In the past 10 years, we've seen dozens of bank-powered sites targeting small businesses. Citibank ran one for a few years called Bizzed. Back then, they were called "portals." Now, they are "social networks." But the purpose remains the same: Create a destination site for business owners to learn how to run their business better while reinforcing the bank brand as small business savvy.

In general, it's a good idea. But it's extremely difficult to get traction with small business owners who usually lack the time and/or interest to read extensively about how to run their business (note 1).

Bank of America's effort, Small Business Online Community, tries to get around the attention problem by creating forums where specific questions and answers can be posted (press release here). Again, not a new concept, but probably the best way to get something like this off the ground.

Analysis
I registered (see note 2) and spent a few minutes poking around the site. In addition to the forum, the site includes columns by business experts and reader-submitted stories. It will be interesting to see if the so-called user-generated content in the latter category is all self-serving promotions from the small business participants, or meaningful perspectives that allow conversations to begin.

The well-designed site, with Web 2.0 touches, is off to a good start from a registration standpoint. This morning alone (as of noon Eastern time), 300 new members had signed up. They may all be bankers in disguise, but it's still far more than I would have expected.

Other than the small "powered by" link in the upper right corner, the site doesn't appear to have any direct involvement from the bank. Frankly, I'd like to see bank officers weighing in on the financial topics, as long as they take a consultative approach and disclose their affiliation. But I understand the bank's initial restraint.

Note:

1. However, entrepreneurs in the research phase, what is sometimes called "pre startup," often devour reams of material. And since they are often highly interested in financing opportunities, a bank-sponsored site could gain their attention.  

2. A couple nitpicks:

• Usernames are case sensitive; a twist that tripped me up when trying to log in the first time. The bank should remove that stipulation, especially in a less security-sensitive application such as this.
• Lots of the material is available as RSS feeds, but other than the little orange icon, it's not very obvious how to subscribe via RSS or email.