the expenses, it looks like this:

Income:

Sales

Receipts

Fees

Commissions

Expenses:

Supplies

Utilities

Payroll

Taxes

And when you put the actual amounts for each account out to the side, that gives a good picture of the money flowing through your business during a given time period. It's called an Income Statement, or a Profit and Loss Statement, or just a P&L. You can create a P&L to cover a full year, a quarter, a month, or even a week, if needed.

That wasn't too bad. We "get" that. But there is a whole other side to your business. That's the property side.

Assets, Liabilities, and Equity
Besides money going in and out, your business owns some things. Cash, money in bank accounts, equipment, vehicles, buildings. But, you probably don't own all of it outright. If your business owns a truck, a bank probably owns part of it, because you borrowed money to buy it. Now, you've paid the bank some of that money back, so that's the part you own, or the equity in that truck. So there's the asset, the truck, on one side, and on the other side, the truck's value is divided into the liability, or the loan balance, and the equity.

Accounts receivable are also assets. That is money someone owes you, and will (hopefully) pay in the future. Accounts payable are liabilities. That's money you owe on bills, credit cards, etc., that you'll be paying pretty soon.

Current assets are ones you can spend or sell off quickly. You might have current asset accounts like cash, checking, and inventory. Fixed assets are ones that take longer to sell or convert to cash. Those will be accounts like land, buildings, equipment and vehicles. (You could break it down even further, with intermediate assets, but most accounting programs don't make you do that anymore.)

Liability accounts might include loans, mortgages, accounts payable, and tax liabilities. Equity accounts are usually called owner's equity, capital paid in, or investments (as in, money invested in the business).

Remember how I said the asset, the truck, was on one side, and the liability and the equity were on the other side? We're going to do that right now, to build a picture of who owns what in your business.

Assets:	Liabilities:
Current:	Loans
Checking	Mortgages
Savings	Bills Owed
Other Cash	Accounts Payable (A/P)
Recievables (A/R)	Tax Liabilities
Inventory Stock
Fixed:
Land	Equity:
Buildings	Owner's equity
Equipment	Capital paid in
Vehicles	Investments

When you include the amounts next to each account, you've built a Balance Sheet. Sometimes you may hear it called just a "Financial Statement." We'll stick with Balance Sheet, because that tells you exactly what kind of "financial statement" we mean.

It's a snapshot of your business at a particular moment, so it always has a single date. Most commonly, a Balance Sheet is done for January 1.

Chart of Accounts
If we put all of those accounts together in a big list, that's called the Chart of Accounts. It is a list customized to your business, based on how you set up your accounting.

Now, if you followed all of that, then you know about all the different types of accounts, you understand how the two most important financial statements are built, and you can relate it to your business. Hurray! That's all the basics of accounting that you need to get right now.

This article is part of the Small Biz 100, a series of 100 practical hands-on posts for small business people and solo entrepreneurs, whether in a small town, the big city, or in between. If you have questions you'd like us to address in this series, leave a comment or send us an email at becky@smallbizsurvival.com. This is a community project!

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An IM tracking tool for Twitter

2008-07-12T16:28:00.001-05:00

Tracking your own name, your company name or any other search string on Twitter used to be easy. You could get an IM any time your keyword was entered in a tweet by anyone. But that feature has been offline for some time.

TechLifeWeb has a workaround of an IM Twitter tracking tool, TwitterSpy. I've set it up, and it's working. There's some delay and some choppiness, but it works.

Now the small biz application is this: track your business name, key words for your industry, etc. You can read a couple of examples on C.C. Chapman's Flickr account. (really!)

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Home Video Marketing: For Small Business

2008-07-12T07:46:00.000-05:00

Guest Post by Steve Schaffer, Triporia

The internet has given small businesses a platform to gain exposure to millions of prospective customers from around the world. Video is a very effective way to gain the attention of these users. Many small businesses do not have the budget to produce a professional video - this is where home video marketing comes in. What is home video marketing? It’s the simple use of your home video camera to film and produce a promotional video for your business. Home video marketing for small business is an effective, inexpensive option for any advertising budget.

There are many advantages to using home video marketing. Here are a few:

It is an easy, low cost way to give prospective customers a glimpse into your business.
Recent research into video advertising shows that viewers feel that they are seeing a truer representation of the business in question when they view a home video as opposed to a professionally made video.
You have full control over what you want prospective customers to see.
You can shoot and produce the video and have it on the internet in less than a day.

Guided video tours of a business are a very popular format for home video marketing. Other ideas for home video marketing include the following:

A video of customers enjoying themselves at your business
Comments and video testimonials from previous guests
Footage that shows off your signature dish, room or attraction.

Have fun creating the video, and show the world what makes your business unique. Programs like Windows Movie Maker allow you to edit, insert titles and add your artistic flair to your video.

Now that you have your video produced, what do you do with it? There are a number of free sites, such as Youtube, where you can upload your videos. For tourism related businesses, such as hotels, resorts, restaurants, bed and breakfasts, tours, and attractions, there are sites like Triporia.com, that not only allow you to upload your video, but to make your own page that includes a video, a write up on your business and a link to your website.

So film your tourism related video, upload it to Triporia.com, and increase the exposure of your business to potential travelers using the internet.

Steve Schaffer is Co-Founder and Marketing Manager of Triporia.com. In 2007, wrote a Point of View article for Small Biz Survival.

The Brag Basket is back

2008-07-11T11:04:00.000-05:00

Each Friday, I open the brag basket as a fun place to give someone a pat on the back, brag, or promote yourself and your projects.

Tony Katz explained why this matters:

It's ok to have success, it's ok to have great things happen in your life and it is ok to talk about those things. Embrace the good things that happen and the work that it took to get the good things to happen. Then, focus on more good things, and make them happen. The vision is only achieved through the action.

Last time, I went first. (poster's privilege!) Ria shared a compliment from a customer, and Debbie shared a compliment from Arthur Frommer. Jay had some great results from reaching out online, and Barbara was excited about reaching out offline. Then Marco and I had fun talking about visiting Peru!

Will you put something in the Brag Basket this week? You can brag on a friend, your own project, yourself, others, anything! You don't need special permission or anything. Just leave a comment right here. There's no deadline, so you can brag anytime during the weekend, and I'll open a fresh Brag Basket each Friday.

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Small Town, Small Business: It's One BIG Advantage

2008-07-10T15:59:00.005-05:00

That's You. It's you and your friends and neighbors. Together.

No one else but…you, your friends, together.

It’s an ideal situation, really, working in a small community with your friends and neighbors.

A small company controls its destiny. There’s no home office issuing edicts by email from glistening towers…somewhere. Each employee’s impact is seen, felt, heard. Each action has a direct impact on the company and each of their colleagues.

A small company in a small sees this dynamic, this efficiency, this advantage magnified from the added relationships shared by these same folks living together in a small community. Success now is celebrated not only within the company, but also within the community. Families of one enjoy the success of the other.

You’re (We’re. I’m living/working in a small community.) naturally blessed with One BIG Advantage. You can magnify the impact from the top sources of personal motivation. 8 or 9 of the top 10 motivators* for employees are things like peer respect, recognition, the means and resources to accomplish your goals, a chance to grow, your opinion matters, your voice is heard. Money’s at the bottom of this list.

And what better setting to capitalize on those intrinsic motivators than working, and living, with people you already know and trust and respect, support and encourage. You already have the advantage of trust established. That’s a huge advantage. It removes fear, it removes judgment, it allows for people to grow, to try new things outside their defined jobs/cubicles. And people trust the outcome is beneficial to all.

But more than that, these established relationships insure authentic and transparent (sorry for the buzzwords) feedback for those 8 or 9 motivations employees find most important. Recognition is meaningless if it’s inauthentic. And nothing kills the buzz of recognition than it coming in the form of official, corporate-speak terms that please the home office. When it’s phrased in the real, spontaneous, and colorful terms of your friends and neighbors…its meaning is deeper. Its meaning is richer. Its impact is far greater.

And as an added bonus….its ONLY you and your neighbors…together. There’s no corporate office issuing edicts that long ago lost any meaningful connection to you, your neighbors, your customers, your challenges, and your goals. There’s no one keeping you from doing what YOU are capable of, from innovating ideas, your ideas, ideas you can execute and enjoy. Sure, maybe you’re in a remote area, small population, but with the internet and telephones you’re still connected.

That connection, with you and your friends, together…the world is yours. And that puts your destiny in the control of you and your neighbors and friends, together.

Zane Safrit’s passion is small business and the operations’ excellence required to deliver a product that creates word-of-mouth, customer referrals and instills pride in those whose passion created it. He blogs about health care issues each Monday at http://zanesafrit.typepad.com. There on the sidebar is a list of blogs and resources to educate yourself on the health care challenges you face, I face, we all face together. He also writes on small business, word of mouth, marketing, branding, innovation, and failure.

He previously served as CEO of Conference Calls Unlimited.

They are coming

2008-07-08T07:30:00.001-05:00

"Serving fine concessions since 2008"

That's the branding statement for the Homerun Hut. It's the concession stand at a local athletic club.

After some years of inconsistent operations, a young couple took on the operation for the summer. Her dad is the club president and opened the door.

They are a good pair. They've been dating for almost four years. She goes to school in Chicago, he in Fort Wayne.

The young man put up the cash for the inventory at the beginning of the summer. They have a typical menu of snacks: walking tacos, hot dogs, candy, freezer pops, popcorn, and soft drinks, sport drinks and water.

Every item is priced thoughtfully, shopped carefully and selected strategically. In fact, suggest a product and they will have an answer as to why they do or don't carry it.

After a few bad Monday nights ($15-$30 gross) they closed the stand for those nights. But Sunday, Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday and Friday, they are open.

Andrew is 21. He's been working for a few years in a soccer store. He's on his second owner, for the store that is.

He was full of ideas when he started. (We had visited the store a lot.) He runs the website, runs the eBay store. He added a blog to the store website as a way to keep it updated.

He's on his third major in school, but this one makes the most sense. (He has another three semesters in school.) Because of this major, he has an internship at the local paper this summer.

If you are keeping track, this 21-year old has three jobs this summer. He's working in ebusiness for a bricks and mortar store, he's a small business manager, and a starting journalist.

And he's a normal nice kid.

There are young people who are driven. There are people who are millionaires at 13. There are people who grow paper routes into massive money machines. There are a handful of those kind of people.

There are, however, a lot of kids like Andrew. Laid back, hard workers, responsible, flexible. Normal. Next door.

But they are full of creativity and wisdom for the small business owner who decides to listen to the ideas of a 21 year old.

After all, they know a whole lot more about 21 year olds...than you do.

What works to go wireless anywhere

2008-07-06T15:10:00.000-05:00

I'm always watching for small business people who share what works for them. Rex Hammock snuck this gem into a story on the iPhone.

I already have an AT&T 3G account that allows me to access the Internet using a Sierra Wireless USB modem. While I think it is ridiculous that tethering is not allowed with the new iPhone 3G, I can balance my disappointment with the knowledge that a Sierra Wireless USB modem can be shared by anyone in my office — all of the username/access codes are stored in the device. In a small business environment, especially one that has multiple employees traveling often, the ability to share the USB 3G modem saves lots of access fees charged by hotels and airports. In other words, our current 3G account is shared by many people, while an iPhone account — even if it allowed tethering — would not benefit us the way our current USB modem does.

What works for your small business?

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Putting people at ease

2008-07-03T07:53:00.000-05:00

Liz Strauss says you're only a stranger once. She calls herself a 65th Crayon, a Saloon Keepers Daughter. She says her brothers Angelo and Pasquale pay people to like her. She calls people SOB, or BAD Bloggers, and they like it. She's a character, fun to be around.

And she's a sharp, smart business person. I said when we spent a week together at SXSW, that we would probably start four new businesses together. I find that we are frequently working along the same lines, though from our own direction.

If you want to learn how to blog, you owe yourself a visit to Liz's archives at Successful Blog. If you want to improve your business, work with Liz.

I'm proud to say that Liz is my friend. Happy Birthday, Liz.

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Endeavor to Persevere

2008-07-02T22:26:00.001-05:00

"When nothing seems to help, I look at a stonecutter hammering away at his rock, perhaps 100 times without as much as a crack showing in it. Yet, at the 101st blow it will split in two, and I know it was not that last blow that did it, but all that had gone before." -Jacob A. Riis

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Creating a community

2008-07-02T06:22:00.005-05:00

Lynn sold her business. She had to. Her husband? Lung cancer, early retirement, no more insurance. So she needed a real job with real benefits.

It's not that she didn't have a real job. She taught dance. For fifteen years she ran Lynn's Academie of Dance. But that's not enough of a real job to pay the bills for a family, for insurance.

So she sold the dance school.

On Saturday they had a recital. Forty-five girls, from 4 to 18.

It was probably like many dance recitals in many places.

But here's Lynn's legacy. Many dancers weren't built like dancers. Not like the ballet dancers you see in the Joffrey. Not like the hip hop dancers in the videos, not like the tap dancers in the shows.

They are pretty much built like the kids you see in the ordinary classrooms in the ordinary schools in the ordinary towns. Some of them live with Down's Syndrome. Some of them live with numbers on the BMI that are higher than recommended. In skin color, in distance from nose to toes, they varied. One of them even had white hair.

And all of these kids (and 5 adult students) flew. They spun, they tapped, they leapt, they laughed. Their pieces told stories. They leaned on each other. They lifted each other. Even for a non-dance observer, there was something happening that was, well, special.

And near the end, they did their own thing. They wrote their own tribute to Lynn, with their bodies, they wrote. Together the kids created. The older kids led the little ones on and off, carefully. And they danced with abandon, with passion. And they each went to her as the piece finished for one last touch.

Lynn hired teachers to teach from her heart. She allowed in kids who none of us would imagine could walk straight, let alone dance. And every single one of them flew straight from the stage to our hearts.

In fifteen years, Lynn Kuti created a community of young people that cared and created and did better than they dreamed. And in the meantime, they danced.

Small business people can do that, can create communities.

You can do that.

Share the Brag Basket with others

2008-06-27T08:57:00.000-05:00

Each Friday, I open the brag basket as a fun place to give someone a pat on the back, brag, or promote yourself and your projects.
Tony Katz explained why this matters:

It's ok to have success, it's ok to have great things happen in your life and it is ok to talk about those things. Embrace the good things that happen and the work that it took to get the good things to happen. Then, focus on more good things, and make them happen. The vision is only achieved through the action.

Last week, our own OkieJ bragged on herself and some friends. Shashi bragged on his upcoming 4 week vacation, and Scott bragged on making a top 100 list.

Will you put something in the Brag Basket this week?

You can brag on a friend, your own project, yourself, others, anything! You don't need special permission or anything. Just leave a comment right here. There's no deadline, so you can brag anytime during the weekend, and I'll open a fresh Brag Basket each Friday.
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The work of their hands

2008-06-25T14:41:00.001-05:00

They were giving us furniture. For our church. Beautiful furniture. The kind of furniture you find in hospitals or coffee stores or waiting areas in malls.

It wasn't because we are a church, really, but because five days out of seven they use part of our parking lot. And they have meetings in our building sometimes. And we don't charge. And so the management gave us some furniture.

It wasn't management, however, that brought the furniture across the parking lot. It was three of the people who made the furniture, three of the people who crafted the sofas and chairs.

They carried it in like they cared, like they were proud of what they had made. They looked around, as if they wanted to be sure this would be a good home.

They looked at the furniture already in the room, the furniture being replaced. And then they began to tell us that we could replace the covers on that as well. "Recovery," one of them said. "It can all be reused." It says that on the website, in the promotional material...but he really believed it. "1988," another one said, having turned the chair upside down. "That was some of the first of that kind." She was pleased that it had lasted well.

They laughed with us, helped us see what we could do with the old stuff, talked about how to treat the new stuff.

For these workers from Wieland, this wasn't a commodity, this was their life. They had poured themselves into this furniture. They cared about how it would be used, how it would add value to someone else's life.

They loved the work of their hands. It mattered.

I was humbled that day. And challenged. To care that much.

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Jon Swanson is your customer, presenting every day perspectives in a new way. He was a regular contributor to the Great Big Small Business Show podcast, as the Entrepreneurial Chicken. Jon is the author of the best small business post ever.

New Mileage Rates from IRS

2008-06-23T18:54:00.003-05:00

Hope you are all keeping track of your miles driven for business. The IRS is in a generous mood.

"Due to rising gas prices, the mileage rate will increase by eight cents to 58.5 cents a mile for all business miles driven from July 1 through Dec. 31, 2008."

Check the IRS website.

Making LinkedIn work for small town pros

2008-06-23T06:23:00.000-05:00

When I saw Shannon Ehlers talking up small towns in Chris Brogan's comment section, I had to reach out! This post is the result of our emails, and hopefully, the start of a great friendship.

Guest post by Shannon Ehlers

I use LinkedIn to expand my professional network beyond the town where I live and the narrowly defined industry where I work. This is very important when you live in a town of 1100 people and work in a field like Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM) and dietary supplements. I am a natural products chemist, and I can safely say that there is not a single soul in my town who could answer many of my professional questions.

1. Pad Your Rolodex
This is where LinkedIn comes into play. LinkedIn is a web-based professional networking service (if you're totally unfamiliar, then visit http://www.linkedin.com for more details). LinkedIn is popular as an "online resume" service, but it is also much more than that. I have a single guiding principle for my use of LinkedIn: everything I do there should build my network, either in quality or in quantity (better connections or more connections). Having a healthy professional network is also beneficial when looking for new investors, a new job or when starting a company.

Tip - Seek out people looking for expertise that you can provide. One of the best ways to do this is to answer questions in LinkedIn's Questions and Answers. Once you have helped someone with their question, follow up with a direct message. This can be one of the most effective ways to build new relationships on LinkedIn. It also allows you to become rated as an expert on LinkedIn.

2. Gather Informational Nuggets
I use LinkedIn to do research and gather testimonials and quotes, which I then can use in presentations at work, as fodder for my blog, etc. I think of this as a virtual water cooler, where I can access the opinions of hundreds of my colleagues. A current project I'm working on has to do with the accessibility of food in small towns without grocery stores, a real issue for elderly people who can't drive. As in the tip above, again I use the Questions and Answers feature of LinkedIn, but this time I am doing the asking. The best questions that I have found on LinkedIn can be answered in either concrete or abstract terms. This is the key to finding interesting and memorable answers that will make your presentation or post more effective. Also as in the above tip, I always follow up with the person whose answer I want to use and let them know I'll be quoting them (more relationship building).

Tip - This sounds complicated, but it's actually very simple. Put your question to this simple litmus test: try to answer it using Google. If you can exhaustively answer your question using Google, then maybe the LinkedIn network isn't the best place to ask it (maybe Google is).

3. Re-establish Contact
I use LinkedIn to reconnect with friends and colleagues from college and past jobs. This is one of the most obvious uses of LinkedIn. I immediately found it useful, and I still use it daily. I usually get as many invites as I give, and it is always a pleasant little moment when I get to talk to someone I haven't heard from in years. The really neat thing that makes me so glad to have it is that LinkedIn takes care of the small talk and pleasantries for you (you already know where your old friend is living, what they are doing, and maybe even some info about their family). This allows me to quickly have a meaningful conversation when we actually finally talk on the phone or via email or in person. If the reason for reconnecting is professional, then we often can move quickly to transactional mode, and if it is personal then often we can arrange for more direct conversations quickly. While not a "social" networking application in the truest sense, LinkedIn is very suitable for most of the connections I like to make.

Tip - It may seem obvious, but make your profile somewhat personal. Don't be afraid to include some details that identify you as you. Believe it or not, there is likely someone else out there with the same name as you. I've run into several Shannon Ehlers impostors this way, so distinguishing myself in my profile assures that people contact the "real" Shannon Ehlers. Personalizing your profile (within reason - no need for incriminating details!) is also a great way to make yourself stand out from the herd, and entice people to want to meet you and make you a part of their own professional network.

4. Be Your Own Billboard
I use LinkedIn to maintain an online professional reputation which can then be used as a means to expand my network of contacts. Because of the excellent rankings that LinkedIn receives on Google, it is an extremely effective reputation management tool, acting as your own electronic billboard. Without professing to be a search engine optimization (SEO) expert, I can tell you that having a well crafted LinkedIn profile is an excellent way to make sure people find the info you most want them to find when they search for your name on Google.

Tip - A companion to your LinkedIn profile should be your own blog. If available, register your own name as your domain and then connect your LinkedIn profile to your blog (placing this in the About section is a good choice, or you can generate a button from LinkedIn that can be placed into the sidebar or footer of your blog as a widget, or shoot the moon and do both!). Likewise, be sure to list your blog URL in the "My Websites" section on your LinkedIn profile (it is amazing to me how many people don't do this).

5. Capitalize on Affinity Groups
Using LinkedIn Groups is an exceptional way to find like-minded people or, if no group exists for people like you, then you have the chance to start your own group and build something new that will serve others who share your interests. Common backgrounds, a common employer, a geographical area, or a social club - all offer reasons to connect with other people who you may not have otherwise met.

Tip - At the time of writing, the Group Directory feature on LinkedIn wasn't working. I think they are working on this, but have no idea when it will be functional. In the meantime, I have found that scanning the profiles of people I know and respect can reveal groups I'd like to join. Once you've joined a group, be sure to take a few minutes to view the members. See if anyone you already know is there - you'll be surprised how often they are, so be sure to connect with them if you haven't already. Don't forget the people you haven't met yet. For obvious reasons, these group members make excellent people to address with your Q&A from 1 & 2 above.

I hope that you have found this post useful. My thanks to Becky McCray for sharing her audience and allowing me the opportunity to write in this space. In reality, most of these will apply as well for people who don't live in small towns or work in small businesses. However, we who do face the "isolation" challenge really need tools like this. Be sure to let me know in the comments other ways that you use LinkedIn.

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Shannon Ehlers works by day as a research chemist. By night, he runs The Midnight Blogger at http://shannonehlers.com where he advocates for small town life and shares personal interests and insights.

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