Sean McKay says, “This is our ‘basics’ presentation for those looking to learn about the flexibility available to them within Self-directed IRAs. We provide these webinars free of charge as part of our mission to educate the public that their retirement account can invest in a variety of assets such as real estate, private lending, limited liability companies, precious metals and much more!”

Source: PRWeb

The upcoming event will feature “Boosting Your Business Using Technology,” a presentation on the value of, and the techniques for, creating an e-Commerce presence; and “Getting in Tune with Your Customer Base,” a how-to on using social media to engage your customers. The February 15 event is hosted by the DC SCORE chapter for the benefit of startups and growing Washington, DC and surrounding area businesses.

Source: MarketWatch

Source: PRWeb

Obama wants small business tax, investment breaks
The legislative package, which will be part of Obama’s 2013 budget proposal later this month, also would include a new 10 percent tax credit for small business that add jobs or increase wages in 2012.
Boston.com

Identifying prospects for your global business strategy
What do you know about your global prospects? Jim Blasingame reveals information about global prospects for developing a strategy to grow your business outside of the U.S.
The Small Business Advocate (audio)

Demand for Small Business Loans Most Since 2005
Banks reported the greatest increase in demand for loans from small companies since 2005, the according to the Federal Reserve’s survey of senior loan officers out today. That may be good news for job growth later in the year.
BusinessWeek

5 Tips For Managing Overwhelm and Overload
Just like we have power strips that absorb energy surges to protect our computers, we need to install acircuit breaker on our brains to absorb some of the overwhelming data coming in all the time.
The International Association of Self-Employed Communication Professionals

Big Banks’ Small Business Lending: Do The Numbers Really Add Up?
So it’s no surprise that Bank of America, Chase, Citibank and Wells Fargo were eager to release seemingly impressive small-business lending figures for 2011. Problem is, many of those loans may be going to businesses that aren’t that small.
Huffington Post

Can a brand be genuine on Twitter?
Self-promotion is just plain tacky in the age of social media.  You just can’t tell people how awesome you are, you need to show them.
The Washington Post

Why You Need to Compartmentalize Your Life when Building a Business
When you start a business, you will likely wear many different hats, and in many cases wear all of the hats. You might be in charge of marketing, sales, legal, HR, operations, finance, accounting, IT etc. And you might add on top of all that a personal life of some degree.
Youngentrepreneur.com

Japan Small Business Confidence Rises In January
Confidence among Japanese small scale businesses rose for the first time in four months in January, a survey conducted by the Shoko Chukin Bank showed Tuesday.
NASDAQ

Branding for the small business
Far too many business owners feel that they are too small to worry about branding, don’t understand it entirely or they think they don’t have the time or resources to invest in it.
Crain’s Chicago Business

JPL to Host High-Tech Small Business Conference
NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena, Calif., will host the 24th annual High-Tech Conference for Small Business on Tuesday, March 6, and Wednesday, March 7, at the Westin Los Angeles Airport Hotel.
Jet Propulsion Laboratory

Managing a Small Business: How to Inspire Employee Loyalty
A big part of successfully managing a small business is inspiring loyalty and getting the most out of employees.
International Business Times

27 Small Business PR Ideas For February
Here are 27 ways entrepreneurs can seek out small business PR opportunities during the month of February.
Understanding Marketing

How To Raise Money To Start Your Small Business
There are many ways you can raise the money you need to start your small business. Don’t give up until you’ve exhausted every single opportunity in existence, and you’ll be happy you did.
Noobpreneur.com

India offers opportunities, but there are pitfalls to avoid
As the second-fastest growing market in Asia, with more than one billion people, India is considered by many small business owners fertile ground offering a variety of opportunities.
Washington Post

Postal service offering classes for marketers, small business owners
The United States Postal Service recently announced it will host Grow Your Business Day, designed to help small and medium-sized businesses create affordable direct mail pieces for integrated marketing campaigns.
123Print.com

5 Simple Steps for Promoting Your Blog
Here are five steps that will help you promote your blog, differentiating it and creating awareness. With the steps here, you’ll be able to maximize the daily traffic that comes to your website.
Earningdiary.com

The 7th Annual Small Business Summit Gains Momentum
The Seventh Annual Small Business Summit, (#smallbizsummit) New York’s premier event for small businesses, is continuing to gain momentum among small business owners, larger businesses and groups that work within the small business vertical.
MarketWatch

Small-Business Outlook: What Are The Biggest Challenges On Main Street?
They also named weak sales as the top business concern in NFIB’s monthly Small-Business Optimism Index report for the 16th consecutive quarter. Other challenges recession-weary small-business owners reported?
Huffington Post

Women Small Business Owners Wave a Magic Wand in Portland, OR
Portland, OR women in small business opportunity to connect for free at the Magic Wand Collective launch meeting set for this Thursday, January 26th, 2012, 6:30 – 9:00 pm at the Crowne Plaza Hotel, 1441 NE 2nd Ave., Portland, OR 97232.
PR Urgent

Small Business Loans: How They Work and What You Should Know
Asking for loans is “unpleasant; it’s like asking your dad for the car keys,” said Charles H. Green, Executive Director at the Small Business Finance Institute and author of The SBA Loan Book.
International Business Times

How to Choose a Mobile Carrier for Your Small Business
AT&T, among other carriers, walks you through choosing small-business products.As for choosing a voice-minutes package, most providers offer free calls on nights and weekends.
PCWorld

Xiimo Brings New Marketing Tools to the Small Business Owner
Named one of the most disruptive cloud based technology companies by VentureBeat, Xiimo is redefining how small businesses market and promote on the web.
Sacramento Bee

More Signs of Increased Small Business Lending
We’ve been hearing about increased confidence in small business and, if you’re like me, you want to believe it – but you’re suspicious, too. How do we really know if things are getting better?
Small Business Trends

Sales of Small Business Companies Increase in 2011 Franchise Stats Lacking
The small-business-for-sale marketplace picked up again last year, for the second year in a row, thanks in part to better business performance. Sales of businesses with roughly $360000 in annual revenue rose 3.3% in 2011, according to BizBuySell.com…
Blue MauMau

Small Business Social Media – Avoid At Your Peril
Friends, Fans, Circles, Likes, Plus 1’s, it can all be a bit intimidating for small business owners. The fact of the matter is though that Social media is not going away…
Business 2 Community

Hiding Income? Look Out, Here Comes the 1099-K
Starting this month, business owners will begin getting new tax forms issued by their credit-card and online-payment processors and intended to keep businesses from hiding income. The form, called 1099-K, will document all 2011 transactions processed for sellers with more than 200 transactions and $20,000 in annual gross receipts.
BusinessWeek

Cloud app helps small companies manage sales compensation
Wondering how much your small business should be paying that great new sales person you want to hire? More important, wondering how to make sure everything is managed and paid out properly?
ZDNet (blog)

21 Reasons You’ll Fail at Marketing
I don’t know what it is about Marketing, but everyone on earth seems to think they can do it. And yet I see so many people NOT doing it or wasting thousands of dollars and not getting results.  I see business owners try the same things over and over, small businesses fail at marketing wasting more money, more time, and more energy.
Bplans

Self-employment in the Internet Age
Everyone who’s ever seen their career crash and burn can point to one or more big picture factors that directly or indirectly greased the wheels of their departure. We can either poison ourselves with bitterness, or find some way to benefit from prevailing changes.
OutOfYourRut.com

Cyfe Bundles Small-Business Web Services in One Dashboard
Running a small business with any kind of Web presence involves tracking information from multiple online services such as Google Analytics, Facebook, and MailChimp. The new website Cyfe populates a dashboard with widgets for commonly used Web services, gathering your important data in one place.
PCWorld

Small business success defined by lifestyle: Academic
The definition of success among small firms depends on whether they are motivated by growth or lifestyle, an academic says, but both have the potential to be profitable.
StartupSmart

Seventh Annual Small Business Summit Extends Strategy Award Nomination Deadline to February 10^th
Is YOUR small business doing great things? Are you looking for some well deserved recognition for your hard work? If so, then nominate your company or one that you admire for the 2012 Small Business Strategy Award, sponsored by the 2012 Small Business Summit. Winners will be announced on March 6, 2012 in New York City’s Metropolitan Pavilion.
Market Watch

Using small business marketing to highlight your company’s selling points
In order to get ahead in a less than stellar economic climate, it’s important for small enterprises to play up their strengths in their business marketing campaigns. For some, this might involve advertising that their products are locally made.
AmsterdamPrinting.com

National Veterans Small Business Conference coming to Cobo in June
The US Department of Veterans Affairs is expected Wednesday morning to announce plans to bring the National Veterans Small Business Conference and Expo to Detroit’s Cobo Center in June.
Crain’s Detroit Business

BB&T Payment Solutions offers free data security webinar for small business owners
BB&T Payment Solutions is offering a free educational webinar designed to help small business owners navigate, understand and protect their businesses from security pitfalls.
MarketWatch

13 Social Platforms Your Small Business Should Consider Using
Google + – I’m still not fully convinced this platform is ready for your small business, but keep an eye on it. There are some great features on there, but the biggest drawback in my mind is: where are the people?
Business 2 Community

How To Embed YouTube Videos and Podcasts To Keep Readers on Your Blog
Using multimedia like video, audio and presentations are a fantastic way to promote products and get your point across to your audience.
Basic Blog Tips

3 reasons SMBs should care about Internet censorship
Summary: There is a lot more at stake than ‘just’ freedom of expression, so the small business community — especially those with a technology bent — need to stay abreast of this issue.
ZDNet (blog)

Five Profitable Businesses You’ve Never Thought Of
How are you going about making money? What if you could make money with some of your craziest ideas? Here are five of my favorite off-the-wall businesses.
Business Opportunities Weblog

Building a Business is Worth the Time
Make no mistake. Creating your own small business is hard work. But as you’ll see, there are rewards. Here are some tips, tools and trends to think about while taking the time you need to build your small business.
Small Business Trends

Why You Need Google Rating Stars and How to Set Them Up
There are WordPress plugins that will make ratings widgets appear on your posts and pages and allow  users to rate or vote on your content.  This shows engagement on your site, and if you’re lucky, those ratings will get picked up by Google and other search engines.
DDIY.com

No easy road: Running a small business takes time, time, time
Running a small business can be a tough proposition in a good economy, much less a difficult one. Three local, successful small business owners give their views on what it takes.
MyWebTimes.com

The Hidden Costs of Social Media
Marketing tactics including networking are an important part of marketing your brand. However in one way or another you need to ask the question of what is the return you are getting for your efforts.
M4B Marketing

Four tax-related New Year’s resolutions for a small business owner
Many small business owners are looking over their yearly ledgers and see a substantial tax liability. Spending money on new equipment, massive upgrades and employee bonuses might not be feasible for small businesses.
Redlands Daily Facts

Tips to help get cash for your small business
Around half of small companies can’t persuade their bank to cough up the cash they need to start up or expand. Many are refused because the banks are cautious, even though they should be helping kick-start the economy.
Mirror.co.uk

The Big List: The Best and Worst Startup Stuff In 2011
It’s time to review the past year, so without apology for personal taste, here’s my list of the best (and a few of the worst) of 2011.
OnStartups.com

3 Things You Should Know About Small Business
Streamlining government agencies is good for small business.
TheStreet.com

Managing Finances for Business Success
According to the US Small Business Administration, only one out of every two new start-ups survives after the first five years of business. That means that half fail, many times due to financial missteps.
Sacramento Bee

Women Professionals Rate 6 Biggest Mistakes Made When Marketing to Women
Women small business professionals from three countries were polled to find the top 6 mistakes made by businesses when marketing to women.
San Francisco Chronicle (press release)

Ralph Lauren, Danny Meyer and Whole Foods Offer Business Advice at NRF
Standing out from big business presents a large challenge to many small-business owners, but those who are able to do so can experience large returns.
BusinessNewsDaily

3 Successful Small Business Cause Marketing Campaigns
When a large business rolls out a cause marketing campaign the consumer can’t escape it–there is a barrage of print, TV and web ads, but how is a small business to get the word out?
American Express OPEN Forum

Jantsch will discuss the importance of using marketing to drive a company’s culture and create a platform for long-term success.

Source/More Info: PRNewswire

BlogWorld & New Media Expo provides an educational experience for all levels of expertise and interests. Experts from every field of the blogging and new media industry will be on hand to share their knowledge, techniques and advice. Industry gurus will share their experiences and network with attendees in seminars and moderated panels.

The BlogWorld Conference is a two-day event that coincides with the exhibits. Multiple concurrent sessions will give participants the opportunity to choose topics that best fit their interests. Topics will range from high-end experienced blogger, podcast, broadcaster and social media themes to novice “start-up” topics.

Source/Register: BlogWorld Expo