How Are You Spending Your 2013 Marketing Budget?

166150527With all the marketing options available (and affordable) for small businesses, you may feel like you’re spending your marketing budget in all the wrong places. Did you forget content marketing? What about videos? Take a look at these great marketing ideas from this Journalistics blog and then make an appointment with your SCORE OC mentor to see what strategies are right for your business.

Women Business Owners Optimistic About 2013

More women will become business owners (WBOs) in 2013 than in past years according to a new survey of WBOs conducted by Web.com Group, Inc. and the National Association of Women Business Owners (NAWBO). The national survey found a pervasive sense of economic optimism, with the surveyed WBOs also planning on investing more and hiring more this year than they did in 2012.

The State of Women-Owned Businesses survey  also found that the large majority of WBOs were also optimistic about their business’ overall performance for the year ahead. Challenges for WBOs included the need to reach new customers, the state of the economy, health insurance cost and affordability, business tax issues and access to a quality workforce.

Check out the infographic from Web.com for more survey details.

women owned biz infographic

Doing Business With Uncle Sam Just Got Easier

144871099Good news for women business owners looking to land contracts from the government. Last year, women-owned small businesses secured about $16.4 billion in federal contracts and due to the 2013 National Defense Authorization Act the government now has authority to set aside even more contracts for women. The previous cap of $6.5 million for manufacturing contracts and $4 million for all other contracts has been rescinded. Find out more.