Submission Guidelines for Small Business Secrets

Do You Have Tips, Tricks, or Hacks for Small Business Owners?

“You’ve got to be crazy.” That’s what I said to my business partner and now ex-wife 25 years ago when she suggested we open an indoor tanning salon. “Don’t you know the sun is bad for you?” I explained.

Additionally, neither of us knew anything about retail or indoor tanning.

After extensive research trying to prove my hypothesis — she’s crazy, I discovered the truth. I was crazy for my irrational fear of the sun. I learned you need sunshine like you need food, air, and water.

So, we opened the first of many locations.

Along the way, we learned marketing, finance, operations, human resources, and much more about running small businesses of many types. I received invitations to speak at conventions, consult small business owners, and conduct employee training.

But there still was a problem. Our small businesses were running us as much as we were running them. Taking a vacation was a nightmare. We were stuck living in that same small town as our businesses when we really wanted to travel and live someplace exotic.

Then the Great Recession hit and we were caught undiversified — entirely invested in one business sector.

We were economically devastated.

From the devastation came new opportunities. Those new opportunities meant leaving our small town. Although our business empire had shrunk to just three locations we still had to figure out how to run them from over 1,000 miles away.

And you know what? We figured it out.

Now we want to share that knowledge with as many small business owners as possible so they can run their businesses from anywhere — painlessly. Mostly.

If you have any tips, tricks, or hacks for running a small business from afar, then we’d love for you to submit your ideas to Small Business Secrets for publication.

First, Request to Be a Writer for Small Business Secrets

1. Leave a comment in this post, “Hey Don, make me a writer for Small Business Secrets.” (would it hurt you to clap a few times?)
2. Wait for a response, “Hey, thanks for the request. You’re amazing and now a writer for Small Business Secrets.” (you’re in the money now)

Second, Submit a Draft Once You Become a Writer for Small Business Secrets

1. Submit your unpublished draft by clicking the “…” button top right corner of your Medium homepage (fresh not stale, unpublished on Medium content please)
2. Select “Add to publication” (this is where the magic happens)
3. Chose “Small Business Secrets” from your long list of publications (I always assume the best)
4. Click “Add draft” to submit your story for review (by draft Medium really means polished and ready for publication)
5. Wait patiently or impatiently, your choice, for your draft to be approved or gently declined (we have a staff of editors — two to be precise and they’re underpaid)

How to Get Your Draft Gently Declined

1. Your post is way off-target, super dull, or over-the-top self-promoting
2. That’s about it

Good luck

Don Kermath & Rebecca Hollinger, editors