Startup America Florida Miami Dade

Have you heard about START UP America partnership?
It is supported by American Express, Dell, Intuit Kauffman, Mcrosoft ,the Case Foundation and many other respected companies.

They have assembled more than $1 billion worth of commitments from dozens of partners to support the growth of start-ups in five key areas

Expertise

Services

Talent

Customers

Capital

It is a movement by entrepreneurs, for entrepreneurs, launched January 2011 at the White House, to help, support and inspire entrepreneurs.

Its purpose is to deliver strategic resources, support and opportunities to help entrepreneurs..

An independent, private sector entity working closely with the U.S. government.

A tool to showcase a wide range of entrepreneurs, elevating them as innovators and job creators.

4 stages of start-ups. – idea, start-up, ramp-up, and speed-up

Young companies can access all the opportunities, connections and resources by becoming a member of Startup America Partnership, It is free. You will have access to an on-line platform that provides opportunities and information.

Qualified applicants – for-profit – two people (founder + employees,) founded in 2006 or later or for profit ramp-up or speed up with at least 6 persons founded in 2001 or later.

Go to startup america website to sign up http://www.s.co/startup-regions/regions

Credit

Elizabeth Karwowski, founder, Get Credit Healthy Inc.

As published in Scotsman Guide’s Residential Edition, February 2012.

In order to demystify the business of credit for consumers, this past summer the Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System introduced new notification rules. Now consumers will have broader access to information in their credit file, allowing them to check and correct any recorded inaccuracies while also understanding why those inaccuracies occurred.

Although these changes were made with the consumer in mind, mortgage originators should make themselves familiar with the changes as well. Stay up-to-date and learn about these new types of consumer notifications:

1. Credit Score Notice

When some consumers apply for credit, they’ll now expect a Credit Score Notice to be received. This document lists the consumer’s credit score and outlines how it compares to the scores of other individuals who are applying for the same type of loan.

Lenders need to provide this notice to all applicants regardless of the type of credit being sought. If a consumer doesn’t have a credit score, the notice from the lender should include the name of the credit reporting agency that has no score on file for the consumer.

2. Adverse Action Notice

If a consumer’s credit score is reviewed and subsequently declined, that consumer will need to receive an Adverse Action Notice. The contents of this document include the consumer’s credit score and any pertinent information related to that number.

Should inaccuracies be found, applicants have the ability to check their scores and dispute the information with the credit bureau. These inaccuracies can include any of the following:

Incorrect personal information
Tradelines and collection accounts
Payment history
Information recorded as public record
Mixing of files and identities of consumers
Re-aging of debt
Information still on file that’s past the statute of limitations
3. Risk-Based Pricing Notice

If consumers feel that they’re being offered new credit less favorable than that of other consumers applying for the same loan, it’s incumbent upon lenders to send their clients a Risk-Based Pricing Notice.

This notification alerts consumers to the possibility of inaccurate or disputable information in their credit files. An investigation resulting in the removal of inaccurate information can save consumers money while also making it easier to acquire credit on more favorable terms.

A lender also must send an Account Review Risk-Based Pricing Notice to a consumer who has an existing credit account where the annual percentage rate is increased by the lender upon review of the credit report and score. This notice delineates the factors used in determining the rate increase in order to make it easier for consumers to understand why their rate has changed.

• • •

All of these new notifications are intended to allow consumers to check the accuracy of their reports and better enable them to respond to the credit reporting agency should any changes be necessary.

Before contacting their credit reporting agency, however, consumers may want to discuss how their report is affecting the price they’re paying for borrowing, a discussion they may want to begin with mortgage professionals themselves. Keeping yourself familiar with these new types of notices can better prepare you for these discussions and, in turn, better prepare your clients to manage their finances.

Elizabeth Karwowski founded Get Credit Healthy Inc., a consumer-advocacy organization, to help individuals improve their credit health. She has FICO and Fair Credit Reporting Act certifications. Get Credit Healthy has been featured on NBC and Fox News and has helped hundreds of people restore their credit. In 2010, Karwowski began volunteering as a counselor with S.C.O.R.E., a nonprofit resource partner with the U.S. Small Business Administration. Reach her at (877) 850-3444, ext. 1, or experts@getcredithealthy.com.

Women in Business in Miami

Dear ,

I am writing to you from The Story Exchange, a new non-profit that inspires women to start their own business.

The Story Exchange profiles accomplished women entrepreneurs who speak candidly about why they began their businesses and the obstacles they overcame to achieve success. Through video interviews featured on our website, we show the power of women business-owners to foster economic growth and create new jobs. You can see the videos on our website here: http://www.thestoryexchange.org

Women highly value women role models and that’s what The Story Exchange is all about. It’s women inspiring women to live their dreams, uncover their full potential, and give back.

The videos on The Story Exchange are produced by Sue Williams, a director and producer behind award-winning documentaries for shows such as American Experience and Frontline and a Senior Producer on the series Faces of America, with Henry Louis Gates Jr.

When we presented The Story Exchange at the annual SBA’s women business development conference in September, Marie Johns, the deputy administrator of the SBA, told us that initiatives like ours are exactly what women need.

I am writing to ask you to share our website with your network of mentors and clients.

Also, we need more stories for our site! We are asking women entrepreneurs to submit their stories to our site and would appreciate if you could do the same. Here is the link: http://thestoryexchange.org/category/yse/

Thank you,

K

5 Ways To Put Your Business on Autopilot

Note: This is a guest post by Aaron Stead, vice president of Sales at Infusionsoft.

Small businesses everywhere are getting bogged down by the day-to-day responsibilities that come with running a successful operation.

And as more leads and sales come in the door, the amount of manual work and follow-up the business has to do only increases.

Ironically, entrepreneurs become a victim of their own success; we’re not OK with that. We’ve spoken to thousands of small businesses from all types of industries. Over and over again, we hear small business owners saying, “I wish I could just clone myself!”

For a small business, hiring a bigger staff isn’t always an option. The economy is forcing businesses, big and small, to do more with the same or fewer employees.

There is a new wave of marketing-savvy small businesses who are transitioning to the Web, and creating a lot of buzz around an emerging technology. It’s called sales and marketing automation software and it is delivering benefits to thousands of small businesses around the world.

Until recently, sales and marketing automation software has only been available to large businesses with big marketing budgets and a full-time IT staff. Now, with minimal financial investment, small businesses can leverage marketing automation in powerful ways. Plus, the technology is becoming easier and easier to use so small businesses can actually get marketing automation campaigns implemented in a matter of just weeks.

So what are small businesses automating to save time and gain efficiencies? Let’s take a look at five things your small business didn’t know it could automate.

1. New Lead Follow Up

Studies show that 80% of people buy between sales contact #5 and #12. Yet, most businesses stop following up after attempt #3, essentially prepping prospects to buy from someone else. Remember, prospects buy when they are ready to buy; not when you are ready for them to buy. Marketing automation campaigns can be set up to ensure that you follow up with every new lead that comes through the door through a series of e-mail communications automatically sent out on a schedule that you determine.

Tip: Use marketing automation software that can adapt the message based on the prospect’s behavior and interests like reports they downloaded, links they clicked, emails they opened, etc. Also, incorporate direct mail, voice messages, social media, fax or text messages in the sequence allowing prospects to respond to their favorite medium.

2. New Customer Follow Up

Use marketing automation campaigns with new customers to continue the relationship and get repeat sales. You can ensure that you wow every new customer and continue to deepen the relationship. It is 10 times cheaper to sell to an existing customer than it is to find a new one.

Tip: When you treat your customers this way, you increase word of mouth, ensure tons of referrals and upsell and cross-sell to your customers like never before.

3. Long-term Nurture

If you follow up with your new leads and customers and they don’t bite on your initial offers, you’ve got two choices. First, you can assume they’re bad leads/customers and ignore them by moving on to your next batch of hot leads. Or, you can use a marketing automation campaign to “drip” communications to them over time. Continually providing value and keeping in touch enables you to build a relationship making you more likely to get their business.

Tip: Don’t fall into the buy or die trap! If you’re always selling, you’ll tick people off and they’ll begin to ignore you. Be the valued expert by continually providing useful tips, tricks and ideas that help your prospects and customers.

4. Collections

Many small businesses streamline collections by setting up marketing automation campaigns. For example, a couple of weeks before a credit card expires, an e-commerce system triggers a “Your credit card is about to expire” campaign encouraging customers to update their card information. In many circumstances, collections can double using this technique, while the amount of work that went into the effort was reduced by 50 percent or more.

Tip: Start your communications with a pleasant tone. Always give people the benefit of the doubt. They’ll appreciate you for that and reward you for it.

5. Workflow

Some of the newer, cutting-edge sales and marketing automation software allows you to bundle your commonly repeated tasks and actions into “one-click tasks.” For example, you often answer the same sales questions every day. With marketing automation software you can start prospects on a follow-up sequence to provide more education; or “flag” the person as someone you need to call again in a few days.

Tip: By automating and tracking your workflow you reduce the potential for human error and ensure that all necessary actions are performed every single time. Check out how the social media marketing and online branding company, Mint Social, automates workflow so that it can serve a bigger client base.

Small businesses can leverage the efficiencies provided by the Web. They no longer have to fear their own success. Armed with the latest in sales and marketing automation tools, small businesses can act and market like a much bigger business, but they can do it on a small business budget and without adding a bunch of staff.

About Aaron Stead

As Infusionsoft’s vice president of sales, Aaron is instrumental in driving the company’s overall growth strategy. A proven leader with an extensive background in the CRM software industry, Aaron has a knack for getting to the heart of customers’ needs creating benefits to match. Prior to joining Infusionsoft, Aaron grew several North American revenue channels for UK-based Sage, a global CRM software firm.

Helping Women Out Who Need It Most!

Everyone need’s Score’s help!
–
Elizabeth Karwowski and I delivered a workshop at The Broward Women’s Correctional Center on Monday, October 31st The topics we covered were budgeting and improving your credit score. We spoke with a group of 7 women who plan to be entrepreneurs when they complete their term on incarceration. We provided this program as part of the education offered by LEAP, a non-profit organization established to stimulate incarcerated women to make positive life changes through education, mentoring and entrepreneurship. The goal of the organization is to enable these women to more readily re-enter society.

The women wer responsive and creative. They realize how difficult it will be to be to a job, so they are examing other options. We as facilitators enjoyed communicating with them. They asked us to return to repeat the program periodically.

Marj Weber, Chair, Chapter 29