Perhaps you have heard of SCORE, Counselors to America’s Small Business, yet you are not clear about who might benefit or how SCORE works. SCORE is a non-profit resource arm of the U.S. Small Business Administration (SBA). SCORE organizes the activities of more than 10.500 volunteers - largely retired business owners, executives and corporate leaders who have been where you want to go. SCORE has more than 389 chapter offices around the U.S. In addition, SCORE offers a wide range of free, online courses you can take to learn more about how to manage your business.

There is something to be said for learning from the experiences of others, and the value of cumulative learning. You can query experts by e-mail from SCORE’s front page, asking for specific tips and advice to help you succeed. And, give SCORE’s newsletter a try. Many people learn to depend on SCORE as a benevolent, silent partner that is always there when you need them.

At the risk of overspouting about resources that happen to originate in my home town, (see my Kauffman Foundation post), I want to make sure everyone is aware of the resources available at Duct Tape Marketing, the site of John Jantsch. Indeed, he has tons of product and platforms at seminars around the country.

But his weblog and channel partners have a near gaggle of excellent information there - for the taking - that is vetted as useful and valuable for small businesses.

Just as a single example, in a recent post on June 13, “Most of the Time Talent’s Not Enough,” Jantsch discusses the difference between talent and creativity. I suppose, one could make the case that an accountant can be “talented,” but not “creative.” On the other hand, creativity IS a talent. It all depends on how you define each word.

So, he makes the case that talent alone is not enough; one needs creativity to promote one’s talent. So, how does this spin for creative people, designers, writers and such? Do the creatives need talent to promote their creativity, or more creativity to promote their creative talent? Woo!

I’m just playing with semantics here. Jantsch makes his message clear and thought provoking.

If you are not a natural strategic thinker, learning how is one of the most difficult challenges for a small business owner. Most small businesses are run by people who specialize in watch repair or dry cleaning or hairstyling or cooking or — well, you get the idea. And just because you can fight your way through a broken Timex or a superb Hollandaise recipe does not necessarily mean you have the talent to think strategically about the development of your business.

The five basic components of strategic thinking in business are: Organization, Observation, Views, Driving Forces and Ideal. It just may be best to start with your business’s eventual ideal position. It is often easier to think through the others when you have a well-defined dream, then backtrack to define the organization and other strategic factors and behaviors that will get you there.

By its very nature effective strategic thinking is abstract, yet specific and personal. There are guidelines, but no rules, and guidelines are also made to be broken. Here is a good place to start to organize your strategic processes – or, to see how your thinking measures up.

According to the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office, the costs of piracy, counterfeiting and the theft of intellectual property “range from $250 billion to 750,000 jobs per year.” It is not clear how much of that is yanked out of the pocket of small businesses, but since the government says about three-quarters of all businesses in the country are self-employed individuals, it seems likely that a huge share of these losses are coming off the kitchen tables and lunch money of the kids of small business owners.

A very good start to educate yourself about the business of protecting your business helps you understand the opportunities and the threats that face the small business owner. The sooner you know these things about your business, the better. But, it is never too late to get caught up. Such protections may not be top of mind for those who are just starting out, but after a bit of success, knowing what to do becomes vital.

When it comes to customer service for your business, extremely helpful and courteous behavior – extremely polite, extremely generous works. But when it comes to product choices, it is possible to overdo. Harvard professor, John Gourville explains how more people often choose at one extreme or another… say the most basic cell phone or the most tricked out model… finding the middle choices too foggy. It’s important to think through your product and service extremes.

Gourville focuses on the compromise effect as the process consumers go through when they are presented with too many choices. It’s known as extremeness avoidance, and it depends largely on the nature of the choices – whether the options cover for each other, as in leather seats vs. cloth seats in a car model, vs. the option to visit New York or San Francisco. With the car seats, no matter which covering you choose, you still have seats. But with the travel choice, you simply do not get the Statue of Liberty in San Francisco. Granted, you get the Golden Gate bridge, but the bridge is no lady!

Why on earth would you not subscribe to the weekly newsletter of Harvard Business School’s Working Knowledge website? It’s HARVARD fer cryin’ out loud! Yet, we all know there’s no crying in business. And let’s just say, Harvard has been known to bring it.

Like so many other amazing sites, Working Knowledge is huge. It would take a month in there just to scratch the surface. More than 200 Harvard faculty participate in this “forum for innovation in business practice, offering readers a first look at cutting-edge thinking and the opportunity to both influence and use these concepts before they enter mainstream management practice,” according to “About Us.”

Replete with research findings in such categories as finance marketing, operations and strategy, the site is eminently searchable by more than 50 industry categories – from accounting to electronics, manufacturing, real estate and software. They even include a call center category.

They actually have a Faculty Q&A where you can ask specific questions of Harvard professors. Now that’s class. It’s just too cool for school… literally. Well, it IS school, I guess.

For a startup or a small business, marketing is the elephant in the cash register. Among all the other expenses – payroll, rent, utilities, equipment – marketing is the most difficult on the list. You cannot forego the essentials… you have no choice on rent, or phone bill. But marketing and advertising always fall in the “if we have any money left over…” category. Look at it this way: You are planning a dinner party. You set a gorgeous table with candles, china, silver and crystal… prepare the finest food products… but just run out of steam when it’s time to deliver the invitations. Now, that’s a shame, because nobody will show up.

You must consider a marketing budget to be as essential as meeting payroll or paying the rent on time. Marketing is, after all, an investment in future earnings.

Conventional wisdom used to say that an established company should aim at spending about 3 to 5 percent of its gross on advertising. I don’t think anyone knows the magic number, especially when it comes to a startup. And, there are more guerilla-type options than ever with the Internet, cell phones and all the other digital and wireless technology we have.

That’s why so many people are looking to public relations stunts to try to get attention for their business. Yes. they are stunts. Why not use the real word? And, they have proven themselves to work time after time.

Even Mt. Rushmore, South Dakota’s majestic and somber national attraction, was conceived in 1924 by the state’s director of tourism to try to attract visitors to the state! Cha-ching.

There are countless success stories of PR stunts that caught on and blew everybody away. Of course, for a small business, it’s a matter of scale… you need not carve faces into a nearby mountain to get attention.

Look around in your market area to find any one of dozens of opportunities. Own a holiday, like St. Patrick’s Day or Arbor Day. Contests are great, and contests for kids are solid gold. Plan a parade of kids who have decorated their bicycles, and award prizes. Buzz, buzz, buzz.

Set up something in or outside your local shopping mall – a booth or demonstration of some kind. The possibilities are endless and only limited by your product or service, your market area, your budget and your imagination!

So many media, so little money — the lament of the small business owner. When you are poring over your advertising budget, so often, a larger amount is needed to promote your two or three top selling seasons. This bulge can only come out of the steady, monthly budget. Peter, meet Paul.

An ongoing, periodic newsletter can be one effective way to make sure every month, or at least every other month gets its fair share of promotional activity. Newsletter budgeting is solid and predictable, unlike spot campaign budgets. But an effective newsletter is probably more than any of your current employee’s back burner can handle. Take a look at this comprehensive analysis of what it takes to publish a newsletter before you leap. Once you start a newsletter, it’s really difficult to “unstart,” and you don’t want to look foolish in front of your customers.

Can the U.S. government actually help you with your small business? It certainly has no shortage of rules, regulations and hoops for you to jump through. But, it makes up for some of that with actual help for the small business owner. The feds even have set up a little something called the Small Business Administration.

They even have a link to “How to Name Your Business!” Great! But when you follow it, you don’t get what you expect… instead, you get something better: a checklist of legal steps and recommended procedures to protect the very clever name you do think up! Turns out, it is very important — perhaps vital — to not only protect your business name, but to protect yourself from choosing a name someone is already using!

In fact, the more important factor may well be to prevent yourself from using something that someone else is already using. The potential damage from that happening can overwhelm any business with lawsuits. Even a “cease-and-desist” of using your company name can result in a dumpster filled with thousands of dollars-worth of freshly printed brochures, business cards and stationery. And that’s the second-best case scenario! (Best case is not getting caught at all, but don’t hold your breath for that!)

… but what a way to go!! Since I am from Kansas City, Mo., home of the Kauffman Foundation, it’s difficult for me to assess its nationwide (or worldwide!) influence from the hometown. Yes. It’s a Local Big Deal. Here is where the intensely serious entrepreneur winds up, fighting not to get bogged down in thousands of pages of research, analysis, advice and case studies… classes, education, training… on every single aspect of starting a business… aspects you’ve not thought of yet!

For example, periodically, the Foundation partners with the Information Technology and Innovation Foundation (ITIF) to produce a comprehensive report that ranks all 50 U.S. states on the “…degree to which their economies are structured and operate to effectively compete…” This report is packed with useful information about where you are – or where you should be! Check it out!

The Kauffman entrepreneurial site is too huge, and yet, if you are intense, this is your portal. Start with their 182 entreprenur sites. Good luck… drop breadcrumbs so you know where you’ve been and how to get back home!