April 6th is the final day to enter this contest, which is open to women only....

If you're a woman who's said the following;

"I want to be the boss."

Or

"I've always wanted to run my own business."

Or

"I'd make a great small business owner!'

Check out what you could win by reading this post over at Fox Business.com.

If you're a woman who's been thinking about becoming the owner of a franchise business this year, read on.

 
Here’s your chance to get expert help from several experts in the field of small business.

Free!

#OWOF is the hashtag for this contest.

It's called, One Woman. One Franchise.

Read the official Press Release for details... 

If you're a woman who's been thinking about becoming the owner of a franchise business this year, read on.

 
Here’s your chance to get expert help from several experts in the field of small business.

Free!

#OWOF is the hashtag for this contest.

It's called, One Woman. One Franchise.

Read the official Press Release for details...

This is kind of cool. 

______________________________________________________

I've been on Twitter almost since it came upon the scene. It's my most-used tool for social media marketing purposes. 

One of the best things about Twitter, is that I've been able to engage with some really smart people---and then meet them in-person. 

Twitter has also helped other entrepreneurs a lot. And, some of them have created cool add-ons and such for Twitter. 

I just stumbled upon this one, and was thrilled to learn that I was ranked #2 on the topic of Entrepreneurship.

And, #1 in Franchises.

I have no idea if that alone will help me meet other cool people, or get me on CNN, tomorrow... 

Take a look; Twitperts.com 

And please follow me on Twitter- @FranchiseKing

You probably know that my recently published book on becoming the owner of a franchise business was just nominated for a a spot in the Top Small Business books of 2012.

I'd love you to vote for my book, Become a Franchise Owner! I'd love to be one of the Top 10 selected in this business book contest.

Hurry up- only a week or so left! 

____________________________________________________

I just found out that I was also nominated for being, "The Most Infuential Male in Small Business."

A big thanks to Tom Gazaway from Hawkeye Management for that nomination.

Your vote is most welcome.

Thanks! 

1. Use your own glasses, utensils, and plates to cut down on waste.

2. Set out a separate bin for recyclables.

3. For beer drinkers, use a pony keg to cut down on can or bottle use. (And drink organic beer!)

4. Email your invitations instead of using snail mail.

5. Decorate using stuff around the house, or use decorations that can be easily recycled.

6. Serve organic, preferably locally-sourced snacks.

7. Put cooking scraps in the compost. If you used a caterer, take uneaten food to a local food bank.

8. If you're using a grill, use all-natural briquettes made of renewable materials.

9. If you haven't replaced your bulbs yet, use the party as an excuse to save energy on lighting.

10. Share this list with your friends, so they can have a green party, too!

Courtesy of my friend, Barry Benjamin. Here's his Green blog.

Check out the Green Franchise Directory

My aging Blackberry is going to get replaced in a couple of months. With what? No idea.

My daughter has an iPhone; it's her generation's hottest product. Lots of her friends have them, or are about to get them.

I was considering getting one...but, I'm just not an Apple guy. As quirky as some of the Microsoft products are-it's what I'm used to working with...I'm comfortable with Microsoft products. Windows 7 rocks.

There's another reason why Apple is not the way I'm leaning;

They manufacture their phones in China. Now, I don't have anything against the people of China. But, I have a huge issue with Apple having it's factories located there...and they're not too pretty, from what I hear.

Read This!

"But, Joel, if we start making iPhones in the US, we'll have to raise the prices a lot. Will you pay $750 for a cell phone?"

I think that Apple needs to step up and start making some of their phones here.

I'm not going to feel bad for them if they make a few billion dollars less a year for doing so. 

Who knows, maybe some other companies will follow suit.

That could change things. It would sure change some of the politics here.

This is pretty cool;

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

"Become a Franchise Owner!" Nominated For 2012 Small Business Book Award

Cleveland, OH, January 12, 2012 - "Become a Franchise Owner!" has been nominated for a 2012 Small Business Book Award in the category of Startup.

The Small Business Book Awards recognize business books that were published in 2011. Small business owners often seek advice and information through books. While there are many thousands of books published each year, it's those of interest to small businesses and entrepreneurs that the Small Business Book Awards seek to honor.

"With so many books being published each year, we wanted to recognize those that made a difference to small business owners and managers and startup entrepreneurs," said Ivana Taylor, Book Editor at Small Business Trends, which produces the Awards. "Our annual Small Business Book Awards are a way to highlight the books that entrepreneurs are reading and learning from."

The Awards are an honor to the authors who write books for the small business and entrepreneurial community. Says Anita Campbell, CEO of Small Business Trends, "For many of the authors, writing a book is a labor of love. Often they get up early in the morning before the rest of the family awakes, and they devote their evenings, weekends, holidays and vacations to writing. They deserve recognition."

About the Small Business Book Awards

The Small Business Book Awards, now in its fourth year, enable the small business community to nominate, show their support for, and vote on their favorite business books. The top 10 winners will be selected by readers based on number of votes as the Best Small Business Books of 2012, while the top five vote-getters in each category become Category Winners. Voting commences February 1, 2012. In last year's Awards, over 41,000 votes were cast by the community.

The Small Business Book Awards initiative is produced by Small Business Trends, an award-winning online publication, which along with its sister sites, serves over 4,000,000 small business owners, stakeholders and entrepreneurs annually.

CONTACT:

Small Business Trends
admin@smallbiztrends.com
Twitter hashtag: #BizBookAwards

Wiley Publishing's Peter Knox was nice enough to take this picture inside a Brooklyn, New York Barnes and Noble.

If you look closely, you'll see my recently published book in red;

                                   Become a Franchise Owner!

The Start-Up Guide to Lowering Risk, Making Money, and Owning What You Do.

Thanks, Peter! 

Book Information

Are you trying to get your franchise concept in front of the right people, so you can award new franchises?

If you’re currently using pay per lead, print, and/or online marketing, you’re probably getting some results. But, I know that you want more.

In today’s noisy world, with our attention spans becoming shorter and shorter, (mainly because of the technology that’s supposed to be giving us more time to do the stuff we want to do-but it’s not) it’s become a lot more challenging to stand out.

Unless you know exactly where your buyers are hanging out.

If you want to sell new franchises, the way to go is narrow. Your focus needs to be really narrow. No longer is it about volume. For example, does it really make sense to get in front of 1,000,000 people, if most of them don't care about what you're trying to sell them?

Or, would you rather get in front of a smaller, but super-targeted group of people that do want what you have?

Today’s prospective franchise owners are on the hunt. But, they’re not hunting around for your franchise opportunity; they’re hunting for information.

And they only want it from sources that they consider to be trustworthy. (Like the kind they'll get from reading a hardcover book.)  

*************************************************************************************

I’m not one to sugar-coat things, so here goes;

Thousands of people that are looking to own their own businesses are going to be buying my new book.

This one;                           

                           Become a Franchise Owner!

The Start-Up Guide to Lowering Risk, Making Money, and Owning What You Do

Published by Wiley Publishing, with a release date of December 5^th, this book is already receiving critical acclaim from the limited number of people that have had a sneak preview;

“Joel’s no-nonsense attitude and refreshing honesty comes through in droves in this outstanding book. Prospective franchisees will find the Franchise King’s approach very effective, highly educational and entertaining. This book is a must read for anyone thinking about buying a franchise.”

- Rob Goggins, Vice President of Franchise Development, Great Clips, Inc.

“Many failures in franchising result from the misperception that every franchise is a magic carpet to success, and that franchises never fail. The truth is that there are good franchises, there are bad franchises, and there are grab-your-checkbook-and-run franchises.  Prospective franchisees need a knowledgeable, trustworthy advisor and a solid gameplan. Joel Libava is that advisor and this book provides a roadmap for franchise success.”

– Sean Kelly, IdeaFarm

I’ve created a website especially for this franchise book, and it’s already showing up in the top results of all the major search engines, after only a few short months. (And, I’m looking for a few great sponsors.)

A lot of PR is going to be generated, especially with the number of people that are currently unemployed in this country who are looking at other options. There will be book reviews populating Amazon.com, and other similar online commerce websites. A sizeable number of highly influential small business writers and bloggers will also be posting reviews of the book in the coming months.

In addition, I have a powerful network of extremely loyal supporters that combined, have millions of followers on Twitter, Facebook, Google+, and LinkedIn.

“Joel Libava goes beyond what's necessary. He gives you the heart of the matter, and guides you in what to do with that information. Get this franchise book and grow!” - Chris Brogan

“I've covered the world of franchising for a very long time and it's rare to meet anyone with as much knowledge of and passion about it as Joel Libava. Joel is beholden to no one, and he's one of the most honest voices in the industry.” 

- Rieva Lesonsky, CEO, President & Founder, GrowBiz Media

Here’s the bottom line;

I’ve been a trusted resource for prospective franchise owners for years, and my book is going to reach thousands of franchise buyers.

A lot of these buyers will find my book online; the site- www.becomeafranchiseowner.biz is ready for all of them. (Except for today, Nov. 1st, 2011. My web host is having server issues. Thousands of websites are being affected. ) 

I’m looking for a few great sponsors.

Here’s what you’ll get as a sponsor for the franchise book website;

1. A rotating tile ad on the blog area of the website for 12 months

2. A special page created just for you, with search-engine friendly content and a link to your franchise website. This will be a permanent page!

3. An opportunity to get in front of thousands of serious franchise buyers

PS- I’m only offering a few spots; I want to keep the site clean and crisp. I’m not going to plaster it with lots of ads.

If you’d like to learn more, call me at 216-831-2610, or email thefranchiseking@sbcglobal.net