As you can see from the leaderboard, the first round of the Officejet Pro Challenge is too close to call in this final fourth week of feedback from our five small businesses. Who do you think has delivered the most useful insight into how the HP Officejet Pro 8500 Wireless can help small businesses get professional quality color printing with significant cost and energy savings?

If you haven't voted, be sure to head on over and check out this week's collection of blog posts. We asked the five companies to test-drive the HP Creative Studio for Business and use the free customizable templates to make some simple marketing materials for their own business. From business cards and flyers to trifold brochures,  I think you may be pleasantly surprised by what these business owners were able to create within a short amount of time using the HP Creative Studio --  and by their feedback on the quality of the printouts.

So make your opinion count and vote for your favorite posts. The winning small business will receive a prize package that includes keeping the printer, 1 year's worth of Original HP ink and paper, and a professional design package from Logoworks by HP.

Wish you could take the HP OfficejetPro Challenge? The call for entries for Round 2: The Laser Edition is now open. Go here to learn more and enter.

If you own a small business, I think you'll be interested to hear how you can save up to 50% off color printing cost per page and save up to 50% energy, too. You're just not gonna hear about it from me.

In the HP Officejet Pro Challenge, 5 small business owners have agreed to set aside their old printers to test drive the new HP Officejet Pro 8500 Wireless All-in-One and blog about their experiences.

HP thought it would useful for small businesses to hear firsthand what other small businesses think about printing everyday documents and marketing materials using the new HP Officejet Pro 8500 in comparison with their old printer. So useful, in fact, that we're asking entrepreneurs and small business owners to vote for the feedback they like most.

The small business who receives the most votes for the best posts will get to keep the Officejet Pro 8500 printer, plus they'll receive 1 year's worth of Original HP ink and paper and a custom design package from Logoworks by HP.

According to the votes for Week 1, the small business who provided the most useful feedback about opening the box and setting up their Officejet Pro 8500: Rheinart Marketing.

Up this week: See what the businesses think about printing costs and supplies -- and vote for the best post!

Angela LoSasso manages HP's Small Business Wiki and writes for the Small Business Marketing Guide. You can also find her on Twitter.

As a small business owner, odds are good you keep a keen eye on expenses. You think technology has its place: It should work for you and improve your bottom line. If this sounds like you, then read on...

HP is inviting all U.S. small businesses with 20 or fewer employees to check out the HP Officejet Pro Challenge. We want five small business owners to swap out their current non-HP printer and test drive the award-winning HP Officejet Pro 8500 Wireless All-in-One for 4 weeks. We want you to learn firsthand how you can get professional quality color printing while saving up to 50% cost per page and up to 50% less energy than comparably priced laser printers.

Simply share your experience online with other small business owners via HP's Small Business Community. Members of the community will review and rate your feedback. The participant who receives the most votes for "useful" feedback will be the grand prize winner.

The grand prize winner will keep the HP Officejet Pro 8500 Wireless All-in-One and will also receive a year's worth of free HP ink cartridges and paper plus a design package from Logoworks by HP.

Interested? Then hurry: You need to enter by Friday, July 10, 2009 to be considered for the challenge. See the details here.

Angela LoSasso manages HP's Small Business Wiki and writes for the Small Business Marketing Guide. You can also find her on Twitter.

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Here's one marketing secret I want
to share: You don't need a dime in your marketing budget to successfully launch
and build your brand. You simply need the right resources, a bit of time, and
the commitment to learn, improve, and share.

Free DIY Marketing Resources

The adoption and acceptance of
social media is very good news for small business owners. The quality of
marketing expertise that's available via blogs, communities and online
conversations is staggering and could cost you thousands of dollars were you to
actually pay for it out of pocket (I did when I had a business).  But why would you, if you can get the same
expertise for free (or at incredibly affordable rates)?

Your brand's "story" (the mission statement, logo, brochure, web site) is
often the reason customers decide to spend money with you.  Start building the brand story for your
business by checking out these free resources:

1. Small Business Marketing Guide:
   
   
   Top small business marketing experts such as Guy Kawasaki,
   Anita
   Campbell of Small Business Trends, and Duct Tape Marketing's John Jantsch  share their expertise,
   strategy
   and tips
   to help you develop and evolve the compelling story of your business . (As
   of this writing, the Small
   Business Marketing Guide also offers free marketing webinars, too.
   
   
2. 
   HP
   Creative Studio:
   
   

   

   This 2009
   Webby-Award winning site offers dozens of free, professionally designed templates that you can download,
   customize, and print for your business within minutes, including:

• 
  Business
  cards and Business Identity Kits
• 
  Stationery
  and Envelopes
• 
  Brochures
  and Business
  Forms
• 
  Website
  and Blog Templates

 The HP
Creative Studio is also a great asset to find tools, access to discounts,
and other DIY and affordable design services (such as Logoworks
and Stock
Layouts)  that professional marketing
agencies use every day.

3. Twitter:
   
   Get expert advice, get
   opinions and share your expertise with world (or just your neighborhood) -
   in real time.  Any marketing expert worth
   their salt is on Twitter, and you get their sage advice for free. Better
   still, many experts will follow you back and respond to your questions.
   Even better still, when you're ready to test drive your new marketing
   materials, the Twitter universe is a great place to ask for feedback and
   opinions. (Author and marketer Tara
   Hunt asked her Twitter followers to rate the jacket design of her new
   book "The Whuffie Factor", and she got hundreds of opinions plus free
   designs in response.)
   
   Use the following resources to get started and put
   Twitter to work for you (I've also included links to the resources'
   Twitter account):

• 
  How to Use Twitter to
  Grow Your Business (via @Copyblogger)
• 
  50
  Ideas on using Twitter for Business (by @ChrisBrogan)
• 
  We Follow (@wefollow): This is a user-powered
  Twitter directory that makes it extremely easy to find people by topic, company
  or interest. (You'll find me in WeFollow's
  HP category.)

Take the first few steps to launch
your brand - there's a world online ready and willing to help. Including me.

Angela LoSasso manages HP's Small Business Wiki
and writes for the Small Business
Marketing Guide. You can also find her on Twitter.

Best advice I ever received from a mentor: There's a wealth
of business expertise out there. Always be willing to ask questions, listen and
learn.  

Luckily, people much smarter than me are willing to answer
and share. Download, print, and curl up on the sofa with these eBooks written
by leading small business experts:

• 9 Steps to Outstanding Market
  Success, by Oliver Fritsch and Ines Bitsch
  
• PR for Startups (I also recommend The Essential
  Guide to Social Media), by Brian Solis 
  
• 100 Best-Kept Marketing Secrets, by the Readers of Small Business Trends
• Lose Control of Your Marketing, by
  David Meerman Scott
• Unleashing the Ideavirus, by Seth
  Godin

Ready
to launch your own DIY marketing?

• Get
  professional color printing for up to 50% lower cost per page and use up to 50%
  less energy than laser. 
  -- Learn more
  about Officejet printers and ink
• Visit the HP Creative Studio for
  marketing materials, tools and resources you can start using today.
  -- Grow your
  business with the HP Creative Studio
• Check out cool DIY and
  affordable custom designs from MarketSplash by HP
  -- Get 100 free business cards from MarketSplash
  

Angela LoSasso manages HP's Creative Wiki and HP's Small Business Wiki. Inbetween creative projects, you'll find her on Twitter.