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December 6, 2022
Distribution: All Active Volunteers
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2023 NATIONAL SMALL BUSINESS WEEK |
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SBA Nominations Due Thursday, Dec. 8 |
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Final call for nominations for the 2023 National Small Business Week (NSBW) Awards. The NSBW Awards recognize SBA-assisted small businesses’ inspirational achievements and contributions to their communities and our nation’s economy.
Nomination Deadline
All nominations should be submitted electronically this Thursday, December 8, 3:00pm ET. The awards will be presented during the NSBW Awards ceremony in the first week of May 2023.
To nominate a small business owner in your area or download related forms, criteria and guidelines, visit sba.gov/nsbw.
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New Website Launch in December
We are excited to announce that SCORE’s new website will be launched on 12/22! Though this is right before the Christmas holiday, we feel this is an ideal time as website traffic will be significantly slower and will allow us to collect early user feedback before traffic increases to normal volumes in January. As we prepare for launch, we wanted to share some updates on the new website and related projects.
Chapter Website Review
- The second auto-migration of content/resources began on 11/30 and will run through 12/4. This will migrate any NEW content that has been added to websites since the first auto-migration in August.
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PLEASE NOTE: There is a “content freeze” from 11/30 to 12/30, meaning that any new content or landing pages added to the existing website during that time will need to be manually recreated on the new platform. At your request, the Ecropolis team will help our chapters rebuild those pages as needed.
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Webmasters User Acceptance Testing (UAT) began on 12/5. You will be able to review and provide feedback on your web pages through 12/18. If you were unable to attend training for UAT and the new Drupal 9 platform, you can watch the recorded training here.
- During the review, we’ll ask that webmasters check their new chapter menus, the content on their Chapter’s main landing pages and review other details to ensure they’re set up as desired before launch. If any changes need to be made, the Ecropolis team will make them for you so that you don’t have to do this work.
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Google Analytics 4 (GA4)
Our development team has been working behind the scenes to transition our current Google Analytics 3 (Universal Analytics) platform to Google Analytics 4. On July 1, 2023, Universal Analytics properties will no longer process data. You will still be able to access historical metrics from Universal Analytics for a period of time after July 1, 2023.
Making the transition to GA4 will improve our ability to measure website traffic, user engagement and goal completions. We are creating reporting dashboards for each chapter, so you’ll be able to see the sitewide metrics (along with web conversions) segmented to your specific chapter. This transition helps ensure that we can track and analyze national and chapter performance across the same set of metrics. It also addresses some long-term governance goals, consolidating the management and administration of analytics.
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Website Cookie Banner
In addition to the Google Analytics 4 transition, we will also add cookie consent banners on our new website. A cookie banner is a tool for informing web users about our cookie use and, if necessary, obtaining consent for cookie use. Personal data is collected by some cookies, and data privacy laws protect personal data. Cookie consent is not only necessary for transparency and best practices but depending on local regulations, it might be required.
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Veteran Business Owners Find Success With SCORE
SCORE’s Small Business Hub for Veterans helps veteran entrepreneurs translate military skills into business success by navigating challenges and accessing a wealth of resources, combined with free mentoring support. "What really attracted me to SCORE was that they could provide mentors that had been through the process of starting up companies and running companies multiple times over. SCORE gave me advice and perspective that was specific to my needs and the challenges that I was facing," said veteran Justin Colbert, a SCORE Washington, DC client and owner/founder of Vander, LLC. Many thanks to our mentors and volunteers who work with veteran entrepreneurs! Read more in this press release. |
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Small Business Shopping Supports Local and National Economies
To support local entrepreneurs, SCORE urged consumers to shop small on Small Business Saturday and all year long. A recent SCORE survey shows small business owners are optimistic as the country emerges from the pandemic and a return to in-person shopping and dining, but challenges remain. SCORE mentors can help. “Finding new customers is always the name of the game,” says SCORE client Becky Rawls-Riley, owner of a handcrafted headwear business based in Olathe, Ks. With the help of her SCORE mentor, she recently expanded her business online. “SCORE has helped me anticipate what is next, along with actionable items to keep finding success.” Read more in this press release. |
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SCORE is mentioned an average of 1,000 times per month in national and local media. Check out some of our latest media mentions: www.score.org/news. |
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Shout out to Donna Probes, MBA, a SCORE mentor out of our Traverse City chapter on her column “ Social Media Magic,” which was picked up by Yahoo! this month, resulting in 14 million potential viewers. The column offers tips for small business owners seeking social media content development and management tools. Great job, Donna! |
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Congrats to SCORE volunteer and media spokesperson Frank LaMonaca from the Southeastern Connecticut chapter! Frank recently shared his insights in a nationally syndicated NerdWallet/AP article about the importance of cash flow and what small business owners should think about when looking at refinancing business loans. “Businesses don’t fail because of a reasonable rate of interest on their loans. They fail due to a lack of liquidity when something goes wrong,” LaMonaca said. Read the full article here. |
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Stay Connected! In addition to following your local SCORE chapter for local small business events and news, follow SCORE’s national social media channels for the latest updates, helpful resources and inspirational success stories! Your likes, comments and shares as SCORE volunteers help build awareness of SCORE and encourage those in your network to take advantage of SCORE services or volunteer opportunities! Get connected today (links below or click here)! |
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Reminder: December's Leadership Call will be held on Monday, December 12, from 12-1:30pm ET.
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Google with Google Webinar |
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WEDNESDAY, DECEMBER 7 | 2PM ET
Make Better Business Decisions with Analytics
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Learn best practices and analyze trends about how customers engage with your business online, then turn these insights into well-informed, actionable decisions. In this session, we’ll cover:
- An introduction to Google Analytics
- Creating and understanding reports
- Making goals
- Using Analytics with other Google tools
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THURSDAY, DECEMBER 8 | 2PM ET
Managing the Client Intake Queue
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In this training course, we will be covering topics about the intake assignment process, adding a note to a request, and transferring to another chapter. |
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HHS/SBA Resource Partner Webinar |
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THURSDAY, DECEMBER 8 | 3 PM ET
HHS Health Insurance Marketplace Open Enrollment information and Training Session
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Please join SBA and HHS on Thursday, December 8, from 3:00 – 4:00 pm EST for a free webinar on how to help small businesses capitalize on this year’s Open Enrollment season and use the 2023 Health Insurance Marketplace. This training will answer your questions on how to advise aspiring entrepreneurs and small business owners when it comes to viewing plans available to them and when to apply for coverage. We look forward to seeing you there! |
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THURSDAY, DECEMBER 15 | 2PM ET
Managing Volunteer Applications and Chapter Information
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This training course will cover how the Volunteer Intake Coordinator can manage volunteer applications and how a Chapter Manager can update chapter information and affiliation. |
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Join fellow volunteers across the country to network under the common value of inclusivity within SCORE. |
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Upcoming Live Engage Trainings |
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Join live Engage trainings throughout the month for both new volunteers and seasoned volunteers based on your roles in Engage and how you may use the system to support SCORE clients. |
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SCORE Department Webinars |
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Join monthly webinars based on SCORE functional areas of expertise including marketing, website, social media, and accounting. |
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Webinar for Small Business Owners |
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1165 Herndon Parkway
Suite 100
Herndon, VA 20170
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Funded in part through a Cooperative Agreement with the U.S. Small Business Administration. All opinions, conclusions and/or recommendations expressed herein are those of the author(s) and do not necessarily reflect the views of the SBA. |
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