Still More New Products and Opportunities This Small Business Week

Wow!  What a lot of new products, information, tips, services and opportunities have been shared this week. To try to cover as many as possible, we’re doing edition two of National Small Business Week announcements.   (See the first edition of Small Business Week announcements here).

Let’s kick this one off with a statistic we hope you will not follow this year:

Fewer business owners taking vacation. It seems like every year we report that fewer business owners plan to take a vacation of at least one week long. Per the American Express OPEN Spring 2013 Small Business Monitor, only 49% plan a one-week vacation. What a shame.

6th Annual Small Business Superhero Contest. Batchbook CRM is holding its 6th annual contest for small businesses. Three small businesses will win makeover prizes consisting of donated products and services by vendors that focus on small businesses. Says Batchbook, “It really does take a superhero to run a small business!” Enter here.

New franchise jobs report. The franchise industry is important in the world of small business.  A  small but steady portion of entrepreneurs choose to buy a franchise for their next business - versus starting one from scratch. ADP is now recognizing the importance of franchising through its brand new Franchise Jobs Report. For the first report, ADP says 19,160 franchise jobs were added in May 2013. The report is based on ADP’s actual employment data.

New marketplace to shop for app development services. ContactIQ announces a new marketplace. Founder Ashwin Ramasamy likens the new marketplace to Angie’s List.  But instead of local service providers, Ramasamy says small business owners can find app development shops for their projects.

Loans for businesses in low-income areas. The Opportunity Finance Network, a national network of micro-lenders, reminded small businesses and entrepreneurs this week of financing available in low-income communities. Money is available through community development financial institutions, or CDFIs.

A lot has changed in 5 years. According to a new survey by Constant Contact, 51% say supporting local businesses is important. So if your business primarily gets its customers locally, that’s good news. But … waiting for the other shoe to drop …. 49% say it’s harder to keep up with technology; while 40% say there’s more direct competition than 5 years ago. Ouch.

New cloud and hosting solutions offered. Media Temple announce two new products this week. One is the latest version of DV Managed. The company describes it as a platform offering affordable hosting to small business. Another is CloudTech Premium Support, a technical services platform for its small business users.

Vendors and suppliers to small businesses â€" good news. According to a Q1 study by BizBuySell.com, business purchase and sale transactions are trending 56% above 2012 levels. BizBuySell estimates that could translate into as much as $52 billion pumped into vendors and suppliers that sell products and services to small businesses in 2013.

Small business marketing hub launched. Vistaprint launched a new small-business marketing site called Owner Nation. The site offers advice and videos, organized under Branding Basics, Practical Promotion and Insider Inspiration categories. The company also announced a partnership with SCORE.

New small business app offers a way to work on the road. Neat, a maker of digital filing systems for mobile, desktop and the cloud is announcing a new app the company says will allow “road warriors” to create expense reports with receipts captured on their mobile devices or stored in the Neat Cloud Digital Filing System.

Shutterstock: Small businesswoman

5 Tips for Creating an Online Bio That Makes You Shine

If you’re a small business owner, you’ve likely spent a great deal of time developing and maintaining a website for your business. But your own online reputation is just as important as your business’s reputation, playing an important part in whether or not clients choose to do business with you.

Creating an online bio isn’t as simple as typing a few words into your business’s “About Us” section. A business owner’s bio should be professional, informative, and, most importantly, search engine-friendly. When a client, colleague, or potential customer searches for more information on the leadership of your business, the professionalism of the content he or she finds will likely make or break your future with that searcher.

Creating a bio that sufficiently expresses your level of expertise and talent is a matter of following a few simple tips.

• Buy your domain name. Whether you link it to the bio on your business site or you create your own, having a bio under yourname.com will help ensure it appears first in search results. This puts you in control of the information others see about you.
• Use a personal web hosting service. About.me is a great way for professionals without a website to build an online presence. Now with the ability to link to a domain, About.me lets users link social media sites and any other sites relevant to individuals. About.me creates a one-page profile for a professional, along with a background of the user’s choosing. It’s a great way for a young professional to increase exposure.
• Put the most important information first. While we all like to believe visitors will read ten paragraphs of text about us, many will simply read the first paragraph or two and move on. State what you do in the first sentence, summing it up in just a couple of words. “Portrait photographer or “real estate developer” convey who you are without forcing readers to browse through 500 words or more to get there.
• Use third person. Your bio should sound as though it were written by someone else. It may feel awkward to write about yourself in third person, but it reads more naturally. If writing about yourself feels too awkward, this may be one task you delegate to a trusted staff member or freelancer. A third party can often write more objectively about you than you can.
• Regularly update it. A long-dormant online bio is worse than any bio at all. You should regularly revisit your online bio, adding any new accomplishments. By always keeping your bio updated, when someone requests a bio, you’ll only need to direct them to that website.

For business owners, building a personal brand for themselves is just as important as branding a business. Through the above tips, you can not only provide an easy-to-read, up-to-date bio, but you’ll ensure it features prominently in search results.

Rumors Are Confirmed; Instagram Adds Video

Facebook confirmed rumors Thursday by introducing video sharing to its Instagram service. At a press event, Instagram Co-Founder, Kevin Systrom, unveiled the new Instagram video feature to the already popular Facebook and social media app.

The new Instagram video feature comes just two weeks after Twitter-owned rival Vine introduced its similar video service to Android users. Previously, the popular video app was exclusively available on iOS. The announcement also comes as Vine is making considerable headway with users, surpassing Instagram recently in the sheer number of files shared on Twitter.

However, the Instagram video feature is not simply a duplication of what is currently available with Vine. For example, instead of 6 seconds, Instagram videos deliver 15 seconds of video. And unlike Vine, videos play a single time through instead of looping.

“You can capture a lot in 15 seconds,” Systrom told onlookers at the press event. “We need to do with video what we did with photos.”

Capturing videos with Instagram will be relatively easy. There is no new app to download; the Instagram video feature is now added into the Instagram app. If a user wants to use video instead of photo sharing, they just need to select the video icon, press and release the record button and start capturing video. Each 15-second video can be started and stopped with a press of the record button and clips from the video can be deleted with just a few button pushes, too.

The Instagram team also added 13 new filters exclusively for Instagram video, similar to the filters that are used by the 130 million current users of the photo sharing feature. Also, where Vine videos tend to be jumpy like most other video captured on a smartphone or tablet, a “Cinema” feature on Instagram videos stabilizes what you’re sharing.

Instagram video users will be able to customize how they share their videos, specifically the thumbnail that appears on Facebook news feeds. A user can select an image from the video they just captured and make it their thumbnail which their friends will click rather than have the thumbnail be preselected.

In the more than two years that Instagram has been available to the public, users have shared 16 billion photos, Systrom said. Those photos get about 1 billion “likes” per day on Facebook, which acquired Instagram in 2012 for $1 billion.

5 Tips for Creating an Online Bio That Makes You Shine

If you’re a small business owner, you’ve likely spent a great deal of time developing and maintaining a website for your business. But your own online reputation is just as important as your business’s reputation, playing an important part in whether or not clients choose to do business with you.

Creating an online bio isn’t as simple as typing a few words into your business’s “About Us” section. A business owner’s bio should be professional, informative, and, most importantly, search engine-friendly. When a client, colleague, or potential customer searches for more information on the leadership of your business, the professionalism of the content he or she finds will likely make or break your future with that searcher.

Creating a bio that sufficiently expresses your level of expertise and talent is a matter of following a few simple tips.

• Buy your domain name. Whether you link it to the bio on your business site or you create your own, having a bio under yourname.com will help ensure it appears first in search results. This puts you in control of the information others see about you.
• Use a personal web hosting service. About.me is a great way for professionals without a website to build an online presence. Now with the ability to link to a domain, About.me lets users link social media sites and any other sites relevant to individuals. About.me creates a one-page profile for a professional, along with a background of the user’s choosing. It’s a great way for a young professional to increase exposure.
• Put the most important information first. While we all like to believe visitors will read ten paragraphs of text about us, many will simply read the first paragraph or two and move on. State what you do in the first sentence, summing it up in just a couple of words. “Portrait photographer or “real estate developer” convey who you are without forcing readers to browse through 500 words or more to get there.
• Use third person. Your bio should sound as though it were written by someone else. It may feel awkward to write about yourself in third person, but it reads more naturally. If writing about yourself feels too awkward, this may be one task you delegate to a trusted staff member or freelancer. A third party can often write more objectively about you than you can.
• Regularly update it. A long-dormant online bio is worse than any bio at all. You should regularly revisit your online bio, adding any new accomplishments. By always keeping your bio updated, when someone requests a bio, you’ll only need to direct them to that website.

For business owners, building a personal brand for themselves is just as important as branding a business. Through the above tips, you can not only provide an easy-to-read, up-to-date bio, but you’ll ensure it features prominently in search results.

What is the Definition of a Small Business? The Answer May Surprise You

When you picture a small business, what comes to mind? For most people, the image is likely a solo entrepreneur, or a local company with a handful of employees who are treated like family. Or you might imagine a slightly larger business, with a few district branches and a hundred or so employees. However, as currently defined by the federal government, the definition of a small business is one that has fewer than 500 employees and makes up to $1 million a year in revenueâ€"and there’s a new bill that would broaden that definition up to $10 million a year.

Well, There Is No Single Definition of a Small Business

Of course, the federal government’s definition of a small business matters for tax purposes. But other organizations that have significant impact on America’s small business landscape disagree with the parameters defined by the governmentâ€"and in some cases, disagree with themselves.

The Small Business Administration (SBA), for example, holds that a small business has fewer than 500 employees, but there are exceptionsâ€"around 1,200 of them. The SBA’s table of size standards assigns different definitions of a small business to every industry. A few of these differences include:

• Manufacturing: a “small” beet sugar or cane sugar plant can have up to 750 employees, while soybean processing and breakfast cereal manufacturing have up to 1,000.
• A small petroleum refinery is defined as having up to 1,500 employees.
• Property and casualty insurance carriers are small when they have less than 1,500 employees.
• An information technology value-added reseller is only a small business with up to 150 employees.
• Some definitions are given by revenue: A small sheep or goat farm has revenues up to $750,000, while a small job corps center makes up to $35.5 million.

Then, there are small business advocacy groups. The majority of members in the National Federation of Independent Business, for example, have 20 or fewer employees. The Small Business and Entrepreneurship Council loosely groups businesses into three tiers by number of employees: Fewer than 100 is considered small, a midsized business is 100 to 500, and a company with more than 500 is large.

However, both of these organizations allow any business to join, regardless of size.

Just How Big is Small Business?

Using the sole qualification of less than 500 employees as the definition of a small business, over 99 percent of U.S. businesses are small. The exception is the $1 million revenue markâ€"but if the bill to raise that threshold to $10 million is passed, the federal government’s definition of “small business” will encompass nearly 97 percent of all companies in America, at least according to the latest Economic Census data.

If the new rules come into play, small business initiatives will be harder to create and apply. Many business owners who truly consider themselves smallâ€"as opposed to a company with 500 employees generating $10 million in revenueâ€"may have to compete with these so-called “small” businesses for federal aid and struggle to find the right tax breaks.

What is your definition of small business and how would you define it?

Small Business Owner Photo via Shutterstock

What is the Definition of a Small Business? The Answer May Surprise You

When you picture a small business, what comes to mind? For most people, the image is likely a solo entrepreneur, or a local company with a handful of employees who are treated like family. Or you might imagine a slightly larger business, with a few district branches and a hundred or so employees. However, as currently defined by the federal government, the definition of a small business is one that has fewer than 500 employees and makes up to $1 million a year in revenueâ€"and there’s a new bill that would broaden that definition up to $10 million a year.

Well, There Is No Single Definition of a Small Business

Of course, the federal government’s definition of a small business matters for tax purposes. But other organizations that have significant impact on America’s small business landscape disagree with the parameters defined by the governmentâ€"and in some cases, disagree with themselves.

The Small Business Administration (SBA), for example, holds that a small business has fewer than 500 employees, but there are exceptionsâ€"around 1,200 of them. The SBA’s table of size standards assigns different definitions of a small business to every industry. A few of these differences include:

• Manufacturing: a “small” beet sugar or cane sugar plant can have up to 750 employees, while soybean processing and breakfast cereal manufacturing have up to 1,000.
• A small petroleum refinery is defined as having up to 1,500 employees.
• Property and casualty insurance carriers are small when they have less than 1,500 employees.
• An information technology value-added reseller is only a small business with up to 150 employees.
• Some definitions are given by revenue: A small sheep or goat farm has revenues up to $750,000, while a small job corps center makes up to $35.5 million.

Then, there are small business advocacy groups. The majority of members in the National Federation of Independent Business, for example, have 20 or fewer employees. The Small Business and Entrepreneurship Council loosely groups businesses into three tiers by number of employees: Fewer than 100 is considered small, a midsized business is 100 to 500, and a company with more than 500 is large.

However, both of these organizations allow any business to join, regardless of size.

Just How Big is Small Business?

Using the sole qualification of less than 500 employees as the definition of a small business, over 99 percent of U.S. businesses are small. The exception is the $1 million revenue markâ€"but if the bill to raise that threshold to $10 million is passed, the federal government’s definition of “small business” will encompass nearly 97 percent of all companies in America, at least according to the latest Economic Census data.

If the new rules come into play, small business initiatives will be harder to create and apply. Many business owners who truly consider themselves smallâ€"as opposed to a company with 500 employees generating $10 million in revenueâ€"may have to compete with these so-called “small” businesses for federal aid and struggle to find the right tax breaks.

What is your definition of small business and how would you define it?

Small Business Owner Photo via Shutterstock

The Secrets To Small Business Success From The Largest Business on Facebook

Lolly Wolly Doodle is a children’s clothing company based out of Lexington, North Carolina. They also happen to be the largest business on Facebook, with over 589K followers.

Smallbiztechnology editor, Ramon Ray, recently caught up with Emily Hickey, COO of Lolly Wolly Doodle, at an intimate roundtable discussion on the state of small businesses using technology to grow their businesses held at Facebook headquarters in NYC. Emily shares some of the secrets to small business success that they used at Lolly Wolly Doodle, including how they overcame the hurdles of being a small business and the strategies they used to grow their business and achieve marketing success.

In this short video interview, they discuss tips on hiring and how to get the most out of the people that you have within your organization. Emily also shares her best ideas on marketing as a small business and how to put an effective plan together.

You can watch the full video of the interview below or click here.

The Secrets To Small Business Success From The Largest Business on Facebook

Lolly Wolly Doodle is a children’s clothing company based out of Lexington, North Carolina. They also happen to be the largest business on Facebook, with over 589K followers.

Smallbiztechnology editor, Ramon Ray, recently caught up with Emily Hickey, COO of Lolly Wolly Doodle, at an intimate roundtable discussion on the state of small businesses using technology to grow their businesses held at Facebook headquarters in NYC. Emily shares some of the secrets to small business success that they used at Lolly Wolly Doodle, including how they overcame the hurdles of being a small business and the strategies they used to grow their business and achieve marketing success.

In this short video interview, they discuss tips on hiring and how to get the most out of the people that you have within your organization. Emily also shares her best ideas on marketing as a small business and how to put an effective plan together.

You can watch the full video of the interview below or click here.

The Secrets To Small Business Success From The Largest Business on Facebook

Lolly Wolly Doodle is a children’s clothing company based out of Lexington, North Carolina. They also happen to be the largest business on Facebook, with over 589K followers.

Smallbiztechnology editor, Ramon Ray, recently caught up with Emily Hickey, COO of Lolly Wolly Doodle, at an intimate roundtable discussion on the state of small businesses using technology to grow their businesses held at Facebook headquarters in NYC. Emily shares some of the secrets to small business success that they used at Lolly Wolly Doodle, including how they overcame the hurdles of being a small business and the strategies they used to grow their business and achieve marketing success.

In this short video interview, they discuss tips on hiring and how to get the most out of the people that you have within your organization. Emily also shares her best ideas on marketing as a small business and how to put an effective plan together.

You can watch the full video of the interview below or click here.

Microsoft to offer £60,000 rewards in new bug bounty programs

Microsoft has rolled out three new bug bounty programs offering valuable rewards.

The company has announced that it will pay up to $100,000 (£64,670) for 'truly novel exploitation techniques' against protections built into Windows 8.1 Preview, while it will pay up to $50,000 (£32,335) for defensive ideas that accompany a qualifying mitigation bypass submission. Finally, it will pay up to $11,000 (£7,113) for critical vulnerabilities that affect Internet Explorer 11 Preview on the latest version of Windows, although these must be submitted in the first 30 days of the Internet Explorer 11 beta period (between 26th June and 26th July 2013).

Microsoft's Matt Miller and David Ross said in a blog post that these programs will allow Microsoft to reward great work by researchers and improve the security of its software, all to the benefit of its customers.

Determining what makes a good report, they said that a high quality submission to the mitigation bypass bounty program will describe and demonstrate a truly novel method of exploiting one or more memory corruption vulnerability class when all modern mitigations are in place.

“For a submission to be eligible, it must include a detailed whitepaper and a functioning exploit that demonstrates the exploitation technique against a real world remote code execution vulnerability,” Miller and Ross said.

“The technique must also meet a high bar: It must be generic and reliable, it must have reasonable requirements, it must apply to a high-risk user mode application domain, and it must be applicable to the latest version of our products.”

Chris Wysopal, CTO of Veracode, said: “By offering a big bounty, $100,000, and rewarding research for the most challenging part of exploitation, Microsoft is [incentivising] researchers to focus on improvements that can help the entire Windows platform. There is even an added bonus of $50,000 if a defence is proposed for the mitigation technique.

“I am a little surprised that it took Microsoft this long to create a bug bounty program. They seem to be jumping in with a second generation bug bounty program putting the emphasis on exploitation and valuable mitigation techniques. On the open market, these techniques could be used to build many zero-day exploits and possibly command more than the Microsoft bounty so the open market is still the competition. I will be watching eagerly to see how many mitigation bypass bounties get claimed over the next year.”

Amol Sarwate, director of vulnerability labs at Qualys, said: “I think this is an intelligent move by Microsoft to tap talent from all over the world, especially in the security space where it's hard to find that talent. It also encourages good research to land into the hands of vendors rather than being sold on the black market.”

Trustwave launches SIEM solution

Trustwave has announced the launch of new security information and event management (SIEM) software to bring together data correlation and reporting.

Named the Trustwave SIEM Enterprise, the company said that it brings together advanced data correlation and threat intelligence with pre-configured rule and role-based controls and reporting.

According to the company, Trustwave SIEM Enterprise also includes extensive third-party device support, hundreds of pre-packaged security and compliance reports, advanced threat correlation and intelligence feeds, and Big Data processing power.

Leo Cole, general manager of security solutions at Trustwave, said: “Today's security professionals are demanding more value and manageability out of SIEM. They need to advance from traditional log management to more sophisticated threat correlation, improved security intelligence and sustainable risk management, without the deployment and management complexity that often turns traditional SIEM tools into ‘shelf-ware.'

“Trustwave SIEM Enterprise gives security analysts the power to do what they've wanted to do with SIEM but couldn't before due to complexity and limited resources.”

Trustwave launches SIEM solution

Trustwave has announced the launch of new security information and event management (SIEM) software to bring together data correlation and reporting.

Named the Trustwave SIEM Enterprise, the company said that it brings together advanced data correlation and threat intelligence with pre-configured rule and role-based controls and reporting.

According to the company, Trustwave SIEM Enterprise also includes extensive third-party device support, hundreds of pre-packaged security and compliance reports, advanced threat correlation and intelligence feeds, and Big Data processing power.

Leo Cole, general manager of security solutions at Trustwave, said: “Today's security professionals are demanding more value and manageability out of SIEM. They need to advance from traditional log management to more sophisticated threat correlation, improved security intelligence and sustainable risk management, without the deployment and management complexity that often turns traditional SIEM tools into ‘shelf-ware.'

“Trustwave SIEM Enterprise gives security analysts the power to do what they've wanted to do with SIEM but couldn't before due to complexity and limited resources.”

Microsoft to offer £60,000 rewards in new bug bounty programs

Microsoft has rolled out three new bug bounty programs offering valuable rewards.

The company has announced that it will pay up to $100,000 (£64,670) for 'truly novel exploitation techniques' against protections built into Windows 8.1 Preview, while it will pay up to $50,000 (£32,335) for defensive ideas that accompany a qualifying mitigation bypass submission. Finally, it will pay up to $11,000 (£7,113) for critical vulnerabilities that affect Internet Explorer 11 Preview on the latest version of Windows, although these must be submitted in the first 30 days of the Internet Explorer 11 beta period (between 26th June and 26th July 2013).

Microsoft's Matt Miller and David Ross said in a blog post that these programs will allow Microsoft to reward great work by researchers and improve the security of its software, all to the benefit of its customers.

Determining what makes a good report, they said that a high quality submission to the mitigation bypass bounty program will describe and demonstrate a truly novel method of exploiting one or more memory corruption vulnerability class when all modern mitigations are in place.

“For a submission to be eligible, it must include a detailed whitepaper and a functioning exploit that demonstrates the exploitation technique against a real world remote code execution vulnerability,” Miller and Ross said.

“The technique must also meet a high bar: It must be generic and reliable, it must have reasonable requirements, it must apply to a high-risk user mode application domain, and it must be applicable to the latest version of our products.”

Chris Wysopal, CTO of Veracode, said: “By offering a big bounty, $100,000, and rewarding research for the most challenging part of exploitation, Microsoft is [incentivising] researchers to focus on improvements that can help the entire Windows platform. There is even an added bonus of $50,000 if a defence is proposed for the mitigation technique.

“I am a little surprised that it took Microsoft this long to create a bug bounty program. They seem to be jumping in with a second generation bug bounty program putting the emphasis on exploitation and valuable mitigation techniques. On the open market, these techniques could be used to build many zero-day exploits and possibly command more than the Microsoft bounty so the open market is still the competition. I will be watching eagerly to see how many mitigation bypass bounties get claimed over the next year.”

Amol Sarwate, director of vulnerability labs at Qualys, said: “I think this is an intelligent move by Microsoft to tap talent from all over the world, especially in the security space where it's hard to find that talent. It also encourages good research to land into the hands of vendors rather than being sold on the black market.”

NYC Events: Upcoming NYC Business and Technology Events (6/21 - 6/27)

Here is a listing of NYC Business and Technology Events for the upcoming week (6/14 - 6/20) that we thought would be beneficial to our small business community in the Greater NYC area. Have a business and/or technology event coming up in the New York City area that you’d like us to add to our weekly post? If so, email us at eve...@smallbiztechnology.com.

Understanding Your Target Market

June 21, 2013, - 12:00 PM to 4:00 PM, General Assembly West, 10 East 21st Street, New York, NY 10010

When it comes to marketing, consumers are always in the driver’s seat â€" how can you find out where they’re going next? Start-ups and new ideas often fail not because the idea is wrong for the time, but because in the rush to launch an MVP, gaining a critical understanding of the audience often gets shortcut. In this workshop, you’ll gain the tools to develop a strong understanding of the needs, wants, and behaviors of your target audience. You’ll be prepared to go-to-market with a strong understanding of what will help you win: your customers.

 

Developing And Implementing Your Marketing Strategy

June 22, 2013, - 11:00 AM to 5:00 PM, Science Industry and Business Library (SIBL), 188 Madison Avenue, New York, NY 10016

Developing and implementing an effective marketing strategy is a key element in operating your business successfully. As a business owner, you must understand the environment in which you are selling your products and/or services, the needs and wants of your target market, the most effective ways of delivering your message, and the strategy and tactics of attracting prospects and converting them to customers. Critical to achieving your business goals is building a strong and individual brand identity.

 

A Business Of Your Own? Is It Right For You

June 25, 2013, - 6:00 PM to 7:30 PM, New York Public Library Science, Industry and Business Library, 188 Madison Avenue, Lower Level Conference Room 018, New York, NY 10016

A representative from the Workshop in Business Opportunities (WIBO) explores the misconceptions of owning a business and what it really takes to be a business owner. Registration required - sign up at WIBO.org under EVENTS

 

Selling To Why: Brain Based Selling

June 26, 2013,  9:00 AM to 11:00 AM, Regus Office Suites, 112 W 34th St, New York, NY 10120

In“Selling to Why: Brain Based Selling”, The Science of Motivation and Decision making will be discussed as it relates to developing and utilizing a selling system. We will examine how the Brain makes decisions to buy and how to exploit that to control the sales process. We will also look at how beliefs impact buying and how to blow up the prospects beliefs that are roadblocks to sales. After a theoretical overview on why and how people buy, we will discuss real world tactics and questions you can start using right away to qualify prospects, take control of the sales interview and to move the meeting or selling process to a faster close.

 

WordPress Bootcamp - Build a Website with WordPress

June 26 & 27, 2013, - 11:00 AM to 5:00 PM both days, General Assembly West, 10 East 21st Street, New York, NY 10010

WordPress is awesome, but often misunderstood. Is it a blogging platform? A CMS? Should you buy a custom theme or develop your own? WordPress.com vs. WordPress.org? In this course you’ll develop a custom site starting from scratch. Basically, you’ll take a static front-end HTML/CSS template and do all the necessary magic to have that site running live and dynamic using WordPress. Afterwards, your clients will be able to edit content themselves, manage the site’s navigation, and leverage an array of existing plug-ins that will help take the site from a simple blog to a fully functional CMS. All customizable; all on WordPress.

 

The Basics of Bookkeeping 

June 26, 2013, - 6:00 PM to 8:00 PM, Tekserve, 119 West 23rd Street, New York, NY 10011

Attend this bookkeeping workshop to learn how to: set up and manage inventory; calculate, manage, andpay sales tax; and explore POS systems integration. Get your questions answers by bookkeeping experts- the Bookkeeping Company of New York City.

 

The Big Data Explosion: How to Process, Analyze, & Visualize in the Cloud

June 26, 2013, - 6:30 PM, 10gen, 229 West 43rd Street, 5th Floor, New York, NY 10036

According to IBM, “Every day, we create 2.5 quintillion bytes of data â€" so much that 90% of the data in the world today has been created in the last two years alone. Big data is more than simply a matter of size; it is an opportunity to find insights in new and emerging types of data and content, to make your business more agile, and to answer questions that were previously considered beyond your reach.” But, for businesses of all sizes, big data can be hard to collect, analyze, visualize, and process; and the information places tremendous stress on networks, storage, and servers, which is why cloud computing has become an increasingly attractive solution. Why? For several reasons, including ability to easily scale as the volume of data increases, seemingly limitless resources on demand, ability to quickly crunch large volumes of unstructured data, and potential cost savings. However, these benefits also come with legitimate concerns such as privacy and security, possibility of outages, and cot of data migration and integration.

NYC Events: Upcoming NYC Business and Technology Events (6/21 - 6/27)

Here is a listing of NYC Business and Technology Events for the upcoming week (6/14 - 6/20) that we thought would be beneficial to our small business community in the Greater NYC area. Have a business and/or technology event coming up in the New York City area that you’d like us to add to our weekly post? If so, email us at eve...@smallbiztechnology.com.

Understanding Your Target Market

June 21, 2013, - 12:00 PM to 4:00 PM, General Assembly West, 10 East 21st Street, New York, NY 10010

When it comes to marketing, consumers are always in the driver’s seat â€" how can you find out where they’re going next? Start-ups and new ideas often fail not because the idea is wrong for the time, but because in the rush to launch an MVP, gaining a critical understanding of the audience often gets shortcut. In this workshop, you’ll gain the tools to develop a strong understanding of the needs, wants, and behaviors of your target audience. You’ll be prepared to go-to-market with a strong understanding of what will help you win: your customers.

 

Developing And Implementing Your Marketing Strategy

June 22, 2013, - 11:00 AM to 5:00 PM, Science Industry and Business Library (SIBL), 188 Madison Avenue, New York, NY 10016

Developing and implementing an effective marketing strategy is a key element in operating your business successfully. As a business owner, you must understand the environment in which you are selling your products and/or services, the needs and wants of your target market, the most effective ways of delivering your message, and the strategy and tactics of attracting prospects and converting them to customers. Critical to achieving your business goals is building a strong and individual brand identity.

 

A Business Of Your Own? Is It Right For You

June 25, 2013, - 6:00 PM to 7:30 PM, New York Public Library Science, Industry and Business Library, 188 Madison Avenue, Lower Level Conference Room 018, New York, NY 10016

A representative from the Workshop in Business Opportunities (WIBO) explores the misconceptions of owning a business and what it really takes to be a business owner. Registration required - sign up at WIBO.org under EVENTS

 

Selling To Why: Brain Based Selling

June 26, 2013,  9:00 AM to 11:00 AM, Regus Office Suites, 112 W 34th St, New York, NY 10120

In“Selling to Why: Brain Based Selling”, The Science of Motivation and Decision making will be discussed as it relates to developing and utilizing a selling system. We will examine how the Brain makes decisions to buy and how to exploit that to control the sales process. We will also look at how beliefs impact buying and how to blow up the prospects beliefs that are roadblocks to sales. After a theoretical overview on why and how people buy, we will discuss real world tactics and questions you can start using right away to qualify prospects, take control of the sales interview and to move the meeting or selling process to a faster close.

 

WordPress Bootcamp - Build a Website with WordPress

June 26 & 27, 2013, - 11:00 AM to 5:00 PM both days, General Assembly West, 10 East 21st Street, New York, NY 10010

WordPress is awesome, but often misunderstood. Is it a blogging platform? A CMS? Should you buy a custom theme or develop your own? WordPress.com vs. WordPress.org? In this course you’ll develop a custom site starting from scratch. Basically, you’ll take a static front-end HTML/CSS template and do all the necessary magic to have that site running live and dynamic using WordPress. Afterwards, your clients will be able to edit content themselves, manage the site’s navigation, and leverage an array of existing plug-ins that will help take the site from a simple blog to a fully functional CMS. All customizable; all on WordPress.

 

The Basics of Bookkeeping 

June 26, 2013, - 6:00 PM to 8:00 PM, Tekserve, 119 West 23rd Street, New York, NY 10011

Attend this bookkeeping workshop to learn how to: set up and manage inventory; calculate, manage, andpay sales tax; and explore POS systems integration. Get your questions answers by bookkeeping experts- the Bookkeeping Company of New York City.

 

The Big Data Explosion: How to Process, Analyze, & Visualize in the Cloud

June 26, 2013, - 6:30 PM, 10gen, 229 West 43rd Street, 5th Floor, New York, NY 10036

According to IBM, “Every day, we create 2.5 quintillion bytes of data â€" so much that 90% of the data in the world today has been created in the last two years alone. Big data is more than simply a matter of size; it is an opportunity to find insights in new and emerging types of data and content, to make your business more agile, and to answer questions that were previously considered beyond your reach.” But, for businesses of all sizes, big data can be hard to collect, analyze, visualize, and process; and the information places tremendous stress on networks, storage, and servers, which is why cloud computing has become an increasingly attractive solution. Why? For several reasons, including ability to easily scale as the volume of data increases, seemingly limitless resources on demand, ability to quickly crunch large volumes of unstructured data, and potential cost savings. However, these benefits also come with legitimate concerns such as privacy and security, possibility of outages, and cot of data migration and integration.

NYC Events: Upcoming NYC Business and Technology Events (6/21 - 6/27)

Here is a listing of NYC Business and Technology Events for the upcoming week (6/14 - 6/20) that we thought would be beneficial to our small business community in the Greater NYC area. Have a business and/or technology event coming up in the New York City area that you’d like us to add to our weekly post? If so, email us at eve...@smallbiztechnology.com.

Understanding Your Target Market

June 21, 2013, - 12:00 PM to 4:00 PM, General Assembly West, 10 East 21st Street, New York, NY 10010

When it comes to marketing, consumers are always in the driver’s seat â€" how can you find out where they’re going next? Start-ups and new ideas often fail not because the idea is wrong for the time, but because in the rush to launch an MVP, gaining a critical understanding of the audience often gets shortcut. In this workshop, you’ll gain the tools to develop a strong understanding of the needs, wants, and behaviors of your target audience. You’ll be prepared to go-to-market with a strong understanding of what will help you win: your customers.

 

Developing And Implementing Your Marketing Strategy

June 22, 2013, - 11:00 AM to 5:00 PM, Science Industry and Business Library (SIBL), 188 Madison Avenue, New York, NY 10016

Developing and implementing an effective marketing strategy is a key element in operating your business successfully. As a business owner, you must understand the environment in which you are selling your products and/or services, the needs and wants of your target market, the most effective ways of delivering your message, and the strategy and tactics of attracting prospects and converting them to customers. Critical to achieving your business goals is building a strong and individual brand identity.

 

A Business Of Your Own? Is It Right For You

June 25, 2013, - 6:00 PM to 7:30 PM, New York Public Library Science, Industry and Business Library, 188 Madison Avenue, Lower Level Conference Room 018, New York, NY 10016

A representative from the Workshop in Business Opportunities (WIBO) explores the misconceptions of owning a business and what it really takes to be a business owner. Registration required - sign up at WIBO.org under EVENTS

 

Selling To Why: Brain Based Selling

June 26, 2013,  9:00 AM to 11:00 AM, Regus Office Suites, 112 W 34th St, New York, NY 10120

In“Selling to Why: Brain Based Selling”, The Science of Motivation and Decision making will be discussed as it relates to developing and utilizing a selling system. We will examine how the Brain makes decisions to buy and how to exploit that to control the sales process. We will also look at how beliefs impact buying and how to blow up the prospects beliefs that are roadblocks to sales. After a theoretical overview on why and how people buy, we will discuss real world tactics and questions you can start using right away to qualify prospects, take control of the sales interview and to move the meeting or selling process to a faster close.

 

WordPress Bootcamp - Build a Website with WordPress

June 26 & 27, 2013, - 11:00 AM to 5:00 PM both days, General Assembly West, 10 East 21st Street, New York, NY 10010

WordPress is awesome, but often misunderstood. Is it a blogging platform? A CMS? Should you buy a custom theme or develop your own? WordPress.com vs. WordPress.org? In this course you’ll develop a custom site starting from scratch. Basically, you’ll take a static front-end HTML/CSS template and do all the necessary magic to have that site running live and dynamic using WordPress. Afterwards, your clients will be able to edit content themselves, manage the site’s navigation, and leverage an array of existing plug-ins that will help take the site from a simple blog to a fully functional CMS. All customizable; all on WordPress.

 

The Basics of Bookkeeping 

June 26, 2013, - 6:00 PM to 8:00 PM, Tekserve, 119 West 23rd Street, New York, NY 10011

Attend this bookkeeping workshop to learn how to: set up and manage inventory; calculate, manage, andpay sales tax; and explore POS systems integration. Get your questions answers by bookkeeping experts- the Bookkeeping Company of New York City.

 

The Big Data Explosion: How to Process, Analyze, & Visualize in the Cloud

June 26, 2013, - 6:30 PM, 10gen, 229 West 43rd Street, 5th Floor, New York, NY 10036

According to IBM, “Every day, we create 2.5 quintillion bytes of data â€" so much that 90% of the data in the world today has been created in the last two years alone. Big data is more than simply a matter of size; it is an opportunity to find insights in new and emerging types of data and content, to make your business more agile, and to answer questions that were previously considered beyond your reach.” But, for businesses of all sizes, big data can be hard to collect, analyze, visualize, and process; and the information places tremendous stress on networks, storage, and servers, which is why cloud computing has become an increasingly attractive solution. Why? For several reasons, including ability to easily scale as the volume of data increases, seemingly limitless resources on demand, ability to quickly crunch large volumes of unstructured data, and potential cost savings. However, these benefits also come with legitimate concerns such as privacy and security, possibility of outages, and cot of data migration and integration.

Two Services That Help You Document Procedures So You Can Free Up Time and Scale Your Business

Our readers are well-versed in automating business tasks and if, by this point, you’ve automated everything you can in your business, you might think that you’ve done all you can. However, there’s a way to relieve even more of your business headache!

The first thing you need to do is systematize your business activities, to “ensure consistency and dependable performance in every area.” Then document the process for your employees or teammates!

In 2008, we wrote about putting your workflow on paper. Now, there’s a better way.

SweetProcess is a web based software that allows you to document all of your standard operating procedures easily and efficiently. Essentially, you take the step-by-step process from inside your head or that ratty binder that no one can find when they need it and you put it on to SweetProcess’s system. The result? Documented procedures your employees can easily follow so you no longer have to handle tasks on your own and answer endless questions that slow down productivity; which will allow you to scale your business by getting more done!

When your procedures are documented with Sweet Process, you get the following benefits:

• Free up your time: With repetitive tasks documented, someone else can do that while you’re free to focus on growing your business.
• Employee turnover without the set-backs: When an employee leaves, training their replacement is a breeze since all of their tasks have been documented and refined over time.
• Reduce errors and re-do’s: Procedures are easy to follow, illustrated with screenshots, videos and checkboxes to ensure no steps are missed.
• Add value to your business: A business built on a foundation of well-documented Standard Operating Procedures (SOP) has a higher value, which grows over time.

The plans start at $19/month and go up to $99, but you can try it for 14 days for free.

Another standard operating procedures service is offered by SOP MD. Their system allows the ability to add photos, screenshots, videos, audio clips, hyperlinks to documents, websites and much more. It’s a heavy duty system for more in depth hands off training. It costs $200 to start, plus $30/month.

Are there other services that help you systematize your business processes this way? Let us know about them in the comments! And tell us how you’ve documented your standard operating procedures!

Two Services That Help You Document Procedures So You Can Free Up Time and Scale Your Business

Our readers are well-versed in automating business tasks and if, by this point, you’ve automated everything you can in your business, you might think that you’ve done all you can. However, there’s a way to relieve even more of your business headache!

The first thing you need to do is systematize your business activities, to “ensure consistency and dependable performance in every area.” Then document the process for your employees or teammates!

In 2008, we wrote about putting your workflow on paper. Now, there’s a better way.

SweetProcess is a web based software that allows you to document all of your standard operating procedures easily and efficiently. Essentially, you take the step-by-step process from inside your head or that ratty binder that no one can find when they need it and you put it on to SweetProcess’s system. The result? Documented procedures your employees can easily follow so you no longer have to handle tasks on your own and answer endless questions that slow down productivity; which will allow you to scale your business by getting more done!

When your procedures are documented with Sweet Process, you get the following benefits:

• Free up your time: With repetitive tasks documented, someone else can do that while you’re free to focus on growing your business.
• Employee turnover without the set-backs: When an employee leaves, training their replacement is a breeze since all of their tasks have been documented and refined over time.
• Reduce errors and re-do’s: Procedures are easy to follow, illustrated with screenshots, videos and checkboxes to ensure no steps are missed.
• Add value to your business: A business built on a foundation of well-documented Standard Operating Procedures (SOP) has a higher value, which grows over time.

The plans start at $19/month and go up to $99, but you can try it for 14 days for free.

Another standard operating procedures service is offered by SOP MD. Their system allows the ability to add photos, screenshots, videos, audio clips, hyperlinks to documents, websites and much more. It’s a heavy duty system for more in depth hands off training. It costs $200 to start, plus $30/month.

Are there other services that help you systematize your business processes this way? Let us know about them in the comments! And tell us how you’ve documented your standard operating procedures!

How to Get Your Company Back in Good Standing This Summer

When a company fails to meet its legal obligations with the state, it can fall into bad standing. While no one plans for it happen to their business, companies can slip out of good standing, be placed in non-compliant status, administratively dissolved, or even revoked by the state where they formed.

In addition, when a business is in bad standing, the business owner’s limited liability protection is lost, rendering their personal assets vulnerable to meet any debts or other obligations of the business.

No matter how you got yourself into bad standing, it is possible to get back into good standing. And in many cases, it’s not nearly as hard as you’d think. If you have a business in bad standing, read on to learn how to bring it back to good standing this summer. And if you’re not in bad standing, the following can help you understand how to stay compliant in the first place.

When Bad Standing Happens to Good Companies

A corporation or LLC will fall into bad standing when it fails to meet the requirements of the state where it formed or where it has a foreign qualification. For example, a business may fail to file its annual report and pay its annual fees on time (in some cases, you would need to fail to file for several years in a row before going into ‘bad standing’).

Another common culprit is when the Registered Agent resigns from representing the company (which often happens when the company forgets to pay the Registered Agent fees) and the company fails to set up a new agent of record. Additionally, if you fail to file your state franchise taxes, your business can fall out of good standing.

If you’re not sure how your business stands with the state, simply check with your state’s secretary of state office.

Reinstating a Company

The specific steps for reinstatement vary from state to state. Yet the general steps are typically:

1. Determine why your company fell out of compliance (if you don’t already know this, you can check with the secretary of state office).

2. Submit a reinstatement form on behalf of the corporation or LLC to the secretary of state.

3.  Pay any outstanding fees or fines (including overdue state franchise taxes). In some cases, you may need to file some additional documentation…it all depends on why you fell out of compliance in the first place.

When you reinstate your business, your corporation or LLC keeps the original filing date of formation.

Why You Can’t Just Ignore the Problem

If your company fell out of good standing, it may be tempting to just start clean with a brand new business. However, while you may be starting fresh, the state is still keeping tabs on the original business. All unpaid fees, taxes and penalties will continue to accrue each year - even if you’re no longer operating the business.

Ultimately, the state may be able to place a levy on your personal bank account.

For this reason, if your business is out of compliance or in bad standing, you need to take action to get it back in good standing. Reinstating your business means you can regain all the benefits of corporate/LLC status, including limited liability protection to safeguard your personal assets.

Most importantly, you can keep running your business without worrying about an uncertain legal status.

Good Standing Business Photo via Shutterstock

How to Get Your Company Back in Good Standing This Summer

When a company fails to meet its legal obligations with the state, it can fall into bad standing. While no one plans for it happen to their business, companies can slip out of good standing, be placed in non-compliant status, administratively dissolved, or even revoked by the state where they formed.

In addition, when a business is in bad standing, the business owner’s limited liability protection is lost, rendering their personal assets vulnerable to meet any debts or other obligations of the business.

No matter how you got yourself into bad standing, it is possible to get back into good standing. And in many cases, it’s not nearly as hard as you’d think. If you have a business in bad standing, read on to learn how to bring it back to good standing this summer. And if you’re not in bad standing, the following can help you understand how to stay compliant in the first place.

When Bad Standing Happens to Good Companies

A corporation or LLC will fall into bad standing when it fails to meet the requirements of the state where it formed or where it has a foreign qualification. For example, a business may fail to file its annual report and pay its annual fees on time (in some cases, you would need to fail to file for several years in a row before going into ‘bad standing’).

Another common culprit is when the Registered Agent resigns from representing the company (which often happens when the company forgets to pay the Registered Agent fees) and the company fails to set up a new agent of record. Additionally, if you fail to file your state franchise taxes, your business can fall out of good standing.

If you’re not sure how your business stands with the state, simply check with your state’s secretary of state office.

Reinstating a Company

The specific steps for reinstatement vary from state to state. Yet the general steps are typically:

1. Determine why your company fell out of compliance (if you don’t already know this, you can check with the secretary of state office).

2. Submit a reinstatement form on behalf of the corporation or LLC to the secretary of state.

3.  Pay any outstanding fees or fines (including overdue state franchise taxes). In some cases, you may need to file some additional documentation…it all depends on why you fell out of compliance in the first place.

When you reinstate your business, your corporation or LLC keeps the original filing date of formation.

Why You Can’t Just Ignore the Problem

If your company fell out of good standing, it may be tempting to just start clean with a brand new business. However, while you may be starting fresh, the state is still keeping tabs on the original business. All unpaid fees, taxes and penalties will continue to accrue each year - even if you’re no longer operating the business.

Ultimately, the state may be able to place a levy on your personal bank account.

For this reason, if your business is out of compliance or in bad standing, you need to take action to get it back in good standing. Reinstating your business means you can regain all the benefits of corporate/LLC status, including limited liability protection to safeguard your personal assets.

Most importantly, you can keep running your business without worrying about an uncertain legal status.

Good Standing Business Photo via Shutterstock

Malwarebytes announces acquisition of ZeroVulnerabilityLabs

Malwarebytes has announced the acquisition of vulnerability, exploit and security research and development firm. ZeroVulnerabilityLabs.

The anti-malware company said that the acquisition will add functions to its offering including proactively shielding software applications from known and zero-day exploits used by exploit kits, web-based vulnerability exploits and other corporate-targeted attacks.

Malwarebytes will also acquire the ExploitShield product, which it claimed prevents drive-by download attacks originating from commercial exploit kits

Marcin Kleczynski, CEO of Malwarebytes, said: “We are always looking to improve upon our existing offerings, and have done so with the addition of ZeroVulnerabilityLabs' technology. The proactive nature of this technology makes it a great addition and compliment to the existing Malwarebytes software suite.”

Pedro Bustamante, co-founder and CEO of ZeroVulnerabilityLabs, said: “We are excited to be joining the Malwarebytes team and to work to advance the latest anti-exploit R&D efforts, which we started at ZeroVulnerabilityLabs.

“It is a great fit between two companies who are fighting malware in innovative and effective ways in order to protect both users and companies from the most dangerous and complex types of attacks.”