Resources

• SBA loan programs
• Clubs (Entrepreneurship Club and Investment Club)

Useful Links

SBA

http://sba.gov/
US Small Business Administration

https://www.smallbizlending.com/
CIT Small Business Lending Corp. in the number-one SBA loan source in the nation

www.sba.gov/patriotexpress
Helps entrepreneurs that are either veterans or members of the army get loans

http://www.sba.gov/aboutsba/sbaprograms/onlinewbc/index.html
A list of SBA’s programs

Visual Fine Arts

http://www.poehcenter.com/
Emphasizes arts and all cultures of all Pueblo People

http://slought.org/
A non-profit organization, encourages futures for contemporary life through curatorial practices that resist the market-driven orientation, permanence, and sustainability of today’s institutions

http://www.chicagoprintmakers.com/
Provide Chicago area printmakers with a facility and community to pursue their work

http://www.artscope.net/
Visual arts reviews and articles

http://www.chicagoconservation.com/
A national resource facility for the conservation of fine art

http://www.wwar.com/
Visual arts resource website, supplies, research engines, and market place

http://www.artsjournal.com/
Daily digest for arts culture and ideas

http://www.artic.edu/aic/
Art Institute of Chicago

http://www.mcachicago.org/
Museum of Contemporary Art Chicago

http://www.nga.gov/
National Gallery of Art, Washington DC

http://www.metmuseum.org/
The Metropolitan Museum of Art

http://www.guggenheim.org/
Guggenheim Museums

http://www.moma.org/
The Museum of Modern Art

http://www.louvre.fr/llv/commun/home.jsp?bmLocale=en
Louvre, Paris

http://www.musee-orsay.fr/en/home.html
Musee D’Orsay, Paris

http://www.aroundthecoyote.org/
A non-profit organization that promotes and supports the multidisciplinary arts in Chicago

http://us.fotolia.com/
Fotolia provides low cost imagery and features more then 2 million images. The images are royalty free and start at $1 each. The site also has a daily selection of free images

Functional Art (Photo Studios, Hair/Nail Salons)

http://www.hokeyspokes.com/
Hokey Spokes are transparent “blades” that attach to your bicycle spokes

Performing Arts (theater/dance)

http://www.goodman-theatre.org/
The Goodman Theater, a Chicago production theater

http://www.steppenwolf.org/
The Steppenwolf Theater, a Chicago based international performing arts institution committed to ensemble collaboration and artistic risk through its work with its permanent ensemble guest artists, partner institutions and the community.

http://www.lincolncenter.org/
The Lincoln Center for Performing Arts

http://www.kennedy-center.org/
John F. Kennedy for the performing arts

http://www.artspresenters.org/
The Association of Performing Arts Presenters (Arts Presenters) is the nexus for the performing arts community

http://wwww.joffrey.com/
Joffrey Ballet Chicago

http://www.chicagomovingcompany.org/
One of Chicago’s longest-lived modern dance organizations

http://www.spareroomchicago.org/
The Spareroom is a cooperative rehearsal and recital space dedicated to artists creating interdisciplinary and time-based work

http://www.actorsequity.org/
A union of American theatrical actors and stage managers

http://americantheaterweb.com/
A theater news website

http://www.chicagooperatheater.org/
Productions of operatic repertoire including the greatest work from the 17th, 18th, and 20th centuries

http://www.chicagoperformances.org/
Dance and music alliance that lists events by date around the Chicago area

http://www.hubbardstreetdance.com/home.asp
A Chicago dance company that performs at the Harris Theater

Media (film/TV/internet)

http://www.neotropehosting.com/
Web hosting, design, and promotion services for small businesses

http://www.bearpaws.com/
Web design for small businesses

http://www.cazmedia.com/
Web design hosting, software development, graphic design, multimedia and consulting

http://www.cnn.com/
Provides up to date news world wide

http://www.film-foundation.org/
Filmmakers for presentation

http://www.oscars.com/
Academy of motion picture arts and sciences

http://www.emmys.org/
Academy of television arts and sciences

http://www.allmovie.com/
Site dealing with various elements of films, movie trailers, essays etc.

http://www.aftra.com/aftra/aftra.htm
American Federation of Television and Radio Artists

Literary Arts (publishing, magazines, newspapers)

http://www.chicagotribune.com/
Local news, stories and guide for small businesses

http://findarticles.com/
Vast archive of published articles that you can search for free. Constantly updated site contains articles dating back to 1998 from more than 300 magazines and journals.

http://artworldnews.com/
An online magazine for international art news and information

http://entreprenuership.com/
An online entrepreneur magazine with solutions to growing businesses including marketing, management, and Business advice and strategies.

http://www.inc.com/
An online magazine for growing companies

http://www.illinoisbiz.biz/dceo/Bureaus/Business_Development/
Department of Commerce and Economic Opportunity intended to aid those seeking to start a small business.

http://fastcompany.com/magazine/
Magazine about business large and small

http://artisin.com/
Business development services for the arts

http://www.bizjournals.com/
Link to local business journals

http://businessweek.com/
Online and published news magazine

http://www.suntimes.com/index.html
Chicago Sun Times

http://www.nytimes.com/
New York Times

http://www.latimes.com/
L.A. Times

http://www.askjim.biz/
This is an online resource for entrepreneurs features formative articles by Jim Blasingame and other contributors.

http://www.bizinfolibrary.org/
It is an online library with content from leading business experts

http://www.franchisesolutions.com/
Leading online provider of franchise and business opportunity content

http://toptenlinks.com/
Online resource guide for small businesses

http://www.xr23.com/
Xtreme Retail23 focuses on the issues affecting the 23 leading retail channels

Music

http://www.newmusicbox.org/
Web magazine for the American Music Center

http://musicunited.org/
Site dealing with online music trading

http://riaa.com/
Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) is the trade group that represents the U.S. recording industry

http://www.ascap.com/index.html
ASCAP is a membership association of nearly 200,000 U.S. composers, songwriters, lyricists, and music publishers of every kind of music

http://www.ascapfoundation.org/index.html
dedicated to nurturing the musical talent of tomorrow, preserving the legacy of the past, and sustaining the creative incentive for today’s creators through a variety of educational, professional, and humanitarian programs and activities which serve the music community

http://bmi.com/
BMI is an American performing rights organization that represents more than 300,000 songwriters, composers and music publishers in all genres of music.

http://cras.org/
Conservatory of Recording Arts & Sciences, a premier institution for audio education

http://taxi.com/
Helps musicians/bands that are unsigned make contacts in order to help that dream become a reality

http://musicjournal.org/
Online billboard magazine type deal

http://www.song-makes-musicbusiness.com/
Informs students of the music industry

http://mbsolutions.com/
Helps unsigned artists/bands with new management ideas in homes of landing them successful careers

http://allmusic.com/
Site dealing with music industry news

http://www.afm.org/
Source for live music

http://www.billboard.com/bbcom/index.jsp
Music industry news and links

Search Engines

http://www.quickseek.com/
Business search engine that gives business descriptions, operating hours, location, directions, email addresses and links to corporate websites

http://www.pubsub.com/
A subscribed search engine that informs you when new information about your search topic is posted on the web

http://www.zoominfo.com/
Find personal contact information for an individual, job listings or businesses on this free search engine

http://www.onvia.com/fp/Default.aspx
A subscription database with tools and it delivers business to government intelligence.

http://www.truelocal.com/
This is a business search engine. Only businesses with store fronts are listed

http://omnifind.ibm.yahoo.net/
A free search engine for internal small and mid-sized businesses to use

http://www.inform.com/
Online search engine that lets you limit where your information is coming from

Billing, Mailing or Automatic email services

www.tazlow.com
This website allows you to send reminders, coupons, ads and birthday wishes to your costumers through email.

https://www.sendoutcards.com/
Send Out Cards lets you choose a greeting card online and have it printed and mailed out. It also creates personalized business cards

www.billcollectorinabox.com
It is a software application that prints out professional debt collection letters, generate reports and connect with investigators and credit bureaus to report bad debts. Technical support is included.

http://www.vistaprint.com/
Mailing services ideal for smaller businesses.

http://www.mailchimp.com/add-ons/
MailChimp’s Software creates email and newsletter campaigns

http://www.mypaynet.com/
Electronic invoicing and payment service for businesses

Finances (loans, grants, government programs)

http://smallbusinessesloans.com/
Online information source for small business loans

http://arts.endow.gov/
a public agency dedicated to supporting excellence in the arts, both new and established; bringing the arts to all Americans; and providing leadership in arts education

http://colemanfoundation.org/
Provides resources and grants for entrepreneurs

http://www.kauffman.org/index.cfm
Encourages entrepreneurship by giving grants

http://cdgfl.org/
Cultural Development Group to assist emerging and established cultural organizations and individuals in all areas of the Arts in South Florida

http://usabe.org/
United States Association for Small Business and Entrepreneurship

http://www.nyfa.org
New York Foundation for the Arts (NYFA) helps artists turn inspiration into art by giving money and support to individual artists and arts organization

http://www.businessmatchmaking.com/
This public-private partnership sponsored by SCORE and HP brings buyers from all federal agencies to meet with entrepreneurs offering various products and services

http://www.census.gov/
A website from the U.S. Census Bureau that allows you to look up important information about the economic standing of your country based on information the census gathers every five years. It searches for data and detailed statistics by location or industry.

http://www.governmentexpress.com/
This web portal provides information and interviews on how to get a piece of the government contracting pie

Legal Aspects (Intellectual Property)

http://www.uspto.gov/smallbusiness/
A site developed to protect the intellectual property of small businesses and it answers common questions on copyrights, trademarks, and patents.

http://arsny.com/
Artists Rights Society (ARS) is the preeminent copyright, licensing, and monitoring organization for visual artists in the United States

http://www.privacy-pc.com/
A website that specializes in Windows based software that enforces privacy and protects against intrusions

http://www.hp.com/sbso/security/index.html
HP Security Enterprise Center offers information to small businesses about security

http://order-yours-now.com/
Helps recording artists with contracts

http://lacostamusic.com/
Tips on music contracts, recording deals with labels, getting signed and music resources

http://wipo.int/portal/index.html.en
World Intellectual Property Organization

http://www.confidentialitywizard.com/
This program prepares nondisclosure agreements with out the help or price of a lawyer

Taxes/ Accounting

http://smbiz.com/
Provides tax & management guidance to small and medium sized businesses since 1980

http://inc.com/
Resources for taxes and general accounting practices in a small business

http://stewardshipsystems.com/arts_&_cultural.htm
Non profit accounting specialist for arts and cultural organizations

Nationality or Gender Based Business Sites
http://www.nmsdcus.org/

Providing a direct link between corporate America and minority-owned businesses is the primary objective of the National Minority Supplier Development Council

http://www.simmons.edu/leadership/
Simmons School of Management offers a yearly conference for women entrepreneurs

http://www.wdbc.org/
The Women’s business development center

http://www.athenafoundation.org/
The Athena Foundation holds various luncheons and conferences for women leaders

http://www.ladieswholaunch.com/
This program is designed to motivate and facilitate women in business through networking and an array of resources

https://www.principal.com/women
Free teleclasses designed for woman business owners seeking to improve their skills and increase profitability

http://entreprenuership.com/
Dedicated to helping Ottawa entrepreneurs make educational decisions about starting and growing their businesses

http://www.questamente.com/
This is a networking site for Hispanic entrepreneurs and business professionals. It provides free resources for starting or managing a business. It has sample business plans, articles, blogs, chat rooms and forums. The content of the site is offered in Spanish and English

http://www.smartbrief.com/nawbo/
The National Association of business offers free email news briefs twice a week

http://blackpr.com/
Reach the black press through Diversity City Media’s distribution service website

Marketing and Advertising

http://marketingmarks.com/
Our mission is to link our client’s marketing message with their target market, also have monthly email newsletter with tips for marketing in the arts

http://www.ecomxpo.com/home.htm
A virtual trade show for e-commerce marketers.

http://www.kanglee.com/
A website that helps businesses market their product on the Asian-American market

http://www.solidcasts.com/
SolidCasts is a business-centric podcast management system for both audio and video feeds. It allows businesses to password protect the podcasts so only employees or clients may listen to material

http://www.thepodcastnetwork.com/
Advertise through podcasting

http://bronto.com/landing/email-marketing/
Email marketing software

http://www.adcomparator.com/
A program that tests an ad’s success rate compared to another ad

http://www.adwatcher.com/
Monitors online advertising, compares two placements and it’s a good way to monitor click fraud

http://www.onfocus.com/googlesmack/down.asp
Compare two words or phrases and see which is searched on Google more often

Website Building

http://se-tools.com/
Se tools provides free tools that show how search engines see a website. It checks for key word ranking, bloated pages, broken links and how a flash site is indexed by the majors search engine.

http://sitekreator.com/sitekreator/index.html
A do-it-yourself service that allows you to build, publish and host your own business’s website

http://www.google.com/enterprise/csbe/
Add a site search to your website with Custom Search Business Edition from Google and lets visitor’s access search results from any website or websites that you choose. It offers email and phone support as well.

http://www.hostedsupport.com/
Automatic customer support software that answers emails with prepared responses to repeated questions
http://www.tell-a-friend-wizard.com/
Add a tell a friend button to your website

http://www.constantcontact.com/survey/
This online tool allows you to create your own surveys to conduct market research on your website

http://www.linktree.info/
Can compare multiple websites’ popularity at once

http://www.optimost.com/
Optimost allows you to view visitor behavior on your business website and create and test multiple versions of key pages

http://www.reachlocal.com/
Reachlocal works with Google, Overture, Superpages.com and other sites that offer advertising channels to put your business in front of searchers seeking your product in your area

http://www.outside-in.com/
Creates the perfect copy of a business website on a CD

http://www.highrankings.com/
A 23 paged e-book that teaches how to write simple understandable content for your website that will be picked up easily by search engines

http://www.isbc.com
Helping small businesses spend the least amount of time and money to maximize the internet

http://www.sitespect.com/
Website testing program

http://www.mcdar.net/keywordtool/keywordtool.asp
Find out where your website ranks on Google

http://www.sensible.com/
Help build a user friendly website

Market Research

http://www.rsvme.com/
A free application that helps quickly create questionnaires

http://apian.com/
SurveyPro is a program for designing and sending out questionnaires for detailed data collection and analysis. The latest version emails invitations, reminders, and thank-you messages after surveys are completed.

Networking

http://biznik.com/
A business networking site that focuses on connecting business owners and independent businesses. The site emphasizes collaboration over competiveness

http://openforum.com
This is a site for entrepreneurs that features content from several magazines as well as blogs, videos and discussion boards

http://www.actioncoach.com/home.php
Online gathering place for small business owners to discuses ideas on how to grow

http://www.gorillas-gazelles.com/
This website puts qualified college students in touch with fast growing small businesses. The businesses can recruit on campus with out having to go there.

http://www.artsusa.org/
Arts & Business Council, Inc. stimulates partnerships between the arts and business

http://businessownersideacafe.com/
An online gathering place including ideas, planning, information, and advice on running a small business

http://microenterpriseworks.org/
Only national member-based association dedicated to microenterprise development, provide members with a forum, information and a voice to promote enterprise opportunity for people and communities with limited access to economic resources

http://www.artsandbusiness.org
Arts & Business Council Inc. Stimulates partnerships between the arts and business

http://www.navoba.com/
NaVOBA is a national membership organization to help veteran own businesses in the US make government and corporate contacts.

http://www.fastpitchnetworking.com/
Network with other businesses online with online hosted events

http://www.gobignetwork.com/
This website connects entrepreneurs, job seekers, service providers, investors, advisors etc. Members post requested and GoBIG Network routes their requests to others
.
http://www.meetingbridge.com/
Teleconferencing and web-conferencing are offered on this website

Education

http://organizations.utep.edu/Default.aspx?alias=organizations.utep.edu/fc
The University of Texas, El Paso, offers various seminars and courses

http://score.org/online_courses.html
Online courses on the technology and practices for business growth

http://www.angelcapitaleducation.org/
A charitable education and research organization

http://www.officedepot.com/webcafe
Office Depot offers a series of informative webcasts geared to small business owners

Miscellaneous

http://artsbiz-chicago.org/
A&BC of Chicago Links the strengths of arts and business, while promoting community growth and vitality through the arts

http://www.experian.com/products/commercial_fraud_insight.html
A commercial fraud and authentication program that checks business information given in commercials.

http://www.startyourbiz.com/
Resource guide for self-books, tapes, freebies, advertising and money-making opportunities for starting or improving existing businesses

http://www.sohodojo.com/
An applied research and development laboratory supporting entrepreneur free agents

http://liraz.com/
New and useful ways of running small businesses

http://www.whalebacksystems.com/
An integrated audio web conferencing service that offers a monthly plan for unlimited conference calls

http://www.shipwire.com/
A global warehousing network that allows you to store and ship your products

http://businesstown.com/
Everything you need to run a small business

http://sbinformation.about.com/
Includes venture capital, online marketing, tax information, and business strategies for small businesses

http://www.microsoft.com/smallbusiness/
A site developed by Microsoft to help small business owners

http://njsbdc.com/
New Jersey- provides entrepreneurs with practical information, skills and strategy that make measurable positive impacts on their businesses and the communities that they work. Free one-on-one help with your small businesses.

http://foundationcenter.org/
Gateway to philanthropy on the World Wide Web

http://eastek-intl.com/
Helps establish a China-based manufacturing program by setting up your own operations at Eastek’s manufacturing and it offers support services including sourcing and supply chain management, quality assurance, legal expertise and local government relations

http://www.surepayroll.com/product/401k/
SurePayroll’s Sure401k is an online 401(K) program designed to be an affordable option for entrepreneurs. It has access to more then 320 mutual funds in 15 asset categories including record keeping, administration and compliance testing. It has flexible plan designs and free customer support.

http://greenmedialist.com/
The Green Media List is a contact database of journalists who cover green topics for businesses offering environment friendly products or services

http://www.beawarecorporate.com/
It is a monitoring software program that allows you to watch and regulate employees’ activities online

http://www.atenga.com/
Atenga is a free online tool that helps business owners determines pricing

http://www.essentialcare.com/
Essential Care provides affordable life and health insurance for part-time and hourly staff

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/
A new program on MSNBC called Your Business focuses on American Entrepreneurs

http://www2.agilityrecovery.com/
Helps manage recovery after a disaster is declared

http://www.edwardsinformation.com/default1.html
A B2B directory that helps businesses prepare for the recovery process after a disaster occurs

http://www.businessdistrict.com/
A free online business community that connects entrepreneurs seeking to buy a business, sell a business or finance a business

http://www.kauffman.org/
The Kauffeman Foundation

http://www.bizbyowner.com/
Helps you sell your business

http://www.sharebuilder401k.com/
Affordable retirement plans for employees

http://www.successfactors.com/
On-demand work force performance management software that runs through web browsers

http://www.martindalecenter.com/Calculators.html
This website offers calculators for every type of business. The calculators can compute almost any calculation

http://www.processlibrary.com/
Offers information on spyware, adware, Trojans, system processes and common applications for free

http://www.plumchoice.com/
Plum Choice enters computers over the internet and fixes any problems

http://www.onforce.com/
A website which connects computer repair services with small businesses that do no need a full time IT staff

http://www.techstudents.net/
This website connects businesses that doesn’t need a full time IT staff to IT students who are looking for real-world experience while finishing up their education

http://www.svn.org/
The Social Venture Network plans various event which allow networking opportunities

http://www.answerplus.com/
An automatic receptionist that learns the basics of a business to answer questions and can forward calls to other phones

http://www.streetsmartbizdev.com/
A business dedicated to helping other businesses grow in sales and size

http://www.competencymanagement.com/
This program analyzes a businesses strengths and weaknesses to help with hiring

http://www.vpspro.com/
A step by step business planning software

Entrepreneurship Links

www.asbdc-us.org   
America’s Small Business Development Center Network

www.nwbc.gov 
National Women’s Business Council

www.esmalloffice.com  
Online Small Business Resource Guide

www.nfib.com  
National Federation of Independent Business

startupnation.com/ 
Entrepreneurs helping entrepreneurs

ecomhelp.com
Resources for the entrepreneur, ICBS Knowledgebase, small business resources

www.zeromillion.com   
Online forum for entrepreneurs

www.wwork.com  
Online resource for women business owners

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