Weekend Entrepreneur:

Hello, Michelle Anton here. This Friday, April 18, is BiGIDEA Day in Austin, Texas, and yours truly will be there. If you attend, you’ll be a part of my 90-minute interactive workshop, “Your Million Dollar Message.” It is designed to help you define your unique message. You’ll learn the secrets to effortlessly create advocates, believers, supporters and followers. Doors open at 8:20 a.m. for breakfast, and my workshop begins at 8:40 a.m.

Next on the agenda at 11 a.m. is the BiGIDEA Day luncheon. I am the keynote speaker and emcee, so I hope you’ll join me and the BiGAUSTIN family for an entertaining and exciting experience. This is where we borrow a page from American Idol in selecting a winner for the business plan contest. Three companies will be judged, and $5,000 will be awarded for the best business plan.

Finalists will be voted on by the audience, and the winner will be announced during the BiGIDEA Day luncheon, where more than 500 community supporters, corporate leaders, entrepreneurs and government officials will be in attendance. We’re going to have a wonderful time, and I wouldn’t want you to miss this for anything in the world.

For more details, call the Big Austin office at (512) 928-8010 or visit the BiGAUSTIN website.

About BiGAUSTIN:
BiGAUSTIN was founded in 1992 by Jeannette Peten as a city-funded organization designed to help break down the barriers for people to start their own small business, particularly low- to moderate-income minorities. In 1995, BiGAUSTIN obtained its 501(c)(3) nonprofit status and, by 1996, had begun independent operations. Today, BiG obtains its funding from a variety of public and private sources and is governed by a fully independent board of directors.

Vision
BiGAUSTIN fosters economic development as the resource for small businesses to stimulate prosperity.

Mission
BiGAUSTIN assists small businesses to successfully grow by providing comprehensive education, tailored business counseling and flexible loans.

Although you must be a resident of the Central Texas region for this competition, it’s an awesome opportunity to win $5,000 for your business. Online entrees are being sought for the 2008 BiGAUSTIN (Business Investment Growth) BiG idea Day’s Business Plan Competition.

Here are seven things you need to know before entering this exciting competition sponsored by BiGAUSTIN:

1. All business plans for the BiG idea Day Luncheon competition must be submitted by 5 p.m. on Friday, March 21, 2008;

2. To register for the business plan competition, call 512.928.8010 or visit the website at bigaustin.org;

3. Participants must be entrepreneurs of at least six months and generate less than $500,000 revenue;

4. Each contestant will present his or her business plan in a live competition on April 18, 2008, for selection as the best for 2008;

5. The judges will be the audience of corporate, entrepreneur and community leaders. The winner receives a $5,000 cash prize, which he or she can use to further business goals

6. BiGAUSTIN is offering free business plan counseling services and workshops to aid contest participants in preparation. Participation in these classes will not be used to influence judges, but to help the contestants prepare to present their very best business plan; and

7. The Business Plan Lab Session is optional. It allows participants to work on their specific plan with a professional. It will be held Wednesday, March 12, from 6:30 p.m. to 8:30 p.m.

For more information on the preparation classes and to register for the business plan competition, call 512.928.8010 or visit the website at bigaustin.org.

BiGAUSTIN is a nonprofit 501(c)(3) founded in 1995. BiGAUSTIN is the leading self-sustainable small business development organization that provides innovative growth strategies to underserved entrepreneurs in Central Texas. BiGAUSTIN offers entrepreneurial education, tailored business counseling and flexible loans for small business owners.

Come on, dust off that business plan and get in the game! It’s time to start living the life of your dreams. And if you don’t reside in Austin, Texas, then maybe you have a friend, relative or an associate who could benefit by knowing about this competiton. So please, spread the word.

Check back later this month for more details about the 8th Annual BIG idea Day Luncheon on April 18, 2008, at the Austin Hilton Hotel. More than 500 community and corporate leaders, entrepreneurs and government officials will be in attendance. This will be a wonderful opportunity for networking. I’ll be the keynote speaker for the luncheon, and I’ll be conducting a workshop that morning.

Hope to meet you there!

Michelle Anton

Have you been praying for a miracle or wanted to crawl under a rock at the thought of your holiday credit card bills piling up? I just found a website that wants to change that. This is your chance to purge your shopping demons by confessing your holiday excesses to the world. Make it funny, make it sad, make it pathetic–you can even make it bad. Tell the world. Mint will pay the winning contestants’ credit card bills as of December 31.

While checking out mint.com today, I found a pre-announcement for its blog readers. So I wanted to share it with you ASAP. Mint wants you to submit your own story, in video or text, about your 2007 holiday shopping experiences. The best video and text submissions will each win up to $5,000 (and some free credit counseling). You can thank Aaron Patzer, founder and CEO of Mint, for this brilliant contest, which begins Thursday, January 31, at midnight, Eastern Standard Time. March 15th is the deadline for submitting your story.

Even if you aren’t interested in the contest, I urge you to check out the Mint website. It won’t cost you a cent, and it likely will save you money. It doesn’t matter whether you love or hate dealing with money matters. This site is for anyone wanting or needing to manage funds more effectively.

How Mint.com Works

• Mint.com is designed to make managing personal finances effortless.

• It’s free.

• It takes less than five minutes to get started/

• Users register anonymously using only a valid e-mail address, and then securely connect to their online bank, credit union and credit card accounts.

• Mint.com does the rest; users never need to import or sync any data. Mint.com securely downloads transaction data from more than 3,500 financial institutions on a daily basis.

• It applies patent-pending technology and proprietary algorithms to compile and categorize transactions, providing users with a unified view of all account activity with high degree of accuracy and detail in a single, easy-to-understand interface

• An advanced alerting system proactively lets users know about unusual or potentially suspicious activity, low balances, bank fees and charges, and upcoming bills.

• Beyond showing where your money goes, Mint.com also provides specific, individualized suggestions that can save you money.

Safety and Security
Mint provides the same level of online data security as top U.S. banks through a partnership with Yodlee, which has provided online banking services to major financial institutions for nearly 10 years. Mint’s privacy and security policies and systems have been certified by Hackersafe, RSA, TRUSTe and VeriSign. Mint never asks for a personal identity, requiring only a valid e-mail address.

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