Marketing lab helps small business entrepreneurs achieve growth, increase sales and acquire new customers - "call for entries" open today

ST. PAUL, Minn., Deluxe Corporation today announced its call for entries for Project REV, a year-long marketing lab that provides U.S. small business owners with the tools and expert resources needed to grow their businesses. Appealing to the 50%1 of small business owners who claim that effectively reaching customers with limited resources is their biggest challenge, Project REV will provide each selected business with $15,000 in Deluxe marketing products and services as well as a year's worth of business and marketing mentorship. Interested small business owners can apply online at www.projectrev2012.com from August 1 - September 30, 2011.

Small business owners selected for Project REV can use the $15,000 to benefit from the many affordable marketing products and services offered by Deluxe, including web site development and hosting, logo design and branding, email marketing, and traditional direct marketing. Project REV first launched last year when nine small business owners were selected and given $5,000 in marketing products and the services, in addition to business and marketing mentors. After one year, as a group, these nine business owners collectively doubled their sales. Deluxe will choose seven to ten participants for Project REV 2012 and the monetary increase in products and services will allow the business owners to take advantage of new offerings from Deluxe, such as web-to-print services and search engine marketing (SEM).

The latest Project REV call for entries also follows a recent Deluxe small business survey uncovering that 75% of small business owners were motivated to start their own business in order to pursue a personal passion and work for themselves. They are so passionate that if given more free time, 40% of small business owners would spend it on their current business or try to start another new business venture.

"Today's entrepreneurs and small business owners are passionate about their businesses and not necessarily about marketing," said Laura Radewald, vice president of enterprise brand at Deluxe. "Small business owners are often frustrated with marketing and unsure if they are doing it effectively. Because of Project REV, nine small business owners were able to take a step back from the day-to-day demands of their business and create marketing plans that helped them reach their target customers and achieve revenue growth."

Like last year's Project REV, Deluxe again partners with SCORE, a non-profit organization dedicated to entrepreneur education and small business success nationwide since 1964. SCORE is comprised of over 13,000 volunteers and mentors who offer small businesses and entrepreneurs valuable business counseling services. SCORE will support Project REV with information resources and a skilled business advisor for each of the chosen participants.

"We are delighted to renew our support for Project REV so that small business owners can be mentored as they start and plan for real growth," said Kenneth Yancey, Jr., chief executive officer of SCORE. "Our SCORE advisors understand the challenges and decisions that face many entrepreneurs and small business owners today and will bring their real-world business expertise to Project REV participants."