It\'s Summer Time. Enjoy Your Family And Still Manage Your Business.

For entrepreneurs, we often can't just “take two weeks off” like salaried workers can. We have to tend our businesses â€" until they're at the point where they can run by themselves (systems) and we have mature staff who can manage things while we're away.

In the meantime enabling remote productivity is essential.

According to a new Cisco WebEx survey of 500 U.S. small business owners, on average, they expect to spend 18 days working remotely this summer.

There are three parts to any successful remote work arrangement:

1. The mobile device itself (be it a tablet, phone or computer)

2. The wireless (or wired) connectivity â€" be it WiFi or cell phone

3. The software

Make sure you fully test you hardware before embarking on an extended remote work force venture. If you need to conduct a long video conference, is your device able to be positioned properly? Will you have enough battery power or will you be near enough an external power source. You need to ask these and many more questions.

In regard to your connection â€" don't assume you can have easy access to WiFi or a wired Internet connection. Even if you have wireless Internet access â€" is it fast and stable enough for your purposes.

The software you use is critical. Many people are using Google Plus, it's great but is still not crystal clear. There are so many options, including Microsoft Skype, WebEx, GoToMeeting, Fuze and many, many other solutions. There is no one RIGHT solution but test and test to see which works best for you and your needs.

To kick off the summer, Cisco WebEx is sponsoring an online contest entitled “WebEx Mobile Fridays” which asks WebEx users to submit a photo and brief description of where they are and how they are using WebEx.  Each week a winner will be selected randomly and will receive a $25 Amazon gift card. Participants can enter at http://csc0.ly/Summer2012.

BodeTree Turns Your Business Financial Data Into Profitable Intelligence

Like millions of you I use an accounting program to manage my finances. I use Intuit Quickbooks others use Sage Peachtree, Xero, Wave Accounting, Outright, or some other tool.

The challenge with most all of these programs (online or software) is that they don't provide deep intelligence into how your business is really doing.

Sure â€" you know that you have $70,000 in the bank, and that you have $150,000 of expenses to pay, but you don't know much else.

Enter BodeTree which takes your financial information (I assume it imports your financial data) and helps you understand what it means:

• You can see how your numbers compare to your competition â€" very useful to know how you are doing compared to other similar businesses.
• What if you could take your banker a professional looking report, instead of a spreadsheet full of numbers? Maybe you would get that loan. BodeTree helps you prepare professional notes.
• Norm Brodsky (serial entrepreneur and Inc Magazine writer)  has taught us all a lot about business buying and selling. With BodTree you can better see the value of your business.

BodeTree is $250 a year or $25 a month.

You use Google Analytics to measure the performance of your web site. BodeTree is your financial analytics to turn raw financial data into actionable financial insight.

Why Integrated Marketing Produces Happier Customers and Better Results (Infographic)

We all try out best to market our businesses â€" we want to find new customers and we try our best to market to the customers we have. We beg for yet another referral â€" it's a constant struggle for survival. Neolane produced an infographic that nicely shows the importance of integrated marketing.

The core of integrated marketing is about having ONE CENTRAL database so that you have all the information about customers in one central place. If they come to your retail store, you know how much they purchased online. When they buy from you online, your system can reward them with a discount as a thanks for buying.

Integrated marketing is powerful.

New Book On Building Your Community For Support, Marketing and Ideas

O'Reilly has a new book about building communities â€" which are essential for any seriously growing company. A community of rabidly loyal customers gives you powerful insight on what customers want, what they don't want and a powerful army of marketers who spread the word about your product and service to others.

The press release says it all:

Communities are vibrant entities,” says author Jono Bacon (@jonobacon). “While there is plenty of work we can do in building effective communities, what makes people stay for the long haul is when they feel like they belong.”

Discover how your community can become a reliable support network, a valuable source of new ideas, and a powerful marketing force with The Art of Community, Second Edition(O'Reilly Media, $39.99 USD).

“This second edition provides comprehensive coverage of building communities and community projects from strategic planning right up to delivery,” says Bacon. “Importantly, and particularly within the scenario of professional community managers working in organizations, the book also covers accountability, measuring success, and identifying bottlenecks and issues so they can be resolved.”

Interviews with 12 community management leaders, including Linus Torvalds, Tim O'Reilly, and Mike Shinoda, provide useful insights, and help you

• Develop specific objectives and goals for building your community
• Build processes to help contributors perform tasks, work together, and share successes
• Provide tools and infrastructure that enable members to work quickly
• Create buzz around your community to get more people involved
• Harness social media to broadcast information, collaborate, and get feedback
• Use several techniques to track progress on community goals
• Identify and manage conflict, such as dealing with divisive personalities

“I can't think of a better guidebook than The Art of Community and your fearless tour guide, Jono Bacon. The second edition shares many other stories of how successful communities have been created and the choices made in doing so.”

HootSuite Adds More Social Integration. Is It Time To Switch Your Social Management Service?

I've been using TweetDeck for a long time as my main tool for following Twitter action.

I've been using Dlvr.it as my main tool for scheduling Tweets.

I have also dabbled with HootSuite every once in a while, but never used it much. However, there's one thing I've noticed â€" HootSuite is building lots of integration into it's platform and now it includes Instagram, SlideShare and other options.

So the question is simple, if you're using social media a lot and want to use as few tools, preferably a tool that integrates as many social tools as possible, then you might just have to switch the tool you're using.

Hmm.

 

 

 

11 Tips For Improving Virtual Meetings: Introduce Attendeees

Ron Ricci and Carl Wiese are authors of the book The Collaboration Imperative: Executive Strategies for Unlocking Your Organization's True Potential (Cisco Press).

According to Ricci and Wiese, new technology and the reality of working in global organizations means we are replacing traditional in-person meetings with travel-free, technology-enabled, face-to-face collaboration that can occur at anytime, with anyone, anywhere in the world.

The virtual workplace has many advantages, but it also introduces new challenges. We work with people we've never met before, and we cannot bond in the same way we do when we are sitting across the table from them.

The three most important ingredients of a successful virtual meeting are trust, communication and ready access to information, says the authors.

Here are a few tips to help you succeed, from their book:

1. Before the meeting, make sure attendees have all the preparation materials they will need and the time to review them.
2. Begin with a quick warm-up. For example, start the meeting by asking remote attendees to describe what's happening in their country, town or office.
3. During “blended” meetings, where some attendees are gathering in person and others are participating virtually, address remote attendees first and then offer the opportunity to speak to in-person attendees.
4. Identify in-person attendees. In-room speakers - whether presenting or making a comment - should introduce themselves so that remote attendees know who is speaking.
5. Ask remote attendees to be vocal. Emphasize that it is their responsibility to let in-person people know if they cannot hear or follow the discussion.
6. Don't assume everyone is comfortable with the virtual collaboration technology. Communicate and publish the location and guidelines for the tools you're using.
7. Rotate meeting times. Ensure that each time zone has a meeting scheduled during normal business hours.
8. Solicit participation. Regularly ask remote attendees if they have comments and encourage participants to post a message.
9. Assign a meeting monitor. Keep an eye out for questions, IMs or chat postings and interjects from remote attendees.
10. If your virtual team includes customers, partners, suppliers or vendors, ensure the security of your documents and corporate information.
11. Avoid colloquialisms, acronyms and corporate-speak if you have nonnative speakers.

Quick, Check Your Web Site On Your Phone. Does It Look Bad? You\'re Probably Losing Sales.

Right now, take your smartphone or tablet and look at your web site. How does it look? Does it look good or terrible. I was speaking recently to an Infusionsoft customer about a variety of things and one topic was if her web site was mobile or not. She said she's used the “DIY” mobile web site services and they didn't make her web site look too good, so she's going to work with a company who can really customize the mobile experience for her web site visitors.

For those of you who want to try to DIY (do it yourself) I've been pretty happy with Mobstac - they make Smallbiztechnology.com look pretty good on mobile devices. In fact their free starter plan caught my eye. They'll mobilize your site for FREE until it reaches 250,00 page views, then they'll charge you for it.

So go check out your web site on a smartphone and on a tablet. Like how it looks? If you don't â€" neither do prospective customers and you're probably losing sales by not correcting this.

Boot Up With A Secure USB To Securely Use Guest Computers (Or Your Own)

There's a lot of online threats when using a computer system, especially one that's connected to the Internet â€" as most of our computers are. When travelling to other countries, the threat is even higher with corporate and government sponsored espionage. One of the ways you can be VERY secure is by booting the computer with a bootable USB drive. Doing so completely by-passes the computer's operating system.

Cryptzone, European IT Threat mitigation specialists, announced the release of AppGate MOVE (My Own Virtual Environment), a USB flash drive that provides a portable and robust way to access information and applications securely from virtually any computer. As the secure bootable USB works independently of the host device's operating system, the risk from malware infection is eradicated.

Jamie Bodley-Scott, Account Director for Systems Integratorsat Cryptzone says “With more organisations offering occasional home working, MOVE is a perfect low-cost option, providing trustedaccess to corporate information from anuntrusted computer at home or in a public space. MOVE allows people to work securely because the configuration of the PC is irrelevant and untouched.Thisis important from a security policy viewpoint.”

Cryptzone is not the only maker of bootable USB drives â€" in fact your IT person can make one for you or you can search for how to do this online.

It's probably a pain to boot up with a USB drive on your personal computer â€" but if you travel and you're working with secure documents a bootable drive will make you more secure. Want an extra layer of secure? Use a mobile broadband card for your OWN internet connectivity.

 

 

Google Analytics Gets Better: Check It Out. Check It Daily. Boost Your Online Presence & Intelligence

I've used Google Analytics on Smallbiztechnology.com to know as much as I can about my audience . What sources are sending traffic to smallbiztechnology.com, what pages are most popular, what browsers are most popular, which mobile devices are used on my site and so much more.

Google's Analytics has been updated with some great new features, from Google:

Download the new Analytics App to view your Analytics account on your mobile phone. We hope you discover even more ways to use these new reports and features to improve your business.

Measure your mobile application with Analytics - Mobile App Analytics provides end-to-end measurement of the entire customer journey within a mobile application. It enables mobile developers and marketers to create more successful apps and user experiences by measuring metrics at all stages: from acquisition metrics such as new/active user; engagement metrics such as visitor flow, loyalty, and app crashes; and outcome metrics such as goal conversions and in-app purchases. We're slowly rolling out this feature, and it will be available to all by the end of summer. Learn more

The Intelligence Alerts Widget makes it easier to spot unexpected changes on your website - Your automatic and custom alerts are now in your dashboard! No need to click on the Intelligence tab or check your email to see alerts. In your dashboard, you can see a timeline graph of the number of automatic/custom alerts. If you are curious for more details or there is spike in the number of alerts, click on the widget, and it will lead you to the appropriate reports. Learn more

Browser size analysis: find out what your visitors actually see  - What is actually “above the fold” on a webpage is a significant factor in conversion rates, so we've created a visualization that lets you quickly determine which portions of your page are visible to which percentages of visitors. Find it in your Analytics account in the Content section under In-Page Analytics. Learn more

Data at your fingertips: the Google Analytics app for Android - With the Google Analytics App, you can access the same accounts and profiles you see when you open Analytics from a desktop browser, but you'll see reports that are optimized for your phone. Swipe through these reports to see the essential data about your websites and apps anywhere, anytime. Learn more

Ziptask. Almost Like Elance or oDesk But Different. No Interviews and Get A Quote.

I've been using Elance for years and in fact many of my core staff I've successfully found on Elance. I've been clued to a new service, that's similar to Elance, but a bit different â€" it's Ziptask.

What I like about Ziptask is that instead of me finding people to do the work for me, I send my work to Ziptask and they find someone (or a team) to do the work. They check it and send it back to me. I like that. I don't have to put out a query and find the right person for the job. Ziptask handles that. For .39 â€" .70 cents a minute for most jobs, the service is quite economical. Jobs include graphics, content development, programming and so much more. What I also like is that they give me an estimate for the project as well. Check it out â€" tell me what you think.

Check out a video about Ziptask here or below:

Small Business Events You Should Check Out

You can find plenty of events for small businesses and startups this summer and fall, to educate yourself and your staff, and to network with your peers. Here is our hand-picked list of conferences, seminars and events. Don't miss out on these excellent opportunities to help you start a business, grow it and run it like a pro!

* * * * *

Startup Weekend
Multiple Cities and Dates 2012 â€" see website for full list

Startup Weekends are 54-hour events designed to provide superior experiential education for technical and non-technical entrepreneurs. Beginning with Friday night pitches and continuing through brainstorming, business plan development, and basic prototype creation, Startup Weekends culminate in Sunday night demos and presentations. Participants create working startups during the event and are able to collaborate with like-minded individuals outside of their daily networks. All teams hear talks by industry leaders and receive valuable feedback from local entrepreneurials. The weekend is centered around action, innovation, and education. Whether you are looking for feedback on a idea, a co-founder, specific skill sets, or a team to help you execute, Startup Weekends are the perfect environment in which to test your idea and take the first steps towards launching your own startup.

Spark & Hustle Tour
Multiple Cities and Dates, May through August 2012

Led by Tory Johnson, the jam-packed, high-energy day enables you to experience big breakthroughs in your business and yourself.

Meet great people who can help with product development and packaging; manufacturing and distribution; multiple revenue streams and collaborations; mental preparedness for monumental success; and so much more.
Beyond the jam-packed sessions, this event is ideal to meet partners, collaborators and even clients!

The Real World Marketing Conference: What's Working Now?
July 11, 2012, New York City

At this one-of-a-kind conference, top marketing experts will provide attendees with the strategy and tactics needed to create and execute proven marketing plans to help them exceed their business goals.This half day conference will feature four breakout sessions covering all of the latest marketing initiatives you can easily implement in your business. Topics include: engagement marketing, social media strategies, and content marketing. The event will conclude with a panel discussion featuring four experts that have significantly grown their businesses through successful, integrated marketing campaigns.
For $10 off registration use promo code NYER10.

Ultra Light Startups Investor Feedback Forum
July 12, 2012, New York City

The objectives of this event are:

To help early stage startups refine their investor pitch
To provide actionable advice and feedback for each presenting startup
To provide insight on how investors evaluate startups and pitches
To award prizes to the most viable startups, based on audience voting

Infusionsoft Small Business Success Tour
July 12, 2012, New York City
August 16 â€" San Francisco
August 24 â€" San Diego
September 13 â€" Chicago
September 28 â€" Los Angeles
October 5 â€" Boston

This series features a full day of strategies, tips and marketing best practices from the experts at Infusionsoft. You'll receive hands-on instructions on how to develop a highly effective sales and marketing plan you can start implementing right away. You'll learn to:

Drive higher customer referral traffic tomorrow
Calculate and optimize the lifetime value of your customers
Create a constant flow of new customers who are ready to buy
Build a healthy and responsive database
Get the right message, to the right person, at the right time

The Science of Inbound Marketing
July 12, 2012, online

Billions of pieces of data, five years of research, and tens of thousands of readers and attendees in the making, The Science of Inbound Marketing will be the paramount presentation of inbound marketing data, statistics and science. HubSpot's Social Media Scientist Dan Zarrella and HootSuite's VP Marketing Ben Watson will vanquish any unicorn-and-rainbows myths you may have about how inbound marketing really works and what role social plays in this ever-changing landscape. During this 60 minute webinar, you'll learn:
How to make marketing decisions based on real data
Ways to leverage your channels for most visibility
How to beat the competition using inbound marketing

New York Launch Party
July 17, 2012, NYC

Small Biz New York was created by Small Business Expo and Do It In Person as a fun and informative monthly B2B networking event for New York City Small Business Owners. Not your typical monthly networking event, in addition to general meet & greet networking sessions at local bars & restaurants, each month is different ranging from cutting edge business seminars, to business owner luncheons & breakfasts, to Speed Networking & more…all leading up to the annual Small Business Expo.

Sammuel Adams Brewing The American Dream Speed Coaching
July 17, 2012, San Diego

Business owners in the restaurant, food, beverage or hospitality business can get free advice next week from the makers of Samuel Adams beer.

The event is part of a nationwide series sponsored by the brewing company. The event will kick off with a networking reception at 5:30pm. During the reception you will sign up for the consulting stations that are most relevant to your business.

The program will begin at 6:00 pm with welcome remarks, after which you will have the opportunity to spend 20 minutes at the coach stations of your preference and receive personalized 1-on-1 coaching from local professionals and Sam Adams experts. Make sure to bring your questions and anything you want feedback on, such as packaging, materials, and ideas.

Women's Leadership Exchange Chicago Conference
July 17, 2012, Chicago

For the past 10 years WLE has been connecting women business owners throughout the country. 2012 is their 10th anniversary and WLE wants to give back to members who have helped them get to where they are today. At the WLE conference you will learn new strategies, new tactics and new resources that didn't exist a few years ago. WLE has assembled a group of experts who are experiencing outstanding results. Join WLE in Chicago for a jam-packed day of content to drive new business and opportunities while making valuable business connections.

How to Design Slides for Webinar Presentations
July 17, 2012, Online

Whether you're a marketer or communicator responsible for crafting virtual content, a sales professional looking convert more customers, or a business leader who presents on a regular basis, it's time to learn the steps to make your next Web presentation a bigger, bolder success. Attend this free seminar as Roger Courville, author of The Virtual Presenter's Handbook, demonstrates practical idea for improving virtual presentations quickly and easily-using real slides from real people. You'll walk away with new ideas for taking your webinars from so-so to sensational.

Department of the Navy (DON) Small Business Opportunity Conference
August 6-8, 2012, San Diego

The DON OSBP is conducting its annual Gold Coast Small Business Opportunity Conference in San Diego, CA on 06-08 August 2012. The primary purpose of the event is to provide a forum to educate, guide and assist small businesses in working with the government primarily the Department of Defense. NDIA and NAVSUP have collaborated to bring interesting and motivating speakers that will present topics of interest with regards to working with the government. Plan on attending informative and relevant general/plenary and break-out sessions including Industry Day with five of the Navy commands. Visit over 250 industry and government exhibitors along with dozens of posters containing company information and opportunities. As with any of these events, there are also plenty of opportunities for networking.

Lubbock Chamber of Commerce Governor's Small Business Forum
August 7, 2012

The Forum is designed to give small business owners essential tools to help their businesses succeed, provide jobs for Texans and strengthen the South Plains economy. The Texas Workforce Commission will present information on the many services available for small business owners, including the $2 million dollar Skills for Small Business Fund, which provides grants to community colleges that small businesses may access for employee training needs.

MacTech Boot Camp
August 7 â€" San Diego, CA
September 5 â€" Minneapolis, MN
December 5 â€" Miami, FL

MacTech Boot Camp is a one day event for those that support the home user, and small business market held around the country. MacTech Boot Camp is a single-track, hotel based seminar that is specifically geared to serve the needs of consultants and techs wanting to serve their base better. This event is geared toward those that already support the home and SMB communities, or that want to become a consultant supporting these areas.

Sage Summit 2012
August 12-14, 2012, Nashville, TN

Sage Summit is the premier conference for Sage customers and partners. It's the destination for learning better ways to leverage the software you already own and know and discovering new technologies. Plus you'll hear what's working for other people in your industry and gain insight on how to overcome the challenges your organization faces.

One Woman National Business Conference and Expo
August 17-18, 2012, Sugar Land, TX

“Changing the Face of Business One Woman at a Time” is the theme of the taking place Aug. 17 and Aug. 18 at Sugar Land Marriott Town Square. The two-day conference will give business owners, entrepreneurs and corporate employees the chance to network with like-minded decision makers.The conference also features a trade show exhibiting products, services and business opportunities.

Speakers will discuss industry trends and business growth strategies. Supplier diversity officers will talk about how to better serve the small business community and meet new potential suppliers.There will also be a “Youth Explosion” program for young entrepreneurs. One Woman is an annual women's business promotion, advocacy and development forum.

MarketingProfs B2B Forum 2012
October 3-5, 2012, Boston

B2B Forum isn't just another event. It's the event for B2B marketers who don't just follow yesterday's best practices; they create the next practices needed to move their businesses-and industries-forward.

Five programming tracks covering the modern marketing mix: lead gen, content, social media, mobile, and marketing essentials.
Dozens of smart sessions by professionals on the pulse of marketing trends and growth.

Inc. 500 | 5000
October 3-5, 2012, Phoenix, AZ

Inc. 500|5000 Conference & Awards Ceremony is the must-attend event for the nation's leading entrepreneurs. Join your colleagues and peers for three days of unparalleled networking and learning from the leaders of America's fastest-growing companies. This year's speakers include Captain Mark Kelly, Commander of the Space Shuttle Endeavour's final mission, Guy Kawasaki, Founding Partner of Garage Technology Ventures, and Marie Tillman, Founder of the Pat Tillman Foundation.

Women's Business Conference 2012
October 4-5, 2012, Louisville, KY

This year's theme celebrates the entrepreneurial, innovative and adventurous spirit of women business owners. They are starting businesses at record rates and running these businesses on their own terms. They refuse to sit idle, waiting and watching. They have confidence and power to shake things up, take smart risks and do things differently to move forward. They are impacting positive change at every turn, speaking out on issues of public policy, lightening their environmental footprint and creating jobs that fuel the economy. They are part of something much greater than themselves-a grassroots movement of women business owners and their community of supporters all dedicated to helping one another grow, thrive, give back and leave a legacy.

The New York Enterprise Report 2012 Small Business Awards
October 10, 2012, New York City

The New York Enterprise Report Small Business Awards is the annual awards program honoring the achievements and accomplishments of the 500,000+ small businesses throughout the tri-state area. Now in its 7th year, the Awards gala attracts more than 400 business owners and executives and is often referred to as “the networking event of the year.” Don't miss the chance to do business with the “who's who” of the New York small business community.

Small Business Influencer Awards Gala
October 17, 2012, New York City

The Small Business Influencer Awards will honor the Top 100 small business influencer champions at a festive Awards Gala on the evening of October 17, 2012 at the Javits Convention Center. Last year's event had a capacity crowd at a smaller venue. This year it will be bigger than ever - with the Awards Gala as the evening event at the New York XPO Small Business Conference. Don't miss this exciting event! See last year's recap. Meanwhile, be sure to nominate someone for the Small Business Influencer Awards (perhaps yourself?).

Small Business Expo
November 8, 2012, Los Angeles

Small Business Expo is a full day networking event, trade show & conference of the year for business owners, C-Level Executives & company decision-makers.

Network with other business professionals & check out the exciting exhibitor hall
Establish new contacts and reconnect with old ones.
Further your education by attending workshops & seminars.
Learn about new products and services that will help your business grow.
Interact with the movers and shakers of your industry.
Discover new and innovative technologies.

To find more small business events, contests and awards, visit the Small Business Events Calendar.

If you are putting on a small business event or contest, and want to get the word out, please submit it through our Events & Contests Submission Form (it's free). Only events of interest to small business people, freelancers and entrepreneurs will be included.

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