Surfer’s calendar site gives back

Posted by & filed under Part 1 Business in a Global Environment, Part 2 Starting and Growing Your Business.

Description: Custom calendar site CalendarLink.org raises funds and spreads awareness for the California Surf Life Saving Association. Source:  CNNMoney.com – video report Date: 12/22/2010 Link:  http://money.cnn.com/video/news/2010/12/22/n_cc_tides_of_giving.cnnmoney/ Questions for discussion:  How is this business socially responsible? Who are the target customers? What makes this business service unique? Describe the product strategy and how the Internet allows… Read more »

Getting the message out on Facebook

Posted by & filed under Part 2 Starting and Growing Your Business, Part 4: Marketing Management.

Description: Small businesses are leveraging their profiles on Facebook to boost their business by keeping in close contact with customers. Source:  Reuters.com – video report Date: 12/21/2010 Link: http://www.reuters.com/news/video/story?videoId=170540599&videoChannel=6 Questions for discussion: How does Facebook  allow small businesses to better serve their target customers? How does Facebook differentiate itself on the Internet?

Three Reason’s Facebook’s Revenue Surge Is Even Better Than It Looks

Posted by & filed under Part 2 Starting and Growing Your Business, Part 6 Managing Financial Resources.

Description: If TIME Magazine didn’t tell you already, 2010 was the year of Facebook, but not just because its founder, Mark Zuckerberg, had a newsworthy year, no matter how you slice it. Source:  BNET.com Date: 12/17/2010 Link: http://www.bnet.com/blog/new-media/three-reason-8217s-facebook-8217s-revenue-surge-is-even-better-than-it-looks/6874?tag=mantle_skin;content Questions for discussion: Summarize the opinions expressed in this interview. Do you think the Facebook phenomena and… Read more »

Gen Y: Here’s Why You Should Never Get a Real Job

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Gen Y: Here’s Why You Should Never Get a Real Job Description: A frightening number of young entrepreneurs are writing books these days, and many of them are heavy on cheer leading (îif I can do it, so can you!î) and far too light on reality checks. Source:  BNET.com Date: 12/06/2010 Cat ñTags:  2, Starting… Read more »

Start a small biz with $500

Posted by & filed under Part 1 Business in a Global Environment, Part 2 Starting and Growing Your Business, Part 4: Marketing Management.

Description: Tweezerman founder Dal LaMagna says his company grew by being frugal with money and keeping stakeholders interests at heart. Source: CNNMoney.com – video report   Date: 11/11/2010 Link: http://money.cnn.com/video/smallbusiness/2010/11/11/sbiz_tweezerman_dal_lamagna_500_dollars.cnnmoney/ Questions for discussion:  Explain the global success of this game? What does its success suggest about consumer behavior? What need does this product satisfy for… Read more »

Turning Customers Into Creators

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Description:  A FEW young women are gathered around a conference table dotted with bottles of colorful vitamin drinks, iPod cables and slender laptops. A whiteboard with lime-green writing almost swallows a wall in the room. Source: NYTimes.com   Date: 10/23/2010 Link: http://www.nytimes.com/2010/10/24/business/24ping.html?ref=business Questions for discussion: How is this sort of research superior to other forms… Read more »

A day with Stan Lee at Comic Con

Posted by & filed under Part 2 Starting and Growing Your Business, Part 3 Management: Empowering People to Achieve Business Objectives, Part 4: Marketing Management.

Description: The comics legend is still going strong, and still spends entire days promoting his new products and meeting his fans. Source: CNNMoney.com – video report   Date: 10/15/2010 Link: http://money.cnn.com/video/news/2010/10/15/n_cmr_stan_lee_comiccon.cnnmoney/ Questions for discussion:  How important is Stan Lee as a leader for his company and industry? Why do you suppose there is such reverence… Read more »

Small business is still hiring

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Description: ‘Help Wanted’ signs are popping up all over, but small business owners say they still feel the impact of the financial downturn. Source: CNNMoney.com  – video report Date: 10/08/2010 Link: http://money.cnn.com/video/news/2010/10/08/n_help_wanted.cnnmoney/ Questions for discussion:  Summarize the current state of affairs at the small businesses that were profiled in the report. What does this information… Read more »

Startup Lessons Learned From a 20-Year-Old CEO

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Description:  Meet Jessica Mah: The 20-year-old chief executive who’s on startup No. 3. She’s the CEO of InDinero, a Website that lets small businesses automatically track their finances with no data entry required. Barely a month after finishing the Silicon Valley startup incubator program Y Combinator, she scored $1 million in seed funding. Next on… Read more »

Burger joint’s social media recipe

Posted by & filed under Part 2 Starting and Growing Your Business, Part 4: Marketing Management.

Description: 4Food uses social networks like Twitter and Foursquare in lieu of traditional marketing to let customers share their own burger creations. Source: CNNMoney.com – video report Date: 09/16/2010 Link: http://money.cnn.com/video/technology/2010/09/15/t_4food_burger_donut_twitter.cnnmoney/ Questions for discussion: What do you think of the use of social marketing, as demonstrated by this small business? Do you think social media… Read more »