If you focus on Small Business, don't keep it a secret...

  • Article

By now you have probably heard about the Small Business Specialist Program that Microsoft unveiled at WorldWide Partner Conference earlier this month. Also, you have probably started to see the various Press Releases announcing the first Small Business Specialist Partners in several locations around the US. In addition, the Partner locator tool on the Small Business Center is now sorting Small Business Specialists to the top of the list to make it even easier for Small Business customers to find a local Partner who truly does focus on their sized business.

This brings me to the point of this post... If you are a Partner focusing on Small Business and are going to go out and achieve the Small Business Specialist designation, you might want to be sure to update your Partner profile to show your focus on this segment. Without doing this, your Partner profile will not be linked with any Small Business segment profiling, including the Partner Locator Tool on the Small Business Center. So how do you do this?

Step 1: Browse to https://www.microsoft.com/partner
Step 2: Click SIGN IN
Step 3: Log in with Passport
Step 4: Click "Manage Your Account"
Step 5: On the left navigation bar, click on "Business Operations Profile"
Step 6: Click "Update Business Operations Profile"
Step 7: Under "SMALL BUSINESS" Heading, be sure to check "YES" that you work with Small Businesses
Step 8: Under "BUSINESS GROWTH" Heading, be sure to check the appropriately sized businesses you focus on, including the Small Business sizes if you focus there
Step 9: Under "RESOURCE DIRECTORY LISTING" Heading, be sure you select, "Yes, list my organization"
Step 10: Click "UPDATE"
(NOTE: Changes can take up to 48 hours to take effect)

As a secondary item, after completing the items above, you may want to take a few moments while you are in your Partner profile to also browse the other sections to ensure the most up to date information is listed and accurate.

Thank you and have a wonderful day,

Eric Ligman
Microsoft US Senior Manager,
Small Business Community Engagement
This posting is provided "AS IS" with no warranties, and confers no rights