Category Archives: Online Business

How to Create a Professional Site for Your Business and get Google Love

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I know that I know what I’m talking about here, but you may not be so sure. In case you’d like to know, just 5 days after my latest site went live, it ranked number one in Google for “Hot Rod Glamour Shots”.  That also happens to be our business slogan. Nice, huh? Really nice. Take a look, then let’s move on. I want to help you make a better looking site for your business, and explain how you can get some Google-love in the process.

Lizotte Studios #1 on Google

Lizotte Studios #1 on Google

 What we used to put our site together

We wanted a WordPress theme that screamed “classy”. We wanted an upscale look to LizotteStudios.com. Classy, simple, and a theme that put the focus on our images. We needed something to showcase our photography, but something that would allow us to have private galleries and ecommerce for online proofing and print ordering, as well. We chose the Photocrati theme. It did all of these things very well.

Lizotte Studios  

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LaunchHouse seeking tech startups for LaunchHouse Accelerator program

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Lean business accelerator to invest in 10 tech startups

Shaker Heights, OH – February 25, 2013 – Shaker LaunchHouse, a lean business accelerator based in Northeast Ohio, is seeking early stage, broad-based technology startups focused on technology, Internet, mobile and hardware/robotics to apply for the LaunchHouse Accelerator (LHX) program. Applications for the LHX 2013 program open March 8, with the program kicking off August 12.

With the $200,000 ONEFund grant, LHX will invest in 10 tech companies consisting of two or more co-founders, to participate in the LHX program. The startups are required to remain in Cleveland for the duration of the 12-week, boot camp-style accelerator program.

From its inception in 2008, LaunchHouse has invested in 40 diverse companies which have raised more than $5.5 million in follow on funding. Since the conclusion of the inaugural LHX 2012 program, the companies have been able to create more than 20 jobs, a majority of which are in Northeast Ohio.  

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Advocacy Applauds IRS Simplification of Home Office Deduction

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WASHINGTON, D.C. –The SBA Office of Advocacy applauds yesterday’s decision by the Internal Revenue Service to offer a simplified version of the home office deduction. Advocacy has been engaged with the small business community and the IRS on this issue for decades, including a formal request to the White House in 2009. The new option allows a deduction of up to $1,500 based on a formula of $5 per square foot of home office spaced used and will take effect for the 2013 tax year. The IRS estimates that this change in the rule will reduce the paperwork burden on small businesses by 1.6 million hours annually. An estimated 14.4 million, or 52 percent of America’s 27.8 million small businesses, are home based.

“Simplifying the home office deduction for America’s small businesses has been a longstanding priority of the Office of Advocacy; we welcome the IRS’s actions,” said Chief Counsel for Advocacy Winslow Sargeant.  “I would also like to commend the steadfast advocacy of numerous small business organizations who have championed this issue.”  

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Warning for Small Businesses: Don’t Open E-mail Falsely Claiming to be From FTC

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Warning from the team at USA.gov:

The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) is warning small businesses that an e-mail with a subject line “NOTIFICATION OF CONSUMER COMPLAINT” is not from the FTC. The e-mail falsely states that a complaint has been filed with the agency against their company.

The FTC advises recipients not to click on any of the links or attachments with the e-mail. Clicking on the links may install a virus or other spyware on the computer. The FTC’s advice is to delete the email.