Archived Webinars

If you’re like many small business owners, you often feel like your financials are out of control.  Why not learn how to use cash flow and budgeting to understand where your money is going.  Cash flow is the bane of every business owner’s existence.  Most people do it by the seat of their pants or try to get their accountant/ bookkeeper to assist them.  The premise of this workshop is that with a minimal use/ understanding of Excel, a business owner can really take charge of his or her finances.  How?  By creating very simple forecast models that can be changed as events change or changed based on different assumptions of revenues and expenses.  In this FREE webinar, Alan uses a projected image of a typical business and, with input from the group, make simple changes based on ideas or concerns from the participants.  Participants will also get sample templates.

Many would-be entrepreneurs are at a loss about what kind of business to start. You’ve dreamt about becoming your own boss and controlling your financial destiny, but what kind of venture is the right fit?

Developing an Idea for a Startup Businessis a FREE– one-hour webinar that will help you with your decision-making. You’ll discover that inspiration can come from many sources and learn about a wide array of catalysts.

Entrepreneurs come in all shapes and sizes. Many people dream of starting their own business, but are not suited for the challenge.

"Entrepreneurship: Is it for Me? is extremely helpful in trying to answer that question," said Mary-Anne Wolf, North Billerica, MA, North Billerica.

How do you feel when someone from the press calls you for an interview? Media coverage can be a terrific asset for raising or enhancing the profile of your business or nonprofit, but only if you're ready to handle the process.

If you want to feel confident instead of concerned, Ventureneer’s FREE Meet the Media webinar will walk you through the steps of preparing to engage with any journalist, no matter what the medium. You'll learn about the kind of information you need to know in advance of an interview, techniques for framing a successful discussion, and how to manage difficult conversations.

 

Refining your profile and your organization’s profile are only the first step in using LinkedIn to build your nonprofit. If used to its full extent, LinkedIn can source donors, prospective board members and volunteers, showcase your organization’s and take you into donor markets not otherwise tapped. The door is there, for those who have the key.

• Optimize your private profile
• Create a compelling organization profile
• Join and participate in industry and other peer groups effectively
• Arrange to meet people you do not know, using connections: donors: board members, volunteers
• Add blogs, tweets, advertising and presentations to your profile
• Ask questions to your peer group
• Become an expert answerer

Entrepreneurs come in all shapes and sizes. Many people dream of starting their own business, but are not suited for the challenge.

The recession has resulted in a flood of applications for each advertised position. With so many applicants to choose from, how do you insure you are interviewing and the highest quality candidates? 

This FREE one hour webinar will provide the basics on how to make sure your candidate interview pool is as competitive as possible. Topics covered include:

• Translating a job description into core competencies
• Reviewing resumes efficiently based on core competencies
• Constructing interview questions that evaluate core competencies
• Developing interview assignments, or projects, to evaluate key competencies
• Keeping consistent records for the evaluations of each applicant

LinkedIn is one of the most powerful tools consultants and small business owners have to network to new people, market their services and sign on new business.  But like everything else, it has to be used correctly for optimal results. In this interactive seminar, you will learn how to:

• Optimize your private profile
• Create a compelling company profile
• Join and participate in industry and other peer groups effectively
• Arrange to meet people you do not know, using connections
• Add blogs, tweets, advertising and presentations to your profile
• Ask questions to your peer group
• Become an expert answerer
• Bonus: top 10 tips and techniques, or as Marc calls it, “The Proper Care and Feeding of LinkedIn.” 

Many would-be entrepreneurs are at a loss about what kind of business to start. You’ve dreamt about becoming your own boss and controlling your financial destiny, but what kind of venture is the right fit?

Developing an Idea for a Startup Businessis a FREE– one-hour webinar that will help you with your decision-making. You’ll discover that inspiration can come from many sources and learn about a wide array of catalysts.

Entrepreneurs come in all shapes and sizes. Many people dream of starting their own business, but are not suited for the challenge.

If you’re like many small business owners, you often feel like your financials are out of control.  Why not learn how to use cash flow and budgeting to understand where your money is going.  Cash flow is the bane of every business owner’s existence.  Most people do it by the seat of their pasts or try to get their accountant/ bookkeeper to assist them.  The premise of this workshop is that with a minimal use/ understanding of Excel, a business owner can really take charge of his or her finances.  How?  By creating very simple forecast models that can be changed as events change or changed based on different assumptions of revenues and expenses.  In this FREE webinar, Alan uses a projected image of a typical business and, with input from the group, make simple changes based on ideas or concerns from the participants.  Participants will also get sample templates.

 How do you know if planned giving is right for your nonprofit? It’s a question being asked by a lot of board members and organization executives, but many don’t know where to go for the answer. This one hour webinar will address which nonprofits should pursue this form of fundraising, the bare bones basics needed for success and the not so bare bones in weighing the pro’s and con’s of this program so the decision can be made based on your own situation. One size does not fit all but this webinar will give you the tools to judge for yourself.

• Exactly what is planned giving?
• Why a nonprofit would need (or not need) planned giving?
• What is needed to get a planned giving program up and running?
• What are some possible pitfalls?
• When is the best time to start a planned giving program?
• How long does it take to see results and what are reasonable expectations?
• How can success be judged?

Self reflection does not come easily to most people or most organizations. Yet, we know that to be at the top of our game, we need to be clear and rigorous about our goals, analyze our process and our achievements and go back and do it over and over again. Further, we recognize that for an organization to be a winner, everyone must share the same expectations and be committed to the same outcomes.  This now becomes even more important when we face a serious economic crisis that affects how we operate and what we can afford to do. 

• Who are the right people and how do you involve them?
• What is truly your core mission?
• What are essential programs and services and how do you know they are effective?
• Are all staff created equal?
• How can you stretch your dollar?

The premise of this FREE webinar is that all businesses, regardless of their size, age or locations, have a brand identity.  A brand is the sum of the good, bad and the ugly or your business.  It’s also defined by your receptionist and the music your customers hear when place on hold. Your brand is what you promise and what you deliver. It is this later point that REALLY matters to small businesses – You cannot afford to make false promises.  My goal is to first present some of the basic elements of good branding and then demonstrate how small and/or start-ups can use many of these techniques to define or refine their brand. In this webinar, I will engage the participants by challenging them on some of their pre-conceptions on what’s makes a brand and then do some exercises to get them to hone in or drill down on what’s distinctive about their product or service.

Find out how to squeeze savings out of your IT spending without sacrificing productivity. In this highly interactive FREE webinar, we’ll discuss easy low cost tools that will not only improve network performance but increase staff morale. Topics for discussion include:

• How to negotiate vendor contracts in the current fiscal environment
• Using lower cost alternatives that perform the same or better than the tools your organization is currently using
• Freeing up resources from IT projects that have become stuck
• Best practices in projecting IT expenditures
• Delaying projects during this environment without impacting uptime and performance