The StartUp Blog at PartnerUp

1. Dimdim: Dimdim is a Web conferencing application that lets anyone deliver synchronized live presentations, whiteboards and Web pages and share their voice and video over the Internet—no download required.
2. ADrive: ADrive offers 50 GB of free online storage and backup for all file types. The 50 GB of space is currently the most you can get as far as free offerings. Most others offer just 1-5 GB for free.
3. Blogger: Blogger is a free blog publishing tool from Google that allows you to easily share news, tips and other relevant content with your audience.
4. Craigslist: Craigslist is an online classifieds site where you can post jobs for free.
5. Mint: Mint.com is an online finance tool that can be used for money management, budgeting and other types of financial planning.
6. ZoneAlarm: ZoneAlarm, maker of Internet security software, offers a basic free firewall protection that monitors inbound/outbound traffic and makes you invisible to hackers.
7. PartnerUp: PartnerUp is an online networking site for small business owners and entrepreneurs. With a free membership you can network, search for people (e.g. business partners, team members, etc.), search for resources and get small business advice.
8. CutePDF Writer: CutePDF Writer is the free version of commercial PDF creation software. It installs itself as a “printer subsystem,” enabling virtually any Windows applications to create professional quality PDF documents.
9. Your Pitch Sucks?: Your Pitch Sucks? is a public relations pitch reviewing/editing/advising service. Just send them your PR pitch and they’ll tell you if it sucks (to put it bluntly) and how to fix it.
10. Google…anything: Google makes a ton of free tools to help entrepreneurs. Examples: Google Docs, Google Analytics, Google Calendar, Gmail, Google Alerts, Google Wave, etc. Check them all out!

Have a great weekend!

When I was in college, the big question was, “what do I want to do?” It’s a question that all young adults have at least thought about. The answer for me was writing. The answer for others could be anything from teaching kindergarten to serving in the military to being a personal trainer.

For young entrepreneurs, maybe the answer doesn’t matter. Maybe “What do I want to do?” is the wrong question. I read an excellent post this morning on The Entrepreneurial Mind that talks about the question that entrepreneurship students SHOULD be asking themselves.

“What goods or services are needed that people are willing to pay for?”

Instead of focusing on themselves and what they want, entrepreneurs need to focus on what other people (potential customers) want. Pursuing your dreams and being willing to take risks is a good thing. But living in a rusted-out van down by the river because your vintage record shop didn’t pan out is not.

While I’m a huge proponent of people finding what makes them happy in life, I agree with the author’s points. We live in a shaky economy right now, so we have to be smart about the decisions we make and the paths we follow. That’s not to say that young entrepreneurs can’t still pursue the things that make them happy, because they can, they just need to approach them intelligently and with the needs and desires of potential customers in mind.

This is a guest post by Jamie Flinchbaugh.

I’ve met a number of people who want to start businesses but have been clawing away at the same idea for many years without progress. I’ve met just as many people who have great ideas but never bring them to fruition. These folks are stuck because they don’t approach idea management the right way. Idea management is a discipline that every entrepreneur, present and future, should master.

Here’s how I handle the process. As I generate ideas, either randomly or through brainstorming, I use a spreadsheet to track them. This includes the idea, status, next steps, required financial or time investment, and current or potential partners. When I have an idea, I don’t judge it nor do I start to work on it. I simply add it to the spreadsheet. This gets it out of my head so I can manage it rather than be distracted by it. I keep this spreadsheet updated continuously, color coding the ideas I discard, those I turn into something, and those that have simply stalled.

Why is such a list important? First, the organization of your ideas can be used for further idea generation. If you’ve tracked five ideas but then decided against them, that’s OK because your brain can potentially use those bad ideas to trigger the generation of good ones. The more ideas you generate, the more your brainstorming skills and habits will grow.

Second, and more importantly, the spreadsheet will help you better analyze the viability of your ideas. Too many people fall in love with the first idea they have because it’s their only idea. The list helps you to think more critically than that. It enables you to say no to the wrong ideas so that when the right ideas come along you can say yes with conviction.

Idea management is critical to the development of your business. Businesses thrive off ideas, but if your ideas don’t go anywhere your business won’t go anywhere either.

Jamie Flinchbaugh is an executive coach, consultant and entrepreneur. You can follow more of Jamie’s writing at www.jamieflinchbaugh.com.

Some people are natural-born brainstormers, and some people are not. If you’re one of those who are not, I know how you feel. It can be tough. Luckily I have some tips that have been given to me over the years to make for more productive brainstorming.

1. Start by throwing out the craziest, most far-fetched ideas. They may not be as crazy as you think.
2. Talk your business issues through with people who know little or nothing about your business. You’ll get a fresh perspective.
3. When brainstorming with others, emphasize the notion that no idea is a bad idea.
4. Try Googling random/weird words or phrases that may only be slightly relevant. It will help get the juices flowing.
5. If you’re stuck in the middle of a brainstorming session, walk away and do something completely unrelated. It will allow you to free your mind and come back refreshed.
6. Don’t just stop when you think you’ve come up with the right idea/solution. Keep going until you’ve exhausted every avenue. The best may be yet to come.
7. Don’t worry about evaluating a single idea until later. Brainstorming time is just for throwing out ideas.

Have a great weekend!

The microlending site Kiva.org is known for helping entrepreneurs in developing countries get financing to start and run their small enterprises.

How it works is entrepreneurs-in-need create profiles of themselves and their struggling businesses. Then Internet users can choose to provide small loans of $25 or more to these entrepreneurs who are located in nearly 50 impoverished nations across the globe.

With the recent lending issues facing small businesses in the United States, San Francisco-based Kiva has decided to open its services to struggling entrepreneurs in its own backyard.

Premal Shah, president of Kiva, believes that small businesses are a real growth-driver for the U.S. economy and wants to help them.

“Even before the credit crunch, small business loans were hard,” Shah said in an interview with National Public Radio. “Post credit crunch it’s really, really hard. So, Kiva started thinking, ‘Wow, we’re allowing people in the developing world to request loans, why not un-crunch America and allow people here in the U.S. to request loans and see if the Internet community wants to fund them.’”

The thing to remember should you be interested in looking for financing through Kiva.org is that this is a microlending site, meaning if you need hundreds of thousands of dollars to turn your dream into reality, you’re not likely to receive that kind of funding. Kiva users typically ask for/receive between a few hundred dollars and several thousand.

A lot of research is done every year on small businesses and the small business community, but not nearly enough is done on the entrepreneurs behind these businesses. Sure, you can occasionally find statistics regarding demographic information, but who are these people, what is their background, and what makes them tick?

The Kauffman Foundation recently released a study titled, “The Anatomy of an Entrepreneur: Family Background and Motivation.” The study is meant to provide insights into the lives of high-growth founders. Here are some of the statistics that I found either surprising or at least interesting.

•  69.9 percent of respondents indicated they were married when they launched their first business.
• 59.7 percent of respondents indicated they had at least one child when they launched their first business, and 43.5 percent had two or more.
• 75.4 percent of respondents had worked as employees of other companies for more than six years before launching their own companies.
• The average birth order of respondents was 2.2, and the average number of siblings was 3.1.
• 51.9 percent of respondents were first in their entire families to launch a business.

What I found so intriguing about this study is that while most respondents were serial entrepreneurs (59.6 percent), and all were from high-growth companies, they didn’t seem to fit the profile I had always envisioned. I don’t like to stereotype or anything, but…Married? Children? Middle child? Had a regular job? I guess so.

All businesses start with one simple thing—an idea. This doesn’t have to be the boldest idea in the world. It doesn’t have to be life-changing. Heck, it doesn’t even have to be novel at all. What your idea does have to be is right for you and the market you plan to work in.

Great ideas can come from anywhere. Most business owners, however, point to three basic places where they found their inspiration.

1.  Work Experiences. The idea for a solid, profitable business venture doesn’t have to come out of no where and hit you like a ton of bricks. Sometimes the right idea can slowly develop from an obvious place, like your current job. Maybe you’ve noticed some shortcomings in the way your employer does business and you feel you could do it better on your own. The nice thing about generating your idea from a current or past job is that you already have experience doing that sort of work in a professional, real-world setting.
2. Leisure Activities. The activities that you do outside of work can also be inspirational. This typically involves taking an activity that you enjoy and turning it into a business venture. For example, if you really enjoy mountain biking, perhaps you could open a bike shop. Or if you’re great at making pottery, consider opening a studio and teaching pottery classes.
3. “Aha!” Moments. We’ve all had those moments when the light bulb instantly flickers on. Aha! Sometimes it comes when you have an urgent need but can’t find the right product or service to fill it. Other times you might be tinkering around with something and discover a new or better way of doing/using it. These moments can be the perfect start to a profitable business.

Once you have that idea, then all it takes is turning it into a business. To learn more about getting started, check out our post, So You’ve Got a Business Idea, Now What?

Have a great weekend!

It’s easy to get swept up in the idea of turning a passion in to profits. Hey, if you enjoy it and you’re going to spend the time doing it anyway, why not make some money on it? Right? Not necessarily.

While the hobby-to-business route may work out for some people, it’s not for everyone. The truth is that having to earn a living doing something is much different than doing it just for fun. Before you move forward with your hobby-based business, examine the pros and cons.

Pros:

• You already love doing it.
• You know how to do it.
• You may already have contacts and be well-networked in the space.
• Success can be that much more gratifying.
• You’ll be working in an environment that makes you happy.

Cons:

• You’re giving up your source of relaxation.
• You may no longer get the same enjoyment out of it.
• It may not be a viable business.
• Your skills may not be proficient as a professional.
• Your decisions now need to be based on what your customers want, not what you want.

There’s nothing wrong with turning your hobby in to a business, so don’t automatically eliminate the idea altogether. What you should do, however, is explore the concept as you would any other business idea. Perform your market research and don’t forget to consider what your day-to-day work life would look like.