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My New Year’s resolution is to start commenting on selected blogs and contributing to relevant online forums. Why? To build our niche visibility, promote the SCORE brand and increase traffic on SCORE Chicago’s website and blogs.

Commenting  gets you involved in conversations, expands contacts in your niche and brings traffic back to your blogs and sites. In Case Study: Power of a Blog Comment, learn how Jesse Heap of Pink Cake Box left a comment on the Small Business Search Marketing blog, which lead to Pink Cake being featured on a magazine cover.  Similarly, blogger Marko Saric posted a comment on ZenHabits, a blog with over 79,000 RSS subscribers. This one comment brought him 230+ unique visitors in less than 6 days.

Here’s what I’ve learned from a web search on commenting do’s and don’ts:

Commenting Do’s

more…

It seems like February is the month of contests. I recently wrote about the Dell Small Biz Contest ($50,000 grand prize) and the Women 2.0 Startup Competition. (There’s still time to apply for both so don’t delay!) Well, there’s a new contest in town…

Prizes
Intuit is awarding a $25,000 grant (plus $2,500 in products such as Quickbooks), not to mention free PR for your business.

Requirements
All you have to do is write up a short story about a real situation and a short tip for other entrepreneurs. How easy is that?

Added Bonus
Not only do you have a chance of winning $25,000, but your entry will help promote your business to the entire Intuit community.

So what are you waiting for? Apply today! (Submission deadline is 3/23/09.) If you need help, contact a SCORE mentor online or at a local chapter.

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Upcoming Small Biz Contests

Intuit Biz Story Competition
Grand Prize: $25,000 grant and $2,500 in products
Deadline: March 23, 2009
Dell Small Biz Contest
Grand Prize: $50,000 in Dell products and services
Deadline: April 3, 2009
Women 2.0 Startup Competition
Grand Prize: Win a meeting w/ Michael Moritz (Sequoia Capital) and more
Deadline: April 10, 2009

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-Jacalyn Barnes, SCORE
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