Need more money to increase your business, add inventory, or expand? The government is trying to entice more small businesses to tap into one of its loan programs. The Small Business Administration (SBA) 504 loan program lets companies take out fixed-rate financing to buy property, build or expand facilities, or refinance some existing mortgages.

To look into this program, you need to find a lender who offers 504 loans. Ask your primary bank, where you do business on an ongoing basis, if they offer SBA loans through programs where they hold the loan and collect full interest on the payments. If they do not, perhaps your banker can refer you to an institution that does.

With the economy what it is and credit tightening, it’s good to know the government still has programs with money allocated to help small businesses grow. Take advantage if you can!

These technologies are a must for safety from fraud, viruses, and more:

1. Hosted e-mail security
2. Web/URL filtering
3. Reputation-based antivirus software
4. Web application vulnerability scanning
5. Whole disk encryption
6. Web application firewalls

Sound complicated? If you don’t have an IT department, consider calling the Geek Squad (a company who consults for a nominal hourly fee) and have them go through your computer to make sure you are protected.

Small business who are willing to join forces with other like-minded companies are likely to spend less marketing dollars and improve both profits and develop complementary ventures, who in the end may refer more business.

A must-do before you decide to share strategy and look at a cooperative venture is:

• Prequalify Associates. The best alliances are ones that are related to your business, share a like-minded approach to business development, and are open to cooperative marketing. Meet face-to-face to discuss your goals and objectives for a venture, to see if you both fit. When you do this, you share the costs and benefits of your marketing effort and are likely to be successful in a co-op type of relationship. The effort can increase your business without as much expense as doing it yourself. If you are open to this approach, it could save you money, expand your referral sources, and increase your exposure. Happy marketing!

I recently read an article in Enterprising Women magazine that struck me. What is the difference between customer experience and customer service? I thought they were the same but here it is:

Customer service has to do with the personal interaction the customer has with the business, sales staff, and personnel. Customer experience has to do with the ways in which the business touches the customer. Customers have expectations all along the way of doing business with a company. These include not only customer–facing areas such as sales, but also advertising promises, billing processes, returns, technical support, etc.

In the end, the successful professional needs both customer service and customer experience, as each interaction is an opportunity for a business to build a loyal following. By offering the experience, the customer will refer you business, then your customer service keeps that referral happy!

I always look at this day as the first of many barbecues, and the beginning of summer. I hope all of you are enjoying a day off with family and friends.

Many small business owners have explored the possibility of exhibiting at local trade show conferences, as a way to generate leads. Over the last year however, trade show attendance has decreased substantially. In San Francisco, for example, trade show attendance dropped from 57,375 in April 2009, to 17,800 in April 2010. Should you be spending your hard-earned dollars, developing collateral and providing staff to exhibit at trade related shows? Maybe.

Before you decide, check out your local convention and services bureau (this is where I got the San Francisco stats). This can help you find out if your market draws customers. Last year, the biggest winners were Las Vegas and Orlando. Years past, San Francisco and New Orleans were at the top of the list. Like everything else, the most popular trade show venues and locations change from year to year, but overall people are not spending the money to travel to conferences. Instead, online solutions like virtual expos and conferences have become a popular way to generate leads. Research the online version versus live events, so you can be sure you’re spending your marketing dollars wisely.

Happy Mother’s Day! To all mother’s world wide!

It’s spring! Time to go through your closets and discard clothing, shoes, and accessories you have not worn in over a year. Doing this always makes me feel refreshed. Every spring and fall, I go through my closet, and it’s amazing what I find that I never wear. Why not take that good feeling one step further and give away those discards! It could make a difference to so many. Below, I have listed the top three web sites that accept donations:

Dress For Success, found online at www.dressforsuccess.org, collects women’s business attire and distributes it to women who are financially challenged. The donated wardrobe gives them a more professional look, helping them to find success and become financially independent.

Homeless shelters: Go to www.homelesssheltersdirectory.org to find a shelter in your area. They accept nonperishable food, clothing, and personal care items to benefit the homeless.

The Salvation Army is found online at www.salvationarmyusa.org. They accept a variety of items similar to those donated to homeless shelters, which they resell to the public. About 80% of the proceeds go to an array of causes for the needy, like funding more than 150 adult rehabilitation centers across the country.

Don’t forget to get a receipt, as this is a charitable donation and could benefit your 2010 tax return.

This article comes courtesy of Charlie Brown from Forbes.com

Historically, governments, philanthropists and corporations–mainly led by men–have attempted to solve the world’s problems by imposing solutions upon the masses. This persistent top-down approach often fails to engage with citizens, and is particularly ineffective when confronting the most challenging tasks. It also ignores the critical foundation for stable markets and governments–women–who have become increasingly isolated and vulnerable.

Recent studies by the International Center for Research on Women (ICRW) and the World Bank show us that women are the key stakeholders for establishing strong, stable communities. As such, their companies and countries in turn make important global partners in creating efficient and functioning economies. Unfortunately, when it comes to developing these emerging markets, women are often ignored or treated as aid recipients, excluded from the actual process of product and service development. It is rare that we stop to ask those in need how they would solve their problems.

Luckily, the winds are beginning to shift. Over the last decade the initiative and inventiveness of millions of women has been unleashed through a focus on finding solutions to the world’s problems by working with those who are directly affected.

Recent efforts like the Girl Effect, a global campaign to build momentum around adolescent girls as change agents, and research by ICRW, which highlights how technology can economically advance women around the globe, are at the forefront of the push to address the needs of women. Likewise, the Clinton Global Initiative is encouraging its members to see empowering women and girls as a key element in their development toolbox. And global innovations such as micro-finance are broadening entrepreneurial opportunities–though there’s still a long way to go.

One example of where the role of women has been prioritized is in the rebuilding of Rwanda. President Kagame has mandated that 30% of parliament be women (women represented over 50% after the 2008 elections) and promoted efforts to increase the number of women entrepreneurs. This strategy, which recently won Kagame the African Gender Award issued by the Geneva-based African NGO Femmes Africa Solidarite (FAS), is setting the foundation for Rwanda’s peaceful recovery, and infusing the process with decision-makers who place the highest value on children, nutrition and education.

While Rwanda is a far from perfect place, it serves as an interesting case study. Along with prioritizing women, the country is being highly selective about accepting international aid, taking only that which is absolutely necessary. The country is demonstrating a fundamental shift in the aid mentality, and a new approach to nation building–one that focuses on building local competencies, entrepreneurs and markets.

This is a reminder that the greatest societies were founded not by handouts, but by communities solving their own problems. These societies are not built by faraway entities, but from the bottom up, by citizens who are incentivized to develop the best solutions, and provided the means to bring them to reality. If business is expected to blossom in emerging markets around the world, ensuring the entrepreneurial empowerment of women must be one of our highest priorities. The most successful markets are hotbeds of engaged citizens that have the drive and enabling environment to innovate the future of their countries. People need to have a voice at every stage and on every stage where problems are identified and solved.

My organization, Changemakers.com, helps organizations explore ways to create social innovations, and we’re seeing some interesting new efforts to engage women and support their entrepreneurial vocations. ExxonMobil’s ( XOM – news – people ) “Women | Tools | Technology Challenge” asks innovators and experts from the around the world to submit transformative solutions for promoting women’s economic advancement. Entries range from new distribution models for solar technology to agriculture training and technologies for rural farmers, and will be evaluated on their potential for impact and sustainability.

ExxonMobil and Ashoka committed to launch the Changemakers challenge at the Clinton Global Initiative’s Annual Meeting last year, because CGI recognized that empowering girls and women is crucial to development efforts. They know that organizations cannot create a healthier environment, expand access to health services, improve education, or alleviate poverty without engaging women and girls.

Have credit card companies reduced your credit limits? Where can you go to find the money you need in order to continue to operate? In this day and age, it does not matter if you as an owner have a stellar credit rating. Banks are relying more on cash flow and collateral than ever before.

What can we do in order to find a lender who will look at our business entity and grant a loan? Below are a few reminders to help you prepare for the process.

1. Recognize you will probably have to personally sign and guarantee a business loan.

2. To build business credit, owners must keep on top of their vendors to make sure they get paid. The credit history of your business is everything.

3. Check your personal credit, and do not co-mingle personal versus business credit accounts. Keep them separate.

4. Put together a business plan and deliver it to the lender face to face. Make sure it delves deep into :

• a. How much money do you need?
• b. What do you need the money for?
• c. How do you plan to pay it back? In other words, give the lender a reason to make the loan and I if they ask for more information, provide it quickly.

5. If you are turned down for a loan, ask why. If possible, make whatever changes are necessary so they can revisit your loan request. Do not take the rejection of a turn down personally. The lender is making a business decision not a personal one.

The more prepared you can be before the process, the better your chances are of being heard and taking the next step. There are no more guarantees in the banking business, but at least you will do your part to help make the banks/lenders/private lenders do theirs.