Today in the Denver Business Journal was an article about the Colorado Procurement Handbook. Attorney Richard Pennington along with others has created the Colorado Procurement Handbook. The book was created in an attempt to make it easier for Colorado small businesses to put together a high quality bids for Colorado state contracts. The handbook is pricey at $160, but if it can give your Denver small business a leg up in the competition for stimulus dollars that have filtered down to the state level, it may very well be worth it.

From his bio page on the McKenna, Long, and Aldridge website, it is obvious that Mr. Pennington has extensive experience with Colorado State procurement. He is the former director of the Division of Finance and Procurement for the Colorado Department of Personnel and Administration. He has also sreved as the Colorado State Purchasing Director - at which time is office maintained Colorado's Bid Information and Distribution System.

The book was obviously put together by someone who knows Colorado's procurement processes inside and out.

How Does this Help Me Market My Denver Small Business?

If your Denver small business currently bids on Colorado state - or potentially even Colorado City and Colorado County contracts, $160 is probably a good investment. If the book delivers as promised, you'll gain valuable insight into the procurement process to ensure that you know the best way to put together your proposal.

This past week, I received an unsolicited e-mail from a company in Florida. They asked me if I had a newsletter and provided links to their newsletter services.

I did a little bit of company research. Turns out that they are what appears to be a legitimate company that provides newsletter services.

There were, however, two major issues with this company (which I explain in depth in a minute):

1) They were spamming me

and

2) How can I trust a newsletter provider that spams people?

They Were Spamming Me

The Can Spam Act covers all commercial messages - "any electronic mail message the primary purpose of which is the commercial advertisement or promotion of a commercial product or service". You must have somehow already established a relationship with the party that you are emailing. They need to have explicity opted in to receive your message.

I had no relationship with this EMail Marketing company. They likely found my company email from a Better Business Bureau or Chamber of Commerce list.

If you don't comply with the CAN-SPAM Act, it can result in fines and even imprisonment. While fines and imprisonment are probably unlikely, if you send out enough unsolicited email, people that don't want your email will report you as a spammer. Once identified as a spammer by the various mail providers, even your non-solicitation email my not make it through spam filters. Just think of how difficult it would be to conduct daily business operations without reliable email.

How Can I Trust a Newsletter Provider That Spams People?

Denver EMail Marketing can be a very effective tool for small businesses. It is in some cases the most effective marketing tool for small businesses. It allows a company to keep in the forefront of a customer's mind and encourages repeat business when done properly.

But Your Message Must Get Through

I do run e-mail newsletter campaigns for clients. One of the key considerations in running a Denver EMail Marketing campaign is to choose a trusted EMail marketing provider. When you send out your email newsletter, it needs to get through to the people who signed up for the newsletter. You don't want your e-mail newsletter being trapped by spam filters or deposited into junk or bulk mail where your intended clients will never receive it.

By this newsletter company e-mailing me (and I'm assuming many others) with unsolicited spam, they are being identified as spammers. This is greatly reducing the chances of their e-mail newsletters getting through. Their company (and their servers) are likely to be identified by the various mail services (gmail, aol, hotmail, etc.) as spammers. If you sign up with them, it greatly reduces the chances that your emails will make their way to your intended subscribers.

Looking for a Good Email Newsletter Company?

The following companies have a good reputation in the industry and with Email providers. Using one of these companies for your EMail Marketing will greatly increase the chances of your newsletter reaching your subscribers:

• Constant Contact
• Emma
• Mail Chimp
• AWeber

The list above isn't an exhaustive list - but do your research. There are good EMail Marketing providers as well as bad ones. Make sure you sign up with a respected company.

Note that EMail Marketing goes well beyond just getting your message through. You must also have a great design and relevant message. But that's for another blog post.

How Does this Help Me Market My Denver Small Business?

Don't send out unsolicited e-mails. I have received - and continue to receive - unsolicited e-mails from Chambers of Commerce and BBB members who don't know the rules. They are at risk of damaging their businesses.

If you're a member of the BBB or a Chamber of Commerce or any sort of professional networking group - don't send out solicitation emails to members of the list. It may seem like a harmless thing to do. But I guarantee you that there are members on that list that don't want your email and will identify it as spam. This will ruin your reputation with the various mail services and you'll be identified as a spammer. The result could be your e-mails not getting through to any one - even your regular (non-solicitation) emails.

For local businesses looking to get a bit more exposure, I encourage you to check out Groupon.com. This site was brought to my attention by John Jantsch over at the Duct Tape Marketing Blog. His blog post - "Groupon train is worth a small business ride" is worth checking out. I'll cover specifically how Denver small businesses can and are benefitting from using groupon.com in this blog post.

Groupon.com for Denver Small Business Owners Generates a Lot of Buzz for Little Effort

Revolutionary Marketing Concept

Groupon is an amazing concept - it is one that effectively incentivizes your customers to do your marketing for you. As a small business owner, you sign up with Groupon.com - the service works like this:

• Your Deal is featured in the Denver section of Groupon.com
• There is only one deal featured each day
• The deal that you offer is only available if a certain number of people actually sign up for and accept the deal (say 200)
• The fact that a certain number of people must participate for a deal to become valid encourages people who are interested in the deal to tell all of their friends and social media contacts to get them to sign up
• The result is customers spreading the word about your business for you

For more information on how to sign up as a Denver small business owner, check out this link. Groupon.com technically costs Denver small business owners nothing. Groupon.com gets a portion of the proceeds from the people who pay to sign up for the deal that you're offering. Of course you must honor the deal that has been offered, but it is truly a fantastic way to generate buzz about your business.

It appears that Groupon definitely works best for restaurants, coffee shops, and night clubs - but it isn't limited to those businesses.

Recent Denver Area Businesses to use Groupon include:

• Tuana Hair Design (hair salon)
• Melt Skincare Products
• Pizza Republica
• The Counter (Burgers)
• Denver Botanic Gardens
• Keystone Ski Resort
• Comedy Works
• Autawash Car Wash
• Maggie Moos (Ice Cream)

How Does this Help Me Market My Denver Small Business?

If you're a Denver small business - especially a restaurant owner, you MUST explore Groupon.com. If you're in a position to offer deep discounts for people to visit your establishment in the hopes for repeat business, then Groupon.com may be for you. It appears to be a great way to generate buzz about your business with very little effort (other than honoring the deals you've offered). The staff at Groupon.com will actually guide you through the process to help come up with a deal that will work best for your Denver small business.

I would think that these groupon.com deals would work best with a demographic in the 18-30 age range. Social media is the key to Groupon.com - where people can instantly broadcast your offer to all of their friends.

The Denver Post today reported that the South Metro Chamber of Commerce joined with many other Chamber of Commerce organizations to oppose the creation of a Consumer Financial Protection Agency. With healthcare reform being the hot topic of 2009, this Consumer Financial Protection Agency has largely slipped under the radear.

Overviews of the Consumer Financial Protection Agency were provided in The Wall Street Journal as well as the LA Times. Here are some of the highlights of the proposed Consumer Financial Protection Agency:

• The Agency will over see all aspects of finance, including mortgages, loans, debt collection, and even financial advisory services (to name a few areas)
• The Agency will act on behalf of consumers and protect them from abuse
• The Agency will attempt to make it easier for consumers to make informed decisions
• The Agency will have the power to fine violators
• In general, banks and republicans are against the formation of the Consumer Financial Protection Agency while Democrats are attempting to move forward with the legislation

The Agency was proposed in an attempt to avert another financial crisis like the one that is still being endured.

How Does this Help Me Market My Denver Small Business?

While this information may not help you directly market your small business, most businesses will want to keep a close eye on whether or not this legislation is passed and the Consumer Financial Protection Agency is created. While I expect that the impact will reach well beyond the financial sector - if your business is operating in the financial sector (mortgage, banking, financial advisor, financial services) you will be greatly impacted by the creation of this Agency. The method in which you are able to market your small business as well as contracts that you maintain with your customers will undergo major changes.

Recently, Google made it possible to add a message to your Local Business Center Listing. The message can be up to 160 characters or less and will appear on your Local Business listing. The message will stay up for 30 days - after which it will no longer appear. Here's how it works.

Go into your Local Business Listing Dashboard off to the right (as shown below) - you'll see an area that says "Post to your place page". You'll enter the text that you'd like to appear on your listing and press the post button.

As you can see below, your message will appear on your local business listing. It appears midway through the listing and is denoted with a message icon right next to it.

How Does this Help Me Market My Denver Small Business?

For Denver small business owners, this feature is a relatively minor addition, but it can provide a slight advantage when compared to other similar listings. Visitors to your local Denver listing can see that you're keeping your local listing updated. You can also communicate special offers to clients through the message.

Before expending too much time on making sure this listing is kept up to date frequently, I'd be sure to check out your Dashboard in the Local Business Center. Take a look at the "Impressions" line graph along the left hand side of the dashboard. If you're getting a lot of impressions, and especially a lot of actions, it may be worth your while to post to your place page. Also, while Google doesn't specifically mention it, it probably couldn't hurt from a Google algorithm standpoint to keep your listing current.