Professional Business Network

Too many people say to themselves: Im just not creative. But creativity is a skill that can be developed with practice and dedication. Its about solving problems and refusing to take no for an answer. The most creative people I know ignore whats widely accepted in favor of the unconventional. Lets face it: some of the best ideas like cellphones, for example  were once considered too out there.

But exercising your creativity shouldnt be a chore. Sitting alone in a room, forcing yourself to come up with new ideas is unproductive. Let yourself be inspired and stimulated by the world around you. In the early stages of idea generation, its not about whats actually feasible.

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Anston House will remain as it is for now

A development with towers up to 160-foot tall overlooking a historic park has been rejected.

The Anston House site in Preston Road, Brighton, has been derelict for nearly 25 years.

Urban Splash and Investec bank hoped its plans would help ease the housing crisis and provide space for the city’s growing digital sector.

But, after hundreds of locals said they feared the development would overshadow nearby Preston Park, Brighton and Hove City Council’s planning committee rejected the scheme at its meeting today (April 24).

It is not known if the developer will appeal the plans to the Government planning inspector, which could leave the council with a legal bill.

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It doesn’t matter what kind of content you have, if it isn’t strong content, then your visitors will leave. Your content must do three things really well.

1. First, it’s got to keep your site visitors informed about key information related to your niche.
2. Secondly, it’s got to present you as a subject matter expert without making a sales pitch.
3. And thirdly, it’s got to interest your audience in wanting to learn more about your business.

Content that does these three things is really strong content.

Before I went out and started producing all kinds of content that nobody is going to care about, I’d start with coming up with some content goals. Your goals should state what you want your content to accomplish. You should also discuss the types of content you want to produce and how much of each kind of content you want to produce. Finally, yo

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Wednesday, May 8, 2013, 1:00 p.m. EDT
2360 Rayburn House Office Building
Small Business Committee
Retrospective Review: Have Existing Regulatory Burdens on Small Businesses Been Reduced?

Thursday, May 9, 2013, 10:00 a.m. EDT
2360 Rayburn House Office Building
Small Business Subcommittee on Health and Technology

The Health Insurance Fee: Impact on Small Businesses

Ever have an employee who, no matter what you tried, just couldn’t get it right, and in effect was undermining your business and your profits?

Who’s to blame? And what should you do about it? A friend of mine, George, owns a piano tuning company and was having problems with one of his employees, Joe. No matter what George tried Joe was a thorn in his side.

You see, a while back, George needed help at his growing piano tuning company and he knew Joe was out of work and could use a job. So, George hired Joe. Initially Joe just helped with moving pianos, but when a slot opened up to tune pianos, Joe asked if he could have it.

The problem emerged within a few months when George noticed, while one out of ten pianos seemed to be getting tuned just fine, most weren’t.

George figured maybe it was an issue of motivation. He figured, Joe, just lacked incentive. So Ge

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In harmony: Marilyn and Elvis gear up for the BAHBAs

The final call has gone out for entries for a business awards.

Businesses across the city have until the end of this week to submit their entries to the eighth Brighton and Hove Business Awards, in association with The Argus.

There are 14 trophies up for grabs, including new categories of MD of the Year, Business Beyond the City and the Professional Services Award.

Previous winners of the Brighton and Hove Business Awards include tailor Gresham Blake, The Book Nook, Hotel du Vin, Relentless Software, Jurys Inn Hotel, Green Mop Limited, Infinity Foods, Duke of York’s Picture House, Brighton Dome, Brighton Festival, Dockerills and Sussex University. <

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The Small Business Act, amended by the National Defense Authorize Act of 2013, mandates that the OSDBU Director must concentrate on their advocacy responsibilities for small businesses and prohibits them from holding any other position. During a hearing, last month, the Veterans Affairs Director of OSDBU admitted that he is also performing the job of Director of the Center for Veterans’ Enterprise, an office that primarily serves an auditing function rather than promoting small businesses.

Graves wrote in the letter, “As you know, the National Defense Authorization Act of 2013 (NDAA), Public Law 112-239, made significant changes to the organization and duties of each of the Offices of Small and Disadvantaged Business Utilization (OSDBU).” 

The recent changes to the Small Business Act elevate the Director of OSDBU position to a senior acquisition leader in the agency and prohibit the Director from holding any other position so they can concentrate on their small business advocacy responsibilities. The Read Full Post…