kimberlya6ot: September 2010

Wednesday, September 29, 2010

Making Money on the Internet

Fundraising is a key component for most social good campaigns and projects. Thanks to the the Internet and the social web, raising money for a non-profit, community project or charitable organization or relief effort is easier than ever before.

The web makes it possible to get your message across and collect money from people all over the world and to include your social graph in the process.

If you have an idea or a cause that you want to bring awareness to and raise funds around, there are lots of great online tools to help get you started. Whether you want to raise money for a local community center or help fundraise as part of a broader social good campaign, these tools make it easy to get the word out and collect the funds you need./> id="more-380180">

1. FirstGiving

The U.S. subsidiary of JustGiving.com, FirstGiving lets users raise money for any non-profit in the GuideStar database.

It’s free to create a basic account, but if you pay $300 you can fully customize your donations page and link them back to your own website. FirstGiving lets you create fundraising around upcoming events, marathons and walk-a-thons too, which is a nice touch. The processing fee for donation is 5% plus another 2% for credit card transactions.

2. Crowdrise

We mentioned Crowdrise in a recent post about alternatives to Facebook Causes and it is a great tool for both charities and general purpose fundraisers.

Once you start a project, you can share your project’s link via Facebookclass="blippr-nobr">Facebook, Twitterclass="blippr-nobr">Twitter and e-mail. You can also earn points from the community based on your project and your overall campaign. Crowdrise also has an ongoing series of promotions and sweepstakes that you can add to your project to sweeten the incentive to give.

3. Kickstarter

Kickstarter is most often used by aspiring creatives to fund projects but it can also be used for great effect for local social good community efforts.

Kickstarter is unique in that if your goal amount isn’t reached, none of the money is collected. This “all-or-nothing” approach often leads to Kickstarter campaigns being more active and more involved than a traditional “donate widget.”

A great part of Kickstarter for the social fund creator is the ability to reward donors at certain levels. Much like PBS and NPR offer trinkets if you give a certain amount, Kickstarter lets its project creators do the same thing. You can get really creative with your different donor levels to drive people to give more.

4. WhatGives

WhatGives offers a great widget you can use on Facebook or on your personal webpage to collect donations for your non-profit. WhatGives is nice because aside from integrating well with Facebook, all donations are handled through PayPal.

You need to be a registered non-profit with an approved PayPal account, and all donations are channeled directly into that account. You can customize the platform and embed it as a Facebook app or on your blog or website.

5. Change.org

Change.org lets users create programs to generate actions from others. This can be as simple as signing a petition or writing a letter, or as generous as donating money. For non-profits in the GuideStar database, you can create your own donation pages to collect funds and also draw attention to other action items.

Change.org is very focused on making it easy to virally spread a message, and the site itself also acts as a portal to different organizations and awareness campaigns.

6. Chipin

Chipin is one of the most popular donation widget tools on the web and it’s a great way to collect money for a good cause. We love the Chipin widget because you can see instant progress on donations, and it accepts many forms of payment.

Unlike many of the services on this list, Chipin isn’t just for non-profits or community organizations. You can use it for any project you want.

7. Razoo

Razoo has options for individuals, non-profits, foundations and corporations to raise money for their causes. Individuals can choose to create a fundraising page for any registered non-profit that Razoo recognizes (they have a database of about a million) and non-profits can create custom pages for their organizations and connect with supporters and encourage them to create their own fundraising pages.

What we love about Razoo, in addition to its simple interface and great UI, is that it also offers donation matching for corporations or foundations looking for an easy way to raise money.

8. Convio

Convio offers software for online fundraising and membership, and while its target audience is probably bigger groups or organizations, it’s still worth a look.

For example, Convio’s TeamRaiser lets organizations make it easy for volunteers to create their own websites for tracking and attracting donations.

If you’re organizing a social good fund for a big charity walk or event where volunteers go door-to-door to get donations, check out Convio because it makes managing that process much easier.

9. Facebook Causes

Causes is an increasingly common way for individuals to raise money and start their own funds that are tied to a non-profit. Because Causes is so well-integrated into Facebook, it makes getting the word out and raising awareness and funds for your cause that much simpler.

10. StayClassy

A newer player in the arena of online giving, San Diego’s StayClassy is focused not just on helping non-profits collect donations online, but also manage events and campaigns, track their fundraising results and plug-in.

The world of online fundraising is vast and diverse. What tools have you used when starting your own social good funds? Let us know in the comments.

Brought to you by the class='blippr-nobr'>Mashableclass="blippr-nobr">Mashable & 92Y Social Good Summit

This post was brought to you by the groundbreaking Social Good Summit. On September 20, as global leaders head to New York for United Nations Week — including a historic summit on global issues known as the “Millennium Development Goals” (MDGs) and the annual General Assembly — Mashable, 92nd Street Y and the UN Foundation will bring together leaders from the digital industry, policy and media worlds to focus on how technology and social networks can play a leading role in addressing the world’s most intractable problems.

Date: Monday, September 20, 2010/> Time: 1:00 to 6:00 p.m. ET/> Location: 92nd Street Y, New York City/> Tickets: On sale through Eventbrite

Image courtesy of iStockphotoclass="blippr-nobr">iStockphoto, PinkTag

For more Social Good coverage:

class="f-el">class="cov-twit">Follow Mashable Social Goodclass="s-el">class="cov-rss">Subscribe to the Social Good channelclass="f-el">class="cov-fb">Become a Fan on Facebookclass="s-el">class="cov-apple">Download our free apps for iPhone and iPad

Pirate Bay documentary raising money on Kickstarter

Cory Doctorow at 6:53 AM Monday, Aug 30, 2010

The Pirate Bay - Away From Keyboard is a documentary on the founding of The Pirate Bay raising money on Kickstarter. I kicked in some money after hearing about it from Peter "brokep" Sunde. The filmmakers have been shooting for two years and are looking for $25,000 to finish the film (they're over $22K as I type this): "This campaign starts exactly one month before the Court of Appeal hearings start in The Pirate Bay trial in Stockholm, Sweden. In 2009 the founders of The Pirate Bay were convicted to 1 year in jail and to pay damages of around 4 million dollars for having 'assisted in making copyrighted content available'. The precedent in the Pirate Bay case will have consequences for the future of the internet. We will cover the upcoming trial closely."

TPB AFK: The Pirate Bay - Away From Keyboard
(Thanks, Cowicide, via Submitterator!)

Murata Seisakusho Robot Learns New Skill « Akihabara News

To pursue its growth Akihabara News is seeking for several more editors via an intership program for 6 to 9 months. Please send us a mail @ jobs@akihabaranews.com. Message. We are moving away from Feedburner, please update your RSS ...

Nintendo: 4m 3DS sales in first month 3DS News - Page 1 ...

Read our 3DS news of Nintendo: 4m 3DS sales in first month.

From Poll, a Snapshot of Fox News Viewers - NYTimes.com

Voters who watch Fox News are more enthusiastic about the election and angrier with Washington, according to a New York Times/CBS News poll.

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Murata Seisakusho Robot Learns New Skill « Akihabara News

Nintendo: 4m 3DS sales in first month 3DS News - Page 1 ...

Read our 3DS news of Nintendo: 4m 3DS sales in first month.

From Poll, a Snapshot of Fox News Viewers - NYTimes.com

Voters who watch Fox News are more enthusiastic about the election and angrier with Washington, according to a New York Times/CBS News poll.

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The web makes it possible to get your message across and collect money from people all over the world and to include your social graph in the process.

1. FirstGiving

The U.S. subsidiary of JustGiving.com, FirstGiving lets users raise money for any non-profit in the GuideStar database.

2. Crowdrise

We mentioned Crowdrise in a recent post about alternatives to Facebook Causes and it is a great tool for both charities and general purpose fundraisers.

3. Kickstarter

Kickstarter is most often used by aspiring creatives to fund projects but it can also be used for great effect for local social good community efforts.

4. WhatGives

5. Change.org

Change.org is very focused on making it easy to virally spread a message, and the site itself also acts as a portal to different organizations and awareness campaigns.

6. Chipin

Unlike many of the services on this list, Chipin isn’t just for non-profits or community organizations. You can use it for any project you want.

7. Razoo

What we love about Razoo, in addition to its simple interface and great UI, is that it also offers donation matching for corporations or foundations looking for an easy way to raise money.

8. Convio

Convio offers software for online fundraising and membership, and while its target audience is probably bigger groups or organizations, it’s still worth a look.

For example, Convio’s TeamRaiser lets organizations make it easy for volunteers to create their own websites for tracking and attracting donations.

If you’re organizing a social good fund for a big charity walk or event where volunteers go door-to-door to get donations, check out Convio because it makes managing that process much easier.

9. Facebook Causes

10. StayClassy

The world of online fundraising is vast and diverse. What tools have you used when starting your own social good funds? Let us know in the comments.

Brought to you by the class='blippr-nobr'>Mashableclass="blippr-nobr">Mashable & 92Y Social Good Summit

Date: Monday, September 20, 2010/> Time: 1:00 to 6:00 p.m. ET/> Location: 92nd Street Y, New York City/> Tickets: On sale through Eventbrite

Image courtesy of iStockphotoclass="blippr-nobr">iStockphoto, PinkTag

For more Social Good coverage:

Pirate Bay documentary raising money on Kickstarter

Cory Doctorow at 6:53 AM Monday, Aug 30, 2010

TPB AFK: The Pirate Bay - Away From Keyboard
(Thanks, Cowicide, via Submitterator!)

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Murata Seisakusho Robot Learns New Skill « Akihabara News

Nintendo: 4m 3DS sales in first month 3DS News - Page 1 ...

Read our 3DS news of Nintendo: 4m 3DS sales in first month.

From Poll, a Snapshot of Fox News Viewers - NYTimes.com

Voters who watch Fox News are more enthusiastic about the election and angrier with Washington, according to a New York Times/CBS News poll.

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Murata Seisakusho Robot Learns New Skill « Akihabara News

Nintendo: 4m 3DS sales in first month 3DS News - Page 1 ...

Read our 3DS news of Nintendo: 4m 3DS sales in first month.

From Poll, a Snapshot of Fox News Viewers - NYTimes.com

Voters who watch Fox News are more enthusiastic about the election and angrier with Washington, according to a New York Times/CBS News poll.

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Murata Seisakusho Robot Learns New Skill « Akihabara News

Nintendo: 4m 3DS sales in first month 3DS News - Page 1 ...

Read our 3DS news of Nintendo: 4m 3DS sales in first month.

From Poll, a Snapshot of Fox News Viewers - NYTimes.com

Voters who watch Fox News are more enthusiastic about the election and angrier with Washington, according to a New York Times/CBS News poll.

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Friday, September 24, 2010

personal finances help

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Editor’s Note: On the right, please watch our exclusive interview with Indiana Governor Mitch Daniels, and then below, please read an original guest blog to The Foundry from the Governor himself.

We’ve been through a global recession. Now we’re fighting through a stalled recovery. Revenues are the lowest they’ve been in half a century. Their finances a wreck, many states have effectively sunk into bankruptcy.

Indiana is still afloat. In fact, we’ve fared better than most. We continue to meet our obligations without raising taxes, and the reserves we carefully built and protected will get us through the downturn.

But as if we did not already have enough on our plates, the passage and implementation of Obamacare presents us with a whole new set of challenges and a costly to-do list.

id="more-41858">I note with special sadness that first and foremost amongst the bill’s consequences will be the probable demise of the Healthy Indiana Plan (HIP). This program is currently providing health insurance to 50,000 low-income Hoosiers. With its Health Savings Account-style personal accounts and numerous incentives for healthy lifestyle choices, it has been enormously popular and successful.

Obamacare’s expansion of Medicaid, soon to cover one in every four citizens, will not only scoop up most of HIP’s participants, but will also cost the state between $3.1 and $3.9 billion over the next decade. It is hard to see how my successors as governor will be able to avoid a steep state tax increase to pay for it. Meanwhile, our medical device companies and small businesses will shed jobs as they wrestle with the taxes and penalties levied to help finance Washington’s “reforms.”

Of course, it’s a misnomer to even refer to this as “reform.” It doesn’t reform anything. Instead, it perpetuates and magnifies all the worst aspects of our current system: fee for service reimbursement, “free” to the purchaser consumption, and an irrationally expensive medical liability tort system. It’s a sure recipe for yet more overconsumption and overspending.

There were better options.

Since my election, my state coworkers have had the choice of Health Savings Accounts in lieu of traditional health care plans. The first year this option was made available, some 4 percent of us signed up for it. Six years later, more than 70 percent of our 30,000 state workers have opted for the personal account.

This trend has had a startlingly positive effect on costs for both employees and the state. State employees enrolled in the consumer-driven plan saved more than $8 million in 2010 compared to their coworkers in the old-fashioned preferred provider organization (PPO) alternative. Indiana will save at least $20 million in 2010 because of our high HSA enrollment.

It has also been the source of significant changes in behavior, as state workers with the HSA visit emergency rooms less frequently and are more likely to use generic drugs than co-workers with traditional health care. Hoosiers enrolled in HIP have experienced similar changes in behavior with generic drugs now accounting for 84 percent of all prescriptions used by enrollees.

This is a sharp contrast to the prevalent model of health plans in this country that encourage individuals to buy health care on someone else’s credit card. What seems free will always be overconsumed, compared to the choices a normal consumer would make. Hence our plan’s immense savings.

The condescension of the “reformers” is misplaced. It turns out that typical Americans are neither too dense nor too intimidated to make sound decisions about their own health. This is, of course, a fact that national policy makers sadly ignored during their overhaul of our health are system. Now the rest of us are left to pick up the pieces.

YANML, YANMA, etc. Apologies for length. I searched the archives but found nothing similar – please direct me if I missed something pertinent. It is surely possible that I don’t know the right terms to use to get good results.

Our 90-something grandfather is well-set financially. He owns a home in the state in which my brother and I live, and a second home in Idaho. Up until this year, he spent the summers in ID and returned to our state in the fall.

Gramps is getting slower and having some trouble caring for himself, but he is still mentally spry. He has no living children. Both of his deceased children’s spouses are living (our Uncle and Mother), and he is relatively close to both. He is very close to my brother, who is on Gramps’ bank accounts and cares for the home in our state when Gramps is away. Neither of us live in the house, or even anywhere near it, but it is important to Brother that Gramps’ home is well maintained in Gramps’ absence.

Earlier this year, Uncle (Gramps’ son in law) brought up, with Brother, placing Gramps in assisted living. Moving in this direction seemed prudent, and Brother discussed it with Gramps, who was amenable to having meals delivered and considered looking into in-home help. Gramps was somewhat resistant to committing to the assisted living facility, however. As far as we know, Uncle never discussed this with Gramps at all.

Shortly after Gramps (and Uncle, who is also divides his time between states) returned to ID this year, a problem was discovered in the ID home that rendered it unlivable during repair. This remodel/repair was taken, by Uncle, as an opportunity to move Gramps into an Assisted Living facility without consulting any other family members, or (it appears) Gramps himself. The story becomes unclear at this point – Brother and I aren’t sure if the assisted living facility was misrepresented to Gramps or if he was in denial about it. Either way, he moved in – but called the facility a “hotel” for many weeks and expected to move home after the remodel was finished. He did, however, eventually sign a lease and consented to stay permanently. He seems happy there, his spirits have greatly improved, and no one thinks he should move back to his home.

The problem, then, lies with Uncle. Uncle has commenced treating Gramps poorly (speaking to him like a child and not consulting Gramps about important topics, among other things- none blatantly abusive, that we know of), and has repeatedly referred to Gramps as “incompetent.” It is my understanding that Gramps has not officially been declared incompetent by a court or a physician. We know of the mistreatment because we witnessed it first hand during a visit to see Gramps after his move to assisted living.

Uncle has now taken over Gramps’ finances, has power of attorney, and has been added on to at least one of Gramps’ bank accounts. Presumably, Uncle is paying Gramps’ bills (mortgages, etc) with Gramps’ money, but we are not sure. Since this time, Gramps has deferred every single decision (financial and otherwise) to Uncle, and when Brother suggested that a neutral third party handle Gramps’ personal finances instead of Uncle, Gramps stated “I can’t do that, it would hurt Uncle’s feelings.” Gramps has mentioned to Brother (several times) that he is interested in selling some of his assets (the real estate, a car, etc), but Uncle has told him that he can not because they are named in Gramps’ will, which Gramps is not willing to change.

Recently, Uncle told Brother that he was no longer free to make decisions in regards to Gramps’ home, the one that Gramps has entrusted to Brother’s care for many years. This occurred just a few weeks after Gramps asked Brother to look into readying the house for renters (since it can not be sold, according to Uncle). Uncle has also made it very clear that he is unwilling to discuss anything at all, financial or otherwise, with Brother or I in regards to Gramps.

We have a strong suspicion that Uncle is using his position of power to manipulate the situation and possibly get/steal/coerce more money out of Gramps (or, potentially, his estate, when he does pass away). No other family members live in ID, and it is suspicious that the move to assisted living occurred directly after moving back to ID for the summer. Additionally, Gramps told brother that Uncle recently convinced him to add Uncles’ children (Gramps’ step-grandchildren) to his will – a fact that does not inspire confidence that there are pure motives here.

It is of no concern to us what Gramps does with his money, both now and after his death (so long as he continues to live in the manner in which he worked hard to attain, which should not be a problem unless the money is mismanaged). We feel strongly that he is competent and able to make his own decisions. Our concern is that he is being taken advantage of (and treated like a mushroom, as Brother puts it). Uncle has mentioned several times that Gramps is “running out of money,” or “doesn’t have enough money” which seems very strange, given Brother’s (albeit limited) knowledge of the financial situation (from prior to Uncle taking over – Brother does not know how to check the accounts aside from going into the bank, which he has not yet done). Uncle is very careful to ensure that there are no checks and balances going on – he refuses to discuss the situation with anyone, particularly Brother. Brother feels strongly that if he were to check on the bank accounts and call this to Uncle’s attention, Brother would find himself removed from the accounts immediately (if this has not already happened).

We stand to gain nothing from this situation – aside from the new addition of Gramps’ step-grandchildren, we know nothing of the contents of the will, nor do we have any interest in knowing. Brother and I would simply feel more comfortable if Gramps’ finances were handled by a closely monitored independent third party, but we do not know how to make this happen (or even if it is possible).

What power does Uncle have at this point? What can we do, from our state, to help prevent mis-management of funds and potential abuse of power? Is it possible that Brother could be removed from bank accounts without his knowledge? Can large transfers of money or account closures occur without his knowledge? Brother is inclined to wash his hands of the situation and let Uncle do whatever he wants, but there is a lingering concern that Gramps will be bled dry and left unable to maintain his current lifestyle.

As a side note, it is currently believed that Uncle is also well-set financially, but one can never be certain.

Throwaway email: grampaisntamushroom@hotmail.com

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Scripting News: Angelgate in a Nutshell

Recent stories. Twitter links. My 40 most-recent Twitter links, ranked by number of clicks. My bike. People are always asking about my bike. A picture named bikesmall.jpg. Here's a picture. AFP news pic. Calendar ...

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Scripting News: Angelgate in a Nutshell

Apple's MobileMe News details how iWork for iPad works with iDisk

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ARTNET NEWS. Gang assaults Turkish galleries. Plus, Miami Sculpture Biennial, Prospect 1.5 New Orleans, more.

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managing your personal finances

Are you a fan of the GTD personal productivity system? Well if you like "Getting Things Done," here's GFD, Getting Finances Done, which shows you how to map David Allen's same principals to managing your personal finance and achieving your financial goals.

Applying GTD principles to your personal finances - Part 1 [Getting Finances Done]

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FARC commander 'Mono Jojoy' killed - Colombia news | Colombia Reports

One of the FARC's most senior commanders, Mono Jojoy, was killed by Colombian state forces, several media said on Thursday. The news is not yet confirmed by the authorities.

Actual Real Life Good Internet News: Super Wi-Fi Coming Soon ...

Most of the time, news about the internet is both hard to understand and seemingly bad. There are always stories coming out about net neutrality where you.

Understanding the Forbes redesign « Talking Biz News

Dvorkin had founded True/Slant, an online news network. Previously, he had been executive editor at Forbes magazine, where he spearheaded an earlier redesign, managed the annual Forbes 400 Richest Americans list and created the ...

FARC commander 'Mono Jojoy' killed - Colombia news | Colombia Reports

One of the FARC's most senior commanders, Mono Jojoy, was killed by Colombian state forces, several media said on Thursday. The news is not yet confirmed by the authorities.

Actual Real Life Good Internet News: Super Wi-Fi Coming Soon ...

Most of the time, news about the internet is both hard to understand and seemingly bad. There are always stories coming out about net neutrality where you.

Understanding the Forbes redesign « Talking Biz News

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FARC commander 'Mono Jojoy' killed - Colombia news | Colombia Reports

One of the FARC's most senior commanders, Mono Jojoy, was killed by Colombian state forces, several media said on Thursday. The news is not yet confirmed by the authorities.

Actual Real Life Good Internet News: Super Wi-Fi Coming Soon ...

Most of the time, news about the internet is both hard to understand and seemingly bad. There are always stories coming out about net neutrality where you.

Understanding the Forbes redesign « Talking Biz News

Thursday, September 23, 2010

Making Money Working

This series is supported by RingCentral, the leading business phone system designed for today’s small businesses, entrepreneurs, and mobile professionals. Visit RingCentral.com to learn more.

Finding the right workspace is like dating — the class='blippr-nobr'>Internetclass="blippr-nobr">Internet has made it a lot more complex. In essence, this means more options.

Whereas the traditional office once served as the default choice for effective communication and collaboration between coworkers, today’s businesses can be just as productive by collaborating on the web, with as little as $10 and a Google account. Entrepreneurs operate from coffee shops, kitchen tables, and coworking spaces in addition to the traditional office.

We asked three entrepreneurs with drastically different office strategies for their advice on choosing a workspace. Read on for their tips and add your own in the comments below.

What Kind of Office is Best to Start In?

“When you’re starting out, you should absolutely not be spending money on rent,” says Jason Fried, the founder of web-based software company 37signals. “It’s a huge waste of money.”

After Fried started 37signals, he and the other two employees working for the company at the time shared a room with another business. “Basically we had a corner of a desk,” he jokes. Assuming you can find another company that is willing to share, teaming up on a space saves cash while still providing a place to work away from the distractions of home.

Others see value in setting up their own offices from the get-go. After a brief stint at the virtual office, Anthony Franco chose a house in Denver to set up his company, EffectiveUI. It wasn’t an ideal workspace, but he got a deal on the rent. New employees were often greeted on their first day with an Allen wrench, to be used for assembling their own desks.

“We started at home, but if we were going to handle demand, we needed to have a place where we could come and work,” Franco said. He added that the extra value of being able to work as a team (in person) more than made up for the cost of an office.

While the lease route worked out well for EffectiveUI, there’s a certain amount of risk involved with jumping into your own space too soon.

“Most commercial leases are for three to four years, and so if you’re small and you’re starting out and you’ve got a couple people, you’re making way too much of a commitment,” Fried argues. “You don’t know where you’re going to be in three years.”

Is Coworking Right for Your Business?

One modern compromise between working completely virtually and committing to a lease is working at a coworking space. These office spaces provide a work environment and an alternative to coffee shops for independent workers.

Campbell McKellar discovered the value of coworking spaces when the company she worked for left their expensive traditional office and started working virtually. The move allowed her to work from anywhere, and she chose Maine. “I was trying to do work in a cottage with family members and dogs running around,” she said. “I loved being fully mobile and independent, but I also wanted to have a platform to do my work.”

LooseCubes, the company McKellar founded in May, runs a website that matches independent workers with coworking spaces and spare desks in other companies. Quite appropriately, it’s currently being run out of a coworking space. McKellar says that working from the space has helped her launch.

“Especially if you’re in a creative business, the best way to get ideas is to meet new people,” she says. “You can get stale by talking to the same five people every day.”

Coworking allows McKellar to “unintentionally network” with the other people in the space, to seek advice from other entrepreneurs, and to host meetings and work with her team at a place that isn’t her living room.

On the other hand, coworking has its challenges and might not be a great fit for every company. Coworking spaces can be distracting, and most of them are set up in a way that requires people making phone calls to seek silence in the hallway.

“For us, quiet and privacy is very important,” Fried says. “So, coworking spaces and coffee shops don’t work for us.”

McKellar admits that on days when she’s “under the gun,” she chooses to work at home. And there is a point at which a company outgrows a coworking space. LooseCubes, for instance, plans to move to its own office space sometime in the next three months.

When Should a Company Transition to a Traditional Office?

“We need to be in a room with a whiteboard that isn’t erased every day, where we can have a conference call in an open environment,” McKellar says of her hopes for transitioning to an office space. Before she commits, however, she wants to wait to see how her site’s public launch goes. In the meantime, she’s renting a room at a Manhattan coworking space called New Work City.

All companies should do something along these lines before committing to a lease, Fried says. “You don’t know if you’re going to be successful,” he says. “And if you are, you might need more space than you have right now…You don’t want to lock yourself into anything when you’re getting started. You want to be as flexible as you possibly can.”

For some people, this means staying virtual for as long as possible. For others like McKellar, it means launching from a coworking space. For Fried’s 37signals, which is based in Chicago but has employees in 11 cities, it meant working from a variety of shared office spaces for about ten years before finally opting for an office of its own in August.

But how do you know when it’s time to make the switch?

One obvious factor is space: “We were only able to rent five or six desks in our last office,” Fried says. “We had nine people in Chicago. We were out of desks at six. So everyone couldn’t come in at the same time, and that was problem.”

Another factor is work environment. If the space you are working in is interfering with your work, it might also be time to opt for an environment you can control. “We work very quietly,” explains Fried. “So our whole thing is be as quiet as possible, don’t talk throughout the day, just have a very quiet setting like a library…You can’t impose those kinds of rules on another company, especially if it’s the other company’s space.”

What are the Benefits of a Traditional Office?

For EffectiveUI, the traditional office was always a great fit. Having grown from a couple of founders to 100 employees since 2005, the company long ago left its house-office behind. They now work from a 12,000-square-foot office space.

But both spaces fulfilled the same requirements: “Whiteboarding, talking with each other and eating lunch together: It’s part of the team culture,” Franco says.

The more traditional office, however, has given him some additional perks. “We have clients come to visit us. We’re able to brand the building and the space, and when people come they can see we’re a real business,” he says.

A lot of people associate traditional offices with being trapped in a cubicle, but Franco maintains that it doesn’t have to be that way. “Just get creative and make it fun, but also give everyone a place to go,” he says.

Can I Have an Untraditional Traditional Office?

Fried thinks of his new office as more of a home base than a traditional office. Employees are free to work at home whenever they want, and half of the company still works in other cities.

“We feel that a combination of both is the best route,” Fried says. “Because we all do want to get together occasionally, and sometimes small teams of five or six people want to get together for a while.”

The home base strategy combines the benefits of virtual and traditional workspaces. When people want to work from another city or find they work better in their pajamas, they can stay home. When they need to collaborate or want to get out of the house, they have a great place to work.

“Our office is highly customized for the way we work,” says Fried. For instance, it has soundproof walls, phone booths for people to make uninterrupted calls, and rooms for small teams.

Most employees who work from Chicago come into the new office about three or four days a week. “We want people to work wherever they work best,” Fried says.

What are your tips for choosing a workspace? Add them in the comments below.

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More Startup Resources from Mashable:

- 8 Funding Contests to Kick Start Your Big Idea/> - HOW TO: Run Your Business Online with $10 and a Google Account/> - 5 Startup Tips From the Father of Gmail and FriendFeed/> - 6 Ways to Recruit Talent for Startups/> - 10 Essential Tips for Building Your Small Biz Team

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This series is supported by RingCentral, the leading business phone system designed for today’s small businesses, entrepreneurs, and mobile professionals. Visit RingCentral.com to learn more.

Finding the right workspace is like dating — the class='blippr-nobr'>Internetclass="blippr-nobr">Internet has made it a lot more complex. In essence, this means more options.

We asked three entrepreneurs with drastically different office strategies for their advice on choosing a workspace. Read on for their tips and add your own in the comments below.

What Kind of Office is Best to Start In?

“When you’re starting out, you should absolutely not be spending money on rent,” says Jason Fried, the founder of web-based software company 37signals. “It’s a huge waste of money.”

While the lease route worked out well for EffectiveUI, there’s a certain amount of risk involved with jumping into your own space too soon.

Is Coworking Right for Your Business?

“Especially if you’re in a creative business, the best way to get ideas is to meet new people,” she says. “You can get stale by talking to the same five people every day.”

“For us, quiet and privacy is very important,” Fried says. “So, coworking spaces and coffee shops don’t work for us.”

When Should a Company Transition to a Traditional Office?

But how do you know when it’s time to make the switch?

What are the Benefits of a Traditional Office?

But both spaces fulfilled the same requirements: “Whiteboarding, talking with each other and eating lunch together: It’s part of the team culture,” Franco says.

Can I Have an Untraditional Traditional Office?

Fried thinks of his new office as more of a home base than a traditional office. Employees are free to work at home whenever they want, and half of the company still works in other cities.

“Our office is highly customized for the way we work,” says Fried. For instance, it has soundproof walls, phone booths for people to make uninterrupted calls, and rooms for small teams.

Most employees who work from Chicago come into the new office about three or four days a week. “We want people to work wherever they work best,” Fried says.

What are your tips for choosing a workspace? Add them in the comments below.

Series supported by RingCentral

More Startup Resources from Mashable:

- 8 Funding Contests to Kick Start Your Big Idea/> - HOW TO: Run Your Business Online with $10 and a Google Account/> - 5 Startup Tips From the Father of Gmail and FriendFeed/> - 6 Ways to Recruit Talent for Startups/> - 10 Essential Tips for Building Your Small Biz Team

Image courtesy of iStockphotoclass="blippr-nobr">iStockphoto, francisblack

For more Business coverage:

-->

Judges cannot be changed, and...
by Wubbies World

ABB
by joecollins

One problem with the hiring loop
by Death_of_the_Donkey

Spot On Moe
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Republican Don't Know That One
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You forgot Jimmy Carter Mike....of course...now he's the THE most rediculous President
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Yeah, Erick, like, it IS so ancient, like.....
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States are very different
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by Dave_in_Fla

How many? Depends on events
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That's too bad
by aesthete

Well, I felt bad, like I was slighting AceinTx
by Dave_in_Fla

Agree
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didn't know if you knew or not...he's gone is all...and I lost all respect for the man in his departure...nt
by AceInTX

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I realize NRO didn't endorse NRO...but it's editor did...
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Marginal growth is what's being looked at
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And Ace wrote a strong rubuttal to Erick
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robert shumake

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robert shumake

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In the 60's it was a song of revolution when change was just not as common. Today, it reflects a fact of life, at least for small business owners and.

Pentax announces price and availibilty for 645D camera: Digital ...

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Wednesday, September 22, 2010

Making Money Opportunities

The hits just keep on coming for Elevation Partners, the one-time digital media, private equity dream team that has reconfigured itself as an investor in late stage Web 2.0 treasures. Earlier this summer, Elevation requested an extension on investing its $1.9 billion fund, and TechCrunch has learned that that request was denied—a move that came as surprise to us and to Elevation, we hear.

So what does that mean? Clearly, LPs are sending a strong message that has to do with Elevation, but also has a lot to do with the broader market: They want to see some returns before they pony up more money. But the news isn’t nearly as bad as it sounds.

For one thing, we’re only talking about $100 million or so of the $1.9 billion fund. At most, this would have represented one more deal in the portfolio. What’s more Elevation can still call up that $100 million to invest in a follow-on round in existing portfolio companies, so it’s not like the fund size has necessarily been reduced to $1.8 billion. There is just a new restriction on how they can spend that last $100 million.

What does this mean for that Pandora deal? It doesn’t kill it, because Elevation signed an agreement to invest before the original five-year investment period elapsed. But that deal isn’t done and it’s unclear if there’s a snag or the deal is just taking some time. In our earlier story, Pandora confirmed that Elevation had expressed interest and sources close to Elevation say an agreement to invest was already signed.

Either way, the fund will hinge on Elevation’s investments in Yelp and Facebook. As we reported before, if you average together Elevation’s investment in Facebook it holds its shares at a valuation of $29 per share and Facebook has been trading as high as $70 a share on the secondary market. It’s hard to imagine a scenario where Elevation loses money on this, but the concern is when and how do they cash out?

Facebook founder and CEO Mark Zuckerberg has repeatedly telegraphed that he’s in no hurry to do an IPO, and his use of late stage and secondary deals has alleviated the pressure to do one. Typically companies go public because early employees want liquidity, the company wants a hoard of cash to grow or the company wants a stock currency to do acquisitions. Facebook has checked most of those off. Early shareholders can (and many have already) exit on the secondary market or through one-time deals like the one with DST. The company has raised a whopping $836 million in capital according to CrunchBase and is reported by some to be doing revenues in the $2 billion range. And, again, thanks to the secondary market, Facebook has an externally validated price, making it easier to do any stock transactions than it would have been for a private company ten years ago. On paper, Elevation’s investment in Facebook is soaring. But LPs are going to want to see more than paper if they’re going to invest in a second fund.

That brings us to Yelp. Yelp’s ascendancy is far less of a sure thing than Facebook’s, but Elevation owns a much bigger chunk of the company. It bought shares at a price that valued Yelp at $475 million, just shy of the price it reportedly turned down from Google. Few (rational) people think Yelp will be worth nothing. The question is: Does it wind up somewhere around the price of Slide or does it become one of the few $1 billion winners of the Web 2.0 era? For Elevation to make the kind of return it’s hoping for, Yelp needs to make sure upstarts like Groupon and FourSquare don’t steal its opportunities for micro-local monetization. Personally, I’m still bullish on Yelp’s odds, and the early results of its first San Francisco deal look promising. But a sure thing it is not.

Pandora could be the last deal Elevation does in this fund, or if Yelp goes south, it could be the last deal Elevation does ever. Even though the firm can call that last $100 million for a follow-on, odds are Elevation won’t. Facebook valuations are soaring out of control on the secondary market and the company already owns one of the largest stakes in Yelp. The Palm-batross is gone, and Forbes is what it is. It’s a near-certainty no more money is going towards saving Forbes, especially given Elevation’s re-tooled team and investment approach. The firm has learned the lesson about putting too much into one company the Palm-way.

The bets have been made and Elevation’s partners will have to wait for the roulette wheel to stop spinning, doing what they can in the mean time to help make their companies stronger. I talked to one small limited partner this week who said he personally wouldn’t invest in a second fund, and another who said he loved the new team, but worried the change in strategy just came too late.

Like Yelp, I think Elevation has a decent chance of pulling the second fund off. There is clearly a market for these mega, late-stage transactions, and there aren’t a ton of Valley teams who have experience doing them and few Wall Street teams that have the contacts here. But don’t expect them to hit the fundraising trail until Yelp and Facebook exits look more certain.

According to a new Experian Marketing Services report, transactional emails that include relevant and related products and services have 20% higher transaction rates than those without.

Blown away, aren’t you? Okay, probably not. It’s no big marketing secret that suggestive selling and cross-promotions work, so why doesn’t everybody do it?

Let’s go back to basics. A transactional email is one that a customer expects. Could be an order confirmation, a shipping notice or information on returns and exchanges. Experian analyzed more than 1,800 emails of this type that were sent through their CheetahMail system and found that more than 100% of the time (how is that possible?) these emails are opened by the recipient. You won’t find anywhere near that kind of open rate on bulk emails.

Once you’ve got customers opening the email, it’s time to convert them and this is where many companies fail. Experian says that’s a lot of money left on the table. Here are the numbers:

“Compared with standard bulk mailings, the average revenue per email is two to five times greater and can be up to six times greater than the all-industry average of $0.13. Experian CheetahMail’s analysis showed an average revenue per email for order confirmations of $0.75, while shipping confirmations and returns/exchanges pulled $0.53 and $0.80, respectively.”

Making the most of your transactional emails doesn’t have to mean promoting another product. Experian says that transactional emails that included links to social media sites had 55% higher click rates than emails with no click-through opportunities.

The only place that failed in the study was in the area of incentivizing future purchases. Oddly, emails without this kind of incentive did better than those that had them. Looking at my own behavior, I’d say this is because a “future purchase” email would either get filed away in my coupon folder or deleted if I had no intention of buying again.

The takeaway here is that companies must optimize every opportunity they have to engage with a customer. Emails need to branded to match the company website. Social media links should be prominent in all emails, especially transactional ones and ideally, personalized services and add-ons should be included in every order or shipping email.

This may sound like marketing 101, but I can’t tell you how many transactional emails I receive in a week that miss out on all of these points. On the other hand, there is one company I buy from that has a transactional email so memorable, I actually tell people about it and that’s CD Baby. Their order confirmation includes a wild story about how my CD has been taken off the shelf by a person wearing sterilized gloves, it was polished and inspected by 50 employees then everyone gathered around, lit a candle and watched in awe as it was packed, then they had a parade while delivering it to the post office where the entire town of Portland waved and said “Bon Voyage!” Silly, yes. But everyone who gets that confirmation remembers it and it effects their decision to buy from CD Baby again.

Lastly, don’t forget to say thank you to your customers when you confirm their order. It’s a simple thing but it makes a big difference.

Click here to get the full report free from Experian Marketing Services.

Social Media Monitoring in Just 60-Seconds. Guaranteed!

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According to a new Experian Marketing Services report, transactional emails that include relevant and related products and services have 20% higher transaction rates than those without.

Blown away, aren’t you? Okay, probably not. It’s no big marketing secret that suggestive selling and cross-promotions work, so why doesn’t everybody do it?

Once you’ve got customers opening the email, it’s time to convert them and this is where many companies fail. Experian says that’s a lot of money left on the table. Here are the numbers:

“Compared with standard bulk mailings, the average revenue per email is two to five times greater and can be up to six times greater than the all-industry average of $0.13. Experian CheetahMail’s analysis showed an average revenue per email for order confirmations of $0.75, while shipping confirmations and returns/exchanges pulled $0.53 and $0.80, respectively.”

Lastly, don’t forget to say thank you to your customers when you confirm their order. It’s a simple thing but it makes a big difference.

Click here to get the full report free from Experian Marketing Services.

Social Media Monitoring in Just 60-Seconds. Guaranteed!

robert shumake