In the NewsU.S. to Help Banks in Distressed AreasThe Treasury Department will invest up to $1 billion from the federal bank bailout fund in small banks and credit unions that make loans to small businesses in some of the communities most ravaged by the economic downturn, officials announced on Wednesday. NYtimes.com Management & Operations How To Develop Your Global Leadership Pipeline To stay competitive in your industry and accomplish your goals, it is important to have strong leadership. This stems from executives, managers, and even entry-level employees, as they develop skills for improving the... [Read Full Article]

Viral videos are all the craze these days, with online marketers putting out videos they hope will raise brand awareness and set consumers beating a path to the store, but come on, Microsoft! Does it have to get this viral? At some point, you have to think about what your marketing efforts are going to do to your brand. So, now that you have seen it, let me ask you a question. Assuming that you are not Firefox, Chrome, Opera, or Safari aficionado; based on this poor woma... [Read Full Article]

  Government and Economy Obama: Financial Sector Will Shrink According to President Obama, the financial sector will make up a smaller part of the US economy as new regulations put an end to what he calls "massive risk-taking." Yahoo.com/Reuters SBA Redefines Small Business to Expand Help The Small Business Administration has temporarily expanded its definition of 'small' to make more loans available to auto dealers, but potential borrowers still face many obstacles before they see the money. CNNMoney.com [Read Full Article]

  Government and Economy Obama's Plan: Its Effect on Entrepreneurs The President didn’t offer new proposals geared directly at entrepreneurs, but he did discuss several new plans that will certainly affect them. The Wall Street Journal President’s Budget Overview Backs $28 Billion in Small Business Credit for FY 2010 President Barack Obama’s FY 2010 Budget Overview offers full support for the U.S. Small Business Administration’s credit programs, authorizing SBA to support loan guarantees of $28 billion to small businesses. Small Business Administration [Read Full Article]

We've often spoken about the benefits of social and viral networking for your business, but it's difficult to demonstrate a lot of the practices without an in-person demonstration. In order to remedy that, the folks at SEOMoz have made a nice video on how to use viral marketing to market your blog. If used right, their advice could be applied to marketing your business as a whole as well. [Read Full Article]