We all know businesses are supposed to help the environment, give back to the community and be all-around good citizens—but how? And why? Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) is a tricky topic for most executives, especially for those in a small business or startup. What should your company do to enhance its image?

You’re in luck because we’ve got some CSR information just for the entrepreneur, small business owner or CEO! So read up and start giving back and going green!

What is CSR?

Corporate Social Responsibility can be defined in a variety of ways, but most agree it’s more than just volunteering or philanthropy. CSR is about going above and beyond the “minimum requirements”. It’s more about considering all of the stakeholders (anyone impacted by business decisions) in day-to-day business activities. Many companies that engage in CSR are actively introducing products that are safe and reliable for the consumer and are implementing fair policies for its employees. Does it seem like a lot to handle? We can help!

Why is CSR important?

Companies that have been around the longest are the ones that have been engaged in CSR. Think about General Electric and IBM. GE has introduced ecomagination, an environmentally friendly initiative, and IBM has substantially decreased its energy use (and saved money while doing it). According to Burson-Marsteller, 55% of people are more likely to choose a product that supports a cause when choosing between similar products. And 70% of people are willing to pay a premium for these products from socially responsible companies. CSR can save you money while building up your image and clientele.

How do you Implement CSR?

Corporate culture starts at the top. A culture of social responsibility is necessary for any competitive company in today’s society. In a recent study done by the Journal of International Business Studies, two different aspects were identified in executives’ decision-making. You can either stress economic factors—profit, cost control and market share—or you can stress constituents—employees, environmentalists and the community. The research found that when executives stressed the constituent groups, they were considered to be inspirational. This caused employees to exert extra effort and resulted in better performance. So, be passionate and chances are, people will listen to you.

Corporate Social Responsibility is huge factor in consumer perception. Establish trust within your employees and customers and you’ll be one step closer to a socially responsible company. It can be as easy as looking out for your employees, or implementing a green office initiative. Every small step matters!

Sometimes it’s hard to determine the best words for entrepreneurs to live by.  But we’re pretty sure famous last words don’t come up high on your favorite startup quotes. Famous last words are most often known for being funny, odd and every once and awhile, heartwarming. But can these words also relate to entrepreneurs and business?  Let’s take a look at some of the most well-known last words and see what entrepreneurs can take away from them (we may even surprise you!):

1.  “What is the answer?”  “…In that case, what is the question?” – Gertrude Stein

Entrepreneurs must first find the question that needs to be answered. After the question is established, then it’s time to work on finding the solution.  Only then will you be able start a profitable business.

2.  “I've got to get to the top of the hill..." – J.P. Morgan

Stay motivated! You’ll reach top as long as you have the right idea, drive, determination, resources, team and of course, funding. Don’t forget to celebrate your hard work along the way.  

3.  "This is no time to make new enemies." – Voltaire

Starting a business is not the time to make enemies. Build your relationships up and remember to network, network, network! Success is built on those around you.

4.  "Et tu, Brute?” (You too, Brutus?) – Julius Caesar

Be aware of who you’re doing business with.  Your partner and first employees are going to be the most important part of your startup in the beginning. Make sure you can trust all of them with anything.  After all, they will contribute to your startup’s success. 

5.  “No, I shall not give in. I shall go on. I shall work to the end.” – Edward VII King of Britain

Being an entrepreneur is all about being able to work toward a goal even after you’ve failed a few times. Work toward your dream until it is finally a reality. It’ll be well worth the wait.

These famous last words teach us some valuable entrepreneurial lessons. Take a glance at these once in awhile to spark some inspiration and motivation. Who know?  Maybe your last words will become famous and leave us with priceless wisdom, too. 

In the tech startup world, innovation happens all the time. Innovation is a resource that the world can always use more of, and like any resource, it must be harvested. To harvest the energy of the sun, you need solar panels. If you want to turn the air into electricity, you need wind turbines. If you want to turn innovative ideas in profitable businesses, you need hackathons.

Hackathons embody everything that is fantastic about the tech startup world. Hackathons take place when a handful (or many, many more) like-minded individuals come together, take time out of their days, and build amazing new companies and apps just for the sake of building. But there are some pretty jaw-dropping benefits of hackathons that justify the time and energy spent organizing and participating in these events.

There are a variety of different hackathons that have spurred hundreds great innovative new products. Below are five hackathons that carry a little more prestige than the others because of the success that the startups have achieved since their inception.

1. Startup Weekend LA, Notable Birth:  Zaarly

Part of the Startup Weekend series we all know and love, this hackathon takes place in Los Angeles at the Coloft coworking space. Anyone is welcome to pitch a startup idea and receive feedback from other Startup Weekend attendees. Teams organically form around the top ideas (as determined by popular vote) and then it’s a 54-hour frenzy of business model creation, coding, designing and market validation. Startup Weekend culminates with presentations in front of local entrepreneurial leaders with opportunities for critical feedback.

2. Startup Bus,Notable Birth:  txtroo

With buses departing from San Francisco, Silicon Valley, Chicago, Cleveland, New York and Miami, Startup Bus is a hackathon on wheels. Participating ‘buspreneurs’ produce different products as they travel to SWSX in Austin, TX. Not only is there a Startup Bus America but in December 2011, this style of hackathon was launched in Europe as well.

3. Hack the Midwest, Notable Birth: Qup

Participants have just 24 hours to build and create a viable product. They can either build a team on their own or be paired through event coordinators.

4. AngelHacknotable birth: Go Give

AngelHack unites developers around the country for a national hackathon, where you can showcase awesome things and win seed capital from investors. It is one of the largest hackathon series with over $200,000 in prizes &  $30,000 in sponsors prizes.

5. Disruptnotable birth:Docracy

Presented by TechCrunch, this series of hackathons have taken place in Bejing, New York, and San Francisco. Consisting of separate events over four days, the hackathon is open to only to hackers and developers willing to work on projects to present only. At the heart of Disrupt is the Startup Battlefield, entrepreneurs present to the judging panel of VCs, angels, and general investors. Up for grabs is the $50,000 prize and the coveted “Disrupt Cup,” a wealth of press exposure and new open doors.

So if you have an idea that you’ve been itching to try but may not have had the time to do so try out a hackathon. Sure you may lose some sleep but you might gain a million dollar ideal.

You guys, as you like, sort of already know, there are some, uh, really annoying, like, filler words that can really kind of lower our professionalism and like, integrity during our uh, investor pitch, ya know?  

See what I mean?

Filler words and slang words can be the death of us—especially when speaking to an important group of people like investors, partners, industry experts and even to just to a large crowd.  Filler and slang words such as “um”, “like” and “sort of” don’t just make us sound unprofessional, but they also make us seem unconfident in what we’re trying to say...or more importantly, what we’re trying to sell. 

Ridding your vocabulary of slang and filler words is a tremendous task.  You have to constantly be aware of not only what you’re currently saying, but also, the next few sentences that will come out of your mouth. 

What slang and filler words do we hear during startup pitches the most?  Here is the ultimate list of the top six slang and filler words to avoid during your pitch:  

1. 1.You guys.

The number one way to sound unprofessional is to say “you guys” when referring to a group of people.  The term should only be used when talking casually with friends and family...not with investors, potential clients or partners. 

Replace “you guys” with “your team”, “your company”, “your organization”. 

1. 2.Sort of/sorta/kind of/kinda.

The terms “sort of” and “kind of” (and even worse...”sorta” and “kinda”) are filler words that we use to eliminate traces of silence during a pitch.  Using these words makes an entrepreneur sound unsure of himself—and if he’s unsure of himself, potential investors will be too! 

Replace “sort of” with silence and a deep breath. 

1. 3.Um/uh.

Most people struggle with eliminating “um” and “uh” from their vocabularies.  These filler words can distract your audience from your overall message.  These words also tend to take away from your presentation’s impact.  Don’t be afraid to sprinkle in some silence during your presentation—it will keep investors on the edge of their seats. 

Replace “um” and “uh” with silence and a deep breath. 

1. 4.Very/really.

Make sure your pitch presentation is always clear.  When you use terms like “very”, “really” or any other adjective, it makes your point less impactful.  Try to avoid adjectives as often as possible, but if you feel the need to use them, use ones that provide a bigger punch.

Replace “very” and “really” with “extremely”.  You will only use “extremely” if it needs to be there—not as a filler word.   

1. 5.Some/most.

“Some”, “most” and “many” are non-specific words that always leave investors guessing.  These generalizations can cause your listeners to doubt the accuracy of any information that you are giving.

Replace “some” and “most” with actual numbers and stats. 

1. 6.Ya know?

We’ve all heard people finish off sentences with “ya know?”.  Asking this small question at the end of a presentation (or even at the end of a sentence) lowers your level of authority.  It implies that you are unsure of your statement at that you need some agreement in order to move forward. 

Replace “ya know?” with “do you have any questions so far?” 

Replacing slang and filler words is an enormous task that we have to be conscious of on a day-to-day basis.  Don’t get frustrated!  The more you practice the elimination of slang words, the more professional you will be during your next big pitch. 

In today’s world of startup marketing, some entrepreneurs may be neglecting their website in lieu of having a Facebook or Twitter presence.  However, your website should be the most important part of your small business—after all, that’s where all the magic happens!  Here are ten super easy ways to make the best use of your startup’s online space: 

1. Use industry specific keywords

If your startup is a website in the circus industry (there’s an interesting concept!), make sure to include such keywords as circus, clown, trapeze, juggling and women with moustaches.  These are the words that potential customers may be searching for in their search engines and will let your website pop up if it recognizes that you are in the industry.

2. Use keywords in your page and article titles

Optimize your titles on your different pages, articles and blog posts; you should be doing this automatically, as your titles will discuss what you’re talking about.

3. Strategically place keywords

When using keywords, note they rank higher with frequency in body text, in headlines and in the first sentence and the last paragraph of content.  Use keywords as often as possible but not at the expense of sounding natural—nobody likes a spammer!

4. Specify your hyperlinks

Avoid saying “click here” when you hyperlink.  Instead, link it with the actual words. You’ll get bonus keywords and the link looks more authentic with a description. Example: you’ll get bonus keywords and the link looks more authentic with a description.

5. Link internally

By linking internally to other pages on your own website, you show search engines your pages are interconnected. The easiest place to do this is on your homepage. An added benefit: your homepage will serve as a directory this way as well.

6. Open links in a new window

If you’re going through all the trouble to put in hyperlinks to increase SEO, make sure you’re not doing so at the expense of people actually staying on your website.  Many web-hosting sites allow you to click the option to open up links in new windows.  Always do this to keep customers on your own site.

7. Stay on top of your analytics

Know what works and what doesn’t.  Are people lingering on your pages as long as you want them to? They only way to truly know is to check your stats regularly.  A good site to use to track your progress is Google Analytics.  Google Analytics can track everything from page views to where your visitors are getting the link to your site (perhaps to see if your startup website needs a revamp!). 

8.  Put better content higher

Literally, put important content at the top of your page.  Web surfers are lazy—they want all the important info in front of them. That’s why banner ads at the top of a website page go for more money than those found at the bottom.

9. Create unique content

True, it’s better to have more content on your website—just make sure it’s unique. For example, don’t add a bunch of copied (yet attributed) work of someone else to your website for content’s sake.  You’ll score more points with Google and Bing if you’ve got your own original work.

10. Get bloggin’

Blogging is an essential part of the startup mix these days.  It allows you to show your brand’s expertise and personality and can be a forum for your customers to engage with you.  Adding your blog to your website will provide more unique content to your site as well! If you don’t have a blog already, try out Blogger or WordPressto see which one best fits your needs.

Follow these simple tips and you’ll no doubt have the essentials of a killer startup website!