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| Resource Center > Entrepreneurship |
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Whether you're actually thinking of starting your own business, or you're looking to inject some entrepreneurial spirit into your job search
and corporate career, you'll find the resources on this page helpful. Because it all starts with a plan, this page includes links to web sites
that can help you come up with business ideas as well as an entrepreneurial mindset in general. For those of you who are looking for the nuts and bolts
resources to start a business, we have included some of those too.
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Business Thought and Ideas
Entrepreneur Magazine's Opportunity Finder - Entrepreneur Magazine has assembled a complete directory of business ideas. These include businesses
you can start with no investment such as consulting all the way up to businesses you can buy and franchises. This is a great resource for thinking through business startup ideas.
How Jack Welch Ran GE - An inspiring look at how Jack Welch ran America's largest corporation. Welch is an example of an "intrapreneur" - someone using entrepreneurship
principles within a large corporation.
Tony Robbins Get the Edge - Tony Robbins, personal coach to celebrities and successful CEOs, has put together a comprehensive step-by-step course which helps you gain the mind power and goal setting skills to achieve your dreams.
Draper Fisher Jurvetson's Viral Marketing Whitepaper - DFJ is the venture capital firm that launched the Hotmail
email service. Hotmail is one of the best examples of "viral marketing". Venture capitalist Steve Jurvetson's white paper is both an inspiring and at the same time technical look
at this important business principle.
Books
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StrikingItRich.com is a short and to the point book, written in early 1997, that profiles 23
web-based businesses. These are businesses that at the time the book was written, had gained success
but had not raised much (if any) venture capital. What is even more amazing is that seven years
later, none of these businesses has failed. Additionally, this is the only book Amazon.com founder and CEO
Jeff Bezos has ever endorsed by writing a foreward.
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Sun Tzu and the Art of Business takes the principles developed more than 2000 years ago by Chinese
war strategist Sun Tzu and applies them to the business world. Sun Tzu's principles are so timeless
that they are still taught in military academies today. Author Mark McNeilly, a business strategist
for IBM, includes Sun Tzu's original text and for each principle, explains a parallel in the business
world.
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Magazines
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Entrepreneur Magazine is the small business authority. It is written to help entrepreneurs and small-business owners manage and grow their business.
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Business 2.0 offers today's "visionaries" a refreshing blend of traditional and contemporary business strategies. Lighthearted perspectives give way to hard-hitting articles on industry trends, while historic references pay homage to some of the world's all-time-great business leaders.
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This magazine's editorial focus is on the men and women who run growing companies. It offers business and technology solutions to help growing-company owners and executives run their businesses more effectively.
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When people get serious about business they read Forbes. The magazine offers in-depth coverage that examines the personalities and issues that shape the business world today and explores the trends of tomorrow.
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Business Planning
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Business Plan Pro is the most popular software available today for writing a business plan. If you're considering
starting a business, planning it out ahead of time is essential. Writing a business plan gives you
an opportunity to think through the big things that will be important in the success of your venture. |
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From the publisher of Business Plan Pro, Marketing Plan Pro is designed to take you through the steps
of writing a marketing plan.
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Selling
The easiest prospects to sell to are people you already know. Think about it: no cold calling.
Free Full-Color Business Cards - They say you only get one chance to make a first impression. Make great first impressions with these free full-color business cards. You enter your information online and the printed cards are shipped to you.
RelationshipSecure - If you have 300 contacts in your address book but you only keep in touch with 40 of them on a regular basis, the remaining 260 contacts are in danger of going "stale." Think of what happens when you flip through your card file or rolodex and come across a contact you haven't heard from for a couple years. Unless you knew the person well, chances are you'll just throw out the card. You may not ever remember how you met them!
A social networking software program called RelationshipSecure was delveloped to address this specific problem. It provides several features that help you maintain your existing relationships and keep them from getting stale. It provides a verification feature that lets you send out e-mail mailings to your contacts asking them if their information is correct. If it isn't, they can make any changes necessary and your Outlook address book is updated automatically. It also lets you send out other mailings like Birthday and Anniversary e-greeting cards.
Lead Generation for Job Openings
ResumeDirector.com - Get
your resume posted instantly
on over 90 job sites including Monster, HotJobs, CareerBuilder and more than 80 others!
Imagine taking the grunt
work out of making your
resume available on the
job boards. In addition
to saving over 60 hours
of work, your resume will
be seen by employers on
all the major job boards
as soon as you complete
the 10-minute sign up
process. This is the most
powerful tool we've seen
for accelerating the job
search process and getting
hired faster.
Email your Resume to Recruiters - This service lets you get your resume e-mailed to thousands of recruiters in your area
who specialize in your job category.
Lead Generation for Businesses
ProSavvy - If you're thinking about starting a professional services/consulting business,
you should know about ProSavvy. ProSavvy is essentially a matchmaker that brings corporations and consultants together. Companies with consulting projects post
their projects on the service and consultants can see those projects.
Elance - Elance.com is a service similar to ProSavvy. Originally they focused on freelancers but they are now
marketing themselves as a higher-end service like ProSavvy.
BuyerZone.com - If you have a product or service to offer to businesses, BuyerZone.com is a site worth
checking out. They offer a lead generation service.
Enhance Interactive - Enhance Interactive is a
Pay-Per-Click network of search engines. By listing your product or service with them, you will appear at the top of the results in the search
engines in their network. Sign up with this link to get $10.00 worth of free credits.
Netfirms Web Hosting - Having a web site is an essential element of being in business these days. With Netfirms, you can get your web site hosted for as little as $4.95/mo. They offer 24/7 LIVE customer service and fast, dependable servers.
Interland Web Hosting - Interland offers complete Internet marketing packages, starting as low as $7.95 per month. In addition to hosting your web site, they
provide tools for creating your site as well as for getting your site listed in the search engines.
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Tom Hopkins is one of the most respected and successful salespeople in America. He pioneered the style
of consultative selling which focuses on solving a customer's problems rather than pitching them
products they really don't need. This is his authoritative book on the subject.
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Building your Skill Set
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JobSearchInfo Education and Skills Resource Center - We
have searched the web for the most helpful skill building and education tools.
These include programs to help you earn degrees and certificates from home, sites to help you
prepare for graduate school, or just to brush up on your computer skills. Whether you're starting
your own business or looking to advance in your corporate career, enhancing your skill set is a sure-fire way to become more valuable. |
Nuts and Bolts Resources for Starting a Business
LegalMatch - This site
lets you search their database of pre-screened lawyers for free. A lawyer can incorporate your business and make sure you are protected
from liabilities.
Health Insurance Savings - This site will let you
get free quotes on health insurance.
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Not only is the American Express gold card a good financial decision, but it also makes a good impression
with clients and prospects.
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Quickbooks is the most popular business accounting software available today. It's published by
Intuit, creator of the popular Quicken personal financial management software. Keeping good books
and records is an important part of running a business.
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