New York SBDC Research Network

Stolen from J.J. Hill Library blog because I found out about some sources I didn't know about before. Trade shows are a tried and true way of reaching out to and interacting with numerous potential customers in a short period of time. But they can take some finesse to do right. The Trade Show Handbook can help you put together that "just right" show. The site offers guides and tutorials for choosing and maximizing a trade show presence, links to directories of trade shows by industry , and a listing of convention centers by state . You'll also find lists of event planners and suppliers for help bringing it all together. Trade shows, as with any form of marketing, should be entered into with forethought and a solid plan. Formulate that plan with the Trade Show Handbook.

Here's an article that offers a few tips on screening employees through the Internet. Some of it is rather obvious (check Google . . . really?). It also cites a few fee-based sites that help with background checks. On a similar note, the Degree Check website is a useful tool to see whether or not a candidate for a position really has that MBA. There are likely dozens of additional sites that perform similarly useful functions. Anyone know of any off the top of their head?

Happy Fiscal New Year to everyone on the Federal calendar. Tuesday saw the end to what's been a turnaround year for our library. We hired Alexis in March, and she seems to be the final piece to the puzzle. We just finished the busiest September in our 16-year history. Requests are up 31% over last year, to a point not seen around here since 2003. A few weeks ago witnessed the 25,000th request in our history. Turnaround time has been cut in half. In addition, we've incorporated an SBDC presence on Facebook , LinkedIn , and Twitter . We've been defined in Wikipedia . We've been slowly building a Spanish-language collection, and a long-overdue LISTSERV has been built for SBDC personnel. There's miles to go . . . we're about to embark on rigorous training in GIS services. We'd like to explore podcasting, both for what we do & how to help our clients do the same. There's lots more to come. It's been a fun year. We're looking forward to the next o

The central office for the NYSSBDC has created a document that can be used as a guide and information source for our clients in today's rough economy. Originally created in July, we recently found it was necessary to update and revise the document. The guide combines facts and figures regarding the current state of the economy as well as tips and stragtegies 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".

"Hmmm.... I think I heard about that somewhere..." Have you ever wanted a search engine that can search through multimedia content, including audio and video files without written transcripts? Here's a tool that might be helpful. EveryZing's ezSEARCH "is the web’s first integrated universal site search solution, enabling multimedia content to be indexed and searched just like any web document." Search results yield the multimedia file where your term occurs, and links you to the part of the file where your term is spoken.

Over the years, I've gone to at least three workshops by Joel Saltzman. My recent trip to Chicago was no different. He did three different presentations there: CHANGING THE WAY WE REACT TO CHANGE, Shaking that ETHICS Brain and Shaking That INNOVATION Brain. I had gone to the first two before, so I went to the innovation session. It's difficult to capture the essence of the talk, but the notion of taking some item and repositioning it for another use - wax paper was microwave safe, even before there were microwaves - at least touches on it. Check out some of Joel Saltzman's articles on assumption busting, reframing the question, persistence in the midst of mistakes, and the value of bad ideas. He uses this quote that, modified, is useful for baseball, racquetball, other sports and life in general: "I skate to where the puck is GOING to be, not where it has been." -- Wayne Gretzky. Photos (c)2008 by Mary Hoffman.

See what JJ Hill Library says about this NYS SBDC website: If you run a retail shop or have an office to meet with clients, what's the first thing your customers see when they get to your location? Your sign! So you want to make sure it presents the same good face for your business as you do. The What's Your Signage? site includes articles detailing the importance of signage to a business and provides background on the elements of a well-designed sign. You can use this information to become an informed partner with the sign-maker of your choosing, or use the site's manufacturer locator to find recommendations. What's the most important thing a good sign will do for your business? Reassure your customers that they've found the right place.

Google seems to be adding new products daily and this is one I was unaware of until now: GoogleSites . It is a product that can serve as a mini-intranet for personal or commercial use. It looks like a wiki with project management capabilities. It's free unless you want extra storage space but you can use other Google gadgets through it. So it can store documents, have community files. You can limit the access to your set users, who can view only or have owner-rights. You can check out the various applications a product like this could be used for here.

Sites I've come across recently: The StartUp Blog at PartnerUp , with common-sense pieces such as "An Introvert’s Guide to Networking" and "Delegating Work: Don’t Panic, Everything Will Be Fine". The Entrepreneurial Mind , affiliated with Belmont University's Center for Entrepreneurship. Also, Alltop , actually a gateway to business blogs of the New York Times, Wall Street Journal, Harvard Business, Entrepreneur magazine and many more. Not a blog, but a how-to site: My Own Business , "An Entrepreneurial Guide for both Start-ups and Operating Businesses."

I came across this site earlier this week, featuring articles written (and podcasts recorded by) the faculty at the Wharton School of Business. I don't pretend to understand the entirety of the ripple effect of recent events, so I went here looking for a primer. Here's some of the articles found there: * Will the Levee Break? An Ocean of Bad Debt Rises despite Government Rescues * After the Bailout: How Can the Fed Clean Up the Fannie and Freddie Mess? * Eyes on the Wrong Prize: Leadership Lapses That Fueled Wall Street's Fall * Note to Investors: Don't Play Games with Asset Allocation I've read a few. I'm still not an expert, but it's helped me understand some of the issues a bit better.

While most of the research we provide here at the Research Network centers around industry data and information, sometimes we are asked to provide research regarding a certain occupation. One of the common requests we recieve when asked about a specific occupation is the average salary. A website that I use to find salary data based on location, experience and education is Salary Expert . For more salary information, I also use the Bureau of Labor Statistics' Occupational Outlook Handbook .

Here's the text to a recent interview (" Main Street Spared ?") by Reuters with William Dunkelberg, the chief economist for the National Federation of Independent Businesses (as well as chairman of a small commercial bank serving southern New Jersey). He doesn't see recent developments on Wall Street, as well those with AIG, as having any immediate effect on small business owners in the U.S. Some of the reader comments at the bottom of the page don't agree with him. What are your clients saying?

I took part in a conference call earlier this week on a topic that was very visual in nature. As I listened I thought how ill-suited this medium is for visual communication and how much time would be saved by a couple of quick sketches. I know that usually when something occurs to you, you can usually be sure it has occured to an number of others, often more motivated people before you. So I went looking for an easy-to-start product that would serve this purpose. I came across a list of visual collaboration products and one in particular that offered a short video to explain how it could be used. It is called Dabbleboard. It is in beta and I am sure there are many others but this communicates the process succinctly. You can check it out here . You can draw on this virtual whiteboard and share it with other users who can add their contributions and users can make visible the additions they make. It is a way to avoid some of the round-and-round discussions where contributors are not

Joyce Finnegan, a client of the Mohowk Valley SBDC, recently appeared on MSNBC's "Elevator Pitch" segment. Joyce was able to step into the elevator with MSNBC's panelists, who listened to her 60-second pitch for the Rojeti eco-friendly hotel laundry bag, and offered some feedback. They liked it! For more information on creating an elevator pitch, check out a recent post from Josee, " Elevator Pitch "

I went to the business.gov booth and asked them, "You have a good service, so why don't people know about you?" The person at the booth shrugged and said, "I just don't know." And that was before I learned that this SBA business gateway had won a "Prestigious Search Engine Award", the ONLY government program to win: WASHINGTON – The U.S. Small Business Administration (SBA) Business Gateway Program was selected by the Search Engine Strategies (SES) Conference for the prestigious Best Use of Local Search award on August 20, 2008, the only government finalist in any category. Business Gateway was selected over two private sector companies. In celebration of its 10th anniversary, SES incorporated its first annual awards, honoring 15 outstanding “search marketers.” The Business Gateway Program was selected as the winner of the “Best Use of Local Search” category because of its unique solution for handling geographically oriented search queries. Business

One of the most useful sources to find out information about a certain industry is by visiting or contacting a trade association. Trade associations are often involved in public relations activities such as advertising, education, and lobbying, but one of the most vital uses of an association is networking between individuals and collaboration between companies. Joining an association can be particularly helpful to startups and struggling businesses because new members have an opportunity to ask for help from seasoned businesses that have experienced ups and downs in the past. Earlier this year, Darrin blogged about the American Society of Association Executives Directory , where it is free to search for local, national, and international associations. One of the association webpages that I use often for research is the National Restaurant Association , but some of the more obscure associations I have visited recently are the American Ostrich Association and the Association of Pet

I normally post on Mondays, but felt compelled to wait until Friday to write this. I've been tracking our incoming requests a bit more carefully these days. The end of this month will conclude our 16th year. Roger & I have been around for most of them. When we started, we had one CD-ROM, no email, no Internet, and no computer network. Just a handful of librarians with a bunch of books, a used Xerox machine, and well-worn telephones. We've come a long way -- longer than I thought. Late yesterday, we got an email from an advisor in our Binghamton office (thanks, Laura!), looking for information on a client starting an adult day care service. We've researched this subject many times before. Ordinarily, it wouldn't be worth a comment, except that it turned out to be the 25,000th request in our history. Whoa. I'm not used to being part of a number like that (unless it's my car's odometer). But this is something worth noting. Thanks, then, to all the librarian

Reading about the use of newer technologies in this presidential election has highlighted who is using what technology and how. We have discussed how businesses can use technologies that we associate with trivial and superfluous uses. Teens may rule the roost in SMS messaging but here's one article from Entrepreneur.com/PCWorld that offers some good ideas about how to make good use of texting for business applications. From PCWorld | April 21, 2008 10 Killer Texting Tricks Text messaging isn't just kid's stuff anymore. Use these amazing online tools to turn any SMS-capable phone into a productivity powerhouse. By PCWorld by Rick Broida

We’ ve blogged about Stephen Hall’s From Kitchen to Market a few times in the past ( Online resource for specialty food businesses , Bringing New Food Products to Market ) and it’s a great resource for guidance on marketing specialty food items. While I was in Chicago, I had the opportunity to attend a session with Mr. Hall. I won’t go into too much detail, but here are a few nuggets I thought were especially interesting: Do you have to supply nutrition information on every specialty food product? Not according to the rules of the FDA. But Mr. Hall suggested that although the government doesn ’t require the labeling, the consumer does. Today’s consumer wants to know what they are eating, and their food’s nutritional value. Looking for a commercial kitchen? The audience in this session had a couple of good suggestions. Try calling local churches or restaurants that don’t serve meals three times a day. Either way, they may be willing to give you use of their kitchen when they aren ’t

I was having a discussion with a an SBDC colleague about the term "microenterprise". I found some stats, then I came across this report Do Business Definition Decisions Distort Small Business Research Results? According to SBA: This working paper has two purposes. It presents special tabulations from the U.S. Census Bureau's Survey of Business Owners (SBO) to offer the public detailed information on businesses with and without employees and their owners (including owner age, home-based status, franchises and financing). Second, the authors consider the characteristics of nonemployer and employer businesses. Their examination shows that research results based on data on nonemployers are not necessarily applicable to employers and vice versa. A copy of the report is located here and the research summary can be found here . Should you need further information, please feel free to contact Brian Headd or Radwan Saade at (202) 205-6533 or advocacy@sba.gov.

Market research is essential to starting or expanding a business and the various sources that are available can be difficult to navigate. Rutgers University Libraries have a subject research guide section devoted to sources for various types of research. The guide devoted to Market Research "includes pointers to several important sources of statistical data on income, consumption, and demographics, to help you understand and define the market for your product or service." Another source for subject research guides, including Market Research Sources , is the Library of Congress Business Reference Services.

I heard about this site from my mother. She and my sister were enjoying stumbling and turned me on to it. I was familiar with some other similar sites like Digg and Delicious but like so many other comparable products, it's style that sets one apart from another. StumbleUpon allows you select your interests then you "stumble" and you will be led to one after another site on those topics. You can also review and save favorites and share them with a social network. So, if you are interested in graphic design and animation and buddhism, it will bring those sites to you. I had been using it for entertainment purposes mostly but then added topics like Internet Tools and Small Business and those categories are included in my random wanderings.

Last week, I received an e-mail from the CPM Industry Insider that had a link to the article Survey: American Small Businesses Not Prepared For Power Outages . Probably not coincidentally, on the very same day, SBA sent out a press release about September being National Preparedness Month, from which I will quote extensively: Homeowners, Renters and Businesses Are Encouraged to Plan Before Disaster Strikes WASHINGTON – Recent floods in the Midwest and hurricanes/tropical storms in Texas and Florida have cost homeowners, renters and businesses millions of dollars in damages. These events serve as reminders to the public to have a disaster preparedness plan in place. National Preparedness Month, sponsored by the U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS), is designed to enhance the public’s awareness of the necessity of having an emergency plan in place to respond to a natural or man-made disaster. The U.S. Small Business Administration is one of the many government and private sector co

Two years ago, I wrote a post that summarized a report written by Dr. James Chrisman, which provided data proving the economic impact of the New York State SBDC for clients seen during the year 2004. It's time for a follow-up. If you recall, we mail surveys to all long-term clients (i.e., those who received five hours or more of consulting). Dr. Chrisman compiled the data, and released his report to us in late August. Here's the details, taken directly from the report: * "There were 620 responses to two mailings (post and email) of a questionnaire, a 7.2% response rate. The clients surveyed (8,647) represented the entire population of long-term clients (received five hours or more of consulting) of the New York SBDC in 2006. Of these, 3,168 were established businesses and 5,479 were pre-ventures (a/k/a, "startups"). * "In aggregate, we estimate that the long-term clients of the New York SBDC generated $861.9 million in incremental sales and 11,764 new

Business Net, "the go-to place for management", has a section of their website that lists free business magazines for those that qualify. There are hundreds of magazines listed that can be subscribed to for no cost. Since it would take forever to list all of the publications that are available, the categories listed are: Agriculture Automotive Biotechnology & Pharmaceuticals Computers Construction Education Engineering Executive & Management Finance Food & Beverage Government Health Care Human Resources Industrial & Manufacturing Internet Information Technology IT Data Management IT Security IT Software & Development IT Storage Insurance Mechanical/Machine Meetings & Travel Multimedia Network/Communications Purchasing & Procurement Retail Sales & Marketing Small & Medium Business Telecom & Wireless Trade/Professional Services Transportation & Logistics Utility & Energy With such an eclectic selection, there is sure to be a pu

Like a lot of struggling smaller cities, in our area, we see businesses that have survived severe changes downtown. There is a drive to increase the traffic to downtown areas and convince businesses to locate there over malls. But sometimes, the cityscape doesn't give an accurate picture of what is going on behind closed doors. Walking down the street, so many businesses that appear defunct from the street are actually viable. Now, I know word-of-mouth is great and all, but these businesses could do more to get someone not already familiar with them in the door. Improving signage, cleaning up window displays and generally smartening up their "face" would go a long way to improving business. Developing a unified image may help develop new business. An example of another way to improve a brand identity is with shopping bags. The lastest Entrepreneur Magazine has a short article by Gwen Moran entitled It's in the Bag that looks at how a business can take advantage of

As some of you know, Roger and I will be presenting at next week's ASBDC conference in Chicago. As part of our presentation, "Blogging for Your SBDC: Implementing Web 2.0 Technologies at Your Center", we've created a page of resources related to blogging and other Web 2.0 stuff. Some of these resources I've blogged about before, but now they are in one place, along with with links to blogs and other 2.0 creations from SBDC centers around the country. Enjoy: Blogging for Your SBDC: Resources (This list is by no means exhaustive, but is designed to give you a few more ideas about how to use Web 2.0 technologies, and how they are being used by other SBDC centers.) Blogs & Blogging: 40+ Free Blog Hosts from Mashable.com Trading Links - Any Real Value? by Gail Hornback Copyright & Fair Use Overview: Website Permissions from Stanford University Existing SBDC Blogs: Clarion SBDC (PA) Knowledgebase Hawai`i Business Research Library News Blog Coastal Bend SBD

When I started working at the SBDC, lo those MANY years ago, there seemed to be this silly internecine fight between the SBDC and SCORE, for a number of reasons. So when I saw the SCORE Template Gallery described in the J.J. Hill Library blog , I knew I had to share it: "When you're starting a new project, there's nothing more reassuring than a template. For guidance and first steps, you might think of a template as a roadmap."

Here's a website called BeyondMotherhood.com , a matchmaking site where employers and stay-at-home mothers can find one another. Founded by Shannon Davis, a stay-at-hom mother herself. The site was created originally to service northern Ohio, but is growing in appeal. Its existence is predicated on the fact that there is a wealth of employable talent that companies can tap into. It offers a venue where mothers can still utilize their business skills, while finding a schedule that's flexible enough to give them the time they need with their children. The site appeals to employers by reminding them that stay-at-home mothers are ideal candidates to fill a need on a quarterly, seasonal, or project basis, or who have expertise that is only needed a few times a year. Such women possess the necessary skills, education and experience to do the job, but don't necessarily want to be brought on as full-time staff. For $75, a company can post a single listing on the site for 30 days. I

Although the days when a suit and tie were everyday attire for every individual going to work are gone, what you wear to work can still make an impression. Casual business attire and Friday jeans day are still opportunities to prove that you are best man or woman for a raise or promotion. Business Network has compiled a list of articles and videos on What to Wear to Work . According to the article, "whether you work in the most dressed-down computer games company or the most buttoned-up management consultancy, our feature package will help you choose what’s appropriate, what’s not, and what will get you to the top." Five Rules of Style for the Business-Casual Workplace Ten Ways to Upgrade Your Look Dress for Business Success Video How to Order a Custom-Made Suit

Here are two of our latest additions to the collection with a summary of their contents: Kid-Focused Businesses (Entrepreneur Magazine's Step-By-Step Startup Guides) Party Planning Gift and Bath Products Educational Toys and Games Plus Size Clothing Cooking Classes Ward's Motor Vehicle Facts & Figures 2008 Documenting the Performance and Impact of the U.S. Auto Industry Sections include: Production/Factory Sales Retail Sales (cars, trucks, top selling, Canada, Mexico and Leasing) Registrations (Cras and trucks and vehicles retired from use) Automotive Trade (US Exports and world trade data) Materials (consumption by material type) Ownership (Population per vehicle, drivers, thefts) Transportation Expenditures (inlcudes fuel and licensing taxes) Travel Trends Automotive Businesses (Facilities, capacity, profits) Environment/Regulations (fuel consumption, prices, taxes) Traffic Fatalities (By state, characteristics, countries)

Looking to make and/or sell your own designs? Here are a few resources you might want to know about. Etsy.com , “your place to buy and sell all things handmade,” has been in the news quite a bit lately. It’s an online marketplace, where artisans can set up their own shop, post an item for 20 cents, and pay a 3.5% commission when it sells. Just about everything you can think to make (and some things you’d never think of) are for sale here, and you can search in some creative ways (like by color.) Ponoko , “is the world’s first platform for anyone to share, buy and sell product plans to make individualized goods.” Ponoko works in several ways. Designers can create and upload product designs, choose materials, and Ponoko will manufacture and deliver the final product. Or you can design it, and then display it in the Ponoko showroom, and someone else can buy it from you. Ready to take the plunge to buy only handmade gifts? Check out the Buy Handmade Pledge . You can sign up and say

On a website, I saw a reference to the price of gas as 1.279. Initially, I didn't get it. Then I realized I was on a Canadian website and it was a reference to Canadian dollars per liter. So what is that in US dollars per gallon? And how do I figure it out without having to do two calculations, one for liter to gallon and another for the currency. Google, of course. To use my example, type: 1.279 CAD per litre in USD per gallon and click "Google Search". When I did it at noon on August 11, the result was "1.27900 (Canadian dollars per litre) = 4.58349234 U.S. dollars per US gallon". By the way, it doesn't matter if you spell it "litre" or "liter". What you will need is the three-letter code for currency, which you can find several places, including here , one of the sites noted on this website . More about Google's unit conversions here . Tip of the cap to Arthur @ AmeriNZ , who mentioned this on his podcast.

This Saturday is the 139th annual Travers Stakes at the Saratoga Racetrack. It's a big deal in these parts. I won't be partaking, though, in the wagering. Vacation has left me a bit short, and, honestly, I'm not much of a handicapper. However, in honor of the big race, check out the Center for Gaming Research . It's a website designed & operated by (where else?) the University of Nevada - Las Vegas. The site is geared towards three distinct groups of people: * The academics, for whom a users guide is tailored for researchers of all ages (including us!). * The media/industry guide helps those in the media and casino industry find the information they need. * The "just curious" section, which is broad information aimed at those just getting started. The information available is not just for the state of Nevada, so it's relevant to a blog being written in New York.

A new website has been created by the Empire Center to allow New Yorkers to see how state funds are spent. According to the website, " See Through NY is a web portal -- and more. It's designed to become the hub of a statewide network through which taxpayers can share, analyze and compare data from counties, cities, towns, villages, school districts and public authorities throughout New York." The website offers access to state payrolls, contracts, expenditures, and more. Although lauded by freedom of information individuals and organizations, the site is troublesome to state workers who do not enjoy having their personal salary and contract information open to the world. For more information, click here for an article from The Times Union and here for a blog post from Roger Green.

It was only a matter of time before consumers would have the option of shopping via their cell phones. The more you do on your cell phone, the more you expect to do. This story is about Ralph Lauren and how they are making it possible to make purchases from their phone-friendly store via mobile. Polo Ralph Lauren to launch shopping by cell phone http://www.sciam.com/article.cfm?id=polo-ralph-lauren-to-laun Scientific American By Martinne Geller

Occasionally we'll get a request for psychographics . We have The Lifestyle Market Analyst demographics, which can tell you a lot about popular activities and interests of a metro area, or how those lifestyles overlap ( i.e. , how many people interested in fashion clothing also care about fine foods?). We also have MOSAIC lifestyle descriptions for determining lifestyle groups by geography from the Demographics Now database. But for those of you that want more, here's a couple of freebies (thanks to the J.J. Hill blog for pointing them out) Newspaper Association of America's Consumer Segmentation Snapshots While there's a focus on newspaper readership, this site offers profiles of different consumer buying groups for finance, technology, buying styles, food/cooking, health, vacation/travel and automotive purchases. From Claritas (a Nielsen company) - You Are Where You Live Enter the zip code you are interested in and the "segmentation system defines every neigh

I've read about word clouds, a/k/a tag clouds, how they reflect which words are being emphasized in a website/blog or newspaper or any written document. From Tag Crowd here's the one done on July 15, 2008 of the NYS SBDC website : 732-sbdc administration advice advisor albany answered appointment article business center choices corporate decided decision development economic expert extended factors floor form free funded honored irs ny onondaga partners partnership personal photo private products program public published resources sba sbdc services significant sole start state step tax thanks trades university york created at TagCrowd.com And here's the one for this blog: access american application business canada center com comments data database directory education email entrepreneurship facebook federal franchise free government handbook health history information internet labels law national

How's your brain feeling today? Right now, at 10:30 in the morning, mine is a bit sluggish. When asked "How are you?" by coworkers first thing in the morning, "tired" is the word I've used the most. No different today. I need more sleep. A fellow named John Medina would agree. He wrote a book called Brain Rules: 12 Principles for Surviving and Thriving at Work, Home, and School. In it, he puts forth his 12 rules for a better brain. Most of the rules are pretty obvious: exercise more, eat better, get more sleep. However, he's built a website where he lays out the science behind each of them - how a portion of your brain is physically influenced by external factors. For instance, regular exercise stimulates a part of the brain related to the thalamus, which aids in memory. A lack of sleep hinders your attention span, promotes moodiness, and impacts your logical reasoning. Your brain will better retain new information if exposed to it repeatedly. And so

As of July 24th, the minimum wage has been raised to $6.55. The Fair Minimum Wage Act of 2007 required three minimum wage hikes over a three-year period, with the final increase going into effect July 24th, 2009. This summer also marks the 70th anniversary of the Fair Labor Standards Act. History of Federal Minimum Wage Rates Under the Fair Labor Standards Act, 1938 - 2007 Minimum Wage Laws in Individual States

I have suggested the language podcasts on iTunes . They also have business podcasts on various issues. I've been listening to one called How to Give Feedback About Attire on Manager Tools by Michael Auzenne and Mark Horstman. It's free and you can also get it from their website . One of the sessions I listened to was about talking to employees about dress codes. It is interesting and talks to this team's approach to managing employees in general. For the purposes of this topic they discuss the ways managers talk to employees - making judgements versus offering feedback on employee behavior with an explanation of impacts. In this scenario, not criticizing clothes specifically, but talking to the choices employees make and how to separate the person from the behavior. They describe situations where a dress code is too specific and tries to codify clothes. The difficulty is where a person is not breaking rules but is making choices that creates less than positive results. Th

We have several resources related to venture capital at our disposal at the Research Network. Here's a new one I saw on the ResourceShelf blog. It's the Venture Capital Database . As described on by Alain Sherter on TheDeal .com : "The database, which lists information on 492 VC firms and nearly 6,800 venture investors worldwide, is based on information from the National Venture Capital Association, supplemented by Winn's own entries. It provides links to firms' Web sites, email addresses, locations and investment parameters, including assets under management and minimum and maximum investment. In a nice touch, VCDB displays firms in Google Maps, which gives entrepreneurs an idea of their proximity to investors. Even more useful, it provides biographical info on individual VCs , along with links to their blogs, if they have one. The database is searchable by firm and VC , location, investment size and alma mater." Worth checking out? Let us know what

I've gotten this question a couple times now this summer, so I thought I ought to address it here. Q: There are women-owned certification programs, minority-owned certification programs, and small business disadvantaged certification programs,, such as 8(a). Is there a small business certification program? If not, how do those programs that require small businesses fill them? A: According to my sources - the SBA and a very nice woman at the NFIB - there is no small business certification as such, as there are women, minority and small disadvantaged programs. Wait, you say, so how do they get SB for contracts, etc.? They assume they are telling the truth, but then require documentation (payroll records, tax records, etc.) to make sure. Trust but verify. BTW, it’s the same for veterans – no certification, but one will need to bring in the documentation at some point.

In today's online Wall Street Journal there's a brief article titled " Wait to Work for Family ". We sometimes get inquiries regarding succession planning from small business owners who, upon retirement, hope to keep things in the family. This article suggests that grown children are likely more effective - and more confident in their decision-making - if they don't join the business right out of school. It's obvious - small businesses kept in the family stand a better chance of survival if the next generation is as motivated as those who founded it.

I'm sure a number of our clients could afford to practice their story or pitch. Here are few sites on developing an elevator pitch. www.wikipedia.com Elevator Pitch Youtube.com Elevator Pitch The Art of the Elevator Pitch www.businessknowhow.com By Robert Pagliarini of SeekingCapital.com The Perfect (Elevator) Pitch BusinessWeek.com by Aileen Pincus

If you have a regular need for the forms issued by the SBA (or any other Federal government agency), then bookmark the Federal Forms Catalog at Forms.gov . Note in the left-hand margin, under the heading "Frequently Used Forms," that there's a link titled "Small Business Forms". All of them emanate from SBA. All of the links lead to a PDF version of the form, many of which can be filled out online. Elsewhere, I can envision how quick access to IRS forms would be useful to certain clients as well. I took a quick spin around SBA's website, but couldn't readily find a link there to the forms they've issued. Keep it handy.

A few weeks ago, I blogged about a Wall Street J ournal piece about the history of the necktie , and how changing rules about business attire have affected that industry. Here's another change in business etiquette . The handshake may not be in any danger, but according to this USA Today article, the fist bump is making in-roads with the younger set (and presidential candidates): Read more here: " Can the fist bump mix with business? " Time magazine offers a history of the fist-bump here: " A brief history of the fist bump " Of course there are other greetings in the business world, including the cheek kiss. Make sure you're familiar with kissing etiquette by checking out this Wall Street Journal piece : " Americans Learn The Global Art Of the Cheek Kiss "

A new search engine, Cuil - pronounced "cool" - started today. You can read all about its claims of being "better than Google" here and here , among many other places. Apparently, it was having start-up jityters, as one person indicated that one couldn't access it at all fotr a time. But I got through and tried New York State Small Business Development Center ; it actually suggested the whole name after I had typed New York State Sm My result: We didn’t find any results for "New York State Small Business Development Center" Some reasons might be... a typo. Please check your spelling. your search includes a term that is very rare. Try to find a more common substitute. too many search terms. Please try fewer terms. Finally, try to think of different words to describe your search. It’s the first item on Google. Meh. And as a matter of vanity, I cuiled my blogs and they showed on the 7th page, while they're on the first page on Google. As this wri

With gas prices rising and the economy worsening, companies are trying to find solutions for the strain that businesses and employees are feeling. The article Should We Embrace the Four-Day Workweek provides a solution to alleviate employee stress while also benefiting the company. The article points out that a Community College in Florida converted to four-day workweek and saved over $200,000 on energy costs for the summer while also reducing sick leave usage by 50% and turnover by 44%. For more information on solutions, check out Surviving a Slowing Economy and Surviving an Economic Downturn

I am reading about enneagrams which seem to be a Myers Briggs-type personality type system. I was pointed to the book: The Nine Ways of Working by Michael J. Goldberg which looks at how people can work better if they understand the stories that we tell ourselves about who we are and how we function. This made me wonder what an enneagram was and came across the following descriptions as well as a brief test to see what type I might be. So, if nothing else, you feel like entertaining yourself, check out these sites: Enneagram Institute Take a test: The New Enneagram Test What Breed of Dog Are You? Time Anita Hamilton This article reviews various sources of personality quizzes to help you get to know youself better.