If you own a small business there is a good chance that the local Chamber Of Commerce has small business seminars from time to time. Sometimes they call the seminars small-business summits and they are worth attending.

Sometimes they are put on by the Small Business Administration (SBA), Service Corps of Retired Executives (SCORE), Active Corp of Executives (ACE), Small Business Development Centers (SBDC), Mayor's Roundtable or The Economic Development Association. No matter who puts the seminars on they are often worth attending.

Even though much of the information you will learn will be old hat to you, there will be always some new piece of information you pick out which can help you in your business. Additionally it is a great place to network and meet other small businesses. These other small-business people might refer customers to you.

Sometimes the speakers at these conferences and seminars or summits are decent, but often they are not. Of course all the speakers claimed to be world-class marketing experts, but in reality that is a marketing trick within itself. You see, many of the people teaching at the seminars do so only to get new clients for their marketing consulting business.

At the seminar they will give out free marketing guides, promotional tips and invite you to their web site where they might have business articles to further entice you to use their consulting services. Be careful when choosing a marketing consultant and make sure they know what they are talking about and they have expertise in your industry. Please consider this in 2006.