Michael Stelzner, founder of Social Media Examiner explains the power of Facebook in this video.

IIT Bombay, Mumbai – The Entrepreneurship Cell, IIT Bombay launched Eureka!, Asia’s largest business plan competition as certified by CNN,  on 1^st September 2010. With a total prize money of Rs. 21 lakhs (50000 USD), legal and financial consultancy being provided free of cost, intensive mentoring and an online platform to provide solutions to participants’ queries, Eureka! 2010 is truly a road to enterprise.

The last Date for submitting business plans is October 4^th.

CNN declared EUREKA! as ASIA’s Largest B-Plan Competition in 2001 and it has retained this title till date. Past Eureka! Winners are currently on Business Asia’s list of TOP 5 ENTREPRENEURS. Eureka! has witnessed over 35 greatly successful startups till date some of which include multi-millionaire firms  like Myzus, Einfinitus etc.

Quotes from Past Participants:

“We’ve registered our firm and are at the product development and testing phase. Eureka! is one of the greatest opportunities one can get in India. It helped us in idea validation, in understanding scope of the business and streamlining our plan. It provided us with mentorship and helped network with venture capitalists.” Gaurav Parashar, IIT Bombay Pass-out.

“We are registering Oorja as a Pvt. Lim. Company and will be selling concepts  to companies like Airtel, Nokia and TVS” – Eureka! 2009 winner

For more information on Eureka! 2010, click here

Eureka! 2010 is offering its participants a total prize money of worth Rs 21 lakhs(USD 50000) making it largest in Asia and 2^nd largest in the world. As an incentive for Eureka! 2010 participants, Applied Materials is providing a research lab worth 7.5 million USD for free, to all those entrants who will be incubated.

The winners of Eureka! 2010 will get a chance to pitch their idea in front of a panel of investors and Venture Capitalists from Indian Angel Network and Mumbai Angels. All the participants will also get access to the Knowledge Library of the Mentor Square by registering at Eureka! 2010. IBM has associated with Eureka! 2010 and will provide IBM Softwares required by the qualified teams for development, testing & training purposes, through the WorldWide Academic Initiatives program. The top 50 teams will be provided intensive mentoring for a period of more than 6 months and winners will avail extensive mentorship program by MentorSquare for 3 months.

Eureka! 2010 is anticipating 2500+ entries internationally.

New Additions:

A platform has been provided to all the participants to submit queries relating to any aspect in their business plan online which will be then answered by Eureka!’s expert panel consisting of VCs, Angel Investors and other corporates. Teams will be given the option of choosing their question as “public” or “private”. If they choose “public” the question will be added to our list of questions and displayed on the site along with the answers hence making Eureka! 2010, a forum of budding entrepreneurs.

For the first time, Top 50 shortlisted teams will be provided with free Financial and Legal Consultancy by firms like Sand Hill Counsel, Nishith Desai Associates and India Nivesh. The final winners of Eureka! 2010 will also receive free financial and legal consultancy even after the competition is over. Every team which has submitted a valid business plan will be getting a full feedback regarding their b-plan which will be judged by our expert panel and will highlight both the weak points as well as the strong points in the team’s b-plan.

For information on Eureka!2010 Click here:

Eureka! is the business plan competition organized by E-Cell, IIT Bombay. It is Asia’s largest B-Plan competition and second largest in the world in terms of participation, resources and prize money. Over the years, Eureka!’s unique format comprising mentoring with a transparent judging process has become a model for the similar competitions held in India and elsewhere.

It’s not just a business plan competition, wherein people only submit their business plans and take away the prize money. It is an entrepreneur’s journey from an executive summary to an actual start-up.

The competition aims at generating entrepreneurs who lead successful ventures. Participants of the competition receive intensive mentoring, advice and talks from existing successful entrepreneurs which assist the participants in their venture of starting-up.

The competition is open to all and sees participants from different strata like B-schools, Technological Institutes, IITs, NIDs, Medical Schools and even working professionals from various companies.

Business Ideas from various sectors like Banking, Finance, Biotechnology, Web Portals and scores of other sectors are obtained every year. Being an International B-Plan Competition, Eureka! has had entries from Europe, USA and South-East Asian countries.

Eureka 2009! received a total of  around 2000 entries.

For more information on Eureka!2010, Click here

Prepare Yourself For “The StartUp Challenge” With A Professional Business Plan. Click Here.

Other Articles That May Be Of Interest To You.

• Writing Your First Business Plan
• How To Write A Business Plan
• Business Plan Basics
• Do I Need A Business Plan?

Open To Participants in America, Asia-Pacific and Europe.

AWS (Amazon Web Services) to award regional prizes and global winner chosen from start-ups with innovative businesses built in the cloud.

SEATTLE, Aug 18, 2010 (BUSINESS WIRE) –Amazon Web Services LLC (AWS), an Amazon.com company (NASDAQ:AMZN), today announced the call for entries to the fourth annual AWS Start-Up Challenge, a contest to recognize innovative start-ups that are built on the AWS cloud computing platform. For the first time, AWS will choose regional award winners in the Americas, Asia Pacific and Europe. Regional semi-finalists will receive $2,500US in AWS service credits. Global finalists will receive $10,000US in AWS service credits and a trip to Palo Alto, CA., USA for the final judging and awards ceremony. The global grand prize winner will be awarded $50,000US cash, $50,000US in AWS service credits, premium support services and technical mentorship from Amazon Web Services for one year, as well as a possible investment offer from Amazon. All qualified contestants will receive $25US in AWS service credits to kick-start the process of building their businesses on AWS. To learn more about the AWS Start-Up Challenge, visit http://aws.amazon.com/startupchallenge.

The AWS cloud platform enables start-ups to cost-effectively and quickly innovate and build the infrastructure for their businesses. AWS Start-Up Challenge contestants will be evaluated on their implementation of AWS solutions; originality and creativity of the business; likelihood of long-term success and scalability; and how well the business addresses a need in the marketplace. Entries must be received no later than midnight US Pacific Time on October 31^st, 2010. Regional semi-finalists and global finalists will be announced in November. In December, finalists will fly to Palo Alto, CA., USA to present their businesses to a panel of AWS executives, venture capitalists and an audience of technology industry leaders. The final AWS Start-Up Challenge event, including presentations from all finalists and awards ceremony, will be streamed live worldwide.

“Traditionally, start-ups and entrepreneurs have been constrained by the availability of resources and infrastructure to develop their products and services. Since launching more than four years ago, AWS has enabled hundreds of thousands of companies in more than 190 countries to free up their precious engineering resources to focus on work that truly differentiates their businesses,” said Adam Selipsky, Vice President of Amazon Web Services. “With AWS, developers and companies of all sizes can tap into critical resources such as storage, compute, database and CDN functionality with no up-front investment or long-term commitments. This has helped level the playing field for many start-ups competing in the global marketplace.”

“The AWS Start-Up Challenge literally saved our business,” said Chris Gay, Founder and Chief Executive Officer of MileMeter, an innovative start-up that sells car insurance by-the-mile, and finalist of the 2007 AWS Start-Up Challenge. “After sending out a notice to all of my shareholders that MileMeter was shutting down, I got a call from Amazon Web Services informing me that out of 900 promising start-ups, we were one of the finalists for the first AWS Start-Up Challenge. Since that time, AWS has enabled our business to grow, thrive and continue to focus on what’s truly important for our customers, helping them save money on car insurance.”

“Winning the AWS Start-Up Challenge was a watershed for GoodData,” said Roman Stanek, CEO and Founder of GoodData. “It helped validate the cloud as a technically feasible and economically disruptive way to deliver Business Intelligence; and exposed us to the rich and diverse community of AWS start-ups and developers. We were born in the cloud – similar to a lot of other cloud companies, we couldn’t have built our business without AWS.”

“The AWS Start-Up Challenge was a springboard for Yieldex,” said John Barr, COO and VP of Yieldex, a company that helps online publishers forecast and optimize advertising inventory and the winner of the 2008 AWS Start-Up Challenge. “After the contest, we raised $8.5 million and launched our first large publisher in January of 2009. Since that time our customers have grown from early adopters to top tier web properties such as Fox News, Orbitz and Martha Stewart. The AWS Start-Up Challenge was a key ingredient to getting us where we are today.”

Eligible AWS Start-Up Challenge contestants must be privately held companies or individuals legally based in the following countries: Australia, Austria, Belgium, Canada (excluding the Province of Québec), Denmark, Finland, France, Germany, India, Ireland, Israel, Italy, Japan, Luxembourg, Netherlands, New Zealand, Singapore, South Korea, Spain, Sweden, United Kingdom or United States. Eligible contestants must have generated no more than $10 million in annual revenue and no more than $10 million in outside funding. Start-ups submitted for the contest must use the cloud computing solutions offered by AWS, such as Amazon Elastic Cloud Compute (Amazon EC2) or Amazon Simple Storage Service (Amazon S3). A complete description of the prizes and contest rules can be found at http://aws.amazon.com/startupchallenge.

About Amazon.com

Amazon.com, Inc. (NASDAQ: AMZN), a Fortune 500 company based in Seattle, opened on the World Wide Web in July 1995 and today offers Earth’s Biggest Selection. Amazon.com, Inc. seeks to be Earth’s most customer-centric company, where customers can find and discover anything they might want to buy online, and endeavors to offer its customers the lowest possible prices. Amazon.com and other sellers offer millions of unique new, refurbished and used items in categories such as Books; Movies, Music & Games; Digital Downloads; Electronics & Computers; Home & Garden; Toys, Kids & Baby; Grocery; Apparel, Shoes & Jewelry; Health & Beauty; Sports & Outdoors; and Tools, Auto & Industrial. Amazon Web Services provides Amazon’s developer customers with access to in-the-cloud infrastructure services based on Amazon’s own back-end technology platform, which developers can use to enable virtually any type of business. Kindle and Kindle DX are the revolutionary portable readers that wirelessly download books, magazines, newspapers, blogs and personal documents to a crisp, high-resolution electronic ink display that looks and reads like real paper. Kindle and Kindle DX utilize the same 3G wireless technology as advanced cell phones, so users never need to hunt for a Wi-Fi hotspot. Kindle is the #1 bestselling product across the millions of items sold on Amazon.

Amazon and its affiliates operate websites, including www.amazon.com, www.amazon.co.uk, www.amazon.de, www.amazon.co.jp, www.amazon.fr, www.amazon.ca, and www.amazon.cn. As used herein, “Amazon.com,” “we,” “our” and similar terms include Amazon.com, Inc., and its subsidiaries, unless the context indicates otherwise.

SOURCE: Amazon Web Services LLC

Prepare Yourself For “The StartUp Challenge” With A Professional Business Plan. Click Here.

Other Articles That May Be Of Interest To You.

• How To Write A Business Plan
• Business Plan Basics
• Do I Need A Business Plan?

Investing in real properties in the United States can be profitable especially during these times. In fact, it may be the wisest and most perfect investment you can make right now.

PRLog (Press Release) – Jun 25, 2010 – Opportunities for real estate investment for foreigners is wide and varied in the United States. It doesn’t matter where you’re from and what currency you’d be using to purchase a property, you have a property waiting for you.


There are generally three kinds of real estate investment available to foreigners. These investments include the commercial estate investment and residential property investment. Residential properties are further classified into single family properties, apartments or condominiums and recreational properties. Regardless of what kind of real estate you are interested in, there are all sorts of tax ramifications, financing options and legal requirements that you have to deal with.


Why Should You Invest in the U.S. Real Estate Market?


You’ve probably heard of the increasing number of foreign real estate investments in the United States. This is not surprising. With the troubles that the real estate investment market is facing in the United States, greater opportunities in real estate investment were opened to foreign investors.


With the dollar’s value in its all time low, foreign investors are finding real estate bargains all over the United States. There are no shortages of deals in this market. More and more distressed properties are being sold everywhere and foreigners are pouring in millions buying these foreclosed or distressed properties. The United States real estate has become a fairly attractive long-term investment for foreign investors.


In November of 2006, the National Association of Realtors released a report entitled “Foreign Investments in U.S Real Estate: Current Trends and Historical Perspective”. The report showed that there has been a steady increase in foreign real estate investment in the United States. This is especially after the euro and the loonie became stronger in the face of the continuous devaluation of the US dollar. Prime bargains were opened to foreigners. Many foreigners have now looked into the possibility of retiring or settling in the United States.


If you’re a foreigner, you would find a lot of reasons why you should invest in the United States real estate market. Aside from the fact that the floating exchange rate has given you a lot of leverage over the bargaining table, the financial market is a pretty good reason why you should invest in the US real estate.


The financial market in the United States in relation to the real estate market is quite liberal and the restrictions against foreign investors are pretty reasonable. This is ideal for foreign companies that are seeking to invest in the real estate market in the United States in order to avoid tariff restrictions and are considering setting up an office or a company in the United States.


Furthermore, despite the devaluation of the US dollar and the wide foreclosures of a lot of property, the real estate market remains to be stable, though slightly shaky, due to foreign investors’ capital appreciation. Domestic real estate buyers may not necessarily share the same opinion, but the market has remained to be strong for foreign real estate buyers. This may be largely credited to the fact that there is minimal risk for them.


Why are Foreign Real Estate Investments Safe and Profitable?


There are a lot of investments you can make, but the safest you can make right now is investing your money in real properties. This is another good reason aside from the fact that you can make a pretty nifty profit, if you like, particularly now with the widespread property foreclosures and seemingly continuous US dollar devaluation. This is especially true if you are going to use the euro or the loonie when making your investment.


But why is US real estate investment safe for foreigners?


It is undeniable that stock investments are not a safe avenue at this point. The recession has not only affected the US economy; the same recession has greatly affected worldwide stock investments. Stocks values are dropping. It is also a fact that even without the current economic situation, stock values fluctuates.


On the other hand, real estate investments are pretty stable if you would compare it to stock investments – or even bond or mutual fund investments. With real estate investment, you’d be putting your money in an investment that would grow in value as years go by.


What are the Benefits of Foreign Real Estate Investment?


US state government supports foreign investments and along this line has formulated various tax breaks to encourage foreign investment on real estate. Many of these tax breaks are not available in many countries. In fact, most countries would frown at foreigners owning real properties within their territory.


Foreign real estate investment in the United States is open to everyone. As long as you can afford to buy the property or at least comply with the mortgage requirements and payments, you can secure for yourself a pretty good property in the United States. Again, with the current economic situation of the United States, this is the perfect chance for you to make an investment.


Another great benefit that you can take advantage of is the availability of mortgage financing. Lenders have opened their doors to foreign investors who are looking into purchasing a property. So, you don’t have to actually deplete your bank account. You can actually secure a mortgage loan and gradually pay it off.


I’m Canadian, What Are My Financing Options?


There is a steady increasing rate of Canadian real estate investors in the United States; and accordingly, the government has made certain that they have attractive financing options available to them.


If you’re Canadian – or if you’re a foreigner – you’d find a lot of reasons why you should buy a piece of real property in the United States. For Canadians, the parity of the currencies or the apparent devaluation of the US dollar is a pretty good reason itself. But how do you finance your purchase?


There are various financing options available to you depending on which state you are in. In Arizona, for instance, you’d get favorable financing terms if you are purchasing a property for recreational purposes, that is, you do not derive any income or benefit from your purchase or ownership. You will be required, however, to sign up a disclosure agreement and give a 30% down payment for your loan. To qualify though for a loan, you may be required to show availability of liquid reserves for a period of three to six months. You may also be required to present a minimum of 3-month bank statement.


If you are purchasing a property for investment, you’d probably meet stricter terms. Requirements may be more stringent. For instance, you could be required to give a down payment of more than 30% and you may be required to show one year worth of liquidity reserves.


Regardless of your reasons, if you feel like you can fulfill the requirements of a financing loan, you can then proceed to actually applying for a mortgage loan. Also, keeping yourself updated with the financing terms flux may be a wise idea.


Understanding the Tax Ramifications of Real Estate Investment


The first foreigner to have ever bought a real estate property in the United States was Peter Minuit. This opened the doors to foreign real estate investors. After a couple of centuries later, foreign real estate investment has grown into huge proportions, accounting for billion-of-dollar worth of industry.


The low risk attached to US real estate market, the availability of countless properties, and the steady market liquidity attract foreign investors in droves. The initial snag, however, is the process of understanding the legal ramifications of foreign real estate investment.


Visit us online at:  http://www.maria-gudelis.com

Program will help protect tens of thousands of small business owners from failure.

The Joy of Marketing announced today that it will provide tens of thousands of small business owners with free marketing advice on June 28, 2010.

Why would The Joy of Marketing give away free access to secrets from America’s top small business marketing experts? “It’s simple,” says Sarah Petty, CEO.  “Small businesses are shutting their doors in the slow economy at record levels. We’re bringing the JOY back to small business.”

This free, online event features a dream team of small business experts who will share how to be profitable in ANY economy, including:

• Mitch Axelrod – author of the New Game of Business
• Tim Berry – CEO of Palo Alto Software / Business Planning Expert
• Joyce Bone – Millionaire Mom
• Philippa Gamse -  Internet Strategy Pioneer
• Ann Michael Henry – Productivity Chef
• Kent Lewis – Founder and President of Anvil Media and Formic Media, SEO expert
• Delia Passi – CEO of Medelia, Inc and founder of Women’s Certified – Selling to Women expert
• Sarah Petty – Boutique marketing expert
• Melanie Benson Strick -  CEO Success Connections
• Crystal Williamson – Technology Coach and Guru

There are no hidden catches to this FREE event, said Sarah Petty. The only thing people need to do is register and they’ll receive information on how to access the event on June 28.  Click here to register online.

The Small Business Marketing Joysummit is the latest educational event from The Joy of Marketing. The company is the leading expert on the boutique business model. MBA’s Sarah Petty and Erin Verbeck teach small business owners to focus on building a brand and strong relationships instead of relying on price discounts to create sales.

Source: IndianFunding.com
Monday, June 14, 2010 11:00 AM IST (05:30 AM GMT)
Editors: General: Consumer interest; Business: Advertising, PR & marketing, Banking & financial services, Business services, Financial Analyst, Information technology, Stock exchanges; Technology

New Delhi, Delhi, India, Monday, June 14, 2010 — (Business Wire India)

IndianFunding.com, one of India’s leading online investment communities presents a one-of-its-kind opportunity to bring Indian entrepreneurs and investors on a common platform. It’s a place where entrepreneurs looking for money to start or expand their business can find potential investors. Even before the official launch on June 16, 2010, http://www.indianfunding.com has a huge database of Indian entrepreneurs and investors who have registered themselves on this website just by word of mouth.

Sandeep Maheshwari, founder of IndianFunding.com says, “Our vision is that if anyone, anywhere in India needs money for his business, he should have easy access to it. We strongly believe that it’s not just angel investors and venture capitalists that are interested in funding promising business models. Anyone looking to invest his money and get good returns can also become an investor in a business. We aim to make things easier for the entrepreneurs as well as anyone with the money and the inclination to bet on business ideas that show promise.”

Indian Funding is a fully owned subsidiary of Mash Audio Visuals Pvt. Ltd., an ISO 9001:2000 certified company incorporated in 2003. Mash Audio Visuals Pvt. Ltd. owns http://www.imagesbazaar.com, the World’s largest collection of Indian images, and http://www.shotindia.com, India’s largest platform for photographers to showcase their work and get paid by anyone who uses their photos. At present, the company has well over 6000 clients in more than 42 countries that use the images from these websites for their advertising, marketing and publishing needs.

Leveraging the tremendous reach that Mash Audio Visuals Pvt. Ltd. has in the corporate world, http://www.indianfunding.com aims to become the largest platform in the world that will enable the investment opportunities in Indian businesses.

For press backgrounder on IndianFunding.com click here

Media contact details

Deepak Verma,
IndianFunding.com,
+91 (11) 45759966,
info@indianfunding.com

KEYWORDS: CONSUMER, MARKETING, BANKING, BUSINESS SERVICES, Financial Analyst, IT, STOCK EXCHANGES, TECHNOLOGY