Check Out One of These Events or Awards for Your Small Business

Isn’t it time to expand your knowledge, and make new connections? You can do that by attending an event.  Or bring marketing visibility to your business. You can do that through seeking out an award. Or how about earning some cash or services - by participating in a contest.   Below is a hand-picked selection of events, awards and contests for small businesses and entrepreneurs.  To see the entire list, please visit the Small Business Events Calendar.

Featured Events, Contests and Awards

7 Steps to Facebook Success - How to Make Money on the World’s #1 Social Network
June 04, 2013, Online

If you’ve been feeling frustrated and overwhelmed by the constant changes and tweaks on Facebook, and you’ve been struggling to measure a real monetary result from your Facebook marketing efforts - you’re not alone! On this free mega online event, Facebook marketing expert Mari Smith will share her own 7-Step Facebook Marketing Success Plan that’s packed with money-making tips for YOU to turn the world’s most popular social network into the TOP source of quality leads and paying customers for your business! It’s free â€" register today and save your seat!

Making Money Online: Ecommerce Done Right with John LawsonMaking Money Online: Ecommerce Done Right with John Lawson
June 25, 2013, New York, NY

After this live workshop, you’ll be ready to immediately build your own online eBay or Amazon store, source products for it, and start selling. You’ll learn how to market your online store strategically using social media, SEO, mobile and more.

Join John Lawson, award winning Social Commerce Strategist, American Express featured businessman, author, and founder of 3rd Power Outlet - an online clothing retail outlet that has exceeded $25 million in sales.
John will be sharing his practical, down-to-earth methods for building your own ecommerce business from the ground up in this two part workshop, packed with resources, tips, and how-to instruction.
Discount Code
SBTRENDS ( $25 off)

WBENC National Conference & Business FairWBENC National Conference & Business Fair
June 26, 2013, Minneapolis, MN

The Women’s Business Enterprise National Council (WBENC) will convene 3,500 decision makers from the nation’s leading corporations, government entities and women’s business enterprises (WBEs) to generate business together and stimulate economic growth at the 2013 WBENC National Conference & Business Fair in Minneapolis, MN, June 25-27, 2013.

Big Awards for BusinessBig Awards for Business
August 14, 2013, Online

The Big Awards started with a mission of recognizing real talent and performance. Real business people, those with experience and knowledge, judge the Big Awards. Request an entry kit today and submit your nomination by August 14, 2013.
Discount Code
SBT50 ($50.00 off)

More Events

More Contests and Awards

This weekly listing of small business events, contests and awards is provided as a community service by Small Business Trends and SmallBizTechnology.




Review of the Small Business Events Calendar: Can We Improve It?

Small Business Events Calendar

We are so excited about our new Small Business Events Calendar.  This is a public calendar for the small business community.  We invite you to share your events on it.

How It Works

Events - and Awards and Contests, too - On the Events Calendar (pictured above) we include not only events such as conferences, webinars, Hangouts … but we also include small business contests and awards.  Since contests and awards are deadline-driven, they lend themselves to calendar listings.

It is FAST to submit an event - We wanted to keep it simple… and make it easy. It takes under 2 minutes to submit an event for a free listing.  Go here to submit an event.

Basic events listings are FREE -  There’s no charge for listing a small business event.

More visibility for those who want it â€" Want to include a description of the event?  What about a discount code, an event hashtag, a logo, and a direct link to the registration page?  Want more visibility at the top of the page? All those things are available for Premium listings, which cost just $99.

No irrelevant events -  One of our main gripes with public calendars is that they quickly get overrun with irrelevant events and, well, spam.  Small business is the ONLY niche we serve - we are 100% focused on it. We wanted only high-quality events that fit squarely into that niche.  Every event is reviewed by a human being. Most events are reviewed within a few hours - but please allow up to 24 hours. You will receive an email when your event is approved.

Events get wide visibility -  This is a joint effort with Ramon Ray and his SmallBizTechnology.com site, and events get publicized in both sites.  Since both sites serve the same audience â€" small business â€" it made sense to join forces.

Put an Events Calendar on your site - Would you like to display small business events on your website?  Then grab the code for one of our embeddable events units.  There’s a convenient sidebar widget, and a full-page version.

Weekly events posts - Each week on Saturday we highlight upcoming events by issuing a roundup article. This appears on Small Business Trends and also SmallBizTechnology.com. If you have an event coming up within the next 30 days, and you want to get it in the week’s roundup, be sure to submit it by Friday 9 am EST, the cutoff.

Back Story Behind The Calendar

It’s based on proprietary technology - The events calendar was conceived and built by our Technology team here at Small Business Trends.  In the past we had a third-party calendar, but it had limitations and couldn’t be automated (more on that below).  So we decided to replace it.

Over a period of months, we looked at many third party calendars and online events services.  We studied all the  WordPress events plugins.  None of them was quite right for our purposes.  We ended up starting with an events plugin, but customizing it extensively.

A case of automation -  We don’t talk a lot about our technology here at Small Business Trends. But one of our outside advisors has recommended we open up and share the “Small Business Trends story” more.

In the past two years we’ve invested heavily in our backend systems. To say that we run WordPress doesn’t even scratch the surface.  WordPress is at the core, but this site is heavily customized.

Efficiency is crucial in your business, I’m sure.  It is certainly is in ours.

We’ve built backend systems with an eye toward automating repetitive manual activities as much as possible. We’re a small team. Our company is profitable and totally self-funded. Through automation we’ve freed up our precious human resources to focus on “value-add” activities â€" ones that require intelligence and talent. The grunt work we let technology handle.

The Events Calendar system is an example of automation.  For instance, the weekly events posts are automatically pulled from the events calendar database â€" and don’t need to be manually entered.  The posts simply need to be reviewed and the first paragraph customized.

Cost savings of $7,500 - It will save at least $7,500 annually in labor costs.

In the past, we’d manually create weekly events and contests posts.  Those took a ton of time.  People would email us information about events, and our extended team (including someone from SmallBizTechnology.com) would have to dig for the information among several inboxes. We’d manually grab images and load them.  We’d search event sites for descriptions and edit them.  We’d also separately load the events into our previous events calendar - another duplication of effort.

We’ve gone from spending 3.5 hours a week on events, to spending less than 30 minutes. That’s a savings of three hours a week.  In a year’s time, it adds up.

Scaling for growth - Automation is crucial to scale a business for growth. All that manual work wasn’t such a big deal when the site was smaller. But as a business grows, manual activities multiply. They bury you.

Without automation, we wouldn’t be able to offer all the features to the small business community that we serve.

Let us know what you think about the Events Calendar system, and if there’s anything we can do to improve it, in the comments below.




Review of the Small Business Events Calendar: Can We Improve It?

Small Business Events Calendar

We are so excited about our new Small Business Events Calendar.  This is a public calendar for the small business community.  We invite you to share your events on it.

How It Works

Events - and Awards and Contests, too - On the Events Calendar (pictured above) we include not only events such as conferences, webinars, Hangouts … but we also include small business contests and awards.  Since contests and awards are deadline-driven, they lend themselves to calendar listings.

It is FAST to submit an event - We wanted to keep it simple… and make it easy. It takes under 2 minutes to submit an event for a free listing.  Go here to submit an event.

Basic events listings are FREE -  There’s no charge for listing a small business event.

More visibility for those who want it â€" Want to include a description of the event?  What about a discount code, an event hashtag, a logo, and a direct link to the registration page?  Want more visibility at the top of the page? All those things are available for Premium listings, which cost just $99.

No irrelevant events -  One of our main gripes with public calendars is that they quickly get overrun with irrelevant events and, well, spam.  Small business is the ONLY niche we serve - we are 100% focused on it. We wanted only high-quality events that fit squarely into that niche.  Every event is reviewed by a human being. Most events are reviewed within a few hours - but please allow up to 24 hours. You will receive an email when your event is approved.

Events get wide visibility -  This is a joint effort with Ramon Ray and his SmallBizTechnology.com site, and events get publicized in both sites.  Since both sites serve the same audience â€" small business â€" it made sense to join forces.

Put an Events Calendar on your site - Would you like to display small business events on your website?  Then grab the code for one of our embeddable events units.  There’s a convenient sidebar widget, and a full-page version.

Weekly events posts - Each week on Saturday we highlight upcoming events by issuing a roundup article. This appears on Small Business Trends and also SmallBizTechnology.com. If you have an event coming up within the next 30 days, and you want to get it in the week’s roundup, be sure to submit it by Friday 9 am EST, the cutoff.

Back Story Behind The Calendar

It’s based on proprietary technology - The events calendar was conceived and built by our Technology team here at Small Business Trends.  In the past we had a third-party calendar, but it had limitations and couldn’t be automated (more on that below).  So we decided to replace it.

Over a period of months, we looked at many third party calendars and online events services.  We studied all the  WordPress events plugins.  None of them was quite right for our purposes.  We ended up starting with an events plugin, but customizing it extensively.

A case of automation -  We don’t talk a lot about our technology here at Small Business Trends. But one of our outside advisors has recommended we open up and share the “Small Business Trends story” more.

In the past two years we’ve invested heavily in our backend systems. To say that we run WordPress doesn’t even scratch the surface.  WordPress is at the core, but this site is heavily customized.

Efficiency is crucial in your business, I’m sure.  It is certainly is in ours.

We’ve built backend systems with an eye toward automating repetitive manual activities as much as possible. We’re a small team. Our company is profitable and totally self-funded. Through automation we’ve freed up our precious human resources to focus on “value-add” activities â€" ones that require intelligence and talent. The grunt work we let technology handle.

The Events Calendar system is an example of automation.  For instance, the weekly events posts are automatically pulled from the events calendar database â€" and don’t need to be manually entered.  The posts simply need to be reviewed and the first paragraph customized.

Cost savings of $7,500 - It will save at least $7,500 annually in labor costs.

In the past, we’d manually create weekly events and contests posts.  Those took a ton of time.  People would email us information about events, and our extended team (including someone from SmallBizTechnology.com) would have to dig for the information among several inboxes. We’d manually grab images and load them.  We’d search event sites for descriptions and edit them.  We’d also separately load the events into our previous events calendar - another duplication of effort.

We’ve gone from spending 3.5 hours a week on events, to spending less than 30 minutes. That’s a savings of three hours a week.  In a year’s time, it adds up.

Scaling for growth - Automation is crucial to scale a business for growth. All that manual work wasn’t such a big deal when the site was smaller. But as a business grows, manual activities multiply. They bury you.

Without automation, we wouldn’t be able to offer all the features to the small business community that we serve.

Let us know what you think about the Events Calendar system, and if there’s anything we can do to improve it, in the comments below.




Top Small Business News Stories for the End of May

Indie books and bookstores

This week in small business news, the “hybrids” march on… hybrid tablet laptops, that is.  Plus, there are new opportunities in book and app publishing.  And a small printer that’s smart, impresses.

The Small Business Trends editorial team brings you news stories important to small business owners and what they mean to you.

Tech Tools

HP introduces yet another tablet laptop hybrid. “Hybrid” seems to be the trend this year with so many of them appearing in the market. This is not the first hybrid offering from HP this year, but it seems like the most business oriented. Called the Split x2, it features a 13.3 inch display screen, runs on Windows and is due out in August.

Save on a trip to the print center with Brother smart printers. Brother USA has introduced a new line of printers designed to help small business owners complete more printing tasks in-house - especially for high-volumes where high quality is needed. The printers are compact, with “high capacity” toner creating better quality printed materials for less money.

Upload your files faster. Minbox offers a solution the company says is much faster than Dropbox or other similar applications. In fact, it’s #freakingfast, the company says.  Right now it’s mostly of value for graphics designers, photographers and videographers who routinely deal with very large files they need to share with co-workers, clients partners and others.

Infusionsoft now has a sync for Gmail. Customer Relationship Software is nothing new for small businesses. Now one company is integrating its CRM platform with email. The combination is meant to seamlessly connect the software you use to keep track of your customers with the service you use most often to communicate day to day.

Publishing

Changes at a major book distributor offer opportunities for small publishers. If youself-publish or are an “indie” publisher, particularly one using print on demand, there may be opportunities opening up to get your titles into brick-and-mortar bookstores. Baker & Taylor, a major distributor, is making some interesting changes.

Amazon introduces a marketplace for fan fiction. The online retailer is creating a new business model in an unusual field. Those interested in writing fiction based on popular TV shows like Pretty Little Liars and The Vampire Diaries can now earn some money from their work. Is there a business model here?

Does your small business have an app? A recent presentation at Google’s I/O event revealed the growing market for in-app purchases and subscription business models. Both the Google Play store and Apple Store show impressive revenue growth. Is this an opportunity for your business?

Social Media

Only 2 to 48 percent of what you post on Facebook will be seen by fans. But Mari Smith, who has been dubbed the “Queen of Facebook,” suggests the social networking site is still a great tool to market your small business. To do this most effectively, use what Smith calls the 80/20 rule when posting ontent.

Entrepreneurs can no longer afford to ignore Google Plus. Content marketer Amie Marse shares some interesting stats. Of the world’s 100 top brands, only 72 have Google Plus accounts. Of those, only 40 percent update their account regularly. Here are five reasons Marse says your business should be using the Google social site.

The problem with social media.  In this post, marketer John Follis laments the concerns small businesses have over social media’s effectiveness. But is this the whole story?

Book Reviews

Will your business be part of the revolution? “The Gamification Revolution: How Leaders Leverage Game Mechanics to Crush The Competition” looks at a new trend. Pierre DeBois reviews the book and gives a look at how gamification is used to engage your company and customers.

Add some guilty pleasures to your summer reading. Business book junkies also read other kinds of books.  Small Business Trends book editor Ivana Taylor shares eight titles you won’t want to leave off your list for reading at the beach or on vacation.  Self help titles abound!!!

Services

TaskRabbit helps businesses find temporary help. Small businesses now have another source for recruiting temporary help. TaskRabbit will expand its services once primarily used by people seeking help for odd jobs.  It will be best for businesses that are looking for local help for simple projects, in our view.  Check out TaskRabbit for Business and determine whether it will help your company.

CorpNet offers to help manage your corporate compliance. Keeping up with state corporate filing requirements can be a challenge. CorpNet just launched a service aimed at helping. The free service can help your business stay up to date â€" and not incur penalities.

Marketing

Artists market work with Grumpy Cat brand. The Grumpy Cat phenomenon has gone viral on the Web. Now, a group of artists is using it as a method for marketing their work. We’ve included a small sample of Grumpy Cat art for your viewing pleasure.

A recent study shows American products still have appeal. Rieva Lesonky shares details from the Harris Interactive report. The study shows Americans of both genders and all political parties and ages are interested in buying American. If you sell American products, how do you let customers know?

Don’t let celebrities steal your star power on Google. Ann Smarty looks at a unique problem for online reputation management. Smarty makes some suggestions for what to do if you share a name with a celebrity and how it can affect your reputation on Google.

What is a SERP? If your business has an online component, this is something you must understand â€" especially if you communicate with SEO professionals. The acronym stands for “search engine results page.” Find out what it means and why it is important.

Management

Getting things done. In remarks at a recent recent InfusionCon conference, productivity guru David Allen had these tips for getting tasks completed when you have too much on your plate. Get stuff out of your head, and onto paper.

Family leave is a two-edged sword. Rieva Lesonsky looks at the question of whether you should offer family leave in your business. Statistics show dads are far less likely to take the leave, even if it is offered. The question is whether you can afford it if they do.

“The Internship” â€" lighthearted summer movie about Google and generations. Some complain this movie is a giant product placement for Google. But we think online enthusiasts will be fascinated by this look into the work culture at Google.    Watch the trailer and read the overview.

Entrepreneurship

NFIB says businesses still need more credit. Scott Shane, Professor of Entrepreneurial Studies at Case Western Reserve University, explores what seems an ongoing problem in the small business community. If your business is having similar problems, read on.

CNET co-founder goes bankrupt. The plight of Halsey Minor, co-founder of CNET and an investor in Salesforce.com and a company which became Google Voice, is a cautionary tale. Small Business Trends founder Anita Campbell looks at Halsey’s successes, missteps and what other entrepreneurs can learn.

Bookstore, Shutterstock




Top Small Business News Stories for the End of May

Indie books and bookstores

This week in small business news, the “hybrids” march on… hybrid tablet laptops, that is.  Plus, there are new opportunities in book and app publishing.  And a small printer that’s smart, impresses.

The Small Business Trends editorial team brings you news stories important to small business owners and what they mean to you.

Tech Tools

HP introduces yet another tablet laptop hybrid. “Hybrid” seems to be the trend this year with so many of them appearing in the market. This is not the first hybrid offering from HP this year, but it seems like the most business oriented. Called the Split x2, it features a 13.3 inch display screen, runs on Windows and is due out in August.

Save on a trip to the print center with Brother smart printers. Brother USA has introduced a new line of printers designed to help small business owners complete more printing tasks in-house - especially for high-volumes where high quality is needed. The printers are compact, with “high capacity” toner creating better quality printed materials for less money.

Upload your files faster. Minbox offers a solution the company says is much faster than Dropbox or other similar applications. In fact, it’s #freakingfast, the company says.  Right now it’s mostly of value for graphics designers, photographers and videographers who routinely deal with very large files they need to share with co-workers, clients partners and others.

Infusionsoft now has a sync for Gmail. Customer Relationship Software is nothing new for small businesses. Now one company is integrating its CRM platform with email. The combination is meant to seamlessly connect the software you use to keep track of your customers with the service you use most often to communicate day to day.

Publishing

Changes at a major book distributor offer opportunities for small publishers. If youself-publish or are an “indie” publisher, particularly one using print on demand, there may be opportunities opening up to get your titles into brick-and-mortar bookstores. Baker & Taylor, a major distributor, is making some interesting changes.

Amazon introduces a marketplace for fan fiction. The online retailer is creating a new business model in an unusual field. Those interested in writing fiction based on popular TV shows like Pretty Little Liars and The Vampire Diaries can now earn some money from their work. Is there a business model here?

Does your small business have an app? A recent presentation at Google’s I/O event revealed the growing market for in-app purchases and subscription business models. Both the Google Play store and Apple Store show impressive revenue growth. Is this an opportunity for your business?

Social Media

Only 2 to 48 percent of what you post on Facebook will be seen by fans. But Mari Smith, who has been dubbed the “Queen of Facebook,” suggests the social networking site is still a great tool to market your small business. To do this most effectively, use what Smith calls the 80/20 rule when posting ontent.

Entrepreneurs can no longer afford to ignore Google Plus. Content marketer Amie Marse shares some interesting stats. Of the world’s 100 top brands, only 72 have Google Plus accounts. Of those, only 40 percent update their account regularly. Here are five reasons Marse says your business should be using the Google social site.

The problem with social media.  In this post, marketer John Follis laments the concerns small businesses have over social media’s effectiveness. But is this the whole story?

Book Reviews

Will your business be part of the revolution? “The Gamification Revolution: How Leaders Leverage Game Mechanics to Crush The Competition” looks at a new trend. Pierre DeBois reviews the book and gives a look at how gamification is used to engage your company and customers.

Add some guilty pleasures to your summer reading. Business book junkies also read other kinds of books.  Small Business Trends book editor Ivana Taylor shares eight titles you won’t want to leave off your list for reading at the beach or on vacation.  Self help titles abound!!!

Services

TaskRabbit helps businesses find temporary help. Small businesses now have another source for recruiting temporary help. TaskRabbit will expand its services once primarily used by people seeking help for odd jobs.  It will be best for businesses that are looking for local help for simple projects, in our view.  Check out TaskRabbit for Business and determine whether it will help your company.

CorpNet offers to help manage your corporate compliance. Keeping up with state corporate filing requirements can be a challenge. CorpNet just launched a service aimed at helping. The free service can help your business stay up to date â€" and not incur penalities.

Marketing

Artists market work with Grumpy Cat brand. The Grumpy Cat phenomenon has gone viral on the Web. Now, a group of artists is using it as a method for marketing their work. We’ve included a small sample of Grumpy Cat art for your viewing pleasure.

A recent study shows American products still have appeal. Rieva Lesonky shares details from the Harris Interactive report. The study shows Americans of both genders and all political parties and ages are interested in buying American. If you sell American products, how do you let customers know?

Don’t let celebrities steal your star power on Google. Ann Smarty looks at a unique problem for online reputation management. Smarty makes some suggestions for what to do if you share a name with a celebrity and how it can affect your reputation on Google.

What is a SERP? If your business has an online component, this is something you must understand â€" especially if you communicate with SEO professionals. The acronym stands for “search engine results page.” Find out what it means and why it is important.

Management

Getting things done. In remarks at a recent recent InfusionCon conference, productivity guru David Allen had these tips for getting tasks completed when you have too much on your plate. Get stuff out of your head, and onto paper.

Family leave is a two-edged sword. Rieva Lesonsky looks at the question of whether you should offer family leave in your business. Statistics show dads are far less likely to take the leave, even if it is offered. The question is whether you can afford it if they do.

“The Internship” â€" lighthearted summer movie about Google and generations. Some complain this movie is a giant product placement for Google. But we think online enthusiasts will be fascinated by this look into the work culture at Google.    Watch the trailer and read the overview.

Entrepreneurship

NFIB says businesses still need more credit. Scott Shane, Professor of Entrepreneurial Studies at Case Western Reserve University, explores what seems an ongoing problem in the small business community. If your business is having similar problems, read on.

CNET co-founder goes bankrupt. The plight of Halsey Minor, co-founder of CNET and an investor in Salesforce.com and a company which became Google Voice, is a cautionary tale. Small Business Trends founder Anita Campbell looks at Halsey’s successes, missteps and what other entrepreneurs can learn.

Bookstore, Shutterstock




Small Business Events, Contests, & Awards: ChallengeHER, Facebook Success, Social Media + More

Welcome to our latest curated list of events, contests and awards for small businesses, solo entrepreneurs and growing companies. To see a full list or to submit your own event, contest or award listing, visit the Small Business Events Calendar.

Featured Events, Contests and Awards

7 Steps to Facebook Success - How to Make Money on the World’s #1 Social Network
June 04, 2013, Online

If you’ve been feeling frustrated and overwhelmed by the constant changes and tweaks on Facebook, and you’ve been struggling to measure a real monetary result from your Facebook marketing efforts - you’re not alone! On this free mega online event, Facebook marketing expert Mari Smith will share her own 7-Step Facebook Marketing Success Plan that’s packed with money-making tips for YOU to turn the world’s most popular social network into the TOP source of quality leads and paying customers for your business! It’s free â€" register today and save your seat!

Making Money Online: Ecommerce Done Right with John LawsonMaking Money Online: Ecommerce Done Right with John Lawson
June 25, 2013, New York, NY

After this live workshop, you’ll be ready to immediately build your own online eBay or Amazon store, source products for it, and start selling. You’ll learn how to market your online store strategically using social media, SEO, mobile and more.

Join John Lawson, award winning Social Commerce Strategist, American Express featured businessman, author, and founder of 3rd Power Outlet - an online clothing retail outlet that has exceeded $25 million in sales.
John will be sharing his practical, down-to-earth methods for building your own ecommerce business from the ground up in this two part workshop, packed with resources, tips, and how-to instruction.
Discount Code
SBTRENDS ( $25 off)

WBENC National Conference & Business FairWBENC National Conference & Business Fair
June 26, 2013, Minneapolis, MN

The Women’s Business Enterprise National Council (WBENC) will convene 3,500 decision makers from the nation’s leading corporations, government entities and women’s business enterprises (WBEs) to generate business together and stimulate economic growth at the 2013 WBENC National Conference & Business Fair in Minneapolis, MN, June 25-27, 2013.

Big Awards for BusinessBig Awards for Business
August 14, 2013, Online

The Big Awards started with a mission of recognizing real talent and performance. Real business people, those with experience and knowledge, judge the Big Awards. Request an entry kit today and submit your nomination by August 14, 2013.
Discount Code
SBT50 ($50.00 off)

More Events

More Contests

This weekly listing of small business events, contests and awards is provided as a community service by Small Business Trends and SmallBizTechnology.



The Revolution with Big Data

big data bookRead a paragraph on analytics or follow an infographic on the challenges of software-as-a-service, and you’ll find the term big data.  Business models are being upended, thanks to a digital environment related to Big Data.   So what’s at stake, especially for small businesses that are discovering as much competitive use of data as larger corporations?

Authors Viktor Mayer-Schroenberger and Kenneth Cukier have set out to answer that and more in Big Data: A Revolution That Will Transform How We Live, Work and Think.  Mayer-Schroenberger is a professor of Internet governance and regulation at Oxford University, and author of several books - his most recent is Delete the Virtue of Forgetting in the Digital Age. Cukier is a prominent commentator and the data editor at The Economist.  Both authors have produced numerous writings and articles on the subject of analysis from the perspective of many industries, organizations and situations.

I picked up a copy at Barnes and Noble, and wanted to see how well the authors sum today’s digital data environment.

Adding to the Big Data Discussion in a Simple Way

Mayer-Schroenberger and Cukier attempt to simplify the background behind the book’s theme. Essentially, Big Data is a perspective on the “datification” of things - processes that can be recorded as data, helping society to understand how data is growing and being collected.  Ten chapters are named with one word titles, such as Now, Correlation and Messy.  These, along with the stories contained within the chapters, are meant to illuminate the impact data has on societal problems and business opportunities.

Data is no longer just to confirm or disprove a hypothesis.  Instead, organizations must accept some messiness with data - i.e. being less concerned about exactness and instead, broadening what events influences causality to an occurrence:

“Big data transforms how we understand and explore the world. In the age of small data, we were driven by hypotheses about how the world worked, which we then attempted to validate by collecting and analyzing data. In the future, our understanding will be driven more by the abundance of data rather than hypotheses.”

This no-more-sample-size idea is similar to Wired Editor Chris Anderson’s assertions about the “end of theory.” In fact, the authors do look at the debate Anderson raised when he declared that hypothesizing and modeling from small data sizes were becoming obsolete.

Other takes on the data revolution include some twists on well known subjects, such as Steve Jobs’ choice to treat his cancer and Amazon’s investment in data to understand customer purchase behavior.  Avid technology readers may feel too familiar with some examples, but those with cursory familiarity with tech happenings will be just fine with the examples.  There are some interesting data applications, such as Con Edison’s effort to prevent exploding manhole cover incidents in New York City, as well as FlyOnTime.us, an open data application.

The enormity of the data created certainly permits new solutions, but it also yields new challenges.  At first blush, small business owners reading this book may feel they will bear the lion’s share of challenges (reading the chapter on Amazon may not bring warm and fuzzy memories to local bookstores). But Mayer-Schroenberger and Cukier expect the middle-sized companies to be on the chopping block - either scale by data or staying small and nimble.  Along those lines, the subject matter expert has become less influential in many industries:

“In media, the content that gets created and publicized on websites like Huffington Post, Gawker and Fobres is regularly determined by data, not just the judgement of human editors….Jeff Bezos got rid of in-house book reviewers at Amazon when the data showed that algorithmic recommendations drove more sales.  This means the skills necessary to succeed in the workplace are changing.”

Small business readers may not feel that the material relates actionable ideas to their environment. The book gives a short historical context to the big data subject, with notes indicating references within the past 10 years or so.  But there’s no IT-level discussion on databases and nothing on planning management. At least in relationship to technological features. Readers expecting noSQL vs SQL debates should look elsewhere.  You’ll have to decide if avoiding deep technological discussions on language and its impact is your interest before reading into Big Data.

The most thought-provocative perspective the book gives to small business owners is an alert to how the utility of technology has evolved. This differs from any age-old debates on the viability of a technology, a debate that can hinder budget considerations.   Instead of focusing on whether email is better than social media, business strategists should be more alert to trends in their marketing to develop useful associations between a marketing medium and customer response.

It’s this kind of thought process Big Data encourages. Thus the book’s ultimate value lies in stories told about how organizations are accepting data and modeling solutions that improves operations.

The chapters on Risk and Control take the concepts to further realistic scenarios. These chapters cover the topic of privacy with the latest outlooks and are probably the most actionable in discerning what to do with tech.  Mayer-Schroenberger and Cukier outline a definition of profiling vs. selecting suitable predictors of customer behavior. But they take the right step in outlining societal complications, such as “penalties based on propensities”, which they call “nauseating.”  The authors also note the rise of the algorithmists - professionals with math, science and computer science background to help assure accountability for the very systems we create:

“We envision algorithmists as providing a market-oriented approach to problems like these that may head off more intrusive forms of regulation…..To ensure that people are protected at the same time as the technology is promoted, we must not let big data develop beyond the reach of human ability to shape the technology.”

The authors convey a hopeful a tone in their writing, as well as pragmatism tone for potential future outcomes from big data research.

But for today’s business climate, reading Big Data will help innovative small businesses to think differently about the causation of human behavior and how that behavior is recorded.  Improving services or unleashing new ones can be better considered.  There are other books that go deeper into the debate about sample size and correlation, but as a primer for business, Big Data works to make a misunderstood topic more understandable.




The Revolution with Big Data

big data bookRead a paragraph on analytics or follow an infographic on the challenges of software-as-a-service, and you’ll find the term big data.  Business models are being upended, thanks to a digital environment related to Big Data.   So what’s at stake, especially for small businesses that are discovering as much competitive use of data as larger corporations?

Authors Viktor Mayer-Schroenberger and Kenneth Cukier have set out to answer that and more in Big Data: A Revolution That Will Transform How We Live, Work and Think.  Mayer-Schroenberger is a professor of Internet governance and regulation at Oxford University, and author of several books - his most recent is Delete the Virtue of Forgetting in the Digital Age. Cukier is a prominent commentator and the data editor at The Economist.  Both authors have produced numerous writings and articles on the subject of analysis from the perspective of many industries, organizations and situations.

I picked up a copy at Barnes and Noble, and wanted to see how well the authors sum today’s digital data environment.

Adding to the Big Data Discussion in a Simple Way

Mayer-Schroenberger and Cukier attempt to simplify the background behind the book’s theme. Essentially, Big Data is a perspective on the “datification” of things - processes that can be recorded as data, helping society to understand how data is growing and being collected.  Ten chapters are named with one word titles, such as Now, Correlation and Messy.  These, along with the stories contained within the chapters, are meant to illuminate the impact data has on societal problems and business opportunities.

Data is no longer just to confirm or disprove a hypothesis.  Instead, organizations must accept some messiness with data - i.e. being less concerned about exactness and instead, broadening what events influences causality to an occurrence:

“Big data transforms how we understand and explore the world. In the age of small data, we were driven by hypotheses about how the world worked, which we then attempted to validate by collecting and analyzing data. In the future, our understanding will be driven more by the abundance of data rather than hypotheses.”

This no-more-sample-size idea is similar to Wired Editor Chris Anderson’s assertions about the “end of theory.” In fact, the authors do look at the debate Anderson raised when he declared that hypothesizing and modeling from small data sizes were becoming obsolete.

Other takes on the data revolution include some twists on well known subjects, such as Steve Jobs’ choice to treat his cancer and Amazon’s investment in data to understand customer purchase behavior.  Avid technology readers may feel too familiar with some examples, but those with cursory familiarity with tech happenings will be just fine with the examples.  There are some interesting data applications, such as Con Edison’s effort to prevent exploding manhole cover incidents in New York City, as well as FlyOnTime.us, an open data application.

The enormity of the data created certainly permits new solutions, but it also yields new challenges.  At first blush, small business owners reading this book may feel they will bear the lion’s share of challenges (reading the chapter on Amazon may not bring warm and fuzzy memories to local bookstores). But Mayer-Schroenberger and Cukier expect the middle-sized companies to be on the chopping block - either scale by data or staying small and nimble.  Along those lines, the subject matter expert has become less influential in many industries:

“In media, the content that gets created and publicized on websites like Huffington Post, Gawker and Fobres is regularly determined by data, not just the judgement of human editors….Jeff Bezos got rid of in-house book reviewers at Amazon when the data showed that algorithmic recommendations drove more sales.  This means the skills necessary to succeed in the workplace are changing.”

Small business readers may not feel that the material relates actionable ideas to their environment. The book gives a short historical context to the big data subject, with notes indicating references within the past 10 years or so.  But there’s no IT-level discussion on databases and nothing on planning management. At least in relationship to technological features. Readers expecting noSQL vs SQL debates should look elsewhere.  You’ll have to decide if avoiding deep technological discussions on language and its impact is your interest before reading into Big Data.

The most thought-provocative perspective the book gives to small business owners is an alert to how the utility of technology has evolved. This differs from any age-old debates on the viability of a technology, a debate that can hinder budget considerations.   Instead of focusing on whether email is better than social media, business strategists should be more alert to trends in their marketing to develop useful associations between a marketing medium and customer response.

It’s this kind of thought process Big Data encourages. Thus the book’s ultimate value lies in stories told about how organizations are accepting data and modeling solutions that improves operations.

The chapters on Risk and Control take the concepts to further realistic scenarios. These chapters cover the topic of privacy with the latest outlooks and are probably the most actionable in discerning what to do with tech.  Mayer-Schroenberger and Cukier outline a definition of profiling vs. selecting suitable predictors of customer behavior. But they take the right step in outlining societal complications, such as “penalties based on propensities”, which they call “nauseating.”  The authors also note the rise of the algorithmists - professionals with math, science and computer science background to help assure accountability for the very systems we create:

“We envision algorithmists as providing a market-oriented approach to problems like these that may head off more intrusive forms of regulation…..To ensure that people are protected at the same time as the technology is promoted, we must not let big data develop beyond the reach of human ability to shape the technology.”

The authors convey a hopeful a tone in their writing, as well as pragmatism tone for potential future outcomes from big data research.

But for today’s business climate, reading Big Data will help innovative small businesses to think differently about the causation of human behavior and how that behavior is recorded.  Improving services or unleashing new ones can be better considered.  There are other books that go deeper into the debate about sample size and correlation, but as a primer for business, Big Data works to make a misunderstood topic more understandable.




Small Business Events, Contests, & Awards: ChallengeHER, Facebook Success, Social Media + More

Welcome to our latest curated list of events, contests and awards for small businesses, solo entrepreneurs and growing companies. To see a full list or to submit your own event, contest or award listing, visit the Small Business Events Calendar.

Featured Events, Contests and Awards

7 Steps to Facebook Success - How to Make Money on the World’s #1 Social Network
June 04, 2013, Online

If you’ve been feeling frustrated and overwhelmed by the constant changes and tweaks on Facebook, and you’ve been struggling to measure a real monetary result from your Facebook marketing efforts - you’re not alone! On this free mega online event, Facebook marketing expert Mari Smith will share her own 7-Step Facebook Marketing Success Plan that’s packed with money-making tips for YOU to turn the world’s most popular social network into the TOP source of quality leads and paying customers for your business! It’s free â€" register today and save your seat!

Making Money Online: Ecommerce Done Right with John LawsonMaking Money Online: Ecommerce Done Right with John Lawson
June 25, 2013, New York, NY

After this live workshop, you’ll be ready to immediately build your own online eBay or Amazon store, source products for it, and start selling. You’ll learn how to market your online store strategically using social media, SEO, mobile and more.

Join John Lawson, award winning Social Commerce Strategist, American Express featured businessman, author, and founder of 3rd Power Outlet - an online clothing retail outlet that has exceeded $25 million in sales.
John will be sharing his practical, down-to-earth methods for building your own ecommerce business from the ground up in this two part workshop, packed with resources, tips, and how-to instruction.
Discount Code
SBTRENDS ( $25 off)

WBENC National Conference & Business FairWBENC National Conference & Business Fair
June 26, 2013, Minneapolis, MN

The Women’s Business Enterprise National Council (WBENC) will convene 3,500 decision makers from the nation’s leading corporations, government entities and women’s business enterprises (WBEs) to generate business together and stimulate economic growth at the 2013 WBENC National Conference & Business Fair in Minneapolis, MN, June 25-27, 2013.

Big Awards for BusinessBig Awards for Business
August 14, 2013, Online

The Big Awards started with a mission of recognizing real talent and performance. Real business people, those with experience and knowledge, judge the Big Awards. Request an entry kit today and submit your nomination by August 14, 2013.
Discount Code
SBT50 ($50.00 off)

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This weekly listing of small business events, contests and awards is provided as a community service by Small Business Trends and SmallBizTechnology.



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