I recently had the pleasure of being interviewed by John Jantsch, the founder of Duct Tape Marketing, for an upcoming episode of his Duct Tape Marketing Podcast. John and I had a great conversation about the findings of the Biznik member survey. If you’re interested in hearing our conversation and learning what we discovered, I highly recommend tuning into the interview. It will be published on the main pages of the Duct Tape Marketing Blog.

As it turns out, Duct Tape Marketing is not just another interesting small-business site: it offers a whole universe of marketing ideas AND a way for coaches to connect with new clients. Plenty of Biznik members are already big fans of Duct Tape, and a few, like Biznik member Bill Doerr of Connecticut, are certified Duct Tape Marketing Coaches, who work with owners of small to mid-sized companies to build marketing systems tailored for their businesses.

I’m impressed with the community that John and his team have built. And I’m looking forward to reading his book, Duct Tape Marketing: The World’s Most Practical Small Business Marketing Guide, which just arrived in the mail two days ago. If you’d like to make your marketing stick, check out Duct Tape Marketing!

If you’re tired of being a well-kept secret, you need to attend Publici-Tea™ Express for this Friday, November 6, hosted by Biznik, Nancy Juetten. I attended her last Publici-Tea Express. It was so packed full of resources - I found myself scribbling notes throughout the entire event. I highly recommend this workshop for all entrepreneurs at all stages in their business. Nancy will help you discover the story you can tell and provide tips on how and where to tell it.

This month, she’s included a special guest presentation by Patrick Snow, best-selling author of Creating Your Own Destiny (2002), who will help you figure out if publishing your book is the right path to build your reputation as an expert.

Register here: www.publici-teaexpress.com.

Bizniks can sign up at the VIP rate of $25 by entering “Lara Feltin” in the comments section!

I’ll be at a table in the back. Come up and say hello.

Bryce was an outgoing independent photographer. I met him at a Biznik event over a year ago and Dan and I instantly befriended him and his wife. Over dinners, at Biznik events, and on Facebook, Bryce could be counted on for his quick wit, sassy retorts, engaging conversations, and inspiring opinions. He was generous with his talent and extraordinarily thoughtful. Members may remember him as the professional photographer who donated his time at last year’s Anti-Office Holiday Party and The 2009 Biznik Oscar BashDan and Bryce bonded over a shared passion in health care reform. Bryce’s comments comments on the subject were both humorous and profound.

At Kirsten Mohan’s request, a memorial for Bryce in a variation on the tradition of an Irish Wake will be held on Sunday, November 1 from 3-5pm in Seattle. Emily Lauderback has graciously offered her professional space, called SPACE - 7601 Greenwood Avenue N, Seattle 98103 (enter on 76th). This is an adult-only service.

Friends of Kirsten & Bryce’s can find more information on Facebook.

In lieu of flowers, Kirsten has requested practical gifts be made to assist Bryce’s beautiful family in maintaining his legacy and bidding him the farewell he so richly deserves. Donations may be made in the form of a gift card to Target or Ikea; cash via their Paypal account at bryce@brycemohan.com; or in the form of Dibbits from Dibspace.com via an email to dominic@dibspace.com with “donation for K.Mohan” in the subject line.

The most significant news, in my view: 33 percent of you said that the most important reason you started your business is because you wanted to do something that you enjoyed! The fact that personal satisfaction ranked so highly caught us by surprise - we were expecting the number one reason to be “because I don’t want to work for someone else,” (which other studies have consistently shown to be the top reason for business formation) but that came in second with 26 percent. And this might be news to anyone who thinks entrepreneurs do it for the money: Just 5.8 percent listed that as their most important reason for starting a business.

The biggest challenges facing entrepreneurs? It’s three things:

1. Reduced income (44 percent)
2. Isolation (19 percent)
3. Long hours (15 percent)
4. Lack of access to health insurance (13 percent)

Speaking of health insurance, 91 percent of you said that health insurance must be reformed - 60 percent said reform should focus on a public option; 36 percent said focus should be on private options. And 20 percent of respondents have NO HEALTH INSURANCE at all - which shows entrepreneurs need health reform even more than the general public (which most estimates put at 15 percent lacking coverage of any kind).

Despite the challenges, you are happy with your choice to build a business. In fact, 91 percent of you are “very satisfied” (70 percent) or “somewhat satisfied” (21 percent). Only 1 person out of the nearly 700 respondents reported they were “very dissatisfied” with their choice to start a business. Growing a business is hard work, but we’re thrilled to learn that you believe it really is worth the effort!

Full summary is up at http://tinyurl.com/ybt7lbg.

When you fail to include a photo of yourself on your profile, yet still interact with the community by RSVPing for events, commenting on discussions, starting conversations in the forum, interacting with others, it’s no different than you showing up at a party or a business meeting with a mask over your face. Who are you? But more importantly, Are you real? Can I trust you?

People do business with people they trust.

Melody Biringer’s in Amsterdam right now - and her blog has left me thoroughly Craving Amsterdam. Her trip started with attendance at Picnic - an international media, technology, entertainment, art and science festival - a place for innovative thought leaders to meet and create. This shot was from Paul Butterfield’s photos. (Dan, mark your calendar, we’re going to be there next September!)

On Tuesday, October 20, Gary Vaynerchuk will be in Seattle for our second Biznik Innovator event, presented in association with Kim Ricketts Book Events.

Millions have logged onto Gary Vaynerchuk’s Wine Library TV - watching him boldly and unconventionally rate hundreds of wines. Viewers are attracted to his youthful energy, unique voice, and often outrageous descriptions, earning him the adage, “The wine guy for the average Joe.”

While we love wine, Gary’s pioneering, multi-faceted approach to personal branding and business has led to invitations to keynote conferences such as Web 2.0 and South by Southwest - and now Biznik is honored to have Gary address the Seattle small business community.

RSVP here.

After primarily utilizing traditional advertising techniques to build his family’s local wine business into a national industry leader, Gary rapidly leveraged social media tools such as Twitter and Facebook to promote Wine Library TV, his video blog about wine. As his viewership swelled to over 90,000 a day, doors opened to several national TV appearances (such as The Today Show, Ellen DeGeneres, Conan O’Brien, Nightline and more!), a flurry of speaking engagements around the world, and now a book: CRUSH IT!: Why NOW is the Time to Cash In on Your Passion (HarperCollins; October 2009).

Do you have a hobby you wish you could do all day? An obsession that keeps you up at night?

In CRUSH IT!, Gary shows you how to use the power of the Internet to turn your real interests into real businesses. One day, after years spent building his family business from a local wine shop into a national industry leader, he turned on a video camera. By using the secrets revealed in this book, he transformed his entire life and earning potential by building his personal brand. By the end of this book, any reader will have learned how to harness the power of the Internet to make their entrepreneurial dreams come true. Step by step, Crush It! is the ultimate driver’s manual for modern business.

ABOUT THE EVENT

• Includes discussion & book signing. Come ready with your questions!

• Social hour after the presentation, where you can meet other attendees, speak with the Gary and get your book signed.

• Cost: $40. ($35 Biznik Pros; $25 Biznik ProVIPs)

• As with all Biznik Innovators events, includes a FREE copy of Gary’s new book.

• Membership in Biznik is required to RSVP for this event, but membership is FREE or you can pay at the door. Upgrade your membership to receive a discount on this and other Biznik Innovators events.

• Space is limited and expected to fill up. RSVP now!

• Location: The Wine Outlet in Seattle’s Elliot Bay neighborhood - a unique Seattle wine shop dedicated to searching the world wine markets for high quality wines of extraordinary value. The Elliot location hosts their wine bar and Wine School (est. 1981), and is open every Tuesday through Sunday, 5pm to 10pm.

Nosh & Sip: COMPLIMENTARY organic and local food and drink provided by Whole Foods Market, Kestrel Vinters, Equal Exchange, Larabar, Sierra Nevada, Honest Tea, Market Street Traders, Mt Townsend Creamery, Mighty O Donuts and more!

Cost: FREE, please bring a small donation for Treeswing, a Seattle-based non-profit building generations of healthy, active communities.

RSVP: on Biznik.com
(RSVPs are NOT required for this event. It’s open to the public, so feel free to bring along friends and business associates.)

Contact info: Tracy Oklander Anderson – 206-297-7878

What is Networking with a Cause?

Networking with a Cause is a monthly Biznik event hosted by Tread Light Gifts, Solace Essentials, and L & R Realty. It’s a networking happy hour where Seattle small business owners gather and support great causes. It’s simple to attend. Just gather some couch change, latte money or more along with business cards and sparkling personality. At the end of the night, they cut a check from all the donations to the nonprofit of the month on behalf of the Biznik Business Community. This is a great opportunity for all of us to bond together and make a difference in our world. In past months, we have supported causes such as the Crohns and Colitis Foundation, Global Music Project, and Northwest Animal Rights Network.

For the October event, we’re excited about teaming with Green Halloween® to bring to you a night of networking, education, sampling of earth friendly and local food and drinks, and of course – supporting awesome causes in our community and world. Join us at EcoHaus, home of the Northwest’s largest selection of eco-friendly building supplies, as we explore ways that we can “green” our Halloween celebrations and daily lives. Win great prizes, too!

What is Green Halloween?

Green Halloween® is a non-profit, grassroots initiative striving to create healthier, eco-friendlier holidays– starting with Halloween. Launched in Seattle in 2007 by Corey Colwell-Lipson, the nationwide movement is all about educating and inspiring communities by showing how easy, affordable, and fun it can be to factor our earth and our health into our daily choices. (More…)

All the money raised at the October Networking with a Cause/Green Halloween will go to Treeswing, a Seattle-based non-profit building generations of healthy, active communities. Through innovative partnerships and programs, Treeswing improves the health of our children and prevents childhood obesity.

Event Highlights:

Visit with Corey Coldwell-Lipson, Green Halloween Founder, to get suggestions on how you can turn your Halloween this year into a “Green” Halloween.

Sample food and drinks from…
Emerald Valley Kitchen
Larabars
Kestrel Vinters
Honest Teas
Sierra Nevada Beer
Market Street Traders
Mt Townsend Creamery
Mighty O Donuts
Whole Foods Market
Equal Exchange
and more….

Participate in our raffle to raise additional money for Treeswing. We have some great items to raffle off, so don’t miss out.

Mingle with fabulous members of the small business community.

I am the first to confess that I did not “get” Biznik when I first encountered it.

What was up with the cute name and the forum boosterism? Seemed pretty at odds with a saucy tagline (”Business networking that doesn’t suck.”) Mostly, why were these people all so goddamn friendly? Read more…

Thanks, Colleen!

You can read the Terms of Service online. Here are a few highlights from the updated page:

No MLM Policy—Biznik’s No MLM Policy is now defined in these Terms according to the rules we’ve been operating under for some time.

SPAM—Abusive behavior and spam is also outlined in these Terms according to the rules we’ve been operating under for some time.

Fees & Payments—Membership dues are collected once a month, and event fees are not collected until 24 hours before an event starts. The reason for this, is so that you can downgrade and cancel at any time without feeling penalized. As a result, once fees are collected, they are non-refundable. This has been stated on the order form, but now it’s in the Terms too.

Biznik Groups—This feature was only released last spring. We’ve now outlined the rules for Groups in Section 13.

Ambassadors—Biznik Ambassadors are fans who volunteered to help spread the word about Biznik in their area. They’re not employed by Biznik and are simply donating their time and efforts because they believe in this community. The Terms now explains that.

These updates compliment the spirit of Biznik. If we’ve left something out, or if the nature of our service changes, we’ll revisit the Terms as necessary. We’re always open to feedback and comments are welcome both here and at info(at)biznik.com.

It’s important that everyone, Bizniks, Biznik Pros and ProVIPs, or is simply those interested in Biznik understand that it’s not about the technology, it’s about how we all use the service that matters most.

I’m flying to New York next week to participate in a press conference put together by iStock, in which we’ll reveal what we learned. And there’s some really good stuff in there.

Here’s a sneak peek: 90.8 percent of Biznik members say it’s time to reform health care (although they disagree whether reform efforts should focus on public or private changes - 56.8 percent say public, and 34 say private). Maybe that’s because 19.2 percent of you have NO health insurance whatsoever. The national average is around 15 percent without health insurance, so we know from this survey that starting a small business makes you LESS likely to have coverage.

I personally know what that’s like - I put ALL my money into my first business, going without health insurance for about 7 years before I could finally afford it. I got lucky and didn’t get sick or injured during that time. But many aren’t so lucky. We hear you loud and clear: health care reform is an entrepreneurial issue. And the time to act is now.