Work.com Small Business Community Blog

Work.com Helped Aunt Beth!

We were delighted to hear today that Work.com helped Kayvan Sotoodeh's aunt! Here's his email:

I sent my aunt, who's been talking about becoming a woman owned supplier to Big Business, the link to our guide on the topic:

Becoming a Minority Supplier to Big Business

As a result, she has taken action steps recommended by Work.com and is on her way to going into business for herself:

 

------------------------------------------------------------------------

Kayvan,

Thank you for sending this. Today via the site, I began my women owned status process and incorporated (c corp). I hired Network solutions yesterday to set up/design my website, obtained 3 domains and have met with some city people regarding work! I am so touched that you thought of sending this to me!

Again, thank you!

Aunt Beth

------------------------------------------------------------------------

By the way, if you have any Work.com success stories or case studies, post them here.

Technorati tags: work.com

Showcase What You Know About Business: Write Your Own Work.com How-To Guide

One of the greatest parts of Work.com is that any member, no matter what kind of business experience they have, can write their own Work.com How-To Guide. Share your business advice and experience and show your expertise. If something is so second-nature to you it seems easy, it may be easy for you to write about it. Members often worry that they are not "expert" enough to write a guide -- but many of you are expert in some, if not many, aspects of business. Maybe you're really good at doing business taxes or building an ecommerce site. Or you know the best kind of espresso machine to buy for a cafe, or how to import auto parts from Taiwan. As you offer useful information and point to the best web resources, if you happen to let us know about what your business does as relevant to your topic, we'd be happy to know that.

The best guides can make our Most Popular and Highest-Rated guides list, or even become an Editor's Pick.

Here are two of the newest guides posted that deal with niche topics that stem from very individual expertise: Understanding Guanxi to Maximize Your Business Potential in China by Kenneth Wong, president of the Shanghai House of Entrepreneurs, and Making Money with CafePress by Kimberly Dawn Wells, a CafePress shopkeeper.

Technorati tags: business how-to, work.com

Useful Small Business Tips from Work.com Members

One of the most exciting parts of watching the Work.com community grow is the rich conversations that are developing, as members add comments based on their expertise and experience. Donna Fenn, 20-year contributing editor for Inc. Magazine, shares her tips on how to grow a successful family business. Anita Campbell, author of the Small Biz Trends blog, talks about doing what you love. Susan Heathfield, HR expert, tells us the best places on the web to find salary information, Find out about what Jake Winebaum, Business.com CEO, considers the best business plan he's ever read. Melissa Paxton, owner of a gardening business in Durango, CO, writes about a local leadership training organization. Spoonful Design's d9evrythin in Santa Monica, CA offers thoughts on logo design. The Virtual Handshake author Scott Allen gives tips on better managing your time, Paul Heller lets us know how he thinks small business can get more politically involved. Eric Wolfram, web consultant, informs us of free open source tools to make your web site more interactive.

Thanks for all your comments and keep 'em coming! I hope each person can not only offer their own tips, but learn something new from the Work.com community.

Technorati tags: donna fenn, anita campbell, susan heathfield, scott allen, eric wolfram, business how-to, work.com

Work.com Improvements: Comments Functionality

A number of you have suggested improvements to our Add Comment functionality. Here is a summary of the feedback I've been getting:

1) Make it easy to view the guide text at the same time as adding a comment. This helps a comment writer respond and refer to the guide and author appropriately. Either include the guide text in the add comment form, or have add comment open in a pop-up window.

2) Turn character returns into HTML tags <p></p> or <br\>. It's annoying to add line spacing in your comment, and then have it get squished together!

3) Allow comment preview, with the ability to go back and edit your comment.

4) Add a spellcheck to comments.

5) Allow use of basic HTML tags such as <em> and <strong>.

Does anyone have anything else they'd like to add? Thanks again for your feedback. It really helps improve Work.com.

Technorati tags: work.com

Work.com Member Profiles: Upload Image

Here's a photo album of some of our Work.com members. Update your profile with an image so the Work.com community can get to know you! Note: some members I've spoken to are shy about uploading their photo. That's okay, you can upload an avatar image, your company logo, a photo of a landscape you've taken...it's up to you! Check out our design director, Kayvan Sotoodeh's image on his profile.

Technorati tags: work.com

Small Business Blogs

I was inspired to create a "Small Biz Blogs" list on this blog to keep track of the notable small business blogs I come across every day. Some of the best ones are by our very own Work.com guide writers. For example, Brian Rollo of Kendricks Billiards Blog wrote Starting a Pool Hall. Brian Brown of Pajama Market wrote Marketing Your Business with a Blog and Using Technorati to Find Blogs About Your Industry. Scott Allen, of the Virtual Handshake Blog, wrote a guide on Online Business Networking, and he's also a Work.com community leader. Anita Campbell of Small Biz Trends is a Work.com community leader as well, who adds great comments to guides based on her big-picture view of business trends.

If you want to learn more about small business blogging, check out Small Business Blogs and Blogging for Small Business. And, please, let me know about other great small business blogs, whether they're about running a pizza restaurant, operating a dog walking company, or designing fashion for Second Life.

Technorati tags: small business blogs, kendricks billiards, brian rollo, pool hall, pajama market, anita campbell, scott allen, small biz trends, work.com

Welcome to Work.com

Welcome to Work.com, a community of small business owners & operators sharing advice and the best resources for completing business tasks, from accepting credit cards to creating a logo to getting an SBA loan. We're very excited that our beta has begun, and we can't wait to hear what you think. Keep in mind that we are still working on the site, so your feedback is very useful and appreciated. If you have any ideas for improvement, we would love to hear them.

Technorati tags: small business , business how-to, business advice, work.com