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NASE Staff Blog NASE on Micro-Business 
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Wednesday, September 01, 2010
Posted by Molly Nelson - The WSJ profiles three small-business owners who started their businesses on shoestring budgets of less than $150. If you have questions about starting a business on a shoestring budget, be sure to ask the experts at Shop Talk for advice, and check out an article on shoestring's cousin, bootstrapping, in the September/October issue of Self-Employed magazine. Did you start your business on a shoestring budget? Share your experience and any advice in the comments!
[Start-Ups on a Shoestring]
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Monday, August 30, 2010
Posted by Molly Nelson - Hate paying airline bag checking fees? If you're traveling between Sept. 1 and Dec. 30 and use a Visa card to book a weekend stay at any Holiday Inn or IHG-brand hotel, they will pay up to $50 of your checked baggage fees.
The deal applies to weekend stays at: Holiday Inn, Holiday Inn Express, InterContinental, Crowne Plaza, Hotel Indigo, Holiday Inn Club Vacations, Staybridge Suites and Candlewood Suites hotels.
To claim your reimbursement, you'll need your hotel bill (or third-party booking receipt) showing Visa payment method and travel dates, and your receipt (with travel ...
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Monday, August 30, 2010
Posted by Maureen Petron -- Looking to create – or recreate – your business brand with a logo? This article from Mashable gives 4 things to consider when creating your own logo, or outsourcing the design.
If you do look for a logo designer, the article suggests finding a recommendation from a colleague, or making sure to browse the designer’s work before engaging them for your project.
An NASE Member benefit lets you go a step further than just browsing a designer’s portfolio. CrowdSPRING lets you work with dozens of designers, see hundreds of concepts – for your specific ...
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Friday, August 27, 2010
Posted by Rosemary Hambright – Hello, NASE Members and NASE Staff Blog readers! But, alas, now is also the time to say goodbye. This will be the last of my weekly Hot Links because it is the final week of my internship at the NASE. It’s been really fun for me to scour the web for interesting articles and relevant small biz news, not to mention educational. Speaking of the internet, social media has been a popular topic this week (as per usual!). Philadelphia might start taxing bloggers. Entrepreneur.com gave advice for making merchandise sites Mobile-friendly. Google explained ...
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Wednesday, August 25, 2010
Posted by Molly Nelson - You're probably reading this on the screen of some digital device, but when you're finished you may want to (gasp!) leave all of the screens in your life alone for a few minutes.
According to an article in the New York Times, scientists are concerned that the constant checking of computers and smartphones is harmful to the brain. While downtime allows the brain to go over past experiences and solidify them into permanent long-term memories, constant stimulation of the brain prevents this learning process, according to scientists.
The article describes a study that "found ...
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Monday, August 23, 2010
Posted by Molly Nelson - Have you been feeling forgetful lately? Chief Home Officer shares a few tips to help deal with all of the competing demands on your attention.
The main takeaway seems to be cultivating focus. Meaning, the reason you didn't remember that you had already turned off the stove was because you were thinking about that email you needed to send, instead of the action of turning the stove off. Share your suggestions for combating forgetfulness in the comments! UPDATED: Check out these ideas from OPEN Forum as well.
[Multi-tasking Madness: Don’t Play Games] ...
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Friday, August 20, 2010
Are you seeing green—by going green? It’s no secret that many efforts to make businesses eco-friendly are also eco-nomically friendly to the wallets of small-business owners and the self-employed. But is that all there is to the buzz? Natural resources and other aspects of environmentally aware business practices such as sustainable development or natural disaster recovery provide fertile launching pads for adaptable entrepreneurs. Small Biz Survival pointed out that natural resources could be the next wave of opportunity. Making an even bigger splash is the New Orleans’ push for renewed economic development through public-private partnerships. Business Week urged ...
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Wednesday, August 18, 2010
Posted by Molly Nelson - If you're near a City National Bank branch, you may want to head in for a chat about starting the SBA Loan process. According to smallbuzinessnewz, City National has announced that it will pay half of the standard loan guarantee fees up to $3,000 for SBA 504, 7(a) and SBAExpress loans to help encourage small business lending.
Standard loan fees typically range from 2 percent to 3.75 percent of the guaranteed portion of the loan. Hopefully City National's offer will spur other banks to do the same!
[Bank Offers To Pay SBA Loan ...
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Sunday, August 15, 2010
Posted by Molly Nelson - Are your (supposedly) innocuous tweets and shared photos actually making you a target for hackers and thieves? If you haven't been careful with the settings related to your location data, then maybe.
This New York Times article explains how geotags (small amounts of information embedded by GPS-enabled phones and digital cameras that provide the latitude and longitude of where a photo was taken) can potentially allow hackers with even the most basic programming skills to find out that you're on vacation and your brand new flat-screen television is unattended.
Read the whole article for more ...
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Friday, August 13, 2010
The Small Business Jobs Act (H.R. 5297) would create a $30 billion lending fund for small businesses, offer $12 billion in tax breaks and strengthen SBA outreach and lending programs. The NASE supports this legislation, as does the White House. Due to a short window of opportunity and partisan wrangling, the Small Business Jobs Act has been put on the back burner until the Senate returns next month. Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.) set the stage for mid-September votes on Democratic and Republican proposals to repeal increased 1099 reporting that was passed under the health care law. Senator George ...
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Meet the NASE Staff Bloggers 
Keith Hall - My official title at the NASE is COO, which I think is Latin for “do what everyone tells me to do.” I’m also behind the NASE TaxTalk program,
although I often feel like I’m under the NASE TaxTalk program. One of
my favorite things to do is laugh, second only to making a difference.
 Keith on Twitter
 Keith on LinkedIn
Molly Nelson - I help out with the NASE’s legislative advocacy, communications, and
public relations. From attending hearings on the Hill to helping select
the cover design for the member magazine, I’ve always got something new
going on. I like practicing yoga, running through different parts of
the city, and I’m an admitted etymology/grammar nerd.
Molly on Twitter
Molly on LinkedIn
Kristin Oberlander - In public affairs, my job is to serve as a link between the
association, micro-businesses and the media. When I have down time, I
enjoy drinking large quantities of coffee, contemplating how I will
cram one more pair of (un)needed shoes into my closet and finding
creative ways to remove my dog’s hair from my clothes, car, own hair
and food. My biggest pet peeve is drivers who don’t understand 4-way
stops.
Kristin on Twitter
Kristin on LinkedIn
Maureen Petron - I cover communications for the NASE, which means everything from the
member magazine to programs like our achievement award and college
scholarships (yes, I actually get to show up like Ed McMahon with a big
check twice a year!). In my fantasy world, I’d be a master chef, wine
snob and fast runner.
Maureen on Twitter
Maureen on LinkedIn
Kristie Arslan - I head up the advocacy efforts for the NASE, thus I spend most of my time on Capitol Hill educating legislators on how key issues such as health care, tax, and the lagging economy affect the self-employed. When I am not running around trying to convince policymakers to pay attention to micro-business, I spend my time singing nursery rhymes to my daughter and helping my husband with his small business.
Kristie on Twitter
Kristie on LinkedIn
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