Digital has transformed how we make business connections. But in the age of LinkedIn, are business cards still effective?

Absolutely. Here are 10 reasons why business cards are still important…

1. Affordable way to promote your brand Business cards can be bulk ordered for a relatively low cost. The number you print is flexible – vary the quantity depending on how many you’re likely to use day-to-day. Say you’re heading to a trade show one month, you can increase your order at short notice.

NOTE: Check out https://smartbizcard.co to get an electronic business card for free today.

The past two years have brought an unprecedented shakeout in the labor market. During what has been called the Great Resignation, Americans have quit their jobs in record numbers — more than 4.5 million in November 2021 alone, double the number a decade ago.

Meanwhile, the number of new businesses being created has been on the rise. According to the U.S. Census Bureau, more than 4.4 million new businesses were created in the U.S. in 2020 — the highest total ever on record, representing a 24.3% increase from 2019 and 51% higher than the 2010-19 average, according to data from the U.S. Census Bureau analyzed by the Economic Innovation Group. What's more, 2021 might have beat that record.

In growing your business, how you communicate under pressure can make or break your progress, as well as your relationship with the team and outside constituents. In my experience as a mentor and consultant, it is not just the words, but also your tone, approach, body language, and the context in which you choose to engage that can make all the difference.

Business owners constantly complain about their 80-hour weeks. Oddly enough, they also love to brag about their grueling schedules and how they never stop working. It’s become part of the culture: To run a successful company is to puff out your chest and talk about how you work inhumane hours.

Veteran entrepreneurs are considered to be one of three groups of “unsung entrepreneurs” that contribute more to the economy than the general population. Findings from SCORE’s 2021 “The Megaphone of Main Street: Unsung Entrepreneurs” report indicate that veteran entrepreneurs, over the past 25 years, have started businesses at higher rates and operate more small businesses than others.

The Draper Hero Index (DHI) says it will start monthly updates to its United States Draper Innovation Index (DII US), a measurement of a state’s competitiveness when it comes to entrepreneurship and innovation. The Index is created in partnership with Dun & Bradstreet – beginning in January 2022.

The Draper Hero Institute (DHI) is the creation of Timothy Draper, a well-known VC who has been very active in the blockchain/crypto sector. Described as an “action-based research institution,” DHI focuses on “non-traditional pathways to guide future entrepreneurs in the new economy.”

Image: https://www.crowdfundinsider.com

Throughout most of his life, Ed felt lucky. Now in his mid-forties, he feels as though his work and personal lives are collapsing. And that, to risk cliché, his luck has run out.

Ed is Ed Blaine, and he works as the logistics manager for a large, local moving company. On the company’s organization chart, Blaine is two rungs below the president and founder of the company. He works with five colleagues who are peers and with whom he is not close. Until the last few months, Blaine got to work early and left late. He worked hard to be noticed. He worked hard to contribute to the organization. Lately, he has begun to feel he is being overlooked for a promotion or pay reward. Soon he started leaving early as well.

The Montgomery County Council has proposed grants of up to $250,000 for biohealth facilities that build or expand in certain economic zones across the county.

To be eligible, companies would have to build a facility at least 150,000 square feet or expand a facility by at least 50,000 square feet in an “opportunity zone” in the county. A maximum of $250,000 would be awarded for each project.

Image: Thomas Kaufman (at podium), the senior director of corporate real estate for United Therapeutics, speaks at a news briefing last month. A resolution inroduced Tuesday would create $250,000 grants for biohealth facilities like United Therapeutics to expand or build in certain areas of the county. FILE PHOTO

Gartner has identified the top 10 government technology trends for 2022 that can guide public-sector leaders in accelerating digital transformation and mitigating disruption risks.

“Government and public sector CIOs now need to sustain the momentum of digital acceleration after the initial chaos of the pandemic,” says Arthur Mickoleit, research director at Gartner.

My colleagues and I at Prime Movers Lab reviewed over 3,000 investment opportunities last year and are on pace to exceed that in 2022. In the process, we deployed more than $400 million across six sectors: transportation, energy, infrastructure, manufacturing, agriculture and human augmentation. To accurately allocate capital across so many burgeoning sectors, every year, we run 25-plus squads, which are our internal teams that go deep on particular technologies and themes, such as lithium, orbital debris and cultivated seafood. The work of these squads, combined with the careful watching of public and private markets, have led me to a few predictions for where I see venture capital going the rest of this year. Here is what to watch for:

Magic Leap, the augmented reality (AR) company that was near death (paywall) just a few years ago, has turned the corner from marketing its rebirth as an enterprise company to actually proving it. 

The new Magic Leap 2 (ML2) AR headset has a feature called global dimming, a tool that allows the user to transition from AR, where virtual objects appear spatially situated around the real environment, to what is essentially VR, where all real-world objects are completely obscured, leaving only the virtual presentation.

Image: A model wears the Magic Leap 2 augmented reality headset. - Magic Leap

Human monoclonal antibodies (mAbs) are being used in the clinic to prevent or treat SARS-CoV-2 infection, and experience thus far suggests that combinations of antibodies are potentially able to sustain broad recognition of viral variants as they arise, but developing, testing and approving mAb combination products is complex. One approach to reducing the logistical challenges of combination products is the development of bispecific antibodies (bsAbs) (Fig. 1). In this issue of Nature Immunology, Li et al. report the development and testing of an engineered bispecific human mAb against SARS-CoV-21.

Image: https://www.nature.com

San Francisco, Mar 11 (IANS): Apple is reportedly planning to launch a series of Macs with M2 chips based on TSMC's 4nm process later this year.

According to Mark Gurman, Apple has M2 versions of the 13-inch MacBook Pro, 24-inch iMac, and Mac mini in development. The Cupertino-based tech giant is also planning to launch at least some of those Macs around May to June of this year, reports DigiTimes.

The concept of passive income has been around forever. Since passive income does not have to be actively managed, it is much more scalable. This affords entrepreneurs even more time to pursue both active and passive income opportunities. 

I’ve started many of these businesses myself over the last decade, as well as helped others. With this experience in mind, I want to share important steps in preparing to participate in a passive income stream, and what to look out for ahead of time.

Skeptical about crypto and what it could mean for business? Concerned you might be missing out on the next big business frontier?

In this article, you’ll discover what happened during the Medieval and Renaissance eras that led to rapid business growth, how it’s happening again, and what will likely take place in the very near future.

Image: https://www.socialmediaexaminer.com

As the world shifts its thinking and consumers are more educated about the products and companies that they give their money to, one of the keys to success in business today is the nurturing of qualities in yourself that are central to social entrepreneurship. 

Here are some of the ways you can do that. 

I’m not going to scold you. Well, not much.

If I’m being honest, I have no high horse to climb on. How do you think I discovered these five business-killing mistakes? By making them.

My career as an entrepreneur started with a little moxie and a lot of beginner’s luck. I was 14 living in rural Pennsylvania. The smartphone era was just kicking off, and the best smartphones were made in Europe. Somehow I got a European wholesaler to give me an agreement as a reseller. I imported sophisticated phones for $300 or so a pop and sold them with a 20-30% markup on eBay. Watch out Bill Gates, or so I thought.

Women's day and Women's History Month are especially meaningful to me as a proud father of a daughter. I want my daughter to understand how wonderful and invaluable she is, not only to me and her mother, but also to everyone else in the world. Second, I want her to be exposed to amazing women who are accomplishing great things on a daily basis. I live, work and breathe AI and Technology. Through my work and research, I have encountered the work of countless amazing women in this sector. This month, I'd like to introduce you to nine incredible women who are making a difference in AI and Technology, as well as what barriers we all still face. During International Women's History Month, it is our pleasure to highlight and honor 9 women who are pushing the boundaries of artificial intelligence and ensuring that technology advancements contribute to the greater good.

Airbus is currently developing a demonstrator for the EcoPulse project, supported by France’s Civil Aviation Research Council (CORAC) and the French Civil Aviation Authority (DGAC). A key milestone was reached last year when the demonstrator underwent successful wind tunnel testing, and now the focus is on the battery.

When it comes to electric aircraft, batteries that were developed for the automotive industry couldn’t be used because they were too bulky, while the batteries that were specifically designed for aviation have a low energy density that doesn’t allow great performance. This is why Airbus experts claim that the high-voltage capabilities of the new Li-ion battery system are nowhere else available in the industry.

Image: https://www.autoevolution.com

Shift workers were found to have poorer working memory and slower mental processing speed, reveals a pooled data analysis of the available evidence, published online in Occupational & Environmental Medicine.

It is also associated with lower levels of alertness and visual focus, and the ability to control impulses and situational response, potentially heightening the risk of workplace injuries and errors, suggest the researchers.