Celebrating Two Milestones

If you will allow me, I would like to talk about a couple of milestones of which we're kind of proud.

On Monday, November 17, 1997, I began broadcasting the Small Business Advocate Show, for two hours Monday through Friday. Since the first day, the program has been nationally syndicated. This week we will celebrate our ninth anniversary and the beginning of our 10th year on the air.

In January 1998, we began simulcasting on the Internet and have done so continuously, and with multiple Internet streaming options since 1999. Sometimes we're asked why our Archives aren't available by using Windows Media Player. The answer is simple: We were streaming on the Internet and archiving our content before Microsoft invented their player.

This Thursday will be my 2,340th live broadcast since we began -- including all the holidays -- even when I was on the road. I've conducted just over 9,300 interviews with small business experts and entrepreneurs, and next week I'll broadcast my 10th consecutive live Thanksgiving Day show. When you hear me talking about making sure that you're passionate about the business you start, if you didn't already, now you know that I practice what I preach.

From the beginning, my primary programming goal was to focus on the fundamentals that are important to successfully starting, operating, and growing a small business, and to make all of the things we do available to you for free. On that last note -- the free one -- I must say thanks to our outstanding corporate partners, without whom the free part would not be possible.

When it comes to defining small business, our brush is broad. We regularly cover issues ranging from the elemental challenges that face the home-based business to the more sophisticated issues of businesses that are emerging from small, to not so small. We also wanted to periodically blend in coverage of public policy issues that affect small business in particular, as well as the marketplace in general. "Periodic" has typically manifested as at least one interview per week (out of 20) on public policy.

For our efforts I was recognized by the U.S. Small Business Administration as the 2002 Small Business Journalist of the Year, and was later asked to become a member of the SBA's National Advisory Council. FORTUNE Small Business magazine included me on a list of the 30 most influential people in America representing small business. TALKERS Magazine named me one of the most important talk show hosts in America for the past four years. And when you type "small business expert" into Google, you'll get millions of links, but the first link has my name on it.

More than anything else, I want you to know how proud I am of you as a small business owner and what you have accomplished. If you live in the U.S., you are part of a group of people who produce over half of this nation's $12 TRILLION gross national product, you sign the FRONT of over 70 million U.S. paychecks, and create over 55% of all of the innovations in America. And more and more, because of your professionalism, creativity, and awe inspiring determination, our big business cousins look to us more as valuable partners, than as just a local vendors.

Also this week we celebrate the seventh anniversary of The Small Business Advocate NEWSLETTER. This week's edition, Volume VII, Issue 52, will represent 365 consecutive weekly issues. Thanks for being a loyal subscriber.

And finally, thank you for your support, comments, critiques, the many words of encouragement, and especially the honor and privilege of being your advocate. I'm already looking forward to our next year together.

Write this on a rock - Nothing I do as The Small Business Advocate is about me -- it's all about you, my heroes, small business owners, regardless of where you live on planet Earth.