DOWNLOADS - EDUCATIONAL EVENTS
The HB Network’s monthly educational events will now be recorded for your convenience if you are unable to attend an event but are interested in the content.

Click on the event to download and play the file in your browser window, or follow the instructions below to save to your computer:

To download and save on a PC: Right click the 'Download MP3' link, and click 'Save Target As'

To download on a Mac: Hold down the Control button and click. Then you can save the file to whichever folder you wish on your PC and play the message at your convenience.

If you are using another browser that has different methods, the key point is to save the MP3 files in the same way that you save other files, such as PDFs and images, via your browser.

For listeners accessing the web via a modem, the download time is significant. A 30MB file downloading through a 56 Kb modem in average conditions, will take about 70 minutes. The better your connection (Cable, DSL, etc.), the quicker the file will download.

• January 10, 2007: Home Office HR: Hiring, Firing and Day-to-Day Protocol
  30MB, 105:25 in listening length
  
  
• March 14, 2007: Hot Marketing Tips on a Shoestring Budget
  34.7 MB, Speakers: Kristy Amy, OnMark Solutions & Carol Staiger, VANTAGE Point Marketing
  
  
• April 11, 2007: IT & Your Home Office: Are You Prepared to Crash?
  34.7MB, Speakers: Toni Bradley, T&M Technology Solutions & Timothy Heikkila, Skoda, Minotti & Co.

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• COSEMindSpring.com, is COSE's peer-based virtual information portal, where members meet, exchange ideas, share experiences and grow. Powered by relevant and timely articles, discussion boards, guest editors and practical topics, small business owners connect to the necessary tools to start, maintain and grow a small business in Northeast Ohio. COSEMindSpring.com. A meeting of the minds.

• Need a conference room to hold a meeting with a client(s)? Want to get out of your home office for the day and tired of the local coffee shop? Whatever your meeting needs are, Corporate College (both east and west side locations) should be able to accommodate you. www.kedc.corporatecollege.com

• One of our favorite sites: All Business is a site for small business equipped with forms and agreements; business advice and periodicals; blogs; and general information and news. It also has an informative section for home-based businesses. www.allbusiness.com
  

• Inc.com, the Web site for Inc. magazine, delivers advice, tools and services, to help business owners and CEOs start, run and grow their businesses more successfully. You'll find information and advice covering virtually every business and management task, including marketing, sales, finding capital, managing people, and much more. Inc.com also includes the Inc. magazine archives. www.inc.com

• Entrepreneur magazine has a Web site that delivers information on how to start your business, how to grow your business, and there is a section on home-based businesses . This site also has a section for the “one person businesses,” archived articles and has a small business encyclopedia. www.entrepreneur.com

  
  

• Working Solo has been created for the fastest growing segment of the business community: the solo business owner. Within this site, aspiring and actual soloists will find an impressive array of free resources. Articles give guidance on the practicalities of operating a solo business, while emphasizing the importance of loving your own company. www.workingsolo.com

• Our very own COSE and NEOSA member , Anita Campbell, has her own Web site: www.smallbiztrends.com which brings you updates on trends affecting the small business market. She also has a radio site www.smbtrendwire.com , that features in-depth interviews with small business experts, offering not only luminaries of the small business world, but also regular business people with powerful messages because they speak with the voice of experience. You can also find archives of the shows as podcasts.

• Business Week magazine’s small business Web site is loaded with all sorts of resources for small and home-based businesses. The site also has a resource center specific to home-based businesses that covers a variety of business-related topics. www.businessweek.com/smallbiz/index.html

  
  

• Northeast Ohio’s Inside Business magazine goes behind the headlines to talk to the region’s business, political and nonprofit communities to deliver the information. Go to their Web site today to sign up for your free magazine subscription. www.inside-business.com

• The Small Business Brief Web site provides small business resources, informative articles, current news, software directory and the small business ideas forum. The Small Business Ideas Forum is a community of over 3,000 small business folks from around the world who support and encourage each other as they grow their businesses. www.smallbusinessbrief.com

• The Small Business Administration (SBA) is the authoritative source on small business loans in the U.S. The financing section of the site explains basic loan terminology and requirements for SBA-backed loans. It also includes an online checklist for what you will need to apply for a loan. This site is useful whether you are looking for a government-backed loan or any kind of loan. However , the SBA does not lend directly to small businesses. It works with lenders to reduce their risk, so that they can lend more to small enterprises and entrepreneurs. A small business owner still needs to find a lender in its local area that makes SBA loans - and create a relationship with that lender. Lending is an art form. Having a relationship with a lender can mean the difference between your loan request being approved or denied. www.sba.gov

• Growth Capital Corporation , one of Greater Cleveland Partnership's partners, extends financial assistance to local businesses with a focus on job creation in Northeast Ohio. It provides creative financing solutions to growing businesses through its SBA504 and Ohio Regional 166 loan programs in conjunction with local bank lenders. It maintains an affiliation with GCP and seeks to be the premier provider of economic development financing in Ohio. www.growthcapitalcorp.com

• NEO411.biz helps entrepreneurs locate and access the best resources to assist them as they start and build their businesses. COSE is a proud sponsor of this resource. www.neo411.biz

• The Small Business Blog Directory is a directory of small business blogs run by Denise O’Berry from Tampa, with over 425 small business blogs listed. There are now over 150 blog directory sites out there, and this directory focuses on small business. This directory does not allow spam blogs. Every site is hand-reviewed before the listing is approved: www.blogsforsmallbusiness.com/directory

  
  

• Business.gov guides you through the maze of government rules and regulations and provides access to services and resources to help you start, grow and succeed in business. www.Business.gov

• The IRS Web site has a small business section equipped with a variety of helpful resources, forms and publications. www.irs.gov/businesses/small/index.html

• This is more interesting reading than anything else: The Ewing Marion Kauffman Foundation works with partners to encourage entrepreneurship across America and improve the education of children and youth. They work with leading educators and researchers nationwide to create awareness of the powerful economic impact of entrepreneurship, to develop and disseminate proven programs that enhance entrepreneurial skills and abilities, and to improve the environment in which entrepreneurs start and grow. www.kauffman.org

• Jeff Zbar focuses on home office set-up, design, furniture, virtual offices, telework, technology and self-employment and self-empowerment. As a contract marketing writer and journalist, Jeff has penned thousands of articles, columns and essays - as well as four books and several e-books - on home business, work life balance, WAHMs & stay at home dads, business opportunity, network marketing and all facets of home-based business success. www.goinsoho.com

  The following two sites are the online companions to the magazines. You will be able to find some great articles and can perform a search for “home-based business” or “home office” to see what they come up with:

• FSB (Fortune Small Business) - money.cnn.com/magazines/fsb

• Fast Company - www.fastcompany.com/homepage/index.html

  
  

Do you know of a Web site that you think should be added to this list? If so, please e-mail cbeard@gcpartnership.com with the link and why you think it would be a helpful resource to this network. Thank you!