U.S. Bank donates to Tennessee Small Business Development Center

Thanks U.S. Bank!

U.S. Bank recently donated $2,000 to help support the Tennessee Small Business Development Center at Volunteer State Community College. The TSBDC offers free and confidential one-on-one counseling for existing and start-up businesses. Free and inexpensive workshops designed for the small business owner are also available. Pictured: Karen Mitchell, vice president of resource development and executive director of the College Foundation; Justin Hays, branch manager U.S. Bank in Gallatin main branch; Hilary Marabeti, assistant vice president for Continuing Education and Economic Development; and Charles Alexander, director of the TSBDC. / Submitted

Why Business Leaders Should Think Like Artists

Best-selling author Seth Godin challenges entrepreneurs to get out of their comfort zones and embrace vulnerability. 

June Seminars

June

How to Read and Draft Common Contracts for Small Businesses workshop of Volunteer State Community College's Tennessee Small Business Development Center, 2-4 p.m. Tuesday, June 4, 1480 Nashville Pike, Gallatin, TN in the Betty Gibson Hall, Gibson Conf Room 104. Registration is required. Reserve online. www.tsbdc.org. Free.

Government Contracting workshop of Volunteer State Community College's Tennessee Small Business Development Center, 2-4 p.m. Wednesday, June 5, 1480 Nashville Pike, Gallatin, TN in the Betty Gibson Hall, Room 110. Registration is required. Reserve online. www.tsbdc.org. Free.

How to Write a Business Plan workshop of Volunteer State Community College's Tennessee Small Business Development Center, 2-5:00 p.m. Thursday, June 6, 1480 Nashville Pike, Gallatin, TN in the Betty Gibson Hall, Gibson Conf Room 104. Registration is required. Reserve online. www.tsbdc.org. $30, payable at the time of the workshop.

Use Technology to Work Smarter, Not Harder in Your Small Business workshop of Volunteer State Community College's Tennessee Small Business Development Center, 2-4 p.m. Tuesday, June 11, 1480 Nashville Pike, Gallatin, TN in the Betty Gibson Hall, Gibson Conf Room 104. Registration is required. Reserve online. www.tsbdc.org. Free.

Starting a Small Business workshop of Volunteer State Community College's Tennessee Small Business Development Center, 4-6 p.m. Thursday, June 13, 1480 Nashville Pike, Gallatin, TN in the Betty Gibson Hall, Gibson Conf Room 104. Registration is required. Reserve online. www.tsbdc.org. Free.

Digital Marketing Course - Four consecutive Fridays, June 28, July 5th, 12th, and 19th workshop of Volunteer State Community College's Tennessee Small Business Development Center, 9-12:00 p.m. on Fridays, May 3, 1480 Nashville Pike, Gallatin, TN in the Ramer  Admin Bldg, Room 175 Registration is required. www.tsbdc.org. $299, call 615-230-4780 or email charles.alexander@volstate.edu to reserve a spot.

5 Reasons Why Talented Employees Leave Their Jobs

via

7 Small Business Trends

I’m often asked what is new in the world of small businesses.  Unfortunately, over the last five years or

so, the talk for most folks has been how the sky is falling.  Well, several smart and hard-working entrepreneurs have ignored the economy and have changed the small business landscape.

Here are seven trends in the world of small businesses (according to me, at least):

1. Social Media – Social media is not the new hip thing.  In fact, if you haven’t already found a way to properly utilize Facebook (1 billion users), Twitter (500 million users), LinkedIn (200 million users), or Pinterest (50 million users), you are already behind.
2. Video – Yeah, I know I’ve hammered this home a few times, but I had to include it.  All the cool kids have video on their site.
3. Mobility – The days of going to the office may be over.  The average small business owner wakes up, checks their phone, has a home office, uses Google docs/apps, video chats with employees, networks mostly online, and has constant interaction with customers online.  Also, everybody has a Smart Phone now. Everybody.
4. Hiring – Many folks that have been laid off for the eleventieth (it’s a real number) time have decided to be self-employed.  So now we do not see that many people looking for, let’s say a bookkeeping job, versus handling bookkeeping for 4 -5 different businesses.  The same is now true for anything I.T., graphic design, accounting, or even janitorial services. 
5. Specialty Based – I remember as a kid, you wanted a jack-of-all-trades for everything.  That’s not the case anymore.  Successful business owners know that having a niche is a quicker path to success.  For example, instead of a handyman, maybe you want to be a restaurant maintenance specialist; instead of a clothing retail store, maybe you want to have a men’s big and tall consignment store; instead of an insurance agent talking home, life, and auto, you become a construction policy guru.  You get the idea.  Better to be good at one or two things that give you a competitive advantage than be mediocre at 10 things.
6. Sustainability - According to a 2011 study by MIT, sustainability is now a permanent part of 70% of corporate agendas.  According to a survey conducted by Cohn & Wolfe, a majority of consumers in all countries say that it is very or somewhat important that companies are environmentally-friendly and 35% are willing to spend more for green products.  Green Village Recycling and Rhoades Car can attest to this. 
7. Authenticity - Customers want to engage and be a part of “something.” Customers are willing to pay premium prices for authenticity. The International Council of Shopping Centers Survey says "71% of respondents are motivated to shop locally because 68 cents of every dollar spent at a locally-owned retailer stays in the community."

Larry Winget on Problem Solving

Pretty good stuff here on basic problem solving concepts that many of us have forgotten.

The turquoise ring has to go though.   


The Unfiltered Truth series is the first time Larry Winget has just sat down and talked to folks about what it takes to be successful. No script. No planned speech. Just Larry talking to you about the actions you need to take to make your personal and professional life better than it is right now.

May Seminars

Health Care Reform, Preparing Your Business for the 2014 Mandates workshop of Volunteer State Community College's Tennessee Small Business Development Center presented by Heritage Financial Group, 3-4 p.m. Tuesday, April 30, 1480 Nashville Pike, Gallatin, TN in the Betty Gibson Hall, Gibson Conf Room 104. Registration is required. Reserve online. www.tsbdc.org. Free.

IRS Small Business Tax workshop of Volunteer State Community College's Tennessee Small Business Development Center, 9-3:30 p.m. Friday, May 3, 1480 Nashville Pike, Gallatin, TN Building and Room TBD, and will be emailed prior to class. Registration is required. Reserve online. www.tsbdc.org. Free.

Starting a Small Business workshop of Volunteer State Community College's Tennessee Small Business Development Center, 4-6 p.m. Thursday, May 9, 1480 Nashville Pike, Gallatin, TN in the Betty Gibson Hall, Gibson Conf Room 104. Registration is required. Reserve online. www.tsbdc.org. Free.

QuickBooks for Small Business Introduction workshop of Volunteer State Community College's Tennessee Small Business Development Center, 9-12:00 p.m. Friday, May 24, 1480 Nashville Pike, Gallatin, TN in the Betty Gibson Hall, Gibson Conf Room 104. Registration is required. Reserve online. www.tsbdc.org. $25, payable at the workshop (check or cash preferred.)

How to Write a “Real World” Business Plan workshop of Volunteer State Community College's Tennessee Small Business Development Center, 2-5 p.m. Thursday, May 30, 1480 Nashville Pike, Gallatin, TN in the Betty Gibson Hall, Gibson Conf Room 104. Registration is required. Reserve online. www.tsbdc.org. $30, payable at the workshop (check or cash preferred.)

How to Read and Draft Common Contracts for Small Businesses workshop of Volunteer State Community College's Tennessee Small Business Development Center, 2-4 p.m. Tuesday, June 4, 1480 Nashville Pike, Gallatin, TN in the Betty Gibson Hall, Gibson Conf Room 104. Registration is required. Reserve online. www.tsbdc.org. Free.

Government Contracting workshop of Volunteer State Community College's Tennessee Small Business Development Center, 2-4 p.m. Wednesday, June 5, 1480 Nashville Pike, Gallatin, TN in the Betty Gibson Hall, Gibson Conf Room 104. Registration is required. Reserve online. www.tsbdc.org. Free. 

JOHN C. MAXWELL ON RESOURCEFULNESS

http://www.johnmaxwell.com/blog/john-c.-maxwell-on-resourcefulness

This is a good watch.  Probably not the best screen shot though.

4 Bad Financial Habits You Need to Break in Your Small Business

  Let's face it.  We all have bad habits.  Whether it is biting your nails, interrupting other people, saying "you know" too much, posting your lunch on Facebook, etc.  You get the idea.

            Habits are basically cycles that are burned into our brains.  Something will trigger the habit and it sets off your instinctive action.  Ring a bell and we salivate.  At the end of the action is the reward, good or bad.  The reward keeps your habit in place. 

            The trick seems to be in replacing the bad habit with a good habit. 

My little family has tried some of these at home.  For example:

·         Replacing sugary cereal with oatmeal and honey.

·         Replacing TV with coloring and playing games (my coloring skills need work.)

·         Replacing staring mindlessly into my spacephone with actually listening to the world around me.

    The same holds true in your business, especially regarding the business financials.  Bad financial decisions, or indecisions, tend to wreak the most havoc. 

   

Below are four bad financial habits that may have crept into your business:

1.  Underpricing products and/or services - Unfortunately, many entrepreneurs believe they absolutely need to have the lowest price possible or they will lose their customers.  The truth is that people will pay for value, or at least perceived value, even in a down economy.  Don’t believe me?  How much TV do you watch in a day?  6 hours? No.  4 hours? No.  2 hours?  Maybe, but most of the folks I talk to will claim they really don’t watch TV at all; just the news and occasionally Modern Family.  Then why does almost everyone I know pay for some version of cable or satellite?  The same goes for having high car payments, drinking $4 lattes, and getting the new iPhone.  Raise your prices.  This will remove the bottom 5-10% of customers that take up too much time complaining and it will create new revenue dollars in your business.
2. Not saving for retirement – Most small business owners naturally assume their empire will be their retirement.  In fact, only a small percentage of businesses are ever successfully sold.  If your business would not survive without you, may not be not a sale in the future.  You may want to consider setting up an IRA, SEP IRA, or finding a rich uncle soon.
3. Not meeting with your accountant at least semi-annually – Small business owners are notoriously bad record keepers.  Not all, but most.  And several still use the Shoe Box Accounting Method.   One of the biggest fears that people have of using an accountant IS NOT that it will cost too much. It is that they don’t know what it will cost. Find a qualified accountant who can assist you and your decision making year-round, set a fixed amount that you will pay them, and use their advice.  They will almost always save you more money than they cost.
4. Ignoring your cash flow - One of the big issues facing small businesses is trying to figure out where your money is going. Many times you can show a profit on an income statement, but the cash flow (real money in, real money out) will be almost negative. Don't ever think you're too busy making sales and working in your business to worry about your cash flow.  Make sure you or a bookkeeper are entering all transactions into an accounting system and you are monitoring it.

  

Microsoft Can't Have Nice Things

Remember the blue screen of death?

http://wmpoweruser.com/windows-phone-8-delivers-uefi-boot-manager-error-message/

Doing Business with the Nashville International Airport

Wednesday, April 03, 2013 2:00 PM to 4:00 PM

In 2011, Metro Nashville Airport Authority (MNAA) spent over $10 million with area small business for products and services at Nashville International and John C. Tune Airports. Did your small business get a check? MNAA continues to register small businesses to become vendors to provide electrical work, painting, real estate services, HVAC, printing, professional services, catering and other services to these airports. You are invited to attend the “Doing Business With Nashville International Airport” workshop.

Learn how your small business can become a vendor with the Metro Nashville Airport Authority.

Fee: Free

Register for this event online

Everything You Need to Know About Office Email Etiquette

Pretty deep stuff.

April Seminars

Doing Business With the Nashville International Airport workshop of Volunteer State Community College's Tennessee Small Business Development Center, 2-4 p.m. Wednesday, April 3, 1480 Nashville Pike, Gallatin, TN in the Betty Gibson Hall, Gibson Conf Room 104. Registration is required. Reserve online. www.tsbdc.org. Free.

How to Become Bankable workshop of Volunteer State Community College's Tennessee Small Business Development Center, 3-4:30 p.m. Thursday, April 4, 1480 Nashville Pike, Gallatin, TN in the Betty Gibson Hall, Gibson Conf Room 104. Registration is required. Reserve online. www.tsbdc.org. Free.

Starting a Small Business workshop of Volunteer State Community College's Tennessee Small Business Development Center, 4-6 p.m. Thursday, April 18, 1480 Nashville Pike, Gallatin, TN in the Betty Gibson Hall, Gibson Conf Room 104. Registration is required. Reserve online. www.tsbdc.org. Free.

Financing Your Business With the SBA workshop of Volunteer State Community College's Tennessee Small Business Development Center, 11-12 p.m. Wednesday, April 24, 1480 Nashville Pike, Gallatin, TN in the Betty Gibson Hall, Gibson Conf Room 104. Registration is required. Reserve online. www.tsbdc.org. Free.

IRS Small Business Tax workshop of Volunteer State Community College's Tennessee Small Business Development Center, 9-3:30 p.m. Friday, May 3, 1480 Nashville Pike, Gallatin, TN in the Betty Gibson Hall, Gibson Conf Room 104. Registration is required. Reserve online. www.tsbdc.org. Free. 

Making the Most of Video in Your Business

 Have you noticed how everyone is a videographer now?  Take a look at the next concert, parade, or little league soccer game.  You will see an endless number of video cameras, DSLR cameras, and smart phones recording the event.  We are obsessed with capturing every moment of our life.  I usually catch myself even missing the precious moment live in the hopes of watching it later. 

  

 Sad, I know.

  Oh, and video is the most in-demand content variety online.  You don’t believe me?  Check these statistics from YouTube:

• Over 800 million unique users visit YouTube each month
• Over 4 billion hours of video are watched each month on YouTube
• 72 hours of video are uploaded to YouTube every minute

Making the Most of Video in Your Business Workshop

  Here are a few more interesting statistics ripped from my buddy, Jeremy Scott, owner of Viral Orchard:

• Americans perform 4 times as many video views as they do Google searches.
• 80% of users will click on video or images in their search results before clicking on anything else. (webwalkersolutions)
• Video results have a 41% higher click through than plain text results.
• Video is 50 times more likely to gain organic page rank with Google than plain text results. (adjustyourset)
• Video also boosts on-site conversions/sales by 64-85% when included on the product/conversion page.

  But, a majority of searches still don’t have adequate video results to display.  So, how can you use this to your advantage? You can use video in your blogs, testimonials on your website, bios on your website, and ads for your products and services, and this can result in the following:

1. Better search rankings on Google.
2. Higher conversion rates, which means more buyers for your products and services.
3. More social interaction.
4. More engaged customers who want authenticity.

  So it makes sense that the hot topic from the social media "experts" is video. They say, if you don't have video content on your website in a few years, you will not be on the first page of Google and may not be found at all.   We are not a very patient society.  We want to access information quickly, easily and we want to be entertained.  Therefore, videos are currently the way to go.   And from taking a look around, you can get a jump on the competition by posting brief, informative and entertaining videos to your site and YouTube now.  This will drive more traffic your way and keep people on your site longer. 

March Seminars

Making the Most of Video in Your Business workshop of Volunteer State Community College's Tennessee Small Business Development Center, 2-4 p.m. Tuesday, March 26, 1480 Nashville Pike, Gallatin, TN in the Betty Gibson Hall, Gibson Conf Room 104. Registration is required. Reserve online. www.tsbdc.org. Free.



Starting a Small Business workshop of Volunteer State Community College's Tennessee Small Business Development Center, 4-6 p.m. Thursday, March 28, 1480 Nashville Pike, Gallatin, TN in the Betty Gibson Hall, Gibson Conf Room 104. Registration is required. Reserve online. www.tsbdc.org. Free. 

The Do's and Don'ts of Social Media for Business

I'm far and away not an expert, however, this sounds useful to me.

Start up Lessons Learned

If you read the Small Business Administration’s statistics, starting a business is a 50-50 proposition.  In five years you may be loving life and living the dream of entrepreneurship or you may be slugging it in a cubicle somewhere working for the “man” and wondering what went wrong.  With those kinds of odds, you may be better off playing black or red at the roulette table in Vegas (or Tunica for those afraid of flying and Carrot Top.)

However, what I have learned in helping over 120 businesses get started in over six years at the Tennessee Small Business Development Center (TSBDC), is that there is a very specific list of reasons that cause this failure.  And they are avoidable.

Below are four things that entrepreneurs may lack when they start a business:

Lack of experience

If you’ve ever heard, do what you love and you won’t work a day in your life, you may assume that entrepreneurs love selling, bookkeeping, and employee headaches.   That’s not always the case.  In many cases they are necessary evils to do what you love.  And you can’t ignore them.

If you don’t have experience with each of these areas, consider finding a mentor, read articles, books, journals, and take classes for financial and accounting practices, management, and/or marketing.

Lack of capital (money)

Everyone assumes that their business will make a profit immediately.  What they discover is that “immediately” may be a year or so. So before making a purchase, review your capital needs first. 

Borrow some long-term money (if necessary and possible) and put the funds into a liquid (cash) account.

Lack of planning

On average, people spend more time planning a vacation or wedding than they do for running their small business.  The business should last a lot longer than a seven day vacation or a one night wedding.

Create goals for your business and a plan to reach those goals through marketing, management, and financial planning. Obtain an annual business check-up.  Meet with an accountant, banker, or TSBDC counselor to review financial statements and get advice on how to improve performance.

Lack of marketing

“Man, this is the coolest business around and everyone will just love it.”  Cool.  But you still need a consistent marketing approach. 

First set up a real marketing budget. It should be at least .5% - 8% of your monthly expenditures.  Also, identify your target market and a good marketing mix to attract that target market.  Track where your sales come from, such as internet, coupons, chamber contacts, etc.

Although small business ownership has its challenges, it can be very rewarding and allow someone, an opportunity to turn their dream into a reality.

25 favorite fictional companies

I really wish I would've been smart enough to get the domain names to Prestige Worldwide or Vendelay Industries.

Here are the rest

The Do's and Don'ts of Building Your Niche

   Okay, so I missed the January Newsletter article.  But I have a good excuse.  I have a boy!  Lane Joseph Alexander showed up a day early, has red hair, and when you change his diaper, you unfortunately have to change his entire outfit.  He is different.  And since I have two little girls, he is definately a good different.  Well, not the outfit part, but you get the point.

   To succeed in today's small business environment, you need a niche and you need to create a following.

Consider the following:

DO: Be different.  Not tinfoil hat different.  Legitimately different.  Customers want authenticity and a reason to like you. 

DON'T: Be the same as everyone else and then boast about years of experience and certifications.  You just sound like Charlie Brown's teacher at some point.

DO: Have great customer service.  Be willing to follow up with your customers after their purchase and give them a reason to brag about you.

DON'T: Have arbitrary policies that do not make sense for the customer, i.e. Frigidaire took over a week to make a minor repair to our brand new fridge.  That's their policy.  They told me that 15 times.

DO: Charge a premium for your product or service, if it warrants it.  People will pay for perceived value, even in a recession.

DON'T: Try to compete on price.  You may not have the same overhead as a big box store, but you don't have the buying power either.  Also, the perception of low price is low value (says the guy with the free service.)

DO: Build an offense around your mobile quarterback, i.e. Colin Kaepernick, Russell Wilson, and RGIII.

DON'T: Pretend you can turn him into Warren Moon in the old run-n-shoot offense in his first full year starting.  That's a Jake Locker reference for non-Titans fans.

Local niche examples:

• Hoppity Hop Inflatable Play Center has the only indoor inflatable play center in Sumner County.
• Butterbean Bistro offers gluten-free and vegetarian dishes from local ingredients.
• Future Vision Energy allows businesses to save money by installing retro-fit LED lighting with no out-of-pocket costs.

---

The TSBDC offers free and confidential one-on-one counseling for existing and start up small businesses.  To register for counseling go to www.tsbdc.org. 

Other contact information - Phone (615) 230-4780  www.volstate.edu/tsbdc

The Tennessee Small Business Development Center Network is funded by the U.S. Small Business Administration and local community donors.  

2012 TSBDC Economic Report

easel.ly

February Seminars

 5 Steps to Marketing Success workshop of Volunteer State Community College's Tennessee Small Business Development Center, 9-11 a.m. Wednesday, February 13, 1480 Nashville Pike, Gallatin, TN in the Betty Gibson Hall, Gibson Conf Room 104. Registration is required. Reserve online. www.tsbdc.org. Free.

Starting a Small Business workshop of Volunteer State Community College's Tennessee Small Business Development Center, 4-6 p.m. Thursday, February 21, 1480 Nashville Pike, Gallatin, TN in the Betty Gibson Hall, Gibson Conf Room 104. Registration is required. Reserve online. www.tsbdc.org. Free.

Social Media Made Easy for Your Small Business workshop of Volunteer State Community College's Tennessee Small Business Development Center, 9-11 a.m. Wednesday, February 27, 1480 Nashville Pike, Gallatin, TN in the Betty Gibson Hall, Gibson Conf Room 104. Registration is required. Reserve online. www.tsbdc.org. Free.

Government Contracting workshop of Volunteer State Community College's Tennessee Small Business Development Center, 2-4 p.m. Tuesday, March 5, 1480 Nashville Pike, Gallatin, TN in the Betty Gibson Hall, Gibson Conf Room 104. Registration is required. Reserve online. www.tsbdc.org. Free. 

Start a Business this Year!

Starting a Small Business

Topic: Start-up Assistance

Thursday, January 24, 2013 4:00 PM to 6:00 PM

TSBDC @ Volunteer State Community College

Betty Gibson Hall

Gallatin, TN

This workshop provides basic information on starting a small business.

*TSBDC services
*Personal Considerations
*Business Planning
*Financing
*Requirements

To get here take the GAP Blvd entrance to Volunteer State Community College. Then take your second entrance on the right into the parking lot and the Betty Gibson Building will be right in front of you.

Fee: Free

Register for this event online

Already Registered? Sign in for more information.

Phone: 615-230-4780

Email: Send

How to Make an Organizational Chart Using Microsoft Word

For your new year's resolution to get organized.  Enjoy.

Human Resource Lessons from My 5 Favorite Christmas Movies

We've all got our holiday traditions; church events, decorating, baking, gifting, eating, and stressing.  Now that I have an almost 4 year old, and 1 year old, and one that will be here immediately after Christmas, my holidays are a touch more busy.  One of my old favorite traditions was to see some of my favorite movies.    Below are my favorite Christmas movies and their surprisingly effective methods for dealing with employees during this time of year.

A Christmas Story – I love TBS for showing this movie 24 hours straight this time of year.  My wife has learned to hate it.  Ralphie and his desire for a Red Ryder BB Gun gets all of the attention, but do you remember how happy the Old Man was with his fishnet leg lamp stand?  “Fragile!”  You would really have to see the movie to appreciate that quote.Anyway, remember to give quality and personalized gifts to your employees, when possible.   Elf – Buddy the Elf was a terrible toy maker, but given his size, there would have been so many other opportunities for him in the North Pole: reindeer wrangler, Christmas tree star-puter-upper, toy stacker, etc.  Properly train and evaluate your employees, based on their unique skill set. Scrooged – Ok, so this is really “A Christmas Carol”, however I love Bill Murray, so this is the choice.  Frank Cross a.k.a. Ebenezer Scrooge is a tyrannical programming executive that fires employees on Christmas Eve.  Of course, three ghosts and two-hours later, Cross has learned the error of his ways and later treated his employees with dignity and respect.  Create a culture of innovation and not the fear of failure. Christmas Vacation – If that gift is Christmas bonuses and employees are happy with them, stick with the program, unless you want to be kidnapped.  And never let Cousin Eddy put an RV in your driveway.  Give your employees authentic thank you’s, and make them feel appreciated. It’s a Wonderful Life – This isn’t about mean ole Mr. Potter and George.  This is about Clarence Odbody, Angel Second Class.  He threw himself into a freezing river to save George.  And do you know why?  It was not an increase in pay, corner office, or additional vacation time; it was for a set of wings.  Who knew that would be a motivator?  Have incentives that will motivate your employees.  If you are not sure what that is, just ask them. Honorable mention: Bad Santa, and why you don’t hire a Santa Claus without good references. Have a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year!

Fiscal Cliff and Small Businesses

What small business owners are saying about the fiscal cliff and their businesses:

Fox News - Small Business Executives Talk to Obama About Fiscal Cliff

The Washington Post - Business owners warn against a fiscal cliff deal that sacrifices entitlements to save tax cuts

December Workshops

How to Become Bankable workshop of Volunteer State Community College's Tennessee Small Business Development Center, 9-10:30 a.m. Thursday, December 6, 1480 Nashville Pike, Gallatin, TN in the Betty Gibson Hall, Gibson Conf Room 104. Registration is required. Reserve online. www.tsbdc.org. Free.


IRS Small Business Tax workshop of Volunteer State Community College's Tennessee Small Business Development Center, 9-3:30 p.m. Friday, December 7, 1480 Nashville Pike, Gallatin, TN in the Betty Gibson Hall, Gibson Conf Room 104. Registration is required. Reserve online. www.tsbdc.org. Free.


Starting a Small Business workshop of Volunteer State Community College's Tennessee Small Business Development Center, 3-5 p.m. Tuesday, December 11, 1480 Nashville Pike, Gallatin, TN in the Betty Gibson Hall, Gibson Conf Room 104. Registration is required. Reserve online. www.tsbdc.org. Free.


QuickBooks Introduction workshop of Volunteer State Community College's Tennessee Small Business Development Center, 9:00 - 12 p.m. Wednesday, December 13, 1480 Nashville Pike, Gallatin, TN in the Ramer Administration Building, Room 175. Registration is required. Reserve online. www.tsbdc.org. $25, payable at the workshop.


Government Contracting workshop of Volunteer State Community College's Tennessee Small Business Development Center, 2-4 p.m. Thursday, December 13, 1480 Nashville Pike, Gallatin, TN in the Betty Gibson Hall, Gibson Room 110. Registration is required. Reserve online. www.tsbdc.org. Free.

How Businesses are Utilizing Social Media Platforms: Facebook, Pinterest, Twitter, and YouTube

Fee: $ 30.00

Payable at the workshop (check or cash preferred)

Wednesday, November 14, 2012 8:30 AM to 12:00 PM

TSBDC @ Volunteer State Community College

Betty Gibson Hall

Gallatin, TN

Facebook:
*Create referrals and profitable engagement on your Business Facebook Page
*How to deal with negative Facebook Updates on your Business Page
*Run a Successful Facebook Contest
*Get the most out of Facebook's recent move to the new Timeline view
*Reporting

Pinterest:
*Demographics of Pinterest Users
*How to Use Pinterest for Business
*Best Industries for using Pinterest as a social media platform
*Do’s and Don’ts of using Pinterest

Twitter:
*Why is Twitter so popular?
*Why should I use Twitter for Business
*Twitter Mechanics - Tweet, ReTweet, and proper Hashtag (#) use
*Engaging your audience and increasing online referrals
*Power of List Building

Strategy:
*Birds of a Feather Strategy
*Stalking Dave Delaney Strategy

YouTube:
*Business Benefits of YouTube
*How YouTube Is Social
*YouTube Case studies
*Best Practices for YouTube marketing

Speaker(s): Jason Elkins and Mailynne Calvin from Transparent Social Media and Jeremy Scott from The Viral Orchard

Register for this event online