Students graduating from college today are feeling the sting of a tough economy: Only 19.7% of those who have sent out a résumé have a job, according to a recent survey by the National Association of Colleges & Employers. Even worse: Less than 60% of undergraduates have bothered to look for employment.

That’s grim news, as any college student (or parent of one) preparing to enter the workforce can attest. But that doesn’t mean students can’t dream—or that there aren’t opportunities out there—as witnessed by the record number of undergraduates who responded to Universum USA’s annual survey on ideal employers.

The research firm solicited feedback from more than 60,000 college students from across the nation on their top five places to work. Universum has given BusinessWeek the first look at its complete findings, which include the overall top 100 employers and breakdowns of the top employers for liberal arts, natural science, IT, engineering, and business majors. New trends emerged, and even a few surprises, including the relative strength of JPMorgan Chase (JPM), which beat out rival Goldman Sachs (GS) as the most sought-after financial-services firm for job seekers. (It was also the first time in more than a decade that Goldman hasn’t topped the list in that sector.) Not surprising, however, is the growing interest in the public sector—always seen as a safe haven in tumultuous times. Even better news for job applicants: Many of these employers are still hiring—although competition may be fierce.

Going for Government Jobs

Take No. 27 Lockheed Martin (LMT), which is the second most popular employer among engineering students. The aerospace and defense giant will hire 4,500 to 5,000 recent grads this year alone. Sounds great in this tough economic climate, right? But total online applications are up from 1 million last year to 1.4 million this year. Lockheed’s training programs include not only engineering tracks, but also areas such as finance, human resources, and communications.

The government also looks to be a popular destination for students this year because of the security it provides in a weak job market. Perennial favorites such as the State Dept. (No. 4), NASA (No. 8), the FBI (No. 5), and the Peace Corps (No. 7) are among the top 10 overall employers this year.

Some public-sector newcomers such as the Energy Dept. (No. 22) also appear to be on students’ radar for the first time. Why the jump in popularity? “One thing that has helped is the message from the current Administration,” says George Waldmann, director of the Employment Solutions Div. “Science and innovation is definitely a priority, and I think that has helped us in the marketing of our employment opportunities. [The Energy Dept.] is more visible.”

Investment Banking’s Popularity Falls

Not surprisingly, the industry that took perhaps the biggest hit in terms of student popularity is investment banking. The investment banks included in the top 100 fell an average of almost 20 spots from last year.

But some banks did hold up better than others: JPMorgan (No. 19) surpassed rival Goldman Sachs (No. 21) for the first time in the 14 years Universum has conducted the survey. “[JPMorgan has] a very dedicated CEO who’s been quite visible,” says Universum USA CEO Claudia Tattanelli. “They were probably on campus a little more and also more visible because of the commercial banking, too.”

That helps, but how does Morgan sell students on investment banking with the current unrest in the markets? “It’s challenging and [young people] have an ability to make an impact,” says Sheri Denmark, JPMorgan’s global head of investment banking recruiting.

Still, the place where students really want to work is Google (GOOG)—No. 1 for three years running. However, this year the victory was by a much smaller margin than in years past. “They’ve pulled back a little on recruiting,” says Tattanelli, adding that students are also “looking at a larger number of companies,” out of necessity in today’s tough market. In the past, she notes, students relied more on big brands in choosing ideal employers. Now they’re more concerned with who actually has jobs and will serve as a safe and secure employer.

Stable Employment Would Be Nice

Companies that stress work/life balance continue to be a top characteristic of an ideal employer for the students surveyed—but more so for women than men. Seventy percent of women listed this as a top priority and 60% of the men put this on their list. Furthermore, only 26% of women surveyed mentioned “leadership opportunities” among the most important characteristics of an ideal employer, whereas 41% of men said this was of the utmost importance.

But when it comes right down to it, students want what they’ve always wanted: a good, steady paycheck.

In the section of the Universum survey that asks students to expand on the factors that went into their choice of ideal employers, stability was a constant refrain. “A very prestigious and reliable company,” said one student of Ernst & Young. “A solid organization with a stable history,” said another of the FBI. “A position at NASA would be very stable,” said another about the U.S. space agency.

On the flip side, some expressed their concerns about a lack of security at other employers. One worried about “an uncertain future given the current economic conditions” at JPMorgan, for instance.

And while JPMorgan and other employers on our list admitted to some belt tightening around perks, recruiting and developing young talent still remains a top priority. “We want to have the right dialogues with [interns] from a mentoring and coaching perspective,” says JPMorgan’s Denmark. “What is not important is a cocktail party or serving bagels and lox.” Nor is that what today’s job-hunting undergrads are looking for in an ideal employer.

Click to view a slide show of Universum’s 25 Ideal Employers.

[via BusinessWeek] By Lindsey Gerdes

Check out these great online web tools for small business shared by Inc, Magazine. Great ideas here.

Find Out Who is Visiting Your Website

Demandbase lets you know when those blue-chip customers are knocking at your virtual door. Its free real-time ticker analyzes your visitors’ IP addresses and compares them with information from sources such as Dun & Bradstreet and LexisNexis. With those data, Demandbase can tell you the names of the companies at which many of your visitors work. Click on a company name, and Demandbase will sell you the name and contact information for a lead at that company. Demandbase has been called the iTunes of CRM, and it’s almost as affordable: The average cost per lead is just $1.80.

Calendar, Meet Social Networking

LuckyCal aims to make it easier for you to meet up with friends or business contacts. The free Web tool, which launched in December, integrates your work and personal calendars with those of your employees, friends, and business associates (as long as they give you permission). The main benefit could be for road-weary sales teams; LuckyCal will scan your colleagues’ and clients’ Outlook calendars and Facebook profiles and e-mail you when they are in your area. LuckyCal plans to charge for an enterprise version that launches later this year.

Reduce Your Carbon Footprint

Three new software programs can help companies cut carbon emissions. Edison (verdiem.com/edison), CO2 Saver (co2saver.snap.com), and Carbon Control Software (carboncontrolsoftware.com) all use Windows power settings to reduce the energy consumed by computers while they are idle. All the programs provide information on how much carbon you have saved, and Edison estimates how much money you have saved as well. The personal versions of the programs are free. Carbon Control Software’s business version costs $10.50 and up per license per year and Verdiem, the maker of Edison, has a corporate version that sells for $20 per computer per year. It may be worth the price: Globally, IT infrastructure emits as much carbon as the aviation industry, according to research firm Gartner.

Ditch That Phone Tree

Fonolo.com has mapped out the automated customer service phone trees of 200 companies. Log on, click on the department you want to reach (reservations at American Airlines, for example), and Fonolo will make the call, navigate the system, and call you when it has reached your desired department. When we used it to call Citibank, it connected us with a rep in less than 20 seconds, compared with two minutes when calling directly. Fonolo has an iPhone app as well.

Save Money on Travel

When you cancel a flight, you are entitled to a refund of the taxes and fuel charges you paid — even on a nonrefundable ticket. For 25 euros ($32), MissRefund.com will get that money for you. The company has secured refunds as large as $262; the average is $101. If you don’t receive a refund, you don’t have to pay. Meawhile, Vayama.com is an airfare booking site focused on routes and destinations that aren’t generally available online, like Seattle to Denpasar, Bali. But it doesn’t always have the best prices, particularly on run-of-the-mill trips, so make sure to shop around. Airfarewatchdog.com scours listing sites such as Travelocity and Orbitz to find the best deals, even on small airlines like Allegiant. And Yapta.com will alert you when a good price appears on the flight you want. If the price falls after you have bought the ticket, Yapta will, for $15, try to get you a refund or credit for the difference.

Name Your Price for Coding Help

The world’s largest community of software developers and graphic designers is now ready to serve small companies. Since 2001, TopCoder has been holding coding and design competitions to help companies like ESPN develop new software tools, websites, and logos. Late last year, it launched TopCoder Direct, a do-it-yourself version that allows small and midsize companies to get in the game. Log in at topcoder.com/direct, describe what you want, and determine how much money you will award the first- and second-place finishers. When the submissions come in, you pick the best. A prototype for a simple website might cost $1,200.

Skype on Steroids

Chances are you have a cell phone, a work phone, a home phone, a couple of e-mail accounts, and maybe an instant-messaging program. With free software from VoxOx, you can keep them all in one place. Import contacts from all of your e-mail and IM accounts. Then, e-mail, IM, text, or call anyone you know, all through VoxOx. Every user gets a phone number, which shows up in the caller ID of the person receiving the call. If someone uses the number to call you, you can pick up at the computer or have the call forwarded to any phone. But there is one drawback: VoxOx gives users only two free hours of calls. Then, you can either pay a fee or get more free calls by watching ads.

[via INC MAGAZINE]

From iPod and BlackBerry to Twitter and Wikipedia, we take a look at the processes and people who came up with the names for these iconic tech products.

Coming up with a great technology product or service is only half the battle these days. Creating a name for said product that is at once cool but not too cool or exclusionary, marketable to both early adopters and a broader audience, and, of course, isn’t already in use and protected by various trademarks and copyright laws is difficult—to say the least.

The makers of these 10 tech products—the iPod, BlackBerry, Firefox, Twitter, Windows 7, ThinkPad, Android, Wikipedia, Mac OS X and the “Big Cats,” and Red Hat Linux—all have displayed certain amounts marketing savvy, common sense and fun-loving spirit in settling on their products’ names. Here are the intriguing, surprising and sometimes predictable accounts of their creation.

[Check out the Slideshow on CIO.com]

Twitter is the canary in the coal mine of public opinion — for celebrities, politicians, and, of course, corporations. When European discount carrier Ryanair lashed out at “lunatic bloggers” after a Web designer reported a glitch on the airline’s site, its online reputation dipped as low as its fares. Conversely, Mars got a sweet treat when it posted Skittles-related tweets on its Web site, learning immediately how people felt about the candy.

Twitter’s explosion from microblogging curiosity to mass-media phenomenon [0] has awakened a lot of companies to just how fast memes spread on the Internet today. Make a mistake like Ryanair’s — or Johnson & Johnson’s offensive Motrin ads last winter — and the response is brutal. Get it right like shoe retailer Zappos and bask in the love. How can you know if your canary is singing or dead? These tools will help you monitor not just Twitter but everywhere the online conversation involves your brand.

TweetDeck [1]. To follow the raging tweetstream, you need a dashboard. This free download splits your Twitter feed into subgroups, letting you follow shout-outs (@replies) in one window and specific searches in other views. For instance, Pepsi could follow Mountain Dew, Gatorade, Tropicana, and Frito-Lay in four different search fields, receiving instant feedback on announcements and ad campaigns.

Scout Labs [2]. Need to monitor feedback on your new product? Scout Labs reads blog posts and social-networking comments from around the globe and judges them by their words and tone. The sentence “I love Amazon but the Kindle 2 is disappointing” gets properly parsed as a positive comment for Amazon but a negative one for its e-reader. This ultra-targeted approach allows clients such as Charles Schwab, HP, and Netflix to follow comments in real time and react quickly. Pricing starts at $99 a month for five searches.

BlogPulse [3]. This free feature from Nielsen Online searches the blogosphere for what’s happening with your brands. Type in a few keywords and track the number of mentions over the past six months, and view them in a handy fever chart. You can also trace the roots of a Web conversation and learn more about key Web influencers.

Vanno [4]. It’s Digg for reputation. Readers vote on news stories, opinion, and gossip about more than 5,800 companies, and Vanno mashes it up into a numerical score. The free site tracks these companies based on 25 topics, including job satisfaction, customer service, and social responsibility. At press time, Cisco was No. 1.

CoTweet [5]. This free service (currently in limited beta) allows multiple people to tweet from the same user name, using software to replicate the success of Zappos’s hundreds of staff bloggers, including CEO Tony Hsieh, within one account. Employees can delegate tasks, track conversations, schedule posts, and best of all, identify the people behind the brand.

TNS Cymfony [6]. If you need a more heavyweight tool (starting at $40,000 a year), TNS Cymfony goes beyond simple keyword analysis across the Web and analyzes grammar. It also includes crisis PR solutions that track key bloggers, journalists, and consumers. (Nielsen Online’s Buzzmetrics [7] service offers similar features.) During the past Super Bowl, TNS Cymfony reported that the teaser for the anticipated summer hit Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen earned seven times the buzz of the average ad during the big game.

Use these seven tools and you won’t have to worry about revenge; your brand will be transformed into an agile, respected member of the Web’s social swirl.

For marketers, Web 2.0 offers a remarkable new opportunity to engage consumers.

If only they knew how to do it.

That’s where this article aims to help. We interviewed more than 30 executives and managers in both large and small organizations that are at the forefront of experimenting with Web 2.0 tools. From those conversations and further research, we identified a set of emerging principles for marketing.

But first, a more basic question: What is Web 2.0, anyway? Essentially, it encompasses the set of tools that allow people to build social and business connections, share information and collaborate on projects online. That includes blogs, wikis, social-networking sites and other online communities, and virtual worlds.

Millions of people have become familiar with these tools through sites like Facebook, Wikipedia and Second Life, or by writing their own blogs. And a growing number of marketers are using Web 2.0 tools to collaborate with consumers on product development, service enhancement and promotion. But most companies still don’t appear to be well versed in this area.

So here’s a look at the principles we arrived at — and how marketers can use them to get the best results.

Web 2.0 tools can be used to do what traditional advertising does: persuade consumers to buy a company’s products or services. An executive can write a blog, for instance, that regularly talks up the company’s goods. But that kind of approach misses the point of 2.0. Instead, companies should use these tools to get the consumers involved, inviting them to participate in marketing-related activities from product development to feedback to customer service.

How can you do that? A leading greeting-card and gift company that we spoke with is one of many that have set up an online community — a site where it can talk to consumers and the consumers can talk to each other. The company solicits opinions on various aspects of greeting-card design and on ideas for gifts and their pricing. It also asks the consumers to talk about their lifestyles and even upload photos of themselves, so that it can better understand its market.

A marketing manager at the company says that, as a way to obtain consumer feedback and ideas for product development, the online community is much faster and cheaper than the traditional focus groups and surveys used in the past. The conversations consumers have with each other, he adds, result in “some of the most interesting insights,” including gift ideas for specific occasions, such as a college graduation, and the prices consumers are willing to pay for different gifts.

Similarly, a large technology company uses several Web 2.0 tools to improve collaboration with both its business partners and consumers. Among other things, company employees have created wikis — Web sites that allow users to add, delete and edit content — to list answers to frequently asked questions about each product, and consumers have added significant contributions. For instance, within days of the release of a new piece of software by the company, consumers spotted a problem with it and posted a way for users to deal with it. They later proposed a way to fix the problem, which the company adopted. Having those solutions available so quickly showed customers that the company was on top of problems with its products.

Give consumers a reason to participate.

Consumers have to have some incentive to share their thoughts, opinions and experiences on a company Web site.

One lure is to make sure consumers can use the online community to network among themselves on topics of their own choosing. That way the site isn’t all about the company, it’s also about them. For instance, a toy company that created a community of hundreds of mothers to solicit their opinions and ideas on toys also enables them to write their own blogs on the site, a feature that many use to discuss family issues.

Other companies provide more-direct incentives: cash rewards or products, some of which are available only to members of the online community. Still others offer consumers peer recognition by awarding points each time they post comments, answer questions or contribute to a wiki entry. Such recognition not only encourages participation, but also has the benefit of allowing both the company and the other members of the community to identify experts on various topics.

Many companies told us that a moderator plays a critical role in keeping conversations going, highlighting information that’s important to a discussion and maintaining order. That’s important because consumers are likely to drift away if conversations peter out or if they feel that their voices are lost in a chaotic flood of comments. The moderator can also see to it that consumer input is seen and responded to by the right people within the company.

And, of course, it’s important to make a site as easy to use as possible. For instance, there should be clear, simple instructions for consumers to set up a blog or contribute to a wiki.

Listen to — and join — the conversation outside your site.

Consumers tend to trust one another’s opinions more than a company’s marketing pitch. And there is no shortage of opinions online.

The managers we interviewed accept that this type of content is here to stay and are aware of its potential impact — positive or negative — on consumers’ buying decisions. So they monitor relevant online conversations among consumers and, when appropriate, look for opportunities to inject themselves into a conversation or initiate a potential collaboration.

For example, a marketing manager of a leading consumer-electronics company monitors blogs immediately after a new-product launch in order to understand “how customers are actually reacting to the product.” Other managers keep an eye on sites like Digg.com and Del.icio.us that track the most popular topics on the Web, to see if there’s any buzz around their new products, and whether they should be adjusting, say, features or prices.

In one case, a company found a popular blogger who had spoken highly of the company’s brand. Just prior to launching a new product, the company sent the blogger a free sample, inviting him to review it with no strings attached. The end result: The blogger wrote a favorable review and generated a flood of comments. So the company got nearly free publicity and feedback.

Peter & Maria Hoey

Resist the temptation to sell, sell, sell.

Many marketers have been trained to bludgeon consumers with advertising — to sell, sell, sell anytime and anywhere consumers can be found. In an online community, it pays to resist that temptation.

When consumers are invited to participate in online communities, they expect marketers to listen and to consider their ideas. They don’t want to feel like they’re simply a captive audience for advertising, and if they do they’re likely to abandon the community.

The head of consumer research for a leading consumer-electronics organization created an online community of nearly 50,000 consumers to discuss product-development and marketing issues. One of the key principles of the community, she says, was “not to do anything about marketing, because we weren’t about selling; we were about conversing.”

In short order, community members not only identified what it was they were looking for in the company’s products, but also suggested innovations to satisfy those needs. The company quickly developed prototypes based on those suggestions, and got an enthusiastic response: Community members asked when they would be able to buy the products and if they would get the first opportunity to buy them. They didn’t have to be sold on anything.

Don’t control, let it go.

In an online community, every company needs to find an effective balance between trying to steer the conversation about its products and allowing the conversation to flow freely. In general, though, the managers we interviewed believe that companies are better off giving consumers the opportunity to say whatever is on their minds, positive or negative. Moderators can keep things running smoothly and coherently, but they shouldn’t always keep the conversation on a predetermined track. The more that consumers talk freely, the more a company can learn about how it can improve its products and its marketing.

One marketing executive recalled the first time she let an online community created for a client interact with very little control or moderation, resulting in an animated discussion about the look of the company’s product. The client, with great concern, asked. “Who told them [the consumers] they could do this, that they could go this far?” Of course, when this process resulted in totally new packaging that helped boost sales, the client was ecstatic.

As another executive of a company that creates online communities for clients told us: “You have to let the members drive. When community members feel controlled, told how to respond and how to act, the community shuts down.”

Find a ‘marketing technopologist.’

So who should direct a company’s forays into Web 2.0 marketing? A number of managers identified an ideal set of skills for an executive that go beyond those of a typical M.B.A. holder or tech expert. We coined the term marketing technopologist for a person who brings together strengths in marketing, technology and social interaction. A manager said, “I’d want to see someone with the usual M.B.A. consultant’s background, strong interest in psychology and sociology, and good social-networking skills throughout the organization.”

Foot soldiers need to be carefully selected as well. One large technology company weighs employees’ proven skills to choose writers for blogs that are read by consumers. The company has long used blogs internally to help employees discuss technical issues, products, and company and industry topics. When it decided to use blogs to raise its profile online, it recruited those who had shown the most skill at blogging within the company. The company currently has about 15 employees who blog publicly, mostly on technology trends, and is recruiting more the same way. Meanwhile, the bloggers plan to meet occasionally to share the lessons learned from their experiences.

Embrace experimentation.

One Web 2.0 strategy does not fit all, and sometimes the best way to find out what’s best for a given company is to try some things out and see what happens.

Blogs, wikis and online communities are among the tools that companies are most commonly using for marketing, but there are other ways to reach consumers. Some of the companies we talked with have gotten their feet wet in the online virtual world Second Life, where millions of users interact with each other through avatars. Companies can sell their goods and services and sponsor events in Second Life just as they do in the real world; one sponsored a contest for the best avatar.

Others are considering new ways to use more-familiar tools. For instance, many companies have long used instant messaging on their Web sites to allow shoppers to chat with customer-service representatives. One executive we spoke with said he would like to experiment with allowing consumers to chat with each other as they shop on his company’s site.

[via WSJ Small Business] By SALVATORE PARISE , PATRICIA J. GUINAN and BRUCE D. WEINBERG

For the above entrepreneurs, wearing pajamas for a day at the office isn’t far from reality. From pet care to virtual assistants and even online dating, we found entrepreneurs who are not just enjoying work from their living rooms and bedrooms, but they are also making a good living at it. In one case, a business owner grossed $10 million in a year, and cleared half that amount. Here’s a look at the hottest industries for home-based entrepreneurs — illustrated with some fun CEO self-portraits.

Pet Care — Paul Mann, Fetch! Pet Care

Virtual Assistant — Tawnya Sutherland, VAnetworking.com

Bargain Hunting Website — Karen Hoxmeier, MyBargainBuddy.com

Accounting Services — Melissa Nash Andrews, Accounts Receivables

Technical Staffing — Bill Foster and Ruben Santana, XRoads Consulting

Home Improvement and Organization — Allan Young, ShelfGenie

Green Construction — Nic Darling, Chad Ludeman, and Courtney Ludeman, Postgreen

Graphic Design Services — Sam Feuer, Mindsmack.com

Resume Writing — Kathy Sweeney, The Write Resume

Corporate Educational Services — Joseph Pickett, Experts Briefings

Online Dating Site — Markus Frind, PlentyofFish

Get your business going, keep it going strong or take it in a new direction with this compilation of web sites for entrepreneurs.

At last count there were approximately 10 gazillion websites out there. Where’s a business owner to start when looking for valuable information? If you’re reading this, it means you’re on Entrepreneur.com, which is a good start. Read on for 64 more vital online spots you should know about.

Accounting Terminology Guide
http://nysscpa.org/prof_library/guide.htm
If you need to know what a specific accounting term means, no matter how obscure, this is the site for you. Hosted and maintained by the New York State Society of CPAs, nearly 500 accounting terms are defined on this site, all sorted in an easy-to-use alphabetical list.

AccountingWEB
www.accountingweb.com
Updated daily, this site offers accounting industry news, information, tips, tools, resources and insight–everything you need to prosper and interact with other accounting professionals.

Adweek Online
www.adweek.com
This is the online edition of Adweek, a popular print magazine focusing on all things advertising and marketing. This site features the inside scoop on what’s going on in the marketing departments of high-profile companies and corporations.

American Association of Franchisees and Dealers
www.aafd.org
This organization represents the rights of both franchisees and dealers. Here you can learn about upcoming events, read some free publications online, order other publications from the bookstore, and become a member.

Backpack
www.backpackit.com
Backpack is a web-based service that makes organizing your company’s information easy. Backpack lets you make pages that can contain any combination of notes, to-dos, images, files and so on.

Better Business Bureau
http://us.bbb.org
Browse or search for a business or charity’s reputation. Included are instructions for how to file a consumer or B2B complaint.

BizBuySell
www.bizbuysell.com
Looking to buy a franchise? There’s a good chance you’ll find one here. From restaurants in California to auto shops in Florida, you can search more than 25,000 businesses currently for sale, many of which are franchised.

Bizwomen
www.bizwomen.com
Bizwomen is an online community for women business executives and entrepreneurs to connect, support one another, learn and grow. You can share and explore ideas with women across the United States or in your neighborhood to help grow your business.

Business Owner’s Tool Kit
www.toolkit.com
With an emphasis on problem solving, this site features more than 5,000 pages of free cost-cutting tips, step-by-step checklists, real-life case studies, startup advice, and business templates to small-business owners and entrepreneurs.

Business Owners Idea Cafe
www.businessownersideacafe.com
Managed by successful entrepreneurs and the authors of several guides on forming and running a business, this site includes numerous award-winning resources, along with practical advice, business news and humor.

BrandChannel.com
www.brandchannel.com
Run by internationally acclaimed brand consultancy Interbrand, BrandChannel.com provides a global perspective on brands and the art of branding. Site features include in-depth feature articles, conference announcements, career resources and access to white papers.

Brandweek
www.brandweek.com
A leading source of news and information for the branding industry, it’s also the only online trade magazine to offer saturation coverage at all levels of the brand-activation process.

Catalyst
www.catalystwomen.org
Catalyst is a leading corporate research and advisory organization that works with businesses to build inclusive environments and expand professional opportunities for women.

Chief Marketer
www.chiefmarketer.com
A content-rich website, Chief Marketer provides marketing executives with insights into key marketing issues, innovations and practical solutions.

CPAdirectory
www.cpadirectory.com
When April rolls around and you find yourself scrambling to find a CPA, this site will help. Billed as “the largest online database of Certified Public Accountants,” here you can search for CPAs by ZIP code, name, industry or area of specialty.

Customer Service Group
www.customerservicegroup.com
New Jersey-based Alexander Communications Group (ACG) uses this site to provide practical information free of charge to customer service professionals. If you work in the customer service industry, be sure to sign up for Service Starters, ACG’s free customer service industry eNewsletter.

Customer Service Manager
www.customerservicemanager.com
If you work in customer service, this website is for you. Here you will find an active community of customer service professionals, along with daily news, reviews, articles and resources aimed at improving customer service.

Customer Service Zone
www.customerservicezone.com
Customer service expert Robert Bacal’s website for customer service professionals, The Zone offers information to help businesses of all sizes and their employees provide efficient and effective customer service.

Direct Marketing Association
www.the-dma.org
The Direct Marketing Association is the largest trade association for businesses that are interested and involved in direct, database and interactive global marketing. Here you can learn more about the DMA, become a member and access its services.

Electronic Frontier Foundation: Intellectual Property
www.eff.org/issues/intellectual-property
EFF works to preserve balance and ensure that the internet and digital technologies empower consumers, creators, innovators, scholars, and average citizens. This section of the EFF website spotlights current challenges and solutions facing the intellectual property rights of everyone.

Entrepreneur.com / WomenEntrepreneur.com
www.entrepreneur.com/ womenentrepreneur.com
Published by the same people who bring you Entrepreneur magazine, this is an excellent site for entrepreneurs, featuring a solid collection of articles and tips from experts, plus hundreds of links to other entrepreneurial resources on the web. WomenEntrepreneur.com offers additional articles, blogs and resources specific to women for starting and growing their businesses.

Entrepreneur Connect
econnect.entrepreneur.com
Entrepreneur‘s social networking site is a gathering place for thousands of business owners. Take part in discussions, join like-minded business owners in groups, and give and receive valuable advice from the trenches.

Entrepreneur.com’s Trade Publication Directory
www.entrepreneur.com/tradepublication/category/index.html
Don’t miss one of the internet’s largest searchable databases of trade publications. From agriculture and biotech to purchasing and procurement, Entrepreneur.com has your industry’s trade publication listed here.

Fambiz.com
www.fambiz.com
Fambiz.com is the internet’s leading website for owners and employees of family controlled companies. Managed by Northeastern University’s Center for Family Business, here you will find insight on every family run business topic imaginable.

Federal Trade Commission: Franchise and Business Opportunities
www.ftc.gov/bcp/franchise/netfran.htm
This site has lots of information, including an FAQ section, Guide to the FTC Franchise Rule, consumer alerts, Before You Buy pamphlets, and state disclosure requirements.

Franchise.com
www.franchise.com
Learn more about available franchise opportunities or advertise your franchise to potential buyers at this site, which aims to connect franchise buyers and sellers, as well as anyone thinking of starting one.

Franchise Expo
www.franchiseexpo.com
If you’re thinking about buying a franchise, do your research here; you’ll find detailed information on nearly every franchising opportunity known to man.

Franchise Zone by Entrepreneur.com
http://www.entrepreneur.com/franchises
Dedicated to linking enthusiastic entrepreneurs with the top franchises, this site provides all the information you need to find the best franchises and become a successful franchisee. How-to articles, advice from experts and lists of the top franchises in various categories make this the first site to turn to for those considering the purchase of a franchise.

FreshBooks
www.freshbooks.com
FreshBooks is an online invoicing and time-tracking service that helps businesses of all sizes save time, get paid faster and look professional.

Fundability
www.fundability.com
Fundability is a marketplace where entrepreneurs and investors can find funding success. Founded by entrepreneurs and investors, Fundability’s Company SnapShot, Deal Search Engine, and DiligenceRoom provide intelligent online tools for the savvy entrepreneur.

Glide
www.glidedigital.com
Glide is a complete mobile desktop providing a secure and scalable platform for personal and collaborative computing.

Google Checkout
www.googlecheckout.com
This online payment system works alone or as an alternative to systems already in place. Customers don’t have to share credit card information with merchants that use the system, and identity protection is increased.

Google Docs
www.google.com/docs
The folks at Google deliver a free web-based word processor and spreadsheet, which allow you to share and collaborate online. Google Docs accepts most popular file formats, including DOC, XLS, ODT, ODS, RTF, CSV, PPT, and more.

Hoover’s
www.hoovers.com

Hoover’s gives you access to up-to-date information about industries, companies and key decision makers. Great for professionals working in sales, marketing, business development, and others who need intelligence on U.S. and global companies, industries, and the people who lead them.

Idea Locker
www.bkfk.com
One of the best invention/patent sites on the Web for novice innovators of all ages, this site is specifically designed for kids. It provides information on how to invent, famous inventors and discoveries.

Internal Revenue Service
www.irs.gov
Business owners can get all of their federal and business tax information–not to mention forms–directly from the source. It’s also a good place to stay current on tax laws that affect business owners.

Jobfox
www.jobfox.com
Started by the former CEO of CareerBuilder.com, Jobfox walks you through creating a skills inventory and then tells you which employers are looking for people with those exact skills. The Jobfox site also provides a free trackable resume and career web page to showcase your skills, experience and work samples.

Kauffman Foundation
www.kauffman.org
The Kauffman Foundation delivers an up-to-date and relevant website dedicated to furthering our understanding of the phenomenon of entrepreneurship and to advancing entrepreneurship education and training. Check out the Resource Center for getting started information on business operations, sales and marketing, human resources, finance and accounting, and the like.

LinkedIn Jobs
www.linkedin.com/jobs
Whether you’re looking for a new job or trying to help someone else find the perfect job, LinkedIn can help you find and get in touch with the people you need to contact. Create a profile and click the Jobs tab to get started.

Microsoft Small Business Center
www.microsoft.com/smallbusiness
A vehicle for selling various Microsoft small-business products, this site also provides plenty of excellent information and advice entirely for free. If you’re starting or running your own small business, Microsoft’s Small Business Center is an excellent place to learn from the experts.

Mint
www.mint.com
Entrepreneurs can get help with the personal finances, money management and budget planning. In addition, Mint offers free financial planning software.

National Association for the Self-Employed
www.nase.org
The NASE provides its self-employed members with support, education and training. The organization conducts surveys relevant to the needs of the self-employed and posts articles business owners can use.

National Association of Women Business Owners
www.nawbo.org
NAWBO is a fierce advocate for women business owners, providing resources and support. It can help women get access to government contracts that most business owners don’t know about.

PayPal
www.paypal.com
Perhaps the best-known payment system, PayPal allows web sites to receive and send money electronically. Business owners and customers find PayPal easy to use–and secure.

Salesforce.com
www.salesforce.com
Easy-to-use web-based customer relation management tools for your entire company, including online solutions for sales, service, marketing, and call center operations.

Small Business Administration
www.sba.gov
Here you can learn how to start your own business and finance it. The site also provides information on business opportunities, local SBA offices, laws and regulations, and much more.

Survey of Current Business
www.bea.gov/scb
The monthly Survey of Current Business is the definitive source of information by the U.S. Bureau of Economic Analysis about its economic accounts. Monthly updates present the latest national, international, regional, and industry estimates, and keep business leaders up to date on relevant BEA issues and initiatives.

Survey Monkey
www.surveymonkey.com
Put your finger on the pulse of your customers with this free basic service. Create and publish custom online surveys to gather data you can use.

TradePub.com
www.tradepub.com
If you’re looking for a trade publication, you’re likely to find it here. This site features an extensive list of free business, computer, and engineering trade newsletters and magazines, all of which you can subscribe to for free.

U.S. Chamber of Commerce
www.uschamber.com
Find your local branch, figure out how to start, learn about new taxes and much more at the national Chamber of Commerce site.

U.S. Copyright Office
www.copyright.gov
Find all of the forms, publications and information you need to copyright your original work.

U.S. Department of Labor: Office of Small Business Programs
www.dol.gov/osbp
The OSBP promotes opportunities for small businesses, especially disadvantaged businesses, women-owned businesses, HUBZone businesses and businesses owned by disabled veterans.

U.S. Patent and Trademark Office
www.uspto.gov
Official site for searching the U.S. patent database. Includes international treaties, statutes and patent news.

VentureDeal
www.venturedeal.com
Easy-to-use database with the latest information on U.S.-based venture-backed technology companies, senior management, company financings, and M&A transactions. Updated daily, this site offers a convenient way of accessing critical information related to business development, funding searches and venture capital investment goals.

VisualCV
www.visualcv.com
VisualCV reinvents your resume using technologies that transform the way in which resume data is presented, accessed and shared. VisualCV allows you to easily build and manage online career portfolios that come alive with informational keyword pop-ups, video, pictures and professional networking.

Wesabe
www.wesabe.com
The site offers financial advice, analysis and planning for business owners.

Word of Mouth Marketing Association
www.womma.org
Official website of WOMMA, where you can find the latest thinking on a variety of Web 2.0 marketing strategies, including word of mouth marketing.

Work.com
www.work.com
The small-business owner’s manual on where to go, what to know, and how to get the most value from the ever-growing array of web resources for business. The site features more than 2,000 how-to guides written by business experts and organized by common business tasks and challenges.

Women’s Work
www.wwork.com
Women’s Work is dedicated to helping women move from standard 9-to-5 jobs to flex careers–telecommuting, small business and other options. This site is packed with articles, advice, how-to guides, flexible career choices, and success stories to inspire and motivate.

Wufoo
www.wufoo.com
Wufoo is a web-based application that removes inefficiency and tediousness from the form-building process. Wufoo reduces what used to take trained professionals days (if not weeks) into something that can be done by anyone in minutes.

Yelp
www.yelp.com
Yelp provides a fun and engaging website for “passionate and opinionated influencers to share the experiences they’ve had with local businesses and services.” Watch out because “yelping” can be quite addictive.

Zimdesk
www.zimdesk.com
Zimdesk provides all the features and functionality you would expect from a standard desktop PC. The difference is that Zimdesk runs from an internet browser, allowing you to access all your applications, files, games and accessories from any computer.

Zoho
www.zoho.com
Zoho offers a suite of office productivity tools online, including a word processor, spreadsheet program, invoicing tool, presentation creator, web-conferencing functions and calendar organizers.

This list was compiled by the Entrepreneur.com staff, with a major assist from Mikal E. Belicove, author of the 2009 Internet Directory: Web 2.0 Edition.

[via Entrepreneur]

“It’s time to bail out the people and the planet,” says Van Jones [1], author of The Green Collar Economy: How One Solution Can Fix Our Two Biggest Problems [2]. We agree, and this guide to to sustainability-focused career paths will help retrofit and solar-charge your work life.

The TOP TEN GREEN JOBS FOR THE NEXT DECADE:

Farmer

America has only two million farmers, and their average age is 55. Since sustainable agriculture requires small-scale, local, organic methods rather than petroleum-based machines and fertilizers, there is a huge need for more farmers — up to tens of millions of them, according to food guru Michael Pollan. Modern farmers are small businesspeople who must be as skilled in heirloom genetics as marketing.

Schools: University of Vermont: Center for Sustainable Agriculture; Stone Barns Center For Food & Agriculture in New York State; University of Oklahoma: Kerr Center for Sustainable Agriculture; Evergreen State College: degree in Sustainable Agriculture.

Related careers: urban gardener; farmers market and CSA coordinator; artisanal cheesemakers; and other food producers.

Forester

Modern forestry is a complex combination of international project finance, conservation and development. According to the World Bank, a staggering 1.6 billion people depend on the forest for their livelihoods. Foresters help local people transition from slash-and-burn to silviculture–teaching cultivation of higher-value, faster-growing species for fruit, medicine or timber, for example while carefully documenting the impact on the environment. Deforestation, which causes around a quarter of all global warming, is also likely to be a leading source of carbon credits worth tens of billions of dollars [3].

Schools: Yale School of Forestry and Environmental Studies; Duke University: Nicholas School of the Environment; University of Michigan: School of Natural Resources & Environment.

Companies/organizations: The Nature Conservancy; New Forests Inc.

Solar Power Installer

Making and installing solar power systems already accounts for some 770,000 jobs globally. Installing solar-thermal water heaters and rooftop photovoltaic cells is a relatively high-paying job–$15 to $35 an hour–for those with construction skills. And opportunities are available all over the United States, wherever the sun shines. Currently over 3,400 companies in the solar energy sector employ 25,000 to 35,000 workers. The Solar Energy Industries Association predicts an increase to over 110,000 jobs by 2016 — even more if anticipated tax credits are accelerated [4].

Companies: Akeena Solar; Sungevity; Sunpower; Full list at SEIA.org.

Energy Efficiency Builder Buildings account for up to 48 percent of US energy use and greenhouse gas emissions. LEED, the major green building certification, has over 43,000 accredited professionals [5]. But the cutting edge in efficient buildings goes far beyond LEED. Buildings constructed according to Passivhaus and MINERGIE-P standards in Germany and Switzerland, respectively, use between 75% and 95% less heat energy than a similar building constructed to the latest codes in the US. Greening the US building stock will take not only skilled architects and engineers, but a workforce of retrofitters who can use spray foam insulation and storm windows to massively improve the R-value (thermal resistance) of the draftiest old houses. A study by the Apollo Alliance recommended an $89.9 billion investment in financing to create 827,260 jobs in green buildings — an initiative supported by the Obama stimulus package, which specifically mentions energy retrofits [6].

Schools: Arizona State University School of Architecture: Energy Performance Climate-Responsive Architecture; University of Michigan: Alfred A. Taubman College of Architecture + Urban Planning; The Earth Institute at Columbia University.

Wind Turbine Fabricator

Wind is the leading and fastest-growing source of alternative energy with over 300,000 jobs worldwide. Turbines are 90% metal by weight, creating an opportunity for autoworkers and other manufacturers to repurpose their skills. According to the American Wind Energy Association [7], the industry currently employs some 50,000 Americans and added 10,000 new jobs in 2007. Their job board [8] is an excellent place to start looking for opportunities.

Companies: Vestas; Siemens; GE Energy.

Conservation Biologist The granddaddy of diversity, E.O. Wilson, famously called conservation biology — a discipline with a deadline. The urgent quest to preserve the integrity of ecosystems around the world — and to quantify the value of — ecosystems services — leads to opportunities in teaching, research and fieldwork for government, nonprofits, and private companies. The forthcoming economic stimulus package from the Obama administration offers the prospect of increased federal support for science and research [9].

Schools: Center for Conservation Biology at the University of Washington and the Center for Conservation Biology at Stanford University. At the small College of the Atlantic [10] every student gets his or her degree in human ecology; it’s been called the most sustainable college or university in the world.

Green MBA and Entrepreneur

The concept of the triple bottom line [11] has migrated from the margins to the mainstream of the business world. A recent report by the U.S. Conference of Mayors, Mayors Climate Protection Center found that business services like legal, research and consulting account for the majority of all green jobs — over 400,000. This includes everything from marketing to the LOHAS (Lifestyles of Health and Sustainability) segment, to serving as a VP of sustainability within a large company, to piloting a green startup like Method or Recyclebank.

Schools: Stanford School of Business; San Francisco’s Presidio School of Management; Leeds School of Business; University of Colorado at Boulder — Deming Center for Entrepreneurship; the Bainbridge Graduate Institute in Wash.

Recycler The total number of recycling jobs in the United States is at more than 1 million, according to recent reports [12] (PDF, right click to save). Although the market for paper and plastic has slowed down recently due to the economic downturn, demand for steel is still strong — 42 percent of output came from scrap in 2006 — and recycling remains the economical alternative to high disposal fees. Worldwide more than 200,000 people work in secondary steel production, and the US is a major center of production. New laws and regulations [13] are also creating a need for specialized companies that can close the loop by recycling and repurposing e-waste, clothing, plastic bags, construction waste, and other materials.

Companies: Rumpke; Greenstar North America.

Sustainability Systems Developer The green economy needs a cadre of specialized software developers and engineers who design, build, and maintain the networks of sensors and stochastic modeling that underpin wind farms, smart energy grids, congestion pricing and other systems substituting intelligence for natural resources. Coders with experience using large scale enterprise resource planning have an edge here, as well as developers familiar with open source and web 2.0 [14] applications.

Companies: IBM, V2Green, WindLogics

Urban Planner Urban and regional planning is a linchpin of the quest to lower America’s carbon footprint. Strengthening mass transit systems, limiting sprawl, encouraging use of bicycles and deemphasizing cars is only part of the job. Equally important is contingency planning, as floods, heat waves and garbage creep become increasingly common problems for metropolises. Employment in this sector is projected to grow 15 percent by 2016, and the jobs are mainly in local governments, which make them a slightly safer bet for the downturn.

[via Fast Company] by Anya Kamenetz

The most sacred of American annual rites is upon us: sitting through an over-hyped football game to see cutting-edge TV ads that occasionally rival feature films for production value and creativity.

But this year it isn’t just about television — the spotlight’s online.

Some of America’s biggest brands are experimenting with viral ads, user generated ads, online remixes and web-only versions that are too-hot-for-TV.

“The broad ‘digital swing’ this year is striking,” said Tim Lefkowicz, president of Collective Intellect, an online marketing company based in Boulder, Colorado.

Some familiar faces like General Motors and FedEX have decided to punt this year, but NBC has nearly sold out its Super Bowl XLIII ad inventory at up to $3 million for a 30-second spot. It’s worth it: Viewership always reaches stratospheric levels for the game, approaching 100 million people in the U.S. alone and about a billion worldwide.

It’s a challenge and an opportunity, and every year the bar is raised. This may be the year that geeky cred plays a big part in pushing the envelope.

“In years past only smaller, more tech-savvy companies relied heavily on digital methods, in large part due to the high cost of a Super Bowl second, but also because they understood the values and habits of its core consumer better,” said Lefkowicz.

This year, brands as big as Miller, Doritos, PepsiCo and Hyundai Motors are running ads with a major online component.

Doritos is experimenting online this year with an ad consisting entirely of user generated content. “Crash the Super Bowl” had people submit their own ads and vote on the which one should appear in the official spot.

The winner gets an additional $1 million if the ad makes it to the number one spot on USA Today’s Ad Meter. The online gallery of submissions includes a man chasing a bag of chips around the floor after teasing a cat with a laser pointer, and a guy who discovers the power of “The Crunch” where a woman loses her clothes and a policeman turns into a monkey.

Rather than a heartfelt note, it’s always more fun to mark joyous/saddening occasions with a snarky message that cuts the recipient to the core — but how to crush them in a classy way? By taking the E out of your burning greetings, with Hard Cards.

Launched late last year by the most natural of duos, a Warner exec and a college professor, Hard Cards boast misleadingly earnest wishes on their fronts followed by cutting, anti-sentimental statements inside on simply designed, 100% recycled soy-ink-printed card stock — so you’ll feel good about helping the world while making others feel like the complete freaking losers they are. Occasion options run the gamut from birthdays to weddings, including these outside/inside highlights:

Sympathy: “I’m sorry you’re going through a rough time right now/but if you’d quit making s#itty decisions this wouldn’t happen.”

Holiday: “Happy Holidays/In lieu of a present, I donated money in your name to an orphanage in Guatemala. I bet you’re upset, but you can’t really say that because then you’d be a jerk who hated orphanages.”

Romance: “You’re so hot/I rarely imagine you’re someone else when we have sex.”

Hard’s constantly adding new cards, and’re talking about expanding to email greetings sometime in the future — for when you’ve surrendered all pretensions of classiness, and sure as hell aren’t buying a stamp.

Salute the snark at HardCardsRule.com

[via Thrillist]