CELEBRATING SMALL BUSINESS · By the late 1980s, women owned half of all U.S. businesses. Today, there are more than 8.3 million women-owned businesses in the U.S. generating nearly

CELEBRATING SMALL BUSINESSA salute to Small Business Week and to half a century of tenacity, growth, and people who embody the country’s entrepreneurial spirit.

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50 FACTS ABOUT SMALL BUSINESS

“For centuries, America’s progress has been driven by pioneers who think big, take risks, and work hard. Where their ideas take root, we find inventions that can change the way we live. And when their businesses take off, they fuel an engine of economic growth and job creation that moves America forward. During National Small Business Week, we celebrate the generations of entrepreneurs who have given their all to realize a dream, and we renew our promise to help their businesses grow, hire, and succeed.”

Barack Obama, President of the United States

ACKNOWLEDGING OUR NATION’S ECONOMIC ENGINESince 1963, the U.S. Small Business Administration’s National Small Business Week has been a celebration of the innovation, talent, dedication, tenacity, and vision that drives small business in the U.S. Today, U.S. small business numbers total roughly 28 million and make up 99.7% of U.S. employer firms. They generate 64% of net new private-sector jobs and roughly half of all private-sector employment.

Worldwide, U.S. opportunity and the fertile ground it offers small businesses is recognized as part of the American dream. On this 50th anniversary of Small Business Week, YP salutes the country’s entrepreneurial enterprises and their many contributions and successes, as well as their importance in our everyday lives. For decades, we have dedicated our company to helping small businesses thrive through effective marketing. From reaching local markets to building online presences which take advantage of the global economy, we’ve been a partner to countless small businesses as they made their collective mark on the world.

Here, in honor of this auspicious anniversary, we explore 50 surprising, informative, historic, and forward-thinking facts about the steam engine of our nation’s economy.

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A HISTORY OF SUCCESSU.S. small businesses have played an important part in history. Many of the country’s largest companies started out as small businesses. Their resilience, tenacity, and creativity have been underpinnings of U.S. economic growth.

1 In 1784, Thomas Jefferson argued against calls for increased manufacturing and exports with praise for self-sufficient farmers and small businesses, giving rise to one of his most famous quotations: “Dependance [sic] begets subservience and venality, suffocates the germ of virtue, and prepares fit tools for the designs of ambition.”

2 Francis Wyland Ayer, an ambitious young schoolteacher with a yearning to be his own boss, borrowed $250 from his father in 1869 to launch N.W. Ayer & Son, the nation’s first advertising agency. Today, it is part of the prestigious Publicis Kaplan Thaler group, which has developed some of the world’s leading brands.

3 The first yellow page directory was published in 1886, allowing telephone company customers to find local businesses. Even as more customers migrate online, a 2012 report from research firm CRM Associates found the typical local display ad delivers $10 of sales and $3.50 of profit for every dollar businesses spend, making the ads an important tool for small business marketers.

4 In 1887, the U.S. Congress passed the Interstate Commerce Act to regulate railroads, partly to protect smaller businesses from what was deemed a natural monopoly.

5 On August 28, 1922, New York radio station WEAF ran the first paid radio commercial. A company representative from Long Island, NY Hawthorne Court Apartments gave a 10-minute pitch about the community, which cost the company $50. Since then, radio has been an effective source of promotion for small businesses, especially in reaching targeted geographic areas.

6 Bill Hewlett and Dave Packard were Stanford University students when they founded Hewlett-Packard (now HP) in a Palo Alto, Calif. garage in 1939. Their first product was an audio oscillator, an electronic test instrument used by sound engineers. One of their first customers was Walt Disney Studios, which purchased eight oscillators for the movie Fantasia.

7 Recognizing the importance of small business to the U.S. economy in July 1953, Congress created the Small Business Administration to “aid, counsel, assist and protect, insofar as is possible, the interests of small business concerns.” Within a year, the SBA was making direct loans and guaranteeing bank loans to small businesses.

8 The world’s oldest operating McDonald’s restaurant was the third to open its Downey, California. doors in 1953. Its red and white décor and golden arches became a model for the iconic company brand, which is now part of more than 34,000 restaurants worldwide.

9 In 1958, the top U.S. income tax rate was 52% for corporations and 91% for individuals. Traditional C corporation dividends, paid to a high-income shareholder, subject to both corporate and individual tax, faced an effective tax rate of 96%. That year, President Dwight Eisenhower and Congress worked together to add the subchapter S form of corporation to the tax code, which specifically benefitted small businesses by offering liability protection and a single layer of taxation.

John SampleJohn Sample



10 Franchises and retail chains grew in prominence during the 1960s. Wal-Mart, Target and Kmart all debuted in the early 1960s—each evolving from small businesses that were launched decades earlier.

11 Anne Beiler hoped to provide free counseling services to families and couples in her community when she began making and selling her pretzels at local Pennsylvania farmer’s markets in 1988. People began talking about her pretzel perfection and her business quickly expanded. By 1991, the company had 90 locations in 12 states and had served 4 million pretzels. The company’s franchise model has helped hundreds of people become business owners, and there are now 1200 Auntie Anne’s locations worldwide.

12 Scientist Tim Berners-Lee wrote a proposal in 1989 for the World Wide Web, a user-friendly interface for the Internet. This interface became the foundation of the Internet we know today and opened new doors to competition and global access for small businesses.

13 By the late 1980s, women owned half of all U.S. businesses. Today, there are more than 8.3 million women-owned businesses in the U.S. generating nearly $1.3 trillion in revenue. Between 1997 and 2012, the overall number of businesses in the U.S. increased by 37%, but women-owned firms increased by 54%.

14 The 1990s saw an emphasis on helping small business gain access to more federal procurement dollars. The Federal Acquisition Streamlining Act increased the value of contracts available to SMBs. In addition, the Small Business Reauthorization Act of 1997 increased the percentage of federal contracts to be awarded to small businesses to 23%. This led federal agencies to meet the legislative goal for procurement from small businesses from fiscal years 1993 to 1999.

AN ECONOMIC FORCE TODAY

15 The latest Census data indicates there are 27.9 million small businesses in the U.S. Small firms accounted for 64% of the net new jobs created between 1993 and 2011 (or 11.8 million of the 18.5 million net new jobs). Since the latest recession, from mid-2009 to 2011, small firms, led by the larger ones in the category (20-499 employees), accounted for 67% of the net new jobs.

16 Small businesses are trusted. A June 2012 Gallup poll found that 66% of respondents trust small businesses a “great deal” (30%) or “quite a lot” (33%). Only the military was trusted more (75% total). Churches ranked fourth (44%), just below police (56%).

17 Thriftiness is an important quality to small business marketers. Respondents to a Visa Business cardholder survey were mostly increasing their advertising spend in 2012, a figure that is up 7.4% from 2011.

18 Who are these small business marketers? 64% of company owners handle promotion on their own, according to a 2012 Web.com study.

19 It’s no wonder small business owners prefer a do-it-yourself approach. According to the 2012 Constant Contact Small Business Pulse Survey, when asked what keeps them up at night, 76% said how to attract new customers, while 49% said how to connect with and better engage with existing customers.

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20 Small business owners might be losing sleep over customer attraction, but they’re still optimistic. A November 2012 Bank of America Small Business Owner Report found that more than half of entrepreneurs expect their revenue to grow in 2013 and 31% expect to hire more employees.

21 Local factors are critical to many small businesses. 63% of Bank of America Small Business Owner Report survey respondents said that most of their business comes from their local communities. The local economy plays a “significant role” in 75% of respondents’ businesses.

22 In-person and online events continue to play an important part in how small businesses interact with their customers. Constant Contact found that the difference today is that the impact is no longer just what happens on-site or during the course of the event. With mobile and social media influence, the impact now lasts even after the event is over. 81% of small business planners are increasing mobile and social tools in their event planning.

23 SMBs also remain committed to traditional local advertising media such as newspaper, radio and broadcast and cable television, according to a 2011 Ad-ology Research report. In 2012, the firm found each of these mediums was receiving more small business advertising dollars. The death of newspaper has been exaggerated—Warren Buffett has been buying up papers for the past year.

24 But small businesses are increasingly digitally savvy, too. Research firm BIA/Kelsey found they’re also spending on online presence—roughly 29% of marketing budget–embracing everything from web sites to social media. Another survey by AWeber Communications found 68.1% built more money into their marketing budgets this year, with an emphasis on digital communications.

25 Two of the top three most effective marketing methods for small businesses are digitally driven. Email tops the list with 83% reporting it’s their most effective marketing medium, according to Constant Contact’s Small Business Pulse 2012 report. 71% said web sites are effective and 68% said in-person interactions like networking and trade shows work well for them.

26 Starting this year, small businesses may have interesting new branding opportunities for their web sites. Between 300 and 1,000 new generic top level domains (gTLDs) will hit the market, according a report by tech blog Mashable and information from the Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers (ICANN). Soon, small businesses could be looking up web sites with extensions like .finance, .flowers, and even .dog. A recent survey by domain marketplace Sedo.com found that nearly two-thirds of business owners are unaware of gTLDs.

27 Regardless of the extension, every good webmaster knows search rankings are critical, making search engine optimization (SEO) essential for any small business web site. 75% of users do not click past the first 10 search results.

28 SMB owners are particularly affected by local search. 40% of tablet and smart phone owners conduct local searches daily to find information, products, and services. Small businesses are making strides to be there with increased digital presence, but they also need to make sure the data published about them is correct. A recent survey by Constant Contact’s SinglePlatform found that half of small businesses never update their listings web sites, directories or apps, even though half have seen incorrect information published about their businesses.




29 What’s actually driving customers to those local businesses? A 2011 survey by the Local Search Association found a mixed bag with search engines and print and online yellow pages at the top of the heap. 66% of respondents had used search engines in the last month – the most of any source – to find local businesses while 52% said they used print or Internet Yellow Pages. Next, in order of popularity, were store circulars, email promotions and coupons (50%); newspapers (32%); social media (25%); and magazines (15%). At least 79% of consumers reported consulting yellow pages at least once a year.

30 With search engines so important to their marketing, savvy entrepreneurs are working hard to keep up with SEO changes. Google dominates search, with 67% of the search market. Bing and Yahoo round out the balance with approximately 16% and 12% of search share. Google’s updates, with the endearing names Penguin and Panda, produced less-than-endearing drops in search results for many businesses. 80% of Internet users research products and services online before purchasing, and 71% of them purchase products and services online.

31 For small businesses that are mastering SEO, there’s good news: Users prefer “organic” search results, that is, the findings that appear in the search findings as opposed to the ads, by margins that depend on ad placement. One User Centric study that tracked users eyes while searching on Google and Bing found that 100% of them looked at the organic search results. The percentage that looked at the sponsored ads was high, ranging from 90% for both Google and Bing’s top-placed sponsored ads, but the amount was far lower for sponsored ads on the right-hand column: 42% on Bing and 25% on Google.

32 Still, small businesses have a need for more integrated marketing practices. They overwhelmingly stick with tools they know—a 2012 Pitney Bowes report found respondents using email (46%), telephone (22%), and direct mail (11%) most. But March 2012 findings released by Vertical Response, a self-service marketing platform for small businesses, indicated that email open rates increased an average of 28% when small and mid-sized businesses integrated social media.

33 Email is widely used by small businesses because of its effectiveness, affordability, and ease of use. But many small businesses have room for improvement here. Pitney Bowes found that 73% of small businesses don’t track metrics like open and click-through rates. Only 10% measured conversion to sale.

34 Small business email lists are also small. 86% of respondents have fewer than 1,000 subscribers, and more than half have an email list of less than 100 subscribers. Only 4% had more than 5,000 subscribers.

35 Social media adoption is growing, but only 17% are using tools like Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, Pinterest, Instagram and others as a channel to conduct business. Still, there are those who are doing it effectively. A case study published by marketing software company HubSpot found that, after 20-employee Milwaukee, Wisconsin. restaurant A.J. Bombers began using social media like Twitter and FourSquare to communicate with his customers, hold contests, and keep the public apprised of the restaurant’s events, revenues grew by roughly 60%. Owner Joe Sorge attributes to rise in revenue to the use of social media.




36 But small business marketers know what works for them. 77% of business-to-consumer SMBs have acquired a customer through Facebook, compared to 60% from a company blog, according to HubSpot. Business-to-business SMB marketers found LinkedIn most effective, delivering new customers to 65% of respondents, followed by company blogs (60%), Facebook (43%), and Twitter (40%). Frequency of blogging makes a difference—92% of respondents who blogged daily got new customers through their blogs.

37 When using marketplaces to sell online, small business owners have strong opinions about who’s supporting small business. A 2012 survey by online small business community Manta found Facebook is most supportive of SMBs, according to respondents, while eBay, Amazon, Groupon and Etsy got lower marks.

38 Some SMBs using online video are enjoying the results, too. White Plains, NY-based package design firm Little Big Brands created a short video about the company and blasted it everywhere via YouTube, email, blogs, and the firm’s web site—it’s even in the signature line of firm employees’ email. Within 45 days of the video going live in January 2013, the firm had 14 meetings with new companies, including a couple of large consumer products companies. This landed four new projects immediately and a pipeline full of prospects.

39 SMBs are benefitting from mobile marketing. 84% that use it see an increase in new business activity, according to Web.com.

40 When it comes to mobile marketing, local relevance and offers are the key to conversions, finds mobile advertising network Telmetrics. As many as 73% of mobile users looked for a phone number and subsequently contacted that business. Depending on the category, up to 84% looked up the location or mapped directions via mobile devices That convergence is called LoMo. (Add a social component and it’s called SoLoMo.)

41 Daily deal offers promised to drive big business to SMBs. But more entrepreneurs are taking charge of the deal terms after bad experiences left them losing money, according to Constant Contact. A study by Rice University found that fewer than half of SMBs reported a successful first-time daily deal promotion. But, as they do more such promotions, they quickly learn what works and make adjustments to their offers.

42 Automation is also important to SMBs, but they need help carrying it out. From adopting new technology to streamline operations to optimizing web sites, SMBs know the value of automating systems and the potential it offers for their businesses. The cost of adding automation and enhanced technology is often a barrier.

43 But they’re still moving forward. SMB payment platform PaySimple found 50% of SMBs planning to add more cloud-based technologies to their businesses. Popular SMB cloud platforms include hosted email, accounting, project management, and customer relationship management (CRM).

44 CRM is an important tool for many SMBs, allowing them to better serve customers, predict business needs, and analyze trends. Technology firm ScribeSoft found that SMBs use their CRM for managing prospect and customer contact information (94%), lead nurturing (65%), email marketing (59%), and sales forecasting (59%). 77% look to their CRM system to share information easily across departments.




A BRIGHT FUTURE FOR SMBS

45 When SMBs find what works, they use it. Content marketing is gaining steam as an important method of establishing companies as trusted resources while boosting SEO. A survey by business training firm BusinessBolts.com found that 74% of SMB respondents were using content marketing. Articles were the most popular format among SMBs (74%), while 38% of marketers are creating videos and even more (53%) plan to create videos this year. This is an area that will continue to grow for SMBs in the future.

46 More global opportunities are opening up for small businesses. The U.S. National Export Initiative was launched in 2010 with the goal of increasing U.S. exports to $3.1 trillion annually and offering particular support to SMBs. Alibaba found that 23% of SMB respondents said they would focus more attention on growing their international sales by exporting products. Key markets for potential export opportunities include the BRIC countries (Brazil, Russia, India, and China), collectively cited by 52% of respondents. The UK was the largest individual country selected by 29% of the English-speaking survey audience.

47 But SMBs are also benefitting from renewed support for local businesses. Trendwatching.com predicts that demand for locally produced products will surge in 2013. In addition, a movement to promote local small businesses has gained steam in recent years and might help them get some shut-eye. Shop local movements are a popular way to help local economies. Small Business Saturday—the first Saturday after Thanksgiving—is a national marketing campaign sponsored by American Express, encouraging people to do their holiday shopping at small businesses. In addition, the first annual Small Business Stimulus Week, created by business networking group BNI, generated nearly 4,300 referrals for participating businesses in 13 states.

48 Big data will affect small businesses. By 2020, Intuit predicts that “hypertransparency” will be the norm with price-checkers and reviews fully integrated into mobile devices. But the 30 zettabytes (each equal to streaming one year of HDTV) of data stored by 2020 is actually good news for SMBs. Intuit says it will give small business owners and marketers new insights and capabilities once only available to corporate giants. In addition, there is already a move toward using data to build community around local areas and businesses, the report says. It will also make personalized service easier to deliver.

49 Analyzing internal data will also be an SMB priority. While many business owners struggle to master the data surrounding their own businesses, more tools will help them do that, according to a report by TheNextWeb.com. Examples include startups like Profitably, which helps SMBs track the financial data in their businesses, MixPanel’s revenue analytics tool. Even Pinterest added an analytics tool to track popular content.

50 Most of all, SMBs will continue to be a force in the U.S. economy. Intuit predicts that, by 2020, we’ll see a significant shift from employee to small businesses, with an emphasis on contractors, and freelancers. 80% of large companies plan to increase their use of a flexible workforce, including contract workers. And virtually all barriers to starting a business—from startup costs to benefits to access to technology—are increasingly being eliminated.

Small businesses are ingrained in U.S. history and are a critical factor in our future. Many of the conveniences, innovations, products, and services we enjoy every day are the result of a small business owner’s ideas, creativity, and hard work. Yesterday, today, and tomorrow, small business has been, continues to be, and will be one of the great themes in the United States of America’s narrative.

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USE CONTENTMARKETING

83%40% 52%

74%CREATEVIDEOS

38%71%SAY EMAIL IS MOST EFFECTIVEMARKETING MEDIUM

USED PRINT OR ONLINE YELLOW PAGES

75%SAY THE LOCAL ECONOMY PLAYS A SIGNIFICANT ROLE IN THEIR BUSINESSES

SMALL BUSINESSES FACTSSMALL BUSINESSES ARE AN ECONOMIC FORCE According to a U.S. Small Business Administration (SBA) report, the nation’s 27.9 million small businesses make up:

OF U.S. EMPLOYER FIRMS99.7%

OF OF PRIVATE-SECTOR EMPLOYMENT49.2%

OF NET NEW PRIVATE-SECTOR JOBS64.0%

SMALL BUSINESSES AND THEIR OWNERS ARE

OPTIMISTIC

ENTREPRENEURS EXPECT REVENUE TO GROW IN

EXPECT TO HIRE MORE EMPLOYEES

201354%31%

$TRUSTED

GALLUP POLL RESPONDENTSTRUST SMALL BUSINESSES

66%THEY GET HIGHER MARKSTHAN POLICE& CHURCHES

COST-CONSCIOUS

AVERAGE ADVERTISINGSPENDS DECLINED

8.1%THEY RELY ON MORE ECONOMICALWAYS TO PROMOTE THEIR BUSINESSES

HANDS ON

SMALL BUSINESSOWNERS ARE THEIR OWNMARKETING DEPARTMENT

64%

LOCALLY FOCUSED

EMAIL USE

GLOBAL MARKETS

SOCIAL MEDIA ADOPTION

MONITORING THEIR ONLINE INFORMATION

63%SAY MOST OF THEIRBUSINESS COMESFROM THEIR LOCALCOMMUNITIES

DIGITALLY SAVVY

SEARCH-WORTHY

SMALL BUSINESS MARKETERS ARE

SMALL BUSINESS MARKETERS HAVE ROOM TO GROW

SMALL BUSINESSES HAVE A BRIGHT FUTURE

SAY WEBSITESWORK FOR THEM

66% OF PEOPLE USE SEARCHENGINES TO FINDLOCAL BUSINESSES

DON’T TRACKMETRICS LIKE OPEN AND CLICK-THROUGH RATES

73% HAVE FEWERTHAN 1,000EMAIL SUBSCRIBERS

86% MEASUREDCONVERSIONTO SALE

10%USE SOCIAL MEDIAAS A MARKETING METHOD

MORE EMAILS ARE OPENEDWHEN INTEGRATED WITHSOCIAL MEDIA

17%

NEVER UPDATETHEIR LISTINGS WEBSITES, DIRECTORIES OR APPS

49% BELIEVE THESE LISTINGS ARE IMPORTANT TO THEIR BUSINESSES

85%

28%

23%of businesses said they would focus more attention on exporting. Government initiatives are helping SMBs access overseas markets.

LOCAL SUPPORT

81%of people have a favorable view of SMBs. The “buy local” movement is strong.

NEW TECHNOLOGY

BY2020widespread access to big data will help SMBs compete with their larger counterparts and provide better customer service.

OF TABLET AND SMART PHONE OWNERS SEARCH LOCALLY DAILY

SMALL BUSINESSES ARE AN ECONOMIC FORCEi

ii

iii iv

v

vi

vii

viii

ix

x

xi

xivxii

xiii

USE CONTENTMARKETING

83%40% 52%

74%CREATEVIDEOS

38%71%SAY EMAIL IS MOST EFFECTIVEMARKETING MEDIUM

USED PRINT OR ONLINE YELLOW PAGES

75%SAY THE LOCAL ECONOMY PLAYS A SIGNIFICANT ROLE IN THEIR BUSINESSES

SMALL BUSINESSES FACTSSMALL BUSINESSES ARE AN ECONOMIC FORCE According to a U.S. Small Business Administration (SBA) report, the nation’s 27.9 million small businesses make up:

OF U.S. EMPLOYER FIRMS99.7%

OF OF PRIVATE-SECTOR EMPLOYMENT49.2%

OF NET NEW PRIVATE-SECTOR JOBS64.0%

SMALL BUSINESSES AND THEIR OWNERS ARE

OPTIMISTIC

ENTREPRENEURS EXPECT REVENUE TO GROW IN

EXPECT TO HIRE MORE EMPLOYEES

201354%31%

$TRUSTED

GALLUP POLL RESPONDENTSTRUST SMALL BUSINESSES

66%THEY GET HIGHER MARKSTHAN POLICE& CHURCHES

COST-CONSCIOUS

AVERAGE ADVERTISINGSPENDS DECLINED

8.1%THEY RELY ON MORE ECONOMICALWAYS TO PROMOTE THEIR BUSINESSES

HANDS ON

SMALL BUSINESSOWNERS ARE THEIR OWNMARKETING DEPARTMENT

64%

LOCALLY FOCUSED

EMAIL USE

GLOBAL MARKETS

SOCIAL MEDIA ADOPTION

MONITORING THEIR ONLINE INFORMATION

63%SAY MOST OF THEIRBUSINESS COMESFROM THEIR LOCALCOMMUNITIES

DIGITALLY SAVVY

SEARCH-WORTHY

SMALL BUSINESS MARKETERS ARE

SMALL BUSINESS MARKETERS HAVE ROOM TO GROW

SMALL BUSINESSES HAVE A BRIGHT FUTURE

SAY WEBSITESWORK FOR THEM

66% OF PEOPLE USE SEARCHENGINES TO FINDLOCAL BUSINESSES

DON’T TRACKMETRICS LIKE OPEN AND CLICK-THROUGH RATES

73% HAVE FEWERTHAN 1,000EMAIL SUBSCRIBERS

86% MEASUREDCONVERSIONTO SALE

10%USE SOCIAL MEDIAAS A MARKETING METHOD

MORE EMAILS ARE OPENEDWHEN INTEGRATED WITHSOCIAL MEDIA

17%

NEVER UPDATETHEIR LISTINGS WEBSITES, DIRECTORIES OR APPS

49% BELIEVE THESE LISTINGS ARE IMPORTANT TO THEIR BUSINESSES

85%

28%

23%of businesses said they would focus more attention on exporting. Government initiatives are helping SMBs access overseas markets.

LOCAL SUPPORT

81%of people have a favorable view of SMBs. The “buy local” movement is strong.

NEW TECHNOLOGY

BY2020widespread access to big data will help SMBs compete with their larger counterparts and provide better customer service.

OF TABLET AND SMART PHONE OWNERS SEARCH LOCALLY DAILY

SMALL BUSINESSES ARE AN ECONOMIC FORCEi

ii

iii iv

v

vi

vii

viii

ix

x

xi

xivxii

xiii


1. Thomas Jefferson, Notes on the State of Virginia (Richmond: J. W. Randolph, 1853). Originally written in 1781 and first published in 1784. http://www.learnnc.org/lp/editions/nchist-newnation/4478

2. AdAge Encyclopedia, http://adage.com/article/adage-encyclopedia/n-w-ayer-son-n-w-ayer-partners/98334, http://adage.com/article/agency-news/kaplan-thaler-group-merges-publicis-york/236003

3. CRM Associates, http://adp.org/sites/default/files/CRM%20Associates%20Yellow%20Pages%20Value.pdf

4. EJournal USA. “Small Business in U.S. History,” Christopher Conte, http://www.america.gov/st/business-english/2006/January/20080814215602XJyrreP0.6187664.html

5. National Public Radio http://www.npr.org/2012/08/29/160265990/first-radio-commercial-hit-airwaves-90-years-ago

6. HP web site, http://www8.hp.com/us/en/hp-information/about-hp/history/history.html

7. Small Business Administration web site, http://www.sba.gov/about-sba-services/our-history

8. City of Downey, California web site, http://www.downeyca.org/visitors/attractions/mcdonalds.asp, http://www.aboutmcdonalds.com/mcd/our_company.html

9. S-Corporation Association, http://www.s-corp.org/our-history/

10. AdAge, http://adage.com/article/75-years-of-ideas/1960s-creativity-breaking-rules/102704/

11. Auntie Anne’s web site, http://www.auntieannes.com/aboutus/CompanyHistory.aspx

12. W3C, http://www.w3.org/History.html, http://www.w3.org/People/#B

13. National Museum of American History, American Express OPEN, http://amhistory.si.edu/archives/WIB-tour/historical.pdf, http://www.openforum.com/articles/2012-american-express-open-state-of-women-owned-businesses-report/

14. Government Accountability Office, http://www.gao.gov/products/GAO-01-119

15. Small Business Administration, Bureau of Labor Statistics, and Census, http://www.sba.gov/sites/default/files/FAQ_Sept_2012.pdf

16. Gallup, http://www.gallup.com/poll/1597/confidence-institutions.aspx

17. Visa Small Business Spend Insights, Q3 2012, http://corporate.visa.com/_media/Visa_Small_Business_Spend_Insights_Q3_2012.pdf

18. Web.com, http://ir.web.com/releasedetail.cfm?releaseid=670104

19. Constant Contact, http://news.constantcontact.com/press-release/constant-contact-pulse-survey-small-businesses-experiencing-revenue-growth-2012

20. Bank of America Small Business Owner Report, http://about.bankofamerica.com/assets/pdf/Small_Business_Owner_Report_11.15.12.pdf

21. Bank of America Small Business Owner Report, http://about.bankofamerica.com/assets/pdf/Small_Business_Owner_Report_11.15.12.pdf

22. Constant Contact, http://investor.constantcontact.com/common/mobile/iphone/releasedetail.cfm?ReleaseID=731315&CompanyID=CTCT&mobileid=

23. Ad-ology Research, http://www.marketingforecast.com/archives/15132, http://www.marketingforecast.com/archives/22973

24. BIA/Kelsey Local Commerce Monitor, AWeber Communications, http://www.biakelsey.com/Company/Press%2DReleases/121102-Small-Business-Spending-on-Digital-Presence-Trending-Up.asp, http://www.aweber.com/blog/smallbiz2013

25. Constant Contact Small Business Pulse 2012, http://img.constantcontact.com/docs/pdf/Small_Business_Pulse_Preliminary_Results.pdf

26. Mashable and ICANN, http://mashable.com/2011/06/20/new-gtld-faq/, http://www.worldipreview.com/news/icann-names-gtld-launch-date

27. comScore, Pew Internet & Life Project, http://www.seomoz.org/ugc/small-business-seo-advisory-2013-resolutions, http://www.comscore.com/Products/Audience_Analytics/qSearch, http://pewinternet.org/~/media/Files/Reports/2012/PIP_Search_Engine_Use_2012.pdf

28. Constant Contact SinglePlatform, SearchEngineLand, http://searchengineland.com/study-consumers-who-own-smartphones-and-tablets-do-average-of-21-local-searches-per-week-138094, http://blog.singleplatform.com/press/ten-facts-ebook-release-jan13

29. Local Search Association 2011 Local Media Tracking Study, http://www.localsearchinsider.org/data-shows-how-consumers-find-nearby-businesses-to-buy-local/archives/

30. comScore, Pew Internet & Life Project, http://www.seomoz.org/ugc/small-business-seo-advisory-2013-resolutions, http://www.comscore.com/Products/Audience_Analytics/qSearch, http://pewinternet.org/~/media/Files/Reports/2012/PIP_Search_Engine_Use_2012.pdf

31. UserCentric, STUDY http://www.usercentric.com/news/2011/01/26/eye-tracking-bing-vs-google-second-look

32. Pitney Bowes 2012 Small Business Communications Benchmark Study; Vertical Response, http://www.verticalresponse.com/about/press/businesses-that-use-email-marketing-and-social-media-achieve-higher-email-open-rates, http://www.pbsmartessentials.com/small-business-marketing-survey-2012/

33. Pitney Bowes 2012 Small Business Communications Benchmark Study, http://www.pbsmartessentials.com/small-business-marketing-survey-2012/

34. Pitney Bowes 2012 Small Business Communications Benchmark Study, http://www.pbsmartessentials.com/small-business-marketing-survey-2012/

35. HubSpot Generating Small Business Customers with Social Media Marketing, http://www.hubspot.com/Portals/53/docs/ebooks/small%20business%20social%20media.pdf

36. HubSpot, http://blog.hubspot.com/Portals/249/docs/ebooks/the_2012_state_of_inbound_marketing.pdf

37. Manta survey, http://www.manta.com/media/holiday_survey_10302012

38. Company interview, http://www.littlebigbrands.com/video

39. Web.com, http://ir.web.com/releasedetail.cfm?releaseid=670104

40. Telmetrics, http://www.telmetrics.com/2012/leading-mobile-local-companies-xad-and-telmetrics-release-first-to-market-“mobile-path-to-purchase”-study/

41. Constant Contact and Rice University, http://investor.constantcontact.com/common/mobile/iphone/releasedetail.cfm?ReleaseID=731315&CompanyID=CTCT, http://news.rice.edu/wp-content/uploads/2012/07/2012-07-05-DailyDeals.pdf

42. Alibaba, http://www.alibaba.com/activities/2013_alibaba_small_business_survey.html

43. PaySimple, http://paysimple.com/content/small-business-trends-for-2013-survey.html

44. ScribeSoft, http://www.scribesoft.com/SMB-Technology-Report-State-of-SMB-CRM-Integration

45. HubSpot and BusinessBolts.com, http://cdn1.hubspot.com/hub/53/2013-Marketing-Trends-01.pdf, http://www.businessbolts.com/inlineseo/cmsurvey2013.pdf

46. National Export Initiative, http://trade.gov/nei, http://www.alibaba.com/activities/2013_alibaba_small_business_survey.html

47. Trendwatching, Small Business Administration, http://www.trendwatching.com/trends/10trends2013/?againmadehere, http://www.bni.com/BNINews/tabid/64/Default.aspx/tabid/64/articleType/ArticleView/articleId/606/The-First-Ever-Small-Business-Stimulus-Week.aspx

48. The New Data Democracy Report by Intuit, http://network.intuit.com/2012/12/13/the-coming-era-of-big-data-for-the-little-guy/

49. The Next Web, http://thenextweb.com/insider/2012/10/04/top-smb-technology-trends/

50. Intuit 2020 Report, http://http-download.intuit.com/http.intuit/CMO/intuit/futureofsmallbusiness/intuit_2020_report.pdf

i. U.S. Census Bureau, SUSB, CPS; International Trade Administration; Bureau of Labor Statistics, BED; Advocacy-funded research, Small Business GDP: Update 2002-2010, www.sba.gov/advocacy/7540/42371.

ii. Bank of America Small Business Owner Report November 2012, http://about.bankofamerica.com/assets/pdf/Small_Business_Owner_Report_11.15.12.pdf

iii. Gallup, http://www.gallup.com/poll/1597/confidence-institutions.aspx

iv. Visa Small Business Spend Insights, Q3 2012, http://corporate.visa.com/_media/Visa_Small_Business_Spend_Insights_Q3_2012.pdf

v. Web.com, http://ir.web.com/releasedetail.cfm?releaseid=670104

vi. Bank of America Small Business Owner Report, http://about.bankofamerica.com/assets/pdf/Small_Business_Owner_Report_11.15.12.pdf

vii. HubSpot and BusinessBolts.com, http://cdn1.hubspot.com/hub/53/2013-Marketing-Trends-01.pdf, http://www.businessbolts.com/inlineseo/cmsurvey2013.pdf. Constant Contact Small Business Pulse 2012, http://img.constantcontact.com/docs/pdf/Small_Business_Pulse_Preliminary_Results.pdf

viii. Local Search Association 2011 Local Media Tracking Study, http://www.localsearchinsider.org/data-shows-how-consumers-find-nearby-businesses-to-buy-local/archives. SearchEngineLand, http://searchengineland.com/study-consumers-who-own-smartphones-and-tablets-do-average-of-21-local-searches-per-week-138094

ix. Pitney Bowes 2012 Small Business Communications Benchmark Study, http://www.pbsmartessentials.com/small-business-marketing-survey-2012

x. Pitney Bowes 2012 Small Business Communications Benchmark Study; Vertical Response, http://www.verticalresponse.com/about/press/businesses-that-use-email-marketing-and-social-media-achieve-higher-email-open-rates

xi. Constant Contact SinglePlatform, http://blog.singleplatform.com/press/ten-facts-ebook-release-jan13

xii. National Export Initiative and Alibaba, http://trade.gov/nei, http://www.alibaba.com/activities/2013_alibaba_small_business_survey.html

xiii. Pulse Survey, Trendwatching, SBA, http://www.bni.com/BNINews/tabid/64/Default.aspx/tabid/64/articleType/ArticleView/articleId/606/The-First-Ever-Small-Business-Stimulus-Week.aspx, http://www.trendwatching.com/trends/10trends2013/?againmadehere

xiv. The New Data Democracy Report by Intuit, http://network.intuit.com/2012/12/13/the-coming-era-of-big-data-for-the-little-guy

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CELEBRATING SMALL BUSINESS · By the late 1980s, women owned half of all U.S. businesses. Today, there are more than 8.3 million women-owned businesses in the U.S. generating nearly