What is #SmallBizChat? Whether accidental entrepreneur (choosing to start a business after a layoff) or working a part-time side hustle business, Americans are seeing a silver lining by looking for opportunities to follow dreams of starting their own business. Still, many risk their family’s financial future on half-baked business ideas with no plan. Melinda Emerson, SmallBizLady believes that now is a great time to start a small business with proper planning. Understanding that entrepreneurship can be a dream come true, but there are no get-rich-quick schemes, Emerson coaches those who really want to live the American Dream through her weekly Twitter talk show #Smallbizchat, which is dedicated to ending small business failure.
Emerson launched #Smallbizchat, in April of 2009, as a peer-to-peer mentoring program to help early stage entrepreneurs get answers to their small business questions. “Everybody has good ideas, but people get in trouble with the business of running a business,” says Emerson.
How does #Smallbizchat work? Every Wednesday, Twitter users use the hashtag #Smallbizchat to follow and participate in the live interviews Emerson conducts with noted small business experts from 8-9pm ET. The expert guests type answers to questions using their Twitter accounts and hundreds of entrepreneurs join in to learn from Emerson and the guest, plus share what’s going on in their small businesses. Expert guests have included best-selling authors and small business experts Michael Gerber, Anita Campbell, Alan Weiss, David Allen and Peter Shankman.
More About #SmallBizChat: @Smallbizchat hosted by Melinda Emerson, @SmallBizLady, is an online community for small business owners whose reach exceeds 1.5 million readers weekly. Committed to creating and sustaining a supportive network where all business owners can find answers and inspiration in their business endeavors. Melinda Emerson is regarded as one of America’s #1 Small Business Experts, with a fast-growing online brand providing resources for emerging and existing small business owners. Emerson’s corporate clients include Pitney Bowes Deluxe, FedEx, American Family Insurance, Walmart.com and Xerox. Emerson is a Pittsburgh native who now resides in suburban Philadelphia, PA; she is a graduate of Virginia Tech.
Information on the topic and each week’s guest can be found by following @SmallBizChat and @SmallBizLady on Twitter.
A complete Q&A interview is posted every Thursday morning on Melinda’s blog http://www.succeedasyourownboss.com
For information on how to participate in #smallbizchat, click here.
