SCL Biz: Everything Business in Sonoma County

Want to know more about the Sonoma Mountain Business Cluster? Join them for a celebration of Sonoma Mountain Business Cluster’s second anniversary as they open their doors for a public open house.

Get a tour of the Business Cluster’s spacious and well-equipped facility at Sonoma Mountain Village, talk with representatives from some of the Business Cluster’s innovative startup companies and enjoy some wine and hors d’oeuvres.

September 1, 2009 • 5:30 – 7:00pm
Sonoma Mountain Business Cluster, Suite 100, Rohnert Park

Information & RSVP Form

Brand Digital: Simple Ways Top Brands Succeed in the Digital World, by Allen P. Adamson [Palgrave Macmillan, 2008] ” (who should know the subject intimately as a senior executive for a top global advertising-marketing firm),  tackles the mysteries of the Internet universe, dubbed BrandDigital. It’s more storytelling than science, more instinctual than intellectual. Then, again, dot-com addresses offer the opportunity to dialogue with people and share insights and actions through those conversations, admittedly connecting more emotionally than logically and factually. Hear from Unilever’s Dove and its quest-for-beauty campaign, criticized for its authenticity yet still seductive in its celebration of all women, large and small. Read how long-lived icon Betty Crocker has adapted to the net and what Lego realized in its e-transactions?that grown-ups love the creation process, too. The tales alone, divided into six truths and six building blocks, could easily mesmerize readers; the addition of rules and guidelines at the end of each ‘building blocks’ chapter provides readers both structure and tangible actions to help embrace all things Web.” Booklist, August 2008

The County of Sonoma has a comprehensive webpage describing “how funding from the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 (ARRA) is impacting the County of Sonoma.” There is information about both formula and competitive grant funding in different areas (e.g, Transportation, Employment Services, Housing & Community Development, Public Safety, etc.). Details of how the money is being allocated include the Community Impacts for each area, down to the “wearing surface seal coating on approximately 60 miles of arterial & collector highways.”

Economic Recovery | County of Sonoma

“Fox (Internet Riches), an e-business success coach (who lists Bill O’Reilly and Larry King among his client list), offers a beginner’s guide to harnessing the Internet to help grow business. He presents succinct advice on how to attract customers online, arguing that marketing is no longer a series of one-way blasts at consumers but a two-way communications system, and that an increasingly personal approach is expected from online business; he urges marketers not to waste energy trying to get customers to their own Web sites, but to get online and find customers where they are already hanging out.

He explains the best ways to utilize e-mail lists and newsletters, RSS feeds, online viral marketing, social networking (Facebook, LinkedIn), microblogging (Twitter), online video and radio/podcasts, tele-seminars and webinars, search engine keyword advertising and affiliate program advertising. Interviews with specialists and real-life examples round out the lessons. The book is aimed at absolute newbies, so while experienced Internet users may find this too basic, it will be a godsend to those who are intimidated by the digital revolution.” PW, April 2009

E-Riches 2.0: Next-Generation Marketing Strategies for Making Millions Online, by Scott Fox [Amacom, 2009]

The Library has many books to help you decide what business to start and information on starting a specific kind of business. Here is just a sample of what is available:

SCL Biz recently posted about Reuters Small Business News site – they also have a raft of Green Business resources, including articles on green business technology, building, energy, innovation & design, investing, corporate responsibility, and SCL Biz’s favorite: Green Gadgets.

Reuters Green Business News

The Essential Guide to Business Etiquette, by Lillian Hunt Chaney and Jeanette St. Clair Martin [Praeger 2007]. “This is a practical guide for business etiquette for almost every situation. The 14 chapters include everything from job-interview etiquette to office politics to business entertaining and sports etiquette, giving the reader a professional edge for every situation from cocktail parties to conventions. A chapter on global manners will help avoid common faux pas committed while traveling abroad. A useful resource not only for the new professional but for managers.” Copyright 2008 Booklist Reviews

The Library has more titles to help you with business etiquette at home and abroad.

Presented by the Small Business Development Center at SRJC, this 3-part series provides small business start-up information to people who have developed a business concept and have initiated the planning process to start their business. Upon finishing all 3 modules, you may begin working individually with a Business Advisor.

• Module I- Planning & Legal Structure
• Module II-Marketing & Financing
• Module III-Business Plan

August 18, 19, and 20, 2009 • 6:00 9:00pm
SBDC, 421 Tenth Street, Santa Rosa

Information and Reservations or call 1-888-346-SBDC

“This one-of-a-kind book includes fifteen entirely new chapters on such vital twenty-first-century topics as green businesses, easy online advertising and marketing, technology and mobility, and e-commerce. More comprehensive than ever, yet as easy to read and understand as always it is everything you need to turn your entrepreneurial dream into a profitable reality. Find a gold mine of cutting-edge business-building strategies and advice on virtually every topic important to today’s small business owner, including: Developing your idea and writing a winning business plan Buying a great business or franchise Hassle-free hiring, rewarding, and firing of employees Creating a powerful, memorable small business brand Understanding insurance and legalese Thriving in a global economy Designing a killer Web site Marketing, advertising, and growing your business made easy Building a great home-based business Operating and growing on a shoestring budget”

The Small Business Bible: Everything You Need to Know to Succeed in Your Small Business, by Steven D. Strauss [John Wiley, 2008] is also available as a sound recording on CD.

The recent economic downturn has had a profound impact on traditional bank, angel and venture capital financing. Funding for start-up and fast-growth companies is approaching near historic lows. Competition for private financing has never been more intense. However as Guy Kawasaki, of Garage Technology Ventures states, “Good business models always get funded regardless of the economy.”

Presented by Paul Bozzo, this installment of the Small Business Development Center at SRJC Business Essentials Series, at the Sonoma Mountain Business Cluster, is your chance to find out what banks, angel investors and venture capitalists are looking for in a company to say ‘yes’ to a funding request today. Learn how to position your business to succeed in securing funding despite the restricted capital environment. Investment capital is the fuel of entrepreneurial ventures and you will leave this event armed with the strategic information necessary to turn your business vision into a reality.

August 14, 2009 • 12:00 – 1:30pm
The Sonoma Mountain Business Cluster, 1300 Valley House Lane, Conference Room B

Information & Reservations

Designed for Business Owners, Key Managers, Entrepreneurs, Business Advisors and others whose decisions have an impact on your company’s financial performance, this workshop from the  Small Business Development Center at SRJC , presented by Steve LeFever, Founder and Chairman of Business Resource Services will cover, in great detail:

• Profit Planning & Cash Flow Analysis
• Planning & Managing Long Term Growth
• Dealing With Banks

August 13, 2009 • 7:30am – 5:00pm
Santa Rosa Junior College, Petaluma Campus, Richard W. Call Building, Room 656
680 Sonoma Mountain Parkway, Petaluma

Information & Reservations

From the Redwood Empire Small Business Development Center, this is the premier entrepreneurial training program in the United States: “An intensive 12-session training program designed to encourage business expansion and growth. The course focuses on teaching the art of better business practices while producing a comprehensive business plan to guide business expansion decisions and activities.”

There is a free orientation class (recommended, but not required):
August 12, 2009 • 6:00 pm – 7:00 pm

The course:
12 consecutive Wednesday night sessions, August 19 through November 4, 6:00pm-9:00pm

Redwood Empire SBDC Conference Room
421 Tenth Street, Santa Rosa, CA 95401
1-888-346-SBDC

Orientation & Class Reservations

“Learn to develop your invention, product, idea or service and get it to market. Research and protection of intellectual property, including patents, trademarks and copyrights.”

Presented by Small Business Development Center at SRJC Instructor, Steve Schneider.

The workshop is on August 12, 2009 • 9:00am – Noon.

Participants MUST ATTEND Success Through Invention Workshop Prior to Attending Product Development for Inventors. The workshop is on August 26, 2009 • 9:00am – Noon.

Small Business Development Center
606 Healdsburg Avenue, Santa Rosa

Information and Reservations or call 1-888-346-SBDC

The prestigious Reuters News Service is offering news and articles for small businesses on their Small Business News site. There is also a FindLaw Small Business Resources Center with a series of questions and answers on the basics of starting a business, naming it, business plans, financing, buying an existing business, incorporating, employment law, insurance, and more.

“First, he will explain the main concepts and the terminology of bookkeeping for a small business: what a balance sheet contains, the difference between cash and accrual basis, income statement (also called profit-loss), cash flow, and how these different aspects of recording and controlling your money interact.

In the second part, we will set up the chart of accounts for a fictitious small business in front of your very eyes: which information you need to get started, how to pay bills, how to enter accounts payable and receivable, and how to know whether you are making money or just moving monies around. ”

This is a HANDS-ON session, limited to 12 attendees.

August 8, 2009 • 8:30am – 12:30pm
3535 Industrial Avenue, (upstairs) in Santa Rosa

Information and registration