UPS Announces $25,000 SMB Contest

Nothing attracts small business owners like a chance to win money and gain recognition from the corporate establishment.

That is why UPS has announced it's third annual Best "Out-of-the-Box" Small Business Contest - and this year the company is going international.

UPS is looking for the "the most innovative small businesses" with 2006 revenues between $250,000 and $10 million. The top prize is $25,000 in cash, an IBM small business package and promotion in UPS's international publicity campaign.

Along with the financial reward comes the all important instant credibility that the winning company can use to land new customers and gain additional media exposure.

Contestants need to fill out a form and submit a 500 word essay at the contest website. It is a fairly cheap price tag for UPS to pay considering the exposure they will be getting as a result.

Kudos to UPS - what is your company doing to attract SMB attention?

AT&T Launches Small Business Website

It is time to add AT&T to the list of Fortune companies creating a website to target small business owners. On Monday the company launched http://www.att.com/OnwardSmallBiz as a resource for entrepreneurs and to promote AT&T solutions.

Some of the content includes:

• A daily feed of small business news, including streaming video segments from SBTV.com - Small Business Television.
• Free instructional Web-based seminars and training courses hosted by experts.
• Tips on starting, managing and relocating a small business from a variety of experts and sources.
• Helpful information developed specifically for women and minority business owners.
• Money-saving promotional offers from leading brands serving small business needs, including UPS, Pitney Bowes, Lenovo and CareerBuilder.com.
• The ability to submit questions and to receive one-on-one advice from SCORE - Counselors to America's Small Business.
• Information on AT&T products and services, money-saving bundles and special offers for small business are also available on the portal. For example, Current features include the new AT&T Unity(SM) calling plans for small business that allow unlimited wireline and wireless calling to AT&T and Cingular, now AT&T, customers across the nation.
• Easy access to AT&T's online support, e-bill and account management services, including the AT&T Account Manager and AT&T BusinessDirect(R) portals, which allow customers to manage their accounts, view and pay bills online, and even order additional services online.
  

The site itself looks unfinished. The main graphic is very confusing with a lot of text coming across the picture. The rest of the page layout has minimal content and useless polls like "How internet savvy are you?" While I cannot see too many entrepreneurs taking immediate advantage of this new site it is a step in the right direction for AT&T and if they keep at it they might have something on their hands.