How To – Page 58 – 40Billion Blog for Startup Entrepreneurs and Small Businesses

4 Growth Hacks to Turbocharge Your Small Business

There’s good news and bad news when it comes to marketing your small business. The good news is that as a small business owner, you are the perfect person to promote your product or service. You’re knowledgeable and passionate, which are two of the main ingredients in an effective marketer. The bad news is that marketing can take up a lot of time and money. And extra time is not something that entrepreneurs come by very often.

Here are 4 simple marketing ‘hacks’ that will help boost your small business marketing efforts and make your life as an entrepreneur a little easier.

* Identify your strengths

There are a ton of options for marketing your business – newsletters, social media, attending events, etc. Read more…

How to Manage Your Digital Marketing Without Falling Behind

Business owners often struggle with a perpetual to-do list for running their companies, and it seems to be getting longer all the time. Digital marketing, in all its varied forms, is becoming increasingly important as more and more of your target audience is searching for and finding products and services on the internet. Marketing experts recommend employing a hearty dose of social media, blogging, local SEO (Search Engine Optimization), and review site management to grow your client/referral base.

With everything else you have to deal with, how can you stay on top of Facebook, Twitter, and Linkedin multiple times a week, not to mention a weekly blog, email campaigns, videos creation, and reputation management? If you recognize the value these activities will bring to your business, but don’t have the resources to hire someone to help you with it, consider these 5 tips to make it work efficiently for you.

8 Social Marketing Fails to Avoid

1. Little or no social media or blogging activity.

Why start a blog and never publish? Why start a Twitter account and never tweet? In social marketing, you have to show up and be active. Yes, starting that Facebook page was a good idea, but unless you are going to be consistent in posting and using it, just forget about it.

You can save time by using sites like 40Billion.com, which specializes in broadcasting and promoting posts to its large network of several million users across the most popular social networking sites for small businesses – including Twitter, LinkedIn, 40Billion, and even Facebook. Read more…

4 Ways to Market Your Bootstrapped Startup Online

Some marketing strategies become less effective and some more effective. As a startup with limited resources, you need to pay especially close attention to what’s current so you can get the most bang for your marketing budget. You already know that you have to setup social media accounts. But here are few other ways you may not have considered.

1. Make an Explainer Video

Everyone knows that video production is effective for business, but many startups dismiss the idea because they believe it’s expensive. Read more…

6 Creative Ways of Marketing Your Startup on a Budget

There are endless ways to finance your ideas, but there’s nothing like marketing a startup with a modest budget. Limited funds give you an excuse to flex your creative muscle and truly share your vision with the world.

Don’t rely on the same old banner ads and Google reviews. Instead, try these seven marketing strategies to place the spotlight on your business.

1. Share your story

Instead of just introducing yourself as an entrepreneur, develop a narrative that differentiates your company from others and sparks conversation. Read more…

10 Content Marketing Ideas to Promote your Small Business or Startup Company

Small business marketers who use content marketing are able to reduce the cost of leads, increase awareness and position themselves as leaders.

In recent years, marketers have been forced to think differently about how they engage with potential customers, particularly small business marketers.

Every year, customers have increasing control over what marketing messages they wish to consume. Read more…

10 Content Marketing Trends You Need To Know For Success

Content marketing online is continually changing and evolving. If you’re behind the content marketing curve, now’s the time to get caught up – here are 10 content marketing trends that are relevant today.

1. Social Media Content is King

Social media marketing is the most popular content promotion tactic by a mile. 87% of B2B content marketers are active on social media, while 81% have articles on their websites.

Lately, sites like 40Billion.com have made social media content marketing easier for businesses by broadcasting and promoting their articles to its large network of several million users across the most popular social networking sites – including Twitter, LinkedIn, 40Billion, and even Facebook. Read more…

11 Ways to Write a Compelling Crowdfunding Campaign

One of the most important aspects of your crowdfunding campaign is the story you tell, as it has a direct impact on the overall impression that your project conveys. In the end, this is what will get someone to become your supporter. Your choice of words can actually make a huge difference in your campaign’s results.
Before getting started, you have to decide if you or your team are the most suitable to do the work. Read more…

Email Marketing Tips for Small Business

Keeping the doors of your small business open can depend upon your ability to market to potential clients. Email marketing has been a mainstay strategy throughout the technological era. Prior to this, companies were limited to direct mail for advertising. Using the postal service could cost a small fortune and your materials might end up in the trash as junk mail. Read more…

7 Ways to Grow Your Business Through Marketing Partners

You can attract new customers, increase sales and grow your pipeline instantly by partnering strategically with other businesses. There are many mutual benefits that make the work required to build a strong marketing partnership worthwhile. There is the implied endorsement that goes along with it as well.

Strategy is a key to a success. Many business professionals attend local networking events with the hope of finding others they can partner with in order to grow more quickly. Read more…

Recommended: 6 Tips To Achieve Marketing Goals

6 Marketing Tips to Bootstrap Your Startup

Every day we are bombarded by brands fighting for our attention; how can you possibly make your startup stand out? Marketing your startup in today’s competitive business economy is undoubtedly difficult and expensive, but there are steps you can take to make sure your startup gets a good chance at success.

Before you start, make sure you have a firm grasp on two key things. First, you want to make sure that all of your marketing strategies identify and build upon what makes your business unique in your space. Read more…

New to Crowdfunding? Here’s What to Expect.

With the popularity and success of crowdfunding as a new way to fund new projects, it’s easy for other aspiring entrepreneurs to believe that sites like Kickstarter are their golden ticket to launching a business. But the reality is, crowdfunding isn’t always as simple as it seems.

Whether you’re looking to raise a small amount of startup cash or acquire a larger sum through equity crowdfunding, there are a few challenges you might face during the process that you may not have expected.

Choosing the right platform

The first step is to choose the right platform. Read more…

Recommended: 8 Social Marketing Fails to Avoid

4 Steps to Crowdfunding Success

The biggest problem that many small businesses throughout the United States face is how to secure startup or initial funding from traditional lenders. Since the 2008 financial meltdown, banks are under a lot of pressure to make safer loans, resulting in stricter underwriting guidelines and fewer loans being approved.

With the advent of crowdfunding providing a more accessible option, the amount of small businesses with crowdfunding campaigns has significantly increased. Read more…

5 Crowdfunding Steps Proven To Raise Money on GoFundMe

This post on how to raise money successfully using simple crowdfunding steps answers common questions for startup entrepreneurs and small businesses thinking about using crowdfunding to raise funding.

I have been in the crowdfunding space since 2008, after experiencing first-hand one of the biggest problems plaguing new businesses: There was a $40 billion gap in funding every year! That year, I founded one of the first crowdfunding platforms for U.S. Read more…

5 Crowdfunding Steps Proven To Raise Money on Indiegogo

Is Crowdfunding Right For Your Small Business?

What is Crowdfunding?

Over the past eight years, crowdfunding has emerged as a popular tool for individuals to raise financing for business ventures.

Entrepreneurs typically raise small amounts of money from a large number of backers, or “the crowd,” usually via the Internet. Backers receive some sort of reward or, less commonly, an equity- or royalty-based financial return. Crowdfunding platforms – including Kickstarter, Indiegogo, and GoFundMe – have raised billions of dollars, and the industry is still growing with niche service providers such as 40Billion which focuses on crowdfunding promotion for small businesses.

For small and new business owners looking to raise capital, crowdfunding is an increasingly popular option. Read more…

5 Crowdfunding Steps Proven To Raise Money on Kickstarter

3 steps to triple engagement by adding a Twitter image to your ad

Hooray, it’s 40Billion Friday! Save 15% OFF …

It’s 40Billion Friday! Save 15% OFF everything at checkout. Promote your company, broadcast your profile, or advertise your product or service to the world.

40Billion Friday and this limited time offer will end at 11:59pm PT, so take advantage of these savings now.

http://www.40billion.com/post/31790

Promote your company on 40Billion, Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn, & Google …

Promote your company on 40Billion, Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn, & Google. Under $40 per month. Start free: http://www.40billion.com/companies

How will you celebrate Black History Month?

How will you celebrate Black History Month? http://www.40billion.com/post/24230

Get your message out to 50,000+ people for only $10. Sign up for a Promoted Profile…

Get your message out to 50,000+ people for only $10. Sign up for a Promoted Profile at www.40billion.com/promote-profile.asp today.

No PC? 40Billion is now on your iPhone, Android, and Windows mobile phone…

No PC? Don’t Worry. You have the power in the palm of your hand when you’re on-the-go. 40Billion is now on your iPhone, Android, and Windows mobile phone.

You can now access the power of 40Billion anywhere you are by using your Web-enabled mobile phone, Blackberry, iPhone, or Android smartphone. View profiles, connect with contacts, read what’s happening in your network, post on your whiteboard, send invitations, search companies, and much more with the convenience of our mobile website.

Check it out at http://www.40billion.mobi on your phone today.

12 Reasons Why 40Billion is Better Than LinkedIn. #12…

12 Reasons Why 40Billion is Better Than LinkedIn…

#12: 40Billion works great in Firefox web browser; LinkedIn does not.

http://www.40billion.com/post/2327

How to Promote Your Raise to Over 10,000 Potential Funders Automatically

Upgrade to a “Promoted Raise” to extend your reach to a broader audience of potential funders and investors. Let us promote your raise (i.e., fundraising project for your business) to amplify your fundraising project with targeting options to reach likely funders who may be interested in funding your project.

We’ll promote your Raise automatically to over 10,000 followers on Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn, on our blog, and via individual emails to members with similar interests (using our Funding Probability tool). We don’t promote using pay-per-click or search engine optimization, but instead utilize social media impressions and email marketing which produce more affordable, proven results.

A Promoted Raise is promoted daily (at least once per day) to followers on Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn, on our blog, and via individual emails to members with similar interests. 40Billion has over 10,000 followers and over 200,000 members who are potential funders for each project. At this time, you can select either 1 day, 7 days, 14 days, or 28 days for your promotion period. Your Raise will be promoted every day including weekends during the promotion period. The service fee for a Promoted Raise starts at only $10.

To upgrade your Raise to a Promoted Raise, please follow these steps:

Sign in to My Account at http://www.40billion.com/my-account.asp now;
Click PROMOTE next to your Raise (you must have created a Raise already, so start a Raise first);
Use the dropdown box to select the number of days (from 1 to 28);
Click CONTINUE;
Click PAY NOW, and complete your transaction;
We will start promoting your Raise on the next business day.

How to Finish Your Business Plan in 1 Day

To help you finish your business plan faster, 40Billion has partnered with Growthink to give you a 25% discount on “The Ultimate Business Plan Template”!

Click Here to Learn More And Save 25%

The Ultimate Business Plan Template was created by Dave Lavinsky, co-founder and president of Growthink, a leading business planning company. Since 1999, Growthink has developed business plans for thousands of clients, and the firm’s clients have raised more than $1 Billion.

By using this proven template, you’ll not only raise money faster… you’ll save tons of time. It takes the average entrepreneur 100+ hours to create a business plan from scratch. But if you download this template today, you can be printing out your business plan tomorrow.

Hurry, this exclusive discount ends soon…

Click Here to Learn More And Save 25%

How to Get More Customers by Advertising Your Business with a Resource Listing

Adding a resource listing is the fastest way to advertise your business on 40Billion, reach a targeted audience, and bring new customers to you. Resource listings are the easy, effective way to reach potential customers already searching the Internet for information about your products and services.

Add your resource listing, and promote your products and services to a targeted audience of business owners, startup entrepreneurs, investors, consumers and others. Benefits include:

Generate leads and expand your reach to millions of potential customers. Resource listings are searchable via popular search engines, such as Google and Yahoo.
One low, affordable monthly rate. No variable pay-per-click charges that lead to budget surprises.
Add multiple resource listings to increase exposure and generate more leads. List yourself, your business, your products and services, or another business as a resource.

Add a resource listing now for 3 months, and save 50% off instantly for a limited time.

5 tips for approaching friends and family about your business

At 40billion.com, we provide online tools to help small-business and startup entrepreneurs increase access to funding and resources by leveraging their social networks, including friends and family. Here are 5 tips that we give to entrepreneurs to help them approach friends and relatives about their business:

1. ASK FOR ADVICE & REFERRALS, NOT HANDOUTS

When you approach friends and family about your business, just share your idea in a conversational manner, and ask them for their advice, feedback, or referral. People are usually glad to give you their point-of-view if they think their advice or feedback may be helpful. And, if they really believe in you, they will either offer to help or they’ll be willing to refer you to someone who can help.

2. FORMALIZE A LOAN OR DISCOUNT

Businesses often get started with a loan from the entrepreneur’s friend or relative, but it can be difficult to manage the relationship, especially if the loan is not formalized with a written agreement. Create a formal loan agreement with details of the loan, including what is owed, when payments are due, and any consequences for missing payments. Even if you’ve promised a discount to your friend or relative in exchange for a loan or referral, put it in writing and provide a discount coupon that can be redeemed. This may significantly reduce the risk of ruining your personal relationship over business.

3. GIVE A PRESENTATION

Are you serious about your business? Then give a business plan presentation to your friends and family, and show them. This is your chance to display your professionalism and passion, while getting free advice and feedback from people you know. The result could get you closer to the funding, resources, and customers you need to get your business up and running.

4. POST ON SOCIAL NETWORKING SITES

Add a description of your business to social networking websites, such as Facebook and LinkedIn. This easily allows your friends and family to read about what you’re doing and spread the word to other people they know. So, instead of you going to them, they will come to you and ask about your new business.

5. KEEP IN TOUCH

Be sure to thank your friends and family who supported you or helped you spread the word. Then, be sure to keep the lines of communication open by sending them regular company updates to let them know that their support has been put to good use, and you’re achieving those milestones that you set in your business plan. These communications will go a long way toward maintaining good relationships with your friends-and-family supporters, and they will be more likely to support you again as customers, investors, advisors and advocates.

Want to know which of your friends are most likely to invest in your business (or someone else’s business)?

Ever wondered which of your friends is most likely to invest in your business? Want to know which potential funders you should pursue and invite to participate in your Raise?

Use our amazing new Funding Probability BETA feature to find out the likelihood that each of your contacts will fund your Raise (or even someone else’s Raise). Just click the “Invite Your Friends” button at the top of any Raise to find out more and make your social network start working for you!

Add contacts to your network and find out which ones are most likely to fund your business.

How To Use Social Networking To Raise Money For Your Business

40Billion.com Launches Free Social Networking Tools for Small Business Entrepreneurs and Startups Seeking Loans and Resources

By Cornelius Colin McNab, 40Billion.com

Looking for funding to start a new business? Need to raise startup capital, but don’t know where to go? Well, you may already know hundreds or thousands of potential financing sources that you interact with every day. This article exposes five simple steps to raise funding by leveraging your social network online.

It is estimated that half of small business entrepreneurs raise money through friends and family to fund the first phase of their startups, but it is often difficult to manage these relationships. With Internet social networking, it can be much easier to raise money while maintaining your relationships. So what steps should you take to raise funding for your business through friends and family? How can you increase your access to capital and resources by leveraging your social network?

Upload Your Business Plan
A recent poll of 140 people found that a good business plan is the #1 most important factor in deciding whether to fund a friend’s or relative’s business. One of the best things you can do as an entrepreneur to increase your chances of raising money is to turn your idea into a business plan, and make your business plan accessible to people you know. Some services allow you to upload a document and share it on various social networking websites quickly and easily. However, be careful not to upload any confidential information or intellectual property that you don’t want publicly known.
Create A Social Funding Profile For Your Business
After you’ve written a compelling business plan, you need to make sections of it available to your potential funders. Create a business profile online that people you know can easily access on the Web. The profile should provide insight into your vision and plan for the business, how much funding you need and why, and what you have to offer in return – e.g., rewards and discounts on products or services you sell.

In the last three years, social funding websites, such as 40Billion.com^® (http://www.40billion.com), have launched that allow you to create your own profile page and use it to raise money for your business. You can even make your profile private in order to limit access only to invited people you know and trust, not strangers.
Invite Your Friends And Build Your Network
After you’ve created your business fundraising profile, broadcast it to people you know. Invite your friends, family, community members, neighbors, and others in your social network to view your business profile, contribute towards your funding target, and spread the word. Post a link to your profile on any online social networking websites that your friends are on, such as Facebook^® and LinkedIn^®, or simply invite all of your friends to join you on the social funding website if it has built-in social networking tools. The more people you share your profile with, the better your chances of raising the financing you need.

For example, imagine you need to raise $40,000, and you invite 40 friends to contribute $100 each in support of your startup. You may even propose to reward them with a free trial or discount when your business is up-and-running. Each of your 40 friends invites 40 more friends to contribute. Together, 40 x 40 = 1,600 people helping to raise money for your business. If just one out of every four contributes $100, then you’ll easily reach your target.
Use Automated Payment Methods To Collect Funds
Now that you have potentially thousands of people interested in funding your business, how do you make it easy for them to send you money and for you to track all of the transactions? There are online payment processing services, such as PayPal^®, that facilitate fundraising by handling the transactions as donations or payments for goods and services. These online payment processors enable the funders to transfer funds from their bank accounts or credit cards to the entrepreneur, while making it easier for the entrepreneur to keep track of all the transactions in one place.
Keep Your Promises And Keep In Touch
After you get funded, what then? Be sure to thank your friends and family who believed in you and supported your venture. Distribute any rewards that you had promised to your funders, and be sure to keep the lines of communication open by sending them regular updates to let them know how their support has helped you fulfill the “American dream.” A great benefit of social networking sites is that it’s easier than ever to send messages and stay in touch with friends. These communications will go a long way in helping you maintain good personal and professional relationships, and your friends will be more likely to support you again in the future as funders and even as customers.

About 40Billion.com
40Billion.com is the first micro-funding platform that facilitates American small business capital fundraising through gifts and loans from an entrepreneur’s network of friends and family online. 40Billion.com’s scalable platform helps entrepreneurs raise funding more affordably through friends and family than through banks or other traditional financial institutions. Using proprietary online tools, entrepreneurs build social networks – including friends, relatives, colleagues, customers, and other contacts – and use these connections to raise capital through small business loans and gifts. Entrepreneurs create fundraising profiles and invite their connections to offer funding in exchange for discounts or potential returns. 40Billion.com, Inc. is headquartered in Atlanta, GA. For more information, visit http://www.40Billion.com.

Cornelius Colin McNab is the founder and chief executive of 40Billion.com, a micro-funding site that facilitates business capital fundraising through social networking online. Cornelius earned a bachelors degree from Yale University and a masters degree in business administration from the Sloan School at MIT.

Sign in with your LinkedIn account (Facebook too)

Now, you can sign up and sign in with your LinkedIn account!

LinkedIn is a professional social networking site with over 75 million users worldwide, many of which are U.S.-based entrepreneurs, small business owners, business school students, alumni, business partners, and potential investors and funders.

If you’re currently using LinkedIn, you could benefit from using 40Billion too. That’s why we’ve made it easy to log in to both sites with the same username and password, your profile is automatically updated, and you can invite your LinkedIn contacts to join your network on 40Billion with one click.

Go to http://www.40billion.com/login.asp and click the “Sign in with LinkedIn” button to log in now. You’ll instantly be signed in on 40Billion, and your profile (including photo, summary, education, interests, honors, etc.) will be automatically created for you, based on the information that’s already in your LinkedIn profile.

And, with your professional profile completed on 40Billion, you can raise money for your business, invest or fund businesses, network and find resources to build businesses on 40Billion.com.

Oh, and if you don’t have a LinkedIn account, you can log in with your Facebook account too!

– The 40Billion Team

Upload and download business plans

Now, you can upload your business plan to your fundraising profile, and let visitors (i.e., potential funders) download your business plan easily with just one click.

In a poll of over 140 people, we found that a good business plan is the #1 most important factor in deciding whether to fund a friend’s or relative’s business.

The best thing you can do as an entrepreneur to increase your chance of success and raise money for your business is to turn your idea into a business plan.

The second best thing you can do is upload your business plan on 40billion.com when you start a Raise.

Grab a widget! Add a custom widget on your website or blog for easier access to your business fundraising profile.

It’s easier than ever before to share and access Raises (business fundraising profiles) all over the Web. Just add a 40billion widget to your own website or blog. Simply copy the embed code and paste it into your website’s code wherever you want the widget to appear.

You can grab a widget for any Raise that you have access to on 40billion.com. Just click “Widgets” at the bottom of the page.

Want to try out an example? Visit our sample Raise and then click the Widgets link at the bottom of the page. Copy the code in the box for the widget that you want to use, and paste the code into your website or blog.

It’s just as simple as adding a YouTube video to your website or blog, and it’s FREE.

Want to learn more about 40billion.com and get tips for raising capital through people you know? Sign up for our upcoming webinar and see live demos.

Please join us for an exclusive live product demonstration of the 40billion.com business micro-funding platform. This intimate webinar and demonstration occurs weekly on Thursdays at either 2-3pm or 7-8pm Eastern Time. Reserve your seat for an upcoming webinar below.

40billion.com is the micro-funding platform that helps entrepreneurs raise capital quickly, easily, and affordably through social networking so they can start and grow successful businesses.

The #1 reason why many small businesses fail is lack of adequate funding and access to resources. 40billion.com enables friends, family, and others to form networks, in which they can raise money for businesses, support and invest in businesses, and find resources to build successful businesses.

This live demonstration will share with you all that 40billion.com has to offer and allow you to ask questions of our expert presenters.

Register for a session now by clicking a date below:

Thu, Sep 30, 2010 2:00 PM – 3:00 PM EDT

Thu, Oct 7, 2010 7:00 PM – 8:00 PM EDT

Thu, Oct 14, 2010 2:00 PM – 3:00 PM EDT

Thu, Oct 21, 2010 7:00 PM – 8:00 PM EDT

Once registered you will receive an email confirming your registration
with information you need to join the Webinar.

To your success,

The 40billion Team

Recommend your favorite entrepreneurs and funders

We recently launched a new feature for giving and receiving recommendations in your social network on 40billion.com. Just click the “Recommend” button near the top of anyone’s personal profile page in order to give them a recommendation. You must be connected to that person first.

Here’s how it works in a nutshell:

User can recommend a contact on 40billion.com with one click;
# of recommendations received is displayed on the contact’s personal profile page;
Any user can view the list of recommenders.

Get people you know to recommend you today! Your friends, family, customers, clients, classmates and others may recommend you if you ask them to, especially if it’s as easy as clicking one button.

Recommendations can add credibility and make you stand out from all the rest.

Grow your social network to over 100 people fast

40billion.com is the social funding network for entrepreneurs and people who support entrepreneurs. Whether you’re starting a business, running a business, funding a business, supporting someone you know who has started a business, or providing services to business owners, this is where you want to be!

It all starts with your social network of friends, relatives, co-workers, classmates, and other people you know. Use your social network to help you raise funding for a business, support businesses seeking funding and resources, and even acquire customers. Your personal profile page is where you can connect with people in your social network and grow your network.

We recommend building a network of at least 100 people. To add people to your network, find people already on 40billion, invite people to join, import your contacts from your email (e.g., Gmail, Yahoo Mail, AOL, or Outlook), and post to your Facebook page.

The more connections you have in your network, the more you’ll be able to accomplish… and the more fun it will be!

Use our Startup Guides to get your business up-and-running fast

Now you can access our five Startup Guides, and you can download the MP3 audio files and the quick-start templates to help get your business going fast.

Visit http://www.40billion.com/startupguides/ to get these quick and easy Startup Guides today.

In these Startup Guides, you’ll discover useful tips for:

Funding your business in 4 ways
Writing a business plan in 13 easy steps
Forming a company or incorporating
Managing your cash flow… so you don’t run out of money
Protecting your ideas and intellectual property

Go to http://www.40billion.com/startupguides/, or just click “Startup Guides” from the home page of 40billion.com!

Need to raise more money? Need more time to raise additional funding? Extend your Raise!

Did you know that you can extend your Raise for additional months? Even if your Raise has already ended, you may extend it in order to continue raising funding for your business until you reach your funding target.

To extend your Raise, just go to your account at http://www.40billion.com/my_account.asp, click “Extend” next to the Raise you’d like to extend, and add up to 6 more months of time for only $9.99 per month.

Add more time to your Raise today!

5 tips for approaching friends and family about your business

1. ASK FOR ADVICE & REFERRALS, NOT HANDOUTS

2. FORMALIZE A LOAN OR DISCOUNT

3. GIVE A PRESENTATION

4. POST ON SOCIAL NETWORKING SITES

5. KEEP IN TOUCH

New business startup guides and templates to get up and running fast

Guess what? We just posted five new audio guides to startup success, and you can download the MP3’s here and listen to them in your iPod, on your computer, or just about anywhere:

http://www.40billion.com/startupguides/

In these quick startup guides, you’ll discover useful tips for:

* Funding your business through friends & family, angels, banks, and VC’s

* Writing a business plan in 13 easy steps

* Forming a company as a sole proprietorship, partnership, LLC, or corporation

* Managing cash flow so you don’t run out of money

* Protecting your ideas and intellectual property through patents, trademarks, copyrights, and NDA’s

The first startup success guide is free for you and each additional guide is only $0.99 here:

http://www.40billion.com/startupguides/

New features to bailout small businesses and startups

In this tough economy, entrepreneurs like you are struggling to raise money to start new businesses or keep their existing businesses afloat. While big corporations are getting multi-billion dollar bailouts, who is bailing out small-business entrepreneurs? Many aspiring entrepreneurs are turning to friends and family for help during these tough times, and 40billion.com makes it easier than ever to tap into your social network and raise money for your business or idea. Here’s what we’re doing to help you, in lieu of a bailout package…

WE’VE EXTENDED YOUR RAISE

Your Raise (fundraising profile) has been extended up to one additional month, at no extra charge. Your Raise is now scheduled to end on December 13, 2008. Even if your Raise had ended, it has been reactivated with the new end date. So sign in, invite your friends and family, and start raising the money you need for your business through small loans and contributions.

WE’VE LAUNCHED NEW FEATURES

We’ve added new features and made significant improvements to help you raise money for your business. Some of these include…

* New loan document service:

Instantly generate a customized loan document to formalize a loan between friends or family, without straining your relationship.

* Posting on Facebook or MySpace:

Post links to your Raise on your Facebook or MySpace page. Increase your exposure, and allow your friends and family to access your Raise easily from your Facebook or MySpace page.

* Access to your email contact list:

Easily import your contact lists (or address books) from your existing email accounts, whether you use Yahoo, GMail, AOL, Plaxo, or Outlook. No need to type all those email addresses, when sending invitations to your friends and family.

* New default invitation messages:

You always have the ability to customize your email invitations, but we’ve made things easy for you by providing default invitation messages that are friendly and professional. Also, now when you send an invitation, the recipient does not have to sign in (or join) to view your Raise; however, they do have to sign in to offer funding and access other site features.

* New email notifications:

Now, we send you an email notification whenever you receive a loan offer or contribution, when you receive a message from someone who has viewed your Raise, and when another member grants you access to their private Raise. We do much of the work, so you can focus on your business.

…and much more.

Sign in to your account, and check out the improvements we’ve made. And with the extra time you have between now and December 13th, invite your friends and family to help you raise money for your business with a small loan or contribution towards your target.

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