Ready to "Just Start" a Business? Think "Intuit"

Hey - All you who want to do business with small businesses. Take a page from Intuit.

Intuit takes its positioning with small businesses seriously, and they do it with style. Their report on the Future of Small Business is a must-read.

And today they announced the Intuit Just Start! campaign to help budding entrepreneurs. Part of the campaign is a free "small business" community that allows folks to promote their business and get listed on Web directories. But that's just the beginning.

To help the 72 percent of Americans who dream of starting a business, Intuit is giving away free copies of its popular QuickBooks® Simple Start software so entrepreneurs can easily establish the financial habits that will help them get their business successfully off the ground.

My favorite part of the campaign is the upbeat little pledge that urges folks to "Just Start Something New -- Turn an idea into a business, or take your own thing to the next level. Do what you love." All you have to do it enter your name, and write in your dream. It's your own little "kick-start."

AND, as part of the campaign, there is a contest from October 9 to December 15 with a grand prize of $40K in cash & $10K in expert resources. (Talk about burying the lead! But seriously, I think for most folks, the kick-start-a-dream is the killer app.)

Corporate self-serving? You bet it is! But what makes this "Real Marketing" (vs. "Get Real!" marketing) is that the customer gets real and solid value, both tanglible and intangible. I say "YEA" for Intuit. With all the companies fighting over the local advertising dollar, here's a company that's going to be a leader in the upcoming small business revolution.

Amazon Contest for Entrepreneurs and Start Ups

Attention: Start-Ups and Entrepreneurs - here's your chance to win money, services and possibly investment funds.

Amazon Web Services (AWS) is searching for the next hot start-up that is leveraging AWS to build its infrastructure and business.

If you have a great idea or an existing application that uses services from AWS check out the AWS Start-Up Challenge to win $100,000 in cash and AWS credits, and receive an investment offer from Amazon.

I know this isn't strictly local, but from the email I receive, I know there are a lot of start-ups in the local space that read Get Real Marketing, so I pass this along for your info. Deadline is October 28, 2007. If you know any developers, entrepreneurs, or start-ups pass the word.

Another Contest for Small Businesses

The Business Breakthrough Contest from Visa offers an interesting opportunity for your business: the prize is an evaluation of your business by an expert in your field AND a package of solutions worth up to $10,000 customized for your business based on the expert's evaluation.

To enter you write, in 500 words or less, how your business could be more efficient in one of the five Business Breakthrough categories. There will be one winner in each category. Deadline is September 30.

And don't forget the UPS contest I mentioned previously, and the Ikea contest (deadline for Ikea's contest is July 26, so hurry).