Customer Feedback

Getting customer feedback is an important part of running a business.  But where to start??  Caron Beesley, of the Small Business Administration, has a few suggestions for the best way to get feedback in her post, "Going Beyond the Transaction – 5 Tips for Getting Customer Feedback Online."  She includes reasons to use social networking tools, online surveys and online polls.  Carol Tice, of Entrepreneur Magazine, builds on Ms. Beesley's suggestions, and adds a few of her own, in "Seven Simple Tips to Get Honest Customer Feedback." 

You may also pick up some tips from books on consumer satisfaction that we have here at the library.  Three to try:  Users, Not Customers, by Aaron Shapiro, c2011; Satisfied Customers Tell Three Friends, Angry Customers Tell 3,000, by Pete Blackshaw, c2008; and Satisfaction, by Chris Denove, c2006

Women in Business

If you are a woman in business, either on your own or as a corporate player, here are some books that will interest you:

Birthing the Elephant: The Woman's Go-for-it! Guide to Overcoming the Big Challenges of Launching A Business, Abarbanel, Karin.

Goes beyond logistics to prepare women for the emotional challenges they will face, with expert advice on reshaping one's business identity, giving up the paycheck mentality, anticipating problems, and avoiding costly mistakes.

Break Your Own Rules: How to Change the Patterns of Thinking That Block Women's Paths to Power, Flynn, Jill.

Reveals what it really takes for any woman to succeed at the highest levels This hands-on guide is for women who are ready to transform their assumptions and join the senior ranks of American business.

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Crain's Small Business Week

Crain's Chicago Business has designated October 3-7, 2011 as Small Business Week.  Dozens of events are taking place, primarily in downtown Chicago.  Events still to come this week include Alternative Financing, Managing Cash Flow, and City Treasurer's Office Small Business Expo.  Check it out!

Small Business workshops by Jewish Vocation Service--Chicago

BUSINESS WORKSHOPS


August 1, 2, 3 and 4

Core 4® Small Business Planning Boot Camp:This 10-hour business planning course will give you the information and skills that you need in the four “CORE” elements of planning and sustaining a business: Plan for business success; Plan your business to meet the needs of the market place; Plan for your business cash flow needs; and Plan how your business will operate. JVS Chicago, 216 W. Jackson, Suite 700, Chicago. Cost $50 which includes all 4 sessions, textbook and a Certificate of Completion. 3:30p.m.- 6:00p.m. To RSVP call: Kim Valente (312) 673-3429 or email sbdcdumancenter@jvschicago.org.

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New titles at Evanston Public Library

Check out these new titles to jumpstart the creative process where you work:

Brainsteering: A Better Approach to Breakthrough Ideas, by Kevin Coyne, c2011. (650.1 Coyne.K)  The concept underlying "brainsteering" is to encourage users to focus, to look into an idea deeply rather than ricocheting around it, brainstorming-style. 

Disciplined Dreaming: A Proven System to Drive Breakthrough Creativity, by Josh Linkner, c2011.  (650.1 Linkn.J)  A 5-part process that will transform your organization or your career into a non-stop creativity juggernaut.  It shows even the stuffiest corporate bureaucracies how to cultivate creativity in order to become more competitive in today's shifting marketplace.

Tell to Win: Connect, Persuade, and Triumph with the Hidden Power of Story, by Peter Guber, c2011. (658.45 Grube.P)  "Former chairman of Sony Pictures and current CEO of Mandalay Entertainment Group, Guber illustrates how powerful storytelling-about yourself or your product-can be the ultimate tool to get the meeting, engage the listener, and close the deal." (PW)

Ten Steps Ahead: What Separates Successful Business Visionaries from the Rest of Us, by Erik Calonius, c2011. (658.409 Calon.E)  Drawing on recent insights from neuroscience about the roles that intuition, emotional intelligence, and courage can play, Calonius reveals what makes visionaries tick and how they develop and use their extraordinary powers.

Invest Evanston to provide low-interest loans

Lending for Evanston and Northwestern Development, (LEND), is a non-profit student group at Northwestern University that is applying the principles of microfinance to help alleviate poverty within the Evanston community. On Monday, they launched a campaign, Invest Evanston, which will allow the group to use those same principles to finance entrepreneurs in the Evanston community. Donations from Northwestern students will be used to fund these low-interest loans for small business owners.  In the next two weeks, Invest Evanston hopes to raise at least $5,000, according to co-founder Sahil Mehta, a McCormick junior.  The full story can be found in North by Northwestern.  LEND is part of the Kellog Venture Community, 2169 Campus Drive Evanston IL 60201-2927; Phone: 866.867.3820, Email: info@kelloggventurecommunity.com

BizyDeal offers local small businesses great deals

Now that Groupon has become a household name, it's time for a "hot deals" website that targets Chicago area small businesses.  That website is Bizydeal.com, which launced on March 28.  The owners are planning to showcase “provocative” deals to drive attention to BizyDeal over its first two weeks (Ford Motor Co. offered a discount for its Transit Connect light van on opening day), and then will eventually settle into more traditional offerings like online payroll and janitorial services.

Find great deals for your business, and find out how your small business can offer great deals on Bizydeal.com.

Doing Business with the City of Evanston

The City of Evanston invites Evanston businesses to attend a seminar on how to do business with the city on Thursday, April 28, 2011 from 6-9 p.m. at the Lorraine H. Morton Civic Center, 2100 Ridge Ave. 

This is a great opportunity for local businesses to see what other larger-scale and smaller purchase opportunities there are available with the city. Don't miss out on this opportunity on learning how to do business with the City of Evanston

SCORE Chicago

SCORE Chicago, the local chapter of America's Counselors to Small Business, has made a series of videos available for the benefit of small business owners.  Check them out now, and find tips on business planning, naming your business, marketing your company, managing your social networking tools, and  much more.