More resources in the Carnivals

Carnivals round up some of the best posts and articles from all over, and exhibit them like a midway!

Carnival of the Capitalists

This week, the Carnival of the Capitalists is at Spooky Action. Covers all sorts of business and capitalistic articles and topics. Some favorites for rural small business are:

• Pamela Slim at Escape From Cubicle Nation posts Obsession with the competition is a luxury of the over-funded. While the title really says it all, Pam has some great advice about keeping the proper perspective regarding competition.
• Michelle Cramer at GreatFX Business Cards write about Rules for Networking on MySpace.

Last week, the Carnival of the Capitalists was at Marketing Whore. (no, really.) The best entries for small town entrepreneurs include:

• Charles H. Green of Trusted Advisor says Far too many people are calling themselves “Trusted Advisors”, and he’s got some advice for you if you’re considering joining them:
  

  The two most trust-destroying words you can say are, “trust me.” Never say you’re someone’s trusted advisor, much less say you want to be, much less build an ad campaign around it. It is inherently non-credible and insincere.

• Businesspundit wrote What Tiger Woods Can Teach You About Running a Business. Even the non-golfers can follow the lessons. And we need them.
  

  In business, I think we often know the things we should do, but instead we try to do the things we want to do. We like the random fun things. We want to plan, brainstorm, hold meetings, all the stuff that doesn’t require any discipline or focus.

Carnival of Entrepreneurs

The Carnival of Entrepreneurs is always at Startup Spark. Some of the best from the latest edition are:

• Barbra Sundquist presents Creating a Stable Email Address – No Matter What Google Does posted at HomeBusinessWiz.
• Praveen presents The Key to Online Business: Do Something Small posted at My Simple Trading System.
• Carolyn Manning presents . . . And The Wisdom To Know The Difference posted at ProductivityGoal, saying, “Everyone has weaknesses. What’s the better use of time? Strengthening them or outsourcing them?”
• edithyeung presents How to Identify What You Really Want? posted at Edith Yeung.Com: Dream. Think. Act..
• Theda K. Rogers presents Marketing your copywriting business posted at Crayon Writer, saying, “Starting a business? These tips, though written with freelance copywriters in mind, will help any starting business. Visit the site for other ideas. Enjoy!”

Carnival of Small Business Issues

This is another “non-traveling” carnival. The Carnival of Small Business Issues comes from Atlantic Canada’s Small Business Blog. Here are some gems from Edition 5:

• I doubt if anyone needs an introduction to Scott Allen. For those who do, he is currently the Entrepreneurs Guide at About.com. His passion is helping people build business relationships online. With over twenty years of experience, he would definitely know a thing or two about Borrowing to Build Your Business. “Many small business owners think of debt as a 4-letter word. OK, it is, but that doesn’t mean it’s only a last resort. In many cases, [if you are a responsible money manager] borrowing money makes better business sense than bootstrapping or equity financing … borrowed money is cheaper than invested money … don’t be afraid of debt financing … “

  Comment: In a society that borrows to exist, I thought small business borrowing was a norm, Scott. Of course, as you rightly pointed out, often times the business owner must be the guarantor or a co-signor. I would, however, caution entrepreneurs to stay out of long term debt (especially when they are the guarantor/co-signor) and be prepared to quit (if things do not go too well).

• Bill Sheridan provides short, concise and motivational articles for small business owners. He is also a guest writer at The Freestyle Entrepreneur. In Thirty Words that Sell, he suggests making power words like “benefits, proven, trust ” a part of your vocabulary. ” one such idea was a list of words that are powerful and help his clients and prospects take action on his recommendations “
  Comment: A useful word-set, Bill. It takes dedicated effort to make such power words part of one’s day-to-day vocabulary. Some of the power words I use are: “please, thank you, yes, uncover, secret, offer.” These are just a few words that I have collected over the years.

As a bonus, Bill Sheridan’s Thirty Words that Sell is a great business card story! (I love great business cards!)

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