With almost two hundred of you joining us on Monday, #BBSMBchat was hard to keep up with! So much expertise was shared that I had to go back and read through the transcript again to make sure I didn’t miss anything. We talked about all topics related to small and medium businesses (SMB’s), including the importance of networking, social media, technology, and what inspires SMB owners. I’d like to share some of my favorite responses to a few of the questions, but I urge everyone to search the hashtag and check out some of the conversation. While the responses I highlight below are fantastic, there is so much more great conversation that I encourage everyone to take a look at. If there is one thing that was reinforced during #BBSMBchat last night, it is that when you own a small or medium business, your peers are the best source for new information, advice, encouragement and inspiration.

Q2: WHAT WAS THE BEST BUSINESS ADVICE YOU'VE EVER RECEIVED? WHO/WHERE DID IT COME FROM? #BBSMBchat—
Research In Motion (@BlackBerry4Biz) July 25, 2011

Best advice – stay true to your passion; #BBSMBchat—
Kate Thompson (@thompsonconsco) July 25, 2011

Quality questions create a quality life. Successful people ask better questions, and as a result, they get better answers. #BBSMBchat—
James Tsimopoulos (@nationwide_co) July 25, 2011

Be yourself, believe in the product or service. If the two never meet, then it's time to move forward. #BBSMBchat—
Trina Stewart (@Trina_Stewart) July 25, 2011

A2: Best biz advice: get in touch with your inner voice, your “gut.” It talks to you. Alone time is important. #BBSMBchat—
Anita Campbell (@smallbiztrends) July 25, 2011

Q9: HOW IMPORTANT IS IT TO COMMUNICATE WITH OTHERS IN THE SMB COMMUNITY IF ONLY FOR MORAL SUPPORT DURING STARTUP? #BBSMBchat—
Research In Motion (@BlackBerry4Biz) July 25, 2011

@BlackBerry4Biz A9 – communicating with peers be they competitors or not is critical and essential for your biz growth and sanity #bbsmbchat—
Ramon Ray (@ramonray) July 25, 2011

Q9: Knowing you're not alone in your endeavor helps. Having an example helps more. Having a mentor is priceless. #BBSMBchat—
Robert Brady (@robert_brady) July 25, 2011

We’ve had lots of requests to host another #BBSMBchat. We plan on hosting the next #BBSMBchat within the next month and as soon as we set the date we will let you know. Once again, I’d like to thank all of the participants for making #BBSMBchat a wonderful success. The @BlackBerry4Biz team had a fantastic time and we can’t wait to chat with you again soon!

Join us tonight between 7 and 8 PM EDT for a virtual discussion on the topic of small and medium business ownership. Share your ideas, experience, and knowledge, and network with your peers in the SMB community. If you’ve never participated in a Twitter chat before or you need a refresher, check out our blog post from last week, Introducing #BBSMBchat!

Below is the list of questions we’ll be asking during the chat. Hope to see you there!

• Q1: As the tech world continues to evolve (social media, smartphones, etc). How do you stay current? #BBSMBchat
• Q2: What was the best business advice you’ve ever received? Who/where did it come from? #BBSMBchat
• Q3: How important is it for an entrepreneur to promote one’s self as a thought leader along with promotion of the company itself? #BBSMBchat
• Q4: Was there ever a time when you were ready to throw in the towel? What inspired you to continue moving forward? #BBSMBchat
• Q5: How important is it to network with other small business owners? Why? #BBSMBchat
• Q6: Customer relationships are important. What do you do to set your business apart from your competitors? #BBSMBchat
• Q7: How would you manage seeking support from the business community while protecting your idea? #BBSMBchat
• Q8: In today’s economy, speed to market is important. How much of a role should social media play in the process? #BBSMBchat
• Q9: How important is it to communicate to others in the SMB community if only for moral support during startup? #BBSMBchat
• Q10: To what extent should SMB’s look to other industries in search of answers to challenges? #BBSMBchat

If you’ve never participated in a Twitter chat, don’t fear! We’ve put together a “How To” guide and a few suggestions for best practices:

What is a Twitter chat?

A Twitter chat is an online conversation that takes place among a group of people on Twitter about a specific topic of interest. A hashtag, created by adding the # symbol to the beginning of any word, is used to keep track of the conversation. In this case, we’ll be discussing small to medium business related topics with business owners, and the hashtag we will use to track the discussion is #BBSMBchat. You’ll need a Twitter account to participate. If you don’t have one, you can sign up at Twitter.com.

How do I participate?

We’ll be asking a list of questions from our @BlackBerry4Biz Twitter handle. Our guests of honor, judges of the 2011 Small Business Influencer Awards and small business experts Anita Campbell and Ramon Ray, will be there to answer questions and help guide the conversation – but it’s up to you, the participants, to really get the chat going. Answer any of the questions that motivate you. If you have an opinion, a story, or advice, we want to hear from you! Twitter chats can become a great source of knowledge when people like you share their experiences.

Choosing the Right Tool to Track the Chat

You may want to choose a tool to help you keep track of the chat all in one stream. We recommend using TweetChat, and have set up a page to track our dialogue: http://tweetchat.com/room/BBSMBchat. From this site, you will see the real time conversation of all tweets with #BBSMBchat. If you are logged in with your personal Twitter account, you will also be able to post all of your tweets directly from the site. Another way to track the chat is by searching #BBSMBchat in the search bar at the top of the Twitter homepage.

Best Practices

Before the chat:

• Make sure to follow the host, @BlackBerry4Biz, since we’ll be asking most of the questions that you don’t want to miss!
• For this chat, we have two guests of honor, Anita Campbell (@smallbiztrends) and Ramon Ray (@ramonray). You’ll want to follow them too since they’ll be sharing their expertise about small & medium businesses.
• Feel free to join and leave the chat at any time you’d like! Don’t worry if you’ll be a little late, or need to leave early. Join at your own convenience, we’re happy just to see one tweet from you!

During the chat:

• Make sure you use the hashtag #BBSMBchat in all of your tweets. That is how others will know that you are participating in the chat, and it will also allow your tweets to be aggregated into the chat stream.
• We will be asking designated questions throughout the chat. Our questions will start with a “Q” and the question number. Question one, for example, will start with “Q1”. Our questions will also be IN ALL CAPS, so that they are easily distinguished from other tweets in your stream.
• Remember that tweets are only 140 characters. If it seems a little difficult at first, don’t worry – all participants are condensing their thoughts too.
• Be respectful of other participants and remember that all Twitter rules still apply.

Differing opinions are always okay, but express your feelings in a courteous manner, please.

• Retweet great comments and engage with other participants.
• Have fun!

After the chat:

• If you still have more information to share or questions to ask, we’ll post a link to a discussion on the BlackBerry for Business LinkedIn group where you can continue the discussion.
• Make sure to follow people you connected with or found interesting. Remember, your peers can also be your best resources.
• Check right here at the Inside BlackBerry for Business Blog afterward for a recap of the chat, highlights, and a link to the transcript!
• Keep following us on Twitter for updates and information on upcoming chats.
• Stay in touch! We’re always here to help, so feel free to ask us questions or share resources!