Check Them Out: Events and Contests

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

Wells Fargo Works ProjectWells Fargo Works Project
June 30, 2014, Online

The Wells Fargo Works Project is a video or essay contest specifically for small business owners in the United States. To enter for a chance to win, tell your business story. Five small business owner winners will be selected from a pool of 25 finalists. The finalists will each receive $1,000. The five winners will each receive:

- $25,000 for their business.
- Business mentorship tailored to their specific business needs.
- A $5,000 donation in their name made by Wells Fargo to a local eligible non-profit organization in their community.

Wells Fargo is a sponsor of Small Business Trends’ CEO Anita Campbell.

Hashtag: #WellsFargoWorks

Marketing Makeover $25,000 From CBS LocalMarketing Makeover $25,000 From CBS Local
June 30, 2014, Online

Would you like a Marketing Makeover, to the tune of $25,000? Enter for a chance at this awesome prize package! The winner will get a streaming ad for CBS Local’s online radio station; display ads; search optimization services; Constant Contact Toolkit; and expert advice and a marketing plan. Just tell your story and why you deserve a marketing makeover. Open to U.S. small businesses. See rules, and enter today!

Bizapalooza 2014: Planning and ProfitsBizapalooza 2014: Planning and Profits
July 09, 2014, Online

Bizapalooza gives you a unique opportunity to connect with industry pros who really want to see you do more with your small business. Come as you are to this virtual small-business festival, then walk away with a fresh perspective, loads of free resources, plus practical solutions to fix what’s holding you back. FREE – and with freebie resources. Sponsors needed, too!
Hashtag: #Bizapalooza

Who Gives a Fund Contest - Caribbean CruiseWho Gives a Fund Contest – Caribbean Cruise
August 29, 2014, Online

Create a short fun video using the phrase “Who Gives a Fund.” Share it on social. The video with the most views will win a round trip within the continental U.S. to beautiful Miami, and a 3-day cruise to the Caribbean, for two. See WhoGivesaFund.com for complete rules and details. Presented by eSmallBusinessLoan.com, to highlight that traditional bank loans are not the only source of money for your working capital needs in your business.
Hashtag: #WhoGivesaFund

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 post Check Them Out: Events and Contests appeared first on Small Business Trends.

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Google execs visit Cuba for first time to promote open Internet

MIAMI (Reuters) - A team of top Google executives is visiting Cuba to promote open Internet access, according to a dissident blogger who says she met the group in Havana.






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10 Killer Lessons for Entrepreneurs from Our Community

Tablet Use This SummerEDIT

From being careful about how your words and actions can affect your brand to a focus on the customer and about ongoing changes in technology and in the market, there’s a lot for an entrepreneur to keep in mind. In this week’s Community News and Information Roundup, we look at what the best blogs and communities have to say and come up with some killer lessons for all entrepreneurs. Enjoy!

What You Say May Hurt Your Brand (The Franchise King)

Entrepreneurs are free to speak their minds just like everyone else. But aware that if what you say offends too many people, especially the customers you are trying to reach, it may be a problem. Game show host Pat Sajak, now spokesman for the Great American Deals franchise, may discover just that with comments he made about global warming recently, writes Small Business Trends franchise correspondent Joel Libava.

Customer Convenience Should Always Be Your Focus (Galapagos)

Innovation should be about making things better for your customers not about finding ways to exploit them for your benefit. But customer benefit isn’t the aim of some innovation, argues consultant Jeremi Summerhill. Here’s his suggestion for a better solution.

Effective Marketing is a Delicate Art (Business2Sell.com)

The right marketing can make a business a success and involves effective branding. By comparison, the wrong marketing can hurt your business. Chelsea Bent shared this post with the BizSugar community leading to some further discussion on the subject.

The Slightest Change Can Affect Your Business (Tweak Your Biz)

If you think the mobile revolution has had a big impact on your site traffic, just wait until you see what wearable technology will do, writes Sudeep Banerjee, founder and president of webdesign firm B3NET Inc. Soon readers will be accessing your site via smartwatches and Google Glass. How will you need to adapt?

Saving Money Isn’t Everything (Anchor Accounting & Tax Inc.)

That’s especially true if the IRS comes after you for incorrectly classifying your employees as contractors. Accountant Jim Flauaus insists it’s not worth the risk and provides some guidelines.

Marketing Opportunities Are All Around (Tro Smith)

Sometimes the best marketing isn’t even something we create ourselves. It’s something created by our fans. Take this viral video by stranded traveler Richard Dunn. But Delta Airlines and McCarran International Airport may not have taken proper advantage of this opportunity, writes travel professional John Frenaye.

Your Personal Brand is Also Important (V3 Integrated Marketing)

Yes, your business needs a brand. But often it’s a good idea for you to have one too. Here marketing strategist Shelly Kramer outlines some approaches an entrepreneur can take to do just that.

Effective Collaboration is the Key to Success (Small Business Sense)

And for effective collaboration to occur, it’s helpful to have the proper tools. Here Kim George lays put some of the most basic collaboration tools you’ll need. There’s also an infographic on the state of online collaboration for business. How is your business doing on collaboration tools?

It Always Helps to Love What You Do (Medium.com)

When consultant Roy Opata Olende quit his job after his first child was born, it was with the idea of looking for another one while doing a bit of consulting on the side. He discusses here and in the BizSugar community why he chose entrepreneurship instead.

You Must Know How To Make the Leap (Mashable)

Being an entrepreneur isn’t like working for someone else. Sure, there are still customers to serve. But as far as calling the shots, it’s now all up to you. Adjusting to this new world of having no boss to answer to and having to find a way to motivate yourself takes time. Nellie Akalp shares this post with the BizSugar community and starts a lively conversation.

Want to help us with some suggested content for future roundups? Send suggestions for coverage to sbtips@gmail.com. Or post your content on the BizSugar community where we often go for the freshest and most unique voices in small business.

Tablet use this summer via Shutterstock

The post 10 Killer Lessons for Entrepreneurs from Our Community appeared first on Small Business Trends.

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The Most Interesting Man in the Franchise World – Here’s Why

franchise world

Opening a pizza restaurant franchise isn't exactly the most original business idea. But James Markham found a way to make his business, Project Pie, stand out in the franchise world.

Franchises are often considered to be "cookie cutter" businesses. But Project Pie is the "anti-chain chain," according to Markham. Instead of using the standard franchise model, Markham encourages all of Project Pie's franchisees to create their own unique restaurants.

No two Project Pie locations look the same. The restaurants just use the same ingredients, pizza ovens, and training manuals.

franchise world

Markham's goal is to have each Project Pie location look, feel, and smell like its own independent restaurant. But that doesn't mean that he isn't involved in the development of each franchise location.

While he does ensure that each location upholds the Project Pie brand, he also wants each franchisee to be involved in the creative process. And because of that, he is very deliberate in selecting franchisees. He said in a phone interview with Small Business Trends:

"Consumers want authenticity. And the authenticity in our brand carries through to each of our franchises. We get a lot of people who come to us and want to open 20 stores, and they might have a big checkbook but they don't really get the feel we're trying to create. We want to find the right people and the right personalities that really mesh with our brand."

franchise world

Because of that selectiveness and authenticity, Markham said there's a certain unexplainable quality that holds each of the locations together, even though they aren't run by the same people and don't feature the same designs.

That overall feel, he said, is what truly sets Project Pie apart from the myriad competitors in the fast casual pizza market. Markham is no stranger to the pizza business after opening Mod Pizza in Seattle and Pieology in California. He said the biggest compliment he can receive is when someone can't explain exactly what it is that they like about Project Pie.

franchise world

Project Pie currently has 5 franchise locations in the U.S. and 6 in the Philippines, with 20 more expected to open by the end of 2014.

The post The Most Interesting Man in the Franchise World – Here’s Why appeared first on Small Business Trends.

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Read “Lean UX” for Brawny Product Development Success

lean uxLet's face it. Apps are in fashion in the business world, the new "black" indeed. We are seeing organizations change structure to support business and customer activity driven by apps. So now everyone wants an app. But developing software is not easy. Getting the user interface right is a make or break ordeal. And most businesses experience a break with a capital B.

To have more makes than breaks, read the book Lean UX: Applying Lean Principles to Improve User Experience. The book is written by Jeff Gothelf (@jboogie), an international speaker of UX processes, with input from Josh Seiden (@jseiden), a 20 year veteran of software design and development leadership.

The book is part of an O'Reilly series on lean principles: Eric Ries (@ericries), the well-known pioneer for the lean startup movement, provides a preface and is a series editor.

I discovered the book while taking a Ruby on Rails development course in Washington DC. The book is meant for the topic of product design from the users prospective. Yet as I briefly skimmed the pages, I soon learned that it had value beyond the intent – to help businesses form the development means to support its product through product design.

I am intrigued by books that exceed their intended purpose, so I borrowed a copy of Lean UX for this review.

The Basics About Lean UX

What is Lean UX? It is a technology development philosophy rooted in two ideas: Design thinking and agile development philosophies. The main purpose is to reach a state of "sine qua non" – knowing the essential development features and steps, without which – no product exists.

The book's topic is timely given the increased reliance on apps as a business strategy. I say that the book exceeds its purpose because the current activity associated with cloud services is also increasingly deployed to support products and services. Just because a tool is on the cloud does not mean that people automatically know what to do to make an app, website, or software a reality.

Thus, Lean UX is about making timely outcomes and organizing the team to support those outcomes.

What I Liked About This Book

The book is brief – only 124 pages, perfect for a short flight read. Lean UX offers workable solutions and bias-free tool suggestions. For example, there is a worksheet that lets the user outline business assumptions against user assumptions. Just about every designer has heard of a wireframe, but Gothelf and Seiden offer a selection of low fidelity and high fidelity wireframes. The tools are explained with clear concepts meant to organize your choice of page elements to engage a user.

The end result for the reader is a better capability to frame the initial product idea into a useful demo. As a reader you will have a better appreciation for the concept of MVP – Minimal Viable Product.

"MVPs help test our assumptions – will this tactic achieve the desired outcome – while minimizing the work we put into unproven ideas? The sooner we can find what features are worth investing in, the sooner we can focus our limited resources on the best solutions to our business problems."

This perspective complements analytics, since much of the purpose behind metrics is revealing where resources should be directed. In fact, there is an analytics reference to site usage measurement and A/B testing.

The early chapters outline Lean UX basics and how initial assumptions are properly created, such as identifying personas. Later chapters get into integrating agile development processes, with nods to another process called scrum.

Who Would Benefit Most From This Book?

The book is meant for entrepreneurs who are past the have-an-idea and dream stage, but those within that realm are beneficiaries, too. Much goes into working with people and individuals over process and tools. Readers should find that perspective a refreshing tenet. Understanding the significance of the tools involved can leave even the most steadfast experienced developer dizzy. I found this book helpful in outlining how steps are processed, and what tools and steps are available.

All the tips are given without a deep dive into a software or programming perspective – the wireframe discussions are the closest one will get to software. Thus, this book can compliment any programming book, such as Programming Javascript Applications. It also helps order upstream processes that can impact details in analytics, so analytic practitioners should take note as well.

What if your business strategy does not revolve around software? Well, much of the agile development process is meant to address organizational structure to support a product and how teams can work in general. Focus on the last chapters, such as Chapter 8, which notes how an organizational shift can occur. Combine these ending chapters with other books on project management to see what team actions can best be quickly implemented and properly managed.

No matter how you use this book, you'll find Lean UX more valuable than the immediate need to design an app. You'll find your team or business better prepared to take advantage of increases in cloud related services. That kind of preparation is more than the new "black" – business preparation is always in style, and Lean UX will certainly make that style grand.

The post Read “Lean UX” for Brawny Product Development Success appeared first on Small Business Trends.

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