Another Group of Small Business Events and Awards to Check Out

We’re back with another weekly list of small business events, conferences, webinars, contests, competitions and awards. These are high quality events and opportunities designed specifically for small business teams and entrepreneurs. What are you waiting for? Sign up for one today!

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

Rule Breaker Awards
March 31, 2014, Online

The RuleBreaker Awards will honor and celebrate those entrepreneurs who have succeeded by doing it their way. Some have created whole new industries; others have revolutionized industries that have existed for hundreds of years. Nominate yourself or another business. Valuable prize package, including lifetime phone service from Nextiva.com!

Google Hangout: Best Small Business Books
April 02, 2014, Online

Too much to read, too little time! Join the Book Review Team of Small Business Trends on a Google Hangout for a discussion about their picks for the best business books of 2013 and the trends and lessons small businesses can take away from them.

Small Business Book Awards 2014
April 11, 2014, Online

The Small Business Book Awards honor the best business books published in 2013, and book resources (such as cover design, copy editing and more). No fee required. Get the recognition your book or resource deserves. Nominate now through April 30, 2014!

Hashtag: #BizBookAwards

ICON14 by Infusionsoft
April 23, 2014, Phoenix, AZ

#ICON14 is the eighth annual conference for small business, hosted by Infusionsoft (previously called Infusioncon). Over 3,000 attendees expected. Confirmed speakers include Seth Godin, JJ Ramberg and Peter Shankman.

Hashtag: #ICON14
Discount Code
smallbiztrends (Get an extra $100 off)

More Events

Speeding Up Sales
April 02, 2014, Online

Social Media Trends, Best Practices, and Compliance for Healthcare Professionals
April 03, 2014, Boston, MA

Danville Area Business and Culinary Showcase
April 03, 2014, Danville, CA

Wellness Programs; Understanding the Why, Knowing How and Making it Work
April 03, 2014, Online

Establish and Maintain an Effective Supplier Qualification Program
April 03, 2014, Online

SPREE 2014 - Specialty Retail Entrepreneur Expo & Conference
April 08, 2014, Las Vegas, NV

Tax Form 941 for 2014: All You Need to Know
April 08, 2014, Online

NYC Business & Entrepreneur Grade-A Networking Mixer
April 08, 2014, New York City, NY

LinkedIn for Government Contractors
April 08, 2014, Columbia, MD

Government Marketing Best Practices
April 08, 2014, Columbia, MD

HIPAA 101
April 08, 2014, Online

Web 2.0/Social Networking in the Government Market: What Works
April 09, 2014, McLean, VA

LinkedIn for Government Contractors
April 09, 2014, Columbia, MD

Digital Information Processing, E-Business and Cloud Computing
April 09, 2014, Dubai, UAE

Real Estate Secured Loans: The Various Facets of Personal Property Collateral
April 09, 2014, Online

WBDC-MN Procurement Meeting
April 09, 2014, Minneapolis, MN

Spring Networking Mixer (Cocktails & Conversations)
April 09, 2014, White Plains, NY

Financial Night Out: Mergers and Acquisition
April 09, 2014, Chicago, IL

International Conference on Computing Technology (ICCTIM2014)
April 10, 2014, Dubai, UAE

More Contests

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

New In Our Community: Many Marketers May Lack Key Online Skills

Join us for another edition of the community news and information roundup. It’s our survey of some of the top small business blogs and online communities on the Web. Enjoy and tell us what you thought in the comments below.

Many Marketers Lack Basic Online Skills  (Datalicious)

Surprisingly, this survey by digital consulting firm Digital Chameleon found 92 percent of respondents lacked basic digital competencies. This included those who worked in mainstream media, for a brand or in an agency. The survey was taken in Australia where Digital Chameleon is based. Do you think the results would have been different in your community?

A Look at Website Building Tools for Business (FitSmallBusiness)

There are many ways to build a website for your business these days. And often, you do not need to rely on coding experience to do it. Here FitSmallBusiness editor-in-chief David Waring reviews Wix, Weebly, SquareSpace and WordPress to help you make up your mind.

Master the Art of the Facebook Contest (Scott’s Local Business Corner)

Contests on Facebook can be a very effective marketing tool. Here April Atwood shares some pointers about how you can create one successfully. Thanks to Scott’s Marketplace content marketing manager Shannon Willoby for sharing and adding some comments in the Bizsugar community.

Business Survival is About Being Adaptable (Franchise Acumen)

If you want to know the secret of longevity in any business, it’s fairly simple, write’s Mike Hall. Always be ready to adapt to change. As a small business owner or entrepreneur, sometimes it’s hard to change approaches that have worked in the past. But, in the end, those who don’t learn new skills or seek ways to be relevant as the market changes will be left behind.

A Look at Celebrity Endorsements to Grow a Business (The Brand Agent)

No, you may not have the budget to hire Michael Jordan to endorse your product or service. But there may be cheaper celebrities, even local celebrities that you could afford. The question is, like every other marketing tactic, whether celebrity endorsement will work for you. Here Bob Williams, CEO of Burns Entertainment & Sports Marketing, gives some advice for figuring out whether this approach is a good fit.

Make Your LinkedIn Profile All It Can Be (Simplicity)

Think of your LinkedIn profile as a sort of resume online. Does yours say all it should? Business coach Sarah Santacroce makes these suggestions for tweaking your profile. Don’t miss her additional tips for a more effective LinkedIn presence in the BizSugar comment section.

How to Create the Right Kind of Content (Susan J. Campbell)

Content marketing should be a huge part of your marketing strategy today. But as copywriter Susan J. Campbell explains, the quality of the content you use in your marketing campaign is also hugely important. Focus on providing readers with excellent information, updated regularly and use keywords and links judiciously for success.

Tips for Online Marketing with Your Business Blog (Tweak Your Biz)

If your business website includes a blog, there are many effective ways to use updates to promote your products, services and expertise. In this post, Marc Andre mentions some you may or may not have heard before. He also takes some time to talk shop with members of the BizSugar community.

The Importance of an Advertising Plan (SteamFeed)

When you create an advertising plan to grow your business, its important to have a goal in mind. Marketing consultant Randy Bowden suggests starting by determining what key performance indicators you will use to determine whether that goal has been achieved.

How People Learn About Your Brand (Seven Secrets of a Brand Champion)

It may surprise you to discover that, even today, the main way consumers learn about new brands isn’t by searching around on Google. And it isn’t by reading a customer review on a retail website either. While both are important means by which customers learn more about a product or service, this report shared by brand expert Michael Doyle may change your mind about how you market your business.

Help us make the community news and information roundup a better place to read about what’s new in small business online. Email us with your suggestions for coverage at sbtips@gmail.com. Or follow the lead of Shannon Willoby, Sarah Santacroce, Marc Andre and many more. Share your news on BizSugar.com. It’s our go-to place for finding the freshest and most authentic voices in the small business community.

Relaxing read via Shutterstock

12 Entrepreneurs Who Are Flourishing on Amazon

Amazon is becoming an increasingly popular place for entrepreneurs to reach consumers. At first, it was mainly authors who found success selling their work, but now there are varying types of small businesses finding success on the site.

Amazon is now giving entrepreneurs the opportunity to share their success stories. Below are 12 different types of small businesses that have experienced success with the eCommerce giant.

YogaRat

Wendell Morris was an Emmy-winning writer in Hollywood when he decided to start his own business. YogaRat is a retailer of yoga mats, bags, towels, and other yoga gear. An experienced yoga student, Morris launched YogaRat before leaving his writing job. But his Amazon sales grew, and YogaRat now has an eight-person staff and Morris claims to be happier than ever.

Porter Fox

Porter Fox is the author of the independently published book, Deep: The Story of Skiing and the Future of Snow. Without a big name publisher, many distributors wouldn’t stock the book without strong sales numbers. Amazon gave Fox the opportunity to reach consumers and made it possible to put the word out about his book.

Dreamfoam Bedding

John Merwin owned a chain of mattress retail stores in Arizona and Utah. But the recession was in full swing and Merwin knew that more and more customers were shopping online. So he began listing customizable products in the Amazon Marketplace to complement his retail locations.

Pike Place Fish Market

Seattle-based Pike Place Fish Market already had a local presence before the AmazonFresh delivery service launched in Seattle in 2007. Because of the service, the business now reaches even more customers who can’t get to the market or would rather shop for their food online.

Helen Bryan

Helen Bryan originally released her novel, War Brides, through a British publisher. But the book went out of print in 2010 after selling few copies. She wanted it to reach more consumers and eventually chose to re-release the book with Kindle Direct Publishing. She has also released other books on Amazon since.

HALO SleepSacks

Bill Schmid originally created the HALO SleepStack, a type of wearable swaddling blanket to help avoid SIDS (sudden infant death syndrome), as a way of honoring his daughter who died as an infant. He began selling the product on Amazon, and now creates several different varieties. He has a team of 23 employees with a business that continues to grow.

Mara Altman

Journalist Mara Altman originally worked with a literary agent when starting her career as an author. But when her first novel was rejected, she instead turned to Amazon’s Kindle Singles. It’s a platform that publishes journalism, memoirs, fiction and essays that are shorter than books but longer than magazine articles.

Toy Barn

Sandy and Doug Powell owned a local toy store in Eureka, Calif. But when the recession hit, they had to make some changes. They first tried setting up their own website to replace the brick-and-mortar store. But the couple found it easier to list products on Amazon instead. The store now makes more sales than they did at the retail location.

Andrew Kaufman

When TV journalist Andrew Kaufman couldn’t find a literary agent or publisher for his first novel, While the Savage Sleeps, he turned to Kindle Direct Publishing. The novel reached the number one spot for Kindle books in its genre, and Kaufman’s since released a second novel under KDP as well.

Clip-n-Seal

D.L. Byron invented a product to provide a tight seal for bags. He began just selling his product on Amazon. But now he also uses Fulfillment by Amazon to ship inventory and fulfill customer orders as well. He says this makes running his business as simple as possible.

Regina Sirois

Regina Sirois didn’t get much of a response when she sent her first young adult novel, On Little Wings, to literary agents. But she wanted a few copies for herself and to give to her daughter on her sixteenth birthday. So she ordered them on Amazon and uploaded a copy for Kindle users so that her friends could read it. About 85,000 Amazon customers bought it during the free period, and even more have purchased it since. Now, Sirois is working on her third novel.

Intova Sports

Joe Ganahl first started Intova Sports, a retailer of waterproof cameras, flashlights, and other equipment for divers and adventure seekers, near his home in Hawaii. But he soon found that there were a lot of added expenses to doing business in an isolated location like Hawaii. Once he was ready to expand beyond local retailers, he turned to Amazon and was able to reach customers around the world without relying on a large brand name.

“Roadside MBA” Packs Powerful Lessons for Small Business

“Roadside MBA” Packs Powerful Lessons for Small Business

Well, this is refreshing! Usually I’m reviewing books that take examples from big business and teach them as case studies or stories for small business.  But, this time, dear reader, the tables are turned. I just received a review copy of Roadside MBA: Back Road Lessons for Entrepreneurs, Executives and Small Business Owners by Michael Mazzeo, …

Content

Usefullness

Freshness

86

Summary

Small town small businesses serve as case studies for ten powerful lessons in business.

86

Well, this is refreshing!

Usually I’m reviewing books that take examples from big business and teach them as case studies or stories for small business.  But, this time, dear reader, the tables are turned.

I just received a review copy of Roadside MBA: Back Road Lessons for Entrepreneurs, Executives and Small Business Owners by Michael Mazzeo, Paul Oyer, and Scott Schaeffer and I have to say that I’m really enjoying these real-life small business case studies and I think you will, too.

The authors are a group of business professors who teach MBA students; Paul Oyer,  a professor at Stanford, Scott Schaefer, a professor at the University of Utah and Mike Mazzeo, a professor at Northwestern University.  These guys met at a conference in Boston.  But their book writing future was sealed on a trip to a shoe store while killing time before a flight.

They have taken a unique approach by going around the country and interviewing a variety of small business owners, collecting their stories and lessons, and pulling them together into this informative book.

Roadside MBA is divided into ten chapters with each focused on a common business theme.

Chapter 1: Scaling A Business

Chapter 2: Establishing Barriers To Entry

Chapter 3: Product Differentiation

Chapter 4: Setting Prices

Chapter 5: Managing Your Brand

Chapter 6: Negotiating Affectively

Chapter 7: Hiring

Chapter 8: Incentives for Employees

Chapter 9: Delegation

Chapter 10: Battling The Big Boys

Inside each theme they’ve pulled together stories from the more than forty small businesses they visited on their road trip.

Here are just a few of the lessons that you’ll find inside Roadside MBA:

• How to negotiate: The Deadhead owners of Eko Compost in the hippie town of Missoula, Montana who don’t negotiate recycling contracts until they know what the city’s next best options are.
• How to hire:  A windsock manufacturer who uses a reverse hiring strategy that focuses on discouraging the wrong applications and not just attracting the right ones.
• How to compete: See how a small bookstore succeeded against big box stores by focusing on what the big guys couldn’t do.

Because the businesses featured in Roadside MBA are small, you’ll find the way they create, implement and manage a variety of business strategies is inspiring and surprisingly doable.

Roadside MBA is a fun book to read and an even more practical book to put into practice.  As the authors say in the introduction:

“We learned far more about business strategy from our trip to the shoe store than we did at the conference.”

I think you might find yourself saying the same thing - you’ll get an MBAs worth of knowledge from Roadside MBA.