Google For Entrepreneurs

Hi All!

Google's latest new tool is Google For Entrepreneurs. I know! I know! Another "tool" to learn. This one has multiple benefits. http://www.google.com/entrepreneurs/ This is Google's program (website) set up to address the needs of entrepreneur's, a small segment of the population.

Google has taken on the task of helping entrepreneurs when they need the most help, the all important first five years.

Google states on their blog:


Our focus is threefold:

1. Partnerships with strong organizations that serve entrepreneurs in local communities
2. Google-led programs to bring our teams and our tools directly to entrepreneurs
3. Placing relevant Google tools in the hands of start ups as they are getting off the ground and ready to scale

  Google is targeting three areas to provide services.

1.Programs  to meet the needs of different segments of the community. Examples are:
a. Women 2.0  Women 2.0 is a media company providing content, community and events for aspiring and current female technology innovators. Its mission is to increase the number of female founders of technology start-ups with inspiration, information and education. Google's partnership will help Women 2.0 expand their Founder Friday series into four new cities (Detroit, New Orleans, Sao Paulo, and Moscow) and use Google technology to empower and connect these communities. 

 b.  NewME Accelerator is a residential technology start-up accelerator for businesses led by underrepresented groups (African-Americans, Latinos, and Women) in the technology industry. The goal is to catalyze these entrepreneurs by offering them mentor ship and access to Silicon Valley mentors, partners, and investors. The entrepreneurs live and work side-by-side for 12 weeks and work directly with mentors from across Silicon Valley, leading up to a final pitch to investors during Demo Day. To date, the program has received more than 400 applications, 27 have been accepted and 17 businesses have graduated. Google is the proud presenting sponsor of NewME.


2. Events -Women 2.0 Pitch New York program where women from around the world come to pitch their technology  Nov. 13-17, 2012 in New York City.


3. Resources
Google has partnered with organizations around the world like the Branson Center for Entrepreneurship, incubators and funds to provide resources for entrepreneurs to get off the ground and running.


Most of the activities have already taken place, with the exception of the November event in New York.

You can find more info and check back to find out the programs for 2013 here .

Check it out and come back and share your thoughts. Do you think this is a passing fad for Google or will they stay in it for the long haul? Are these programs beneficial to your business? What you like to see Google add to their entrepreneurship programs?

Looking forward to your comments.


Michelle
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Are You Using Linkedin For Your Business?

Hi All!


I've been on a tear to learn about Linkedin.com. Why? Because my biggest sales on the internet have come from Linkedin. Creatives listen up! Linked in is good for your business. The problem is most of us don't know how to use it. I'm guilty as charged.So me being me, I set out to learn how to use Linkedin. I totally missed this when I set up my page a couple of years ago. http://learn.linkedin.com/training/ Smile.

Corporate Logo

Yeah, I did like most of you and jumped in without a good handle on this very interesting platform. I was using the platform for my international side through groups. Most of my groups deal with Africa, doing business in Africa, Black women business owners, women business owners, international trade and social media (IE marketing). While I was sharing my knowing of international trade and the very interesting events happening on the continent, a funny thing started happening, I got sales. Yes, good sales, as in my $100.00 plus pieces.


Now, If you've found a platform that is driving sales for you that's great but don't rule out Linkedin, especially if you have skill sets that go beyond your craft. Consulting pays very well my dears.

Now back to mission. I have been using Linkedin mainly for groups, so when I saw one of my networking groups was hosting a lady called Nancy Laine the Linkedin Concierge, I had to go. She was excellent and yours truly won the free1 hour consultation. When you make the first step the universe will open doors for you. You can view Nancy's profile AND the presentation about 3 inches down here http://linkd.in/MkUwrw. I advise you to view the slideshare and incorporate what she tells you into your profile. Nancy is also available for consultations, if you need additional help or don't want to do it yourself.

EDIT UPDATE: Unless people are in Nancy's network, her Powerpoint will be invisible to them. So log onto LinkedIN, send a connection request to Nancy using her email 0nancy5@gmail.com -- and tell her I sent you.
(Full disclosure if you decide to hire Nancy let me know as I was so pleased with my consultation I'm sharing her info and will receive a referral fee). I'm rewriting my profile to incorporate the changes she suggested and will be doing another consultation with her once I'm done.


Now my questions for you.

1. Have you used Linkedin?

2. Have received business, sales or contacts that have furthered your business goals?

3. If you signed up and never used it are you willing to give it a try again? If not , why not?

See you tomorrow.


Michelle
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Are You Doing Business in Malaysia? You Should Be

Hi All!

I attended a briefing on doing business in Malaysia a little more than a week ago. I held off posting this until Mother's Day was 
over. 

Malaysia is the two sections in white.

This was one of the most well thought out and information packed briefings I have ever attended. I had been up since 3 am and for a six hour presentation to hold my attention they really had their act together. Only one speaker was problematic and it was due to the clarity of his English that posed a challenge. The speakers' slide presentation was very excellent.


The head of the Malaysian Investment Development Authority (MIDA), Mr. Noharuddin Nordin had extensive experience in investment and development. His was one of the best slide presentations I've seen in a long time. He so thoroughly covered the subject matter that the questions asked after the presentation dealt with individual needs only.


Mr Michael P. Mealey ( Yes! I wasn't the only Black person in the room) Vice President of the US-ASEAN Business Council (USABC).  http://www.us-asean.org/index.php


Most American companies do not realize that Southeast Asian and numerous African Countries are the places where the economy's  are growing at a rapid clip. In these countries the average person is making a very livable wage, have policies in place to repatriate your money out of the country and having growing middle classes who are hungering for the nicer things in life. 


Malaysia has put a lot of resources into their education and training systems. The country has streamedlined their business practices and have systems in place to hand hold and get you up and running in an efficient manner. 


The one caveat, I have is that if your business is labor intensive then Malaysia is not the country for you. That is unless you are going to bring in labor and house them. There are always workarounds. Smile


So if you want to get your feet wet in international waters them seriously consider Malaysia. 


For more information to determine if Malaysia is a good fit for you go to http://mida.gov.my 


I will be blogging all week about countries that normally fly under the radar but are good places for American companies to consider doing business in.


Take Care,


Michelle

Has Facebook Increased Your Sales?

Okay tell the truth, has facebook increased your sales comparable to the time and effort that you put into it. Yes I know a million, gazillion people are joining everyday. But, does that really mean anything for you as a business. I'm only concerned with small business here, as in less than a million in sales a year. Is facebook working for you? Have you been able to increase your customer base (ie. sales) through your "engagement" on facebook?

From where I'm standing it seems that as soon as business gets a handle on how to use facebook the rules change and you're back to square one. To me it appears as soon as you have your sales funnel in place they move the truck. Now its seems that if your not paying the premium you're not engaged enough to be seen. I hope I'm reading the landscape incorrectly. Please share with me what your record has been, successes and failures. Don't be afraid , we all have both its part of the learning process.

courtesy of all-free-download.com

Okay its show and tell time. Please share your experiences and add any lessons learned or details you are comfortable sharing. I think my readers and I will appreciate the sharing.

I almost forgot, please let us know if facebook has increased your base internationally.

Looking forward to your comments.

Michelle

I Won An Admission Ticket To This Awesome Event

Go Global this Global Entrepreneurship Week

Enterprise Nation will be hosting a week-long series of online and offline events and activities to help you Go Global and take your business to the world.
Pay just £25 by clicking here and using discount code EN and have access to the main conference on Tuesday 15th November and/or all-day workshops on 17th November. If you can’t make it in person to the events, there’ll be webchats running throughout the week with successful exporters and experts.
We’ll also be releasing a free Go Global Guide and app! Sign up now and we look forward to seeing you for a week in November that will most surely help you increase sales and broaden horizons!
Take your pick of exotic activity! Full details and registration on this link.

*STOP PRESS*

Use discount code ‘EN’ on checkout for 50% off! That’s access to the Go Global Main Conference and Workshops – 2 days for just £25. Buy tickets now.

Tuesday, November 15th

Main Conference Programme

9.30 – 10: Registration
10 – 10.10: Welcome and conference open

• Emma Jones, Founder, Enterprise Nation

10.10 – 10.40: Go Global with Alibaba.com

• Linda Kozlowski, head of customer acquisition for Alibaba.com offers trends and tips on international trade

10.40 – 11.10: Global success story

• Richard Moross, founder of MOO.COM tells the story of how MOO went global and helps small businesses do the same

11.10 – 11.30: Coffee break
11.30 – 12.00: Speaking globish, Curry-style

• Declan Curry (presenter of BBC OnTheMoney) presents his thoughts on international trade & progress from his weekly Mandarin language lessons on air!

12.00 – 12.30: I did it my way

• A panel of globally successful small businesses stories, including:
• Kate Castle, Bogin a bag
• Luke Brynley-Jones, Our Social Times
• Gareth Austin-Jones, Cocorose London
• Neal McCullough, Hand Drawn Creative

12.30 – 1.00: Be seen; here, there and everywhere

• A panel exploring how to get press and profile in international markets:
• Lisa Sykes, Features Editor, Country Living
• Chris Turner, Editor, Springwise.com
• Angie Moxham, Founder, Three Monkeys PR
• Sarah Dawes, international social media expert

1.00: Lunch
2.00 – 2.30: Making sales online

• A panel of powerful and International sales platforms, including:
• Matt Stinchcomb, head of Europe , Etsy
• Patrick Munden, head of seller communications, eBay
• Linda Kozlowski, head of customer acquisition, Alibaba.com
• Kjetil Olsen, Vice President, Europe, Elance.com

2.30 – 3.00: Getting the world online

• Wendy Tan, Founder & CEO of Moonfruit tells the story of how her global company provides websites to millions of small businesses to enable overseas trade

3.00 – 3.30: Go Local!

• A panel of experts to advise on how to achieve the local look; from website localisation, international virtual offices & accepting local payments, including:
• Christian Arno, Founder, Lingo24.com
• Luke Smith, Founder, Croud
• Cameron Mclean, VP of merchant services, PayPal

3.30 – 4.00: On the sofa with Ashley Payne, top Alibaba.com seller and founder of Radix Global
4.00 – 4.30: Afternoon tea
4.30 – 5.00: I did it my way

• A panel of globally successful small businesses stories, including:
• David Brown, Ve Interactive
• Sam Bompas, Bompas and Parr
• Tony Curtis, Alago
• Interviewed by Sunday Times and Springboard journalist, Andrew Stone

5.00 – 5.30: Farewell keynote

• Rob Law, Founder & CEO of Trunki tells the story of how his business is trading across borders and creating happy travel experiences for families across the world!

5.40 onwards: Drinks reception
In addition to this main programme, practical demonstrations will be delivered throughout the day by exhibitors.

Thursday, November 17th

Go Global: Workshop Schedule,
O2 Workshop, 229 Tottenham Court Road

Time	Speaker	Topic
9.30 – 10am	Representative from Alibaba.com	Go Global with Alibaba.com– step by step demo on using the site
10.10 – 10.40am	Alison Grieve, Safetray	The story of an invention & how it achieved global success
11.00 – 11.30am	Felicity Tolley	UKTI support for small business
11.40 – 12.10pm	Emily Coltman ACA	International accounting in terms you can understand!
12.20 – 12.50pm	Jen Buchan, O2	Making the most of mobile to start & grow an international business
1 – 1.30pm	Judy Mansfield	The ins and outs of currency exchange
1.30 – 2pm	Lunch break
2 – 2.30pm	John Hayes, iContact	Social Media: The 24/7 Channel for Global Commerce
2.40 – 3.10pm	Beverley Bergin, PayPal	Make and receive payments across borders
3.20 – 3.50pm	Chris Dawson	Selling via Amazon & eBay to all countries!
4.00 – 4.30pm	Michael Jacobsen	The Global Accelerator – how to super-charge your business to international success!
4.40 – 5.10pm	Chris Fieldhouse	Tech Pack for the trading traveller
5.20 – 5.50pm	Matthew Stibbe	How online business, Turbine HQ, went global
6.00 – 6.30pm	Iris Cai	China: doing business and learning the culture
6.40 – 7.10pm	Fay Delavault	Secrets to successful shipping

All Week

Online events

Day	Time and Activity
Monday 14th	Launch of Go Global eBook and App Webchat with representative from Alibaba.com
Tuesday 15th	Webchats with speakers live from the main event
Wednesday 16th	Webchat with David Jones, Ve Interactive and Richard Michie, Global Lingo
Thursday 17th	Webchats with speakers live from workshops
Friday 18th	Webchat with Tony Wheeler, co-founder of Lonely Planet, Shed Simove and Gabriela Castro-Fontoura of Sunny Sky Solutions #Twintrade on Twitter connecting businesses with service providers		Unfortunately I'm in Scottsdale, Arizona and its taking place in London so if you're in the area you really should consider attending.

Wirequeen Blog Update

Hi All hope you are enjoying your summer. Make sure you take time to make memories with the kids. That is what they'll take into the future with them. The camping trip where Mommy and Daddie sang those wretched songs from the 70's. Smile Mighty Mud Mania, going to the park. The staycation at a local resort or amusement park. The making of the memories doesn't have to be expensive but it will mean you taking the time to make them. OK, stepping off my soapbox. Smile


Blog update. Featured Artist and Arts Organization will resume the first week in September. (School starts here the first week in August so that's a very busy month.) I will still be posting only in Scottsdale info and news you can use as well as new jewelry I've created. I'm reviving my trading company so I will be posting more international and probably the stones themselves before I create new pieces. I think I'm going to have them for sale as well so sign up for the newsletter and join the blog so you can get updates when I get my first shipments in.

My 30% off sale on Artfire is going on through July 31, 2011 http://bit.ly/qe7vbZ
As always you can click on the  title to make purchases on my wirequeen site.. 

My First International Jewelry Sale

I had my first international jewelry sale. My Mid Wife Healers are off to a good home in Malta, Europe.