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Random Business Books - Support Room to Read. Our friends at 800 CEO Read are doing their 2008 Mystery Box of books promotion again to help out my favorite cause, Room to Read. Room to Read, for those of you that haven't heard of them, develops "holistic, multi-pronged approach to help children in the developing world gain the lifelong gift of education."

Since 2000, Room to Read has impacted the lives of over 1.9 million children by:

Constructing 442 schools
Establishing over 5,630 libraries
Publishing 226 new local language children's titles representing over 2 million books
Donating over 2.2 million English language children's books
Funding 6,922 long-term girls' scholarships
Establishing 155 computer and language labs

So, if you're up to helping Room to Read, head over to 800 CEO Read to buy your box of random mystery business books from 2008.

From 800 CEO Read:

For $30.00 we are putting together a Mystery Box of three business books. In this box you are guaranteed one title that either won, or made the shortlist for the best book of 2008 in its category, along with 2 other titles from last year that were submitted for the awards. As an extra we'll throw in a copy of our annual In the Books year in review. 100% of the purchase will go directly to Room to Read, and we'll cover the shipping on all orders. Get on board and help us make a difference!

(02/24/09 09:00 AM)

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Constructing 442 schools
Establishing over 5,630 libraries
Publishing 226 new local language children's titles representing over 2 million books
Donating over 2.2 million English language children's books
Funding 6,922 long-term girls' scholarships
Establishing 155 computer and language labs

So, if you're up to helping Room to Read, head over to 800 CEO Read to buy your box of random mystery business books from 2008.

From 800 CEO Read:

For $30.00 we are putting together a Mystery Box of three business books. In this box you are guaranteed one title that either won, or made the shortlist for the best book of 2008 in its category, along with 2 other titles from last year that were submitted for the awards. As an extra we'll throw in a copy of our annual In the Books year in review. 100% of the purchase will go directly to Room to Read, and we'll cover the shipping on all orders. Get on board and help us make a difference!

(01/23/09 09:00 AM)

Small business growth through investing.

Since launching MarketingSavant (my social media/digital marketing consulting company) earlier this year, I've been looking at a number of ways to grow the business, outside of hiring people. By growing the business I mean simply the cash base or revenues from the organization. I was caught off guard when another local consulting business owner asked me "so, what's your exit strategy?" Wow, I just kicked this thing off, what do you mean "exit strategy". Of course, I know exactly what he means, but I'd never really given it that much thought. When you're an entrepreneur or an intrepreneuer (someone with an entrepreneurial spirit inside the corporation), you need to have your own exit strategy. For me, I've chosen to pursue an 'education in investing' strategy to help grow my cash reserves while I grow the business. Yes, I know, the market isn't exactly doing well, but that's precisely the time to get in. I look at the stocks and funds that I'm investing in now and thinking back to when I graduated college in 1999... if I had invested even a modest sum then, I'd be doing quite well now. Which brings us to the one thing that I think investing and marketing have in common (I'm sure there are others...but this one is really important... Faith in the future. As marketers, we're always marketing to the future, with faith in that marketing campaign and it's ability to deliver future value. As investors, we're buying stocks and funds with faith in the company's ability to grow into the future. Marketers and investors unite! Doom and gloom does not serve you...it's the faith in the future that keeps both of us afloat and in business. [Inspired by Kevin's post on 'cracks in the retirement nest egg']
(07/08/08 09:00 AM)

Workweek.

Is "workweek" one word or two? I think it used to be two, but has now morphed into one. Or maybe not. Anyway, there's a lot going on out here in proposal land. Over the weekend I finished up revising the Corporate Experience section of my law firm client's resubmission and e-mailed it to her. Due to the nature of that resubmission, my client ended up with over 400 pages that had to be scanned and put on a CD to send off to the government. She also needed to reproduce the entire proposal and submit a hard copy to accompany the CDs. It took her all weekend to get everything together and then, of course, the scanner broke down. I could have told her this would happen.

I'm now preparing the technical section of a DOD proposal for a long-time client. Much of it is similar to a proposal I helped prepare for her late last year, so I can recyle parts of it. But I still need to do some background research and gather information on the local market for a couple of categories of healthcare specialists. My client doesn't like to do this research, and neither do I. But I'm doing it anyway.

Then on Monday, re-compete #3 arrived. Oh joy. It is due at the end of May, so we have six weeks to work on it. My client sent me the RFP, which I haven't read yet. I did open the file, but when I saw that the RFP was over 125 pages, I closed it up without actually looking at it. Maybe I'll read it today. My client and I have been playing telephone tag, so we haven't talked about the proposal yet. But this assignment will keep me pretty busy for the next month and a half.

Then maybe I can take a little vacation.

(04/16/08 09:00 AM)

Government Grants and Free Money.

With the economy in bad shape like it is these days, many people are experiencing financial hardships. As a result, the scammers are out in force, advertising their books and CDs that promise free money from the government for everything from paying your bills to getting out of debt, and more.

I'm getting a boatload of emails from people who want me to help them write a letter to apply for a government free money grant. Many others write to say that they need the right form to apply for a grant or that they have written a proposal but don't know which government agency to send it to.

If you need help, you may be eligible for various types of government benefit programs, which are often called grants. Most of these programs are administered at the state and local levels. You don't need a special book to find them, and you don't need to write a letter or a proposal to apply. But you will probably have to meet certain income or other types of requirements, and you'll need to be realistic -- despite what the scammers and books tell you, the government is not going to give you a handful of free money to pay off your credit card bills.

Below is a list of categories of benefits and assistance offered by the government. You'll find this listing along with links to specific programs in your state as well as federal agency programs and other resources. Just click on the link to go to the website.

clipped from www.govbenefits.gov

Select categories of interest.

Select categories of interest. (Check all that apply)

Career Development Assistance Child care/Child support

Counsel/Counseling Disability assistance

Disaster relief Education/Training

Energy Assistance Food/Nutrition

Grants/Scholarships/Fellowships Healthcare

Housing Insurance

Living Assistance Loan/Loan repayment

Medicaid/Medicare Social Security

Tax Assistance Veterans-Active Duty

Volunteer opportunities

(04/14/08 09:00 AM)

Private Bid Notification Services.

In addition to the government's bid notification services from FedBizOpps and Grants.gov, there are many private firms that provide these types of services. You can find some of these firms by doing a Google search on phrases such as "find RFPs" and "bid notification."

Although you have to pay for it, there are several advantages to using a private bid notification service:

Many of these services can also provide you with information on solicitations issued by state and local governments. While more and more state and local governments are putting their bid opportunities on the Internet, not all of them have geared up to do this.
Since FedBizOpps and Grants.gov may not cover all all bureaus and departments within each federal agency, you may be able to get access to these bureaus' bid opportunities via a private service rather than having to search for them by going to individual websites.
If you are interested in seeing bid opportunities at two or three levels -- federal, state and/or local -- you can may be able to receive these opportunities via daily e-mails or through online access. This can be a real time-saver.

One of the private serices that has been around for a long time is Bidnet (see clip below), which offers customizable packages to meet your specific needs and interests. However, since Bidnet is only one of many private services, it will probably be worth your while to research and compare these services with respect to their prices and offerings.

clipped from bidnet.com

With BidNet, you will have access to Government Bids from thousands of Federal, State and Local agencies, and see bid opportunities you won't find anywhere else. Our diverse network of agencies will give you the competitive intelligence needed to compete effectively for the nation's largest buyer of goods and services - governments across the nation and right in your hometown.

(04/02/08 09:02 AM)

Mystery Solved!.

The other day, I wrote about some of the top websites that refer people to my site. One of those sites is the US House of Representatives, which has been sending people to my Guestbook page for quite some time. Well, yesterday I decided to try to find out where on the House site the link to my own site is listed.

It took me only a few seconds to find it using Google. I searched for "US House of Representatives government grants" and the first site listed on the search results was this one: Federal Funds Express - a site I'd never seen before. But apparently a lot of other people have.

Federal Funds Express may be a good place to start looking for government grants and other sources of funds, but it's not really an in-depth resource. However, there are some good links on the site (including mine, of course), which in turn can lead to other good resources. Links are listed under the following categories:

How to get and manage grants
Federal charitable and corporate sources of grants
Resources to help small businesses
State and local government funding, data resources and disaster assistance
Educational resources for students, schools and colleges
Property, surplus, donated and unclaimed
Family issues: health, housing and consumer protection

The website hasn't been updated since October 2007, but you may still find some good sources of information there. I checked a few of the links, but didn't have time to check them all.

I'm thinking about sending an e-mail to the Webmaster asking him or her to direct people to a page on my site other than my guestbook. But maybe it would be best to leave it as is.

(03/20/08 09:01 AM)

My 1997 Home Page & Resume...still alive!. Maybe with the new baby I'm in a nostalgic mood to share this with you... I was going through some old files on my computer tonight and found a local version of my personal home page I built in 1995 and abandoned in 1997. I clicked on one of the links and it went live! It's still at http://users.aol.com/samdecker. I have no idea why this is still live...I lost my free "SamDecker" AOL account in 2000. My home page simply featured my online resume and list of links live, but it's an interesting trip back in history, with an animated gif and .gif photo of myself (everything was .gif back then!). You can see some early Internet links, many of which are not live anymore. I don't call out some of those college accomplishments on my resume any more, but you can see my entrepreneurial roots! Also, as an aside, you can see my first corporate web site I built (with the technical skills of Raines Cohen). Here you can see the 1996 version of the User Group Connection web site. And if you want to see what I looked like with hair in 1995, here you go: Before: And after... If anyone tries to sell you something with these before and after pictures, don't buy it (as if I have to tell you)! (03/09/08 09:00 AM)

Weather Watching and More.

I'm supposed to go to Virginia early this afternoon to meet with one of my re-compete clients who is in town for some other business. But here in the Washington, DC area, they are calling for bad weather -- some snow and possibly an ice storm. Right now, at 5 AM, it seems to be sleeting. No way am I going to travel with ice on the roads. So I'll be watching the weather closely to see how things go. I suspect that I'll be staying in today and talking with my client by phone.

I also have to start work on one of the other re-compete proposals that is due on the 28th. I've put it off because it is very similar to the prior proposal that I worked on three years ago. But still, there will be some changes. This particular proposal is for food services for a local government agency -- operating a cafeteria and coffee bar, and providing as-needed catering services for special functions. It is kind of interesting because, as part of the proposal, my client has to submit a detailed menu and prices for each of these services.

I've been doing work for this client for a number of years. She's a wonderful client except for one thing -- she doesn't use a computer or e-mail. Instead, she comes to my office to bring me RFPs, review and pick-up the proposals I've prepared for her, and drop off or discuss anything else needed for the proposals. It would just be so much easier if we could e-mail things back and forth. But she has no time or interest in learning how to use a computer, so this is the way things have worked for the past five years or so. On the other hand, when she comes to my office, she often brings yummy food that she's made.

I'm hoping for some bulgogi when I see her next week.

(03/01/08 09:01 AM)

Weather Watching and More.

I'm hoping for some bulgogi when I see her next week.

(02/22/08 09:01 AM)

Free Help With Government Contracting.

Are you an entrepreneur? If you are, you can get FREE assistance to help you learn about government contracting and how to sell your products and services to this huge market. My guest blogger, Kurtis Clark, gives you the scoop.

Most small businesses don’t realize the tremendous opportunities there are to contract with Federal, State, and local government entities. Although selling to the government can be more challenging than selling to the general public or even to other businesses the sheer size of this market justifies at least looking into the potential. Last year, all levels of government combined purchased a staggering amount of goods and services. Experts estimate that figure to be over $1 trillion. Where can you find assistance to help you break into the complex world of selling to the government? Several excellent sources of free assistance are available.

The Small Business Development Center program (SBDC) is a nationwide network of independent centers funded in part by the U.S. SBA. They have counselors who can help business owners complete application and registration forms and deal with the bureaucratic process. Counselors usually know local agency procedures, which agencies are preparing for large construction projects, and may even know many of the persons responsible for local government purchasing. All SBDC’s offer free consulting services and low-cost training classes. Most SBDC offices host annual or bi-annual government contracting seminars often in conjunction with government procurement experts free of charge. Check with your local SBDC for upcoming seminars in your area. For a listing of local SBDC offices visit the SBA website.

One of these experts and another excellent source of assistance are Procurement Technical Assistance Centers or PTAC’s. They are located throughout the country, with many of the larger states having multiple offices. These Centers are funded by the Department of Defense but most offer assistance on state, local and federal procurement opportunities. Several excellent websites for Federal procurement information are Business.Gov and FedBizOpps. Also check our Deborah’s small business page for excellent information on programs for disadvantaged-, minority-, women-, and veteran-owned business procurement opportunities.

Kurtis Clark is the Director of the Alliance Small Business Development Center, one of 5 SBDC’s in the U/C Merced Regional SBDC network. The network serves a 15-county area in Central California and last year assisted over 3,000 business entrepreneurs.

(02/21/08 09:01 PM)

It's Done.
I finished my book proposal. Actually, it's not totally "my" proposal, since the book (if it ever comes about) will be written by me and a long-time colleague and friend. So we worked on it together and sent it off yesterday. We thought it looked pretty good, but what do we know? Neither of us has ever written a book proposal. It will be interesting to see what happens. I suspect it will be a while before we hear anything

This is a really busy time of year for us proposal people. The government's fiscal year ends on September 30, so agencies are often in a rush to spend their money. Thus, the release of many RFPs. I am getting numerous e-mails every day from people who need proposal help and, as usual, they are waiting until the last minute to get that help. I am already swamped with work, so I'm taking on very few new projects. In addition, I'm still waiting for three RFPs from two clients that I've committed time to. Plus, in a couple of weeks I'll be starting on the next phase of my workplan project. In the middle of all this, I'll be taking a few days off to go to Maine with my husband who will be attending a conference there. Lobster!!

Yesterday, a client who I haven't heard from for about 5 years called. In fact, she called four times. I wasn't answering the phone because I was working on the book proposal and didn't want to be interrupted. But she left messages. Apparently she needs a proposal done for a local government agency here in Maryland -- pretty much the same kind of thing that I've helped her with before. But she is somewhat difficult to work with, and with my current workload I don't know if I will really have the time. Still, I hate saying "no" to existing clients, although I'm not sure I would consider her an existing client after a gap of 5 years.

I just need to have more hours in a day.
(02/21/08 09:01 PM)

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Prioritize Like a P&L. Today I was having lunch with a friend who is VP of Marketing for a local startup. Small budget, lots to do...how to prioritize? In my experience, when you're trying to grow revenue as fast as possible with little time, money and resources, it's important to think about the after-launch resources a program will take. Think about any program or initiative as an ongoing P&L. The best projects will have sustaining value, like a business that has sustaining profits. In fact, you should first think about the projects that have a clear and direct impact on revenue or cost savings. Can you answer the question: "This program/initiative will have an impact on our bottom line because..." The biggest mistake in selecting programs is the costs of sustainment. Usually things get set in motion that take human capital as part of the processes. The ideal projects are those that are set in motion, sustian and/or grow in impact over time and require little resources to sustain. Many projects I've launched that risked failure and often got orphaned are those that required ongoing program management time and processes. If it was part of an existing process it was easier to absorb. Creating new processes, owners, measures, reporting, etc. and sustaining all of this is an investment – COGS and Opex in a P&L. Sometimes it's worth it...but most of the time we underestimate the cost of sustainment. So, look for the projects that can 'blossom' on their own. For example, customer created... (10/19/07 09:00 PM)

Traveling. I'm working on a very exciting global hospitality project and working in Zurich, Dubai and London for a few weeks. Today I got to escape for a couple hours and take the train to Lucerne (or Luzern as the locals... (09/22/07 09:01 PM)

Lessons from a Navy Seal. Last night we had an ex-Navy Seal and local entrepreneur / investor over for dinner. I've known him for a few years now...we've had a few lunches to talk business...but this was a chance to get to know each others' families. Ironically he never told me he was a Navy Seal. Serendipitously I recently found out through a web search. I was looking for 'extreme fitness' (a la Navy Seal training) in Austin and saw his name on a web site. I admired his humility, which underscored his integrity. In contrast, I know many people who constantly name drop and talk about their achievements, connections and background in the first paragraph of meeting them. Which approach, in the long run, do you think earns more respect and admiration? I asked him which was harder, Seal training or performing missions he did in Vietnam? He said training was a lot harder. Seal training dropout rate is 75%. His BUDS training in San Diego in the late 60's was nearly the same as it is today. Hell week is grueling, and trainees spend hours sitting in 55 degree water -- swimming, diving, and sitting. He said the most memorable lesson from training taught him that his body could do things far beyond he expected. That reminded me and inspired me that anyone can rise above a challenge and push further than they expected of themself. It also reminded me of my favorite quote, perhaps drilled into me by my father, who teaches... (07/29/07 09:00 AM)

Yahoo's SmartAds Offer Better Targeting. Yahoo is slowly but surely trying to make its display ads just as relevant and targeted as Google's search ads. It is beginning to test what it calls SmartAds, graphical Web ads that can be customized in an automated fashion to the demographics of the audience most likely to see them. Cnet gives this example:For instance, instead of just seeing a generic ad for a Toyota Prius, a woman in San Francisco who conducts research on hybrid cars on Yahoo Autos could be served an ad for a local San Francisco dealer, along with information on the types of Priuses in stock and their purchase price. The ad, which is configured on the fly, could also feature a background color targeted for women in her age range, as well as a Golden Gate Bridge logo.In order for this to work, however, the advertiser must provide all the different variations and permutations of the ad it might want to show That could get complicated. Will Toyota have to prepare iconic logos for every city—the Gateway Arch for St. Louis, the Sears Tower for Chicago—as well as different colors and copy for each demographic slice it is targeting? A typical Google AdWords campaign can involve hundreds of thousands of different keywords. There is a practical limit to what an ad agency can gin up for one campaign. Still, even if advertisers come up with just 5 or 10 different combinations of the same online ad, in theory it should be more effective... (07/02/07 09:01 PM)

Notes on "The Likeability Factor" (Tim Sanders at Austin Texchange). Last week I became president of Texchange, a local association of Technology entrepreneurs and executives. At our June event we had Tim Sanders, formerly of Broadcast.com, Yahoo, author of Love: The Killer App, and more recently The Likeability Factor. He spoke to a June audience of 130 entrepreneurs and shared some sobering statistics, research, and recommendations. Thanks to Josh Toub at BluefishGroup and Secretary of Techange, I can share these notes for you. [Note: if you are an Austin-based technology entrepreneur or in a Austin-based startup, email me to join]. Biology behind increased importance of emotion in business and everyday life The amygdala (part of brain in charge of emotion) has grown ~1% in the lat 35 years Makes liking the people you do business with much more important than it once was EVP When Tim evaluates a company to invest in or do business with, he evaluates three things: What is the emotional value proposition What is the emotional cost of ownership What is the emotional compensation plan Did research at Yahoo about the essance of loyalty--it's all about emotional attraction In life, the likability factor is almost always the tie break Every presidential election since 1976 has been won by the likability factor. What is likability? Not about charimsa Not about being popular It's about reciprocity, not attraction Emotional Attraction (EA) Leadership An emotionally attractive salesperson will gross 40% more than a neutral person 3 benefits: Reduced risk Doctors who smile are much less likely to get sued... (06/18/07 09:03 PM)

Website value. A kind reader astutely pointed out that there are issues with one of my old articles that I linked to - some of the content of the article is missing, which makes it very odd. Sadly, it was one of my favorite articles: "If your website doesn't add value, rethink it" (link to article). Although it is a bit dated (Jan, 2004), and it was written at very high level (published in the local business... (04/06/07 09:01 AM)

Free Help With Government Contracting.
Are you an entrepreneur? If you are, you can get FREE assistance to help you learn about government contracting and how to sell your products and services to this huge market. My guest blogger, Kurtis Clark, gives you the scoop.

Most small businesses don’t realize the tremendous opportunities there are to contract with Federal, State, and local government entities. Although selling to the government can be more challenging than selling to the general public or even to other businesses the sheer size of this market justifies at least looking into the potential. Last year, all levels of government combined purchased a staggering amount of goods and services. Experts estimate that figure to be over $1 trillion. Where can you find assistance to help you break into the complex world of selling to the government? Several excellent sources of free assistance are available.

The Small Business Development Center program (SBDC) is a nationwide network of independent centers funded in part by the U.S. SBA. They have counselors who can help business owners complete application and registration forms and deal with the bureaucratic process. Counselors usually know local agency procedures, which agencies are preparing for large construction projects, and may even know many of the persons responsible for local government purchasing. All SBDC’s offer free consulting services and low-cost training classes. Most SBDC offices host annual or bi-annual government contracting seminars often in conjunction with government procurement experts free of charge. Check with your local SBDC for upcoming seminars in your area. For a listing of local SBDC offices visit the SBA website.

One of these experts and another excellent source of assistance are Procurement Technical Assistance Centers or PTAC’s. They are located throughout the country, with many of the larger states having multiple offices. These Centers are funded by the Department of Defense but most offer assistance on state, local and federal procurement opportunities. Several excellent websites for Federal procurement information are Business.Gov and FedBizOpps. Also check our Deborah’s small business page for excellent information on programs for disadvantaged-, minority-, women-, and veteran-owned business procurement opportunities.

Kurtis Clark is the Director of the Alliance Small Business Development Center, one of 5 SBDC’s in the U/C Merced Regional SBDC network. The network serves a 15-county area in Central California and last year assisted over 3,000 business entrepreneurs.

(12/12/06 08:42 AM)

How do I know which federal, state, or local employment laws apply to my employees?. Employment laws can come from federal, state, or local sources and it can often be confusing to figure out which ones apply to your workforce. The answer depends on factors such as how many people you ...
(08/28/06 09:02 PM)

Fridays Contract Management News and Comment (25th August 2006). Hansen wins big software contract (The Sacramento Bee) Buoyed by a resurgence in state and local government spending on technology projects, Hansen Information Technologies announced Thursday that it has won its largest deal ever -- a $21.1 million contract to provide a software management system to San Antonio's water utility. Raytheon Awarded ... (08/25/06 09:03 AM)

Why are we discussing this now?. So, I started my morning with a dozen ears of local corn from the farmer's market, waiting to be cooked. I did a google search and was delighted (okay, stunned) to find this lens as the fourth site listed. A... (08/13/06 09:03 AM)

Remember your RSS feed. My secretary won passes to a local fair by visiting our local WZZM-TV website, noticing the contest, and entering.

I've been subscribed to their RSS feed for maybe a year. Had no idea the contest was being offered.

Lesson: If you have an RSS feed, make sure you are feeding worthwhile (and promotional) content to the subscribers, assuming that they aren't otherwise going to go to the website.

Now she gets to go see Tesla in concert and I don't. Darn. (No, not really.)

(UPDATE: Larry, click on the link for a sample on Tesla's splash page...sounds like Aerosmith to me. My musical tastes BTW are: 80s pop/new wave, mash-ups, and blues.) (07/29/06 02:28 PM)

Used CD's vs. iTunes. I don't buy digital music. I have iTunes installed for my iPod, but have not purchased a single song from the iTunes store. I love the idea, love Apples's implementation, but I still won't buy music that way. I've been buying used CD's for a couple of years now, mostly from a local store that always has a great selection. But over the last year or so I've been buying more and more used cd's... (07/29/06 02:28 PM)