3 Things You Should Know About Small Business: May 15

NEW YORK (MainStreet) -- What's happening in small business today?

1. Lessons from serial entrepreneurs. Many small business owners often fall into the trap of running their organizations by following the same pattern of plan, optimize, execute. This leave little room for unforeseen situations. Serial entrepreneurs are individuals who have successfully started multiple companies and mastered managing the unknown, says a Washington Post article.

The co-authors offer three tips small-business owners can learn from serial entrepreneurs: Don't be afraid to experiment, even if it's in the wrong direction; listen to your customers; and apply lessons learned.

"Admittedly, transitioning to the act, learn, build thought process may not be easy because we're accustomed to using prediction reasoning all the time, and like anything that's repeated over and over, that process has for many people become a conditioned habit," the authors say. "[Many] small business owners are often their own biggest impediment to success, as using prediction reasoning in situations that are simply not predictable is bound to result in disappointment and frustration."

2. Google's new search algorithm is hurting businesses. Google's (GOOG) so-called Penguin changes, implemented at the end of April, are an effort to "target over-optimized websites that were stuffed with keywords in an attempt to improve their search rankings," CNBC says.

Yet the recent changes are hitting some small business owners hard.

Businesses with a lot of links coming to them may now be filtered as spam by Google and ultimately lower the search ranking for the business. While big businesses have the resources to respond quickly, smaller businesses are just the opposite.

"The ones that are really feeling the change are the small businesses who may have hired an SEO vendor and didn't know what they were doing to improve ranking, but now they are being penalized," Todd Bailey, search engine expert and vice president of marketing at WebiMax, tells CNBC.

To get around the Penguin changes, businesses must update their SEO strategy around quality content, Bailey says.

"Businesses need to get rid of the philosophy that they need to get as many links and as much content out there as they can," Bailey says. "They need to look at a public relations strategy and try to produce quality content by pitching news outlets, doing press releases and guest blogging. The other options are social media campaigns and other multichannel options such as referrals and using CPM advertising."

3. The International Franchise Expo is moving to New York City. Move over Washington. After 20 years, the International Franchise Expo is heading to New York City.

This year's Expo, sponsored by the International Franchise Association and produced by MFV Expositions, will take place June 15-17 at the Jacob Javits Convention Center on Manhattan's west side.

More than 200 franchises looking to expand in the New York region will be exhibiting. The event is open to the public.

To help create even more interest, the New York Attorney General's Office this year has allowed franchise companies not currently registered in New York to apply for a three-day exemption from registration to showcase their brand at IFE through a special "Trade Show Exemption" status. The exemption form can be downloaded through the Attorney General's Website and requires a $450 fee.

-- Written by Laurie Kulikowski in New York.

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