If you think you have the next big idea — and require help from investors — check out North State Venture Forum. To be held on March 2 at the Sierra Nevada Big Room in Chico, California, the forum will bring together several venture capitalists and angel investors such as Skype’s founder Tim Drape. Angel and venture capital investors participating on panels include independent angel investor Jim Schraith, former CEO of Sharewave; Gilles Attia of Strategis Early Ventures; Scott Lenet of DFJ Frontier; Peter Gardner of Capital Valley Ventures; Brad Triebsch and Jose Blanco of Central Valley Fund; Jeremy Wolfe

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Tax time is here again. It’s not crunch time yet, but for many business owners, the process of preparing tax returns have started. I am still awaiting for several 1099s from several organizations before I get into one of my least liked activities – tax preparations. So what are the tax changes in 2005 that small businesses need to know? Here are the major ones that affect entrepreneurs: Small business owners can avail of the new 401(K) Roth that allows contributions of $14,000 out of profit (plus $4,000 catch up for those over 50) IRAs increase from $3,000 to $4,000

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Internet Retailer Magazine has published several Harris Interactive data that online retailers should note. One of these data is the performance metrics that customers value most, which are: Website security = 25% Ease of completing a transaction = 20% Confirmation upon completion of transaction = 11% Ease of navigation = 11% 24 hour customer service = 8% Ability to compare different products/services = 8% Easy customer service access = 4% Web page download speed = 3% Others = 10% The items above have always been the concern of online shoppers, but the percentages make it more illuminating.

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I have just published at WomenHomeBusiness.com a new entrepreneur story that will surely interest those who want to start a business, especially those who are interested in the virtual assistant business. Kimberly is one of the most visible virtual assistants right now — she is one of the VAs featured in the new book by Diana Ennen and Kelly Poelker entitled “Virtual Assistant the Series: Become a Highly Sought After VA.” The article focuses on how Kimberly started her business BehindtheScenes.com. She talked about the startup challenges she faced, how she markets her business and put her name out there,

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Every day, I receive about 20-30 articles talking about the wonderful benefits of article marketing, where you submit articles to other websites. These articles say that submitting articles can get you a lot of inbound links, targeted traffic, and can even brand you as an expert in your field. Fine. I am just wondering if those online entrepreneurs making use of this strategy first try to understand where they need to submit their articles. It is one thing to submit your article to a website, and another to submit your article to a website that actually covers the topic of

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If your business is marketing to the Hispanic population, you may want to check out Direct Marketing Association’s recently released report “The DMA 2005 Hispanic Market Report.” The report captures key data about the Hispanic-American population regarding its attitudes towards distance shopping, and it identifies current buying trends. It includes a profile of the characteristics and demographics of the Hispanic-American population as well as ways to increase Hispanic consumers’ direct response shopping. The report is quite stiff as it sells for $295 for DMA members and $495 for non-members. (but hey, you can deduct this as a business expense!). Some

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We have made a list of resources to help online publishers and bloggers market their blogs and RSS feeds. The list includes blog directories, news aggregators and content syndicators that can help you reach a wider audience for your content. The list includes the URL where you can make your submissions and request to link your RSS feeds and/or blogs. Get the blog and RSS feeds marketing resource list

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One of our readers sent in this question via our Consult Your Guides What are the steps and procedures to removing a partner from a C Corp. This partner is both an officer and a shareholder. Read our incorporation expert’s response

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Home-based businesses come in different varieties. Some are Internet-based, while others are product or service-oriented. So I suppose a bondage business can also be considered a home business! One such business operated in a high-income section of Indianapolis has recently come under fire, and the city filed a lawsuit in order to close down the operation. The business owner is fighting the lawsuit, claiming that her business operated out of a dungeon in her basement where she “charges men hundreds of dollars to dress like women and be subjected to bondage and acts of degradation” has not violated any rules.

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