Big business is what often makes the news, but it is small businesses that keep the country afloat. Our country’s economy really needs small businesses to survive. In fact, some figures from the U.S. Small Business Administration indicate that half of the private sector is employed by a small business. This is something you may not have realized if many of your friends, family and acquaintances work for large corporations.

Not only do small businesses employ a large swath of the population, they also are an area of continued growth. Small businesses have created 60-80% of all new jobs over the last 10 years.

Sadly, our recent economic turmoil has not been a boon for the small business sector. Financial fears have caused some people to stay in jobs they might have otherwise left to start entrepreneurial ventures. On the other hand, layoffs from the employer-based system may encourage more people to attempt to start their own businesses.

This is why small business owners need to watch the Presidential campaign closely. Both candidates have spoken of the need for serious reforms to our current employer-based system. These reforms could really help small businesses.

Check back later this week to read more about some the reforms the presidential candidates are discussing.

In today’s technology driven society, many small businesses are making the wise decision to market their products online. Customers now expect that a worthy company has a website with information available 24/7. In the past, most internet marketing consisted mostly of having a website or placing banner ads on other websites linking to their own site. Now, many small businesses are finding it necessary to have a stronger internet marketing program in place in order to increase sales.

The goal of internet marketing should be to communicate a company’s message about what products or services they offer, sell products and services, and/or provide internet advertising space for other small businesses. In order for your small business to be successful in internet marketing, you need to have a website that offers information that is the equivalent of an offline brochure. A small business can either collect email addresses or purchase email addresses of potential customers. With a few key strokes, you can send your online brochure to thousands of potential customers. Email marketing is the equivalent to direct mail marketing.

Small businesses can chose to offer banner advertisements for a fee. Businesses will pay to place a small ad on your website that will link others to their website. This is extremely popular with websites that have a great amount of “hits”. Banner advertisements are the equivalent of traditional advertisements in publications like a newspaper.

Businesses may also want to set up a blog link so that people can post comments, express opinions or make announcements or recommendations about your products or services on the website. Your blog can also be produced by your company to promote your products and services.

If you chose to set up a website for your company, be sure to engage a good search engine. An internet search is based on selected keywords. Using good keywords is important because they will improve the sites natural ranking when a search is performed.

If the thought of web design is overwhelming, there are many website design businesses that can help build your website for you for a fee.

Planning how you will advertise your small business can be as important as actually running your business. Your goal should be to make a memorable and credible advertisement that people will stop and take notice of. Effective advertisements can be either read or heard.

Advertisements should be simple yet unique to your small business. People will have trouble remembering a complicated ad or message. Each advertisement that you run should support the concept of your company. Does your company focus on having the best price, quality or selection? Pick your headline message and drive your concept home to the public.

Good advertisements have personality and style. Make a commitment to stay with your advertising plan for at least a year. Doing so will help the consumer avoid confusion as to who your company really is. Never degrade the competition. This will often drive your business away instead of bringing it in.

Make sure that your advertisement looks or sounds professional. Have you ever been up late at night and heard some of the strange ads running on radio and television stations? Many of those are likely to drive business away. Consider contracting help with graphics or writing if this is not a strong suit for you. Don’t be afraid to try out desktop publishing software that is available for a nominal fee. Many of these programs have wonderful diversity and can help you create a great advertisement with little cost. You will find that radio and television ads are more difficult to produce and are best left to the professionals

Many small businesses are in crisis when it comes to funding their employee’s health care policies. The continued rising costs have out-priced many companies from being able to provide insurance for their staff. It is not surprising that sixty percent of Americans, who do not have insurance, come from a family where the head of household is self employed.

Last week on Capital Hill, a bipartisan coalition of House members introduced a new bill (HR 6210). This bill would allow small businesses to form statewide or nationwide pools of companies to jointly purchase health insurance coverage. Companies would then be able to find more affordable options for health insurance.

Another benefit to passing this law would be the tax credits that would then lower the cost of coverage for each company. This new measure would provide small business owners with a per employee annual tax credit of up to $1000, or up to $2000 per family. The company must contribute more than 60% of the insurance premiums in order to receive a tax credit. If this measure were to pass, insurers will be prohibited from raising rates if workers become ill or file more claims.

There is a similar bill currently in the Senate. Now is the time to call your representatives and tell them that you want them to support (HR 6210).

Fires, tornados, earthquakes, floods and hurricanes can be a real threat to everyone’s personal life as well as the operation of small businesses. Restoring your business to normal operations after a disaster is important for the recovery process in every community around the country.

Businesses that have a plan in place before a disaster typically have less loss, downtime and financial damage afterwards. Disaster preparations should be a normal part of every business planning, according to the federal and state governments.

A good disaster plan should include several elements. Businesses need to protect their data and inventory, physical property and most importantly their staff. Your plan should include provisions on what to do immediately after your business is destroyed. Businesses should have a plan in place to retrieve records on customers, vendors and employees. Businesses should decide in advance, which key employees it will need to maintain in the event of a disaster.

The Small Business Administration website has a list of preparation tips and topics for business owners to take into consideration when planning for a disaster. Visit www.sba.gov and search for “disaster preparedness” for more information. The Department of Homeland Security has disaster information available at www.ready.gov/business. FEMA also has disaster information on their website which provides step-by-step information for businesses of all sizes. Visit www.fema.gov for more information.

The old adage…”It’s better to be safe than sorry.” is a good one to follow under these circumstances.

The 2008 Economic Stimulus Package has been the talk of the town for many months. Taxpayers have been eagerly waiting the $600 (or more) checks to come from the federal government. Many people have already decided how to spend the money or if they are going to save it. Sadly, most small businesses did not know that there was something in it for them as well.

There has been some very important, little publicized, benefit information that was built into the Stimulus Package especially for small businesses. A portion of the goal of the Stimulus Package was to encourage small businesses toinvest and expand. The Small Business Administration has created on online tax-savings resource center at www.sba.gov/stimulus so that business operators can take full advantage of the benefits that they are entitled to.

You will find a fact sheet, a depreciation calculator and on online seminar on the SBA’s website. It is easy to navigate through and provides very resourceful information.

The incentives, contained in the economic stimulus package that were signed into law earlier this year, include a 50 percent “bonus” depreciation allowance on equipment purchased and placed into service this year.

Businesses are encouraged to contact their tax advisor to see how this program will benefit their company.

Exceptions and additional requirements do apply. The new legislation is intended to help small businesses and boost

the entire nation in the process.

The Community Express loan program was initiated in May of 1999 by the Small Business Administration. It was developed together with the National Community Reinvestment Coalition (NCRC) and their member organizations. This is a pilot program that is offered to selected lenders in pre-designated geographic areas. It has, for the most part, served women, minorities, veterans and business owners in low to moderate income areas nationwide.

The program includes management and technical assistance, which is designed to help increase the loan applicant’s ability to be a successful business. Borrowers must receive “pre” and “post” loan closing assistance from local non-profit and/or from participating lenders in order to participate in this program. Assistance is coordinated and sometimes even paid for by Community Express lenders.

The SBA does not normally give start up money to small businesses. However, under this loan program, some companies may be eligible to receive start-up funding. For loans up to $25,000, there is no collateral needed, which is certainly a plus for newly formed businesses which most likely do not have collateral available to them. For loans from $25,000 to $150,000, lenders may use their existing collateral policy. Loans greater than $150,000 must follow the general collateral policy guidelines that are set by the SBA.

The maximum loan amount available under this program is $250,000 with the standard SBA guarantee percent followed. Community Express loans are subject to the same maximum interest rate as any other type of SBA loan available to small businesses.

This program is worth checking out if you are a small business.

The Small Business Administration offers a program especially suited for military reservists, if they are ordered to active duty status. This program applies to military conflicts occurring or ending on or after March 24, 1999.

The Military Reservists Economic Injury Disaster Loan program provides funds to eligible small businesses. These funds can be used when a reservist is unable to meet his or her ordinary and necessary business operating expenses because of being called back onto duty.

These MREIDL funds cannot be used to pay regular commercial debt. They cannot be used to expand the business or refinance long term debt. They do provide working capital funds that will be needed by a small business to pay its necessary obligations. Funding will continue until the reservist is able to return to their business after being released from active duty. Assistance can begin as of the day the reservists return to active duty and will end 90 days after being released from active duty.

This program is still considered to be a loan. If the SBA determines that applicants can fund their own businesses, they are not eligible for assistance. Good credit is still required. The maximum interest rate that can be charged is 4%. Loan terms can be for a maximum of 30 years. Collateral is required for loans over $5,000 with a maximum loan amount of $1,500,000. Application approval time is from 7 to 21 days.

Visit www.sba.gov for more information on this valuable program.

I have written previously about the allegations that federal contracts that were intended for small businesses have been diverted instead to large corporations both in the United States and in Europe. A judge recently ordered the SBA to release information to the American Small Business League under the Freedom of Information Act. Today that information was released. As suspected, quite a bit of contract money has indeed been given to large businesses. The 10,000 pages that were released come from the fiscal years 2005-2006.

In the past, the Bush administration has denied that these contracts (totally over $100 billion per year) were given to larger businesses. They have conducted a significant public relations campaign to deny the findings, even findings by federal investigators.

Now that the information has been made public, it will be hard for the SBA to not make changes that will benefit small businesses. Today, a senior official at the Small Business Administration said that the first of the redefined standards that define small businesses for federal contracting purposes may be final by the end of fiscal year 2008. Once approved by the SBA officials, the draft goes to the Office of Management and Budget for review. Then it will be published in the Federal Register. This certainly is good news for small businesses.

In continuation to the post on Friday.

If you have outstanding medical bills that might be forcing you towards bankruptcy, contact the collection companies and the medical facilities. Providers (who are more sympathetic than collectors) will often reduce the bill if you are willing to make a lump sum payment to them. The payment is usually significantly lower than the actual bill. If that is not a viable option; ask to make small payments; without interest. Remember they too, want your money. Anything is better than nothing for them.

If a small business owner is having financial trouble personally, it will be very difficult to receive a Small Business Administration government-guaranteed loan. Not impossible, just very difficult. You can improve your chances of obtaining a loan by working to fix the problems that are plaguing your personal credit before you apply for an SBA loan. If you know that bankruptcy is in your future, obtain your SBA loan first and then file for bankruptcy. It is not wise to mislead anyone in the process, but don’t offer up information that a possible bankruptcy might be in your future. Declaring bankruptcy after you receive your loan does not make you automatically in default on the business loan. Make certain you continue to always make your loan payments on time. As long as the payments are good and you have not breached any part of your contract, you will not have trouble with the SBA or your lender.