YouTube for Instruction

You've probably seen some silly or entertaining tidbit on youtube but the amount of truly useful information on there is growing. I was happy to find a demonstration of how to put my lawnmower together after I re-read the instructions and still wasn't clear on what they wanted me to do. I searched for the brand on youtube and up popped a video showing the thing. When I wanted to understand how cement patios were repaired I could watch someone talk through the process and explain the differences between the different products. It is a great resource for businesses to demonstrate how a product is used or assembled. Instead of leaving a help desk number as the only recourse when there is a problem, a web address for an informational video might be more useful. Complementary health practitioners could show how ear candling or neti pots work or a body work specialist can demonstrate how they remove dents. Instructional videos can be another loop in the business-owner's marketing toolbelt.
So, there is one more reason to visit youtube besides learning to use chopsticks or solve a rubik's cube.

Cash for Clunkers

"What was once known colloquially as Cash for Clunkers has been given the official government name of CARS – Car Allowance Rebate System. As soon as President Obama signed the bill, scammers were already thinking up ways to take advantage of the system. Here’s an explanation of how the new law works and how you can take advantage of it legally."

Also
From the official website - primary color, not shockingly, is green.

While the CARS Act makes transactions on and after July 1 potentially eligible for credits under the CARS program, interested dealers and consumers may want to wait until all of the detailed issues that must be addressed in the implementing regulations are resolved and the final rule is issued. Issuance will occur around July 23.

Important Things to Know

*Your vehicle must be less than 25 years old on the trade-in date
*Only purchase or lease of new vehicles qualify
*Generally, trade-in vehicles must get 18 or less MPG (some very large pick-up trucks and cargo vans have different requirements)
*Trade-in vehicles must be registered and insured continuously for the full year preceding the trade-in
*You don't need a voucher, dealers will apply a credit at purchase
*Program runs through Nov 1, 2009 or when the funds are exhausted, whichever comes first.
*The vehicle that you are trading in is required to be destroyed. Therefore, the value you negotiate with the dealer for your trade in is not likely to exceed its scrap value. The law requires the dealer to disclose to you and estimate of the scrap value of your trade-in vehicle.

Lots of other details explain just how much of a rebate one can get. The short answer: depends on the fuel efficiency of the new vehicle vs. old one.

How to Tweet Effectively

For many months after learning about the social networking tool Twitter, I failed to see its benefit for small business owners. I have since developed a new outlook on Twitter and its usefulness. In the past, when I discovered information that was not only incredibly pertinent to our clients and business advisors but also time-sensitive, I would ponder ways to distribute the information in a useful and timely manner. Now I "tweet". Below are articles that will help you "tweet" to the maximum effect.

How to Tweet to be Useful, Helpful, and Get Re-Tweeted"

Social Media is How You Need to Communicate

A Businessperson's Guide to Using Twitter

Google vs. Bing

I read an article in USA Today Written by Edward C. Baig, "Google vs. Bing: Bing holds its own in search-off." In the article, Baig compares Bing and Google and identifies some pros and cons of each. He admitted he "Googled 'Bing versus Google'" but it did not occur to him to Bing the search. It seems Google users are conditioned; Googling is a way of life. It is, after all, a verb in the Merriam-Webster dictionary. When Bing entered the playing field, about a month ago, I ignored it due to my instinct to Google and my comfort with Google's familiarity. After reading Baig's article, I decided to take a closer look at Bing. To start, I Binged "Bing versus Google" and came across www.google-vs-bing.com. This site offers a side by side comparison of each search engine for users. After some time on both Google and Bing, Bing is starting to grow on me. I prefer the layout of Bing over Google; it is easy to navigate with fewer clicks. It will take time and testing for me to think to Bing something before I think to Google something, if that ever happens. Bing is certainly worth a closer look, but for now, when I need the number to a pizza place or I want to learn basket weaving, I'll likely turn to Google.

The Profitability Report

Inc. Magazine has a tool called the Profitability Report or How Does Your Company Stack Up?, a calculator to determine whether or not your company is measuring up as compared to their compiled financial data on privately held companies across a number of industries. Put in your annual revenue and it will calculate what your numbers should look like.
If you click on any of the industry links, it will run down gross profit margin, EBITDA margin, return on equity/assets, accounts receivable days, operating profit/sales.
It is guide created by Sageworks who do benchmarks for private companies.

Paper or plastic? Your reading preferences

"Do I love books or do I love reading?"

That's the question Ann Kirschner asks herself in this piece, "Reading Dickens Four Ways" published in the Chronicle of Higher Education. When discussing Little Dorrit in her book club, the author decides to experience the book in four ways: paperback, audiobook, Kindle, and iPhone. You'll have to read the article to discover her preferences, but what are yours?

This discussion also reminds me of how we get information out to you all - how do you like to read what we send? How about your clients? I've done a lot of reading from the computer screen (grad school = no money for printing articles I only needed once), but not everyone is comfortable with that. Do you have the capability of just saving a few of the PDFs we send instead of the whole package? You probably do, but if you're not sure how, please give us a call. Do you find that you're printing out a lot of information for less techno-savvy clients? We're always interested in what happens after our research is complete. We also have a new version of Adobe in the office, so if you have any trouble with the PDFs, please let us know.

Bankruptcy courts

Each of the 94 federal judicial districts handles bankruptcy matters, and in almost all districts, bankruptcy cases are filed in the bankruptcy court.

But if you were trying to figure out which court had jurisdiction over which county in states that have more than one court, such as New York, which has four, you won't find the info in the bankruptcy section, only an annoyingly overbroad map.

Instead, look in the general federal district court section where you'll find this link for all counties in a district.
The Eastern is Long Island plus three NYC boroughs. The Southern is Manhattan, Bronx up to Dutchess, but not Ulster County. The Northern extends due north of there. The Western is the, er, western part of the state.

Venture Capital - Blessing, or Curse?

Here's an interesting article from a researcher who also founded two different tech firms. He argues that, in certain industries, getting venture capital funding for startup firms isn't all that it's cracked up to be. Even if the funding helps a business achieve its self-identified funding goal, there's pressure inherent in receiving the money - pressure to hire an A-list (and expensive) staff, and pressure to produce *right now* (in lieu of pursuing long-term growth).

He argues that there's virtue in being undercapitalized, in that it forces a company's management team to be that much more creative (and honest) in what it needs to kick-start growth.

I cite this article because, as I've written recently, we've seen a bump in the number of requests seeking venture capital firms for our clients. There are certainly merits in seeking out this type of financing. However, obvious as it might sound, have your clients be careful what they wish for.

Summer Reading Lists

The sun is shining (finally), the grass is plush and as green as green gets, and now is the perfect time to grab a book and head to your local beach, lake, river, or pool. Below are lists of great reads for you to bring with you when you go.

Summer Reading for Business Students - For the perpetual student at heart.

100 Best Business Books of All Time

5 (More) Great Books on Entrepreneurship

2009 Summer Reading Lists for AbeBooks.com - For thos of you who would like to spend your down time not thinking about business.

Enjoy your summer reading!

Adapting Social Networks to Business Culture

I was reading an article about how Booz Allen & Hamilton have created an "Enterprise Facebook" social networking site called Hello for their employees that is enjoying a high adoption rate. Years ago I worked for BAH and they were very forward thinking in the area of knowledge management with information professionals dedicated to developing a system for sharing expertise. They also had a very simple tool that I've wished for in other jobs - they used to have a ring-bound, paper, book with a page for each employee, with a photograph, a brief resume and contact details. Such a simple tool that was so useful. I can see how this early face book could develop into an intranet maintained by the individuals with the infromation they wish to share - personal profiles, wikis, RSS feeds, blogs, or potentially a list of publications that consultant has been involved in creating, skills, etc. Many organizations have intranets but I wonder if those begun recently giving users the capability to tailor their page to their own taste has a better chance of being adopted and used. Younger employees familiar with social networking are more likely to make full use of a system designed with them in mind.

Businesses use Twitter, CEOs don’t

Today we have two bits of Twitter /social media news for you:

From USAToday: “Businesses use Twitter to communicate with customers”

We all know that many companies are on Twitter. But what are they doing there? This article provides some nice examples: Comcast let viewers know that their cable coverage of the Stanley cup was interrupted by a lightning storm in Atlanta, Dell says they’ve sold more than $2 million in PCs through their @DellOutlet Twitter account (with over 710,000 followers) since 2007, and a variety of companies use Twitter for problem solving consumer questions and/or complaints.

But what about the CEOs? Are they tweeting for their brand?

If they are included in Fortune's list of the top 100 CEOs, probably not. According to a report from UberCEO, only 2 in the top 100 had personal Twitter accounts. While there is some discussion about how these leaders are missing opportunities to increase their own visibility and communicate with their customers, there’s also the recognition that CEOs busy people who are cautious about revealing too much. Ultimately, the folks at UberCEO suggest that not every CEO has to have a social media voice, but they should be considering their online reputation and image.

(Thanks to Mary and Al for finding these articles!)

What IS a Small Business?

I happened to answer the phones one Friday afternoon and someone, who had been obviously been talking to other people, wanted a definitive answer to a simple question, "How is a small business defined?" I said, "Well, it depends."

If we're talking about New York State law, then you'll want to look for the state laws under COM: Economic Development Law, Article 4-B, § 131. Definition of a small business. For the purposes of this chapter, a small business shall be deemed to be one which is resident in this state, independently owned and operated, not dominant in its field and employs one hundred or less persons.

But if we're talking federal law, it's a bit more complicated. If one were to look at TITLE 13 of the Code of Federal Regulations, one would want to go to Part 121--SMALL BUSINESS SIZE REGULATIONS, with a plethora of information about the process. Still, for the bottom line, go to §121.201: What size standards has SBA identified by North American Industry Classification System codes? "The size standards...are [generally] expressed either in number of employees or annual receipts in millions of dollars."

Demographics Database

A few weeks ago, just before the annual Staff Training, we in the library lost access to a great database that enabled us to manipulate all kinds of demographic data, with a great deal of geographic precision. Many of you had been recipients of the data that it contains.

Good news, then. As of last Wednesday, we re-subscribed with the publisher of this database. Of particular relevance is the ability to draw a radius around a specific address (either a given mileage, or driving time). Within that radius, you can then get detailed population demographics, as well as annual expenditures on a wide variety of products and services.

So, if you're looking for annual household spending on, say, restaurants within a 15-minute drive of your client's proposed location, then we now have the resource to provide that information. Very cool!

New York State Tax Changes

Recent changes at the New York State Department of Taxation and Finance include those below, as well as others.

The Metropolitan Commuter Transportation Mobility Tax is a new tax imposed on certain employers and self-employed individuals engaging in business within the Metropolitan Commuter Transportation District (MCTD). The MCTD consists of the five boroughs of New York City and the counties of Dutchess, Nassau, Orange, Putnam, Rockland, Suffolk, and Westchester. For more information, see the Metropolitan Commuter Transportation Mobility Tax web page and the newly issued TSB-M that explains this tax.

Sales Tax Imposed on Certain Transportation Services - Effective June 1, 2009, New York State and local sales tax will apply to transportation services provided using limousines, black cars, and certain other motor vehicles with a driver. However, the sales tax will not apply to taxicab and bus services, scheduled public transportation services, services provided in connection with funerals, or interstate services.

Renewal of Sales Tax Certificate of Authority - NYS businesses will receive a notification letter from the Department of Taxation of Finance when you are required to renew the sales tax Certificate of Authority. Renewal cannot be applied for until the letter is received. All registered sales tax vendors will be randomly selected for renewal on a staggered schedule through 2012.

Cigarette Registration Fee (p.8) - Part C, Section 125, of Chapter 58 of the Laws of 2009 increases the annual application fees and related civil penalties for cigarette and tobacco product retail dealers and vending machine operators. The application fee for retail dealers will increase from $100 to:
• $1,000 for each retail location with annual gross sales of less than $1 million;
• $2,500 for each retail location with annual gross sales of at least $1 million but less than $10 million; and
• $5,000 for each retail location with annual gross sales of at least $10 million.

For more upcoming changes, go to the department's Online Tax Center.

Also, I would recommend signing up for E-news for Small Business.

Google Local Business Center

Filling out Google's already extensive list of products, is Local Business Center, a dashboard for businesses to control their online persona and get some metrics on their potential customers. Locate your business on the map with a free listing so customers can find you when searching Google. List hours of service and other details about your business including coupons and collect data from Google to see who is looking for you. When customers search for a business name, the listing can be controlled by the owner with up-to-date information. Business owners can see what search was used to reach them, and what zip code the customer orginates from. You can visit their site to watch a video explaining how they've packaged this service.

Blog your way to a small business website

Who said that building a website has to be a complicated thing?

I was interested to read Jennifer Shaheen's article at Entrepreneur.com, "Build a Website in Blog's Clothing," where she discusses how using a blogging platform can be used to set up a small business web presence. The blog format can offer just about everything a website needs: up-to-date content, search engine visibility, a way to communicate with customers, and plug-ins and add-ons a plenty (for an example, look at all the extras we have running on the right side of this blog.) Best of all, it's free.

The blog format takes the newest posts and pushes them to the top, which is great for providing upcoming news and events. But you can also create posts with more permanent content, for example, your contact info. Just build a link to that post into one of your sidebars, and it will always be visible.

We Are Not Lawyers

The librarians at the RN are often asked for information which straddles dangerously close to being legal advice. Since none of us have a law degree, we look to provide information that will answer the question without interpreting it. My favorite ploy is to provide the actual law, such as can be found at the state consolidated laws site.

Richard Stim is an attorney and writer with the legal book publisher Nolo, who moderates the Nolo podcast. He addresses everyday legal topics in a "plain-English style". One can learn about business from startup to patents to tax deductions, plus topics as diverse as eBay disputes and same-sex marriage. The segments run 6 to 20 minutes each, mostly around 13 minutes. This format, of course, has its limitations.

Sometimes you just need to go out and get a lawyer

Recession Guide for Small Businesses in New York State

The research network at the NYSSBDC has updated a document that can be used as a guide and information source for our clients in today's rough economy. Originally created in July 2008, this is the fourth version of the paper. The guide combines facts and figures regarding the current state of the economy as well as tips and strategies for surviving in down times. In order to create the document, we visited major and business news websites and found the most recent articles and blogs that are applicable to our client base. We would be happy to send the document to any advisor or NYSSBDC employee who requests a copy. Feel free to call, email, or leave a comment and we will send you what we are calling the "white paper".

Why Now is the Best Time to Start a Business

Chances are, after reading the title of my blog, you think I am insane. That's okay. The numbers that we see printed everyday in the business section show that not only are we in a recession, but very few economic indicators have started to turn around and become positive. I would like to argue that the same numbers that make most people cringe are the reason why you should start your business right now. Unemployment is at 9.4% for the country and there are 5.4 individuals for every job posted. So why don't you change from being someone who is unemployed and applying for the same job as 4 and a half other people, and start your own business.

Starting Over — as an Entrepreneur (Wall Street Journal)

Laid Off in 2008 - Start a Business in 2009 (Entrepreneur) - Stories from three entrepreneurs who have started their own businesses during a recession.

How to Start a Business During the Recession (eHow.com)

Best Small Businesses to Start in a Recession (About.com)

Second Chances on the Web

It was only last year that Facebook surpassed MySpace in Web popularity, but MySpace’s visitor count has totally leveled off, while Facebook continues to grow (at the end of 2008 Facebook had 220 million visitors, MySpace had 125 million).

Is there any hope for MySpace? Can a site this big reinvent itself and survive? History says no. Can you even remember the search engines you used before Google? Still, MySpace is making an effort, and perhaps focusing on the music scene where its unique music player has an advantage over the other social networking sites.

Read more from CNN: Can once-cool MySpace stage a comeback?