If you own or manage a small business, it’s time to stop worrying.

I’m hearing from Simply Virtual and It’s a Smart Decision! clients as well as other small business owners that we’re seeing signs of recovery from the economic challenges experienced by many U.S. small businesses that last few years.

That’s fantastic!

Unfortunately, when I ask these same small business owners what they are doing with marketing to capture the emerging dollars, I often hear deafening silence. Too many entrepernuers are lost as to how to take advantage of the turn around we’re seeing in U.S. businesses.

One thing is for sure: Worrying won’t cut it. The economy may be picking up, but YOU MUST TAKE ACTION to jumpstart your business and get your phones ringing again.

An easy way to do so may be to attend one of many webinars or telecourses on marketing your small business. Our favorite is “Guerillla Marketing: How to Out Market Your Competition & Find Clients in Any Economy” from certified Guerilla Marketing Coach and professional speaker, Ed Tate. 

Ed Tate is a successful trainer, author, international keynote speaker and executive known worldwide as “the speaker who energizes, educates and entertains.” His success in business has spanned more than two decades. For 14 years, Ed was a successful national account executive selling over $500 million in products and services to corporations and entrepreneurs throughout the United States. He co-created two business units that produced over $1.25 billion in revenue. If he can’t teach you a few tricks, well, no one can!

Ed has partnered with It’s a Smart Decision to offer a 3-part webinar series, Guerillla Marketing: How to Out Market Your Competition & Find Clients in Any Economy,” designed to give you a strategic 7-step marketing plan that you can put to use immediately to increase your sales.

The information packed 3-part Webinar Series is an AMAZING VALUE at only $295. Mark your calendar to join Ed on Mondays: July 26, August 2 and August 9, 2010 at 6:00 pm Eastern. Unavailable those dates? Register to get all three sessions on .mp3! 

Click here to Register Online Today to learn how to take your marketing to the next level – Guerilla style!

Just finished reading (well, skimming.) an Inc.com article about 37Signals founder, Jason Friedman. Read “The Way I Work”.  In the article, Friedman mentions having morning relaxation time before splashing into his daily e-mail reading. It made me think about my own work routine.

Honestly, I’m not so sure I have a work routine. Depends on the calendar. Lately, my weeks have consisted of 1 or 2 days in the office before dashing off to teach an Excellence in Speaking Institute for Ty Boyd Enterprises or chaperone an overnight field trip with one of my boys. Occasionally, I get a full week in the office, but it’s landscape is dotted with very necessary phone and face-to-face meetings (Tuesday thru Thursday), administrativia (Mondays) and productivity coaching sessions (Fridays) — all with a bit of white space scheduled in here and there.

Ooh, maybe I’ve just described a routine?

In any case, I try to make the most of whatever time I have, but there always seems to be more to do.

I had a cool realization last week: “My best is good enough.” Afterall, I told myself, “It’s all I have . . . all I’m capable of.”
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For work at home professionals, the nature of our “workplace” can be . . . well, a barrier. Traditional work relationships are based on manning a desk or cubicle in an office. Colleagues pool resources to produce, sell and maintain a product or service.

When you work at home or on the go, “out of sight, out of mind” can easily prevail. Whether you are a home-based entrepreneur or a telecommuter, you don’t want to be forgotten by clients or colleagues.

Many work at home professionals are already making the most of today’s technology. You may use e-mail, instant messenger and social media like Twitter or Face Book to stay visible. These useful communication tools may be the right course in some situations, but more personal and immediate connections are necessary to stay connected.

I don’t know about you, but once I have responded to a slew of e-mails or spent a few moments on Facebook, I have to move on to completing work projects. E-mail messages can get lost in the crowd. It’s weird that we tend use every technology tool on the market except, one of the oldest and most basic, yet effective.

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