I spent time at the beach in the mid-Atlantic region this summer and while I was ordering margaritas or shopping for local peaches, I came across many workers that I suspect were illegal immigrants, including many from Russia and Mexico.

Maybe you know someone who employs an illegal immigrant. Some small businesses thrive thanks to this labor pool.

So what happens when the federal government decides to crack down on businesses that hire illegals, instead of focusing on border security and long fences?

It's not going to be pretty.

Jason Reed / Reuters

Protesters calling for immigration law reform wave U.S. flags as they march past the Capitol Building during a rally on the Washington Mall last year.

The federal government is preparing to introduce new rules that will punish businesses that knowingly hire and keep illegal immigrants on the books. The punishment could be as high as $10,000 per illegal employee.

It's called the "No-Match" regulation.

The government will notify employers if a worker's name and Social Security number don't match government records. The employer then has 90 days to either figure out if there's an error or fire the worker.

Small-business advocates are being cautious on their take of the new law. "Until we see how this actually plays out in the real world, we're adopting a wait-and-see attitude," says a spokesman for the National Federation of Independent Business.

It's easy to end up hiring one of these folks. Have you seen fake IDs lately? They're nothing like they were when I was underage and trying to sneak into bars.

And let's face it, small firms typically don't have an HR staff at the ready making sure everyone's documents are in order. You have to be an expert to figure that out today.

I would think most entrepreneurs who didn't know they had illegal workers in their midst probably will respond quickly to a "No-Match" notice. Why wouldn't they?

But what about those small business owners who know exactly what they're doing? (Many restaurant owners and small farmers say they need undocumented immigrant workers to survive.)

This isn't a tiny group hiding in the shadows. There are 7.2 million illegal immigrants holding jobs in the United States, or about 5 percent of the nation's total work force, says the Pew Hispanic Center.

So what do we do with the people writing the paychecks?

Bust 'em, Danno! That's probably what Lou Dobbs would say. (The CNN commentator has been on a one-man crusade to rid the country of every last illegal worker.)

I have mixed feelings on the issue.

If the firms that use illegal workers as a way to keep their payroll costs down were stopped, then there would be more good-paying jobs for Americans. But I understand how immigrants are desperate to make a better life for themselves here. (My parents, who are both of Greek descent, were looking for a better life when they came to America from Turkey.)

At the same time, it's unfair to small business owners who play by the rules to be undercut by their lawless counterparts. On the other hand, if legal U.S. residents were clamoring to pick fruit or bus tables, then the need for illegal workers would diminish, an argument U.S. business owners have been making for years.

Alas, "If ifs and buts were candy and nuts we'd all have a merry Christmas."

No matter where you stand, fines supposedly are coming for those businesses that fail to do something about their "No-Matches" starting Sept. 14.

Let's see how savvy, albeit naughty, entrepreneurs get around this one.

"So, OK, maybe I don't know what I'm doing."
 
I recently read this line in a blog written by a small business owner.
 
The blog goes on to include other demeaning things about this guy's own business, albeit tongue and cheek. But even if he was the Rodney Dangerfield of the business blogosphere, I would argue that putting down your business or yourself is not a great way to garner faith in your product or service.
 
I know, I know, blogs are supposed to be more personal, allow you to let your guard down and get close with your customers and potential customers. But sometimes these online business diaries go horribly astray.
 

Orion Pictures / AP

Rodney Dangerfield is shown in this promotional movie still from the 1983 film "Easy Money."

I'm probably setting myself up for a lot of criticism, since many of you will see this as a great opportunity to dog what I'm doing in this blog. But I'll take my chances. You guys need help.
 
Here's what I consider the top blog blunders:
 
* Don't Dangerfield: It's a bad idea to put yourself or your business down in your blog. I don't care what people say, they don't want to spend their hard-earned dollars on a product or service that may seem subpar in any way.
 
* Skip the Freudian slip: Be personal and funny. That's a great thing. But don't go overboard with your life's saga. We don't want to know if you just got divorced, or the details of your experiences on a singles' cruise, or that your kid's first tooth came in.
 
* No bore zone: I'd rather hear about your sexual escapades than be bored to tears by a list of the new customers you signed or dry financials. That's not a blog. That's a newsletter. Understand the difference once and for all.
 
* Missing in blog-tion: If you decide to take the blog plunge you actually have to write posts more often than once a month. Just having a blog Web site does not a blog make. People will know you're a blog fraud, and it's better to go blog-less than pretend.
 
* Bloggy double: One of my big pet peeves with blogs is when there isn't one main blogger writing the thing. Blogs -- I know most of us forget this – are supposed to be online diaries or journals. They are not a free-for-all forum for every Tom, Dick and Harry at your company. That creates a blog with no strong voice. Without that, you won't get people to keep visiting.
 
* Silence the CEO: There's been this disturbing trend throughout the business world where the CEO writes the company's main blog. This is only a good idea if the CEO has a great personality and can write. This is rare. Trust me, I've interviewed hundreds of CEOs.

One honest small business owner, Donna Maria Coles Johnson, founder of Indie Business Media, shared some mistakes she made with her first blog: Not enough pictures, paragraphs were too long with no breaks and she didn't post regularly because she got bored.

 She even provided me a link to her old, bad blog, and a link to her new one to see the difference.

Ahhh. Much better. Don't ya think?
 
If you want to still be self-deprecating, at least hire a comedy writer.
 
Here's how Dangerfield did it: "I could tell that my parents hated me. My bath toys were a toaster and a radio."
 

When you work from home you start to think the world outside doesn't know you exist anymore.
 
It can be a thankless and lonely life. Trust me. I spend a lot of time talking to my dog Odysseus.
 
That's why I was excited when I found out there was going to be a new listing for the top home-based business in the United States, a la the 'Fortune 500'.
 
Turns out someone thinks we matter.
 

Eve Tahmincioglu

The two brothers that run StartupNation.com, an entrepreneur information site, decided to start an annual top 100 list for home-based businesses, and the contest to pick the winners kicked off this month.
 
Jeff and Rich Sloan are the founders, and since they started out as home-based warriors they understand our plight.
 
They worked in a windowless basement for eight years. That's why they decided to create the Home-Based 100 List.

"We believe that more spotlight needs to be put on the home-based entrepreneur," Rich Sloan says. "With the vast majority of media attention focusing on big name companies in the Fortune 500 or fast-growth high-fliers in the Inc. 500, we thought it was about time that attention be given to the heroes running 50 percent of all businesses – based at home."

"We want to celebrate the spirit, creativity, determination and economic contribution of home-based entrepreneurs. Over $500 billion is contributed to the U.S. economy annually by these blue jeans-wearing home-preneurs."

Ugh, home-preneurs. Don't like that. (See my mompreneur post.)

Anyway, I won't let his language faux pas derail my enthusiasm for the list.

If you want to throw your hat into the ring and be considered for the StartupNation list check out this link.

"When we publish the stories of the triumphs and tribulations of the winners in mid-October, it's going to raise significant awareness of home-based business," Sloan explains. "Hopefully it will inspire many more people to take steps to open their own home-based business."

If it does inspire you, though, think long and hard before you join the ranks of the lonely and underappreciated.

Working at home isn't for everyone. I've known many people who tried and failed miserably. One colleague couldn't keep her head out of the fridge and had to quit or end up not fitting into her desk chair. Another was so lonely he would spend too much time hanging in coffee shops hoping for strangers to talk to him.
 
Keep in mind, you'll never be off the clock. I'm often working past 7 p.m., much to the chagrin of my husband who has vowed to padlock my office door.
 
And the biggest problem is self-motivation. You're on your own, buddy. No bosses hanging in the wings helping you keep on the straight and narrow work path.
 
Summer is the hardest for me, especially when I hear the birds singing outside my window -- I really want to head out to the garden and dig something up.
 
But no, the cold, hard computer is beckoning.
 
How do you guys cope, or not cope with working from home?

Are you sick of the Gap and Macy's telling you what to wear? Then go small.

How about bypassing the mall and checking out your town's small, independent boutiques? They're out there people, I promise you. You probably drive by one everyday, or stroll by one on your community's main street.

Based on the most recent Small Business Administration figures, there are about 63,000 clothing and accessories shops with fewer than 20 employees in the U.S.

Check out an article in New York Magazine  this week about a bunch of small, women-run boutiques that are setting the fashion trends for Manhattanites. Yes, New Yorkers aren't born wearing Prada. Someone has to tell them how to dress, just like the rest of us. It's not just the big retailers guiding the latest styles in the Big Apple.

All the boutique owners profiled in the magazine, most of which are in their 30s, have their own eye for clothes and don't have to follow the dictates of the mega chains, which are mainly run by men. The independent retailers are more likely to give new designers a chance and they also have the advantage of knowing their clientele.

"My girl wants to get a lot of use out of an item," says one boutique owner, Lara Fieldbinder of Dear Fieldbinder, in the article. "I didn't have a lot of money growing up in Texas, so I know what it means to buy a $150 shirt. Can you wear it once a week? Can you layer it?"

Maybe we've already begun to rethink where we shop. Many of the big retailers are struggling. Macy's reported a 76 percent drop in quarterly earnings last week.

OK, I know New York and L.A. are usually one step ahead of the rest of the country, but fashion gurus say there's room for the smaller guys across the nation.

"The advanced and contemporary customers seeking out the latest and newest trends, often feel they'll find them sooner in small retail venues," says Lori Holliday Banks, a senior fashion analyst for Tobe, the retail-consulting firm that publishes the long-time fashion forecasting Tobe Report.

And, she adds, sometimes smaller manufacturers are more inclined to sell their goods to a boutique instead of dealing with the gigantic retailers that often expect financial help to market products.

Even though no one thinks consumers will totally forgo department stores and chains any time soon, a small boutique with "fresh" products and stellar customer service can find a niche and success, says Roseanne Morrison, fashion director for global trend firm The Doneger Group.

It makes total sense.

Aren't you gals and guys sick of the lousy choices and service at the big chains? We don't all want to look like ready-to-wear versions of heiress Paris Hilton or rapper Busta Rhymes when they're not in their jail jumpers.

What a great moment in history to be a small maker of toys in the United States of America.
 
Questionable Chinese labor practices? Loss of well-paying U.S. manufacturing jobs? These weren't good enough reasons to get us buying American products. But poisoned toys? That may just do the trick.
 
Who would have ever thought that megaretailer Toys "R" Us, awash in Chinese toys, would actually be looking to buy more U.S. made products? "We are exploring it as we speak," a spokeswoman for the retailer told me this week after the latest recall of millions of toys tainted with lead paint or made with dangerous, potentially harmful magnets.
 
This is a shout-out to all small toy makers in this nation, and to those aspiring entrepreneurs who have the toy industry in their sights. It's a perfect storm for firms here to break in.
 
With some 80 percent of toys available at retail made in China, it can be hard to find toys made in the USA.
 
A recent trip to a dollar store with my kids and nieces in tow turned out to be a bust. I promised them all they could have one toy. The only parameters – the toys could not be made in China and couldn't cost more than $2.
 
After searching the store shelves for about 40 minutes we turned up nothing that met my simple criteria. I decided to change the challenge a bit. There was no money limit on the toy, but it still couldn't have the "Made in China" label.
 
The kids were able to find two things: A roll of bubble gum made in Mexico and a deck of playing cards made in America. (Well, it was a Japanese firm's U.S. subsidiary.)
 
But with a bit of searching, you can find a few domestic firms. USMadeToys.com is a great place to start, offering an array of toys from a host of U.S. companies. Tim Cooke, the site's owner, told me he's seen an uptick in sales this week given the recent Mattel recall. "CNN even called me," he says.
 
Maple Landmark, a 28-year-old Vermont wooden toy maker, has seen sales rise given all the media hype. Owner Mike Rainville has seen toy recalls come and go, but this one has really hit home with people given the many tainted goods, including recalls for tainted Chinese toothpaste and pet food. "You don't poison people's pets, and you don't endanger children," he says.
 
We're all to blame for the influx of Chinese goods. There I was at a dollar store looking for the cheapest toys I could find. And the family room in my house if filled with cheap Chinese-made toys, piled high.
 
My mom reminded me recently that we used to get one fairly expensive toy for Christmas and it would last for years and years. Today, holidays and birthdays are filled with an avalanche of toys. Why? Because they're cheap -- cheap in price and quality.
 
We all deserve what we've ended up with now, killer toys. How do you maintain such low prices without compromising quality and  safety? This was inevitable.
 
Now that doesn't mean U.S.-made toys are completely safe, but I'll take my chances with my fellow-countrymen.
 
So come on toy makers, let us eat apple pie. I know it's still summer, but the holiday shopping season will sneak up on us soon and it's going to be tougher explaining to the kids that Santa couldn't pony up this year because his elves were all hammering away in a Chinese factory.

A self-employed colleague of mine recently called me on the telephone. Can you stand it? I felt so honored that she actually put down her PDA to pick up the phone and call. Usually she interacts with the world outside via e-mail, as I do.
 
She made a point of telling me at the beginning of our conversation: "I rarely call anyone on the phone."
 
Her pronouncement implied that she considered me sort of special to abandon her regular e-mail routine. I felt a lot of pressure to make the phone call great for her. I'm not sure I succeeded, having been out of practice myself for a while.
 
Call me a technoramus.
 

Business Wire

There's something about old-fashioned tools that just make us better people, better communicators. We think nothing about quickly writing an uninspiring e-mail with little panache and lots of typos, but in a phone conversation you have to try and be witty, engaging. An instant message is barely English these days, but in a lunch meeting with a colleague or customer you have to be articulate and not look like a slob.
 
Small businesses of all types are spending too much time sending e-mails in lieu of real, thoughtful conversation. More than 50 percent of small business owners now spend about one to two hours reading or writing e-mail on a daily basis, according to a recent survey by payroll company SurePayroll. The study found that 62 percent of small business owners believe e-mail is equally effective as or more effective than in-person or phone communication.
 
It's gotten worse thanks to cell phones and PDAs with Internet access. E-gadgets are causing us to abandon the humanness within. They're like technological body snatchers.
 
I really believe my new iPhone has made me look like a zombie to colleagues, friends and family. I'm on the stupid thing 24-7, checking e-mail while in the car or while watching "Hells Kitchen" Monday nights. I'd never think to call an editor or source after 6 p.m. on the telephone, but e-mails sent at 2 a.m. via my trusty iPhone? Why not?
I recently asked Susan Wilson Solovic, CEO of the Small Business Television Network, if she thought we're all going mad. She assured me we weren't but had words of caution: "It is easy for clients and customers to misinterpret e-mails because they can't hear the tone of your voice.  As a result, unanticipated problems may arise. So for any types of messages that may elicit an emotional response, it's best to use the phone, minimizing the risk of misunderstandings."

Full disclosure here: I e-mailed her my question. So, feeling like a techno-hypocrite, I forced myself to pick up the phone.

Ring, ring, ring.

"Hello, this is Susan."

"Hello, this is Eve."

"Have we all gone mad?" I ask again, but this time using my vocal cords.

"No," Solovic responds. "Since many small business owners work odd hours, e-mail is an easy way to get things done."

But, she adds, "many small business owners hide behind e-mail." They don't have time or the desire to get into a confrontation with a client or customer. "With e-mail they don't have to experience the emotion."

Unfortunately, no pain often means no gain.

So get on the phone and resolve the dispute or issue ASAP. Say, "Let's talk," suggests Solovic. "It's amazing when you get someone on the phone and hear their voice. It's easier to resolve conflict."

"Thanks," I say. "Got to run. I'll e-mail later."

How do you prefer to do business, by phone, e-mail or in person?

Earlier this week, I found myself rummaging through my 7-year-old daughter's jewelry box. I was on a mission to throw out every little fake metal trinket made in China she has accumulated in her short life.
 
There was plenty of it, but I was undeterred. With news now that faux jewelry made in China may be tainted with lead I had to do my motherly duty to rid our home of the poisonous scourge. I've also stopped buying food from China, toys from China and anything else from China. This is not an easy task.
 
But my mission -- a growing mission among many people in this country -- is probably making a lot of small business owners see red. It's not just big companies like Mattel feeling the brunt of the China backlash.
 

Fisher-Price

More and more small businesses are also looking to China to find cut-rate prices on goods, but unsafe products can spell doom for the little guys who don't have deep pockets to weather the fallout if the Chinese products they import end up to be deadly.
 
A small tire importer from New Jersey, Foreign Tire Sales Inc., couldn't even afford a recall when it figured out recently that the tires it was getting from China were missing a key safety gum strip and could suffer tread separation. The company claims such a recall, which would have included thousands of its tires, would put it out of business. They're suing the Chinese manufacturer for damages.
 
Small businesses might be taking a big risk when they deal with Chinese suppliers.
 
"Multinational megafirms can afford to fail in China," says Rob Collins, author of "Doing Business in China for Dummies." "Small and medium-sized firms can't."
 
Once mainly a haven for the big boys, Asia is increasingly is becoming a new  frontier for many small businesses. About 12.6 percent of small business owners polled in 2004 by the National Federation of Independent Business bought some products from firms outside the U.S., with the bulk of those purchases coming from Asia.
 
Is it a good or bad thing? It could be bad if entrepreneurs let dollar signs cloud their common sense and fail to do enough to stop unsafe junk from getting into the hands of U.S. consumers.
 
Of course, sometimes it works out great. Randy Horn, president of game maker Zobmondo Entertainment, gets the bulk of his products from China. "I have not had any problems yet," he says.

Some things he has going for him:

* "My products are not painted in any way.  So I am not worried about the lead paint issues."

* "My factory is privately owned and very rarely subcontracts work out to other factories," he says. The contractors he uses there all have "the equipment necessary to handle everything in house.  They also have chosen to limit the number of customers that they have.  So they are really not feeling the pressure to grow."

Alas, no one is completely safe.

Large U.S. manufacturers and importers say they have strong quality control measures in place, but Chinese suppliers are still sending tainted toothpaste and fish.
 
Small firms typically have few to no quality controls, says Collins. Companies need to take charge of production in China, he adds, but that means the little guys have to start spending more time in Asia to make sure the companies they're working with over there are up to snuff.
 
As if small business owners have the time and money for that. A round-trip ticket to Beijing is easily over a grand, not to mention the 13 hours of flight time.
 
Can you say, "Made in America"?

Let's say there's a horrific natural disaster in your town. Don't you think it would make sense to have the small businesses in that community get the bulk of government contracts to rebuild the community?
 
Duh!
 
Alas, it's not a "duh" to the federal government.
 
Last week, the House Small Business Committee reported that the government dropped the ball when it came to this very simple concept: Let Gulf Coast small businesses share big time in the reconstruction efforts to rebuild after Hurricane Katrina.

You can see Committee Chairwoman Nydia Velazquez, D-N.Y., grilling officials from the six government agencies that are now under fire for their contracting practices on YouTube. Watch them squirm.

The hearing, titled "Disaster Planning and Recovery: Are We Ready for Another Katrina" took place Thursday and reviewed the government's crummy job of giving small businesses and entrepreneurs in the region a substantial chunk of the already $2 billion spent there.

The hearing and report got little media attention, but it's important for all of us to keep an eye on this.
 
Velazquez appears to be staying focused on the issue. In April, her committee held a hearing in New Orleans to address contracting in the region and found local small business did not get prime contracts. Instead, they were being awarded to big out-of-state firms.

Velazquez brought in representatives from six government agencies that beat the drum for small business: the Small Business Administration, Government Services Administration, Department of Homeland Security, Department of Defense, Army Corps of Engineers and Department of Veterans Affairs.
 
"I have to say, I am disappointed with the submitted testimony," she said prior to hearing from the government groups. "Not one of the agencies testifying today has made local small business a priority."
 
No kidding. In a reversal of fortune, the Small Business Committee figures actually showed that $55 million was taken away from the little guys since April alone.
 
One of the biggest buying agencies, the GSA, awarded three contracts in the Gulf Coast area, and only 0.6 percent in contracting dollars went into the coffers of local entrepreneurs.
 
There also was a bit of monkey business, or whatever you want to call it. The six agencies gave a combined $100 million in contracts falsely labeled as small business contracts that actually went to large corporations.
 
I get e-mails from Velazquez all the time about her many crusades to help small businesses, and while I'm always a bit skeptical about the effectiveness of politicians, at least she keeps stirring the pot.
 
"These agencies need to understand that this is not about making it look like they are working with the local small businesses," says Velazquez in a statement following the hearing. "It is about making the Gulf Coast small firms the centerpiece of this recovery."
 
At the risk of sounding repetitive – Duh!

One of my favorite "Seinfeld" episodes is when Jerry bounces a check at a local bodega and the shop owner hangs the check up at his store for everyone to see.  Jerry claims it was a mistake and he's embarrassed because everyone he knows shops at the store.

He goes to the store and offers to pay the merchant the $40 in cash, but the bodega owner refuses to take the check down.

Shame is a great tool for small business owners who have few tools when it comes to getting money they're owed.

But is hanging a check on the wall enough? One Delaware retailer didn't think so, taking shame to a whole new level.

Keith Ross, owner of MorningStar Turf Farm in Newark, Del., admits frustration pushed him to take drastic measures. After about 11 years in business, he estimates he gets a bad check about every six weeks.

Phone calls and letters typically go nowhere so he decided to let the whole world -- or at least the whole town -- know the names of the deadbeats.

His shop, located on a busy thoroughfare, has a four-by-four-foot sign outside where he typically advertises weekly specials. Last week, in place of the specials were the names of a father and son landscaping team that bounced a $147 check at MorningStar. There they were for everyone to see, the names of the two men followed by the words, "Your check bounced."

Even though Ross called the men every day for a month leaving voice mails about the bounced check, it took the embarrassing sign to get the son to come in and hand Ross cold, hard cash.

"I've used the sign three times so far and it has a 100 percent success rate," Ross says proudly.

"It's really hard to get a bad check writer, to prosecute them or get the government involved," he explains. "Once I had a bad check from Pennsylvania and I went right to a district attorney's office there and spoke right to him. He told me, 'There is nothing we can do about it.'"

Even though this is supposed to be a paperless society, billions of dollars in checks are written on paper annually, and about 1.2 million checks go bouncity bounce bounce every year, says Cindy Schneider with CheckCare Enterprises, an electronic check verification firm. While many small business owners have decided to stop taking checks, something Ross has pondered, it could mean a 10 to 20 percent reduction in sales, Schneider says.

"A lot of Americans don't have credit cards. I know that shocks people," she says. Still others are trying to get out of drowning debt, opting to use a check instead. A growing number of companies are looking to accept electronic checks on line.

So checks will remain a fact of life for now. You just have to do your due diligence when accepting them. Schneider suggests not taking checks numbered under 100 and making sure the name and address imprinted on the check matches the photo ID the patron gives you.

If you still end up with a rubbery check, Ross' public disgrace strategy is always an option.
"Last year, I called a landscaper a deadbeat up there," he says about his trusty sign. "The guy threatened to sue me. I said, 'I would love for you to take me to court.'" He didn't, but he did pony up the $1,300 he owed.