9300N_iPAQ_Obsidian_34L_layers_PSG-207x300Congratulations to Ruksana Mohammed, of Bentonville, Arkansas, for winning the HP Glisten Smartphone! Her “Smart Trick” for running a business was the best of the bunch:

Select a structure, Stay current. Live and breathe [your] business every day, making connections, doing research, reading blogs, and staying up-to-date with current trends and events. See the world through your clients’ eyes. Satisfy the needs of your clients.

Here are some other great tips we received:

  • I’ve changed everything to digital. It saves paper costs and is better for the survival of the planet.—Don Schraier, Venice, CA
  • Learn to say no! Don’t take on customers who won’t pay you what you’re worth, want you to throw in too much work for free, or want you to do something you know you’re not interested in doing. By choosing the jobs that suit me best, I’m happier and so’s my bank account.—Teresa Ciulla, Huntington Beach, CA
  • My smart trick for businesses deals with Facebook. Facebook allows you to set your username both for your personal page and for your business pages. So instead of sending your clients to http://www.facebook.com/pages/somerandomnumber you can use your business name as in http://www.facebook.com/mybusiness. Just go tohttp://www.facebook.com/username and click on the 2nd option to set your name for your business page. It’s free and it’s a one time permanent change, so don’t make a mistake in spelling. It does require that you have at least 100 fans.—Jason Adams,
    Marvell, AR
  • Letting employees have an “office betting pool” on big game events has now been proven to be more beneficial than banning the activity because of the higher increase in morale—happier employees make better employees!—Deborah Dahlin, Pullman, WA
  • I use my Smartphone to review shipment information—Sheen Yen, West Lafayette, IN