Here are a list of small business resources to help you realize your financial goals:

Structure financing to satisfy both your business and personal needs ~ www.score.org/fc_3.html

Small Business Loans and Grants ~ http://www.business.gov/finance/financing/

Small Business Financing Resources ~ http://tinyurl.com/4ctlga

9 Steps to Establish Business Credit ~ http://tinyurl.com/qzv6qd

Tap 7 Innovative Ways to Finance Your Business ~ http://tinyurl.com/qle8tm

Discover all the Basics to Getting Business Grants and Loans ~ Take the Free eCourse ~ http://tinyurl.com/pqxucr

Alternative Financing Sources ~ Does your company need capital and it doesn’t qualify for traditional bank financing? http://tinyurl.com/qdjfwf

LOCAL AND NATIONAL EVENTS:

HOW to Promote Your Small Business on the RADIO ~ Here’s  event taking place on Wednesday, May 20th, that you don’t want to miss. IT’S FREE and early in the day. The perfect incentive to jumpstart your Publicity campaign.  Go to: http://tinyurl.com/qt8qfw and read all about it.

CHECK OUT THE U.S. Small Business Administration (SBA)  Small Business FREE Workshops Nationwide info at:  www.onealtectraining.com

Internet Retailer 2009 Conference & Exhibition Boston on June 15-18 http://tinyurl.com/r8tz5p

Social Media Summit – Early Bird Discount Ends This Thursday http://www.socialmediasummit09.com/

June 9-11 – WEBNC Women in Business: National Conference and Business Fair - San Francisco, CA  http://tinyurl.com/cgwhu4

Power You Dream: NAWBO Women’s Business Conference 2009 ~ Women’s Business Conference 2009 offers a unique platform for women entrepreneurs to power their businesses. From awe-inspiring general sessions to value-added concurrent breakout sessions- some of the country’s top business experts and renowned entrepreneurs will present keen insight and timely perspective on how women business owners can sustain, grow, and expand their enterprises by recognizing and seizing opportunities in today’s challenging business environment. June 24 – June 26, 2009 www.nawbo.org

Green Business Event ~ second annual Green Business Event will invite an elite business panel to address questions regarding the local Green Movement. The Los Angeles Business Journal invites you to join us as we investigate ways in which companies of all sizes can intelligently respond to the call for sustainable business practices. Luncheon & Networking, 500+ attendees.
July 7 Los Angeles, CA www.labusinessjournal.com

WEBINARS ON DEMAND:

Expanding Your Web Presence in 2009 ~ Business is booming. In the past two years Online sales have increased more than 40%. Isn’t it time to maximize your online presence in 2009?
Learn search engine optimization tips and e-commerce strategies to help increase your sales, how to build a loyal customer base with email marketing and more…  http://tinyurl.com/pyauj3

Disaster Preparation and Planning for Small Business ~ Disasters can strike at any time. What’s your recovery plan in place? Did you know that 70% of small businesses that suffer a major data loss will go out of business within a year. Arm yourself with the information you need so you won’t be another statistic.
http://tinyurl.com/on5z7b

Finding Success in Today’s Economy ~ Learn business tips and information for “Finding Success in Today’s Economy”. Entrepreneurs and small to mid-sized companies who wants to achieve business success during tough economic times, can learn how to establish good business practices, develop sales and marketing strategies, identify new business opportunities and more ~ http://tinyurl.com/qakubn
 
Put Your Business to Work…For You ~ free online seminar. In one hour, learn how to increase productivity and make smart use of technology to grow your small business.
http://tinyurl.com/qcqycb

MISCELLANEOUS SMALL BUSINESS RESOURCES:

Nominate a Top Small Business for the 2009 Top 200 So. FLA Small Business Awards http://www.businessleader.com/SouthFlorida-Top100

Check out the SBTV Events Calendar for a list of Small Business Events around the USA ~ http://www.sbtv.com/calendar/default.aspx

Help a Reporter Out (HARO) ~ Find out who’s looking for whom to interview at www.helpareporter.com

Grow a Million Dollar Business Audio Program ~ 17 interviews with experts on topics that add to your bottom line at www.growamilliondollarbusiness.com

WECAI Domains ~ Register Your new domains here: www.WECAIDomains.com

Tips Booklets are better than brochures and people hold on to them! Create Tips Booklets to Promote Your Small Business ~ http://www.tipsbooklets.com/

GRAB Annie Jennings FREE Publicity CD at http://www.anniejenningspr.com/experts.htm

Want great publicity tips for your small business? Check out Joan Stewart’s Publicity Hound Newsletter ~ www.publicityhound.com
 
Influence and Social Networking sites ~ Places to find other Small Business Owners Online:

The Small Business Buzz (@sbbuzz) community on Twitter convenes two hours every Tuesday starting at 8 p.m. EST

LinkedIn ~  www.LinkedIn.com

Sta.rtUp.Biz ~ The Small Business Social Network at: http://sta.rtup.biz

Perfect Networker ~ www.perfectnetworker.com 

Check out the social networking directory Ning http://Ning.com for niche social networking sites

Manage Your Messages on Dozens of Social Networking Services at Once with Ping.fm  http://tinyurl.com/ov95ml

Read yesterday’s post 100+ Tips to Manage Your Small Business http://tinyurl.com/q928l6

Be sure to read today’s Women in Business Interviews on the WE Magazine for Women Blog ~ www.WEMagazineforWomen.com

Feel free to suggest similar resources in the comments section.

“The stronger your niche, the more successful you will be.”  Heidi Richards Mooney

You’ve probably heard it before, but it bares repeating. If you don’t have a niche for the product or service you offer, it will be much more difficult to gain momentum and be successful.  Especially for the long term.  In fact, when you build your name in a particular niche, it is much easier to start building a business in a lateral market. 

When first starting in business, many small business owners think they can and should market to anyone they can find.  But that is like throwing money from the rooftop running to the ground and trying to catch it. Most of it will be blown away by the time you get to the bottom. And if you hit the bottom, it is much more difficult to climb back up. Most experts would agree that when you try to be all things to all people, you dilute the value of your product or service and become in essence, nothing to everybody. 

So just how do you find that niche?

To find your niche, you must first ask yourself a few questions. And answer them honestly. What do you like to do? What are you good at? What can you make money doing?

I could offer virtual events such teleseminars and webinars to women and bring together top notch experts in a variety of fields to teach women how they too could make money ~ The result: The Women’s Success Series.

I could create a system for women who wanted to know more about doing business online ~ The result: The Women’s eCommerce Association, International.

I could write more articles and information products on topics I have an expertise in or sufficient knowledge of ~ The result: BLOGS!  Lots of Blogs!

I could coach others on how to market their businesses and take it to the next level ~ The result: Redhead Marketing.

So I defined and found markets to capitalize on my strengths and what I love to do. But the big question still remains. How to make money at all this???

And that’s where I’ve been stuck. Oh sure, I have made a little money with the virtual events, but really not enough to warrant the time and effort required to properly package, produce and promote the events.

We sell advertising in our magazine so we do receive revenue from that, and membership in the Women’s eCommerce Association varies from the Free Basic member to the Global Lifetime Member.  Even though we have lots of great benefits for each of our levels, most people choose the basic level. 

Blogs ~ that’s where I spend a lot of my time and effort and it has started to pay off. We have affiliate links, google adwords and also promote our other products and services via our blogs. 

The big challenge is tying it all together and creating a steady stream of income.

So now I am reevaluating everything I do. In fact, I am doing it right here before your eyes because as the thought comes to me, I am processing it and sharing it with you.

Oh, and did I mention I run a retail flower shop?  Have for 27+ years. This was once our “cash machine” and earned me a nice living, paid my children’s way through school, helped me afford a nice home, car and more.  And the economy has changed. So guess what? I have to change with it.  We are currently looking at all our operations with a magnifying glass and determining where to “cut the fat,” reduce expenses and begin to focus on our high-profit low energy products and services.  That’s where the niche comes in. You see, in my business, I have always been more of a generalist than a specialist. It worked for many years when the economy was strong, but in an uncertain economy, tightening your niche is even more important. We have begun to do just that by defining what market can afford our services. Since flowers are not a necessity, we know that most lower income people will choose food over flowers most days.  But the rich!  That’s another story. The rich are getting richer. The luxury market is wide open right now. But you have to have something they WANT. Not need. They take care of their needs, but their wants are different. They want what others cannot necessarily afford. Things that stir their passions and bring a smile to their faces.

The magazine is rather easy because we have a team of people who write for us. So I spend roughly 4 hours a week on that project and about 30 hours the 3 weeks prior to production. I do have an assistant publisher who puts the magazine together which is another 15 hours

I go to my shop every day, just to have a place to hang out. Once a week my office manager and I get together for an hour or so and create a plan for our next marketing idea.  We like quick to implement, marketing plans that produce almost immediate results. You can read about  those ideas on Redhead Marketing Blog. I also answer phones, wait on customers and even occasionally design floral arrangments.  Another hour +.  (Except during peak times when I might spend 30 hours that week working almost entirely on the floral business.

I spend at least 4 hours a day connecting with the leaders and members of WECAI, answering questions, promoting our events and writing our bi-weekly ezine.  Some of that time is also spent communicating with other women I have met online and introducing them to WECAI, asking if I can interview them or seeing how we can help them make more money on the WEB. Part of those 4 hours is also spent on social networking sites like my RYZE network, Facebook, LinkedIn and more.

And I go to at least two networking/social events a week (another 4-8 hours).  This week I am speaking at the Commonwealth Institute, meeting a good friend about a potential radio partnership and a member of WECAI to discuss Teambuilding and Leadership Training in Corporations.  My job will be to decide which ones I want to invest my time and energy pursuing.

If I add this all up, it’s close to 60 hours a week. You gotta love what you do, if you are going to spend that much time doing it!

Are you like me? Do you have your fingers in several places and wondering how to make money at them all? I guess I’ve been lucky because I have been at most of these for long enough to make them work for me.  And I spent a lot of time at the beginning focusing on each one separately in order to do them well now.  What you need to know about me is that once I have “mastered” something, I tend to look for another project to focus my energy.  For most people this will not work well in the long run.  Trust me, I know.

So that’s when I decided it was time to look at just where the money is in all this (my niche) and answer the questions “Where should I scratch?”

Here are some steps you can take to define, produce and promote to YOUR NICHE.

Make a list of 10 to 5o things you enjoy doing, you are good at, special skills you have and things you would like to learn more about.

Rank that list in terms of which ones you’d be most passionate about pursuing and would make enough money to sustain your interest.

Then look at it from the consumer’s perspective. Is there an area or market on the list that is underserved or demand is high? If so, that is the place to begin.  Because you will generate the income you need to pursue other areas once you “own that market.” 

Make sure you have some knowledge in the area you want to pursue, experience if possible and also that there is demand in the area.  For instance, if you were an event planner, you could specialize in yacht parties.  This would quickly help you build a name for yourself among other event planners and in your target market.  If you don’t know enough about the yachting industry, start finding events being help on yachts, contact the event coordinators and offer your help to market the event if its open to the public as well as volunteer the day of.  Check out a local marine industry association, or yacht club and see if there is a way to offer your services.  There are many ways to “get inside an industry.” It just takes a little imagination, passion and confidence.  Oh and chutzpah never hurts either.

Define your marketing message or USP. What makes you stand out among other professionals doing what you do or want to do. In my consulting business we focus on “helping small businesses bloom.” The USP is the promise of what you can deliver.

And you absolutely must have a website or web presence. If you sell a product, you would likely need a website with shopping cart software, if you sell information, you might be able to get by with a blog. Or a combination of the two which is what I do.  I know several great webmasters who would be willing to help in this area. And it won’t cost you an arm and a leg to get online.  Feel free to email me and I will send you some recommendations.

And finally, grab a copy of this FREE eBook: “Internet Marketing Success: Your Step by Step Guide to Make Money Online.”  I paid for this book to see how they deliver the system and there is some great information and good links to resources inside. And once I bought it, the pitch was I could resell it or give it away. I chose to share it!  Grab your copy today!  It is my gift to you.

Remember that niche marketing is the key to developing a sustainable business, one where you are standing out among the competition. You will see the investment of your time, talent and treasure will payoff in BIG WAYS.

Stay tuned for part two of my Niche Story.  I am working on a system I can replicate and share with you.