Prezi Adds 3D, Fading Animation Presentation Tools |  |
- Prezi Adds 3D, Fading Animation Presentation Tools
- Small Banks Are Making a Big Impact on Small Business Lending
- 48 Percent of Small Biz Owners Not Taking Vacations This Summer
- 4 Blog Policies You Need Before You Start
- Google Executive Marissa Mayer Named New Yahoo! CEO
| Prezi Adds 3D, Fading Animation Presentation Tools Posted: 17 Jul 2012 01:00 PM PDT Prezi, a presentation tool with a zooming canvas, has unveiled a whole new line of presentation effects today. The Prezi team hopes the new effects will help professionals make business slideshows and presentations even more dynamic and captivating through increased visual appeal and creative tools.
The new line of effects includes 3D and fading animation tools. Prezi's slide-free style allows presenters to zoom in on the canvas to display details or zoom out to focus on the big picture. With the new features, Prezi users can integrate 3D background images to add depth to presentations or fade-in animations to add dynamic reveals for new details or information. Business owners and professionals who use Prezi can already expect a drastically different presentation style from tools like PowerPoint, which uses slides to present information in a step-by-step format. Prezi gives design-minded presenters an entire line of different options for sharing information with colleagues or giving clients an appealing view of what your company has to offer. Currently, Prezi offers free presentation service online, which includes some core features and 100 MB of storage space. But the company also offers a few paid options for $59 or $159 per year, which include even more features, support, and storage space. Each of the upgraded plans comes with a 30-day free trial period as well. Additionally, Prezi offers a Desktop version and an iPad app for viewing and presenting. Prezi can also create custom templates that incorporate your company's logo, colors, and other branding guidelines so that each presentation is customized with your business in mind. In addition, the software offers the ability to import and edit presentations from PowerPoint, and also to share your presentation with others online and to give them the opportunity to add to or edit your project. To learn more about Prezi's new and existing features, visit Prezi. From Small Business Trends |
| Small Banks Are Making a Big Impact on Small Business Lending Posted: 17 Jul 2012 11:00 AM PDT After months of decline, banks have jumped head-first back in the small business lending. This is good news for entrepreneurs.
The latest Biz2Credit Small Business Lending Index, a monthly analysis of 1,000 loan applications, found that approvals in June by big banks ($10B+ in assets) jumped a half percentage point to 11.1% from 10.6% in May 2012. The figure was well above the paltry 8.9% approval rate a year ago in June 2011. Big banks, which have been under tremendous pressure to become active in small business lending, have finally started closing deals. CitiBank, for one, seems to be closing more deals than before. Small bank lending increased to 47.5% in June 2012, up two percentage points from 45.5% in May 2012 and up five percentage points from the 42.5.% approval rate in May 2011. Local and regional banks are making a lot of SBA 7(a) express loans, which used to be the bailiwick of the largest banks. Mid-sized banks, such as Sovereign, have really picked up their efforts in small business lending and are pursuing the market aggressively. The June 2012 loan approval rate of credit unions fell to 55.8%, down from 57.6% in May. Some credit unions reported that they had reached their yearly lending limit, which currently is 12.25% of total assets. Senator Mark Udall (D-CO), has introduced the Credit Union Small Business Jobs Bill (S. 2231) that would raise the credit union business lending cap to 27.5 % of total assets from the current figure of 12.25%. By raising the cap, credit unions would be able to increase the number of small business loans they make. Keeping the limit in place hinders access to capital, especially since credit unions have become increasingly active in the small business lending space this year. Alternate lenders also decreased, dropping their lending approval rate to 62.9% from a peak of 63.2% in May 2012. When traditional lenders get back into the game it impacts the alternative funders, such as factoring and merchant cash advance companies, which generally charge higher interest rates than banks do. If banks are lending, small business owners are less likely to look for other options. When they get access to capital, small companies expand their operations and create jobs. Lending Photo via Shutterstock From Small Business Trends |
| 48 Percent of Small Biz Owners Not Taking Vacations This Summer Posted: 17 Jul 2012 08:00 AM PDT Despite summer being a little slower for many small business owners, it looks like that won’t be causing them to take a vacation this year. Manta released its annual SMB Wellness Index survey today, and it shows that 48% of small business owners won’t be taking a vacation this year. That, coincidentally, is the same percent of small business owners who don’t take vacation as reported last year in 2011.
Slow Business For Some It’s interesting that, although business slows down for many this time of year (since people are taking time off to be with their children and to go on vacation) small business owners don’t slow down too. Terry Benton, owner of Terry’s Fabric Cottage, said she notices a significant slowdown in business during the summer. “Summer is always slower for my business because people are on vacation and they are spending more time with their families and friends,” explained Benton. “Quilts are the last things on people's mind when it's scorching hot out.” Benton doesn’t, she says, have the luxury of shutting off her business, even when it’s slow, so she stays connected, even when on vacation. Despite this slowdown, Manta’s survey shows that more than half of those surveyed are working more this year than last. Here’s hoping they’re working on strategy and marketing while things are slow. Technology: Always a Factor Of those that do plan to go on vacation this summer, 71% said they check email while on vacation. Having mobile technology, it seems, is a double-edged sword. It enables us to get out of the office…but it forces us to take the office everywhere. From the perspective of the spouse who vacations with a business owner who constantly checks his work email (ahem), here are some tips for business owners to balance out their vacation and down time without running their business into the ground:
From Small Business Trends |
| 4 Blog Policies You Need Before You Start Posted: 17 Jul 2012 05:00 AM PDT Adding a blog to your corporate site is a big deal. It's a big deal to your audience who will soon be soaking up your content, and it's an even bigger deal to staff members who will be asked to contribute and add to the company's investment. But before you get started, why not put the proper groundwork in place now, beginning with four essential blog documents that every corporate blog needs.
Below you'll find the corporate blog Must Haves that every blog needs to get off the ground safely. By hitting the essentials before your launch even takes place, it will help you bypass problems down the road. It will also empower employees and give them the resources they need to become blogging company assets. 1. A Blog Mission Statement When you announce your new corporate blog to your team (or even to yourself), you want to be clear about its purpose. A blog is a big time and resource investment, and you're going to need to sell it to your team. I've found that creating a mission statement to help your team understand your blog's mission is a good way to get early approval and to get them on board. It's natural that there may be fears from certain employees or hesitation from others worried about dedicating time to writing. By showing them how the blog integrates with the company's larger mission and why it's so important, you help alleviate these fears and help them view the blog as a natural extension of their job. Your blog's mission statement should be in the forefront of everyone's mind to keep people focused on it's real objective (attract customers, build awareness, establish thought leadership, etc). 2. An Official Blog Policy If you're like most companies, there's a lot of formal paperwork. You have a written policy for how to deal with returns, how to answer the phones, how to calm down angry customers, etc. Your blog is no different; don't let it go live without first putting an internal blogging policy in place that everyone is aware of. The goal of your blogging policy is to lay the groundwork for what's to come and give your team the information and the tools they need to be blog effectively for your business. This may include information about:
Whatever will be involved in your blogging process should be addressed in this document so that employees have a central place to go for information. This essentially becomes their "road map" for blogging with your company. 3. An Editorial Calendar Your editorial calendar may just be the most important document of all when it comes to your blog. This is the document that is going to make sure that you have fresh and targeted content to publish on a regular basis. Your internal editorial calendar breaks down who is blog
This document is what keeps your blog running smoothly and it's what helps you make sure you're covering all the topics that you want to on your blog. I like Google Docs because it's easy to create the spreadsheet and then share it with everyone on my team. 4. Best Practices For Promotion Another Must Have document to go along with your blogging strategy is a best practices for promotion document with tips for using common social media sites. Once a member on your team publishes his or her post, their job likely isn't done. They'll then need to go to Twitter, Facebook, Google+ and wherever else to share that post with the people in your network. This best practices document should go over how posts are shared (do you use third-party tools? Is only one person responsible for all social sharing?), on what sites they should be shared, and the type of language to be use. It should also share some specifics related to each site to help the blogger understand the unique uses for each and how your audience there differs. Having this document at your employees' fingertips will help them to feel more comfortable doing something that probably isn't natural for them. Above are four official documents I believe every corporate blog could benefit from. What other best practices do you think people need once they start blogging? Blog Photo via Shutterstock From Small Business Trends |
| Google Executive Marissa Mayer Named New Yahoo! CEO Posted: 17 Jul 2012 02:30 AM PDT Former Google executive Marissa Mayer has a new gig. The 37-year-old Mayer was the 20th Google employee hired when the now legendary search giant was starting out, but today she takes over the reigns of what she calls “one of the best brands on the Internet.” Yahoo! has been struggling to find its way in recent years as the Web continues to evolve, and it’s hoped Mayer will be able to provide the company with some new direction. Seeking new talent and a fresh outlook can often change a company’s fortunes. Yahoo! sought leadership from a competitor to improve its position in the market. Here is how leadership can play a role. A New EraIt’s official. Several news organizations were piecing the story together yesterday evening, but we have to thank Matt McGee for putting together a thorough roundup of events. Despite her 13 years with Google, which she describes as amazing, Mayer said the decision move on wasn’t hard. She officially left Google yesterday and will take over as new Yahoo! CEO today, according to reports. Search Engine Land The Yahoo! announcement. Mayer has been named President and CEO and a member of the board at Yahoo! according to an official release from the company. Before leaving Google, Mayer was in charge of the company’s Local and Location Services, and worked on products like Google Maps, Google Earth, Zagat, Street View, and local search. Yahoo! Hail to the ChiefThe right choice. When Yahoo! chose Mayer to be the company’s new President and CEO, it was definitely the right decision, says Dan Frommer in a recent editorial. Mayer is a Silicon Valley heavyweight who will be able to recruit the talent the company needs, has a strong background in computer science that will enable her to understand the company’s business model and requirements, and who has the proven experience to lead engineers to design some truly innovative new products to put Yahoo! back on the map. ReadWriteWeb The short list. As Yahoo!’s new President and CEO, Mayer also gains another distinction, joining a shortlist of powerful women in Silicon Valley and corporate America that also includes Meg Whitman, chief executive of Hewlett-Packard, Virginia M. Rometty, head of I.B.M. and Sheryl Sandberg, chief operating officer at Facebook. DealBook Looking DeeperTurning things around. The Yahoo! board members who hired Mayer aren’t the only people who respect her credentials. So do others like Marc Andreessen, an industry insider who admits he’s surprised that Yahoo! was able to recruit someone of Mayer’s caliber. Turning Yahoo! around may be tough, he says. But if anyone can do it, Mayer can. Business Insider Decisions, decisions, decisions. One of the biggest questions now circulating among those second and third guessing Yahoo!’s big new hire is whether the company was most in need of a strong product person like Mayer or a strong media and advertising executive like interim CEO Ross Levinsohn. In choosing Mayer, the board has made a decision about the company’s future. Leadership approach can have a similar impact on any size business. Forbes Coming into focus. The most important impact leaders can have on a company is often in the area of focus. Whether you run a company traded on Wall Street or a small mom and pop, focus can make all the difference. With the new CEO hire at Yahoo!, it is hoped the company can finally gain some direction. The important thing is to focus on something and do it well, no matter what business you may be in. Seeking Alpha From Small Business Trends |
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