In This Edition:

• Spanking New on ideablob

     Get connected
• Tip of the Week


• Useful Links for Small Businesses


• Out on the Town

     A night out with Teach
     for America
• A Word of Advice

     Sharing is the new way      to 'pay it forward'
• Guest Advisor Spotlight

     Dick Larkin and Toby      Bloomberg take the lead      on advice

Spanking New:

We want to help you easily connect with others and allow others to connect with you. Now you can add your personal website, social media sites and/or an RSS feed of your blog to your ideablob profile to share with the blob community! It's easy. Just log in, choose "Edit your profile" and click on the "Links" tab to add your info.

Registration and voting just got a little easier for everyone too! Users can now quickly register, and if they attempted to vote for an idea before registering, they'll be able to easily vote for that idea right after registration and activation is complete.

Actually, navigating the site in general has improved. Right after users register, they will be taken to a new helpful starting point to get going in the right direction. That's right, now they'll be able to easily choose where to go next!

We're sure glad that all got taken care of - and we hope you are, too! Check out the updates!

Tip of the Week:

Be socially responsible. When you're a socially responsible small business, society says "thanks!" Businesses that offer support to those who live and work in their community are being good community citizens. And doing good has its perks - like added visibility and a positive image. Here are a few more reasons why being socially responsible isn't just kind hearted, it's smart. You can also check out KivaB4B to start helping businesses in developing countries today!

Useful Links for Small Businesses:

Small Business Trends
The Entrepreneurial Mind
Escape from Cubicle Nation

Out on the Town:

Nir Saar, a Teach For America Philadelphia '05 Alum, won $2,500 at an event on July 30 at Marbar in West Philadelphia.

Members of Teach for America and ideablob get together for an idea-sharing evening

Nir Saar of Teach for America is presented $2,500 from ideablob for his winning idea

A Word of Advice:

This issue's word of advice comes from Alice Krause, founder of NewsonWomen.com, a blog dedicated to acknowledging the achievements of women in business.

"People who harness the power of sharing are more likely to succeed in today's 'information age' economy," says Krause.

"Putting your ideas, dreams and skills out for the greater good is critical to moving forward, the key to a better future. On NewsonWomen.com, you can find women offering their ideas on topics such as building a strong personal brand or managing change. In sharing their expertise, they demonstrate the core values of leadership and community building. These women have already helped me to branch out of my comfort zone and to think big. They have also inspired me to keep sharing and helping others. Sharing has become the new way to 'pay it forward.'

"Some people are hesitant to share because they don't want to lose their competitive edge. Yet, collaboration raises the level of play and enables us to lift each other up. Such collaboration will help you be prepared when opportunity comes knocking. Remember, it's not what you know that helps you get ahead, it's what you do with what you know that counts... don't forget to share it!"

We here at ideablob couldn't agree more.

Guest Advisor Spotlight:

Dick Larkin, our current guest advisor, helps small businesses improve their marketing and customer relationships through online marketing. He publishes the Small Business Commando News, an electronic newsletter directed toward small business marketing issues.

Dick is also the Executive of Strategic Partnerships for Spot Runner, a technology-driven advertising services company whose mission is to revolutionize the way advertising is created, targeted, bought and sold. He was President and co-founder of Weblistic, an online marketing firm acquired by Spot Runner in 2008. As if all of this isn't enough, Dick's real specialty is local search engine marketing, video creation and saturation, and mobile advertising.

To get advice from Dick, go to ideablob.com today.

Toby Bloomberg, President of Bloomberg Marketing/Diva Marketing, shared her expertise as ideablob.com's featured guest advisor during the week of July 28, 2008.

Toby trains businesses and organizations on the benefits of social media and how they can effectively manage social networking and blogger relations, creatively write and execute their own blogs, and better navigate the Web 2.0 universe. (That certainly is a lot to manage.)

Of her experience with ideablob, Toby said, "It's not just another website but a vital community where people are helping people... one person at a time. It was a great pleasure to play a role in offering some ideas that may help small business owners realize their dreams."