Carla Young knows all about branding for entrepreneurs. She’s the founder of MomeoCommunity.com and CEO of MomEO Magazine, a fantastic resource for mom entrepreneurs (mompreneurs). To help share some of her wisdom and insight on small business branding, Carla will be the special guest on the February 23 #smbiz Twitter chat (8-9 p.m. ET). Join Carla Young as she navigates us through the world of branding for small business and entrepreneurs by offering wonderful insight and sharing some expert tips. She’ll even share some tips on how to start branding your own business, whether you’re an online company, a small company that’s been around for a long time, or if you’re an entrepreneur just starting out and working from your home. In both cases, it’s important to have a strong brand identity in front of your customers.

The #smbiz Twitter chat takes place each Tuesday night from 8-9 p.m. ET and gives small business owners, entrepreneurs and solopreneurs a chance to network and learn from others on a variety of business-related topics.

Entrepreneurs should know there are several different areas that go into building a brand, including the design of a logo, advertising, slogans and, of course, all the intangibles that take place behind the scenes. Yes, even things like customer service go into branding because it can affect how a person or customer thinks about a brand through their experiences.

An important rule in small business branding is to avoid trying to position your mission as being everything to everyone. Coca Cola produces delicious soft drink beverages. They don’t also produce laundry detergent. Burger King is known for their flame-broiled burgers. They don’t also make aluminum siding. Knowing this, what’s your company’s position? What do you bring to the table? What are you going to be the best at?

Join the #smbiz chat on Tuesday, February 23 from 8-9 p.m. ET. Carla Young will talk about all of this and more, and you’ll have your chance to ask her questions about branding.

Wouldn’t it be great to do business networking online. Have a few minutes to introduce yourself, give your elevator pitch and take questions about your company and services? Now’s your chance.

You can join our small business chat on Twitter and promote your small business, product or services. Each person will get 3 to 5 minutes to tell us a little bit about their business and the benefits of their product or service. Chat participants can ask questions about the business to learn more. Since we’re doing this virtually, the moderator (@smbiz) will introduce each person and announce when their time is up. Sign up to promote your business by emailing smbiz@understandingmarketing.com. Tell us your Twitter username and the name of your business.

NEXT EVENT: Tuesday, February 9th from 8 to 9 pm ET on Twitter

What is #SMBIZ CHAT

Hosted each Tuesday from 8-9 p.m. (Eastern time zone) on Twitter.com, #smbiz is an open chat session where small businesses can get answers from expert panel members and other small business owners. Tthe thought is that we’re now able to meet virtually and help each other out with issues we face on a daily basis. If you’re new to Twitter, using a hashtag code (#) is a way to group all tweets for a specific chat. In this case, make sure you include “#smbiz” at the end of each tweet so that your thoughts are included in the chat session for everyone to see.

The hosts are John Sternal (@sternalpr on Twitter) and Chrisanne Sternal (@sternalmrktg on Twitter). John is a PR professional of nearly 20 years and Chrisanne is a marketing expert for almost as long. John and Chrisanne are also the creators of UnderstandingMarketing.com and The PR Toolkit.

Please join #smbiz on Tuesdays. Attendees get a chance to ask any questions they want in the area of running a small business – Accounting, Legal, HR, Sales, Marketing, PR, etc. (other marketers and PR pros are welcome to contribute as well). Check it out here http://tweetgrid.com/search?q=smbiz

If you have a question ahead of time, though, please feel free to email John at jsternal@understandingmarketing.com.

Joel is well known for providing a wealth of tips, information and all-around solid advice on all things franchising. He’s an industry consultant and has appeared on national media outlets talking about a wide variety of franchise-related topics. Joel normally tweets as @franchiseking but will be tweeting during the chat under his @franchisedog profile.

Here are a few areas we’ll be covering during the chat:

What is a franchise and what does it take to operate your own franchise? How much money to start one?

What are the main differences between operating a franchise and your own small business?

What should you look for when deciding which type of franchise is best for you?

Is it better to go with a well-known brand or one that may have very little brand competition in your area?

What are financing requirements for getting a franchise? How do you line up financing in today’s climate?

What are the differences in marketing for your franchise vs. your own business?

Is there a social media opportunity when you run a franchise? Why or why not?

So be sure to join all the #smbiz Twitter chat small business professionals and Joel Libava, aka The Franchise King, to learn all kinds of great tips and advice on running a franchise. Leave a comment here if there are additional issues in running a franchise you’d like to see us cover during the chat.

Small Business vs. Solopreneur

But just like a small business must brand itself a certain way, so do solopreneurs. The big difference with solopreneurs is that they’re often branding their name, because that’s what often is sold to prospects and clients. Image is still everything in 2010 and branding will continue to grow in importance. Understanding all this, many solopreneurs realize they could use a little help in understanding branding more and some ideas they can use to further develop their own brand so they have more effective marketing.

Enter Jennifer Bourn, a branding expert that woks with many solopreneurs and other businesses to create and maintain lasting brands for all kinds of industries. Join the #smbiz Twitter chat on Tuesday, Dec. 29, from 8-9 pm ET. Jennifer will be the special guest helping solopreneurs understand and even gain a few tips on branding their businesses in 2010. But even if you’re with a small business with several employees, don’t miss this chat because it’s never a bad idea to get a few branding tips that can be universally used for any company.

Here are a few areas we’ll cover during the chat:

–What is branding and how can it benefit a solopreneur?

–What are some myths associated with branding?

–How does social media play into branding for a solopreneur?

–How can solopreneurs and small businesses develop an effective brand on a limited or even no budget?

Make sure to check out #smbiz Twitter chat on Tuesday, Dec. 29, from 8-9 pm ET to learn all kinds of branding tips.

Join the #smbiz Twitter chat on Tuesday, December 15 from 8-9 p.m ET. Our special guest will be Kirk Taylor, a start-up strategist focused on educating entrepreneurs on being more effective business people. Kirk has plenty of experience in motivating employees at excelling well beyond their potential.

We’ve already received several questions that we’ll be asking Kirk to address, but come ready with your own questions so you can learn a few tips from Kirk on how to run a business with plenty of over-achieving employees.