This year, our chat focused on how running a small business has changed in the past decade. The questions highlighted past challenges and successes that small business owners have faced over the years and focused on current obstacles and achievements involved in running a small business today. The chat had over 100 participants who tweeted more than 700 tweets with the #BBSMBchat hashtag during the chat and over 900 tweets throughout the entire day! What really made me happy to see is that over HALF of the participants were tweeting from BlackBerry® devices! It’s great to know that some of you didn’t have to be sitting behind a desk or at a computer, and that your BlackBerry device enabled you to participate from wherever was most convenient for you.

I want to share some of my favorite answers to a few of the questions, but I urge each of you to search the hashtag and check out the entire chat again. With so many tweets, the chat was hard to keep up with and I know that I saw a lot of new tweets that I had missed when I went back to reread the conversation. Again, thank you to everyone who participated. The small business community has such a strong presence on Twitter®, and your peers really are your best resource.

How are the challenges of starting a new business now different than they were ten years ago?

A1: It's about leadership. Not sitting back. Being assertive. Customer service. Treating employees well. Prospecting + selling. #BBSMBchat—
Howard Lewinter (@HowardLewinter) July 09, 2012

Who are some of the people/orgs who you follow on Twitter that provide good advice to help your #smallbiz?

A2 I'd say all the #SMBInfluencers are worth following for sure. ow.ly/c7Lqj #bbsmbchat—
SMB Influencer (@SMBInfluencer) July 09, 2012

What influences #SMBs the most today? Was it the same ten years ago?

A3 SMBs are influenced by global markets more today than in the past because we are more aware due to the internet #BBSMBchat—
Ileane Smith (@BasicBlogTips) July 09, 2012

How has social media evolved the small business space?

A4: Social media has made it possible for small business to compete with the "big boys" in a great way! "Conversational mkting" #BBSMBchat—
Martin Lindeskog (@Lyceum) July 09, 2012

Is it harder or easier to keep up with emerging trends in #smallbiz than it was ten years ago? Why?

A6: Easier to pick up on a trend. Harder to know if it's important to your biz. #BBSMBchat—
Robert Brady (@robert_brady) July 09, 2012

How has the internet changed the way you stay updated about #smallbiz and your industry? What sources do you get news from?

A7 I get my SMB news online (news sites, blogs, LinkedIn), various magazines, in-person meetings and right here on Twitter! #BBSMBCHAT—
Philip Nowak (@PhilipNowak) July 09, 2012

Who do you consider to be a #smallbiz legend? Alternatively, do you know of any emerging and promising fresh faces?

A8 @dmscott and @chrisbrogan: legends. @lisabarone and @CarolJSRoth: up and coming. #bbsmbchat—
Susan Payton (@eggmarketing) July 09, 2012

What is one piece of advice you would give to someone who is about to start their own small business?

A9: Make it something you know AND love. That's why I live to help #smallbusiness get online #BBSMBchat—
kyle bellingar (@KyleBellingar) July 09, 2012

Show your support to members of the small business community by nominating a company, organization, app, or individual who has made a significant impact in the North American small business market for a Small Business Influencer Award. Nominations close this Sunday, July 15, 2012.

Join us and our guests of honor – small business experts Anita Campbell and Ramon Ray – tonight, Monday July 9th, from 7-8pm EST.

If you’ve never participated in a Twitter chat before, or you need a refresher, check out our blog post from last week. Below is a list of the questions we’ll ask during the chat tonight.

• How are the challenges of starting a new business now different than they were ten years ago? #BBSMBchat
• Who are some of the people/orgs who you follow on Twitter that provide good advice to help your #smallbiz? #BBSMBchat
• What influences #SMBs the most today? Was it the same ten years ago? #BBSMBchat
• How has social media evolved the #smallbiz space? #BBSMBchat
• What is one piece of advice you would give to someone who is about to start their own small business? #BBSMBchat
• Is it harder or easier to keep up with emerging trends in small business than it was ten years ago? Why? #BBSMBchat
• How has the internet changed the way that you stay up to date about #smallbiz & your industry? What sources do you get news from? #BBSMBchat
• Who do you consider to be a small business legend? Alternatively, do you know of any emerging and promising fresh faces? #BBSMBchat

If you’ve never participated in a Twitter® chat before, take a look at the “How To” guide below and a few suggestions for best practices. Also, be sure to check out some of the highlights from last year’s #BBSMBchat!

Hope to see you there!

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 2012 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 business challenges.
• 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 and our LinkedIn Company Page 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.

Last year we sponsored the 2011 Small Business Influencer Awards, and this year we’re very excited that we are sponsoring the event again as it’s back for another round. It was a pleasure to work with both Anita Campbell and Ramon Ray, the co-founders of the program, and I’m looking forward to this year’s event. The Small Business Influencer Awards recognize leading influencers in the small business market for all of their contributions and support. Influencer categories include News Outlets, Corporations, Media, Leaders, Experts, and Apps. You can nominate an influencer (or yourself) over at www.smbinfluencer.com. (North America only, see the official rules).

I caught up with Ramon to chat about this year’s awards as well as his work as an editor and technology evangelist, not to mention being the founder of www.smallbiztechnology.com. Check out our chat below:

[Biz Blog]: Hi Ramon, it’s great to be working with you again. Can you share a little about the Small Business Influencer program and what it seeks to accomplish?

First of all a big, big thanks to Research In Motion® (RIM®) for supporting small businesses over the years – this Small Business Influencer Awards programs is one big way to continue to show this support. THANK YOU.

Also a really big shout out for Anita’s leadership in this initiative – she’s like small biz rock star number 1.

So about this neat initiative: There is a lot of focus on small businesses in North America, in politics, and in our society overall. Everyone knows a small business owner. There is also lots of focus on the organizations that help small businesses. However, what we don’t see much of are the hardworking and often unsung heroes who influence small business owners! These influencers cut across all industries, business types, business sizes, revenue and demographics.

Our goal with the Small Business Influencer awards is to identify and shine the light on influencers of small businesses – hence, the small business influencer awards!

[Biz Blog]: When can a person nominate, vote, and attend the awards gala?

The nomination process is open now – they can head over to www.smbinfluencer.com to nominate themselves or someone else. The nomination process closes on July 15th, 2012. Voting begins the next day – July 16th through August 5th. An eligible person can vote once per day per nominee. The top 100 small business influencers will be announced in mid-August, and then we’ll have a fabulous award ceremony in New York City on October 17th, 2012!

[Biz Blog]: What’s changed since last year? Any new additions to this year’s program that you’re excited about?

Much of it will be the same – nominating, voting and an awesome award ceremony. But a few things have changed. We’ll be hosting the awards at the NY Business Expo and Conference in NYC at the Jacob Javits Convention Center.

We also have some great new judges this year – I don’t want to call them out name by name here or mention just one, but they’re rock stars in their own right and amongst their peers for sure.

[Biz Blog]: Tell me about your work in the small business community. What does “technology evangelist” mean to you?

Well, I LOVE helping small businesses succeed – first and foremost. From being a technology consultant many years ago, to my roles as a technology evangelist – that is, evangelizing about how awesome technology is for small businesses to help them grow, to help them save time, save money, boost productivity and deliver better customer service. I love what I do – helping small businesses succeed.

[Biz Blog]: I’m a big fan of www.smallbiztechnology.com. Tell me about this initiative and how it’s impacted the SMB community.

Well thank you I’m a big fan too [:)]. But really, Monday to Friday you can visit Smallbiztechnology.com and find the latest and greatest information about technology with insight, interviews, news or tech products for your small business. It’s been around for many years, and I’m happy to have several writers who also contribute to other great sites.

[Biz Blog]: I’m also clearly a proponent of mobility in business. I’m curious, what are some mobility trends that you’re currently seeing in small and medium-sized businesses?

I see faster wireless broadband being adopted and smaller computing devices, as overall practical, becoming even more powerful devices. Finally the world of apps and online applications is going to continue to explode on mobile devices. The business owner who can leverage local and social and mobile is going to have a BIG edge as well.

[Biz Blog]: Thank for joining me today Ramon, see you in New York at the gala!

Are you a member of the small and medium-sized business community? Who has influenced your business the most? Head over to www.smbinfluencer.com to nominate them for a 2012 Small Business Influencer Award!