PodCampCleveland Set for April 30 2011 Learn, Share, Practice

If you’ve never been to a PodCamp before you may be surprised by all the great information, helpful people and new ideas. It’s an unconference, meaning: free and where everyone is a ROCKSTAR.
If you’ve ever wanted to start an internet radio show, put up a blog or learn how to Twitter/Tweet, you’ll learn a ton at PodCamp!
If you’re anywhere near the Cleveland, Akron, Canton area on April 30th, consider attending PodCampCleveland from 8:30 to 5 at CVCC – Cuyahoga Valley Career Center at 8001 Brecksville Road on Route 21 in Brecksville, Ohio.
I’ll be one of the many presenters at the second annual Cleveland Pod Camp, presenting about “25 Ways to Brand and Market Your Business with a WordPress Blog.”
More information and registration at http://www.podcampcleveland.com.

Ideas for Adventurous Entrepreneurs

Entrepreneurship is about ideas, lots and lots of them. But it’s also about putting those ideas into action. So, what ideas do you have as you embark on your entrepreneurial adventure? And what ideas do you need? We hope this roundup inspires and empowers. More than anything, entrepreneurship is about learning. Time to begin.

Self-development

Are you permiscuous? OK. This post is NOT about what you think! When it comes to entrepreneurship, sales or any other kind of business, it’s important to get around and get ideas from as many sources as possible. Is there a single right answer to any problem you will face in your entrepreneurial adventure? Nope. Just effective and ineffective ones. Get all you can. The Sales Blog
The real spirit of entrepreneurship. Want to know the difference between dazzling innovation, creativity and their opposite? Then read this simple meditation on where the motivation for true achievement comes from. Surprised? Shouldn’t be. Think about customer service, crowdsourcing, customer feedback. Where should the focus of entrepreneurship be and what should it do? What do you think? JonathanFields.com

Tools

How social is your small business blog? We know you’re probably conditioned to think much more in terms of SEO (Search Engine Optimization) and the keywords you use in titles, tags and text when you write a blog post, but, in the era of Facebook and Twitter, it’s also important to think about your blog in terms of how you can integrate it into social media. Here’s a starting point for the discussion. BizSugar Blog
How will customers find you? Picking a location-based social media platform for your small business is more important than ever before. But at the same time, choosing one platform or another is much more complicated than it used to be. No, Foursquare is not the only company in the field. Here’s a primer to help you decide which  is right for you. Entrepreneur.com

Research

How do entrepreneurs think? Can you learn how successful entrepreneurs think and then teach these skills to others helping them to become more entrepreneurial in their goals? Maybe, says researcher Saras Sarasvathy who chats and answers questions in this video about a recent study that attempts to peel pack the mysteries of entrepreneurship and how it works. Inc.com
Inside the brain of an entrepreneur. So, what is in the brain of an entrepreneur? How do they think and how does it make them different or similar to, say corporate executives, small business owners, VC or angel investors. The data is out and you may be surprised by the findings. Inc.com

Opinion

Too much entrepreneurship?! It seems hard to believe in a day and age when entrepreneurship is being touted as a solution to a still sluggish economy that anyone in their right mind could say enough is enough. Of course, the real issue is whether the cult of entrepreneurship is becoming just another trend creating little of value. Harvard Business School

Startup

When you know it’s time. Fear holds many beginning entrepreneurs back and makes it difficult to leave the security of a 9-5 job. But in the end, those considering starting their own business, launching their own product or offering their own service should only worry about two factors at the heart of the entrepreneurial mind set. getbusy

Leadership

Traits to recognize in the entrepreneur. Maybe you’ve been trying to fit in somewhere. You’ve taken a job you’re not passionate about. You’ve notice it’s hard to stay focused. Maybe you realize there’s a reason for all of this. Check out the entrepreneurial traits in the post above. Are you an entrepreneur? eMentorMarketing
Why entrepreneurs should be good sales people. This is not your run of the mill advice, but we hope you find it helpful just the same. If nothing else, an entrepreneur needs to be able to sell their idea, first possibly to investors and strategic partners, then to customers. Here are some steps from a number of entrepreneurs. Check them out and enjoy! Open Forum

5 Ways SMBs Can Get More From Twitter

As the numbers we shared yesterday told, small business owners are increasingly moving their budgets from offline media to online. They’re investing less in local directories and more in Web sites and social media. And one social media channel that many small business owners are especially trying to leverage is Twitter.
As a SMB owner, you want to make sure that you’re getting the most bang for your buck with whatever platform you’re using. Just because that Twitter account is free to create, doesn’t mean there’s not a cost involved with getting set up, managing it and using it. To help keep Twitter as cost-effective as possible, below are 5 ways to better use Twitter for your small business marketing.

Don’t Ignore SEO Value
Because Twitter is thought of as a social media tool, SMB owners often forget to apply SEO best practices when they engage there. As a rule, anything that exists on the Web can (and should) be optimized for search. Just because Twitter nofollows the links shared, doesn’t mean they can’t bring value to your brand or that you shouldn’t be trying to collect as much SEO value from your Twitter account as you can.
Some best practices we recommend:

• Use a Twitter handle that reflects the product or service that you offer or the experience you’re trying to create.
• Optimize your Twitter bio, using important keywords + a link to your site.
• Use hashtags to categorize your tweets to make them easy for like-minded users to find and follow.
• Integrate Twitter into the rest of your site to encourage others to share your content and to build awareness.
• Tweet links to your blog posts, product pages, Web site to expose them both to users and the search engines.

With the search engines increasingly integrating Twitter data into the SERPs, taking care to optimize your engagement there can pack a pretty effective punch. You don’t want to leave anything on the table.
Follow Better People
Your Twitter experience is directly tied to the users you choose to follow. If you flood your account with lots of random people who will never have an interest in your brand, then you’re really wasting your time. Use tools like Twitter Search, Listorious, WeFollow and Twitter Grader to help you find like-minded Twitter users and people who have an interest in what you’re all about. For example, doing a Twitter search for a popular industry blog or topic will you help find folks who have the same interests, mining Listorious (or lists created by other Twitter users) for categories related to what you do will help you find users who identify themselves similarly. Participating in Twitter chats is another great way to find people to connect with. What you don’t want to do is get blinded by Follower numbers and lean toward only engaging with A-listers. Instead, focus on locating real-life customers or people who could become customers.
For more tips, you may want to check out Amber Naslund’s post on how to build a Twitter community with substance.
Enhance Your Tweets
Sometimes it’s hard to spark up a conversation with people you don’t know in real life. If that’s the case, why not start off by creating or sharing something worth talking about? Enhance your tweets by incorporating different types of media and something worth a conversation.
For example, maybe you want to post:

• Photos of your business, your product, what you’re having for lunch, etc.
• YouTube links of your favorite artist, a tour of your office, a recent presentation you gave, etc.
• Links to surveys or polls to get user feedback.
• Links to reviews, discussion questions, etc.
• Product coupons, links to promotions, special Twitter deals

If you’re having a difficult time getting responses from people, it may be time to spice up your tweets.
Distribute Wider
Twitter should be integrated into the rest of your business activities to help you distribute your brand message much further than to just the folks who follow you. Because while you’re followers are great, you want to make sure your content gets in front of as many eyeballs as possible. What can you do to cast your net a little wider? Depending on your business objectives, it may make sense for you to sync your Twitter account with you Facebook or LinkedIn profiles (careful with this one – different audiences require different messages), to put a Twitter widget on your homepage to build awareness to current customers and search traffic, actively encourage followers to RT your message, use automation sparingly to manage your account, etc. You don’t want to get too aggressive but you should always be looking for new ways to smartly cross-link accounts and get your message to as many people as possible.
Track it
I really think most people would see a much better result from Twitter if they only took the time to track it. If you’re just haphazardly throwing content out there then, yeah, it can be hard to know what’s working, what’s not and where you have to go back to the drawing board. Instead of running around in the dark, start monitoring which tweets or content pieces attract users, if your Twitter traffic is going up or down, which Twitter calls to action get the best response, which users are most useful to your brand, etc.
None of this is difficult to find out, but it could give you valuable insight to the effect Twitter is having on your brand and what you can do to improve it.
Those are just a few ways I think small business owners can do a better job leveraging Twitter. What have I missed?
From Small Business Trends

4 Trends Your Business Should Take Advantage of Now

Every once in a while it’s a good idea to sit back, take stock and assess how some of today’s current trends could benefit your business. Here are four to consider that have both marketing and operations implications for your company.
1. Going mobile. Mobile marketing is becoming increasingly important as consumer adoption of smartphones increases. Whether you market to businesses or consumers, your customers are increasingly accessing the Internet and using phones as shopping tools. But according to the fifth Small Business Success Index survey released recently, few small business owners currently use mobile marketing methods such as texting promotions to customers, creating a mobile site or mobile application, and advertising on mobile sites. Just 15 percent of entrepreneurs surveyed said these activities have the potential to be “extremely” or “very valuable” to their businesses. I think this is a big mistake. Young people are an obvious market for mobile marketing, but with smartphones becoming essential tools for everyone from soccer moms to businesspeople, no business can afford to ignore this trend.
And speaking of busy businesspeople, are you taking full advantage of your smartphone’s capabilities? With phones doing more and more, lugging your laptop is becoming less and less necessary. Whatever type of smartphone you have, explore its features so you can streamline essential tasks you need to do on the road.

2. Social deal sites. Social deal sites—where customers sign up to get daily emails of deep discounts on products and services in their areas—are sizzling hot. Currently, Groupon and LivingSocial are the biggest names in this industry, but there are plenty of local and regional offerings too. If your business caters to local customers, you’ll want to explore these sites as a marketing tool.
Wish there was a social deal site where businesses could sign up to save on the products and services you need? Then check out Bizy, a company I’m working with, which just launched this week.  Bizy bills itself as the first dedicated deal site for small businesses. The site (BizyDeals.com) offers discounts of 50 percent or more on a range of products and services including office supplies, software and hardware, shipping, legal and accounting services, travel and insurance.
3. Subscription services. Slowly but surely, subscriptions have become woven into our daily lives. I’m not talking about magazine subscriptions (although they still exist) but the subscription business model in which everything from software to IT services to consulting is paid for on a monthly basis by automatic charge. Subscription services can streamline your expenses because you pay only for what you need. On the flip side, remember to keep track of your subscriptions and reassess them regularly, or it’s easy to end up paying for things you never use.
For your business, providing products or services on a subscription basis can be a smart way to boost your cash flow by generating recurring income streams. Just about everything can be sold on a set-it-and-forget-it basis, whether it’s a quarterly shipment of skin-care products, a monthly phone consultation or ongoing access to premium information on your website.
4. Seniors. Americans age 65 and older are a hot market, but one that’s too often ignored by small business. A recent MarketWatch article cited one expert who noted that while the teenage market is trendy, “there is … 10 times as much money to be made from seniors.” In fact, Census data show seniors are more affluent than most segments of the population, with the median net worth of households aged 65 and over at $108,885 in 2000, compared to a measly $7,240 for households under age 35. By 2030, people over 65 will account for 20 percent of the population—so if you’re not already targeting this market, figure out how you can.
Seniors can benefit your business in another way: as employees. If you’re like most small businesses, you could use some extra help right now, but you’re not ready to hire a full-time worker. Consider hiring retirees as part-time employees. Their experience and work ethic can make them valuable assets to your business, without the full-time commitment.
From Small Business Trends

Apple Thunderbolt MacBook Pro

Thunderbolt is a revolutionary I/O technology that supports high-resolution displays and high-performance data devices through a single, compact port. It sets new standards for speed, flexibility, and simplicity. And it makes its debut in the new MacBook Pro.

The new 15- and 17-inch models bring quad-core power to almost everything you do. The available 2.3GHz quad-core Intel Core i7 processor — with Turbo Boost speeds up to 3.4GHz and up to 8MB of shared L3 cache — enables these MacBook Pro models to run applications up to twice as fast as their top-of-the-line predecessors.

With faster access to memory, each core can get right to work on your data, rather than waiting for it to arrive. That’s why the new Intel Core architecture uses an integrated memory controller to connect fast 1333MHz memory directly to the processor. Together with up to 8MB of shared L3 cache, the integrated memory controller helps your applications run at peak performance.

When you need more performance for things like playing 3D games, editing HD video, or even running CAD software, the 15- and 17-inch MacBook Pro models automatically switch to discrete AMD Radeon graphics that let you see more frames per second and experience better responsiveness. With up to 1GB of dedicated GDDR5 video memory, these processors provide up to 3x faster performance than the previous generation.

For graphics-intensive applications, the 15- and 17-inch MacBook Pro models automatically switch to new high-performance AMD Radeon graphics processors. With up to 3x the performance of the previous models,3 they let you see more frames per second in 3D games, or work on HD video projects with more speed and responsiveness than before.

The Thunderbolt port will give you plug-and-play performance with a whole new world of Thunderbolt peripherals, as well as with the Apple LED Cinema Display and other Mini DisplayPort peripherals. You can daisy-chain as many as six devices, including your display. And with support for video and eight-channel audio, it’s easy to connect HDMI-compatible devices — like your TV and home stereo — using the HDMI adapter you already have. Current VGA, DVI, and DisplayPort adapters are also supported.

The new FaceTime HD camera gives you three times the resolution of the previous camera — perfect for the brilliant LED-backlit display — along with improved low-light performance. You and your friends can make 720p HD calls from one new MacBook Pro to another. You can also make video calls to other Intel-based Mac computers,4 iPhone 4, or the new iPod touch.

The Multi-Touch trackpad is the most natural way to interact with what’s on your screen, and the smooth glass surface gives you plenty of room for gestures. Pinch to zoom in and out, swipe to flip through photos, rotate to adjust an image, and much more. The buttonless design lets you click anywhere. And if you’re coming from a right-click world, you can right-click with two fingers or configure a right-click area on the trackpad. The more you use the Multi-Touch trackpad, the more you’ll wonder how you ever did without it.

The new MacBook Pro delivers amazing battery life. And that’s with more powerful processors and faster graphics. An energy-efficient processor architecture with an integrated video encoder, along with automatic graphics switching in the 15- and 17-inch models, all help improve battery life. So you can expect to surf the web wirelessly for up to 7 hours on a single charge.

The latest 802.11n wireless technology in MacBook Pro makes it easy to get connected just about anywhere. MacBook Pro automatically finds available networks and allows you to join them with a click. Bluetooth wireless technology is also built in, so you can use your favorite wireless accessories right out of the box.

With the new Thunderbolt port, you can daisy-chain as many as six devices, including your display, to create a full-fledged workstation. Two USB 2.0 ports (three on the 17-inch MacBook Pro) and a FireWire 800 port let you connect your iPad, iPod, iPhone, digital cameras, and external hard drives.

The new SDXC card slot on the 13- and 15-inch MacBook Pro models supports up to 64GB cards and makes it a snap to transfer all those photos to and from your MacBook Pro, so you can edit and share them on the spot. And the ExpressCard/34 slot on the 17-inch MacBook Pro is perfect for an eSATA adapter — or even a 3G wireless card for times when no Wi-Fi network is available.

After using iMovie and iDVD to edit and apply the finishing touches to your home movie, use the 8x SuperDrive on MacBook Pro to burn it to DVD in no time. Since the SuperDrive writes to double-layer discs (DVDs with nearly 9GB of space), it’s great for backing up data, too.

Credit Cards for Excellent Credit

After years of shrinking credit limits, rising rates and new fees, not to mention government legislation, credit card users have every reason to question the value of the plastic in their wallets. And now that the dust has settled, many may find their current credit cards aren't as good as they could be.

The best credit cards available! Find an offer that matches your excellent credit with low rates, great deals and rewards programs. FICO scores/credit scores are used to represent the creditworthiness of a person and may be one indicator to the credit type you are eligible for. However, credit score alone does not guarantee or imply approval for any credit card offer.

The best five in the sense of credit range is 750+, with its specific features:

1. Citi Platinum Select MasterCard

Special Features:

- 0% Intro APR on balance transfers for 21 months and 0% Intro APR on purchases for 21 months. After that, the APR will be 11.99%-20.99% based upon your creditworthiness.
- Extra Cash from Citi: enjoy discounts on gift cards, travel, merchandise and more
- No annual fee
- Secure, free online account management

2. Chase Freedom Visa $100 Bonus Cash Back + 0% Intro APR

Special Features:

- Earn $100 Bonus Cash Back after you make $500 in purchases in your first 3 months
- 0% Intro APR for 12 months on balance transfers and 0% Intro APR for 6 months on purchases
- 5% Cash Back on up to $1,500 spent in bonus categories each quarter
- Unlimited 1% Cash Back on all other purchases without limits on what you can earn

3. Discover More Card - 24 Month Promotional Balance Transfer

Special Features:

- 0% intro APR for 6 months, then the Regular APR
- 5% Cashback Bonus® in categories that change like travel, gas, groceries, restaurants, home improvement stores and more
- Up to 1% unlimited Cashback Bonus on all other purchases
- No Annual Fee

4. Chase Sapphire Card (15K)

Special Features:

- Earn $150 in rewards - that's 15,000 bonus points after you spend $500 in 3 months
- Redeem points for travel, gift cards, merchandise, cash back and more
- 2X points earned on airfaire & hotel accomodations booked through Ultimate Rewards & 1 point for every dollar spent on all other purchases
- No annual fee!

5. Discover More Card

Special Features:

- 0% intro APR on balance transfers for 15 months, then the Regular APR
- 5% Cashback Bonus® in categories that change like travel, gas, groceries, restaurants, home improvement stores and more
- Up to 1% unlimited Cashback Bonus® on all other purchases
- 0% intro APR on balance transfers for 15 months, then the Regular APR

The Pros and Cons of Prepaid Cards

Prepaid cards offer the convenience of a credit card without the difficult approval process or risk of getting into debt. These cards work a lot like a gift card, you will have to load the account with cash (direct deposit is usually available) before you can use it for a purchase

Prepaid cards are not credit cards; you cannot spend more than the balance you have deposited and you will not be charged interest for your spending. The prepaid account will not be reported to the credit bureaus as a credit card.

Pros:

- Easy approval process, no credit required
- The same fraud liability protections as a standard credit card
- Easy to use for online or phone purchases
- Access cash from ATM machines
- Less expensive than check cashing services

Cons:

- Expensive fees for opening and maintaining the account
- Fees for loading money on the account or using the card for purchases
- Very limited, if any, reporting to the credit bureaus
- Does not help improve your credit the same way a credit card or secured card would
- Much more expensive than opening a checking account and using an ATM card

Fees and charges can vary significantly between different prepaid credit card offers. Be sure to read the fee schedule for the prepaid credit card before you apply.

Source: Credit.com

Brand New Prepaid Visa Card - iBankUP Prepaid Visa Card

The iBankup prepaid Visa Card is the next level of prepaid debit cards. Having this card gives you all the benefits of a checking account and a debit card all rolled into one. For a small monthly maintenance fee you get great benefits such as bonus cash back points and no annual fee. You are guaranteed approval. This is the cheap alternative to a checking account at a bank. Parents, this is the perfect card for your teenager as it lets you determine their spending limit. Your child still gets the benefit of learning how to manage money and credit cards.

You get free direct deposit and the card is re-loadable online or at variety of retailers nationwide. The card is linked to a money management portal with online access. You can also use MoneyPak to load your money onto the card. The sign up is so easy you can do it in less than five minutes. The step by step instructions are so thorough that a child could do it. Once you have signed up and chosen your card colors you will receive your confirmation and direct deposit information. This can be emailed to your email account or directly to your employer.

You receive bonus cash back points from the first moment that you load your card. You also get to choose your online access ID and password right then and there. It will take a few business days to receive the card in the mail but you can load it even before you get it. Because these IBankup Upside Cards are for everyone, there is never a credit check.

iBankup prepaid Visa Card features include: Free Direct Deposit, Mobile and FaceBook Access, Load Cash Easily, "Get Rewarded", True Balance Tracking, Worldwide Acceptance, Virtual Check Book.

Special Features:

- Save up to $220 compared with other prepaid cards
- The power of a checking account in one card, even if you have bad credit
- Write personal checks online, we mail them for you
- $0.99 monthly fee with total load of $500 or more
- Free Direct Deposit from employers or load cash at 50,000 retailers

Other Information:

Issuer: Meta Bank
Card Network: VISA
Card Type: Card for Bad Credit, Guaranteed Approval, Prepaid Debit Card, Teen Debit Card, Reward Card
Comments: The maximum balance cannot exceed $10,000.00. Monthly maintenance fee is $0.99 if a minimum amount of $500 is loaded to the card within the calendar month. Otherwise a $2.99 fee applies each month.

Fees Information

Annual Fee: $0.00*
Opening Minimum: $25.00
Application Fee: $0.00
ATM Fee: $1.70

Additional Fees

Foreign currency conversion: 2% (in addition to the currency conversion rate)
Account closure fee - None
Activation fee - None
Annual fee - None
Automated phone inquiry (per call) - $0.99
Balance inquiry fee - $0.99
Companion card (balance over $1000) - FREE
Companion card (per month) - $1.99
DDA load fee - None
Decline fee on ATM withdrawal - $2.00
Decline fee on POS - None
Express delivery (surcharge) - $14.95
Inactivity fee - None
Monthly fee (balance $25-$500) - $2.99
Monthly fee (balance over $500) - $0.99
Negative balance fee - None
Online customer support - FREE
Purchase transaction fee - None
Standard delivery - $9.95

Peanut: Understand the Pros and Cons of prepaid credit cards would help you to take better decisions

Is Lack of Time Making You Go Crazy in Your Attempt to Plan Your Finance?

Does your busy professional schedule offer you time to monitor your personal finance?

Balaji is working for an MNC. Today he has got a deadline for a particular assignment. His day is fully packed. First thing in the morning, he receives a mail from his HR Dept stating that today is the last date for producing proofs for tax saving investments; otherwise a huge amount will be deducted from his salary as tax. He wanted to do some tax saving investments urgently and submit the proof on or before end of the day.

Mahesh is an NRI, working for a software company in US. He has got a couple of crores in his overseas fixed deposits giving a return of 1.50% p.a. Returns are taxable. At times, he thinks that the return what he getting is very low. He wanted to check up with a professional financial planner in India. He thinks he will contact as soon as his present project gets completed. Like this he has not contacted any financial consultant for the last 3years because of some reason or the other.

Most of the investment decisions are either taken because of some compulsion or urgency or postponed because of compulsion or urgency in some other area of life. This is because we want to complete the urgent thing first not the most important thing. Many important things that contribute to our overall financial objectives and give richness don’t tend to give any pressure on us. Though they may not be urgent, they are the things that we must give importance and carry out immediately.

We act upon things like pressing problems, deadline-driven projects, and official meetings. We don’t give importance to

· prepare for a meeting with a financial planner; appraising a financial planner before making investments
· planning activities like budgeting, children’s future planning, retirement planning;
· protective activities like taking a term insurance, house holder policy, health insurance;
· empowering ourselves by upgrading our knowledge with reference to investments

Why we are not able spend time on important things and spend most of our time on urgent things? Because, we are following a way that focuses on how fast or efficiently we are getting things done. We are not following a way that focuses on why we are doing things.

Take the case of Mr.Balaji. Why didn’t he do his tax planning during the beginning of the financial year itself? Why is he chasing at the last minute? Balaji is much worried about his deadline for assignment than tax planning. As he is making investment urgently, it is difficult for him to choose the right financial advisor and also difficult to judge which one would be the best tax saving option for him. He will be investing with an advisor who can get the investment proof on the same day. Is this the basis on which we select an investment advisor? Will the relationship of Mahesh and this advisor be a long term one? Will this investment is going to be of any help to Balaji in meeting the higher education expenses of his son after 15 years?

Coming to the case of Mr. Mahesh, he had couple of crores at 1.5% pre-tax return. He could have tripled his returns by investing in an Indian liquid fund which is very safe. There are far better investment options available for him to choose. But he has settled for 1.5%. If he could have spent a day or two in carefully choosing the right financial advisor and investment product he could have earned more. The earning opportunity which he missed with his investments might equal to his 6 months or 1 year salary.

He could have generated that passive income equivalent to 6 month or 1 year salary without any pressure from the top management; without meeting any deadlines by just spending a day or two.

We are all working hard for money. Is our hard earned money is working for us or lying in our SB a/c or really growing?

We find a ladder and see there are so many people trying to reach the top of the ladder faster. Then we also follow the group, deadlines to be met in each and every step; focusing more on reaching the top and finally reached the top. Only after reaching the top, we realize that we have come to a very wrong place or a place which is not worth missing so many things and opportunities in life. This is how the today’s world is.

Nothing wrong in working harder or focusing more on completing the assignment or spending more time on finishing the project on deadline. These are all good thing to do. But always remember, there are better and best things to do. We keep too many good things ahead of a few best things.

Setting up financial goals; working out a plan for achieving those goals; and implementing those plans are all best things to do in life. You know in advance where you want to reach exactly, by doing this exercise. As we progress, we enjoy the journey. As we reach the place, we really feel happy and we have not missed any important thing on the way.

Procrastination and not giving priority to financial goals and investment plans are costliest mistake one can take. So let us stop procrastinating and give priority to our financial goal setting and investment planning. Then life will be really so beautiful.

About the author: Ramalingam K, an MBA (Finance) and Certified Financial Planner. He is the Founder and Director of Holistic Investment Planners a firm that offers Financial Planning and Wealth Management. He can be reached at ramalingam@holisticinvestment.in or in twitter @Ramalingam007

Working On Your Business, Not At It

investments through self-directed IRAs. Although located in Southern California, David Coe & Freedom Growth handles real estate investments throughout the country. Connect with David Coe on Facebook.

Small Business News: Social Media School

If you think social media is just for marketing your business, well, think again. We took a turn around some of the blogs we frequent this week and discovered another great reason to check out small business content from posts to Facebook and Twitter links to videos. There’s LOTS of information out there! From starting a collections business to mastering the art of product licensing to better ways and better resources to use in the world of social bookmarking sites and better ways to blog, we found an unbelievable volume of information, free information all for entrepreneurs just like you. If you aren’t using social media including social networks the blogosphere and video content to educate yourself as an entrepreneur, here’s just some of what you’re missing.

Resources

How to launch a debt collection business. Though we’re not in the habit of listing business opportunities, this post is a great example of the resources you can find in the blogosphere about other areas where you may want to expand an existing business. Researching information about existing and developing ventures on blogs and through social media is faster than it’s ever been with the steady flow of information making sure what you find is often the most recent data available. Big Money Web
Letting someone else take your idea to market. Has it ever occurred to you that marketing an idea doesn’t necessarily mean having all the resources in place yourself to produce, distribute, market and sell it yourself? Introducing the wonderful world of open innovation and licensing and new way for small businesses and entrepreneurs to get into the game with almost no upfront investment and minimal risk. JonathanFields.com
Everything you want or need to know about SEO. Stoney deGeyter talks about about the misconceptions here that many clients have when thy confront the world of Search Engine Optimization. How in the world do you know what you’re getting when you hire one of these firms to improve your performance online? This article and others may help you learn enough to communicate knowledgeably with your SEO consultant about what you need. Search Engine Guide

How To

Why use social bookmarking sites? Christine McCarthy insists it’s because of the many things people use social bookmarking sites for. Things like research, search, page rank and more. She even includes a big list of her favorite social bookmarking sites (including BizSugar.com. Thanks for the shout-out, Christine!) If you want to get attention for your site, Christine says, you won’t want to forget about these nifty little sites. ChristineBiz
How to blog…the right way. Like anything else in life and in business, blogging has to be done the right way. No, we’re not talking about the style or approach here so much as the commitment for what you do. Social media and advertising consultant Suzanne Vara talks about the key to blogging in a committed way the same way we should be running our business and living our life. Are you “going all in” in everything you do? kherize five

Tools

How to make networking really work for you. Of course, the reason so many small business people are online in the first place is to connect with others and expand their business. This may be a good reason as far as it goes, but the thing is that, like any other resource, small business owners and entrepreneurs need to be realistic about why and how they use it. If you’re confused or sure it isn’t working for you, try this first. International Business Times

Human Resources

How social media may also be a source of employment. Some businesses are hiring specifically to manage social media and these jobs can take many forms. Also, small businesses should educate themselves about the potential dangers of social media in terms of litigation and other problems and in terms of what can and cannot be discussed by employees on social media channels. ABC News

Global

Social media and international trade. Not only can larger companies find the resources they need internationally to provide competitive products and services at a competitive price, but now small businesses can as well. Social media allows not just networking with potential clients and customers but an ability to locate and communicate with potential suppliers and business partners where ever in the world they may be. Pacific VA

Mobile

Is being mobile all it’s cracked up to be? Seth Godin doesn’t think so. Here’s his little riff on why doing your best work on your iPhone is probably something that rarely ever happens. As social media expands the question becomes not just what kind of reach do you have but what environment is best for you? There is a lot of information at your disposal. The question becomes, under what conditions will you use it to get the best results? Seth Godin’s Blog

Customer Relations

Will social media help you “become the buyer?” Really Chris thinks this is important no matter what kind of product, service or business you’re marketing. It’s not enough to know what kind of buyer you want or what you want them to do. But it’s just possible that social media makes this process easier, allows you to listen in ways you could not before, let’s you know and empathise with your customers in whole new ways. How is social media helping you? Chris Brogan
From Small Business Trends

Killing Giants: 3 Ways to Steal Customers Out From Under the Giant’s Nose

Every day, we wake up and hit the floor ready to do battle against some competitor who spends more on postage than we do on marketing. They’re huge. They’ve got a massive budget, a big payroll, agencies tripping over each other and resources we can’t hope to match.
And we’re supposed to beat them, today and every day.
This is good news.
In Killing Giants: 10 Strategies to Topple the Goliath in Your Industry, I spoke to over 70 “giant killers” from 13 countries around the world, representing industries from consumer products to technology to B2B, and I learned that not only can you out-maneuver the giants you face, but you can often take advantage of their greatest strength in the process.
Here are three ways you can kill the giants.

1. Focus on Winning in the Last 3 Feet.
Is the giant spending millions on advertising? Are they launching a massive campaign or a huge product launch? Don’t look at this as a matter of their budget vs. yours – you’ll always lose that fight. Look at this from the perspective of them pulling millions of eyeballs and tons of foot traffic to the stores or to the Web. Now, you’ve got something to work with. Enter the conversation in the last three feet – between your prospective customer and the sale, when the giant thinks the game is over – and win there.

Here’s an example of what I mean. Oslo University is the second largest business school in its town. The Norwegian School of Management outspent it 200 to 1. With a budget of only 50,000 krone – roughly $8,500 – Oslo University turned to search search engine marketer iProspect for help. After a brief competitive analysis, they discovered that their giant’s US$2 million budget was everywhere but online. By targeting keywords that leveraged their competitor’s curriculum course names in the tightly defined time frame just before admissions closed for the term, Oslo University saw its admissions jump five-fold – and even beat its larger rival’s admissions numbers.
2. Realize That Speed Kills.
It’s often said that in big companies, you get promoted for saying “no” to risky things. Having worked for plenty of big corporations, I know this to be true! Giants have their own cultures and rewards systems. Before they make a move, they first form interdisciplinary task forces, set up meetings, fly people around the country, bring agencies on board … and while they’re doing all this, you ship. They issue meeting minutes. You ship. They form a consensus; you ship. You’re three steps ahead, and they’re aiming at the product you replaced two cycles ago.
Mike Cassidy, founder of many successful Silicon Valley startups including instant messaging platform Xfire, described this “speed culture” mentality when he told me that his team was producing a new version of his platform every two weeks. His massive competitors – AOL, Yahoo and MSN – were conducting competitive product assessments on one version of their products, when he had already shipped dozens of revisions of his. By the time MTV purchased Xfire in 2004 for $110 million, Xfire had amassed over 16 million customers who used its software an average of 88 hours a month.
3. Eat the Bug: Do the Unthinkable.
Companies develop rules, guidelines and overall boundaries as they grow. They fight and win in the market, and their success makes them confident that they’re doing it all right. But their success often sows the seeds of their undoing. They continue to fight the last war until the realities of the new one catch up with them. Smart “giant killers”develop business models that the giants simply can’t imagine themselves following.
Cricket Holdings is in the business of direct response advertising, the red-headed stepchild of the marketing world. But what the business lacks in sexiness, it makes up for in performance. Cricket does what no advertising agency would dream of doing: It offers “customers” on a pay-per-lead basis. Once its predictive model looks at its customer’s category and day-part, it quickly optimizes the media flights to understand its variable cost per “customer” and then offers it at a fixed price markup to its clients. Now, the risk of performance has shifted from the director of marketing’s shoulders to Cricket’s – and CEO Victor Grillo is happy to bear the burden. When an advertiser wants to know what each dollar invested will bring in, Cricket is happy to step in where most traditional agencies would beat a hasty retreat.
Business isn’t just about how much money we’ve got to spend but rather how big our ideas are. Perhaps it’s easier to just throw money at problems, but small businesses can’t afford to do that. Besides, today’s times call for different tools and a different mindset. I hope these three tips give you a few thinking tools you can put to use today to give you the mental ammunition to topple the Goliath in your industry.
From Small Business Trends

Google +1 - A Different Like Button From Google

To become more social and raise challenges to FaceBook, Google comes with another social feature named Google +1, a Google version of Facebook 'Likes'. Use the +1 button to publicly show what you like, agree with, or recommend on the web. The +1 button can appear in a variety of places, both on Google and on sites across the web. For example, you might see a +1 button for a Google search result, Google ad, or next to an article you're reading on your favorite news site.

Google already supports such features but there are lack of Facebook 'Like' button and Google +1 presently considers as a their reply to that missing feature.

+1 actually meant the digital shorthand of the word "This is Pretty Cool". Public can now easily recommend any search results or ads by just click on the +1 button appear beside it. Whenever +1'd anything, your name could also appear next to the +1 to help your friends and contacts identify which content may be most useful to them.

Regardless of whether you chose to publicly share your +1’s tab, your +1’s will still be visible to others viewing the content you +1’d. For instance, your +1 could appear as part of an anonymous aggregated count of the people who have also +1’d the same thing:

Your +1 would be listed in the profile tab where you can manage them. You can’t control who sees your +1’s because +1’ing is a public action. Anyone on the Web could potentially see the things you’ve +1’d. Even though your +1’s are public, you can control the privacy of the +1’s tab on your profile.

CHART OF THE WEEK: Small Businesses Lost Fewer Jobs

Data from the ADP Employment Report, a monthly measure of employment at U.S. businesses that use Advanced Data Processing’s payroll services, shows that small companies lost a lesser fraction of their workforce than big businesses during the Great Recession.
While large companies have yet to show much of a trend back to pre-recession employment levels, ADP’s figures show that small companies have begun to add back workers.  The smallest businesses –  those with one to 49 employees — lost the smallest proportion of workers, but medium sized companies — those with 50 to 499 workers — have shown a slightly faster pace of recovery in jobs.

The chart below shows the number of people employed each month in businesses with 1-49 employees, 50-499 employees and more than 499 employees (as a percentage of the number employed in November 2007, the month before the recession started).

GroupHigh: An Easy Way to Research Bloggers

Blogger outreach is something my marketing firm is passionate about. After all, bloggers are the voice for many brands (for better or worse) these days. With a positive brand review, your brand can receive a nice boost in Web traffic and sales.
Until now, my company has been manually visiting blogs and logging contact info for the blogger, traffic details, etcetera. It’s a lot of work. But then I discovered GroupHigh. GroupHigh is an online research tool that puts together all the information you could need for millions of the most active blogs online.

The information you can gather includes:

• Blog URL
• Contact
• Email
• Twitter and Facebook contact link
• Blog traffic
• Page Rank
• Number of comments
• Most recent post date

And here’s where I fall in love. You can search by term (“iPhone”), and then quantify by blogs that have a certain Page Rank or higher. Or that recently posted. Or only those with Twitter profiles. You can get pretty darn specific, which I love. Here’s an example of a search I did for blogs with the keyword “iPhone” that had a Page Rank of 5 or higher, and that had their contact email listed (not every blog does, and believe me, it’s a pain to discover that after five minutes of fruitless searching on the site).
GroupHigh is similar to related services for journalists like MyMediaInfo, but hopefully without the high price tag. The product is still in private beta (although you can get your own free trial right now), and will announce pricing in a month or so.

You Have to Play to Your Strengths

A few weeks ago I met Janice Hamilton (pictured left), the president and CEO of JMH Education, based in New York.  I caught up with Janice at the Give Me 5 luncheon to highlight the Women Owned Small Business rule adopted by the SBA effective February 2011.  (See Karen-Michelle Mirko’s account of this historic event, and my Facebook photo album from the lunch.) JMH Education is in the business of education marketing.  They help corporations, associations and government agencies “reach and teach” — meaning, they make important messages easy to understand by large numbers of the public.  They also help organizations “market” their messages to the public.
Even though JMH Education is a relatively small company of 12 people, the company has been involved in several high-profile public education campaigns. For instance, one of their projects is Smokey the Bear (about forest fire safety).
JMH is a poster child of a woman-owned small business that has seen success from getting on the GSA schedule, and delivering on government contracts.
In the following interview, Janice shares her insights on being a small business and what it takes to successfully get U.S. government contracts.
How did you get into government contracting?
Janice Hamilton: We got into government contracting by doing a really good job with a client that was a public-private consortium, getting the food safety message out.  One of the people from the public sector saw the work we did and liked it and wanted to use us.  But we weren’t on the GSA Schedule.  They encouraged us to get on the GSA Schedule. We didn’t know what we were getting into [laughs].  Yet, it’s been terrific over the last 12 years.

How do you decide which government opportunities to go after?
Janice Hamilton: We work to our strengths.  We identify those agencies that fit the strengths of our company.  We play to our strengths of health and wellness, environment, and financial literacy – and then it’s a natural.  We don’t go off and try to get contracts in areas that don’t fit our capabilities, that don’t fit our strengths, because you’re just spinning your wheels on proposals.  There are a gazillion others out there that might fit.
What’s the secret of your success in government contracting?
Janice Hamilton: We got in a little easy, because we were asked.  But you know, it isn’t that easy to stay in government contracting.  You have to work at it … make those relationships … keep those relationships on an ongoing basis … and make sure your work is stellar.  By doing that, we’ve had one agency recommend us to another.  And then another group will see what we’ve done.  We’ve now done work with FDA,USDA,  CDC and NIH — and it continues to grow.
Relationships, relationships, relationships.  That’s so important.  Relationships with the contracting officer.  Relationships with the program managers.  Relationships with the ombudsmen.
Build those relationships.  People like to do business with people they know, people they like.
But it’s also really important to get a good portfolio of past performance to show you can deliver what you say.
How large is your company?
Janice Hamilton: Our company is relatively small – we have 12 people.  We’re small but we’re mighty!  So you don’t have to be a big company.  But one thing we do is, when we see business that is partially in our space, we work with a strategic partner that can help fill out those needs.  That’s how we’ve gotten some of our big contracts.  We couldn’t have done it alone.  The teaming, the strategic partnerships – they’re very important.
Has government contracting helped your business grow?
Janice Hamilton: We’ve certainly grown through government contracting.  But one of the most important things is that it has allowed us to continue being a viable company through the economic downturn.  We were able to continue doing government work when the corporate and association work was slim.  Having that mix was extraordinarily important to us.
You mentioned that you stick to your company’s core competencies.  Was that a tough lesson to learn? Did you have a hard time at first saying “no”?
Janice Hamilton: Yes!  Very definitely.  We would see business in other agencies that we knew we could do.  But they weren’t looking at the competence we had in taking an intricate message and breaking it down to be easily understood by a large group.  Instead, the government agency wanted us to have done something previously in the particular field or content area, for instance, in oceanography.  We had a great concept, and great strategic partners.  But that wasn’t enough.  We learned to stick to what we know.  And just in the FDA and USDA alone there are so many agencies we can work with, and we have good past performance, so … [opportunities are plentiful].
You recently won an award – tell us about that:
Janice Hamilton: We were nominated by WIPP for the American Express OPEN  Victory In Procurement award.  We were named the “Government Contractor of the Year.”  It was just awesome and very exciting and such a great tribute to the dedication of my team, who want to do great work.
One thing about the small business market is that employees in small businesses tend to identify more personally with customers.  They are closer to customers, than perhaps in a large corporation where they may never deal with customers. So does the award mean a great deal to your team?
Janice Hamilton: Oh, yes, that award meant a great deal to them.  To be nominated to begin with – it feels like the Academy Awards.  And then to be recognized by two stellar organizations such as American Express OPEN and WIPP!  You know, it’s to say “hey, we worked hard and, by gosh, it pays off.”  And the team also does what they do because they really love it.  They feel like they are making a difference in people’s lives.
Thank you, Janice Hamilton, for sharing your insights into growing your business through government contracts.
From Small Business Trends

10 Things Groupon Won't Tell You

1) "50% off? Not really."

Steep discounts are the cornerstone of the pitch for daily deal web sites such as Groupon and LivingSocial , which promise 50% off or better at a local restaurant, spa, fitness center or other shop – if enough people sign up (and pre-pay) before the limited-time offer expires. But the discount may be much less once you factor in taxes, tip and any un-covered portion of the bill.

Because businesses recoup so little -- often just 25% of the voucher price after fees -- they have incentive to price deals so you're forced to spend more, like offering a $30 voucher to a $50-per-plate restaurant or a photo package with just two prints. "We're starting to see some price manipulation going on, so the discount doesn't hurt their margins as much," says Greg Sterling, a senior analyst with Opus Research. For example, more than 3,000 Groupon users paid $10 for a $20 FTD voucher before Valentine's Day, only to find prices at the special voucher-redemption page $5 to $10 more expensive than what other visitors to the site saw. Groupon spokeswoman Julie Mossler says the price discrepancy was unintentional, and that customers got refunds.

Read more: 10 Things Groupon Won't Tell You

EBay to buy GSI for $1.96-billion

EBay Inc. plans to buy e-commerce company GSI Commerce for $1.96-billion in cash in a bid to draw more buyers and sellers to its online marketplaces.

EBay said Monday it offered GSI shareholders $29.25 per share, a 50.9-per-cent premium over its closing price on Friday. Shares rose by the same amount in Monday’s Nasdaq trading. EBay shares were down 3 per cent.

GSI owns Web businesses such as Rue La La, which offers one-day-only deals to its members, and ShopRunner, a members-only online shopping service that offers free shipping. GSI also provides technology, payment processing and customer care services for e-commerce sites.

In a statement, EBay chief executive officer John Donahoe said the deal would help the company connect more buyers and sellers.

EBay said the acquisition, expected to close in the third quarter of 2011, would have little effect on its fiscal 2011 adjusted earnings forecast, and would add to 2012 earnings. EBay said the deal would hurt 2011 profit by 30 cents to 34 cents per share.

As part of the deal, EBay will sell off GSI’s licensed sports merchandise business and 70 per cent of ShopRunner and Rue La La, which will all become part of a new holding company run by GSI’s founder and chief executive Michael Rubin.

EBay will lend Mr. Rubin’s new company $467-million. Including the loan, eBay said the deal was worth $2.4-billion.

EBay said those business were not important to its long term growth strategy but it will keep a 30-per-cent stake in both Rue La La and Shop Runner.

GSI has until May 6 to solicit bids from other parties during the so-called "go shop" period.

EBay has pointed to its PayPal payments processing unit as its prime growth driver in recent years.

But it is also trying to spark growth at its more familiar marketplaces unit, a high-margin business that connects online buyers and sellers.

Here is a more detailed report from Reuters

Best Children’s Books on the iPad

Once upon a time (five years ago), e-books for children came on shiny CD-ROMs that cost $40, plus a few dollars for sales tax. Today’s children’s e-books cost just that sales tax. All you need is a $500 iPad.

Just a fad, you say? Perhaps, but recent e-books for Apple’s iPad indicate that the professionals have arrived in the app stores. These e-books can sound out difficult words and move you with illustrations that change based on the tilt of the screen. Today’s children can actually blow the little pig’s house down, by way of the iPad’s microphone.

As in any emerging medium, quality varies — in this case, widely. There are thousands of e-books to wade through, and some are not much more than scanned pages. Here are 10 noteworthy exceptions, ranked by age, with some honorable mentions.

Go, Clifford, Go! ($5) is one of Scholastic’s first e-books, which, along with I Love You Through and Through (also $5) lets you tilt the screen to make cars move, trees sway, waves roll. Ages 2-up.

Finding Nemo: My Puzzle Book ($1) is one of a series of movie-inspired e-books that mix jigsaw puzzles with a scavenger hunt, plus the ability to record your own narration. 3-up.

Here is a complete list of interesting books

How to Become a Millionaire in 3 Easy Steps

An interesting article from CNNMoney I thought would come useful for Moneyhacker readers. This article describe three easy steps that anyone can follow and save lots of money. Of course, if follow in a good manner, this would even make you millionaires. Read this interesting article that certainly help you to change your thoughts and inject good habits to become next millionaire!

Use our calculator to pinpoint when you're likely to become a millionaire based on your current situation and investing returns.

Read the article here

Amazon Appstore for Android - A Place to Fulfill Apps Need

Amazon released its long-awaited Appstore for Android. Fundamentally it's very similar to Google's first-party Android Market or the third-party AppBrain, but it has a few Amazonian differences that could set it apart from the competition very quickly.

First and foremost, Amazon is promising to give away one paid app for free every day. Today it's Angry Birds Rio, and it only retails for 99 cents, but that doesn't really matter: people love free stuff. People will download stuff simply because it's free, even if they don't want it! The best bit (or worst bit) is that developers still get 20% of the usual retail price, which will paid out of Amazon's pockets.

The next defining feature is Amazon Appstore exclusives. Angry Birds Rio, CoD:MW:Force Recon and other apps will be available only from Amazon. As we know from the console wars, exclusive titles aren't always a good thing, but who cares? Amazon simply wants unique selling points, and exclusive titles are definitely that.

To Read a Review: Click Here

Visit: Amazon Appstore for Android

8 Unusual Things I Learned from Warren Buffett

A superbly written article by James Altucher the author of 'Trade Like Warren Buffett", in forbes about the eight unusual things he learned from Warren Buffett. Begins with his visit to Omaha to attend the Berkshire Hathaway annual meeting, James Altucher talk about the Dicipline of Warren, his worst investment mistake - Sinclair gas station he bought in 1951 with a friend of his with whihc he lost he lost $2000, when his savings was about $9600 at the time - another interesting fact he learned about Buffett that he once have rejected from Harward Business School to admit as a student.

Buffett was a victim of reverse anti-Semitism. Becuase he was not Jewish, his teacher Graham once rejected his interest to work for him. Another point, Altucher describes the will power of Warren Buffett and the apetitie of achieving goals. A real story explains this in a better way. Again, a little known truth about Buffett in picture, The SEC investigated Buffett in 1974-1976 for manipulating penny stocks.

At the 7th point, James revealing some of Buffett's habits. He never own a desktop in this table. Don't have a cell phone and plays bridge 12 hours in a week.finally, he found how buffet evaluate success from his own words: "“I measure success by how many people love me. And the best way to be loved is to be loveable.”

This is of course an interesting article from a famous writer. Read here

Amazon Cloud Drive - Brand New Online Service to Store Files

Amazon.com Inc said it has unveiled an online service that would enable its customers to securely store and access music through their smartphones and computers.


Amazon Cloud Drive is your hard-drive in the cloud. Securely store your music, videos, photos, and documents online and access them from anywhere.

All you need is a web browser to upload, download and access your files from any computer. Back up your files to ensure that your music, photos and personal documents are available to you wherever you go.

The Amazon Cloud drive offers 5 GB of free online storage that you can access from any computer. If you need more storage space, paid plans are available for storage up to 1,000 GB.

However, just purchase an album from the Amazon MP3 Store to get 20 GB of storage free of charge for one year from the date of your purchase. That's enough space to store up to 4000 songs. You can keep your 20 GB storage plan after the year is up or do nothing and we'll drop you down to our free 5 GB plan.

Need more than 5 GB of space? Amazon offer paid storage plans with up to 1000 GB of space. These plans are billed annually and renew automatically for your convenience.

Upload Files

- To upload files to your Cloud Drive, click on the "Upload Files" button on the top left corner of the page.
- Click on "Your Cloud Drive" to select a destination folder for your files. If you do not select a folder at this time, your files will be uploaded into the "Your Cloud Drive" root folder. You will be able to move or copy your files into a different folder once your upload is complete.
- Next, click on "Select files to upload." Select one or more files from your computer to upload.
- Confirm your selection to begin uploading your files.

Download Files

- Check the box next to the file you wish to download.
- Click on the "Download" button
- Your browser will present you with a dialog with download options.

Organize Your Files

Creating folders

Amazon has already created some top level folders for you including "Documents," "Music," "Pictures," and "Videos." You can create more folders to organize your Cloud Drive files as you wish.

To create a new top level folder, select the "Your Cloud Drive" folder in the Folders area on the left hand side of the Cloud Drive page. To create a new sub-folder, select the existing folder where you want to create your subfolder.

- Click on the "New Folder" button.
- Enter the name of the new folder you want to create and click "Save Folder" button.

You can navigate through your folders by clicking on a folder in the "Folders" area on the left hand side of the Cloud Drive page. The folder structure can be expanded or collapsed by clicking on the "+" or "-" buttons next to each folder name.
Moving files and folders

- Check the box next to the item(s) you wish to move.
- Click on the "More Actions" button.
- Select the option to move your item(s).
- Select the folder you wish to move your item(s) to.
- Click on the "Move Items" button to move your item.

Copying files and folders

- Check the box next to the item(s) you wish to copy.
- Click on the "More Actions" button.
- Select the option to copy your item(s).
- Select the folder you wish to copy your item(s) to.
- Click on the "Copy Items" button to copy your items.

Renaming files and folders

- Check the box next to the item you wish to rename.
- Click on the "More Actions" button.
- Select the "Rename" option.
- Type in the new name for your file or folder and then click "Rename".

Deleting files

When you delete files in Cloud Drive they are placed in your "Deleted Items" list. You can access this list by clicking the "Deleted Items" link in the Lists box located in the upper left of the page. Deleted files are not removed from your account and you can restore them if necessary. Deleted files continue to take up space in your account until you permanently delete them.

- Check the box next to the file(s) you wish to delete.
- Click on the Delete button

Your files will be moved to the "Deleted Items" list, where they can be recovered if necessary or permanently deleted later to free up storage space.

Recovering deleted files

- Click on the "Deleted Items" list on the top left corner of the Cloud Drive page.
- Check the box next to the item(s) you wish to recover.
- Click on the "Restore To Folder" button to restore the selected items to the same folders from which they were deleted. Or, click the "More Actions" button and select the "Move" option to move the items to a different location.

Tata Steel Hikes Stake in Riversdale Amid Rio Bid

Indian steel major Tata Steel confirmed that it hiked stakes on Australia's Riversdale Mining by another 2.9 per cent to 27.1 per cent, making it harder for competitors, mainly for miner Rio Tinto to seal its $3.9 billion bid for the Mozambique-focused coal miner. Sources said.

Tata Steel, already Riversdale's biggest shareholder, spent more than A$100 million ($101 million) upping its stake in Riversdale to 27.1 percent from 24.2 percent, according to a shareholder notice, confirming what sources had told Reuters.

Riversdale's second-largest shareholder, top Brazilian steelmaker CSN (CSNA3.SA), also recently increased its stake in the Australia-listed company to 19.9 percent.

Tata Steel, the world's No. 7 steelmaker, and CSN now own 47 percent of Riversdale, making it extremely difficult for Rio (RIO.L) to secure the 50.1 percent acceptances it wants before going ahead with the deal.

Rio now needs almost 100 percent acceptances from minority shareholders and has so far won over just 17 percent of the company.

"Rio seems to be in extreme difficulty," said Gregory Lafitte, Asia merger arbitrage trader at LCM in Hong Kong.

"It’s possible to see Rio Tinto reduce the 50 percent acceptance condition or reach a strategic agreement with Tata and CSN," he said.

Rio Tinto declined to comment on the status of its talks with Riversdale’s shareholders.

Read Full Story Directly from Source

World's Best 30 CEOs

Barron's magazine have published the list of best 30 CEO's in the latest edition as the part of their annual roster of the top corporate leaders from around the world. Published along with the profile of each CEO, Barron done a great job for readers and subscribers to understand the background of each one included in their list.

The eight new members of the roster are already making good money in Asia and appear well-positioned for the years ahead. Other newcomers to the list are making a mark on China with everything from cold beer and grilled chicken to luxury automobiles and high-end corporate computing gear.

Notable returnees in the list includes Berkshire Hathaway's Warren Buffett, Apple's Steve Jobs, JP Morgan Chase's Jamie Dimon, IBM's Sam Palmisano and Costco Wholesale's Jim Sinegal.

Selection of the 30 top CEOs isn't based on a statistical formula. It's based on the collective knowledge of the Barron's staff, plus recent interviews with investors, analysts and executives. The idea, as in past years, was to identify corporate leaders who have made a difference to their companies and delivered for investors. Only included the the CEO's who has been on the job for at least three years, and preferred companies with market values of at least $5 billion.

Here is the Barron's Top 30 CEO's:


Read More: 30 Best CEOs

Profiles of the World's Best CEO's

The Pre and Post Retirement Planning and Ideas

Millions of Americans fear retirement. They never knew an early, well advanced planning and disciplined approach would help them to retire peacefully for the later years. Most of the people who think about retirement plan not at all aware where they do start the planning. This article intended to help those to prepare a better retirement plan by calculating the required and plan accordingly.

When it comes to retirement, people think about money. Most of them start thinking about retirement plan very late and that would later put them to unnecessary panic. Start early with a clear plan and discipline to enjoy your golden years without worries.

This two article from well known financial experts would help people to plan, achieve and enjoy their retirement life without much pain. take a look:

Retirement 101: How to Figure Out What You'll Need

If you're totally baffled, try these six simple steps. It's not a plan. But it's something anyone can do in 10 minutes or less, and it will give you a much better idea where you stand—and what you need to do.

How to Cash Out in Retirement - A look at four strategies that could help make a retiree's savings last a lifetime

Explain various strategies for spending down retirement savings. The key to developing a successful strategy is flexibility. Given all the variables in retirement spending, investors regularly revisit their approach rather than religiously following a preset path. Those who are willing to make small adjustments along the way will run the smoothest course through retirement

Money Through the Ages

Money Through the Ages is a guide to the financial challenges and goals at different ages, from late teens to the retirement years.This special section presents 10 stories of individuals and families trying to conquer the challenges that their financial lives present.

For each stage of life, this section provides a look at how individuals are coping with their own circumstances, and offers the counsel of contemporaries who are financial advisers and have been through similar experiences.

The articles and audio interviews are a collaboration between the Your Money staff of The New York Times and Marketplace Money, from American Public Media.

The Teens: Balancing Debt Against College Choice

The 20s: Out of College, Not on Her Own

The 30s: Too Busy for Finances, but a Baby Changes That

The 40s: Setting Up a Plan to Get Back on Track

The 50s: Repairing a Long-Neglected Nest Egg

The 60s: Pondering Risks in Retirement

The 60s: Navigating the Benefits Maze

The 70s: Finances That C.E.O.’s May Not Be Watching: Their Own

And for your own planning, an interactive checklist helps navigate the ways you can prepare and secure your financial future.

Facebook Investor DST Joins Funding Round for 360buy.com

Digital Sky Technologies,the Russian internet investment group that backed Facebook, has joined a group of investors committing hundreds of millions of dollars to 360buy.com, China’s largest online retailer.

The Financial Times said the interest in 360buy underlines the vast opportunity for online commerce in China, one of the largest and fastest-growing internet markets.

360buy has been described as the Amazon.com of China, was founded in 2004 by Qiangdong Liu, who remains its chief executive

DST already owns large stakes in some of the most successful US internet companies, including Facebook, Groupon and Zynga.

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The Importance of Having a Rainy Day Fund

I once knew a young man who was busy saving money for his wedding, hoping that once he hit a certain dollar amount he would ask his longtime girlfriend to marry him. Midway into his saving endeavor, the transmission blew on his truck and suddenly he had to pay $2,000 to get it fixed. The young man didn't have a rainy day fund in place to cover unexpected expenses and sadly had to use some of the money he had been saving for a fancy wedding on something as routine as a transmission.

While it was good that he didn't have to put this sudden expense on a credit card or ask his parents for money, the young man's situation reminded me of why it's important to have a rainy day fund. A rainy day fund is an emergency savings account that helps cushion the blow if something unexpected happens, like losing your job or having your car break down.

There are hundreds of little things that could crop up that are outside of a carefully planned budget. You could break a bone or get appendicitis and suddenly have a mountain of hospital bills. Your dog could get in a fight with another dog and need expensive veterinary care. Your refrigerator could stop working and suddenly you have to buy a new one. Or an uninsured family member could pass away, and you are called upon to help with funeral expenses.

So how much money should you put into a rainy day fund? A good place to begin is to save three months' worth of living expenses. If you already have a firm budget in place, then it should be fairly easy to calculate how much you spend on bills and necessities like food in an average month. If you don't have a budget in place, you will need to sit down and determine how much you spend each month on bills like rent/mortgage payments, car payment, insurance, electricity, cell phones, etc. Then look back at your bank ledger and add up how much you spend on groceries. Add all of your routine expenses to determine how much money goes out from your account each month. Multiply this by three and you have determined an estimated three months' worth of living expenses.

The reason it is recommended to save three months' worth of living expenses is that three months is about how long it would take to find a new job if you were to suddenly become unemployed, especially in a sour economy where companies are doing less hiring. Some people even choose to save up six months' worth of living expenses just in case a job hunt would take them even longer.

Once you've hit your goal on your rainy day fund, you can stop adding money to the account and focus your finances on other goals, like paying off any debt, saving for retirement, or investing. Finally, any time you have to use your rainy day fund for an emergency, be sure to replenish your savings as soon as you can.

About the Author: Mariana Ashley is a freelance writer who particularly enjoys writing about online colleges. She loves receiving reader feedback, which can be directed to mariana.ashley031@gmail.com.

Small Business News: Social Media Brand

What is your social media brand? Do you have one? Sure, many small business owners and entrepreneurs are coming around to the enormous importance of social media as a marketing, customer service, and, yes, even sales tool. But if you haven’t thought about how social media can define your brand, you are probably missing a HUGE part of what social media tools can do for your business. Here’s more…

Tools & Techniques

Creating a great brand with these blog tools. Tools that improve the look and functionality of your blog also improve your brand. A well-maintained small business blog is one of the most obvious and least expensive branding tools at the entrepreneur’s disposal even more so than social media channels like Facebook and Twitter because of how a blog can be customized to fit your needs and personality. This list of tools is a great way to start. EpicLaunch
What Nicole “Snooki” Polizzi can teach you about social media. One of the stars of the hit reality show “Jersey Shore”, “Snooki” is a perfect example of personal brand, but social media entrepreneurs could also learn much about building their own online presence from Snooki. Being yourself and using a simple, short tag to indelibly brand your identity are also great techniques in social media. One site is already trying to apply the starlets techniques in the social media space. Brand-Yourself
Tito Philips doesn’t want your comments on his blog! At least, not if they’re the wrong kind. And the wrong kind would be comments left for no other purpose than to get the blogger and his/her readers to visit your blog and perhaps comment on it in return. Why is comment trading bad? Don’t get Tito started! There are many ways to engage in social media marketing. Be sure you understand and respect some of the attitudes you may face. Blogging Bookshelf 

News & Trends

The best of the best. Want to get a look at arguably the 20 best Facebook fan pages for business on the planet? By now you should know the value of a Facebook fan page to your branding efforts. What’s also true, however, is that not all Facebook sites are created equal. If you want to take your social media marketing to the next level, have a look at this list of cream of the crop sites. Inc.com
Even churches use social media marketing! In this article on the growing market for tech services among religious organizations, we learn that many churches have also already entered into the social media space. As houses of worship, particularly huge mega-churches, expand and build congregations, it’s easy to see how social media can work as a marketing tool here as well. Is your religious organization using social media for branding? WSJ

Tips & Tricks

20 tips that will make you a Twitter star. Among the tools popular in the new digital space is Twitter. The microblogging platform can be used for business or non-business purposes and it can be the key to your small business’s success. Learn how to use Twitter like a pro and you may be surprised at the benefits your small business gains as a result. Global Copywriting
Valuable lessons in social media. Gary Vaynerchuk, author of The Thank You Economy and a successful social media entrepreneur in his own right, has many insights to share with small business leaders seeking a new way to define their brands in an age of social communications. Read some of the takeaways Vaynerchuk shares with those trying to define their businesses with social media. E-Marketing Associates

Success Stories

Doubt the power of FB to create brand for almost anyone? You won’t after you read the story of Princeton English Professor Jeff Nunokawa and “Jeffbook”, a collection of 3,221 brief literary essays on Facebook, that have created an incredible cult status for Nunokawa in the process. His motivation? Not too different from those of most marketers. Nunokawa simply started sharing where he knew his audience already spent lots of their time. The results speak for themselves. Fast Company
Increase exposure with niche social media. Blogger Mavis Nong talks about the importance of niche social media sites including social bookmarking sites as a key method of creating exposure for your online business. Mavis talks about her experience with our sister site BizSugar.com (thanks for the shout out!  ) and explains how smaller more focused social sites can sometimes have a surprising impact even larger than the big guys. Attraction Marketing Online

Opportunities

Sponsors wanted for new SugarTone Sweet Business Blogging Contest. Put the power of social media to work for your brand. We’re looking for sponsors to help with a brand new blogging contest involving two of the fastest growing small business communities on the Web, BizSugar.com and Bloggertone.com. Learn more about the contest by reading the full announcement and get in touch today!