| There are several ways that I help SCORE clients.
*On SCORE’s radio show, I regularly publicize clients’ businesses as SCORE success stories or case studies, feature resource providers (such as financing sources, insurance firms, the Small Business Administration and other business support organizations) and disseminate useful information and techniques to listeners. Show guests and listeners have reported getting new business from these broadcasts and/or benefiting from the practical guidance for overcoming obstacles and featured resources and techniques.
*Via face-to-face, telephone and email counseling I have helped clients identify suitable business opportunities, plan and execute online and traditional offline strategies and overcome obstacles. Here are some examples:
One of my first clients was the friend who introduced me to SCORE! I helped create an effective marketing campaign and collateral materials for her start-up.
I referred a small law firm to experts who could help select and implement the information systems, operating procedures and controls necessary to successfully handle their rapid expansion. I also advised them and some of their clients about obtaining certifications to contract with private and public sector organizations. The law firm and some of its clients now receive substantial revenues from government contracts.
A “juicy” assignment was helping a celebrity chef develop an effective online marketing campaign. I met him in person months later when he invited me to a tasting he hosted for a new restaurant and periodically read about his international culinary exploits.
I worked closely with a woman to plan her start-up venture, certify it as a small, minority and woman-owned business, market it and establish a Web site. She soon landed paying clients and now can't wait to retire from her full-time job so she can fully immerse herself in her successful new business. I'm proud of her growth as an entrepreneur.
In other instances, contributing to clients’ success has sometimes meant advising them NOT to pursue or to exit from, with minimal exposure, business “opportunities” that prove under scrutiny to be unattractive, unfavorable or outright scams. I wish everyone would check with SCORE before, rather than after, making major financial or legal commitments.
*By incorporating SCORE resources into the business and entrepreneurship courses I teach and, when appropriate, referring students to SCORE counselors for additional help, I have helped numerous students launch and enhance intra- and entrepreneurial ventures. For example, I worked with a college senior whose first major “gig” as an event planner was the wedding of another student in my class; a cleaning service owner who learned to negotiate better prices for supplies, refine his company’s price list and increase customer loyalty; and an online travel agent who improved the attractiveness, “stickiness” and revenue-generating capabilities of her Web site.
*I frequently give seminars, participate in panels and conferences, and serve as subject matter expert to journalists to disseminate information and techniques that are important to SCORE’s target audience. I frequently receive positive feedback about these activities in various forms, such as: grateful communications and kudos from audience members, invitations to be featured or profiled in print and broadcast media, and invitations for speaking engagements and appearances. I have also received honorable recognitions from such organizations as the Metropolitan Transit Authority, National Association of Minority Contractors, National Black MBA Association, Turner Construction and the U.S. Association of Small Business and Enterprise. | 
Meet SCORE Counselor Lisa Tolliver. Tolliver is a volunteer with the White Plains, NY Chapter. She helps entrepreneurs through online counseling, hosting her chapter's radio show and delivering workshops and presentations.