At the GrowSmartBiz conference, Randy Windsor of Network Solutions gave a great small business tip presentation onf SEO and SEM. Check out the video below:
Small Business Success Index 5
| Index Score* | Grade | ||
| SBSI INDEX | 73 | C- | ![]() |
| Capital Access | 67 | D+ | ![]() |
| Marketing & Innovation | 65 | D | ![]() |
| Workforce | 76 | C | ![]() |
| Customer Service | 88 | B+ | ![]() |
| Computer Technology | 75 | C | ![]() |
| Compliance | 92 | A- | ![]() |
| *Index score is calculated on a 1-100 scale. | |||
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Author Archive
#GrowSmartBiz Video: SmallBiz Quick Tips: SEO/SEM Randy Windsor Network Solutions
September 30th, 2009 :: Shashi Bellamkonda#GrowSmartBiz Video Panel 2: Raising Capital w/ Effective Finance Strategies
September 30th, 2009 :: Shashi Bellamkonda
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Shannon Nash, Nash Management Group
Shannon King Nash is a CPA, attorney, author, and entrepreneur. She is the President of theNash Management Group, an entertainment and business management firm based in Los Angeles and Atlanta that represents venture funds, entertainers, producers, foundations/non-profits, high net-worth individuals and companies. She is also a partner with Atlanta-based Register Lett LLP, a boutique law firm specializing in entertainment, media, corporate and intellectual property law.
Shannon is the author of the award-winning book For the Love of Money: The 411 to Taking Control of Your Taxes and Building Your Net Worth. This practical financial empowerment book uses popular songs (from Marvin Gaye to Snoop Dogg) to teach valuable finance and tax lessons. She also wrote the Vault Guide to Tax Law Careers and Helping the Nonprofit Client. She has been featured as a tax, finance and legal expert in numerous publications, including: Global Finance Magazine, Jet Magazine,Essence Magazine, Ebony Magazine, ABC News Online, Upscale Magazine, The Chronicle of Philanthropy, Bankrate.com, L.A.Parent Magazine and The Washington Times. She was recently featured on the cover of the April issue of Black Enterprise. In addition, she served as the finance expert on episodes of BET’s “The Center” and Style Network’s “Modern Girls Guide.” Shannon received her BS in Accounting from the University of Virginia McIntire Schoolof Commerce and her JD from the University of Virginia School of Law. You can find her on Twitter@shannonnash.
Kristina Bouweiri, Reston Limousine & Travel Service, Inc.
Kristina Bouweiri is President, CEO, and co-owner of the Washington, DC metropolitan area’s largest limousine/shuttle service, Reston Limousine & Travel Service, Inc., nationally ranked 27th in size. Offering high-quality transportation and a proven record of safety and customer service, Reston Limousine also has a proud legacy of business leadership and philanthropic support.
Kristina is a well-known business leader in the Dulles Corridor area. She is active as a member and board member with numerous organizations, including Loudoun CEO Cabinet, Loudoun and Dulles Regional Chambers of Commerce, Committee for Dulles, eWomenNetwork, and Leadership Loudoun. An ongoing supporter of philanthropic work, especially children’s causes, Kristina assists Make-A-Wish Foundation, Juvenile Diabetes, and the International Children’s Festival. Reston Limousine annually provides over $100,000 through gifts-in-kind to charities.
The Washington Business Journal named Kristina one of the 50 most powerful and influential women in Washington. She has been featured in business publications such as Washington SMARTCEO, Enterprising Women, Limo Digest, and Limousine & Chauffeured Transportation. In demand as a mentor for other women in business, Kristina frequently serves on panels and makes presentations, sharing her insight and business experience.
Denise O’Berry, The Small Business Edge Corp.
Denise O’Berry is the author of “Small Business Cash Flow: Strategies for Making Your Business a Financial Success” a book about how to get, manage and keep your cash flow on an even keel and where it belongs — in your business.
A small business owner since 1996, Denise has worked with hundreds of small business owners over the years and is inspired by their enthusiasm and ability to overcome huge obstacles. She provides small business tools, tips and advice to small business owners around the world via her Just for Small Business column and shares additional small business tips at her website. Find Denise on twitter at @deniseoberry.
Jeremy Brown, Rapid Advance, LLC
Jeremy Brown is President and COO of RapidAdvance LLC, a Bethesda based specialty finance company that provides working capital to small and medium-sized businesses. Since inception in October 2005, RapidAdvance has provided over 13,000 financing transactions to over8,000 unique businesses. A typical customer of RapidAdvance accepts credit cards and generally has a permanent place of business other than their home such as a retail storefront, office or warehouse. Funds are typically used for business expansion, acquisition of another location, purchase of equipment or inventory, stocking for an upcoming busy season, to pay off debt, or for other business purposes. As Jeremy likes to say, “We finance Main Street America!” RapidAdvance provides financing in all 50 states, in Canada with the exception of Quebec Province, and the U.K and Ireland.
Jeremy has 20 years experience as an entrepreneurial C-level executive running start-up and mature businesses in a variety of service industries, including stints as COO of a meetings and conventions services company with 50 locations in North America; President and CEO of a commercial construction contractor with 500 employees; and President of a retail computer company. Jeremy knows what it means to meet a payroll, grow a business, take care of the customer, finance expansion, and when necessary, empty the trash cans.
Jeremy is also President of the North American Merchant Advance Association (NAMAA), the industry association of companies that provide similar types of alternative financing solutions. Jeremy has been quoted and profiled in various industry publications as an expert in the field of alternative small business finance solutions.
In an earlier life Jeremy was a CPA, but don’t hold that against him!
Edward S. Tuvin, Capital Bank, N.A.
Eddie Tuvin holds the position of First Vice President for the direct lending programs of Community South Small Business Lending Group as well as co-manager of sales for CSB’s national wholesale loan securitization program to other lenders.
Tuvin is serving his second consecutive term as a federally appointed District Advisory Council Member to the United States SBA Washington Metropolitan District. He has testified to the The Senate Committee on Small Business on several occasions during the past 2 years and acted as the representative of the National Association of Government Guaranteed Lenders (NAGGL). Mr. Tuvin has been a licensed Maryland Real Estate Broker in good standing for more than twenty years. Tuvin has completed financings for small business such as technology companies, restaurants, hotel/motels, gas stations, automotive repair centers, liquor stores, and various franchise operations.
Mr. Tuvin is licensed by the National Association of Securities Dealers (NASD) as a Registered Investment Advisor (RIA) and is the investment manager for several private accounts. He co-developed a sophisticated hedging strategy for Operating Partnership Units of REIT shares (article in Real Estate Finance Journal, Spring 2000 edition). He is the Managing General Partner of the Tuvin Family Partnership, a real estate and investment partnership. He was a co-founder of Chesapeake Interlink, Ltd., a company that utilized cutting edge 4th generation programming languages to provide customized applications on Digital Equipment platforms.
#GrowSmartBiz Video : Senator Mark Warner Speaks to Small Businesses
September 30th, 2009 :: Shashi BellamkondaSpecial Note: Mark R. Warner, U.S. Senator from the Commonwealth of Virginia
Mark R. Warner was elected to the U.S. Senate in November 2008, and serves on the Senate’s Banking, Budget, Commerce and Rules committees. He served as Governor of Virginia from 2002-2006 after spending 20 years as a business leader in the high-tech industry.
He gave a great speech at the GrowSmartBiz Conference. Check out the video below:
More about Senator Warner
Senator Warner was the first member of his family to graduate from college, earning a degree from The George Washington University, thanks to part-time jobs and student loans. He received a law degree from Harvard in 1980.
As a private citizen and philanthropist, Mark Warner helped create the Virginia Health Care Foundation, which has provided health care to more than 600,000 under-served Virginians, and SeniorNavigator.com, a referral network for older Virginians and their caregivers.
As Governor of Virginia, Mark Warner inherited budget shortfalls that ultimately grew to $6 billion. He left office four years later with a budget surplus that allowed Virginia to make the largest single investment in K-12 education in state history, key reinvestments in one of the nation’s best public university systems, and record investments in the clean-up of the Chesapeake Bay.
In 2004, Warner chaired the National Governors Association, and TIME Magazine named him one of “America’s Five Best Governors” a year later. Governor Warner’s bipartisan, results-oriented focus resulted in Virginia being designated as the nation’s “best managed state” and its “best state for business.”
He lives with his wife, Lisa, and three daughters in Alexandria, Virginia.http://warner.senate.gov/
#GrowSmartBiz Video : Panel 1: Driving Small Business Performance w/ Marketing and Innovation
September 30th, 2009 :: Shashi BellamkondaThe first panel of the 2009 GrowSmartBiz Conference addressed how small businesses could increase their productivity and performance through sound marketing and innovation. The panelists included folks like:
- John Arnold (Contant Contact)
- Marissa Levin (Information Experts)
- Ramon Ray (SmallBizTechnology)
- Bob London (London, Ink)
To read more on the live blogging coverage, check out Ken’s post here. You can see the video of the session below?
Marissa Levin, Information Experts
As Founder and CEO of Information Experts, Marissa Levin leads IE’s efforts to create technology-based integrated communications solutions, human capital strategies, and learning strategies for government agencies and for organizations across a wide range of vertical markets. Marissa has led the organization’s entry into the federal market to achieve a sizeable presence in more than 14 agencies spanning all facets of government (civilian, defense, and intelligence), the capture of multiple GSA schedules, the award of the highly competitive OPM TMA Human Capital and Training Contracts, and many others.
Marissa has become known throughout the regional business community as a leader and visionary. She is also the Women’s Entrepreneurship columnist for the DC Examiner, and is a regular columnist for http://www.womengrowbusiness.com and Yahoo. Under her leadership, Information Experts was recently named as a small business success story for USAID, and was named to the Inc. 5000 List of America’s Fastest Growing Companies for 2009. She was also named as a 2008 BRAVO Award winner by SmartCEO Magazine, has been named as a 2009 SmartCEO Smart 100 participant, and also named as one of Washington’s Top 100 Technology Titans for 2009 by Washingtonian Magazine.
Additionally, Marissa has been featured in USA Today, The Washington Post, The Washington Business Journal,Working Mother Magazine, Washington Woman Magazine, Washingtonian Magazine, BisNow, and on CBS as a successful woman business owner and working mother.
Bob London, London, Ink
Bob London is president and founder of London, Ink, a marketing and communications consulting firm that helps organizations define and prioritize their products and services based on what the market wants — or doesn’t want — to buy. In pioneering the Virtual VP of Marketing concept, Bob works with established and early-stage companies who aren’t ready for the cost and commitment of a full-time marketing executive to assess their market opportunity, determine the strategic options and develop a practical go-to-market plan.
Bob has successfully managed marketing initiatives with annual budgets ranging from the $150 million network tv launch of MCI Friends & Family (back when network tv really meant something) to $75 (seriously!). His work and writing has been profiled or covered by the Wall Street Journal, Washington Post, Miami Herald, USA Today and Marketing News, the AMA’s flagship magazine, and he recently spoke at Network Solutions’ Unintentional Entrepreneur series. While building London, Ink, Bob has also become known as a serious networker who continually leverages face to face and online networking channels to generate targeted awareness of his business — an approach he has dubbed, “Cloud Marketing.” He is also a published business humor writer — samples can be seen at Bob-servations.com.
John Arnold,
John Arnold is a leading marketing speaker, author, and web marketing expert specializing in email marketing, web marketing, and mobile marketing strategies. John is the author of E-Mail Marketing for Dummies and co-author of the comprehensive desk reference Web Marketing All-In-One for Dummies.
Ramon Ray, SmallBiztechnology.com
Ramon Ray, technology evangelist, is an author, speaker and the editor ofSmallbiztechnology.com. Since 1986, Ramon has been using computers and was first “online” in 1995. He is the author of “Technology Solutions for Growing Businesses”, has written hundreds of technology articles and posted thousands of technology news items on Smallbiztechnology.com. His content is syndicated and read by thousands of readers. He has written technology articles for Entrepreneur, Allbusiness, Inc Magazine, Black Enterprise Magazine, New York Enterprise Report, CNet, Var Business, TechTarget and other media.
Ramon is not simply a technology writer, but as a former technology consultant, has years of hands on experience in building networks, installing software, upgrading computers, configuring mobile technology and supporting the technology small businesses use on a daily basis. He is often quoted in the media, including Entrepreneur Magazine, Inc Magazine, WCBS Radio, Crains New York, National Federal of Independent Business, Small Business Advocate Radio Show and has been invited to speak at events including the United States Small Business Administration Service Core of Retired Executives “Strategies for Succeeding in Business”, Inc 500, PC Expo, Internet World, American Woman’s Economic Development Corporation and Business Development Institute events.
Distinctions: Manhattan Chamber of Commerce, Member of the Board of Director’s and Technology Committee Chairperson, Jim Blasingame’s Small Business Advocate Radio Show, Brain Trust Member IBM, Small Business Expert Panel
Steve King, Emergent Research
Steve is a founding partner at Emergent Research where he leads ongoing research to identify, analyze and forecast the trends and shifts impacting the small business sector of the U.S. and global economies. He also researches the impact of the Internet and connective technologies on media and marketing.
Prior to founding Emergent Research, Steve held a number of executive, general management, and marketing positions with both large and small corporations. He is a Senior Fellow and board member at the Society for New Communications Research and an advisory board member at Pond Ventures.
Regularly quoted in the media and an active public speaker, Steve contributes to US News & World Report, the American Express Open Forum, Intuit’s Small Business United blog and other on and offline publications. Steve blogs on his research at www.smallbizlabs.com.
#GrowSmartBiz Video : SmallBiz Quick Tips: Brand Building 101- Anthony Pappas
September 30th, 2009 :: Shashi BellamkondaAt the GrowSmartBiz conference, Anthony Pappas of the Pappas Group gave a great 10 minute presentation on the power of brands. To see the full presentation, check out the video below:
About Anthony Pappas
As the founder of the Pappas Group, Anthony Pappas defines the overall creative direction for the company’s clients, most recently leading the rebranding initiatives of Blackboard, Inc, Discovery Education, Network Solutions, and Destination DC.
Prior to starting Pappas Group in 2003, Anthony held the position of Senior Vice President/Executive Creative Director of Proxicom’s Brand & Experience Group from 1996-2003. During this tenure, he was responsible for leading, developing and executing creative strategy and interactive marketing/design initiatives for Proxicom’s global client roster.
His accomplishments at Proxicom included being appointed Executive Creative Director after the company was named “interactive agency of record” for Mazda North America; producing the interactive campaign for the launch of MCI’s national “IP Telephony over the Web” initiative; and leading the concept creation, identity development, information design and multimedia work for more than 50 Fortune 500 clients such as NIKE, General Electric, Timberland, Merrill Lynch, Mercedes-Benz Credit Corporation, Cole Haan, Liz Claiborne, PepsiCo, MCI, Marriott, Gap Inc, Intel, Microsoft, Marriott, Quikbook.com and the Intel Travel prototype.
Prior to Proxicom, Anthony spent seven years in the “traditional advertising arena,” working with organizations such as Saatchi & Saatchi and Grey Advertising. He also did extensive art direction work in film, television and commercial industries. Clients included: McDonalds, Pepsi, Mellow Yellow, Warner Bros (Batman).
Live WebCast of the #GrowSmartBiz Conference Sept. 29th 2009
September 28th, 2009 :: Shashi BellamkondaThe GrowSmartBiz conference is taking place on Tuesday 29th September at the Renaissance Hotel Washington DC and the tickets are selling fast. The GrowSmartBiz conference s a premier one-day event featuring renowned small business leaders and well-known industry experts, including keynote speaker Chris Anderson and Sen. Mark Warner.
We also have some great news for folks who are far away and cannot make it in person. You can watch the conference live and most sessions will also be online for viewing on demand later. We will be usingLiveStream for this service
How to watch the webcast live :
1) Go to http://livestream.com/networksolutions
2) Refer to the Agenda /Schedule for timings http://cli.gs/smartbizagenda
3) Chat in the LiveStream chat room or watch the Twitterstream at : http://twubs.com/growsmartbiz/
There may be last minute changes in timings and schedule but we are working hard to give the best value to our guests with a knowledge and resource packed agenda. Of course we would love to see you onsite to have the opportunity to network with the Speakers and attendees and also every attendee gets a copy of Chris Anderson’s book “FREE’ for free There will be plenty of networking time and all attendees will receive a bag of useful business resources including a free domain name from Network Solutions, Free Business Planning Software from Palo Alto Software, a copy of Chris Anderson’s book, and actionable tips that business owners can begin working on for tangible results.
Pre event tweetup: http://cli.gs/rNp22d
Agenda: http://cli.gs/smartbizagenda
Live webcast of the Conference: http://livestream.com/networksolutions
Twitter Stream: http://twubs.com/growsmartbiz/
Small Business Success Index on Fox Business News
April 1st, 2009 :: Shashi BellamkondaRoy Dunbar CEO of Network Solutions talks with Jenna Miller about Small Business and the Economy Today on Fox Business News.
Reporter & Analyst Relations Contact
Susan Wade, Director of Public Relations
703.668.5057 or swade@networksolutions.com
Blogger Relations Contact
Shashi Bellamkonda, Social Media Swami Phone: 703.668.5309 Mobile:
240-421-9223 AIM: shashi1508 Twitter: @Shashib @netsolcares Email: smedia@networksolutions.com








