No one wants to invest time in something only to be mediocre at it. We want to be great. But before you can be great you have to understand what being great looks like. What are you trying to achieve and what are you aiming for? What do people who are great at X look like? Because before you can be better than them, you at least have to be equal. And that takes some understanding on your part.

Do you want to be great at social media? Well, below are 23 things that great businesses do in social media. Maybe you can help me and add to my list in the comments.

The goal of Appropriate Technology (AT) is to increase the standard of living for the developing world without requiring excessive resources and to use sustainable materials appropriate to the cultural aspects of the local community.  Appropriate Technology is one step beyond the basic concept of sustainable development because it is culturally sensitive and does not impose western technology ideology on developing nations; rather it works within the native concepts and resources to achieve economic development.

Some of the best examples of appropriate technology include addressing basic human needs such as access to clean drinking water and making daily tasks simpler to allow for time and energy to pursue other economic ventures.

If you expect to succeed in the thrill-a-minute, roller coaster ride of a startup, let me assure you it takes more than a good idea, a rich uncle, and luck. In fact, the idea is often the least important part of the equation. Investors tell me that they look at the people first, the business plan second, and only then at the idea.

If you want some tips to beat the insurmountable odds, take a look at the following concepts, adapted from Richard C. Levy’s book, “The Complete Idiot’s Guide to Cashing in On Your Inventions.” He was talking about inventions, but I think his concepts apply perfectly to any entrepreneur starting a business:

In a not too distant California future, students experience classrooms as a rich, multimedia virtual concept instead of a physical space. They graduate into a workforce and marketplace that thrives on the seamless, constant conversion of intellectual ability into economic power. Part of that workforce successfully applies the latest technology solutions to ensure water quality, restore watersheds, repair habitats and develop new products and services that address California's water challenges.

California is back, having recaptured its role as global leader in innovation. A lofty goal in a California presently defined by budget challenges and economic morass, but entirely within the state's reach if it follows a detailed plan, such as one outlined in a report to the California Legislature released today by the California Council on Science and Technology (CCST).

"Innovate 2 Innovation," or "i2i," presents an action plan that would restore California's magnetic attraction for talent and unparalleled reputation for scientific research and high technology.

A few days ago The New York Times reported that new organizations are sprouting up “to encourage scientists and engineers to speak out in public debates and even run for public office.” There are many good reasons for science to be put on the front burner of our public agenda. More than fifty percent of our economic growth since World War II is attributable to science and technology; this is the best investment our country has made. And our scientists and engineers are the best possible advocates for reinvestment in innovation, especially considering the state of our economy.

But the very fact that American scientists feel the need to aggressively advocate for science conceal a bitter irony that the Times article failed to note: We once had a group of brilliant, influential and politically engaged leaders who were fascinated by science, wanted the country to be the world leader in the pursuit of new knowledge about the natural world, and in some cases even made original contributions.

Many people believe that good entrepreneurs are naturally born, rather than trained or experienced in the art of business. I believe there is a natural born component required, but often I tend to agree with Peter Drucker, who said “It’s not magic, it’s not mysterious, and it has nothing to do with genes. It’s a discipline, and like any discipline, it can be learned.”

On the natural born side, some entrepreneurs seem to have a strong vision and the ability to inspirationally lead others. It is this vision that is the beacon to drive the right people behavior, leading to the success of the business. If you don’t feel a vision in your heart, or if you don’t have the strength to inspire people, entrepreneurship is probably the wrong road for you.

At $20, it may not seem like a light bulb worth buying. However, when you consider its solar-powered abilities, it’s hard to believe no one thought of it before!

The solar-powered light bulb by Nokero holds roughly enough energy to power the bulb for 4 hours. According to The Washington Post, the bulb is perfect for emergencies, and for people in third world countries living without any electricity for light.

NASVF, the Federal Laboratory Consortium (www.FLC.org) and selected technical and economic development organizations from the Washington Metro region are please to announce the Commercializing Innovation:  Attracting Investors and Entrepreneur's Conference on September 13, 2011, at Marymount University (Ballston Campus), Arlington, VA.

Experts from the Maryland, Washington DC, and Virginia will be featured presenting on effective business strategies in technology development, technology development/transfer lessons learned, challenges, and the opportunities in this economically vibrant region. A financial seminar featuring Jim Jaffe and Richard Miller from NASVF will host the morning session addressing the key areas in attracting investors to tech-based companies.

It's obvious now that the software patent system is a huge innovation tax.

So-called patent trolls are really a mafia, taking extortion money from the actual innovators in our society.

But fear not. There's an easy way to beat the patent trolls.

Fight them.

Fight.

New York Observer's Betabeat talks to a few patent victims, like New York startup Betabeat, and Betaworks founder John Borthwick (back when he was the CEO of startup Fotolog).

Failed Policy: The Obama administration's jobs plan was based on a greening of the economy. But the green jobs aren't materializing, a fact driven home by the recent bankruptcy of a solar power company.

During the 2008 campaign, candidate Barack Obama said he would create 5 million well-paying "green" jobs within 10 years.

Politico has reported that "he's spent considerable time since entering the White House trying to make that happen."

Let’s face it, consultants have a bad image. Businesses want experienced people who get their hands dirty, rather than experts who give presentations, make recommendations, and disappear. Even consultants don’t like their job, since they don’t often get to see results, and too much of their time is spent looking for the next gig.

The Internet has changed the world. If you need to know how to do something, just look it up online. You will probably find more current alternatives and more recommendations on any given subject than any consultant could muster. For example, there are a dozen articles like this one for every area of expertise.

Entrepreneurship, the discovery and exploitation of new business opportunities, has become the buzzword of a knowledge-based global economy, and for a good reason. It is the only economic resource that cannot be transferred across corporate boundaries, and, therefore, the ultimate source of competitive advantage in global industries where imitation, market saturation, and lower entry barriers quickly eliminate market rents. Does China possess this resource?

To address this question, we must define and distinguish between two very different types of entrepreneurship, demand-side entrepreneurship and supply-side entrepreneurship. Demand-side entrepreneurship begins with consumer needs that have yet to be fulfilled and comes up with viable business concepts to bridge these gaps–the consumer is the center of the business universe. Economic resources, including capital, are raised after a business opportunity has been identified and explored.

The debt ceiling debate is over for the time being, but it sure doesn’t feel like it. President Obama, the House and the Senate agreed on a compromise that increases the debt ceiling by as much as $2.4 trillion dollars. On top of the $900 billion spending cut over the next ten years from federal programs, agencies and day-to-day expenditures, the agreement called for the formation of a special “super committee” that must identify further spending cuts by Thanksgiving. If this committee deadlocks or if Congress reject the committee’s recommendations, automatic across-the-board spending cuts of at least $1.2 trillion will go into effect.

Though the debt compromise is considered by most as sub-optimal, the alternative would have led to a U.S. default. Given the painful things that have already happened in the markets, who knows how much greater the pain would have been if, over the last week, we instead were watching the U.S. Treasury determine who would and would not get paid. In that scenario, I think we could have faced a downturn and volatility in the markets that exceeded 2008 and rivaled 1929. All this market turmoil does nothing to help entrepreneurs, particularly for ones seeking access to capital and other financial resources.

How do you get ideas to spread, especially in organizational communities of practice (often behind the firewall) to encourage innovation?

In Connecting Ideas with Communities, I figured that if you want to foster large-scale change in an organization or even a network, then you would:

• Connect the right Mavens with the potential Innovators,
• target the Early Adopters via the Connectors, and then
• find the Salespeople who will influence the Early Majority.

The oft-quoted 90-9-1 rule, would infer that you only need 1% Creators (Mavens):

User participation in an online community more or less follows the following 90-9-1 ratios:

• 90% of users are Lurkers (i.e., read or observe, but don’t contribute).
• 9% of users are Commenters. They edit or rate content but don’t create content of their own.
• 1% of users create content and are Creators.

Entrepreneurs are always getting advice about how to pursue investors: how to properly obtain an introduction to a venture capitalist, how many slides to include in a PowerPoint presentation, how to handle questions when pitching to a room full of "angel" investors. They read it on blogs, hear it from mentors, and sit through endless panel discussions. So when do entrepreneurs get a chance to give tips to those all-powerful Keepers of the Checkbook? Hardly ever, is the answer. Offering honest feedback to a VC or angel investor — whether they've put money in or passed — can sour the relationship. Besides, aren't venture capitalists infallible?

TheFunded, of course, has collected anonymous ratings and comments about venture capital firms and individual partners since 2007. But after a serial entrepreneur e-mailed me earlier this month to vent about a local VC who had neglected to so much as visit his Web site prior to the meeting, I thought it might be a good idea to gather some feedback from Boston-area entrepreneurs, intended for Boston-area investors. (Though much of what they had to say probably applies to start-up investors anywhere.) My criteria: everyone I asked has been successful in raising money from angels or venture capital firms, so there's no hostility here from entrepreneurs who were unable to find backing.

The emails from small business owners typically start out something like this:

Hi! So we took your advice and created a Facebook page for our business. Now that we have the page created, we’re not sure what to do with it. What’s next? What should we be using it for?

If you’ve ever stared at your Facebook Business page and wondered what, exactly, you were supposed to do next, you’re not alone. Obviously the best way to use your Facebook page will depend on what type of business you’re running and what you’re hoping to get out of your investment there. However, if you’ve been finding yourself at a total loss for how to use Facebook to connect with your audience, here are few ideas to help get you started.

The key to successful SEO is concentrating on long-tail keywords. Although these keywords get less traffic than more generic terms, they are associated with more qualified traffic and users that are most likely further down their path of intent. The good news is that choosing the right long-tail keywords for your website pages is actually a fairly simple process.

The Importance of Relevance

Relevance is the key factor to consider when choosing the right keywords for SEO. Remember, the more specific you are, the better. For instance, if you own a company that installs swimming pools, which keyword do you think is more likely to attract qualified prospects for your business?

The Canadian Innovation Commercialization Program was designed by the Government of Canada to help businesses get started and get their innovative products and services from the lab to the marketplace. This new program, a $40 million initiative, was launched as a part of the 2010 budget to promote economic growth. The maximum value of funding available through this program is $500,000 and CICP targets innovations in these four areas: environment, safety and security, health and enabling technologies.

CICP will help bridge the pre-commercialization gap for innovative products and services through a number of supportive actions;

If there's one thing entrepreneurs like to do, it's network. And Maryland's entrepreneurs are apparently about to get that in a big way this November. The state's technology development entity, TEDCO, is spearheading the first Entrepreneur Expo on Monday, Nov. 14, at the BWI Airport Marriott in Linthicum Heights.

The event is taking place during the worldwide Global Entrepreneurship Week.

The event has the title of "Harnessing the Power of Innovation in Maryland."

As a business owner it’s easy to get that “Same Stuff, Different Day” feeling: Every day you face the same frustrations, same roadblocks, same employee headaches, same problems with vendors and suppliers and, yes, even customers.

And before you know it you’re in an SSDD rut.

How do you get out? It’s not easy, but it can be done.

While you can’t change what you do — you still have to deal with employees and vendors and suppliers and customers — you can change your approach.