We cannot thank you all enough for believing in our mission to bring the entrepreneurial community a new technological platform offering an advice-sharing, educational forum to encourage and inspire our successors and colleagues. We are truly touched by every single piece of positive feedback received, so generously shared with us by Startup: NYC followers.

It’s easy to get caught up in your individual business’s success, solely focusing on profits or marketplace recognition. What is easily forgotten or overlooked is giving back to the community the same charitable spirit we all received when building our own startups. Aside from the joy felt by contributing to another’s success, sharing our career path to others will only lead to a promising future—creating jobs, stimulating the economy, and working towards a prosperous future for all.

Many thanks!

We kindly would like to share a final piece featuring entrepreneurial advice as it relates to the value of communication channels on business success.

How communication channels and support networks can break industry-norms, gain clientele, and change antiquated attitudes for small businesses startup

Through effective communication channels, startups can personally reach out to consumers and begin initiating interest, establishing trust, and potentially securing sales - ultimately leading to referrals. Similarly, as a startup owner, keeping in continual contact with your team of supporters is critical to sustaining success.

Expert Advice – Be courageous

What if your offering is vastly different than your competitors within the same industry? Listen first and foremost to your customer base regarding your product or service. If you are receiving continual waves of positive feedback from customers or prospects and the industry is humming a different tone, it may be necessary to have the courage to ignore your industry’s constructive criticism. Startup business owner Zahra Aljabri of Mode-sty, a women’s fashion online site suggests, “If you are trying to convince a certain industry to change the accepted way of thinking or of doing things,” solicit buyers’ opinions regularly and make alterations but merely listen actively to any industry resistance. Zahra also advises, “… [It] can be hard to convince people to change their ways even if the alternative you are proposing is better. So it has been a long trust-building phase where we try to show respect to the industry while trying to gently question the status quo.”

Expert Advice – Be humble

Jonas Gam co-founder of the playground technology game Son-X Octavia, shares additional words of wisdom, “Be kind and sincere and you will find help from many people, all the people you need to succeed. And understand when you succeed it was a team effort that got you there, not you alone.”

Basically, don’t praise yourself for successfully transforming your individual idea into a promising startup gaining community recognition — it took a team effort even if you’re the sole employee.  It took a collaborative effort of some kind to build your business. Remember to thank your supporters and offer continuously to reciprocate the favor. Finally, once you’re convinced you made it and there’s nothing stopping your success, repeat your initial steps to building your business. Point being—startups are fragile and without a solid support network, your business could go under easily. Stay in communication with supportive colleagues, mentors, friends, family, and whomever else to sustain any unforeseen obstacles.

http://www.springwise.com/springwise/the-art-conversation-communication-essential-skill/

Small businesses, show some love!

Bloggers provide invaluable independent, honest, and consumer-influencing reviews, directly impacting your business’s sales activity and brand visibility!

My Personal Assistant agency, PA For A Day, was featured in an AMEX Open Forum last week. The article explores an in-depth insight into the immense benefits bloggers can have on your business, perhaps more effective than highly-trained sales/marketing/and PR consultants. A single blogger positively impacted my business at such a rapid rate that even the shrewdest, hired expert would struggle with to attain a similar result. By offering our PA services gratis for ½ day to a well-respect, highly followed blogger, we were confident that our business’s value would be immediately recognizable. We received a glowing review but were stunned with what followed next.

Our subsequent month’s sales doubled in the blink of an eye. Also, we learned bloggers are extremely influential in referring their experience with other bloggers on highly visited websites. Why may bloggers’ services be more invaluable than hiring a team of A-list marketing & industry experts to increase your business’s visibility to the local the community? Number one, hiring a team of experts is an expensive tactic that many small businesses cannot afford in the early, startup phases of building your brand. As proven through multiple studies, internet sales continue to fall short in consumer preference to make in-store purchases (based on the tangible comparison this venue provides.) Yet, consumers’’ often conduct product research via the web. Consumers barely take notice to internet ads, instilling zero purchase confidence (as ascertained from statistical findings previously posted on Startup: NYC In The News: http://paforadaycharellstar.wordpress.com/2012/11/11/in-the-news-new-survey-on-consumer-preferences-marketers-ignorances/. A blogger’s opinion of your company is such an extremely reliable source that consumers rely when considering alternatives. Bloggers’ comments and opinions are independently formulated, and offer personal, honest, and realistic perspectives on how on track your business is on providing the community with unique and beneficial services.

AMEX Article: How to Get Mentioned on a High-Traffic Blog

http://www.openforum.com/articles/how-to-get-mentioned-on-a-highly-trafficked-blog/

Startup: NYC was featured in the November issue of Tomi Magazine! Yay! Check out the article. There are only 10 days left to contribute to help us produce the full first season of the show. Please don't wait. We have a long way to go to reach our goal, but I really believe in this:).

ARTICLE LINK: http://www.tomimagazine.com/#/40/

An In-Depth Perspective Analyzing NYC Small Business Disaster Recovery Plans - Does gender play a role when devising or revising emergency response procedures?

Huff Post Women’s section featured a blog recounting personal stories, successes, and improvement areas realized from the aftermath of Hurricane Sandy. Women-led small business owners shared their experiences weathering the treacherous storm and recounted the direct impact the disaster had on efforts to keep their small businesses operational. Ideas were also shared on how to modify disaster recovery plans by analyzing the unexpected challenges that arose. The blog truly touched me as a fellow small business owner. I am inspired to make similar changes and want to further explore how my peers devise their company’s contingency plans based upon findings weathering former and recent tragedies.

Sometimes conducting business in the hustle and bustle of NYC can lead us to get confused or misguided on how to prioritize recovery initiatives during and after disasters. How many small business owners neglect to implement realistic measures that will most effectively keep our businesses operational? Do we focus primarily on how to fast we can get the wheels in motion and return to business as usual?

One priority top on the list should be reaching out to our customers who may be critically impacted with interruptions in service. Before filling and shipping pre-orders or rescheduling service-based businesses client appointments, reach out to them personally and see if the storm altered their priorities. The best service we can provide is remaining flexible and reactive to our clients’ needs, not independently devising strategies to fill orders that may be of non-importance (blindly assuming we are appearing reliable).

Huff Post’s blog shared women-owned business leaders’ personal struggles during the storm to keep providing their clients’ critical services. They also shared ways they intend to better plan for future disasters or emergencies. One small business owner already implemented changes to their facility to make it a safe zone for affected employees.  

These women owners all use an emotional and empathetic sharing their experiences. Reading a Forbes article written by a male NYC small business owner on the identical topic showed immense differences. He used a straight-forward, hard-nosed, quota-driven tone and offered advice for peers to consider during natural disasters.  

Below summarizes the women-led business owner’s blog entries:

• Disasters create a domino effect–when one vital company/service is nonoperational, a slew of new problems arise. One example depicted the impact daycare closings had on parents’ ability to meet daily responsibilities without childcare. If required to continue working, many parents endured the hardship of securing alternate arrangements fast (not mentioning the emotional impact that can likely occur by placing your beloved children in a new, unfamiliar environments. This may impact parents’ ability to remain focused and productive at work.) Also, it was discussed how privately-funded childcare facilities (as well as many other organizations) rely solely on parents’ tuition payments to remain afloat and stay in business.  
• Mental health professionals struggled to care for emotionally distressed patients (fragile from any disruption to their daily schedule revolving around traditional treatment methods). Therapists and physiatrists were forced to rely on non-conventional technological communication channels to care for patients (i.e. Skype, Facetime, texting, emailing). These technologies are often foreign to non-functioning, highly depressive patients, serving as no help during unavoidable devastating events. Patients may be unable to cope this may result in life-threatening situations. Providers also worry for their patients’ ability and accessibility refill necessary mood-stabilizing medications anywhere in the city. Some deeply suffering, desperate patients took risky measures and braved the storm to travel to their treatment facilities.  
• One inspirational business owner made immediate disaster recovery modifications to their facility to ensure employees can receive all necessities during future disasters. Specifically, this retailer installed a top of the line bathroom addition (including a shower), upgraded the kitchen/break area so their staff can receive nourishment, and generously devoted a space dedicated to employees’ children to watch videos and play on-site.

The Opposing Viewpoint

Many highly-respected news sources are busy posting similar advice articles on disaster planning and business recovery tactics. The Forbes advice column I referred to earlier presents staggering differences in opinions on future planning by each of the genders – all successful NYC small business owners.   

Below recounts the major points suggested to keep your business operating during a natural disaster as recounted by financial-sector, male small business owner:

• Establish, prepare, and devise contingency plans for conducting business as usual by collaborating with non-impacted subsidiaries. These locations can prepare in advance for emergency situations and be ready to swiftly react. They can reroute all business operating systems through their server so the NYC facility can remain functional. This invaluable advice is pertinent for all small businesses to consider emulating to rest assured our clients will be impacted as little as possible.     
• Always keep an updated employee contact sheet to perform phone trees during disasters to ensure your staffs’ safety. I would like to embellish and suggest performing “test” phone trees often (timed to measure employee average response time) and use metrics to close gaps in data accuracy.
• Train and practice with personnel emergency exit strategies regularly. This owner admits to neglecting to perform such procedures for years leaving new hires uneducated. Without a repeatedly practiced exit plan executed during non-emergency situations, staff is ill-prepared when the unthinkable occurs. Your team may feel panic, uneasiness, and a loss in company-focus through leaders’ lack of emphasis on employee safety. In addition, exit strategies in NYC can complicate matters navigating staff though high-rises to safety and we should account for such roadblocks.  
• The author quotes, “Don’t scrimp on the IT Manager”. IT undoubtedly plays a critical role restoring business systems after disasters; however, the author fails to fully explain the importance of implementing this tactic. He suggests personally screening IT applicants to ensure your hire can perform a variety of restoration responsibilities. Yet, the explanation ends there. What is left unfinished is how are we currently “scrimping” on IT. Should we raise IT salary minimums? Give IT special privileges? I can see the point on some level but feel all staff offer highly specialized, crucial roles. These varying responsibilities are equally critical for your business’s ability to operate harmoniously, reaching company goals and ensuring client satisfaction with ease.
• The author also quotes, “People with home computers below 40th street could not use [their home computers] and, because we didn’t push laptops on people on Friday before they left for the weekend, we ended up with a handful of unused laptops in a locked, inaccessible building for the best part of the week. What a waste.”

(I have to question, what point during the disastrous hurricane tearing NYC apart the “best part of the week”.) Offering laptops to employees for home access is highly appropriate and an added benefit to employees who may need to work from home occasionally due to unexpected emergencies. Yet, when your company leader expresses frustration about “wasted” laptops you may question his priorities. Does this have any bearing on the age-old question that males better separate emotion from professional responsibilities or career aspirations?  (If so, is a “better” approach?) “Pushing” laptops on your team may decrease staff productivity if they feel you have no concern for their safety.   

• Again, the author structures this next discussion topic with a frustrated tone. He recounts the aggravation incurred spending days tracking down the last of available hotel rooms in NYC. He suggests that we “put [our] money where [our] mouth is” and take the gamble and begrudgingly pay overpriced rates that require upfront payments. In the end; however, he was pleased with his decision. He offered rooms free to staff suffering the most destruction with nonfunctional safe zones to continue working. Others were encouraged to arrive daily at the hotel, now serving as his organization’s contingency site. Personnel were able to connect with teammates and have immediate, uninterrupted access to the company’s server via the hotel’s WI-FI capabilities. I commend him on this creative solution; however, would not position this preface this strategy as a personal inconvenience that resulted in personal gain, but rather a way to maintain a sense of normalcy for staff.

The Author Summarizes the Devastation

“On Monday night, Hurricane Sandy flooded downtown Manhattan up to our lobby doors, shut down our building and server, forced 3 of our team out of their homes, left 15 others without power and trapped one on the 6th floor of his Hoboken apartment building for 2 days. Despite this we managed to keep email running, held daily conference calls with clients, pitched stories and even wrote a pretty detailed overview of the media landscape. So, by rights, I think Cognito held its own during last week’s Hurricane.”

I am concerned with the oversimplification that a valued teammate was “trapped” for two days and no explanation was mentioned to assist. Instead, this owner boasted about his efforts to carry out his organization’s dedication and resiliency to meet customer demand. I would advise this business owner to separate recounting how you successfully met client demand from how you ensured employee safety. This will better demonstrate to the community your organization’s well-rounded priorities led by a commendable leader. Many points presented were insightful and could benefit the small business community. However, many points also demonstrated this owner’s questionable priorities.  

Comparing both the female vs. male perspectives clearly offers diverse opinions on ways to recover from a local disaster.  Emotional, insensitive, what have you. Perhaps, combining the beneficial suggestions from both genders opinions to rework your recovery plan will provide the optimal balance. Balancing ways to ensure your business maintains continuous cash flow (which ‘pays the bills’ and “keeps the lights on’), while also placing a stronger emphasis on employee and community safety and adapting to clients’ changing needs will create the ideal disaster recovery plan.  

Where do you stand on the issue? Is this simply a gender issue depicting opposing leadership styles or rather a beneficial learning tool that offers diverse viewpoints that can improve your company’s disaster/business recovery plan?

Sources:
http://www.forbes.com/sites/dansimon/2012/11/05/hurricane-sandy-8-small-business-lessons-learned/
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/karin-kamp/hurricane-sandy_b_2066465.html

Women 2.0 Pitch NYC Conference Coming to Town

When: Wednesday, Nov 14 8:00a-8p

Price & Detailed Schedule of Events: Go to www.pitchnyc2012-zvents.eventbright.com/?nomo=1

Where: Manhattan Center - 311 W. 34th St., New York, NY 10001 (P) (212) 279-7740

Target Audience: Startup owners and entrepreneurs

This conference discusses a plethora of avenues for entrepreneurs to explore in preparations to most effectively launch their businesses, all while obtaining pertinent insider insights. Watch live pitches from entrepreneurs and listen to judges’ questions and critiques to help you prepare the perfect business proposal. Speakers of successful startups will share personal stories on their experiences sustaining business growth in the high-tech or high-growth industries, including health, fashion, entertainment, sports and more.

Register by November 6th for the best rates!

Startups, Stop biting the hand that feeds you by listening to Marketing “Experts”

Forbes reported that Adobe and research firm, Edelman Berland completed a survey polling 1,000 consumers and 250 marketing professionals. The results were surprising, presenting a staggering disconnect between the techniques consumers deem effective versus what marketing consultants are suggesting to businesses. In terms of alluring advertising, 73% of consumers polled want first and foremost to be told a story, lightly peppered product placement. Linking an emotional connection to your brand will connect more with your target audience and create brand recognition.

Online marketing strategies are flooding conference centers featuring marketing experts preaching on best practices for social media impact. But in fact, 66% of consumers report that TV ads are better absorbed and retained than online marketing. Marketers, on the other hand, claim TV advertising is dying faster than newsprint.

Polling study participants on online advertising effectiveness also portrays a large disconnect between actual consumer beliefs compared to marketers’ perceptions of misguided consumers preferences. Thirty percent of consumers claim that online advertising is often ignored and rarely influential in their purchase decisions. In contrast, 84% of marketers believe online ads are the sure-fire way to go. Hence, the flood of articles, conferences, and books recently made available permeating the marketplace on social media marketing guess these professionals are too busy capitalizing on the invention of online shopping to turn on the tube and experience how brands are emotionally impacting us.

By far; however, more than half of polled shoppers feel that web banner advertisements are flashy interruptions, all the while 67% of marketers’ advise clients to purchase these pricy, ineffective banners.

In closing of Forbes’ captivating article, the author astutely recognizes that this poll comprises opinions from only a shred of the marketplace, yet serves as a useful reminder to stop paying overpriced consultants for strategies that are free of cost by soliciting consumer opinions. Consider focus groups, incentives for survey completions, or even hitting the streets to gain shopper insights. Here’s a tip for your first question to ask consumers, “How many TV’s do you own in your home?” – bet the response is more than the number of computers in households.

~With 19 days left to contribute to Startup: NYC, please consider a small donation so we can continue bringing you breaking startup news!~

With the explosion of technology and online resources, it’s hard to keep of track of what’s new and what’s truly valuable. There is an overabundance of tools out there. Some are extremely useful; others can be a waste of time.

So which tools should are you using? Jody Coughlin of Chic CEO compiled a great list of free tools that every female entrepreneur should at least browse through. Chic CEO itself is a tremendous resource. Learn more about them at www.chic-ceo.com. To see Ms. Coughlin’s list, click the link to read her Forbes article.http://www.forbes.com/sites/chicceo/2012/09/10/10-free-tools-every-female-entrepreneur-should-use/

Which resources do you use or find helpful?
1. Google Analytics
2. Hootsuite
3. Square
4. Dropbox
5. Hackpad
6. Rock The Post
7. Evernote
8. Lockbox
9. Instapaper
10. Genius Scan

For me, Genius Scan is a life-saver! I'm always on the go and when I receive business cards throughout the day, I image them on my iPhone, scan to my email, then copy and paste the contact details from the scanned PDF file and load onto my work computer when I'm back in the office! These technologies are worth checking out!

Which presidential candidate will be best for small business owners? A survey by the Wall Street Journal released today showed that small business owners are not satisfied with President Obama or Governor Romney's plan for small business. Tax policy is a critical topic but small business owners are even more concerned with how our next President will influence healthcare and access to capital.

 http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052970203400604578074883244879960.html

Your donations are so very much appreciated!

We plan to continue bringing you the latest tech news, small business updates, and new entrepreneurial resources we all can utilitze to better our projects, products, or business objectives. We hope the reviews we've shared detailing 'what's hot' today in the startup community has been valuable and impactful in your own endeavors! Many thanks!

You saw me work from the ground up to get the PA For A Day iPhone App up and running! Well, the wait is over. It's here! Check out the new app and view our press release promoting this interactive, cool, and creative technology aimed at adding fun and value to my client's busy schedules!

-Charell

Release:

Do you want to check out a fun new game that will teach your children what it means to scrap it out as a PA? Don’t feel guilty. You can have fun playing too. The new PA For A Day app game is now available at the App Store! This modern day version of Paperboy meets New York City courier let’s players take on tasks and complete them within the client’s time. Look at for oncoming traffic and pedestrians. This is New York and you don’t have the road all to yourself. Pick it up and you will find yourself hooked on this light-hearted, addictive game that requires smooth driving and quick thinking. So check it out today. And remember – when you have too much to do today, there is always a PA For A Day. Download the app at your app store or check out paforaday.com.

Are you always looking for new ways to network and meet other business professionals who can help grow your business? Swap The Biz is a great organization to make connections in New York City. The group is perfect for entrepreneurs as well as sales professionals, small business owners, executives, attorneys and other business professionals.

Swap The Biz prides itself on hosting high end, sophisticated business network events. Their events feature free sales training from guest speakers and free products from sponsors. With over 2,000 business swappers on their website, the organizations continues to strive to help their members efficiently give out and gain referrals by swapping business for business at their meetup events.

Swap The Biz’s next meetup event is one that is sure to be valuable to the start-up community. “Is Your Social Media Supporting Your Brand?” will be held Tuesday, October 30 at 6 p.m. at Slate in New York City. Carol McManus, known as America’s LinkedIn Lady, will give a special presentation to help you get the most out of LinkedIn, Twitter and Facebook. Ms. McManus is a self-described “recovering corporate executive” who left her job as Sr. Vice President of Real Estate Operations with Coldwell Banker to start her own coaching, consulting and leadership training company, Ywait4success. Her presentation will describe how she was able to quickly grow her brand on a limited marketing budget through social media.

Check out the website for more information and to register for this event.

www.meetup.com/SwapTheBizNYCNetworkingGroup/

Here's what's hot in tech news today!

Rockmelt, a unique web-browser, introduces a new format available exclusively on the iPad. According to a Forbes article posted this morning, “The new app foregrounds images and media content, in a tile-like, endlessly streaming visual format. The home screen pulls stories from the feeds that users follow, as well as the users’ Facebook or Twitter feeds, and streams them as image tiles that click through to the pages of the respective websites.” Rockmelt’s desktop and iPhone browser currently have similar capabilities to follow streaming feeds but the iPad format is a much more customized experience.

This would potentially be a great tool for startup businesses to utilize in order to simultaneously view their company’s social media site’s activities and quickly respond to customer/client inquiries. Also, viewing industry-specific breaking news encapsulated on one screen from a variety of sources is a huge timesaver! As the Forbes article also pointed out, “The content is personalized, based on what users interact with most, which makes each person’s experience different. People can also click through to the source of the content such as Forbes or Buzzfeed, and see a stream of all the content from that source.” This latest technology is something all busy professionals could capitalize on to give them a competitive advantage in their individual professions.

Forbes article link: http://www.forbes.com/sites/tomiogeron/2012/10/11/rockmelt-for-ipad-keeps-social-focus-with-new-visual-interface/

DNAinfo.com New York launched "Small Business Insider" today. “Small Business Insider” features video interviews and relevant articles straight from NYC entrepreneurs. Find tips, advice, and personal accounts from successful startup owners at http://www.dnainfo.com/new-york/promotions/small-business-insider.

Resources like these are so critical in encouraging current and future entrepreneurs realize and sustain their dreams. We hope Startup: NYC can share in these efforts by reducing the scarcity of support forums available to our peers.

Please consider contributing to Startup: NYC and share the show with a friend!

NYC retail startups come all! Tomorrow brings the 2^nd annual International Licensing Industry Merchandisers’ Association Retail Symposium to NYC at the Yale Club. The event will spotlight the “new retail environment”, comprised primarily of tech-savvy consumers. Establishing brand recognition to secure repeat sales is pertinent in today’s marketplace and many discussions will dissect this challenge, outlining an action-plan for retailers. Event details can be found at: http://www.licensing.org/events/2012-lima-retail-symposium/ or via LinkedIn page: http://events.linkedin.com/2012-lima-retail-symposium-1068308.

Women-run startups have proven successful and statistics show that these ventures are thriving, surviving, and expanding. However, corporations are suddenly lacking the expertise of IT and Engineering professionals, fields currently dominated by males.

Newsday details the impact women’s absence from IT and Engineering positions are having by hindering businesses marketing and advertising efforts. Women are primarily the “decision-makers” for consumer spending in US families. Established and newly-created companies are desperately seeking to corner the marketplace by hiring women IT or Engineering professionals to build their e-commerce. Women entering these fields would present a double-threat, already armed with best strategies for targeting fellow women consumers, as well as trained to implement the most competitive technologies.

Check out the full article at:

http://newyork.newsday.com/business/technology/women-flock-to-startups-while-trailing-in-computer-science-1.4084658

Check out the recent press coverage on Startup: NYC at: http://www.examiner.com/article/new-tv-pilot-startup-nyc-provides-real-world-lessons-launching-a-business. Getting the word out there about our efforts to establish a permanent program that will serve as an inspirational resource for entrepreneurs is extremely critical. As the show grows in viewership it would be amazing to establish Q&A forum to address specific startup obstacles. Please help us and share the word about Startup: NYC today!

Thank you all for your continued support! I read some interesting articles this week and posted a discussion on LinkedIn about the impact female entrepreneurs are having on an economic revitalization and rebirth. I am attaching it below in case anyone is interested. Please feel free to share your thoughts to the final question on our Startup: NYC Facebook fan page at http://www.facebook.com/#!/startupusa?fref=ts. And move the discussion on to a friend or colleague too:) Thanks and have a nice week!

Business women’s emotional tendencies may single-handedly repair our current state of economic turmoil. Why then keep conforming our behaviors to operate in a hard-nose male-run corporate landscape?

Elite Daily posted an article detailing the top five traits of successful female business owners (article at: http://elitedaily.com/elite/2012/traits-successful-business-women/). Most tips analyzed how women operate professionally in a male-dominated corporate landscape. One tip struck my interest; “be able to handle criticism”. At first I thought when the author was writing this she must be envisioning a hyper-sensitive women executive bursting out into tears because the boys were picking on her in the weekly board meeting. But as I read on, I found some sound points. Specifically,

“Do not let any criticisms, which you will be sure to receive, get to you. People only criticize when they are threatened. If someone is taking the time to talk about what you’re doing, you’re doing something right.”

No need to point out that business and criticism go together like Louis and Vuitton; yet, seeing in print that men may also bring emotion to the table by feeling threatened by our successes intrigued me.

To elaborate on this thought, I read a vastly different article on female entrepreneurs posted this week. The article, “Women Entrepreneurs Increasingly Part Of Jobs Crisis Solutions” praises female entrepreneurs for our success in stimulating the economy by creating hundreds of thousands new jobs, as well as establishing more viable startups than our male counterparts. Statistics reported in the article show that women pursue startup ventures later in age than men; however, our businesses triumph in tenure and operate much longer than those of male entrepreneurs. A notable and esteemed female CEO is quoted throughout the article and attributes higher longevities of women startups to our more “empathetic” genetic makeup.

The first article instructs women on best practices for masking the big secret that we may in fact be the more emotional gender. Yet, the latter article statistically proving the tremendous impact women-run startups have had on combatting unemployment, foreclosures, and huge drops in consumer spending argues that an empathetic attitude gives us a competitive advantage. It allows us to better understand, react, respond, and endure an ever-changing marketplace. “Guys come up with a solution to get from point A to point B.” Women, on the other hand, are in it for the long haul and nurture our startups to go from A to Z. “[We] understand very well the real pain in [our] industries.”

I found it so fascinating that one author attributes the success of women-run startups to their ability to remove any trace of emotion from business; yet, the other argues that emotion is the driving force sustaining startups, resulting in a more optimistic and improved economic climate.

What are your thoughts on these opposing positions? Should we alter our genetic characteristics to effectively compete in a man’s world or instead–construct a new, shiny glass ceiling for men to battle daily that links business and emotion to corporate growth and longevity?

Morgan and I continue to be extremely pleased with the response Startup: NYC is receiving. We are thankful for your continued donations and sincerely hope to reach our goal to continue airing episodes! With a little over seven weeks left to contribute, please encourage others to watch.  http://mobcaster.com/fundraise/startupnyc/season-1

In other startup news, there will be a Facebook Marketing seminar hosted in Manhattan on November 15th featuring speakers Toby Daniels, Founder of Social Media Week New York and Curtis Hougland, CEO of Attention USA.  In today’s tech-driven world of commerce, social media marketing is such a crucial piece to promoting your business and gaining new clientele. The seminar seems like an excellent forum to learn how to optimize your Facebook business page. Details can be found on Mashable.com at http://events.mashable.com/event/3503693310.

Have a wonderful weekend!

Startup: NYC has been gaining viewership and receiving such generous donations from our supporters. Morgan and I are thrilled to have this opportunity to introduce an educational television program that has potential to reach such a large pool of entrepreneurs. We will continually seek ways to connect the startup community so we can all learn from each other’s story. This may seem like a counterproductive effort because us small businesses operate in such a ‘dog eat dog’ competitive landscape; however, where lies the benefit in keeping the learning’s and knowledge gained from our successful ventures a secret?

As business owners, we all followed our passion because we believed our offering would undoubtedly add sustained value to society–enriching customers’ lives and creating job opportunities to increase spending power (used to buy our products, hopefully). Since no one possesses the exact formula guaranteeing a startup’s success, why do we act so Deep Throat about our experiences?

Why not share what has worked for us and help create a more positive, innovative, and prosperous future? Morgan and I are optimistic in this initiative and hope Startup: NYC motivates others to share as well.

Thank you to our supporters and please check out Startup: NYC if you haven’t already done so!

http://mobcaster.com/fundraise/startupnyc/season-1

The donations keep rolling in! Thank you so much for our latest contribution! We are so very thankful!

Two more generous donations have been made to Startup: NYC! Thank you for seeing the show's value and getting us one step closer to a permanent program here on Mobcaster.

TechCrunch posted an interesting article about successful startup selling strategies. The author’s tips and advice target startups selling to other startups. Here's the link if interested: http://techcrunch.com/2012/09/21/overcome-these-6-challenges-when-selling-to-startups/

The author’s insights are extremely relevant and useful for small business owners, yet he may have been oversimplifying a little when he wrote, "Stay current—have constant communication with [customers] to learn about what’s going on with [them] that month, week, or day. Make an effort to anticipate their changing needs and company direction, and be flexible in meeting their needs."

Once your product has been delivered or service completed, correctly ascertaining your customers’ ever-changing needs by remaining in "constant communication" with them is more challenging than the author lets on. I agree that staying abreast of technological, financial, and behavioral changes impacting the marketplace is critical to building a flexible and responsive business. Yet, soliciting, receiving, and correctly interpreting feedback from your client base in order to remain flexible and responsive is an enormous challenge. I wish the article would have expanded on the topic and explored solutions.

All in all, however, the article does offer unique suggestions that small business owners should consider. For instance, he advocates spending more time on sales-driven business functions and stop wasting time on ‘traditional’ business formalities. Something to consider…

Maybe discussing ways to effectively obtain and properly use consumer feedback would be great content for Startup: NYC's next show! If you agree, consider making a small donation or even pass the link on to a friend.

Have a wonderful weekend and thank you again for your support!

Please share your feedback, comments, or suggestions about Startup: NYC to CharellStar@PAForADay.com or inbox http://www.facebook.com/startupusa today!

We are extremely pleased with the positive feedback our pilot episode is receiving! Please help us keep Startup: NYC airing by contributing to the cause—even just $10 could make a significant difference. Another way to show support would be kindly passing the link on to as many friends, family, or colleagues as possible.

Thank you all for such a warm reception of our enthusiastic efforts at keeping businesses launching and thriving!

Share the word today: http://mobcaster.com/fundraise/startupnyc 

We've received our first donation to Startup: NYC! Our sincerest gratitude goes out to our viewers and supporters as we try to give the entrepreneurial community another much needed resource. Help us keep the momentum going and spread the word!

Thanks for visiting our page. We hope you like the show. We really believe that Startup: NYC can be a great resource for others thinking about starting a business or searching for new ways to grow their existing business. Please share the pilot with your friends and contribute if you can.

We appreciate every ounce of support.

-Charell & Morgan