Posts Tagged ‘contest’

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Contest: How do you use tablets in your business?

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In the past year, tablet ownership tripled in Canada and it will no doubt continue to grow. We love tablets and we know that many of our customers are using the technology in interesting ways from replacing paper to delivering presentations.

We love to hear about the creative ways small businesses are using tablets like the BlackBerry® PlayBook, iPad and Android™ devices. But we want to hear more – so to spread the love we are hosting a contest.

All you have to do is leave us a comment here on this blog post to be entered into our draw. The prize? One of our favourite smartphones – the Samsung Galaxy Note. What’s more, the winning entry will also have the opportunity to have their small business featured in Connected for Business magazine.

In your comment:

  • Tell us about your business or the work you do
  • What challenges have tablets helped you with at work?
  • What kinds of benefits have you seen since you started using tablets?

The RedBoard Biz team will narrow down the entries to our favourite three submissions and publish them on the blog the morning of June 8. Later that afternoon, the winner’s name will be drawn at random from one of the top three submissions and published on the blog.

Remember, creativity counts. Make your entry unique and be as detailed as you like. The contest starts today and ends June 8. A contest winner will be announced both here on our blog and via our Twitter account, @RogersBiz.

Alison is a regular contributor to RedBoard Biz

Contest Closes at 12 noon on June 8, 2012. Open to residents of Canada over age of majority, excluding Quebec.  To enter, leave a comment on our contest blog post on our business blog, RedBoard Biz. The top three entries will be entered into a random draw to win one (1) Samsung Galaxy Note valued at approximately $699.99.  One entry/person.  Odds of winning depend on quality of the entry and the number of eligible entries received.  Mathematical skill-testing question to be correctly answered to win.  No Purchase Necessary.  Full rules can be found here. 

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Contest: small business, big book review

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Rogers RedBoard Biz Book contest: The Lean Startup by Eric ReisHere at RedBoard Biz, we’ve decided to help our community of readers by discussing significant books for small businesses. In this post, we’ve recommended one of our favourite business books, and we want to hear about yours!

All you have to do is recommend –  in 100 words or less - your all-time favourite book for small business advice, tips or technology (a reason why would be great too!), and we will pick 5 winners at random to receive a copy of one of our favourite business books: Eric Ries’ The Lean Startup. Here’s a short summary of the book:

Our recommendation: The Lean Startup

Every small business can benefit from the tools that knowledge, technology and innovation provide.

The Lean Startup: How Today’s Entrepreneurs Use Continuous Innovation to Create Radically Successful Businesses, by Eric Reis, is a book of ideas about how to create a more successful entrepreneurial business, and  what can be learned from successful businesses to improve virtually everything we do.

The book provides powerful tools for companies to improve the speed and efficiency of their innovation process through minimum products, validated learning, innovation accounting and actionable metrics.

Rather than wasting time creating elaborate business plans, The Lean Startup offers entrepreneurs in companies of all sizes a way to test their vision continuously, adapt, and adjust before it’s too late. The author provides a scientific approach to creating and managing successful startups in an age when companies need to innovate more than ever.

Tell us your favorite book about small business for a chance to win a copy of Eric Reis’ The Lean Startup.

The contest winner will be announced both here on RedBoard Biz and via our Twitter account, @RogersBiz.

Lauren is a regular contributor to Redboard Biz

UPDATE (April 6, 2011, 12:00 pm): The Small Business, Big Book contest is now over. Thanks to those who shared their favourite books with us. We’ll be contacting the winners early next week. The post will remain open for comments, so please continue to leave us your recommendations on your favourite business books, however, any comments received after 12:00 pm on April 6 will be ineligible for a prize.

Contest closes at 12:00 noon ET on April 6, 2012. Open to residents of Canada who are 18 years or older, excluding residents of Quebec. To enter, tell us in 100 words or less, in the comments section of this blog post, about your favourite business book.  Prize: Participants are eligible to win one copy of The Lean Startup: How Constant Innovation Creates Radically Successful Businesses valued at approximately $39.00. One entry/person. Odds of winning depend on the number of eligible entries. Mathematical skill-testing question to be correctly answered to win. No Purchase Necessary. Full rules here.


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2011 year in review: top 5 posts

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Rogers RedBoard Biz year in reviewFor small businesses, the end of the year is the perfect time to do your business planning for the year ahead. From getting your financial books in order to setting business goals, the end of the year is a great time for planning for what’s next.

It’s also a great time to reflect on the accomplishments of the past year, which is what we’re doing here at RedBoard Biz. We’ve had a great year covering news and information to help power your business so to end the year, here is a recap our top 5 posts of 2011.

  1. LTE now live in Ottawa: On July 7, we announced the launch of Rogers LTE network in Ottawa. For small businesses, this launch meant a better experience with CRM tools, real-time video conferencing and multimedia communications. To help show the business benefits of LTE, we did a series of videos with Rogers Reade Barber and looked at things like online collaboration, LTE devices and a Remote Worker Healthcare application over LTE. In September, we rolled out LTE to Toronto, Montreal and Vancouver.
  2. Can WiFi Calling work for your business?: In March, we announced WiFi Calling for businesses. This service allows you to make calls by connecting to an office, home or public WiFi network and move seamlessly to the Rogers wireless network when WiFi is no longer available. The great thing about this service is that it can help businesses predict costs, extend coverage and it can also be deployed easily. To help us talk about WiFi Calling for business, we talked to industry analyst Jon Arnold in the first video in our RedBoard Biz video series, which featured 13 videos over the course of the year.
  3. Share your know-how: Small business week contest: Small business week was October 16-22 and to celebrate and acknowledge all the hard-working small business owners out there, we decided to host a three week long contest where RedBoard Biz readers shared their tips, ideas and insights for a chance to win a new BlackBerry smartphone. Your feedback was amazing. So amazing that we took your comments and summarized them into three additional blog posts highlighting some of our favourite responses.
  4. M2M: Machines are talking: You may have heard the term M2M being mentioned at some point this year so in this post, we wanted to take some time to explain Machine-to-machine technology (M2M) and what it means for your business. It turns out this was a topic you were interested in as this was among our top 5 most viewed posts of the year.
  5. RedBoard Biz celebrates 1 year anniversary: To mark the first anniversary of RedBoard Biz, we held a contest and asked you to tell us what you’d like to see on RedBoard Biz in the coming year for a chance to win a new BlackBerry. Your comments and suggestions were truly fantastic. Stay tuned in 2012 to see some of these topics featured on our blog.

On behalf of the team at RedBoard Biz, thank you for being a part of our community. All the best for 2012.

Miranda is a regular contributor to RedBoard Biz

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The best pieces of communication technology – shared by YOU!

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Communication Technology from RogersEver-growing communication technologies help power small businesses from the day they launch. Devices — from straightforward mobile phones to smartphones and tablets —give smaller businesses the ability to operate more nimbly and cost effectively. As part of the third installment of our Share Your Know-How Contest, we asked you to share with us the most important piece of communication technology you own or use in your business, and we’d like to share with you some of our readers’ favorites:

Blackberry

The BlackBerry was the device selected by most as their favorite communication technology, proving that it’s still a powerful tool for business. Robert writes, “My BlackBerry 9780 is an essential communications technology tool I use every day for receiving my push emails, bbm messages, text messages or using my WordPress app for publishing blogs to my website. As a communications technology developer I rely on Blackberry to test my apps and themes and believe it is an essential tool for my business to succeed.”

Mobile Internet Connection

“My most important piece of technology is my mobile internet connection. It allows all of my devices to work together easily and efficiently. The cloud is great for storing and sharing documents and my Blackberry and iPad are great mobile devices, but a good mobile connection is the difference between being ahead of the curve and falling behind.” – Gordon

iPhone

The mighty iPhone has long been a favorite with consumers, but it’s also a top-three choice among the businesses that responded. Sabinah says, “I could not live without my iPhone. For effective communication, one must have their email, twitter, and texting at their fingertips. I work remotely from BC and my office is in Manitoba. I’m a Rogers business client and I could not have continued to do my job so effectively if I didn’t have my iPhone as a communication tool.” – Sabinah

Tablet

Combining the portability of a smartphone and the processing power of a netbook computer, tablet devices have moved quickly beyond personal entertainment and are now deployed in companies all over the world. They were also a favorite with our respondents. “Hands down, my iPad, with a few apps and mobile me (now, iCloud), I can run my business on the go without being weighed down by a laptop. Also, the iPad allowed me to “go green” with paperless transactions.” – Trevor

For more insight from Redboard Biz readers, check out the other comments submitted for part one and part two of the Share Your Know-Contest.

Lauren is a regular contributor to Redboard Biz

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Top five tips for business – shared by YOU!

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Rogers small businessIf you own or manage a business, you know that no decision is ever easy. But one thing’s for sure – advice given at a time when you’re receptive can change your entire career—but only if you’re listening. As part of our first Share Your Know-How Contest, we asked readers “What is the best business advice you have ever received?” We were met with lots of inspired and interesting comments and thought we would share with you five of our favorites:

Listen

“Listen to your customers, vendors, truck drivers, and secretaries, anyone you interact with throughout the business day. There is information that all these parties have to offer that can be invaluable” – Bhupinder D

Ask for help when it is needed

“Don’t be afraid to bring in partners or ask for assistance from people who are good at things that you are not good at, or who enjoy doing things that you do not enjoy doing. No one goes it alone.” – Colleen C.

Identify your target customer

“Best business advice was to first identify your target customer. Work hard to understand who will use your product/service, what their habits are, how much money they might spend, what your value proposition is, and what your unique selling propositions will be.”- Jeff B.

Network

“Always look for opportunities. This does not mean trying to be a sales man at friendly gatherings, but look for new ways to network, to promote, or to cut costs.” – Contest_B

Follow-up

“One of the most important pieces of advice is to always make sure you follow up, whether it is to contact someone or if they contact you and you need to respond. You don’t know who they know and if you don’t follow up you could lose out on a potential opportunity.” – BLevy

For more insight from Redboard Biz readers, check out the many comments submitted for part two and part three of the Share Your Know-Contest.

Lauren is a regular contributor to Redboard Biz

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Share Your Know-How contest: What’s the best piece of communication technology you own?

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Rogers RedBoard BizWhen you think about the communications technology that helps power your business, what comes to mind? Is it your BlackBerry? Your laptop? What about cloud-based collaboration software? How about video conferencing or mobile working technology?

In our third and final week of the Share Your Know-How contest, we’re asking you to share with us the most important piece of communication technology you own or use in your business. What is the technology that you simply can’t imagine living without and what are the benefits for you and your business?

If you’ve been following along over the past few weeks, you know the drill but to recap, all you have to do to enter is leave us a comment on this week’s topic (100 words or less) to be entered into our final draw. The prize? A great piece of communication technology of course: a new BlackBerry Torch 9810.

A contest winner will be announced both here on RedBoard Biz and via our Twitter account, @RogersBiz.

UPDATE (November 9, 2011, 4:00 pm): The final Share-Your-Know-How contest is now closed. Thanks to everyone for sharing your feedback on your most important piece of communications technology. We’ll be announcing the winner of the BlackBerry Torch 9810 both here on this post and on our Twitter account, @RogersBiz. The post will remain open for comments, so please continue to leave us comments on your most important piece of communications technology, however, any comments received after 4:00pm on November 9 will be ineligible for the draw for the BlackBerry.

UPDATE (November 10, 2011, 11:20 am): Congratulations to Truly, the winner of the BlackBerry Torch 9810. We’ll be sending you your prize this week. Thanks to everyone who participated in our contest!

Miranda is a regular contributor to RedBoard Biz

Contest closes at 4:00 pm ET on November 9, 2011. Open to residents of Canada who are 18 years or older, excluding residents of Quebec. To enter, tell us in 100 words or less, in the comments section of this blog post, about where you go for inspiration.  Prize: Participants are eligible to win one (1) BlackBerry torch 9810 valued at approximately $599.00 each. One entry/person. Odds of winning depend on the number of eligible entries. Mathematical skill-testing question to be correctly answered to win. No Purchase Necessary. Full rules here. 

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Share Your Know-How contest: Where do you go for inspiration?

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What inspires you? As part of our celebration of Small Business Week, we’re continuing our Share Your Know-How contest and giving you another chance to win a new BlackBerry Curve 9360.

Here’s this week’s question: Where do you go for inspiration on how to grow and run your business?

With so many resources out there, the abundance of information can be overwhelming at times. That’s why we’re turning to you – hardworking entrepreneurs and business owners – to get your insight. When we say “where do you go for inspiration,” we’re not necessarily talking about a physical location. We’re really talking about web sites or online resources that you find helpful or inspiring.

For a chance to win yourself a new BlackBerry, just leave us a comment on this week’s topic (100 words or less) to be entered into this week’s random draw.

A contest winner will be announced both here on RedBoard Biz and via our Twitter account, @RogersBiz.

UPDATE (November 1, 2011, 2:00 pm): The Share-Your-Know-How contest is now closed. Thanks to everyone for your great suggestions and feedback. We’ll be announcing the winner of the BlackBerry Curve 9360 both here on our blog and on our Twitter account, @RogersBiz. The post will remain open for comments, so please continue to leave us comments on where you go for inspiration, however, any comments received after 2:00pm on November 1 will be ineligible for the draw for the BlackBerry. Also, remember there’s still one more chance to win. We’ll be holding another BlackBerry giveaway this week. Stay tuned!

UPDATE (November 1, 2011, 4:49 pm): Congratulations to Jason, our second winner in the Share Your Know-How contest! Jason, we’ll be sending you your new BlackBerry this week. Thanks to everyone who participated and make sure you check out our next contest for your final chance to win.

Miranda is a regular contributor to RedBoard Biz

Contest closes at 2:00 p.m. ET on November 1, 2011. Open to residents of Canada who are 18 years or older, excluding residents of Quebec. To enter, tell us in 100 words or less, in the comments section of this blog post, about where you go for inspiration.  Prize: Participants are eligible to win one (1) BlackBerry Curve 9360 valued at approximately $349.00 each. One entry/person. Odds of winning depend on the number of eligible entries. Mathematical skill-testing question to be correctly answered to win. No Purchase Necessary. Full rules here.

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Share your know-how: Small business week contest

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SMB AdviceIf you’re a small business, you probably already know that October 16 – 22 is Small Business Week. For 30 years, the Business Development Bank of Canada (BDC) has been organizing this special initiative to support and celebrate the achievements of the small and mid-size businesses. Throughout the week—and increasingly throughout October—organizations across Canada host events and launch programs that bring small businesses together to learn, network and have some fun.

Here at RedBoard Biz, we try to do our part throughout the year to help small businesses with tips, trends, tools and technology to help you better manage and grow your business. We also understand that sometimes you would rather hear from others like you—hardworking entrepreneurs who face challenges daily and find innovative ways to solve them. That’s why we’ve teamed up with our partner Research in Motion to bring you our “Share Your Know How” contest.

For the next three weeks, we’ll post a question and invite you to share your insight in a comment (100 words maximum).  You’ll be automatically entered in a draw to win a new BlackBerry Curve 9360. In addition to iconic features such as the BlackBerry keyboard and optical trackpad, this device comes with the new BlackBerry 7 OS software, making it a powerful communication tool for business.

A contest winner will be announced each week both here on RedBoard Biz and via our Twitter account, @RogersBiz. 

Ready to share your know-how with your peers? Here’s this week’s question:  What is the best business advice you have ever received?

UPDATE (October 20, 2011, 2:00 pm): The Share-Your-Know-How contest is now closed. Thanks to everyone for your great suggestions and feedback. We’ll be announcing the winner of the BlackBerry Curve 9360 both here on our blog and on our Twitter account, @RogersBiz. The post will remain open for comments, so please continue to send us your best business advice, however, any comments received after 2:00pm on October 21 will be ineligible for the draw for the BlackBerry. Also, remember there’s still an other chance to win. We’ll be holding another BlackBerry giveaway next week. Stay tuned!

UPDATE (October 27, 2011, 9:48 am): Congratulations to Darren, our first winner in the Share Your Know-How contest! Darren, we’ll be sending you your new BlackBerry this week. Thanks to everyone who participated and make sure you check out this week’s contest for another chance to win.

Geoffrey Booth is a regular contributor to RedBoard Biz

Contest closes at 2:00 p.m. ET on October 21, 2010. Open to residents of Canada who are 18 years or older, excluding residents of Quebec. To enter, tell us in 100 words or less, in the comments section of this blog post, about the best business advice you’ve ever received.  Prize: Participants are eligible to win one (1) BlackBerry Curve 9360 valued at approximately $349.00 each. One entry/person. Odds of winning depend on the number of eligible entries. Mathematical skill-testing question to be correctly answered to win. No Purchase Necessary. Full rules here.

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RedBoard Biz celebrates one-year anniversary

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RedBoard Biz celebrates 1 year anniversaryOne year ago today, we officially launched RedBoard Biz.

In our first post, we told you our vision for RedBoard Biz was to be a forum for discussions with small and medium businesses. We wanted this blog to be a place for us to share topics of interest and the latest news about Rogers products and services and how your business can use them.

We’re thrilled we’ve attracted a community of like-minded business professionals. From apps and interviews, to the latest product and network launches, we’ve covered a broad range of topics on this blog in the past year. We also launched a business focused Twitter account, @RogersBiz, which is growing steadily day by day.

We know you’re reading but now we want to hear from you. To celebrate our one-year anniversary and ensure that we continue to provide you with a broad range of content that’s of interest to your business, we’re having a contest.

Just tell us in the comments section of this post, in 100 words or less, what topics you’d like to see covered on our blog in the next year and you could win a new BlackBerry Curve 9360. How about game-changing technology trends? Q&As with business thought leaders? Tips to make you a smartphone power user? We’re open to your ideas.

We’ll be announcing the winner of the contest on this post and on Twitter next week. Good luck!

UPDATE (October 5, 2011, 12:14 pm): The RedBoard Biz Anniversary Contest is now closed. Thanks to everyone for your great suggestions and feedback. We’ll be announcing the winner of the BlackBerry Curve 9360 both here on our blog and on our Twitter account, @RogersBiz. The post will remain open for comments, so please continue to send us your suggestions, however, any comments received after 12 noon on October 5 will be ineligible for the draw for the BlackBerry.

UPDATE (October 6, 2011, 9:27 a.m): Congratulations to our winner Matt! We’ll be sending you your new BlackBerry Curve 9360 soon. Thanks again to everyone who participated in the RedBoard Biz Anniversary contest!

Miranda MacDonald is a regular contributor to RedBoard Biz.

Contest closes on October 5, 2011 at 12 noon. Open to residents of Canada who are 18 years or older, excluding residents of Quebec. To enter, tell us in 100 words or less, in the Comments section of this post, what topics you want to see on RedBoard Biz in the coming year.  Prize: one (1) BlackBerry Curve 9360 valued at $349.99 to be won. One entry/person. Odds of winning depend on the number of eligible entries. Mathematical skill-testing question to be correctly answered to win. No Purchase Necessary. Full rules here.

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Contest finalists: how has technology improved your business?

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Rogers Samsung Galaxy TabOn April 28, we announced our first contest here on RedBoard Biz, asking readers to submit stories about how technology has improved their business for the better. The entry period for our contest has now closed. We received great responses – ranging from original poetry to personal stories. We’ve narrowed down the entries to the following three finalists:

Marlow

Being in a small business that is in the medical field, technology has helped speed up consults and diagnosing. Such as using digital x-rays, which can be quickly, examined and emailed to various specialists, that can take a look in real time, especially with smartphone mobile devices. I can’t count the number of times of being in a bind and using either tethering or using my smartphone to quickly check send or check an x-ray. Tethering has also been beneficial being able to remote in and check schedules with patients and to work remotely from home.

Mr.Disco

My small business would not exist without technology. The advent of the internet, powerful computers, and cheap storage means I can work anywhere in the world selling my goods online, answering customer questions, and watching my inventory in real-time. That would be downright impossible 30 years ago. The next frontier is now shifting away from PCs and onto mobile devices and tablets. That will allow me to reach customers where ever they are and not just in a fixed location (i.e. their home or office).

Adam Ross

Technological advances allow me time to run and grow my business while taking care of my 2 boys. I can take calls from customers while running through fields or send email while hanging upside down from monkey bars. I’ve been known to schedule appointments on slides and quote jobs from trees. Technology allows me to efficiently tend to all matters, personal and professional, because as a small business owner, the line between the two is often blurred. Oh, and technology lets me know when my wife will be home so I can rush back inside to clean up.

A random draw of the three finalists will be conducted today and the winner of the Samsung Galaxy Tab will be announced here on Friday, May 13.

Thank you for sharing your stories with us and stay tuned to @RogersBiz on Twitter for news, information and updates about future contests.

Update (May 13, 10:02 a.m.): The winner of the Samsung Galaxy Tab is Marlow! (Marlow, we will get in touch with you via email to arrange delivery). Thanks to everyone who participated in the first RedBoard Biz contest. We enjoyed reading how technology has changed your business for the better in so many different ways.

Miranda MacDonald is regular contributor to RedBoard Biz

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