The Top 100 Small Business Podcasts of 2011

“It is great to learn from in-depth interviews in a business-casual style.”– Martin Lindeskog, in a recent interview with me, regarding the Top 100 Small Business Podcasts of 2011

When I say“business casual” I’m talking about fashion,  but when our community member Martin Lindeskog says it, he is talking about the way we consume small business information.  Of course, we can read it sitting at our desk, watch it on our computer screens, experience it in a live class setting orlisten to it while we do just about anything, because the podcast travels well.

For the past four years,Small Business Trends Radiohas compiled an annual list of the top small business podcasts. And for the second year in a row Martin, who hails from Sweden, has spearheaded the effort and taken the time to get a feel for all the shows on the list. As he said in his interview with me (which was funny for me because my nighttime was his daybreak),“The podcasts {on our list} should be related to {small} business in one way or another.”So we can trust that these top 100 shows understand our needs.

Martin also told me,“It is very convenient to listen to a podcast during a long walk.”He enjoys them because“you can‘consume’ the material when you have time.”

I like podcasts too. Audio training can eliminate uneventful downtimes like long drives to meetings or the time it takes to do all kinds of tasks that I would rather not do, but need to do, whether it’s switching out my clothes for the new season or cleaning up the office at the end of the day (after the serious work is over). Podcasts allow us to consume new business information in a casual setting.

You can check out the full list of theTop 100 Small Business Podcasts of 2011.It’s divided into categories, so it’s easy to find what you need, when you need it.

The categories are:

• Leadership and Management
• Marketing and Sales
• Operating a Small Business
• Tax and Finance
• Startups and Starting a Business
• Home Based Business
• Small Business Technology
• Business Opportunities and Franchises
• “All Around” Small Business Podcasts
• Business News and the Big Picture

And this is not a category, but for 2011, the list includes two videocasts in the“All Around Small Business Podcasts” category, The Rise to the Topand Jaffe Juice TV.  Martin expects “you will find more and more videocasts in the near future.” With the rise of YouTube and video marketing, that makes sense.

Happy ironing, walking or whatever you do while you listen to your favorite small business podcasts.Enjoy!

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Social Media Small Business Trainer

Are you using social media marketing for your small business? More and more people are these days, but when it comes to figuring out what trends are important, what’s next and how to begin, you’ll need expert help. Enter this roundup from a variety of news and information sources that will take you into the world of social media and teach you how to use this vital tool for the benefit of your business.

Basics

Seven things you can’t do with social media. Today’s roundup will look again at the possibilities social media offers your small business, but first let’s look at what social media can’t do. Though social media has many uses, there are some definite exceptions. Think of the social space as a new medium for your business with its own langauge. Learning how to use that language, and how not to use it will make you a better social media user.Money Dummy

Better way to schedule Tweets. It’s a huge networking tool, but let’s face it. Keeping up with Twitter networking can be a huge drain on time. And spreading out your tweets to hit your followers at the best time of the day can be a challenge. Unless you want to spend all of your time stuck on your lap top or squinting at your smartphone, here’s a new way to set your Tweets and live your life.New Biz Blogger

Success Stories

Even some of the world’s biggest social media sites started small. Take LinkedIn now valued at $10 billion and relied upon by many small business people to connect them and build and sustain their networks everyday. In this interview, founder Reid Hoffman talks about founding the social media giant literally in his living room. Will the next social media giant start as a small business too?WSJ

How face to face social skills can boost social media savvy. If you are one of those cultural worriers who thinks social media is robbing our world of genuine face to face interaction, think again. This entrepreneur success story may convince you of the importance of low-tech social skills even in a high tech social world. In the end, both will be helpful in your small business. Bloomberg BusinessWeek

Tips

Your social media safety guide. Social media sites like Facebook are a tremendous tool, but like any other work environment, safety is one of the most important considerations. Facebook and other social media outlets have many distraction…and some real dangers. To keep your productivity high and your small business safe while working in social media marketing, learn more about these risks and other potential social media concerns.Just Ask Kim

Bad link building strategies. Building links is widely regarded as a key strategy in blogging today and can be an important method of building community, increasing traffic and eventually boosting referrals. Unfortunately, not all link building strategies are created equally. Here are seven in particular you will want to avoid at all costs.New Biz Blogger

Research

Studying social sharing among your customers. When considering social media channels to reach your customers, is e-mail on your list of possible options? Maybe it should be. In a recent report on how consumers interact and share content online, e-mail came in first, followed by social networks and then blogs. All social channels have theirvalue, but are you building your strategy with the channels your customers use most? eMarketer

Keeping your eye on social media. Social media is becoming huge, but keeping track of your progress and collecting data doesn’t need to be a hassle. Plenty of tools exist to track your stats in the social media space. Here are 14 that deserve your special attention.Abnormal Marketing

Trends

Are your customers brand ambassadors? There is an incredible power in having your most satisfied and enthusiastic clients and customers talk to others about how much they love your products or services. But like with any other technique, there is a downside too. It’s easier than ever before to turn customers into advocates for a business they love, and social media has enhanced this process dramatically. But it’s just as easy for a disatisfied customer to spread the word, so be prepared.Social Media Examiner

Social media and e-commerce. It may be a match made in heaven. Online retailers are taking the next logical step in beginning to sell directly from social media sites. The concept is called“social commerce” and whether it becomes a staple of online marketing remains to be seen. How do you integrate your social media with e-commerce or sales? Leave your comment below.WSJ

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Busy Business Times: I’d Love to, But . . .

I’ve got a second-grader and a preschooler at home, so we read a lot of kid’s books.(In fact, I can do a pretty good impromptu Seuss on almost any topic.)Nursery rhymes were a special favorite of my daughter, and we read one collection until it literally fell apart.

After you read each one a few thousand times, your mind begins to go numb, so you end up looking for patterns, embellishing, and inserting just plain goofy stuff.

This cartoon came after reading Little Miss Muffet and doing the Itsy Bitsy Spider finger play. I quickly ran into my office, wrote it down, and then played Spiderman riding My Little Pony to the circus.

My days are nothing if not eclectic.

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How to Remain Relevant

Today’s economy is more competitive than ever. Take the recession and add in a little (or a lot) of social media plus a high unemployment rate andBOOM, we’ve got the perfect storm for business relevance.

In a recession, savings and value are more important to consumers than in flush times. The abundance of social media and information on the Internet gives these same consumers the opportunity to be more educated and discriminating about their purchases. High unemployment is pushing more and more people into business ownership, increasing the amount of competition in your industry.

As you work to succeed in this highly competitive environment, it is critical that you remain relevant. As consumers seek to gain information and knowledge before they buy, you must be seen as valuable and current. They have to be able to find you above the noise. They will find your competition– will they find you, too?

So, how can you stay relevant?

Get Out

The first important aspect of relevance is to be sure you are out there. This takes several forms. The first is within your own business community. Being seen at events– networking, chamber, seminars and the like – helps others get to know you and identify you as someone who is relevant in your space.

Being seen online is also critical to gaining exposure and positioning yourself as an expert. Bear in mind that you can’t justbethere; you have to participate effectively.

Communicate

How you communicate with others is important as well–not only at events, but through social media channels, too. When you are at an event and are communicating about your company, clarity and brevity rule. You have to be able to share your value in as few words as possible. This shows that you truly know what you do for your clients, and exhibits a level of confidence others are looking for.

Being knowledgeable about your industry is important. However, talking endlessly about it is a killer. Going on and on about your business does not show people you are an expert. It shows them you are only interested in yourself. Build relationships with people and they will get to know you as an expert in your field. More importantly, they willwantto do business with you or refer you to others because they like you.

The Internet gives you a multitude of channels to communicate and share your expertise. You can write articles, answer questions, comment on other people’s blogs, write your own blog and participate in communities. Sharing information without selling is a great way to remain relevant. Remember, people are looking for you online. When you participate online, they will find you and have the opportunity to get to know you in their own space.

Help Others

Everyone loves a connector, helper, resource. As you build business relationships so that you have a lot of resources at your fingertips, you will be able to connect people. It isn’t enough to just know a lot of people. You should thoughtfully and intentionally work to help those people grow their businesses and solve their problems.

When you do this, people will want to connect with you. They will see you as someone who is well-connected (never a bad thing) and as a giver. Does this make you more relevant? It certainly does. Consider the difference between the person who is always out for themselves and the person who seems to always be connecting others. Don’t you like the connector better? Doesn’t he/she seem more professional? Connectors get more attention from others.

Facebook guru Mari Smithtells us to build a community around our business. When you share information through social media and build relationships in your business community, people will naturally want to be in your space. They will want to hear what you have to say. They will want to stay connected. This is how you become and remain relevant. Relevancy will lead to improved business relationships, and increased referrals and sales.

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Small Business Financing: Who’s Getting the Money?

The state of small business financing has been a mixed bag lately, asJoel Libava previously wrote aboutonSmall Business Trends. But slowly, things seem to be improving. Last month,The New York Timesreported that more small businesses are seeking—and getting—bank loans. And in a new study by Capitol One, 85 percent of U.S. small businesses surveyed say they are able to access the financing they need—up from 70 percent at the same time last year.

But what kind of capital are these businesses getting, and is it helping—or hurting—them in the long run?A new survey by MultiFunding LLC, a firm that helps small companies find financing, sheds a slightly different perspective than most surveys on the issue.

MultiFunding’s National Small Business Lending Snapshotfocused on small and relatively new businesses: The companies surveyed had average annual revenues of $750,000 and had been in business an average of only three years. Culled from a wide variety of industries and regions, the entrepreneurs in the survey were MultiFunding clients actively seeking an average of $325,000 in loans; more than 25 percent had already been rejected by banks. The study sought to determine what loan types small business owners in today’s market can qualify for and what interest rates they can expect to pay for their loans.

MultiFunding found that banks classify loan applicants into one of three categories and base their approvals and interest rates on the categorization. Here’s how it breaks down:

1.Asset-Rich Business Owners– (31 percent in the study)

These business owners have assets and/or the cash sufficient to meet the collateral requirements of banks and SBA lenders. As a result, they’re able to obtain interest rates between 3 percent and 8 percent a year.“Government supported SBA programs favor this group,”the study says.

2.Marginal Business Owners(47 percent in the study)

These business owners have credit and cash flow, but lack the assets to serve as collateral. Considered“B-level” borrowers, they have to use less desirable and more costly financing methods, including factoring, merchant cash advance loans, unsecured loans and private money loans. “They pay a high premium because of their lack of collateral,”the survey authors say.

3.Non-Lendable Business Owners(15 percent in the study)

A triple whammy of bad credit, poor cash flow and lack of collateral leave these small companies ineligible for financing at any price.

Even for small businesses that can get financing, the interest rates are often prohibitive to continued growth. Just 10 percent of entrepreneurs surveyed qualified for conventional loans from FDIC-insured banks. MultiFunding found that approximately 40 percent of entrepreneurs would have to pay more than 23 percent in annual interest and charges if they were able to get financing, and 21 percent of owners would pay more than 30 percent. Those rates are comparable to those of credit card financing, which most small business experts typically caution against.

Based on these lending trends, MultiFunding concludes,“Small businesses are facing a national lending crisis that is not adequately reflected in the data published by the nation’s leading lenders.”The situation is particularly challenging for small businesses with income under $1 million per year as these interest rates pose a problem with staying in business.

“In today’s economy, collateral is a key factor in determining interest rates,”the report continues.“Credit and cash flow, previously important in assessing a small businesses’ credibility, have taken a backseat to equity in their balance sheet.”

Have you had trouble accessing credit at acceptable interest rates?

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4 Ways NOT to Promote Your SMB Blog

You’ve started blogging. You’re now spending your time mining your analytics, answering your customers’ most common questions and doing your best to provide a great resource for your industry. You’ve got that part down.

Where you’re stuck is in how to market your blog, because you’ve been watching what everyone else is doing and you’ve picked up some bad habits. Not only are you annoying people, it’s also not working.

Well, of course it’s not! Below are some common bad promotion habits that newbie bloggers (and some old-timers!) pick up and how you can help break them. Because let’s face it – just because everyone you know is doing it doesn’t mean it’s a good idea.

1. Blog Comment Spamming

As a blogger yourself, you’re pretty well-versed in comment spam and can spot it a mile away. You’re onto those tragically named readers called Buy Shoes Online and Cheap Designer Purses who stop by to leave comments on your blog that say nothing more than “great post!” It drives you crazy having to moderate them,yet you’ve somehow found yourself engaging in the same type of behavior. It’s easy low-hanging fruit and, hey, it must work or everyone else wouldn’t be doing it, right? If this is you, please stop–because of the rest of the Internet would like to kick you.

You can absolutelyuse blog commenting as a marketing strategy, but you must do your homework to make sure you’readding valueand not just trolling someone else’s forum.  To familiarize yourself with the blog you’re commenting on, read their last five posts and see what they’re all about. Otherwise, if you engage without research, you may find yourself harming your blog instead of helping it.

2. Using Every Email You Can Find

Networking! It’s all the rage, right? So to help market your blog, you decide to “network” with all of your favorite blogs by tracking down their owners’ email addresses and messaging them to see if they’ll link to/mention/share your blog URL. You then feel totally confused when they ignore your email, respond negatively or post it on their blog as a lesson in whatnotto do. What gives?

What gives is thatyou’re spamming them. Yes, building relationships with other bloggers in your niche is a key component to blogging success, but that doesn’t mean you should cold-call everyone you know and asking them to promote your blog for you. Do some research and determine who, realistically, needs to know about your blog.

• Who has an audience that overlaps with yours?
• Where can you provide value?
• Who could you partner with?
• What do you have that’s of interest to their readers?

Once you have that list, send a quick email introducing yourself and commenting on something they’ve written recently or addressing a problem they’ve expressed. Your first point of contact shouldneverbe about you. It’s always about the other person.

3. Talking Only About Your Blog. Everywhere.

You’re a proud parent and a little consumed with your blog. That’s understandable when you spend so much time writing content, responding to commenters and working to build awareness. However, you’ve taken normal parent pride and gone into overdrive. You can’t have a conversation online with name-dropping your blog. You work it into every conversation, every interaction–in fact, it’s the only thing you ever talk about. The only problem? People are now ignoring you.

Can I say“duh”? While I’m a huge fan ofhealthy self-promotion, there’s a difference between self-promotion and all-out shilling. We’re all in social media to promote what we’re up to, but that doesn’t mean there’s not time to help someone else out, highlight another resource, or share content someone else has written. You will always get more out of social media by lifting up others than by constantly promoting yourself.

4. Submit Every Post You Write to Your Favorite Social Media Site

Back to being a proud parent– you think everything you do is worthy of attention. Your content is so good that everything deserves to be submitted to all the social media sites and pushed to its fullest. Every day, you have a new post you’re trying to hawk, and you’re posting it to every channel you can. However, forsome reason, your once-interested audience now appears to turn a blind eye to your content.

That’s because you’re overloading them! If you’re being honest, it’s very unlikely thateverypiece of content you put out is your absolute best and worthy of a big social media push. And that’s OK, because it doesn’t have to be. So save those big social media pleas for the content that truly deserves it. Not only will you spare aggravating your audience, but you’ll also help your truly stellar content get more eyeballs.

Those are some of the common blog marketing mistakes I see small business marketers making. What mistakes have youcommitted, um“seen” your “friends” make?

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Few Americans Work in Startups {Chart}

Recently released U.S. Census Bureau data indicates theshare of employment in companies of different ages.  The figure below shows that, in 2009, only two percent (2%) of Americans working in private sector businesses were employed in companies started that year. Even young companies, those aged one-to-ten, only employed another 19.5 percent of private sector workers.

So where do most people in the private sector work?  The answer is mature companies.  The Census Bureau’s data reveal that 55.8 percent of those working in the private sector are employed in companies 26 years or older.  Another 8.4 percent have jobs in companies aged 21 to 25.  And 6.6 percent work in businesses between 16 and 20 years old.

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