Here’s our weekly link roundup of small business buzz, musings and muchness. A curation of the best small business talk around the web.

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Startups, learn the value of free

Do you spend too much time trying to figure out how to get new customers through the door? If you’re anything like most business owners we work with on a daily basis, and statistically you are, then it is the number one thing that permeates your thoughts and your actions. It is a constant source of frustration and takes time away from delivering increased value to your existing clients… which is way more fun.

Small business Obamacare online enrollment delayed a year

The Obama administration today announced a one year delay of online enrollment for small businesses looking to purchase health coverage through federal Obamacare exchanges, another high-profile setback for HealthCare.gov. It’s the second delay for online small business enrollment, which the administration had said would begin this month.

Small Business Saturday Is Under Attack (From Small Businesses)

In the three years since American Express inaugurated its Small Business Saturday campaign, the event has become something of an institution — at least, according to American Express. A survey sponsored by the financial services giant shows that 44 percent of consumers are aware of the day, held on the Saturday after Thanksgiving.

5 questions startups need to ask before plunging into PR

Here are the starter questions that you need to ask yourself that will help you guage whether you need actually need a PR agency or not. And if you do, how to have a more fruitful relationship with them…

For entrepreneurs, too often the holidays are anything but happy

For most people the holidays are about family, escaping work, overindulging on food and drink, and overall checking out. Those with jobs as teachers, bankers, and mechanics put their work lives on hold for a few hours or days. But for entrepreneurs, that’s not possible. Depending on where they are along their entrepreneurial journey, this time of year can be any combination of suffocating, exhausting, or jubilant.

Entrepreneurs Can Revitalize the Image of Business

Large corporations and conglomerates, the engines of growth and vitality in the twentieth century, have lost their edge and their image. They have proven themselves unable to innovate, and they have lost more jobs than they create. My friends who “grew up” with lifetime careers in General Motors, Exxon Mobil, or even IBM, are now often too embarrassed to even mention it. On the other hand, everyone wants to be an entrepreneur. We can all aspire to grow companies like Google, Facebook, and Apple, which have the aura of fun, while still improving your lifestyle and offering the dream of untold riches.

How Startups Can Take Philanthrophy From Charity To Economic Development

Think about it: Big institutions have their own philanthropic practices, but startups are calling the tune of economic growth and change. High-end, tech-heavy goods might rule the economic roost, but experiments with leveraging those products toward charitable ends have had limited results and limited appeal. From a pop morality standpoint, it’s just too easy to ask why a kid should be getting an iPad when he doesn’t have shoes, clean drinking water, or the most elementary school supplies.

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