Since Flat Creek Management is supposed to enable small business owners with added flexibility, we are taking some time this week to enjoy beautiful Colorado and relax a little ourselves. Colorado is a state tailor-made for our outsourcing services, with their reliance on small businesses and high tech. If you are a Colorado small business looking to outsource your marketing, IT, HR, finance or other office management tasks, contact me and maybe we can touch base in LoDo or down in the Tech Center.

Working from a home office can be one of life’s great joys. It can also be a big pain in the neck. One of my favorite small business blogs, 10-Second Tips, had a great post yesterday recommending that you take one day a month to clean and organize your home office. The post also links to other articles on home office organization and mistakes that home office businesses can make.

This morning the New York Times published a full-on editorial about blogs, based on Technorati’s report “State of the Blogsphere” that came out earlier this week. This is interesting, especially in light of falling newspaper circulation, as noted in Denver this week.

The implication, as MicroPersuation’s Steve Rubel indicates, is to step up and know how to use them strategically. That’s why Flat Creek has taken interactive marketing seriously - as traditional advertising and PR channels become more fragmented and cost prohibitive for small businesses, online channels offer a new opportunity to reach targeted audiences more effectively. A strategic online marketing plan that includes search engine marketing, a monthly e-newsletter, and a regularly updated blog can bring direct benefits to your organization. Contact us to talk about bringing blogs into your marketing mix.

Earlier this summer, I took my two nephews fishing at our family farm (near Flat Creek, Tenn coincidentally). The older brother, 9, carefully found just the right bait and gently cast his line into the water. The younger brother, 7, stomped up to the edge of the dock and threw his line in with a plop then began reeling it back at breakneck speed. I love both these kids, but the fruits of their labor that day reflected their approach. The 9-year-old spent much of the day pulling catfish and bass out of the water. The 7-year-old gave up in frustration shortly after his brother landed his third fish.

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