Category: Small Business
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Statistics on slow start of equity crowdfunding
The Securities Exchange Commission reports that in the first year of operation of a provision known as “Reg A+” of the JOBS Act, a total of 94 companies filed to raise a total of $1.7 billion in equity financing as reported by Wall Street Journal. Of those, only about half of the offerings have qualified to…
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Comparing Facebook Live vs. Google+ Hangouts On Air
I spent some time this morning attempting to build an argument one way or the other for my future live broadcasting. I was shocked to not see any direct comparison in a third party article. I made some notes myself. It boils down to this, I think: Facebook has the people, the “eyeballs”. Google+ has…
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A birthday greeting
Today is my birthday. I was born on this day in 1960 which makes me 46 after application of my election to take a one decade “do over” for lost time; a concept that almost everyone of my age appreciates. In my case this joke is grounded in reality since I spent most of the…
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How to run a successful small business crowdfunding campaign
Many small business owners dream about tapping the power of the internet to raise funding for their growth. Yet in reality few people have an understanding of what it takes to be successful in the realm of crowdfunding. Many of my talks and article focus on explaining that many of the same attributes that indicate…
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Addressing grievances against government
This Independence Day weekend presents an opportunity to look back at how local citizens finally resolved their unaddressed grievances against government 240 years ago. This is the beginning of the text with emphasis on points that seem to me to be most relevant today: “When in the Course of human events, it becomes necessary for…
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Seven alternate sources of small business funding
I’ve been talking quite a bit lately about the new equity crowdfunding possibilities for small firms but there are still plenty of other ways to raise capital for your small business. The key to success of all of these funding possibilities is good business planning. Online Lenders have high rates but may be good for short-term financing.…
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Business crowdfunding for newbies
If you are curious but mostly unfamiliar with crowdfunding for small businesses, I suggest that these three concepts are the most important points to understand first: Crowdfunding is evolving. It is still not the best financing choice for most small businesses, but that is changing. In the meanwhile, it makes sense to prepare your small…
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My marketing basics reconsidered
Three recently observed trends caused me to go back and reevaluate my online and offline marketing strategies. Fortunately the issues refocused for me easily and quickly tonight while I took an evening walk just before dark. This blog post is an effort to get it all recorded before I lose the thoughts. The three adverse…
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The most basic requirement of business success
What’s the one core thing that every business needs to survive? This is not a trick question. Every business needs a competitive marketable product or service. In other words, a business needs to offer something that other people want to have. This is a simple concept but one that is too often overlooked in small business…
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Remodeling industry survey results
The results of a major survey of the remodeling industry were released this week in the annual Houzz & Home study that is reportedly the industry’s largest survey of residential remodeling, building and decorating activity. I suggest that remodelers should compare the findings in the report with the assumptions built into their own business plans.…