Start a Small Business the Easy Way: Quick Tips for Starting a Business by Karen Axelton
Did you know that a tough economy is actually the best time to start a small business? If you are worried about getting laid off from your job and thinking that now is the time to start a small business of your own, small-business expert Rieva Lesonsky has some good advice.
“Before you start a small business, you need to lay the groundwork,” Lesonsky says. “Take advantage of all the starting a business resources out there.” There are many sources of assistance, ranging from the Small Business Administration to your local Small Business Development Center to SCORE (a counseling organization for small businesses and startups). “These organizations offer free or very low-cost assistance,” says Lesonsky.
One of the starting a business resources that new entrepreneurs should check out is Lesonsky’s latest e-book, Startup 101: Quick Tips for Starting a Business. The book’s actionable advice helps startup entrepreneurs with all aspects of starting a business, including choosing the right business, researching the market, planning for success, setting up operations, financing the business, marketing and sales, hiring employees and more.
As you start your business, take a tip from Lesonsky and take advantage of social networking tools like Facebook, MySpace, Twitter and blogging. “These are a great resource for entrepreneurs because they’re either free or extremely low-cost--the only real investment is your time,” Lesonsky says. “Test each tool to figure out which one will work best at reaching your target market. For instance, if you want to reach businesspeople, many of them are using Twitter. If you’re seeking teens or tweens, lots of them are on MySpace. Upload a how-to video or demonstration of your product to YouTube and invite customers to create their own videos about how they use your product. Consider launching your own blog—software like WordPress and TypePad make it simple. If you don’t have time, read blogs that are relevant to your business and post comments when you’ve got something useful to say. It’s a great way to get known by influencers in your field.”
Lesonsky, who was formerly editorial director of Entrepreneur Magazine for more than 25 years, says that tactics like this enabled her to successfully launch her own business, GrowBiz Media, in the midst of the “Great Recession.” That’s just one of the 101 tips, shortcuts and smart ideas in Startup 101, which sells for $19.95. For more information about Startup 101 and to download the book, visit http://www.smallbizdaily.com/products
Karen Axelton is Chief Content Officer of GrowBiz Media (http://www.growbizmedia.com), a content and consulting company that helps entrepreneurs start and grow their businesses. Read more insights about small business at the company’s blog, http://www.SmallBizDaily.com
Article Source: Start a Small Business the Easy Way: Quick Tips for Starting a Business
Showing posts with label entrepreneur. Show all posts
Showing posts with label entrepreneur. Show all posts
Tuesday, October 20, 2009
Friday, November 16, 2007
Making Your Fortune with Public Domain
Making Your Fortune With The Public Domain by Omar Johnson
Did you know that you could boost your income or even create an income just by utilizing the public domain? Maybe that term is vague or unfamiliar. Simply stated, the public domain refers to the status of certain types of creative material that may have once been copyrighted or patented. That material, though created by other people, belongs to the public. The 'public', which includes you, can then use this material in any way they see fit.
Some examples of material that could be in the public domain include music, books, audio recordings, artwork or unclassified material created by the U.S. Government. Yes! Even if the U.S. Government created it, you can use it to your benefit. That includes Government forms, white papers, photographs, broadcasts and other literature.
All of this material which may have been created by experts, professionals in their field, who pulled together years of struggle and research, now belongs to anyone who can put it to good use. It's a completely legal process that companies have used for years.
HOW MATERIAL BECOMES PART OF THE PUBLIC DOMAIN
Now don't think that if you spend years of research and labor to produce a book, a report or an audio recording, that it can just suddenly not belong to you anymore. There are ways to protect your material, but, of course, it is up to you to take the necessary actions to actually do it. Let's go through the different ways that material can become part of the public domain.
The first way something enters the public domain is by virtue of the fact that it was created by the U.S. Government. Though people sometimes get confused, it is the Government that works for the people and not the other way around. So when the Government conducts a study and publishes its findings, it's like telling an employee to gather information and report back to the company. The 'company' in this analogy is THE PUBLIC!
The second way a copyrighted or patented thing becomes part of the public domain is if the copyright or patent has already expired. Supposing a person creates something that can be copyrighted or patented, that ownership is for a limited period of time. For a copyright, the length of time is generally the duration of the author's life plus 70 years before it becomes part of the public domain.
A patent's lifespan is only 20 years, but it can be renewed. Also, material that was created before copyright laws were in place is now part of the public domain and that includes anything created before 1923. The bible and the inventions of Leonardo Da Vinci are therefore part of the public domain.
A third way material enters the public domain is if it is a fact. However, there is a stipulation. If you were to come up with a new mathematical formula, that would become part of the public domain. You can't own facts.
On the other hand, if you were to use that formula in conjunction with other formulas to create a new kind of computer program, that program could be owned by you, protected and, therefore, NOT enter the public domain. So facts belong to the public, but if you creatively organize and/or present those facts, that can be copyrighted or patented by you and thus would not enter the public domain.
You should now have a fair understanding of how material becomes part of the public domain. All you need to do is find it and use it creatively to profit from it. For instance, maybe you could take the inventions of Leonardo Da Vinci, recreate the blueprints and build a best-selling novel around them.
Perhaps you could search for and gather, Government Reports on a specific topic and then provide your own analysis on how to interpret them. Everyone knows Government documents can be difficult to understand! It's possible that some Government Studies support and give credibility to your business or invention.
In that case, publish the Studies on your website, in your newsletter or in a Press Release. Your options are unlimited in the ways you can use material found in the public domain to your benefit.
It's important to note that the copyright and patent laws can get extremely complex, therefore only use this information as a solid foundation. After all the technicalities of Law jargon, the U.S. Governments, all 50 State Governments, the European Union and other countries get factored in, it can quickly become an overwhelming task to understand it. That's why it's always a good idea to check with your local governing bodies to make sure you are following the law of the land.
Omar Johnson is author of the home study course "How to Make Money On the Internet While You are Asleep" Get your Free Report
Article Source: Article Center
Did you know that you could boost your income or even create an income just by utilizing the public domain? Maybe that term is vague or unfamiliar. Simply stated, the public domain refers to the status of certain types of creative material that may have once been copyrighted or patented. That material, though created by other people, belongs to the public. The 'public', which includes you, can then use this material in any way they see fit.
Some examples of material that could be in the public domain include music, books, audio recordings, artwork or unclassified material created by the U.S. Government. Yes! Even if the U.S. Government created it, you can use it to your benefit. That includes Government forms, white papers, photographs, broadcasts and other literature.
All of this material which may have been created by experts, professionals in their field, who pulled together years of struggle and research, now belongs to anyone who can put it to good use. It's a completely legal process that companies have used for years.
HOW MATERIAL BECOMES PART OF THE PUBLIC DOMAIN
Now don't think that if you spend years of research and labor to produce a book, a report or an audio recording, that it can just suddenly not belong to you anymore. There are ways to protect your material, but, of course, it is up to you to take the necessary actions to actually do it. Let's go through the different ways that material can become part of the public domain.
The first way something enters the public domain is by virtue of the fact that it was created by the U.S. Government. Though people sometimes get confused, it is the Government that works for the people and not the other way around. So when the Government conducts a study and publishes its findings, it's like telling an employee to gather information and report back to the company. The 'company' in this analogy is THE PUBLIC!
The second way a copyrighted or patented thing becomes part of the public domain is if the copyright or patent has already expired. Supposing a person creates something that can be copyrighted or patented, that ownership is for a limited period of time. For a copyright, the length of time is generally the duration of the author's life plus 70 years before it becomes part of the public domain.
A patent's lifespan is only 20 years, but it can be renewed. Also, material that was created before copyright laws were in place is now part of the public domain and that includes anything created before 1923. The bible and the inventions of Leonardo Da Vinci are therefore part of the public domain.
A third way material enters the public domain is if it is a fact. However, there is a stipulation. If you were to come up with a new mathematical formula, that would become part of the public domain. You can't own facts.
On the other hand, if you were to use that formula in conjunction with other formulas to create a new kind of computer program, that program could be owned by you, protected and, therefore, NOT enter the public domain. So facts belong to the public, but if you creatively organize and/or present those facts, that can be copyrighted or patented by you and thus would not enter the public domain.
You should now have a fair understanding of how material becomes part of the public domain. All you need to do is find it and use it creatively to profit from it. For instance, maybe you could take the inventions of Leonardo Da Vinci, recreate the blueprints and build a best-selling novel around them.
Perhaps you could search for and gather, Government Reports on a specific topic and then provide your own analysis on how to interpret them. Everyone knows Government documents can be difficult to understand! It's possible that some Government Studies support and give credibility to your business or invention.
In that case, publish the Studies on your website, in your newsletter or in a Press Release. Your options are unlimited in the ways you can use material found in the public domain to your benefit.
It's important to note that the copyright and patent laws can get extremely complex, therefore only use this information as a solid foundation. After all the technicalities of Law jargon, the U.S. Governments, all 50 State Governments, the European Union and other countries get factored in, it can quickly become an overwhelming task to understand it. That's why it's always a good idea to check with your local governing bodies to make sure you are following the law of the land.
Omar Johnson is author of the home study course "How to Make Money On the Internet While You are Asleep" Get your Free Report
Article Source: Article Center
Monday, July 16, 2007
Think Like An Entrepreneur!
Think Like an Entrepreneur!
By Gary Ryan Blair
There was a time when being the biggest, most experienced corporate
kid on the block guaranteed success and dominance. However, in the
new economy, organizations that lack the commitment and capacity
for leveraging size and experience strategically will see these
attributes as vices instead of virtues.
The new economy will require an entrepreneurial mindset. Competition
will come from anywhere at anytime. Technology will empower smaller, nimbler competitors dramatically.
The days of sitting back, waiting, and depending on corporate size and reputation to attract business are effectively over.
To be clear—the relationship between size and entrepreneurial
behavior doesn't have to be an inverse one. People like Bill Gates
have already demonstrated convincingly that huge companies like
Microsoft can be as proactive and aggressive as the most
entrepreneurial start-up. In fact, entrepreneurial behavior can no
longer be the exclusive preserve of just the young start-up.
Everybody has to get in on the act!
Entrepreneurship is a bit like dieting: Everybody's in favor of it in
principle, but only a few have the intestinal fortitude to do what it
takes to reap the rewards.
In my view, the major source of the problem is cultural and is rooted in our fear of failure.
The new economy calls for a far more entrepreneurial corporate
culture, one where experimentation, risk taking, and even failure are
not only tolerated, but also actually celebrated. After all the only
real alternative to experimentation and risk is decay and decline.
The essence of risk is the possibility of failure.
Honor your errors. To advance requires a new frame. But the process
of going outside the conventional method is indistinguishable from
error.
Evolution can be thought of as systematic error management.
Scratch a successful entrepreneur and what you'll find is someone who failed a time or two or... get the idea?
The emerging rigors of the new economy leave us little choice. We
must experiment, and experimentation carries with it the near
certainty of at least occasional failure. In a truly entrepreneurial
culture, failure tends to be regarded as a learning opportunity, a
necessary pre-condition to eventual success. The status quo is simply
not a viable option any longer. You can stand still if you like, but
your competition certainly won't.
One other critical point about entrepreneurs. They are above all men
and women of action! Entrepreneurs instinctively understand the
importance of real-world experimentation, trial and error, and speed.
Experimentation, feedback, failure, learning, adjustment,
action—that's what successful entrepreneurship is all about.
Entrepreneurship, like innovation, is a profoundly relative concept.
At its core, it implies a willingness to risk challenging
conventional wisdom and prevailing approaches.
A company may employ you, but you work for yourself! Two defining
qualities of an entrepreneur are an appetite for risk and a strong
bias towards action. For many years, business conditions operated
strongly against the entrepreneur.
Size, stability, and industry experience were the only commodities recognized as having value in the business world; without them you could forget about making an impact. That's changing.
The business landscape of the new economy will be more hospitable to the entrepreneur than any we've seen before. The volatility and unpredictability of global competition have completely devalued most existing corporate currencies and virtues.
What good is size if your organization is too slow and muscle bound
to capitalize on new, fast-moving opportunities? What use is lengthy
industry experience if your most ferocious competitor is likely to
come at you from out of an entirely different sector? What's the
point of conducting exhaustive market surveys if the market changes
so fast they're obsolete before you've analyzed them?
Under these kinds of conditions, what counts is the willingness and
ability to take risks, get real-life feedback and react quickly. In
short, the ability to be entrepreneurial.
As a genuine entrepreneur, either inside an organization or
independent of one, you should prove to be ideally adapted to the
evolving imperatives of the new competitive environment.
Emboldened by its competitive dynamics and liberated by new
technologies, entrepreneurs will build not only bridges to the new economy but castles on the other shore!
Everything Counts!
Gary Ryan Blair is President of The GoalsGuy. A visionary and gifted conceptual thinker, Gary is highly regarded as a speaker, consultant, strategic planner, and coach to leading companies throughout the globe.
He helps business owners, corporate executives and sales professionals manage their time, set their priorities, and stay focused so they can achieve their goals, grow their business, and sustain a lasting competitive advantage. Learn more at http://www.personalstrategicplan.com
Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Gary_Ryan_Blair
http://EzineArticles.com/?Think-Like-an-Entrepreneur!&id=641378
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)