Way back when in October 2009, we brought you business insight in 140-character slithers courtesy of @MCHammer - yes, he of the knee-length crotch and horizontally-challenged hairdos.

And now this week, blessed be, none other than rap-pop king Kanye West joined the twittering fray to impart his entrepreneurial wisdom unto the masses. Now don't get us wrong - we think Kanye has got an impressive business head on his shoulders behind those sunnies. Like Jay-Z before him, he recognised early on that the real money in music is in production rather than singing, and that his brand was more valuable than his music, and if he leveraged those two realisation he could get very, very rich. (For only someone very, very rich would be able to tweet something as audacious as this little gem: "I specifically ordered persian rugs with cherub imagery!!! What do I have to do to get a simple persian rug with cherub imagery uuuuugh").

Whether you're a one-man band or have 100 employees, you make socks or build sock factories, you need to be online, and you need to how to use that online presence. That is the core principle behind the impressive-looking MADE in 48 hours event, being hosted by Doug Richard and School for Startups in Sheffield on 10 - 11 September.

MADE in 48 hours will show you every which way for leveraging the internet to accelerate growth, lower costs and increase profits. You'll learn how to build your brand, attract new customers, leverage social media, learn the tricks of SEO, master the art of Google, discover the secret of distribution channels, reach overseas or around the corner, and learn the tools and techniques of the world's fastest growing companies. And you get all that in - you guessed it - 48 hours.

Good news for all of you who are looking for expert business advice from some of the best mentors in the business - we've got 10 free tickets to give away on a first-come first-served basis to Rockstar's 'Panel of Mentors' event this Thursday in London. (Click on the link ASAP to grab yours!)

The 'Panel of Mentors' event gives business owners, start-ups and entrepreneurs the chance to get advice from top mentors in a laid-back setting. Mentors Tom Minter, Peter Rawson and Denis St Bernard will begin talking through they've learnt from their own entrepreneurial journeys, then there will be an audience Q&A, followed by networking and drinks.

This week's Dragons' Den had the usual mixture of dashed hopes and shaky starts, pointless products and question-time collapses - but it also offered up that rarest of gems: a pitch that received offers from every Dragon. So let's skip all the stuff we've seen before and fast-forward to Wesley and Peter, founders of FGH Security.

The duo set up their security business after meeting at Manchester's biggest club back in 2003, where they were both bouncers. But both were far from the stereotype of surly, pea-brained tough guys that people tend to expect when they meet doormen. They were, as they put it themselves, 'a breat of fresh air in the industry'. And they were very switched-on.

We quite like this Big Society idea from the Coalition government. We're not sure it will work, but the intentions are right: helping each other and engaging with your community.

Because that is exactly what Smarta is all about too.

We think small businesses can achieve most when they help each other out. Collaboration not competition, as we and our founder Shaa Wasmund always reiterate. So what's say us and you, and you, and you, try to create our very own big society, for small business. Here are our two key proposals in a nutshell.

Still not convinced by the power of social media? Frustrated by others who think it's 'overrated', 'a fad', 'not for me or my customers' or 'not for serious businesses'? Well this presentation will blow any such notion clean out of the water!

The Good Web Guide is taking entries for its second Website of the Year Award, aimed at all small businesses and organisations. The awards are a fantastic way to get recognition for your business, so there's no reason not to enter!

The Scout Association (TSA) launched their new 'entrepreneur' badge today with the help of multimillionaire and Homeserve CEO Richard Harpin, encouraging a whopping 400,000 young people to immerse themselves in the world of business. (Scouts have to pitch a short business proposal to a Dragons Den-style panel of judges to gain the award.)

And we're very glad to hear it.

Last night's Dragons' Den was something of an Alice in Wonderland episode, with much conventional Dragon wisdom turned on its head. The inventions with all the hallmarks the fiery ones usually love - unique and new, grabbing onto technology, cleverly capitalising on big future growth markets, applications for a wide range of markets - got (spoiler alert) rejected from the den. And then, in a suitably Lewis-Carroll-esque twist, the one business that did get funding was one that by all accounts felt and looked like a lifestyle business -  precisely the kind of business the Dragons usually trounce as an investment opportunity because there's just not enough return in it for them.

But things are not always as they first seem in the Den.

I've never had a dog. In fact, it's taken me many years and a small amount of mental labour to actually get to a point where I feel comfortable in the presence of a dog. But I know many of you out there view dogs as much like miniature people, who are like your brothers and sisters in all but genetic make-up, ability to speak, cognitive function, walking style, and texture.

I also know that among those of you who can identify with these sentiments, there is a further sub-section who will, say, dress your dog up in a cowboy outfit. Or get their nails manicured (not sure whether you call them nails or claws but you know what I mean). Or create Facebook pages for them, as if they really were competent users of social media.