July Café: Grantwriting for Business (yes, you heard that right) and Nonprofits

Grants for business?

Grants for businesses from the government do exist, but they are very limited in scope. The Small Business Innovative Research (SBIR) and the Small Business Technology Transfer (STTR) programs will be discussed at our July Café.

Grants for the nonprofit community will also be covered, including how to use library resources to find funders and write the best proposal possible.

Speaker Sandra DiCosola is the owner of Summit Contract Management LLC located in Tucson, Arizona. The company is dedicated to helping inventors, entrepreneurs and small businesses work with local and federal government agencies. The Summit Team specializes in assisting companies prepare proposals under the SBIR and STTR programs as well as Broad Agency Announcements.

Also participating in the discussion will be Kassy Rodeheaver, the Grants & Nonprofit Info Center Librarian for the Pima County Public Library. Prior to working at the library, she worked at University of Arizona Foundation in their Foundation Development office researching, writing, and editing grant proposals to private grantmakers.

How We Innovate, a Presentation by Aaron Eden

Aaron Eden, Innovation Coach

At the May Café, innovation coach Aaron Eden talked to us about how Intuit is building innovation and entrepreneurial thinking into their workplace, and using creative brainstorming techniques to explore solutions.

He led us through an exercise where we interviewed a partner about a product: ladders. We had a couple minutes to ask lots of "why" questions about their most recent experience using a ladder.

Next? Go broad. Think of as many ideas as you can, independently from your interviewee. Aaron handed us fat markers and post-it notes and we scribbled ideas about how to improve ladders -- some crazy, some not.

Then you sort, from most useful to least useful and sketch out the concept using his simple form:

This is a very simplified version of the process. We learned a lot about how to listen to the problem, then capture the broadest set of ideas possible, and then narrow by different criteria.

If you want to know more, Aaron shared his "How We Innovate" presentation with us.

The next Café will cover Grantwriting for Businesses (yes, businesses), and Nonprofits.

The Latest on Social Media

What's the latest buzz on social media for businesses, freelancers and nonprofits? Here are some articles I've bookmarked in the last two months.

Demographics

Top 15 Most Popular Social Networking Sites | June 2014
(eBiz | MBA Guide)
Official numbers for June. Who's on top?

Facebook Still Reigns Supreme Among Young Adults
(Mashable, by Andrea Romano)
Up-to-date stats for those who want to reach teens.

Issues & Opinions

Facebook Is Throttling Nonprofits and Activists
(ValleyWag, B. Traven)
An op-ed on the implications of Facebook's projected move to 99% paid posts.

6 Key Shifts in Thinking About Social Media
(Entrepreneur Magazine, Donna Moritz)
Is blogging coming back? What about Google+? Here is an expert's look at what's coming down the pike.

For Beginners

50 Expert Tips for Getting Started on Social Media
(Ryan Pinkham, Constant Contact)
What experts want beginners to know.

5 Ways to Establish Your Voice on Facebook
(Jesse Aaron, Social Media Examiner)
Is "being human" online harder that it sounds? This may help.

Pinterest Reveals The Most Popular Categories On Each Day Of The Week
(Search Engine Journal, by Matt Southern)
If you've been considering having themed posts on different days of the week, this might give you some ideas.

6 Steps to Build a Social Listening Dashboard
(Marcela De Vivo, Social Media Examiner)
Even if you decide not to maintain an account, It is important to establish listening posts to discover how people are talking about your business (or your competition!)

The Best Free Stock Image Resources on the Web
(Courtney Seiter, TNW)
So images are super-important these days, what if you're not a great photographer? Where can you find images on a budget?

Advanced Help

Twitter Launches An Interactive Guide To Help Small Businesses Reach Their Goals
(Matt Southern, Search Engine Journal)
A new, official guide to business uses of Twitter.

60 Awesome Social-Media Tools for Entrepreneurs
(Jeff Haden, Inc. Magazine)
Are you ready to begin using a management tool for your accounts?

Essential Social Media Design & Sizing Cheatsheet
(Salman Aslam, Omnicore)
Help sizing images for a BUNCH of social media platforms.


Four nifty ways to display and curate Twitter
(Joyce Valenza, School Library Journal)
One advantage of Twitter is how reusable your posts are. Take a look!

Twitter Photo Tips: The Ultimate Guide For Social Marketers in 2014
(Laura Roeder, LKR Social Media)
Twitter is more visual now! Here are some basics about the new best practices.

6 Ways to Get More Pinterest Followers
(Zoe Waldron, Social Media Examiner)
Make your Pinterest presence stronger.