Grow your business online, Tuesday, December 8 @ 6pm

Growing your business has been challenging in recent years, especially with the economy being hit so hard. Gone are the days of easy leads from Yellowpages ads, newspaper ads, and even magazine ads. Today, if your business can’t be found on the Internet, you are missing a lot of potential and profitable customers. It can be overwhelming to try to figure out how to get online and do it all yourself. You can pick up books, buy online courses, attend seminars to try to learn how to do it, but there is a steep learning curve and an overabundance of information. You are busy running a business, likely a lean shop, often working many more hours now than ever in the past.

That’s where Mel Hirsch comes in. She will teach you some of the inside secrets to getting found online, what you can do without spending a fortune or taking a month of your time on the computer and how to totally dominate your competition.

Mel has a lifetime of business experience, being born into a fourth generation grocery family in Pueblo, and she has been self-employed most of her adult life. She has been working in online marketing since 2004, and now works full-time doing online marketing for local businesses.

Please call or email to reserve a spot: Cindy Shimizu 562-5667 or Cindy.Shimizu@pueblolibrary.org.

This session is free and open to the public.

November events: Jobseeking 101 and Money for your new business

Jobseeking 101 - Saturday, November 14th, 11am

Join Diana Martinez, operations manager from Express Employment for this useful session that will include information about the basics of job-hunting: how to search for jobs, how to prepare a resume, how to dress for an interview, and how to interview. She will also discuss how an employment agency works. Bring your questions and get some helpful hints on landing a good job.

Money for your new business - Tuesday, November 17th, 6pm

Bill Keathley, Loan Officer for the Southern Colorado Economic Development District (SCEDD), will discuss the Business Loan Fund loans available for small business in Colorado. The Business Loan Funds (BLF) are funded through the Colorado Office of Economic Development.

For more information or to sign up for these sessions, contact Cindy Shimizu (719) 562-5667 Cindy.Shimizu@pueblolibrary.org

Sessions are held at Pueblo West Library and are free and open to the public

Green is the new black for business

There are many ways businesses can get on board the green revolution. As business owners, you can take big steps like going solar, which can be - believe it or not - nearly cost-neutral. In Colorado, the State authorizes counties and municipalities to offer property and sales tax rebates or credits to home and business owners who install renewable energy systems. And if you are customers of Xcel or Black Hills Energy, there are rebate programs offering up to $35,000. Add up rebates and incentives, and you can have a solar system up and running with very little out-of-pocket expenditure.

If you're not ready to take the solar plunge, there are other ways you can green up your business.

• Switch to energy-efficient computer use, including turning computers and peripherals off at night, installing and using only the essential programs for your business operations and avoiding - if possible - programs that use excessive graphics that require high-performance graphics cards, and buying greener models.
• Recharge batteries, recycle as much as possible, and reuse paper if possible.
• Use green cleaning products.
• Have an energy audit of your facility or offices.
• If you have a company car or fleet, consider buying hybrids or vehicles that get higher mileage.

For more details about these and other ways to green your business, the library has several excellent books: 101 Ways to turn your business green, by Rich Mintzer; Green to gold, by Esty & Winston; and True green @ work by McKay, Bonnin, & Wallace.

So you want to run a small business, part 2 - Franchising 101

Join Cindy Rayfield from FranNet and learn about the intricacies of starting a franchise business. Session will be Tuesday, September 15 at 6pm at Pueblo West Library. For more information or to sign up call Cindy Shimizu 719-562-5667.

SBA Launches New Online Training Course: ‘How to Win Federal Contracts’

WASHINGTON ─ The U.S. Small Business Administration today launched a new online training course to help strengthen access to contracting opportunities for small businesses, including those owned by women, minorities, disadvantaged individuals and veterans.

The training course, “Recovery Act Opportunities: How to Win Federal Contracts,” is part of a federal government-wide initiative announced last month by President Obama and being led by SBA and the Department of Commerce.

“The SBA online training course can help businesses access the federal purchasing system and position themselves to compete for the commercial opportunities offered by government contracting,” SBA Administrator Karen G. Mills said.

In announcing the government-wide initiative, President Obama reiterated his Administration’s commitment to providing “our Nation’s small businesses with maximum practicable opportunity to participate in federal government contracting.” As part of the initiative, federal agency procurement officers are participating in more than 200 events over the next several weeks to help connect small businesses with contracting opportunities. Additionally, SBA and Commerce are expanding their outreach to contracting officials across the federal government to ensure they have the tools to meet their annual contracting goals and increase opportunities to small businesses, including those owned by veterans, women and minorities, as well as those in designated HUBZones.

As part of the outreach to small businesses, the comprehensive online course uses both audio and script to provide information about the federal marketplace, contract rules and, most importantly, how to sell to the government and where to find contract and Recovery Act opportunities. The new training portal is a free online training course designed to assist entrepreneurs during this period of economic recovery. This self-paced, instructional guide provides an overview of the federal procurement process.

The Recovery Act Opportunities course is available on SBA’s Web site at www.sba.gov or directly at www.sba.gov/fedcontractingtraining. The course is indexed by subject matter to allow ease of use, and it includes multiple direct links to additional contracting resources.

The Recovery Act Opportunities course includes direct links that highlight the best contracting resources and engages small business owners in the contracting process. The course also includes practical and fundamental steps to engage business owners in the federal contracting arena.

It is one of more than 24 online tutorials offered by the SBA, and is available 24/7.

For more information please visit www.sba.gov.

Your Medicare health choices, Tuesday, September 1st @ 1pm

John Giarratano, a representative from Human MarketPoint, will speak about the various options available to Medicare enrollees. This event is free and open to the public.

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