NextChapter Workshop: Legal, Financial and Insurance Aspects of Protecting Your Business Against Risk

Thursday, February 26, Noon, Third Floor Seminar Room, Main Library

A panel of experts will discuss legal risks to small business, including those related to form of business, compliance, registrations and filings, communications, contracts, website issues, managing relationships, classifying employees and independent contractors, and capturing and protecting intellectual property.  Additionally, you will learn about the type of insurance your business will need, including liability umbrella, data breech, key man and other forms of insurance; and how to budget for insurance, prepare for taxes, and value your business. Registration is requested. Register online, or call the Reference Desk at 847-448-8630.

Business presentations

It's easy to think of business presentations being all about Power Point, but the Evanston Public Library has a number of books that take you beyond the slides.  This is just a sampling of what you will find among our business books.  You can also read through some quick pointers provided by Forbes in their article,

9 Tips For More Powerful Business Presentations, or in the Harvard Business Review's, "How to Give a Killer Presentation."

Books: 

In the line of fire : how to handle tough questions--when it counts
Weissman, Jerry, Edition 2nd ed., Publication Date(s) 2014

Make it all about them : winning sales presentations
Keller, Nadine, 1962-, Publication Date(s) 2013

The orderly conversation : business presentations redefined
Ludwig, Dale.
Publication Date(s) 2014

Pitch perfect : how to say it right the first time, every time
McGowan, Bill,
Edition First edition.
Publication Date(s) 2014

Read more »

New York Times Business Best Sellers January 2015

   

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January 11, 2015

This Month		Business Books
1		MONEY: MASTER THE GAME, by Tony Robbins. (Simon & Schuster.) Seven steps aimed at finding financial security and creating an income for life. (†)
2		THE INNOVATORS, by Walter Isaacson. (Simon & Schuster.) Studies of the people who created computers and the Internet, beginning in the 1840s.   Also available in Large Type, and as a downloadable eBook.
3		OUTLIERS, by Malcolm Gladwell. (Back Bay/Little, Brown.) Why some people succeed — it has to do with luck and opportunities as well as talent.    Also available in Large Type, as an AudioBook on CD, as a downloadable eBook, and as a downloadable AudioBook.
4		THINKING, FAST AND SLOW, by Daniel Kahneman. (Farrar, Straus & Giroux.) The winner of the Nobel in economic science discusses how we make choices in business and personal life.   Also available as a downloadable AudioBook.
5		THE POWER OF HABIT, by Charles Duhigg. (Random House.) A Times reporter’s account of the science behind how we form, and break, habits. Also available on CDs, as a downloadable eBook, and as a downloadable AudioBook.
6		ZERO TO ONE, by Peter Thiel with Blake Masters. (Crown Business.) A co-founder of PayPal on how to build companies that create new things. (†)  Also available as a downloadable eBook and as a downloadable AudioBook.
7		HOW WE GOT TO NOW, by Steven Johnson. (Riverhead.) A history of innovation focused on the development of six key technologies of modern life. Also available as a downloadable eBook, a downloadable AudioBook, and with a companion DVD.
8		FLASH BOYS, by Michael Lewis. (Norton.) The world of high-frequency computer-driven trading, from the author of “Liar’s Poker.” Also available in Large Type and on audiobook CDs.
9		CAPITAL IN THE TWENTY-FIRST CENTURY, by Thomas Piketty. (Belknap/Harvard University.) A French economist’s analysis of centuries of economic history predicts worsening inequality and proposes solutions.
10		THIS CHANGES EVERYTHING, by Naomi Klein. (Simon & Schuster.) The author of “The Shock Doctrine” argues that the free market created and is worsening the climate crisis.

About the Best Sellers

Rankings reflect sales for December 2014.

An asterisk (*) indicates that a book's sales are barely distinguishable from those of the book above. A dagger (†) indicates that some bookstores report receiving bulk orders.

 

About logos

If you are just starting your business and you’re ready to announce it to the world, take some time to think about designing your logo.  TheNextWeb.com points out some of the most basic considerations involved when creating a logo:  7 things to think about beforecreating a logo for your startup, including typeface, the importance of starting in black and white, etc., while Entrepreneur.com’s “How to Create a Logo” offers more in-depth advice and even discusses whether or not to get your logo copyrighted.

And for a primer in logo design, CreativeBloq.com offers Logo Design: 60 Pro Tips.  In it they point out that your logo is the point of recognition on which your branding hangs, so it's important to do your homework and get the tone right.

As for making changes to an established logo, it’s important to be sure the change is pertinent to your business today, and that it is well-thought out beforehand. Business Insider offers some examples of what they believe to be The 10 Worst Corporate Logo Changes Of 2014, and why they were ill-considered.

But change can be a good thing, too, as described in Business Insider’s list of The 10 BestCorporate Logo Changes of 2014,

Social Media Marketing and the Small Business Owner

Social media is an important part of the marketing plan you create for your small business.    For in-depth discussions of social media marketing, check out books such as Shannon Belew’s “The art of social selling : finding and engaging customers on Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn, and other social networks,” or  “Social media marketing all-in-one for dummies,” by Jan Zimmerman, among others available at EPL. 

Quick guides are always available, too, like this “3-Step Beginner's Guide to Social-Media Marketing ,”  by Matthew Toren for Entrepreneur.com, in which the author suggest figuring out your MVPs: your most valuable platforms and your minimum viable platforms; or "How to Manage Your Social Media in 34 Minutes (or Less) a Day," from SocialMediaToday.com contributor Jim Belosic.

Something that might be easy to overlook when creating a social media plan is the legality of what you are posting.  Forbes.com’s Cheryl Conner tells the story of the PR nightmare that Topps is still experiencing from a promotion that inadvertently violated the privacy laws as they relate to teenagers, in “Marketing Gone Wrong: Is Your Social Media Plan Legal?”

Finally, Forbes contributor Carrie Karpen interviews Eleni Tavantzis,  Senior Manager, Social Media Marketing & Public Relations at Lilly Pulitzer.  Ms. Tavantzis has concocted what she believes is a “magic sauce,” a combination of being in the right place at the right time and being unafraid to do some professional stalking!  Read an interview with this ultra-successful social media professional in “Being A Rockstar On Social Media - Eleni Tavantzis.”