Here are some great lessons from a clear winner in their field.  This article shares Google's 10 Golden Rules of  Management.  Below is the link and we've summarized these for you into one short list.  Very insightful and it seems to help people give the company their very best.

• Complete Article from MSNBC

Google's Ten Golden Rules (see article for details on each)

1. Hire by committee.
2. Cater to their every need.
3. Pack them in.
4. Make coordination easy.
5. Eat your own dog food.
6. Encourage creativity.
7. Strive to reach consensus.
8. Don't be evil.
9. Data drive decisions.
10. Communicate effectively.

From Inc.com: Let's face it. Starting a business is tough. You have to build a client base, hire employees, find office space. There are plenty of challenges, but the one that many entrepreneurs find most daunting is raising start-up capital. Here is a site FULL of great resources for finding your funding.

• Complete Article from Inc.com 

The article provides links to over 40 in-depth resources in each of these areas:

1. Survey the Field
2. Bootstrap your New Business
3. Inspiration from the Inc 500
4. Tapping Family and Friends
5. Bank Borrowing
6. Government Programs
7. Finding an Angel
8. Getting Creative
9. Credit Cards

This is an incredible story of a very successful business owner (sold his business to Warren Buffett) who tapped the professional and personal wisdom of an informal board of directors.  The experience he shares provides valuable insight as does his 6 key strategies for having an informal board.

• Complete Article from StartupJournal.com

Guy Kawasaki, author of 'The Art of the Start' is an experienced entrepreneur, venture capitalist and I think, a great resource to new entrepreneurs.  In his weblog, he shares 11 fantastic tips that will provide some great guidance to anyone getting a business going by the bootstraps.

• Read the Complete Post by Guy Kawasaki 

From Forbes: 'Thinking about starting a business? You’re not alone. Every year, thousands of Americans catch the entrepreneurial spirit, launching small businesses to sell their products or services. Some businesses thrive; many fail.'  Here is a great one-page list for serious entrepreneurs to consider.

• View the complete Forbes Article & List 

More resources are online from Nolo including a great selection of Legal and Business Books, Forms and Software.

From Business Week: "Only a tiny percentage of the many women-owned businesses break the $1-million threshold in annual revenues. An ambitious program aims to change that."

• Minting Women Millionaires

A new organization www.makemineamillion.org , wants to create a national community of one million women dedicated to growing their companies to $1 million by 2010.

The article states, "According to your data, 97% of women entrepreneurs own businesses that generate under $1 million in annual revenues…The numbers are for privately held enterprises included in 2002 U.S. Census data. …What she found is that around 3% of women-owned companies — that's 242,000 out of a total of 10.6 million women-owned firms — earn $1 million or more annually. Roughly three times as many male-owned companies — 818,000 of them — bring in $1 million or more annually."

• Also reference NAWBO, and the Women Presidents Organization.  

Here is a one-page website that has the best collection of links for executives I've ever seen.

• http://www.ceoexpress.com  

There are over 70 leading categories with the Internet's top4-5 sites in each category listed.  This site makes it easy to get to 90% of the leading business resources with just one click.  It's a favorite of mine that I share with everyone that needs to save time.

Here is a great summary of one of the best selling personal leadership books of all time.

Over 15 million copies sold in hundreds of languages - it's a classic - the one page summary below is a fantastic recap of the book

This is one of the first leadership books I ever read and the message is still so simple, clear and easy to understand and practice.

How to Win Friends and Influence People

This is Dale Carnegie's summary of his book, from 1936

1. Fundamental Techniques in Handling People
2. Six Ways to Make People Like You
3. How to Win People to Your Way of Thinking
4. Be a Leader: How to Change People Without Giving Offense or Arousing Resentment

1. Don't criticize, condemn or complain.
2. Give honest and sincere appreciation.
3. Arouse in the other person an eager want.

1. Become genuinely interested in other people.
2. Smile.
3. Remember that a person's name is to that person the sweetest and most important sound in any language.
4. Be a good listener. Encourage others to talk about themselves.
5. Talk in terms of the other person's interests.
6. Make the other person feel important - and do it sincerely.

1. The only way to get the best of an argument is to avoid it.
2. Show respect for the other person's opinions. Never say, "You're wrong."
3. If you are wrong, admit it quickly and emphatically.
4. Begin in a friendly way.
5. Get the other person saying "yes, yes" immediately.
6. Let the other person do a great deal of the talking.
7. Let the other person feel that the idea is his or hers.
8. Try honestly to see things from the other person's point of view.
9. Be sympathetic with the other person's ideas and desires.
10. Appeal to the nobler motives.
11. Dramatize your ideas.
12. Throw down a challenge

A leader's job often includes changing your people's attitudes and behavior. Some suggestions to accomplish this:

1. Begin with praise and honest appreciation.
2. Call attention to people's mistakes indirectly.
3. Talk about your own mistakes before criticizing the other person.
4. Ask questions instead of giving direct orders.
5. Let the other person save face.
6. Praise the slightest improvement and praise every improvement. Be "hearty in your approbation and lavish in your praise."
7. Give the other person a fine reputation to live up to.
8. Use encouragement. Make the fault seem easy to correct.
9. Make the other person happy about doing the thing you suggest.

Here is the most current list of best selling business books from Business Week magazine as of May 2006

• Top Selling Business Books by Business Week
  (one page pdf file)

Number one again this month is Thomas Freidman's 'The World is Flat' - an exceptional read if you are interested in how globalization trends will be changing your business model dramatically.

Everyone is doing it! Blogging that is. And as I have come to learn over the past few months - running a blog is one of the very best ways to share dynamic, up-to-date information with clients, colleagues, and friends.

At the same time the information shared is syndicated to millions of servers worldwide and a real contribution can be made by the sharing of knowledge through a blog. Since our newest member of the company is an absolute technical wizard (thanks to Paul McNeely) it is now so much easier to post current content every couple days vs publishing it on our website or putting everything into an e-newsletter.

Now we can just send out summary emails that highlight topics and articles - and more simply share the links to that content vs putting it all into an email. This makes the e-newsletter updates much easier to quickly scan and get to specific articles / updates that you find of interest and value.

Thanks again for your readership, interest and most of all your personal and professional relationship. I look forward to sharing some great information on how to profitably grow your business and reach your personal and professional goals.