Company: Small Business Television Network, St. Louis, MO
Company Description: Small Business Television Network (SBTV) is an innovative multi-platform media company that provides small business owners news and information to help them manage, grow and protect their businesses. We distribute our content both on the web and on TV with our unique magazine style show, Small Business Beat.
Nomination Category: Company, Office & Product Awards Categories
Nomination Sub Category: Most Innovative Company

Nomination Title: Small Business Television Network

   1. Tell the story about what this nominated company achieved in 2004 (up to 500 words). Focus on specific accomplishments, and relate these accomplishments to past performance or industry norms. Be sure to mention obstacles overcome, innovations or discoveries made, and outcomes:

Small Business Television Network, SBTV, is changing the way small businesses
access news and information.  Traditionally small business owners had very few
sources to obtain information vital to their enterprises.  Even though smaller
firms represent the majority of jobs and economic growth in America, providing
news to this audience is complex because of the varied industries, products and
even cultures represented. The challenge of SBTV was to develop an information
network that is inclusive and everywhere.

In 2003, SBTV released its all digital, ‘born on the web’ technology platform.
This innovation, based upon a single audio/video approach, delivers rich media that
allows small business to concentrate on the content not the technology. 

In 2004, SBTV capitalized on its cutting edge technology to create a viral
marketing strategy to distribute news and information to small business. 
Nationally recognized business organizations embraced SBTV’s approach to
delivering small business news.  Today you will find SBTV on the National
Association of the Self Employed (www.nase.org), Women’s Business Enterprise
National Council (www.wbenc.org) Entrepreneur.com, www.entreprenuer.com/sbtv)
and Latina Style Magazine (www.latinastyle.com) just to name a few.

Our 2004 successes did not stop with print and the internet.  You will find SBTV
on LCD screens in New York trains and buses.  SBTV also produces small business programming for traditional television outlets.  Small Business Beat is a
half hour magazine format program airing three times per week via the Turner
Cable Network and the Echo Star Dish Network.  These broadcasts give SBTV the potential to deliver small business news to 30 million households.  SBTV
contributes content to other traditional television outlets through segments
appearing on CNN, NBC, ABC, and FOX networks. 

Finally, our viral marketing approach and small business reporting would not be
complete without audience involvement.  Candy Bouquet was one of the first
businesses SBTV put on its growth watch list and profiled.  SBTV crews travel the
country attending small business conferences and meetings capturing our
audience opinions and successes in small business spotlights.  SBTV also made
it simple for Candy Bouquet and the hundreds of others to integrate these
interviews onto their web sites (www.candybouquet.com).

SBTV selected both video and audio as the primary vehicle to deliver content
because it is the fastest and most efficient way to disseminate information. 
However, delivering video over the Internet is still in its infancy.  In order
to deliver its content, especially developed against an advertising model, SBTV was required to innovate on this platform.  The first decision was to go against the industry norms of delivering to several platforms and concentrate on one platform that delivers to the widest audience.  This includes the established Windows and
Macintosh markets along with the growing LINUX platforms.  This platform
concentration and Macromedia’s Flash player allowed us to expend our resources
against algorithms that made video delivery more efficient.

SBTV is leading the way in ground-breaking technology and journalism for the
fastest growing segment of the U.S. economy:  small business.  We recognize
the American Business Award as an achievement for our business and industry.

   2. List hyperlinks to any online news stories, press releases, or other documents that support the claims made in the section above. IMPORTANT: List each link on a separate line, begin each link with http://, and enclose each link in square brackets; for example, [http://www.website.com]:

On-line Television: http://www.sbtv.com
30 minute TV Show (archived): http://www.sbtv.com/beat
SBTV’s e-newspaper: http://www.sbtv.com/newsletter
Entrepeneur.com: http://www.entreprenur.com/sbtv
National Association of Self Employed: http://www.NASE.org
Women’s Business Enterprise Council: http://www.WBENC.org
Latina Style: http://www.latinastyle.com

   3. Provide a brief (up to 100 words) biography about the leader of this nominated company:

Susan Wilson Solovic is CEO, best selling author, attorney, columnist,
motivational speaker and coach.  Ms. Solovic serves on the National Women’s
Business Council and served on the JFK School of Government Women’s
Leadership Board at Harvard.  She is the founder and facilitator for the St. Louis
Chapter of the Women Presidents’ Organization and was elected Assistant
Secretary of the International Board of Directors for the WPO.  She was chosen
one of St.Louis’ most influential businesswomen for 2004.  Ms. Solovic finds time
to sit on the advisory board for Enterprising Woman magazine and is a member of
the Missouri Bar Association.