Operation Jump Start

Small businesses aren't so sure about social media

Bruce Kennedy | MSN Money | April 26, 2013 Is having a social media presence for your small business worth the effort? According to the results of a survey quoted in USA Today, perhaps not. Manta.com, a social networking site for small businesses, reports 61% of those businesses haven't seen any return on their investment in social media activities. At the same time, however, half of those surveyed said they increased their time working on the social media side of their... Read More

Strategies: This advice for entrepreneurs is timeless

Rhonda Abrams | USA Today | May 10, 2013 Sunday would have been the 90th birthday of legendary Silicon Valley entrepreneur Eugene Kleiner, and his wisdom never gets old. As an entrepreneur and small-business owner, I have been fortunate to have become friends with, and learned from, many successful entrepreneurs. But the person who had the greatest impact on my business life was the late Eugene Kleiner, my mentor and dear friend. May 12 would have been Kleiner's 90th... Read More

The 4 Essential Steps to Launching Your BIG Dream

Kathy Caprino | Huffington Post | May 14, 2013 As I focus more of my coaching and consulting work on helping women achieve their BIG dreams and visions, I've realized that the essential ingredients to this work are helping people understand with absolute, unabashed clarity what their dream is, distill it down to the "right" essence, then birth it through steps that align with their passions, values, needs and wants. To launch our big dreams, we need a continual dose of cla... Read More

5 Tips for Getting Big Results From Small Marketing Budgets

Bill Blaney | The Huffington Post | May 14, 2013 At a recent trade show, I had a conversation with a company that had a terrific new product. They were new to the market, eager to make a name for themselves. Their product was unique, filled a niche and could draw excitement upon demonstration. They had everything going for them that any small business could hope for except for one thing: they had no confidence that they could afford to market in their category. "We don'... Read More