The StartUp Blog at PartnerUp

We are exactly one week away from Black Friday, the official kick-off to the holiday shopping season!

While I adamantly refuse to participate in the sport (Yes, Black Friday is a sport, and a contact sport at that. It requires training, endurance, skill and strategy. May the best shopper win!), I thought it might be fun if a few PartnerUp team members shared some of their classic Black Friday stories with all of you.

Coffee Anyone?
Last year I went bright and early with people from my church. But instead of getting in on the extreme shopping action, we sold coffee to all the bitter cold (and crazy if you ask me) consumers who had been standing in line for hours. It was quite the fundraiser!
– Mindy, Executive Assistant

I Saw It First!
I remember being at Best Buy one year and there was a really good sale on a certain digital camera. I’m guessing there was only one left in the store because right there in the aisle were two women shouting over this camera while two employees tried to mediate the situation to the best of their ability. I stood there in awe with a crowd of others just watching the fight.
– Brian, Director of Community

People Everywhere
I had never done the Black Friday thing before, but last year I decided to give it a try. As I neared the mall at 5:00 a.m., I remember wondering what I had gotten myself into. I was shocked when I parked my car and saw a line of people that stretched on for what seemed to be miles. It was definitely an experience I won’t soon forget.
– Alyssa, Graphic Designer

E-commerce Only
With the invention of the Internet, I don’t understand why anyone gets up at the crack of dawn, stands in line in the freezing cold and then claws their way through crowds of shoppers. I definitely shop on Black Friday because of the deals, but I do it online in my pajamas from the comfort of my own home.
– Riaz, Director of IT

If any of you have a great Black Friday story you’d like to share, just leave a comment below. We’d love to hear it!

Have a great weekend!

Normally we try to provide you with useful, relevant small business content, but today we’ll be bending the rules a little. It’s Halloween (although not officially until tomorrow), and we’d rather show off our sweet pumpkins!

Earlier this week the PartnerUp office spent the afternoon celebrating Halloween by eating sugary treats, carving pumpkins and listening to “The Monster Mash.”

If at all possible, take some time to have a little fun with your employees today. You could dress up in costumes, carve some pumpkins, or bring in some treats. If nothing else, celebrating can be great team building.

Happy Halloween! Have a great weekend!

Today’s post is No. 300. It was approximately 22 months ago that we introduced you all to The StartUp Blog. Then again, there were probably only about two people who actually read our first post when it first hit the Web. Thanks mom and dad! Luckily we’ve greatly expanded our audience since then.

In early June 2008, when I officially took over as the lead writer, it was hard to imagine being able to provide fresh topics each and every day. I think this is also a concern that many small business owners have as they contemplate starting a company blog. They’re afraid they won’t be able to keep up with it. I’ll be honest; some days it comes easy and some days it doesn’t. The key, however, is remaining committed.

If you’re going to start a company blog, you have to realize that commitment is what’s going to get you through those days when you’re either too busy to write something or you’ve come down with a serious case of writer’s block. As someone who has been blogging consistently for more than a year now, that’s the best advice I can give new bloggers—stick with it! It really is worth it.

As for the future of the StartUp Blog, it will only get better from here. Maybe when we hit our 500th post, I’ll buy all of our RSS subscribers a new car. “You get a new car! And you get a new car! And you get a new car…” (In case you’re wondering, I stole that line from Oprah.)

Anyway, keep reading and keep commenting. We love how passionate our audience is and can only hope to keep growing in this direction as we move forward.

Oh, and if you ever have any topics you want us to write about, just let us know.  We are happy to do the research and provide you with more helpful information whenever we can.  Your business success is our business success.

Have a great weekend!

Social Media Breakfast this morning was wildly successful. For starters, we had perfect weather–not a cloud in the sky. Pair that with some awesome food cooked over a blazing HOT grill by myself and a few Deluxe execs. What made it so great, however, was the record-breaking turnout of more than 300 social media enthusiasts.  Oh, and the cherry on top—we had a jumbotron! Seriously!

Anyway, there’s nothing I can say that will do this amazing event justice (more like I’m too tired from cooking about 800 eggs), so we’ve posted a ton of pictures on PartnerUp for you all to check out.

Have a great weekend!

Back in October PartnerUp hosted the Twin Cities’ Social Media Breakfast (SMB), which was a huge success. In fact, we had the largest turnout in SMB history worldwide.

That, however, isn’t good enough for us anymore. So we’re attempting to break our own record. Actually, that’s not true. We’re looking to blow our old record completely out of the water by doubling the number of attendees. We’re also heating up some grills and moving the breakfast and festivities outside. Yours truly will be attempting to cook bacon and eggs for hundreds of people—“attempting” being the key word here.

This month the breakfast will be focused on social media’s role in advertising. We’re excited because it’s a topic that hasn’t been covered before at SMB. Our first guest speaker is Tim Brunelle. Tim will be speaking on the impact of social media on the advertising and marketing industry. Our second speaker, Steve Borsch, will give a presentation titled “Personal/Professional Hubs: A place to aggregate your digital life.” Both speakers should be great. Can’t wait to hear what they have to say.

Well, I’m off to fire up a couple industrial-sized grills. Stay tuned for an update on the big event!

Yesterday marked day one of the U.S. Small Business Administration’s 46th annual National Small Business Week. To help the SBA celebrate National Small Business Week, we’re going to focus this week’s blog posts on those men and women who are working hard to drive economic growth in this country—the small business owners themselves.

Kauffman Foundation recently released a study indicating that small business creation actually grew in 2008, despite the dire economic climate. What the Kauffman Index of Entrepreneurial Activity pointed out, however, is that much of this activity is coming from new demographics of entrepreneurs. Groups like women and older Americans are making a huge impact, while immigrants seem to be making the biggest splash.

This week we’re going to take a closer look at the new faces of small business by highlighting different demographics and the unique challenges they face in their small businesses. Stay tuned to get the full scoop.

Happy National Small Business Week!

Today marks day one of Entrepreneurship Week 2009. And although we’re living in some tough times economically, the entrepreneurial spirit is alive and well and we’re going to celebrate it.

Right now innovation is what’s needed to help get our economy back on its feet, and we need entrepreneurs to drive that innovation. Without entrepreneurs out there to start new businesses and create new jobs, our economy would suffer far greater than any of us might imagine.

So this week’s posts will be dedicated to helping and encouraging these leaders in innovation. We’ll deal with everything from financing and startup costs to deciding if entrepreneurship is for you and starting a business after you’ve been laid off from work.

Stay posted all week long!

Happy Entrepreneurship Week!

Entrepreneurship Week 2009 kicks off next Monday, running Feb. 23-27. Because much of the content of the StartUp Blog is centered on entrepreneurship and much of our readership is comprised of entrepreneurs, I thought it only appropriate to spend the entirety of next week focusing our attention on the needs, pains and concerns of this innovative group of people.

What are entrepreneurs most worried about? What affects them most? How can the StartUp Blog encourage and help entrepreneurs? These are just a few ideas I’ve had floating around in my head, but to really drill down into what’s on the minds of entrepreneurs, I’d like to go straight to the source…you guys!

What are some important issues or subjects you’d like to see covered during Entrepreneurship Week? Are there hot topics, debates, hardships, etc. that you’ve been wanting to learn more about or hear other people’s opinions on? If so, let me know by commenting on this post or emailing me at: startupblog-at-partnerup-dot-com. I’m excited about hearing your thoughts and bringing you some great stuff to read!