Successful Business Networking on Facebook - 04/17/2008

Leveraging Social Networks for Your Business

Uncommon Startup Advice - 05/28/2008

Increase your chances of success

Positioning Yourself As an Expert in Social Networking Sites and Discussion Forums - 07/08/2008

This is definitely a good read and I have used the exact same principles to land speaking engagements and multiple quotes in articles and blogs thanks to this approach. I would recommend that everyone read "How To Win Friends and Influence People" by Napoleon Hill to build on the knowledge presented here.

Green Business Travel - 06/16/2008

This is a great guide Hilary. I never thought of the green rides and green hotels before. I definitely will change my traveling habits in the future thanks to this guide.

Giving Green Father's Day Gifts - 05/28/2008

These are some great suggestions. I will definitely make use of them for my father's day gifts.

Uncommon Startup Advice - 05/27/2008

Hawkeye, you have obviously missed the point of the guide. Firstly, startups should NOT be primarily focused on raising investment capital - they should focus on BUILDING A BUSINESS. Too many entrepreneurs today believe that "raising investment capital" is what the game is about. Secondly, the following are not gimmicks: - buying an existing business instead of starting from scratch - leveraging the fact that you are a minority - hiring outside consultants - building business credit from day one - registering two companies as a hedge We can debate the aged/shelf company one, which is entirely legal and transparent. If you feel it is a gimmick, say so specifically instead or using a broad brush to paint the entire guide.

Uncommon Startup Advice - 05/23/2008

Thanks for the comment Donna. The ethics issue is a fair question but I believe it would be a problem only if lenders did not know this was possible. I actually met with a loan officer at a bank once just to ask him if it actually works and he said that the bank would reserve the right to not provide a loan if I did not own and operate the company for 2 years (they can easily get that info). He did point out that some go through, some don't and that it mostly comes down to the character of the person and the explanation of what they actually plan to do with the money (sometimes they look into personal credit history as well). The line of credit we secured on our second company was personally guaranteed by a family member who wanted invest in the venture and didn't have the capital. That bank accepts applications from businesses that are at least 1 day old so no ethics problem there. We have never actually purchased a shelf/aged corporation but a good friend did and secured a $100,000 line of credit (so he claims).

Protecting Employees From Getting Poached by Competitors - 05/15/2008

Great guide. I think that in addition to all the above, HR should be very proactive in finding out what people think of their positions and if all their skills are being used or they think they could contribute more. An employee who feels undervalued, underpaid and/or under-utilized is a prime candidate for leaving. Senior management should regularly evaluate capabilities and seek to provide clear growth opportunities and appropriate pay increases, especially if the candidate is over-qualified for the position they are currently in (that happens more often than we think).

Facebook for Business Building - 05/03/2008

Great guide Mari, as expected. I look forward to more of your expertise being shared with the Work.com family.

Successful Business Networking on Facebook - 05/01/2008

Thank you for the great comments. Donna is right that I did not mention that I "share on Facebook" very often, usually articles related to business, and I set up "Notes" to automatically import my blog so things are kept fairly fresh. As for the question about additional networks, it depends on your kind of business and what you want to achieve with the networks. I have uses LinkedIn Answers to find companies to provide the software to serve ads on our website and most recently to be introduced to investors and/or companies that can introduce us to investors. Will eventually write a guide on that, especially if we actually end up raising money because of it. MySpace and Bebo have been good for promoting Realvibez in different markets, especially because we are the only Caribbean media partner for Bebo so we run the Reggae channel. I am just getting into Twitter, thanks for that link, will read it for sure.