Blog

This post first appeared in the Alexandria Times on July 14, 2016. Entrepreneurship doesn’t flourish by happenstance. Hotbeds of innovation – like Silicon Valley, Austin, and Boulder – seem to have found the mix of characteristics and attractions that lure the country’s most innovative entrepreneurs. While those examples are known as tech hubs, they have… Read more »

The Alexandria SBDC is experiencing something this week that many small businesses see throughout their lifespan – the departure of a valuable member of the team. While technically an employee of our host organization, the Alexandria Economic Development Partnership, Amy Shields has worked with the SBDC for several years to initiate new programs, spearhead our… Read more »

The Alexandria SBDC held a seminar this week about business development in Federal Contracting, presented by John Boulware. The full PowerPoint presentation used during the seminar is available, but it is helpful to review his summary points about what to do, and what not to do, when trying to set up meetings and build relationships with… Read more »

Ray Sidney-Smith presented a workshop about how to use LinkedIn for small business. Here are some takeaways and important points to consider when using LinkedIn as a small business owner. LinkedIn is the largest professional social networking platform today. They also happen to now be owned by Microsoft. As a Small Business Owner, you may think… Read more »

This is the second post in a two-part series. To read Part One, click here. Last week, we talked about how to incorporate social media into marketing and communications strategies. As a reminder, these strategies can be divided into six main categories: Executive Visibility Media Relations Content Marketing Events Recruitment Staff & Membership Morale Last… Read more »

This week, Alexandria SBDC staff had the opportunity to attend a conference organized by the Louisiana SBDC and America’s SBDC. The topic of focus was how SBDCs can better engage with younger entrepreneurs. One of the sessions was presented by Blair Broussard of ARPR and discussed how to incorporate social media into marketing and communications… Read more »

This post first appeared in the Alexandria Times on May 27, 2016. Frequently during an election year — at both national and local levels — we hear about the need to reduce burdens for small businesses. In many instances, this refers to the regulations and requirements to operate these businesses. Small businesses are acutely aware… Read more »

The SBA has posted an interesting blog suggesting some inexpensive marketing tips that small business can use to grow their business, particularly during the summer months. While not everything would work for all businesses, summer is a great time to “think outside the box” about how you can touch base with your favorite current customers and… Read more »

This post was written by Patricia Frame of Strategies for Human Resources, our guest author for our solopreneur blog series. Whether you are starting your own small business or building an existing one, Small Business Month is a great time to think about what you want and where you need to go. Even if you… Read more »

This post first appeared in the Alexandria Times on April 30, 2016. Across the country, the week of May 1 will be celebrated as Small Business Week, highlighting the importance of small businesses to the U.S. economy. In Alexandria, we celebrate small businesses every day because they are such an integral part of our character and… Read more »