New York SBDC Research Network

This article appeared a few months ago, so my bad for not getting it out there earlier. It's written by a public librarian in the Detroit area, and it chronicles how libraries have become such a vital part of a community that has experienced a great deal of economic turmoil. In many ways, what her library - and her role within it - reminds me of our centers, and how they can become a pathway to opportunity for our clients. Both librarians and business advisors act as willing providers of ideas, services, loan programs, etc., to an audience badly in need of hearing about them. Hence, this article. Hope you like it.

This week I’ ve had a few instances where I was troubleshooting technology issues or trying to explain how to use an online tool over the phone. All this, “Do you see the blue box in the upper right corner?” made me long for a tool where I could show someone else what’s happening on my screen. Hardly a new idea, screencasting might be just what I need to create some digital tutorials. Stephen Abram (Special Libraries Association Past President, SirsiDynix ) has put together a handy blog post (dated June 4, 2009) on screencasting for the newbie, with lists of free software and advice on making good tutorials.

At the conference, someone at some point taught me about a valuable online resource for both our clients and us titled Small Business Television. SBTV.com "is the first television network on the web devoted 100 percent to the small business market - from business start-ups to established enterprises." Topics include Green Business, Reinvent Your Career, and Wellness in the Workplace, as well as typical topics such as Marketing, Management, and Franchising. The hompage also has links to small business articles and information provided by "experienced business advisors".

Asheesh Advani, president of Virgin Money USA , gives hope for entrepreneurs looking for angel investors during the recession. In an article from Entrepreneur " You Can Still Find an Angel Investor ," Advani offers three keys for entrepreneurs looking for angel investors: resilience, patience and persistence. By focusing on those three keys when pursuing prospective angels and keeping in mind that “ In 2009, angel investors want to hear you tell them about earnings growth, and the decision to invest is based on how much affinity they have for the business concept and the principal owners,” entrepreneurs will likely strike the angel’s interest. Another bit of hope comes from Dallas Mavericks’ owner Mark Cuban . He states in an article from the Dallas Morning News , “ In this environment, there is a great opportunity to start small, build slowly and, as the economy hopefully gets better, accelerate your growth.” He recently launched his “ Mark Cuban Stimulus Plan

About.com: Management Developing an Internet Strategy For Your Company Here is a series of articles on how companies can think about the Internet presence, as an important aspect of any marketing plan, better to in advance determine what approach to take. With all the various Web 2.0 tools about, it pays to plot a course with goals in mind so that you're stumbling out on the scene half-dressed. There are many books written on the subject, but just dabbling into the many blogs and magazines online to see what is going on. A couple of places to check out: Danny Demichele, Internet Strategist Now, New, Next : The Monitor Talent Group Blog Harvard Business Publishing

Earlier today, I spoke with a very helpful woman at R.S. Means . Some of you might know that this company compiles & publishes a wide variety of publications that provide construction cost data. They're well-used in the construction and contractor industries. I called looking for a product that might help provide a client with a rough estimate of a commercial construction project in a specific part of New York State. Instead of being told about a book costing several hundred dollars, I was surprised to hear that R.S. Means offers their Quick Cost Estimator on their website. It requires you to register (also free). Once there, you enter in the "Building Type" (there are 75 types of commercial structures listed in the drop-down menu), then the square footage, then the ZIP code of the project's location. Clearly, the results are a rough estimate (and they are ONLY pertinent to the building itself - there's no consideration for the cost of building, say, a par

Image via Wikipedia "Is Recession Sex Even Better Than Makeup Sex?" That's the intriguing title of this article from Advertising Age by Jack Neff, subtitled "Or Could Analytics, Marketing Be Behind Rising Sales of Personal Lubricant, 'Sexual-Enhancement Devices'?" "The recession hasn't taken any edge off the sexual-accessories trade and may well have helped: Data show that such things as his-and-hers lubricants and mass-market sexual-enhancement devices are producing fireworks in supermarket and drug-store aisles." It is considered a Bright Spot: "Opportunities for the marketing and media industries in an otherwise bleak year." "First-quarter sales of personal lubricants soared 32% to $41.2 million, according to Information Resources Inc. "

To echo Roger's post earlier this week, I wanted to mention that the Consumer Product Safety Commission recently released a handbook meant for owners of resale and used merchandise stores. It was written in response to the recent passing of the Consumer Product Safety Improvement Act (which Amelia wrote about here last February). According to the CPSC, it was created to help sellers of used products understand the new law and existing regulations. In their words, "[t]he purpose of this Handbook is to help you to identify the types of products that are affected and to understand how to comply with the law, so you can keep unsafe products out of the hands of consumers." It's only 28 pages long. If you have clients in this industry, it's best if they read this.

It has been a few weeks since I've stimulated you with stimulating information about the stimulus, so today is your lucky day. Of course, there is so much new information coming out everyday from the SBA, local and national business publications, and government websites that it would be impossible for me to keep you constantly updated. The information below is what I believe is most valuable to you, the business owner or advisor. As always, please feel free to comment with links to information you would like to share on the stimulus and small businesses. Q&A: New SBA Administrator Karen Mills on the Stimulus Small Business Administration - America's Recovery Capital Loan Program Stimulus gives SBA Loans a Boost Sign Up for Updates from the New York State Recovery Website Interest Groups, Legislators Call for Transparency on Stimulus Money

I guess we can look forward to the release of Bing, Microsoft's new search engine due out June 3rd. Everywhere I look today there is more speculation about Bing. This is meant to be a response to the shortcomings of web search and competition for Google, the lion of the search market. Microsoft is describing Bing as a "decision engine" apparently well suited to comparisons. The reviews I've read are saying good things about it, even that it is giving Google a run for it's money by helping searchers distill information, pulling it together in the search screen. In a couple of days you can decide for yourself whether it really is an alternative to Google or Yahoo! You can check out the teaser site here .

Here's an unsurprising bit of info from the U.S. Census Bureau Used merchandise stores employed more than 131,000 people with $2.1 billion in annual payroll and nearly $9.3 billion in sales in 2007, according to new economic census data released by the U.S. Census Bureau. As part of the 2007 Economic Census Industry Series, these new figures for the retail trade sector provide data on the number of establishments, sales, payroll, number of employees, value of product line sales and other data items at the national level by industry. Other findings include: * Women’s, juniors’ and misses’ clothing product line sales accounted for more than 15 percent ($1.4 billion) of total used merchandise store sales. Sales of antiques made up almost 13 percent ($1.2 billion) of the total sales of the 17,779 used merchandise stores in the United States. * Total sales from used merchandise stores increased $1.5 billion (nearly 20 percent) since 2002, while the number of used mer

Think that Twitter is all about people announcing what they ate for breakfast? Well, it is. But it also offers more interesting artistic possibilities. Want to know how your favorite author feels about their process? While lots of authors just use Twitter to promote their book signings, the following list includes more than 100 authors who use Twitter to carry on a conversation with their readers and offer some insight: Literary Tweets: 100+ of the Best Authors on Twitter And believe it or not, there are non-celebrities on Twitter with huge followings. They have mastered the story-telling possibilities of 140 characters and manage to make their tweets more useful for the reader than the author. Read more in this Washington Times article: " Short(est) Stories: The Art of Twitterature Means Making 140 Characters Count "

Alexis pointed out to me that there have been several articles in recent issues of the Capital District Business Review regarding the upcoming changes in qualifying for business tax credits under New York's Empire Zone program. Here's what's happening, in a nutshell: 1) Recent legislation states that businesses that qualified under the 2008 provisions of the law will now have to re-apply in 2009 under new guidelines. 2) There are roughly 9,000 companies in New York that currently qualify. The new legislation a) will remove companies that fail to meet a ratio of at least $1 of wages & investment for every $1 received as a credit from the state; b) requires new applicants to meet a $20-to-$1 ratio ($10-to-$1 for manufacturers); and c) ends the program on June 30, 2010 (a year earlier than previously scheduled). Empire State Development has been charged with verifying which companies among the current 9,000 are still eligible. ESD plans to have much of this process finish

During staff training this past week, I attended the session titled "How the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 will Impact the Small Business Community - IRS Online Small Business Resources." While I learned useful information from Mr. Richard Torres from the IRS and Suzanne Reusch from the New York State Department of Taxation and Finance about tax breaks that are included in the Stimulus Act, I also learned about an extremely useful website for our Spanish-speaking customers. GobiernoUSA.gov "offers up-to-date official information in Spanish on government programs and services at the federal, state, and local levels." The website is the Spanish language version of USA.gov . Both are portals to "all official transactions, services, and information that the U.S. Government has to offer."

Whuffie Math April 16, 2009 – 4:22 am Tara Hunt writes a blog and now a book on marketing using social media. In this blog, she appreciates how social relationships work, using the promotion of her book as an example. The key is getting your product into the right hands so they will blow your horn for you. For those hold-outs resistant to this new climate of information sharing, Tara Hunt illustrates clearly and colorfully what effective marketing looks like. Check out the articles on TheWhuffieFactor.com