Have you ever tried to start a fitness regimen and not been able to carry it off? That’s happened to a friend of mine for, oh, decades now. She constantly talks about getting in shape and starts new fitness plans, but nothing ever really “took.”

Recently I ran into her and was amazed to see she looked totally different. Finally, her fitness efforts had paid off. When I asked her how she had finally succeeded, she told me she had made one little change: Instead of planning to work out at the end of the day, she started working out first thing in the morning. That one small change made all the difference.

What she said made a lot of sense to me. As most of us entrepreneurs know, it’s easy to have good intentions about doing something at the end of the day. But once you get into your workplace, it’s one thing after another. You’re so busy answering questions, dealing with customers, talking to your team and putting out fires that you lose track of time, and before you know it, the day is over. It’s no wonder my friend rarely made it to her workout. But by making one little change, she was able to ensure she got in some exercise every day—before anything else got in the way.

It’s the same way with your business. Often, making one small adjustment will have huge results. Even if you don’t have a business yet, but are just thinking about entrepreneurship, making one little change might be all it takes to make 2012 the year you really start your business (instead of just talking about it for another year).

What small changes could you make that will have huge results? Here are some ideas for startup business owners:

1. Take the time you normally spend watching TV each week (sorry, American Idol) and dedicate it to researching your business idea, writing your business plan and moving ahead with your goals.
2. Wake up an hour earlier and spend that time working on your business idea.
3. Commit to taking one small action a day toward your business dream. That could be something as simple as looking up where you need to go to get a business license. The key is to take one step every single day.

And here are some ideas for existing business owners:

1. Spend an hour each week thinking strategically about your business goals and assessing your progress in achieving them.
2. Start following up on overdue payments the day they’re overdue and making a plan for how and when those clients will pay you.
3. Commit to learning one new business skill a month, whether it’s how to use Twitter or how to read your financial statements. Then put that skill to use in your business.

Is there one small change you can make in your business that will make a big difference for the New Year?

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Happy Thanksgiving! What are you thankful for? Here’s some of what I’m thankful for this holiday:

1. Friends and family. It goes without saying most of the time, but this is the day to say it.

2. Clients. I’m thankful for the companies that had enough faith in our startup three years ago to take a chance on a new business–and help us grow.

3. Freedom. I’m thankful every day for the opportunity to strike out on my own. Entrepreneurship is challenging, but I could never go back to being an employee.

3. You! I’m thankful for all of you readers. We’re so glad you find something of value on this site to keep you coming back. Thanks for reading us, Tweeting us, and following us!

Keep reading–and watch for new and exciting changes on our site in the coming months.

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Did you miss any of my blog posts from around the Net this week? Read on to see what’s on my mind.

If you’re marketing with Twitter, that’s great. But there’s one simple thing you can do to greatly multiply the value of Twitter to your business. Find out in my blog on AT&T’s SmallBusinessInSite.

Does worrying about your business keep you up at night? You’re not alone, but there are some simple steps you can take to ease your concerns (and get some rest). Get my tips on the SCORE Success Blog.

What does Apple CEO Steve Jobs’ resignation mean to your business? A lot–even if you don’t use Apple products. Check out my post on American Express OPEN Forum to see what I mean.

Have you heard about workshifting? Working from anywhere has taken hold, and it’s not going away. Learn how the latest workshifting trends can benefit your business in my post on Anita Campbell’s Small Business Trends.

Workshifting’s a great habit to get into–but habits can easily become ruts. Find out how to get out of your rut and get with the times (which are a-changin’) in my AllBusiness.com column.

Are you a small business owner who’s also a military veteran? Then you need to know about some important changes that affect veteran-owned businesses’ ability to land federal contracts. Get the scoop on the Network Solutions GrowSmartBusiness blog.

Mad Libs is an improvisational game whose founder, Leonard Stern, died recently. Created over 50 years ago, Mad Libs has players fill in blanks in a partly-completed story, generating hours of fun as players come up with crazy outcomes. As in the game of Mad Libs, small business owners sometimes need to improvise in their companies by just making it up as they go along.

So here is the first Mad Libs for small business! This is how it works. The author—that’s me—creates a story or situation with missing words and the reader—that’s you—fills in the blanks. The results can be as surprising as Monday morning at your office.

For example, I have randomly filled in these words:

• ridiculous (adjective)
• hamster (noun)
• bizarre (adjective)
• tweeting (verb)
• swim (verb)
• car (noun)
• spell (verb)
• Zane (person’s name)
• puny (adjective)
• parrot (noun)
• beautiful (adjective)
• rowdy (adjective)
• dog (noun)
• cutting (verb)
• curtains (noun)
• moose (noun)
• 9 (number)
• iPads (plural nouns)
• flying (verb ending in –ing)

Here is my story with those words filled in:

I was just fired from my ridiculous (adjective) job. I didn’t really like it anyway because my boss was a hamster (noun). Luckily, I had a bizarre (adjective) idea. I always wanted to own my own business because I am good at tweeting (verb). The problem I solved for customers was helping them swim (verb) their car (noun) around the country. I decided to spell (verb) a business plan. I asked my best friend, Zane (persons’s name), to help. Since I was broke, I asked my puny (adjective) parrot (noun) for the money to start the business. They agreed.

The beautiful (adjective) business was a huge success from the start. We hired as many rowdy (adjective) employees as we could. The biggest problem was that the dog (noun) kept cutting (verb) the curtains (noun). Fortunately, it was only temporary.

After a few years, a very large moose (noun) came along and wanted to buy the company. I sold it for 9 (number) dollars and a few iPads (plural nouns). Now I spend all my time flying (verb ending in –ing).

Now you try it. Fill in the words below and then put them into the story that follows.

• ______ (adjective)
• ____________ (noun)
• _____________ (adjective)
• ________ (verb).
• ___________ (verb)
• ____________ (Noun)
• ____________ (verb)
• __________ (person’s name)
• _________(adjective)
• ____________ (noun)
• ___________ (adjective)
• __________ (adjective)
• __________ (noun)
• __________ (verb)
• _________ (noun).
• __________ (noun)
• __________ (number)
• __________ (plural nouns)
• __________ (verb ending in –ing)

I was just fired from my ______ (adjective) job. I didn’t really like it anyway because my boss was a ____________ (noun). Luckily, I had a _____________ (adjective) idea. I always wanted to own my own business because I am good at ________ (verb). The problem I solved for customers was helping them  ___________ (verb) their ____________ (noun). I decided to ____________ (verb) a business plan. I asked my best friend, ____ (persons’s name) to help. Since I was broke, I asked my _________(adjective) ____________ (noun) for the money to start the business. They agreed.

The ___________ (adjective) business was a huge success from the start. We hired as many __________ (adjective) employees as we could. The biggest problem was that the __________ (noun) kept __________ (verb) the _________ (noun). Fortunately, it was only temporary.

After a few years, a very large __________ (noun) came along and wanted to buy the company. I sold it for __________ (number) dollars and a few __________ (plural nouns). Now I spend all my time __________ (verb ending in –ing).

Don’t you wish your small business story was so easy to write?

Barry Moltz gets business owners growing again by unlocking their long forgotten potential. His most recent book is BAM! Delivering Customer Service in a Self-Service World.

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Do you know a small business influencer? Small Business Trends and Small Biz Technology have just announced the Small Business Influencer 2011 awards.

Small Business Influencer 2011 honors companies, organizations and people who have made a significant impact on the North American small business market.

A small business influencer is a person, company or other organization that has made a meaningful and lasting impact on the North American small business market. Influencers can be nominated in five categories:

1. Leaders
2. Corporations
3. Journalists
4. News Outlets
5. Gurus

You can nominate influencers until July 8–just go to the Small Business Influencers website.

Then, go back and vote for your favorite Influencers between July 11 and August 9, 2011. A panel of all-star judges will make the final selection in mid-August, and the Top 100 Small Business Influencers will be honored at an awards dinner on September 13, 2011.

I’m proud to say I’ve been nominated myself. Check out the Small Business Influencer site to learn more about the awards or to nominate an Influencer of your own.

Have you missed some of my blog posts from around the Web this week? Read on to see what I’m talking about.

Want to get your product into a celebrity’s hands? Former handbag entrepreneur Sarah Shaw shares the secrets for doing so in my post on American Express OPEN Forum.

With Memorial Day coming up it seems fitting to explore the options open to military veterans. Find out what resources are available for vets-turned-entrepreneurs in my post on Anita Campbell’s Small Business Trends.

Whether or not you’re a veteran, if you’re getting ready to start a business, you’ll want to read my post on “3 Steps to Bootstrapping Your Business” on the SCORE Success Blog.

I just got back from attending National Small Business Week. Read my AllBusiness.com column to learn what the SBA is doing to empower entrepreneurs.

If you try not to be too hard on your employees when doling out the feedback, maybe you should change your ways. Read the results of an interesting experiment in my post on Network Solutions’ GrowSmartBusiness blog.

What are your workers worried about? The answers may surprise you. Find out in my “Survey Says” column on AOL Small Business.

PostNet, the international shipping and printing franchise, wants to know what you’d do with $10,000 in a cash grant and $5,000 in shipping, graphic design and printing. If your answer is voted the best, you could win the grand prize worth $15,000! Even if you’re a finalist, you’ll win one of four American Express gift cards worth $200.

In honor of National Small Business Week, PostNet wants to help you further your business. All you need to do is “Like” the PostNet Facebook page, then fill out the entry form. Essays are limited to 800 characters and make sure you highlight your business’s innovation or industry potential, how well your business plan would effectively use the prize and how the prize will be meaningful to executing your plan.

Once you’ve entered, make sure you spread the word so family, friends, customers and business partners all vote for your business to win. The deadline to submit is May 31, 2011 so do it now! Voting ends June 8, 2011.

Miss any of my posts from around the Net this week? Check out the roundup here:

Are you worried your best workers are going to bail–but can’t afford to pay them more to keep them? Don’t worry, it’s not that hard. There are just two secrets you need to know to keep your team engaged–find out in my post on Anita Campbell’s Small Business Trends.

Or maybe you’re too engaged with your team–as in, you can’t stop micromanaging them. Find out the warning signs you might be a micromanager, plus how to break the habit, in my post on American Express OPEN Forum.

Or perhaps you’re ready to ramp up hiring–or at least, you need more help–but your budget isn’t cooperating. Get my tips for 4 ways to hire without breaking the bank over at the Small Business Navigation Program from Cox Small Business.

“Content marketing” may sound intimidating, but it’s really not–and if you sell business-to-business, you need to know about it. Learn how to content marketing can boost your sales in my post on Network Solutions’ GrowSmartBusiness blog.

Last, but not least, are we entering a new dotcom boom? Find out why I think so–and how not to get left behind–in my post onAllBusiness.com.

We just celebrated our third anniversary of business ownership. There’s not much I miss about being an employee. However several times a week I do yearn for the “good old days” of getting 7 or 8 hours of sleep a night—and what I now call IT on demand.

When you have regular access to them, IT people can be pretty annoying, constantly telling you what you can and cannot do.  But when you’re running your own shop, and something goes awry, you realize how lucky you once were. I’ve had plenty of tech issues as a business owner, including losing files (one of my laptops put itself into early retirement), contracting viruses, and experiencing email problems that can best be described as bizarre.  After trying numerous solutions (some worked temporarily, but none have been long reliable in the long term) I truly didn’t know what to do.

A few days after breaking out in tears of frustration at the Geek Squad counter because I couldn’t access my email, I was truly at a loss for a solution. And that’s when I got the offer to participate in this program with Rackspace. My life got immediately better when they sent me Microsoft Office 2010, which contains the new Outlook 2010.

As technology has advanced it has gotten so much less expensive to access and implement. A basic Rackspace plan starts for as little as $10 a month per user. If you’re a non-techy SMB owner like me (and I suspect most of you are), it’s almost like having IT personnel down the hall. I’ll let you know about my future experiences with the program, so you can gain insight into a hosted service solution.

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Did you miss any of my blog posts around the Internet this week? Catch up here.

Want to know what Snoop Dogg can teach you about business? Get the 411 in my post on AOL Small Business.

Spring is here–and it’s time to spring clean your business. Get ready for growth by reading my tips on American Express OPEN Forum.

Discover the secret source of great new employees that’s right under your nose (literally) in my post on Network Solutions’ GrowSmartBusiness blog.

Find out how your company’s use of social media measures up to other small businesses in my post on AT&T’s SmallBusinessInSite.

Want to build a better business? Use even one of the 9 tips I share in my AllBusiness.com column, and you’ll improve your company–fast.

Read about a new program that should help more women become angel investors (and more women entrepreneurs get angel capital) on Anita Campbell’s Small Business Trends.

Speaking of women entrepreneurs, American Express OPEN has some fascinating new data about how women business owners are faring. Read all about it in my post on AOL Small Business.

Whether you’re a startup or a longtime business owner, keeping up with your competition’s latest moves is key to success. Find out how in my post on the SCORE Success Blog.

For many small businesses, one of the office workhorses is the printer. I know our company couldn’t function without our (multiple) printers, which get daily workouts creating proposals, articles, letters and more.

Could your company use a new business printer? International manufacturer Brother wants to know how you would use an inkjet 11” x 17” All-in-One InkJet Printer with duplex printing and scanning capabilities to help you see the “bigger picture” for your business. Enter their “See the Bigger Picture” contest and you could win a $10K grand prize, awarded to the most relevant, creative and original entry which answers the question on how this printer could make your business more successful.

There are a couple ways to win: 1) Write your entry (in 25 words or more) as a “Comment” at www.shareyourbigpicture.com (you could also win one of five random drawings for a Brother prize pack which includes a $500 Apple gift card and a Inkjet All-in-One printer) or 2) simply retweet the message posted on the site for a chance to win a $500 Apple gift card.

For more information go to ShareYourPicture.com. Deadline for entries is March 30, 2011.