Home Wealth Project
Extensive Research On How To Build Wealth From The Comfort Of Your Own Home.
Good news about Amit (thank you!)
Jan 18th
My colleague Amit Gupta found a 10/10 marrow match. There’s still a long and treacherous road ahead, but thanks to you, and to people like you, and the ability to spread the word among the tribe, a match was found, something that was impossible just a few years ago.
Thank you.
View full post on Seth’s Blog
RSS Advantage News Ticker
Nov 20th
Custom Desktop RSS News Ticker Software With Your Feed And Logo Embedded Inside To Give Away To Your Visitors & Customers.
RSS Advantage News Ticker
Finally, Some Good News for Women Entrepreneurs in Latest Angel Capital Study
Nov 2nd
Women entrepreneurs are making progress in obtaining investment capital; minority entrepreneurs still have a ways to go; and the overall angel investment news is cautiously optimistic. So says Q1 Q2 2011 Angel Market Trends, the latest report on angel investing from the Center for Venture Research at the University of New Hampshire.
First, the positive news about women. In the first half of 2011, women angel investors represented 12 percent of the angel market, and women-owned businesses accounted for 12 percent of the entrepreneurs seeking angel capital. While these numbers aren’t outstanding, they do represent progress. More impressive is that 26 percent of the women entrepreneurs seeking angel investment in the first half of the year received it. In fact, the report notes, the percentage of women actually getting angel investments is above the overall average.
The news was not quite as good for minority entrepreneurs or angels. Minorities made up just 5 percent of the angel population, and 11 percent of the companies seeking angel financing were minority-owned. Like women, however, minorities received angel financing at a higher than the average: 17 percent of minorities seeking angel capital received it, compared to 15 percent of businesses overall. This is the positive news, but the report’s authors feel that the low percentages of minorities seeking angel capital is cause for concern.
If you’re not a minority or woman business owner, the news about angel capital is still pretty good (at least, relatively speaking). “The angel market appears to have reached its nadir in 2009 and has since demonstrated a slow recovery,” the report states. The market yield rate (the percentage of companies seeking financing that actually receive it) reached 15 percent in the first half of 2011, continuing a slow climb from 10 percent in 2008 and 12 percent in 2010.
Overall, total angel investments in the first half of 2011 were $8.9 billion—up 4.7 percent from the same period last year—and 26,300 companies got angel financing, up 4.4 percent from last year. The average investment was $338,400.
Some of the most popular areas for angel investing are not surprising, including healthcare services/medical devices and equipment (25 percent of total angel investments), industrial/energy (17 percent), biotech (14 percent) and software (11 percent). What is surprising is that media and retail sectors have become firmly entrenched in the top six most popular sectors for angel financing, with each getting 8 percent of total investments.
And for those of us looking to angels as a stimulator of job growth, there’s also good news. Angels have significantly increased seed and startup stage investing, which accounted for 39 percent of angel investments in the first half of this year—up from 26 percent during the same period last year. The report notes this is an “encouraging sign” for new business formation and job creation. And with an estimated 5 jobs created by each angel investment this year—or a total of 134,130 new jobs due to angel investment so far in 2011—it’s clear that angels can be a major engine of job growth if they feel confident enough to invest.
Finally, Some Good News for Women Entrepreneurs in Latest Angel Capital Study
View full post on Small Business News, Tips, Advice – Small Business Trends
SMB and Entrepreneur News and Tips
Oct 15th
SMB and entrepreneur news and tips help inform the leaders of the future. The small business and entrepreneurship of tomorrow will create new jobs and new opportunities. Information is the key to building that future as effectively as possible.
Management
Companies are hiring-just not hiring you. With unemployment levels as high as they are, it is paradoxical that employers can not find employees to fill vacancies. This was known to be the case in many high tech job openings, but it is now being reported across almost all levels of employment. The main concern of companies is that applicants simply do not have the basic skills needed for the opening. It appears that our educational system and our training programs are not providing the skills required. msnbc.com
How to attract talent to a small company. How do you attract talent to a small business? Most likely you can’t pay the high salary and offer the benefits that the large successful companies do. What you can do is to try to show the perspective employee the advantages of working for a small business and emphasize the success and potential of your business. You also should attempt to structure the job requirements and the pay and benefits package to try to meet his particular situation. Wall Street Journal
A 4-step approach to solving workplace conflict. Resolving conflict in the workplace can be very time-consuming for the owner of a small business. When you only have a small number of employees, this type of interruption can be very costly in terms of time management and productivity. This article presents a structured model for dealing with these situations in a hopefully efficient manner. The model emphasizes face to face meetings with disruptive employees and using outlined steps in resolving the conflict. msnbc.com
Human Resources
Starting a Teach for America for Entrepreneurs. It has been difficult for small business owners or entrepreneurs to attract the brightest or the best of college graduates. Now we are beginning to see the start of organizations that are working toward attracting college graduates. One such organization is Venture for America which is based on the very successful Teach for America. You’re the Boss
Can retraining give the unemployed a second chance? The jury appears to still be out on the retraining of the unemployed. Among other factors that affect the outcome is that it has become somewhat of a political football. This article cites some examples of where retraining seems to have worked. One of the biggest hindrances is that some people have been unemployed so long that even with retraining the type of work available is totally unfamiliar to them. In addition many of the jobs that they are familiar with no longer exist, at least in this country. In theory retraining is a worthwhile undertaking but it still requires a lot of refining to make it really successful. msnbc.com
Why your company (probably) can’t innovate. Stephen Shapiro challenges some of the conventional wisdom that many small businesses use in attempting to foster new ideas. One of the main areas he disagrees with is the hiring of people that “fit” into the organization. By doing this you will not generate new ideas, but rather you need someone who rubs people the wrong way to insure you get divergent points of view. CNN Money
Leadership
10 things only bad managers say. What type of boss do you work for? Does he frequently complement you on your work, or is he the type that finds fault and criticizes everything you do and every idea you have? The ten characteristics of a bad boss may be a good indication of whether you’ve entered the bad manager zone. msnbc.com
Small businesses: Building community through hiring. One of the advantages of owning your own small business is that in addition to being profitable and generating wealth, you have the opportunity to pursue social good. Many small business owners use their business to help improve their community or to give people a second chance. One such endeavor is to become involved in a group such as TRIO. These programs have some risks involved but the rewards to the community can be so satisfying. The Christian Science Monitor
Legal & Liability
The S Corp Versus The LLC. The S Corporation and the LLC (Limited Liability Company) are the two most common ways of setting up a small business. The two types have several key similarities. There are also quite a number of differences. Which type of entity you choose depends on the needs of your particular small business. Small Business Trends
Small business insurance: More than general liability. To many small business owners, insurance is general liability insurance. While this is very good coverage to have, there are a number of other types of insurance that need to be considered to protect your business. The small business owner must evaluate which types of insurance are needed for his particular situation. Small Business Trends
SMB and Entrepreneur News and Tips
View full post on Small Business News, Tips, Advice – Small Business Trends
2012 US News College Rankings
Aug 13th
US News & World Report College Rankings 2012
We’ve just received a note from a reliable source that the US News college rankings for 2012 will be released this coming Sunday night at 10pm EST.
For many in the academic world, the rankings from US News & World Report are the gold standard. Despite the fact that a cottage industry has emerged for college rankings (including Forbes, Princeton Review and this year’s newcomer The Best Colleges), there is a general consensus that the ones that really matter, the ones that carry the bragging rights, are the rankings from US News. And 2012 will be no different. All the others are just a prelude, a figurative “preseason” to the main event of rankings season.
Each year the big reveal from US News & World Report, for many prospective and current students, as well as alumni, is sort of like the Super Bowl of academics. It’s the big event that everyone looks forward to. And the stakes are high. No one doubts the economic weight behind these rankings, as colleges depend on enrollment and getting recognized by US News effectively guarantees high application rates (students want the best education possible) and thus allows for more selective acceptance rates (thus inflating the perceived academic quality of the site). It’s a self-reinforcing system that allows the best schools to stay on top because they can turn away more students. But whether they admit it or not, it’s also the holy grail for school advertisement.
So even though there has been a lot of controversy over the years about whether rankings really mean all that much, and disputes over methodologies, no one can dispute the fact that people care about college rankings. It’s in our DNA as human beings. We like to get reliable recommendations from experts to make our decisions (think Consumer Reports). And for better or worse, the “experts” on colleges are the companies that do the rankings.
When the 2012 US News college rankings are released, we will post the top 10 here.
For the time being here are the results from 2011:
1. Harvard
2. Princeton
3. Yale
4. Columbia
5. Stanford
6. Penn
7. Cal Tech
8. MIT
9. Dartmouth
10. Duke
Source: U.S. News & World Report’s Best Colleges 2011
View full post on Business Pundit
Small Business Tech News
Aug 10th
Small business tech is growing ever more important. But the question is, what kind of technology is right for your business? We’ve put together this roundup of links to help you decide. Enjoy. And thanks!
Ecommerce
Want to know where customers are spending? The answer is online. Despite the economic slowdown everywhere else, online business, it seems, is booming. If you have a brick and mortar business and can think of a way to sell your product or service online, this might be the time. It’s time to offer your goods and services where customers can be found. WSJ
What kind of ecommerce site does your business need? Deciding on the kind of Website for your ecommerce business is one of the biggest decision you’ll make. What’s the difference between an affiliate site and an online store. Which will be right for your online business today. MyWifeQuitHerJob.com
Social Media
How to recruit with Facebook. And is it still a good idea. Fact is that the social networking site and its chief rival, the more business oriented LinkedIn, provide an easy, inexpensive way to seek and hire candidates in a variety of fields. It costs less than hiring an employment agency and even less than taking out an add. But are there downsides as well? WSJ
What’s the new frontier in social media? You use it to network with business contacts and customers, to learn more about your niche and industry and, perhaps most importantly, to boost your brand and market your brand. But as the social media landscape become ever more crowded, what will the next step be? Get Busy Media
Website Design
Is your Website all it could be? If your business is online already, one of the things on your checklist definitely should be getting your Website in shape. Social media efforts aside, your main site will be the place where customers come to engage your products or services and ultimately is your best tool for increasing your small business online. Bloomberg BusinessWeek
Don’t make this top Internet business mistake. Online entrepreneurs, there is a mistake you may be making this very moment that could be impeding your online business’s progress and you don’t even know it. It should be something so simple that no one could forget. Have you made this online business mistake? Youngentrepreneur.com
Tools
How iPad will grow your business. It may be one of the most talked about technologies on the planet today. Before and after its unveiling the iPad ignited much discussion and curiosity. But it turns out there’s a lot here to help you grow your business as well. Not typical for such a tech celebrity to be so useful too. smallbiz technology
Are you using the fastest browser? If speed counts toward your productivity, especially online, then it may be time for you to consider whaty browser you’re using. Choice of browser can be an emotional issue for some people, but fortunately there is now a decisive winner as far as speed. TechCrunch
News
How tech could affect you the most. You might not think about the importance of technology in your business when the unthinkable happens. A recent report suggests hackers are targeting small banks, the very banks your small business and the businesses of your closest friends may be using for many of your transactions. Bloomberg BusinessWeek
Book Shelf
Is your business likeable? Small Business Trends founder and editor Anita Campbell shares this review of the book by Dan Kerpen on a topic that could be amongst the most important in online business today. Do you use social media? What benefits have you seen, if any, in using social media? Small Business Trends
View full post on Small Business News, Tips, Advice – Small Business Trends
Day old news is fresh enough
Jul 22nd
The value of breaking news (news = whatever is new to you) is dramatically overrated, and the cost of keeping up with what someone else thinks is urgent is just too high.
If it’s important today, it will be important tomorrow. Far more productive to do the work instead of monitoring what’s next.
[Exceptions: Emergency room doctors, producers at CNN, day traders.]
View full post on Seth’s Blog
PR for Small Business in the News
Jul 6th
How do you handle public relations for your small business these days? Things have changed a lot, what with business increasingly being done online and with the explosion of blogging and social media for business communications and marketing. We’ve prepared this roundup of small business PR news and hope that you’ll add some thoughts of your own in the comment section. What’s new with PR at your company?
Tips & Advice
Picking the brain of a social media genius. Torrey McGraw talks with PR expert and entrepreneur Sarah Evans to learn how small business people can create a media empire of their own around their product, service or personal brand. Have you ever wondered how the best known social media “celebrities” built their following? Welcome to PR in the online world. Grind & Thrive
The Studio 54 effect helps market Google Plus. What can we learn from the way Google has launched its latest social media product Google Plus? Quite allot actually because even without the marketing might of the search engine titan any small business should be able to create the same effect for their own product or service. All that’s needed is the right pitch. Sales du Jour.com
Self-development
Is all publicity good publicity? Before you answer this question, check out the link to see the extent one entrepreneur may have gone to promoting his new startup. Then ask yourself, would you hire a wedding catering service with this kind of reputation? Getting attention is really only part of the equation. Guardian.co.uk
Always put your company first. It might sound like the worst PR imaginable to suggest that, when it comes to your customers, their needs must always be secondary to your business. It all comes from a simple concept. You and your customers have different priorities. Yours must be to build your business because theirs certainly is not. Here’s how to handle the situation. Bloomberg Businessweek
Entrepreneurship
When PR firms are the startups. Public relations is not just a department withing your small business. It can be a small business too. Here’s the story of a trend toward new startups in the PR field. Why should your business consider an outside PR firm? Well, PR is hard work, and so is creating the greatest product or service on the planet. Where would you rather spend your time? London Evening Standard
PR demand seems never-ending. The need for public relations in companies large and small is constant, as this interesting article suggests. The problem is that so much of the effort in PR these days seems centered on changing or saving some one’s public image or reputation after the fact. PR should be part of your brand’s DNA from the beginning. What have you done to build in good PR? Belfast Telegraph
Marketing
PR should be in your marketing plan. Here are 10 things you’ll want to definitely have in your next marketing plan and many of them are related to PR. One of the big problems with public relations these days is that it’s still seen as limited to its more traditional role of writing press releases and preparing business leaders for interviews. Today, PR extends from customer loyalty to feedback and all points in between. How all encompassing is your PR? smartcompany
Are you advocating for your customers? This article on PR firms pushing their clients’ agendas, got us thinking. Are you an advocate for your customers’ needs? We’re not talking here about marketing just to make a sale. We’re talking about an ongoing effort to support your customers and step in when needed. What can you do for your best customers today? StarTribune
Conclusion
Advice on fixing yet another kind of relations. This time not public relations but relations with your partners are at stake. While bad PR can tear a company’s reputation with customers apart, bad relations with partners, in a new venture or a long-time operation, can threaten everything you’ve worked for. Here’s how to fix what’s broken. Bloomberg Businessweek
China’s Red Cross chooses microblogging PR. On the heels of a scandal and presumably to boost support throughout the country, the Red Cross Society of China recently signed up for a microblogging account. The account now has 16,000 followers, 2,000 comments and one article has been re-posted 1,000 times. How could microblogging and blogging platforms generate good PR for your business? The People’s Daily
PR for Small Business in the News
View full post on Small Business News, Tips, Advice – Small Business Trends
Social Media and Search Marketing News
Jun 28th
Social media and search marketing are critical to many small businesses these days. This is not just because so many small businesses are located online, but also because social media and search marketing have become such a cost effective and powerful way to build brand identity. Compared to more expensive and, in many ways, less effective traditional media marketing, social media and search marketing allow you to target niche customers and promote your company like never before. Here’s the latest on this expanding field!
Search Basics
Keyword research in the cloud. Clearly one of the most important aspects of search marketing is keyword research no matter what form your online marketing initiative may take. With the rise of cloud computing, Travis Campbell gives us his video review of SE Cockpit, a new cloud application that goes beyond volume and competition on your search terms. MarketingProfessor
PR with search and social media in mind. When creating PR for your business or for a small business client online, it’s helpful to remember that while some things stay the same other things are very different. Beyond the differences between online and offline readers, let’s not forget about the importance of search and social media in the equation. Here’s how to craft a message that considers both. E-Marketing Performance
Social Media
Why you should be ware of social media experts. Rachel Strella talks to small business people as often as she can about the services she can offer in the world of social media. But one thing that often makes her uncomfortable is when people refer to her as an “expert.” Here are three reasons why you might be skeptical when people start throwing the e word around in reference to social media. Central PA Webster
Why the social media lamdscape keeps changing. Don’t get too comfortable with the latest titans of social media marketing, sites like Facebook, Twitter and LinkedIn. It turns out that while social media marketing may remain viable for a good long time as an online strategy, any one site or location may not. Here’s a look at how quickly things can change and why following, even anticipating that change could be critical to your marketing efforts. Bloomberg Businessweek
Social & Search Trends
Social media continues to influence search. And one marketing agency believes it is a trend that is here to stay. Not so long ago, social media and search marketing were very different animals, but this may not be the case in the near future. From Google +1 to the partnership between Facebook and Bing, there is evidence of an ever narrowing gap. Is your marketing ready? SFGate
Building your backlinks. They are an important part of search engine marketing, to say nothing of SEO, but what makes for a good backlink and what considerations should go into a link building strategy? In the world of search, certainly all backlinks are not created equal. How should you go about planning the best backlinks for your small business site? Small Business Computing
Why you need a real network. Though link building can be a viable strategy, it should not be relied upon simply as a way to gain a “high score” from search engines. When Google and others change the way the game is played, some Websites may be left out in the cold. Instead, look at links as real connections with people: customers, partners or fans who might give us referrals. Then no game change will make a difference. SEO Book
Marketing Intelligence
Is Twitter a waste of time? It’s one of the most talked about social media platforms around, but certainly some would question the value of spending endless time entering messages of 140 characters at a time to friends and followers. For a better feel of the effectiveness of Twitter and whether it could be right for your business, read on. ProBlogger
What comes after traffic? Got a lot of traffic coming to your site? That’s great, but if those visitors take one look at your site and click back from whence they came, you’ve got a problem. If you’ve done your marketing well, they should want to stay a while and maybe even take a look at your products and services. If this isn’t happening despite a good amount of traffic, what could be going wrong? SEO Book
Conclusion
Search or social media: Which should you choose. A recent study by Google insists search still retains a higher credibility with users than social media. We can take these results with how ever many grains of salt we wish given the interests of the company releasing the findings, but Frank Reed insists it’s still a good reminder that no platform has a corner on the market. Marketing Pilgrim
Social Media and Search Marketing News
View full post on Small Business News, Tips, Advice – Small Business Trends
Small Business Twitter News
Jun 25th
Does your small business use Twitter? Well, whether you market celery or software, it’s probably a good idea to stake a claim in the microblogging space. Enjoy the tips and trends below and retweet this resource if you get the chance.
How To
Twitter is about communication. OK, marketing too at times, but the key to understanding how to use social media channels so they work for your business is to be sure you’re using the right tool for the right job. Take the way Rakuten Inc. decided to communicate displeasure with the Japanese Business Federation, Keidanren. We’re not suggestion you shoot from the hip. Remember the gravity of what you say, but let your Twitter feed be your voice. WSJ
Making microblogging work. Just like any other business tool, Twitter works best when used in the right way. If Twitter isn’t working for your small business, maybe it’s because you don’t have a clear idea in mind of what you want to accomplish with it. Here’s Jason Kienbaum with more. Business Done Now
Things you definitely shouldn’t do. Though many of the worst things you can do in the Twitter universe are matters of degree, the fact is that bad actors can and do have their accounts suspended. Don’t let this happen to you. Used correctly, Twitter can be a powerful resource for your business. Here are some tips to keep you on the straight and narrow. Ray Vellest
Branding
Avoiding the antisocial brand. The real reason that good behavior is so necessary on Twitter, and really on every other social media site, is not the threat that your account will be shut down, though this is always a possibility. It is the fact that if your social media campaign is nothing more than a traditional marketing effort in new digital trappings, your audience will spot it in no time. You can guess the results. Fast Company
Is Twitter’s impact for real? You might think, reading the title of Roisin Bell’s post, that she’s not a big fan of the platform. In fact, Roisin’s only point is that measuring and quantifying the affect of any tool upon your business remains first priority. Can you measure the affect of Twitter on your business? Is it worth your effort? Bloggertone
Trends
Twitter vs. Facebook. Like other classic rivalries, this one probably has devoted fans on both sides…and plenty undecided. But, truth be told, both social media giants have their benefits and very different audiences. Read the post at the link above and then share your opinion. We’d really like to hear what you think in the comment section below. Technshare
Five tips for getting followed. In the outside world, stalking is a crime, but on Twitter, getting followed is what it’s all about. Check out these 5 tips that should have a flock of people way too interested in your every tweet. 
Don’t say we didn’t warn you! If you’ve worked out your strategy, it’s time to get started. Remember to target the followers that can be most helpful to your business. Ray Vellest
Twitter boosts international sales. This survey shows that social media, the big three at least, are having a positive impact on sales internationally. The other two big social media sites, Facebook and LinkedIn, are also part of the equation. Check out the survey to learn about how Twitter and other social media services could be improving your bottom line today. eWeek.com
Conclusion
Even chambers harness the power of Twitter. Even more traditional business organizations are seeing the value of Twitter as a networking tool. Here’s a story about a local chamber that decided to theme an entire business expo around the microblogging platform. How can you use Twitter to build relationships in your organizations and communities. Las Vegas Review-Journal
Why businesses without Twitter are conspicuous. If your businesses doesn’t use Twitter, Facebook or other social media marketing, you may stand out in a way you didn’t intend. Customers today expect a place on the social Web. If your competitors have a presence and you don’t, who do you think your customers will be buying from? louisville.com
View full post on Small Business News, Tips, Advice – Small Business Trends
