Wisestamp for Email Marketing and Social Signatures

Social email seems redundant. Every so often, I hear the term and I have to think: Isn’tallemail social? What I think social email means is that you make yourself more accessible by way of a smart, link-friendly signature in your email.

I have always admired the marketing-savvy friends and colleagues who have social signatures where you can click through to their Facebook page or Twitter account or LinkedIn profile via a hip, artsy button right from their email signature, and I presumed it took some special coding skills, until I found about WiseStamp.  They do the special coding part for you.

If you look at your email and the standard signature you plug in, if you have one at all, you might wonder how you could jazz it up.  After all, every contact with a customer or prospect is an opportunity to share what you’re doing that might lead to additional sales or more conversation and engagement with your brand.  It seems a real headache to create a new email signature each time your write a blog post or tweet about something, if not impossible. Well, with a tool like WiseStamp, you can showcase your thought leadership within minutes and do it in a non-threatening and very professional way via the email signature at the end of your email.

What I liked:

• Super fast– in less than five minutes I had my own custom, hip signature. You canwatch my YouTube video of itif you want. I didn’t edit the video a whole lot. I take you through it about as fast as I did it myself.

• It let me add Twitter, Facebook and various Instant Message options nearly as fast I could type this sentence.  I only added a few for this test, but there are 14 or 15 different options.

• For just about every major social sharing service I could think of, WiseStamp had a way for me to share the latest in my signature: StumbleUpon, Delicious, Flickr, eBay, Digg, you name it. They even had a popular quotes app that let me rotate in different simple quotes to spice up my signature without even trying.

Here’s a screenshot of my simple signature versus my WiseStamp one. The green box is my simple (yes, boring) current email signature via Google.  In the red box is my social icon-powered signature from WiseStamp. My screenshot doesn’t really do it justice. Having the little icons just looks way better than regular html. They havea bunch of samples.

What I wished it had:

• I would like to see a similar function for Microsoft Outlook because not everyone is on a webmail client like Gmail, Yahoo, Hotmail or AOL. They do have a Mozilla Thunderbird extension, though.

• Even though I had downloaded it, I couldn’t figure out how to get back to it!  Of course, my suspicion is this is mostly operator-error. I kept thinking I would see something in my browser window, and I did, once I was back in Gmail where I had originally set it up. It shows up in the upper right portion of my inbox and I can go in there and edit the settings. I could alsoget to it via Firefox, Add-on and Options, and by clicking on WiseStamp, where it shows as one of my add-ons.  Again, they might have covered this in a tutorial, and I sometimes move to fast for my own good.

If you’re blogging for your company, adding status updates to Facebook, Twitter or other social sites and you want a low-key way to promote your latest content in your emails, then you should take a close look at WiseStamp. The basic signature app is free, but you can customize it further by spending between $24 and $36 a year.  The premium levels allow you to createa custom social icon (and the option to make the icons larger, which would be a good thing). Depending on your social presence the premium might make a lot of sense. They also have tremendous reviews from Mashable, LifeHacker, Kim Komando and other notable tech gurus.

Learn more aboutWiseStamp.

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Facebook Launches Business Page Migration Tool

As a small business owner did you mistakenly create a personal Facebook profile for your company when you meant to create a Brand page? Or maybe you created a personal profile before Brand pages even existed and now you’re missing out on the new functionality? Fear not, Facebook wants to help you switch over and they’ve released theBusiness Page Migration Toolto help you do it.

It’s worth pointing out that this isn’t a totally altruistic gesture on Facebook’s part. Using a personal profile as a brand is actually a violation of Facebook’s terms of service (TOS), and they’d like to remind you they can hijack your page for doing it and remove your whole identity.

OK then!

First, why should you care?

Well, other than the fact that Facebook can remove your page for violating its TOS, as a small business owner you want to get yourself set up with an official Brand page. Brand pages are better suited for local marketing because they allow anyone to“like” you (no approving friends), there’s no maximum on how popular you can get, and they offer SMBs more robust media and promotion offerings. The fact is, Brand pages are simply the better option. By not using them and sticking to a personal profile, you limit your brand’s ability to really reach out and engage customers.

So, how do you make the switch?

With Facebook’s new Profile Migration Tool. To start the process, click the link and follow the instructions that appear on screen to begin the process. Do be careful, though, because it doesn’t appear there’s any way to undo whatever you changes you make. So proceed with caution.

In the migration, all of your current friends will be switched over to fans, and your profile pics will be added to the new Brand page. Everything, else, however willnotmake the journey with you. That’s right, all of your other photos, wall content, profile information, applications and everything else you’ve created on Facebook with the account willnotbe moved over. To prevent the information from being lost, Facebook recommends usersdownload their informationbefore kicking off the process. Otherwise, once it’s gone, it’s gone.

So, should I do this right now?

Well, maybe not. There have been reports fromJeffrey Zeldman,Mashable, and others about some major migration hiccups occurring as part of the process. For example, users have complained about losing custom URLs (which they then can’t get back because they’re “taken” by the old account), disappearing apps, not being able to access Facebook help and other great annoyances.

My advice? Give it a week or two before you attempt the migration process, and do so only after you’ve made sure to back up all of your content.

Though a little wonky right now, this migration is really important for small business owners not yet moved over to Facebook Brand pages. Creating a Brand page will offer you much more functionality and will help you better promote your business to customers. Hopefully Facebook will quickly get the kinks worked out and small business owners can be on their way to engaging with customers better than ever.

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How to Form an LLC or Incorporate a Business

So, you’ve done your research and decided to form an LLC or incorporate your business. Maybe you want to protect your personal savings and other assets, maybe your financial advisor mentioned you could save in taxes, or maybe you simply need a legal structure to win a large client contract. Whatever thereasoning, it’s time to take the next step for your business.

The only question is how?

For the small business owner, this process raises many questions.Where do I start? How much does it cost to incorporate or to form an LLC? How long does the process take? Can I form my own corporation or LLC or is an attorney required?In this post, I’ll break down the steps required to incorporate a business or form an LLC, as well as explain the three different methods: do-it-yourself, legal filing service, or an attorney.

In most cases, you can set up an LLC or Corporation with the secretary of state’s office for whichever state you choose as your ‘state of incorporation.’ And as a general rule of thumb, if your business will have fewer than 5 shareholders, it’s best to just incorporate in the state where you actually live or have a physical presence.

Here’s a quick overview of the process for both the LLC and Corporation:

How to Form an LLC

The LLC requires much less formality, while still protecting the personal assets of the business owners from any liability of the company. For an LLC, you’ll need to file Articles of Organization or Certificate of Organization with your state’s secretary of state. While the LLC is less formal, these documents must contain at least the minimum requirements as described by state law before they can be successfully filed (and your LLC processed).

How to Form a Corporation

To form a corporation, you’ll need to take the following steps:

• Draft“Articles of Incorporation” or “Certificate of Incorporation”
• The Articles of incorporation must be executed by a person designated as“incorporator.” The incorporator must be an adult and doesn’t need to be affiliated with the corporation in any way other than merely filing the document. Later, this person will pass a resolution assigning all rights and duties to the board of directors.
• Submit your articles of incorporation. In most states, the agency responsible for corporate filings is the Secretary of State (usually the Corporations Division).
• Once the state office has processed your documents, they will return the certified documents to the address provided.
• Elect a board of directors: The Incorporator executes a corporate resolution electing a board of directors assigning all rights and duties to the board.
• Issue shares: The Board of Directors issues shares to designated shareholders.
• S-Corp: And lastly, if you want the pass-through tax treatment of anS-Corp, you’ll need to file IRS Form 2553 with the IRS within 75 days of the start date of your corporation.

How long does the process take?

Depending on the state and its current workload, processing time may vary from 1 day to 3 months. Unfortunately, as states are facing budget issues and staffing cuts, we are seeing longer backlogs, particularly at the beginning of the year. There’s also a ‘rush filing’ option, which in many states must be done via walk-in delivery. If you’re filing yourself, you can bring the completed forms in person to the secretary of state’s office. And if you’re using an online filing service, they will have a courier located near the stateoffice to bring in your forms for rush service.

How should I file?

The three methods for filing your Articles of Organization or Articles of Incorporation are: do-it-yourself, a legal filing service, or an attorney. For full disclosure, I am founder and CEO of CorpNet.com, an online legal filing service, but will hopefully provide objective advice here, because depending on your specific situation, each option has its own set of pros and cons.

• Do-it-yourself:In this case, you can download or request the forms from your secretary of state’s office, complete, and submit the forms on your own. This is obviously the lowest cost method (you’ll still have to pay the state filing fee; exact fee amounts vary by state; for example, in California it’s $100 for a Corporation and $70 for an LLC for standard filings). This is a good option if you’re more concerned about saving money than time, and if you have a relatively high tolerance for paperwork and minute details.
• Online legal filing service:An online legal filing service will file the documentation for you. This option is slightly more expensive than filing yourself, but for some, the time savings is invaluable. Legal documents can be tedious, time-consuming and fraught with details. Regulations and requirements vary across states, even down to the little details like paper size, font size, number of copies, ink color, etc. By turning to a service that specializes in these matters, you can save yourself the headache and hassle of learning and staying current on each and every detail. And you can focus your time and energy on your own business.
  Of course, it’s important to understand that a document filing service is well… a document filing service. It’s not a substitute for an attorney, accountant or tax advisor. These service companies cannot give you specific legal or financial advice for your set of circumstances.
• Attorney:If you have particularly complex business needs— for example you have strict requirements for shareholder structure or stock allocation, or you’re dealing with millions of dollars up front — you should retain your own expert counsel to help get you started. An attorney will be able to assess your situation and provide specific legal advice. Likewise, a tax or financial advisor can help you figure out the financial implications in forming an LLC, S Corporation, or C Corporation.

When it comes to legal matters, I’ll be the first to say that trying to save a few dollars up front can end up costing you big in the long run. Trust your gut; if you feel like you need to bring in expert counsel, then by all means do so. Just remember that you are able to file for incorporation or LLC formation without an attorney, and this could be a reasonable and cost effective way to go. Whatever method you choose, make sure to pat yourself on the back for taking this important step for your business and yourself.

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Ubuntu: An Inspiring Story About an African Tradition of Teamwork and Collaboration

The autographed page of the review copy I received ofUbuntu: An Inspiring Story About an African Tradition of Teamwork and Collaborationsaid“Ivana– Love your work, Keep it up Sawa Bona – Bob Nelson.”I’ve received autographed copies before, but I wasn’t sure what Sawa Bona was. I had to read the book to find out (more on that later).

I receivedUbuntuas a review copy, but my MBA has an emphasis in teamwork and collaboration, so this book is something I would have bought on my own. It doesn’t hurt that it’s a 5 x 7 book with 132 pages in font large enough for even my middle-aged eyes to read comfortably.

Bob Nelson, bestselling author of1001 Ways to Reward Employees,andStephen Lundin, bestselling co-author ofFish,have put their heads and experiences together and created a business novel that will give you an MBA’s worth of management insights in the couple of hours it takes to read the book.

What IsUbuntu? I Am, Because We Are

“In Africa there is a concept known as Ubuntu – the profound sense that we are human only through the humanity of others; that if we are to accomplish anything in this world it will in equal measure be due to the work and achievements of others.”— Nelson Mandela

Ubuntuis the story of John Peterson.  John had always been a terrific worker at BullsEye, but when he was promoted to management, he found out that he faced more challenges than he had bargained for.  Not only that, but his personal life was falling apart as well.  When it rains, it pours.

Then along comes Simon, a young student from South Africa.  When Simon overhears John’s frustration about having to come in over the weekend, he skips out on his college final to come in on Saturday to help John finish some poorly done paperwork.  When John asks him why, Simon says simply, “It is Ubuntu.” Soon after,  John becomes Simon’s student in the way of Ubuntu.

As luck would have it, BullsEye is running a contest, and Simon is one of the winners of the grand prize– a trip to South Africa.  John, Simon and several other BullsEye employees go on the journey of a lifetime and learn the principles of Ubuntu firsthand. They come back with a plan and soon BullsEye is transformed and is not only a great place to work, but is successful as well.

How to Read This Book

Like many business novels, you don’t want to read this as if it were a Shakespearean work of art.  This is not its purpose.  Read this book as an allegory.  As you read through the lessons and experiences of the characters, look inside yourself and see what lessons you can learn.  The authors include outlines and notes the characters made that you can use as inspiration.

A Few Lessons From the Book

One thing I really like about the book is the call-out boxes sprinkled throughout.  Each features a Ubuntu principle you can think about and reflect on.  Here are a few examples:

• We tell ourselves stories to explain the events in our lives.  Being connected to others provides a necessary opportunity to challenge the stories that might be hurting our performance and inhibiting our growth.

• Ubuntu doesn’t mean respecting bad work; it does mean respecting the person who does the work.

• As long as there are employees who think of themselves as little people, the work of Ubuntu is not done.

I don’t know about you, but for each bullet I can think of an example of a time or place where I could have applied each of these principles.  In fact, I recognize that it’s not too late to go back to the folks that were impacted by my actions and acknowledge their work.

Who Should ReadUbuntu?

Ubuntuisn’t just for business owners or HR professionals. If you volunteer or are involved in church or school organizations, you’ll find a lot of value inUbuntu. In fact, a great way to bring your team closer together before starting a project is to get everyone a copy, take the weekend to read it, and then talk about how you will use the principles to work together.

What’sSawa Bonaand How Should You Respond?

I started this review by telling you that Bob Nelson signed his note with“Sawa Bona.” Sawa Bona is an African phrase that means“I see you.” It acknowledges the connection that we share as human beings.  The proper response to“Sawa Bona” is to smile widely and say“Sikhona”— which means“I am here.”  It reminds me of the greeting“Namaste,” which means“I see the light inside you.”

One of the parting thoughts in the book is that the first step toward Ubuntu is gratitude and acknowledging the connections that we share.

Ubuntuis a fun book you can read quickly to learn lessons that will guide you for a lifetime of working with people. Sikhona.

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Social Marketing to the Business Customer

Middle managers and marketing folks dealing with business-to-business companies that are still delaying their social media programs–pay attention!  We’ve reviewed our share ofsocial media bookshere, but this is the first one targeted specifically to B2B applications.  This is a book I received from the publisher, but I would have purchased on my own because of my extensive involvement in the B2B marketing space.

Authors Paul Gillin(@pgillin) and Eric Schwartzman have written what I’ll call a foundation book for B2B social media marketing,Social Media to the Business Customer: Listen to Your B2B Market, Generate Major Account Leads and Build Client Relationships.

The Story Behind the Book

The defining moment that triggered this book occurred at the Inbound Marketing Conference in 2009.  An attendee raised her hand and asked how B2B companies could use social media.  The presenter asked the audience how many were from B2B companies.  When more than half the room raised their hand, the authors knew they were on to something.   When a quick Google search confirmed that most social media books at the time were written for B2C applications, the authors went to work to pullSocial Marketing to the Business Customertogether.

4 Reasons I Am So Excited About This Book

My Amazon search for the words“social media” turned up over 138,000 entries.  That tells me that there’s no shortage of social media books out there.  And sometimes I feel like I’ve read most of them.  But this one is different from the others because it was written for and is focused on the B2B  marketer or businessowner and the marketing agencies that serve them.  Better still, as I flipped through the chapters of the book, I could see that there was absolutelyno fluffat all.  Every chapter is dedicated to real issues and real questions asked by B2B marketers. Here are 4 reasons I enjoyed this book:

1. You Get Common Objections and Answers to Those Objections

The chapter“Winning Buy-In and Resources” features a list of common objections and how to address them:

• “There’s no return on investment.”There is a whole chapter dedicated to calculating ROI that will give you all the metrics, tables and calculations you need to satisfy this question. But more importantly, you’ll get a sense of perspective about what a social media tool is and what ROI is.“ROI is calculated by subtracting the cost of the marketing pilot, the cost of goods sold, and operating expenses from the revenue generated.  But long-term benefits are more difficult to quantify.  What’s the ROI of your telephone, golf-club membership, or a meal with a customer?”
• “We don’t have the resources.”I’m impressed with how much progress has been made in the area of measuring resources needed to use social media.  The authors actually have numbers you can use.  For example, “It takes a person roughly 25 minutes per interaction, which means one person at 80 percent utilization can engage with14 customers per day.”  They’ve actually measured 73 B2B marketers who generated sales from Twitter while spending no more than 60 minutes a day on that activity.

There are several more objections and responses to those objections in this book that I think are outstanding.

2. You Learn to Calculate ROI of Social Media

The ROI question or objection is really just a stalling tactic, but that doesn’t mean that we shouldn’t set goals and measure our results.  Chapter 14 is dedicated to measuring ROI, and even seasoned social media marketers and practitioners will learn something.  The authors show you how to define your ROI calculation so you’re measuring what counts for your business.  They even give you specific examples of what other B2B organizations have done.  Then they show you how to make decisions based on the ROI.

In one example, they compare webinars to white paper downloads.  The webinars have a higher ROI in terms of attracting audience, but when you think about the fact that white papers attract a larger audience and take fewer resources to implement, it makes more sense to increase the conversion rate of the white paper to increase the ROI.  This is the kind of guidance and concrete specificity that’s been missing in many social media books.

3. You Learn Lead Generation Strategies

One of my favorite features in this book is the specific examples and tables.  The Lead Generation chapter is a great example of this.  On page 162 is a table that defines the stage in the buying process for the customer, the traditional media tools that you might use for each stage, and the social media tools you should consider.  This kind of context is what makes thisbook such a terrific resource.

4. You’ll Get Insight Into Tools and Platforms That Might Work Best for Your Business

There is an entire section devoted to explaining specific platforms such as LinkedIn, Facebook, Twitter, Ning and others too numerous to mention. Gillin and Schwartzman explain each platform, its functions, its benefits and its applications. Then they give examples of how specific B2B companies have used each platform to advantage.  I found this section really interesting and informative.  It also tickled my brain into thinking up new and innovative ideas for my clients.

More Resources

The website forSocial Marketing to the Business Customeris found onEric Schwartzman’s site.  When you scroll down to the bottom of the page, you’ll find a link to a slideshare of Chapter 1 and a podcast.  You can also follow Eric Schwartzman on Twitter (@ericschwartzman).

Why You Should Read This Book– Even if You Don’t Deal With B2B Companies

The biggest reason for any small business owner to read this book is for your own education and peace of mind.  I really see this as a reference book.  The recommendations for strategies and tactics are based on rigorous research and application.  Even companies using social media for business-to-consumer applications will benefit from applying the measurements, examples and perspectives Social Marketing to the Business Customeroffers.

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One on One: Larry Augustin of SugarCRM

Welcome to another in our One on One series of conversations with some of the most thought-provoking entrepreneurs, authors and experts in business today. Larry Augustin, CEO of SugarCRM, spoke with Brent Leary in this interview, which has been edited for publication. One of the group who coined the term“open source,” Larry has written and spoken extensively on open source. He is also an angel investor and advisor to many early-stage technology companies. To hear audio of the full interview, page down to the loudspeaker icon at the end of the post.

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Small Business Trends: You are the CEO of SugarCRM. Can you tell us more about your background?

Larry Augustin:I came into Sugar as CEO a little under two years ago. Prior to that I had been a board member and outside director of Sugar for a little over four years. During that period, not only was I working with Sugar, but {also with} a number of other startups, most of them with some connection to open source. I was lucky enough to work with companies like JBoss, Xen Source, SpringSource, Hyperic and recently a company called Appcelerator.

Small Business Trends: Where is open source today compared to when it first got started, and how is it benefiting folks who are starting businesses today?

Larry Augustin:Open source has made the transition from primarily developers {who are very interested in being able to set direction, take source code and build things for themselves} to something that is now very common in the commercial world. The notion that you can have control by access to the source code– that access to the source code is valuable– has made its way into how people think about business today.

For a long time, particularly in the enterprise software world, we saw a confrontational relationship between customer and vendor. {There was} a period where companies didn’t like {the software products} they were buying, never used them, never adopted them and never had a good partnership with the vendor.

Open source has the opportunity to turn the relationship between vendor and user– the consumer- into a partnership. There is one company whose primary concern is using the product in their business. There is another company whose primary concern is building, product, supporting and developing the product. But rather than adversarial, there’s a shared vision around the product.

Small Business Trends: What impact has open source had on cloud computing?

Larry Augustin:Without open source, we would have not been able to develop the models we see around cloud computing today, because one of the significant changes as we go to cloud computing is a pay-as-you-go incremental use license. Without open source to have built the cloud infrastructure, and without open source to have provided software whose licensing was flexible, we wouldn’t have cloud services.

Small Business Trends: Open source, cloud based, SAAS, whatever you like to call it– why has CRM been such a driver and such a success when it comes to these kinds of deliveries?

Larry Augustin:CRM is one of those applications that every {business} wants. If I have a business, I have salespeople, I have customers and I need to enable my sales team to understand my customers. As you look at the capabilities of open source, there is an opportunity to partner with a customer around a piece of software that everyone needs. The customer has a lot of ideas about what the software should look like. We need to take those in and create an experience for the customer that makes them excited about the software.

CRM is one of the first steps for open source into a business application. Historically most open source has been focused around the infrastructure parts of the software stack. With CRM we’ve taken a plunge into a business application. {This is} a great opportunity for open source to show that we can benefit all business buyers, not just the IT buyer.

Small Business Trends: Looking at the area of social CRM, what impact has the need to integrate social had on open source and on companies looking for CRM help?

Larry Augustin:Customers are using social networks to talk about businesses. It used to be that a company had a pretty good chance of controlling their message. Messages came to consumers thorough certain kinds of media, be it newspapers, TV or radio. Today, that’s completely turned around. Consumers trust other consumers, and social networks have enabled them to exchange information. Today the trusted source of information about a vendor or product is not the vendor, but the fellow consumers. To get their message across to the consumer, {businesses} have to participate, integrate and connect with those social networks.

We have to enable a salesperson at a company to understand what their customer, contact or prospect is saying about them on a social network. For example, at SugarCRM, we have integration with common social networking services like Facebook, Twitter and LinkedIn. Many social networking services were built using open source software. The open nature of those platforms has enabled us to make those integrations necessary to bring social from the consumer network into the enterprise and allow the enterprise to communicate with those customers.

Small Business Trends: Let’s look into the future, a year or two from now. What role does open source play in this social economy we seem to be building?

Larry Augustin:Open source goes in only one direction, and that’s forward. Once code is out there, it’s available for everyone to use. As a result, there is always more and more to build on.

Combine that with the cloud services open source has enabled, and the kinds of things we are seeing with social networking today are just the tip of the iceberg of what people are going to be able to create. Open source combined with cloud computing makes it very, very easy for someone that has the next great idea to make it available very, very quickly.

Small Business Trends: Where can people learn more about Sugar?

Larry Augustin:AtSugarCRM.comthey can see what we are up to and take things for a test drive. If you are a small or medium-sized business, we have a product that’s a great fit. They can also check out our annual user and developer conference April 4th– 6th in San Francisco.

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Small Business News: Startup Celebration

Small business startup is the order of the day. With many countries realizing that new businesses are the key to economic recovery and growth, it’s easy to understand. So what stories have you heard? What new venture are you planning. Leave a comment. We’d like to know. Meanwhile, be inspired and enjoy our startup celebration roundup.

Finance

Does your small business develop smartphone apps? If so, there may be big funding in store as auto manufacturer BMW has announced plans to invest millions in smartphone app development. Why? The car maker has set its sights on an urban market for efficient transportation vehicles and hopes the apps will be part of that package.WSJ

Energy

Clean-energy business startups are being encouraged. Recently the U.S. Department of Energy announced plans to dramatically reduce the cost of innovative energy solutions for startup. Read more about the recent announcement and what it could mean for the next clean-energy business startups.MIT News

Programs

A look at the startup situation in the UK. A columnist looks at the realities between hopefulness and the fears that come with starting a small business in the StartUp Program. The conclusions? Somewhere between the hype and the fear there has been at least one significant announcement and news of global success. Overall, the future is bright.RealBusiness

Want to learn more about startups where you live? Your local SCORE may hold regular workshops to teach prospective small business owners more about the startup process. You can also tap these local organizations for networking, resources and mentoring, so research more about the programs in your community.Quad-Cities Online

Policy

Even communist-run Cuba is getting into the act. The island nation has turned to private enterprise to stave off its economic ills. Financing credits for entrepreneurs, the opening of government contracts to the private sector, the granting of 170,000 new licenses for entrepreneurs plus leasing of government land to private farmers.WSJ

Startup America! Programs to stir and empower entrepreneurial activity abroad followed a“string of initiatives” launched by the White House to encourage economic recovery through entrepreneurial startups. Here are the basics in case you missed the announcement.WSJ

Opinion

Why communities should focus on small business for economic development. Many communities focus time and resources on attracting large businesses from out of the area that offer a big boost in employment. But in this op ed, we look at the argument that a better policy might be to focus on local entrepreneurs who are invested in the community to rebuild the local economy.JacksonSun.com.

Success stories

What young entrepreneurs need to know about small business startups. Sisters Sarah and Hannah Rinn learned a lot when they took ownership of the Blossom Shop, a flower shop in Woodstock, Ill., while still teenagers. Experts say starting young as entrepreneurs can be a huge benefit since young people have fewer financial obligations when in the lean startup years.Northwest Herald

Bookshelf

A book about building your business. Ivana Taylor reviews the book by Mark Thompson and Brian Tracy entitledNow, Build a Great Business. It’s a great no-nonsense book that goes into great detail about the steps to run or start a business, Ivana says.Small Business Trends

Taxes

When starting a business, watch for tax credits to benefit you. Here’s an overview of tax credits on the federal and state level that can be used to benefit a business startup. Since the tax credits were given out to help fuel economic development and create jobs, this is exactly what they were meant for. Make sure you understand the tax credit system and how your business may qualify.SmartBusiness

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