For sushi lovers, the strong and growing Asian population in the area is a wonderful thing. It means more Asian restaurants and places to get fresh sushi.

This is our inaugural Best Of feature. Every week, well be asking you to vote for your favorites in many categories, and winners will get a certificate. Small business owners, think of this as your chance to show off your business products and services.

Vote below for your favorite sushi place: Sushi To Go (inside Assi Plaza), Manna (inside H Mart), Senoya, Sushi Kaya and Dempster Street Fish Market.  Be sure to tell us your thoughts in the comments.

Because this poll is not scientific, it is not the sole consideration in choosing a winner. The winner will be determined by the Patch editors, based on poll results and reviews on Patch Places. Please vote only once per survey.

Comments will help determine winners in the event of a tie.

Please vote by the 9 am Friday, March 2 deadline.

The Biz@Home Expo, focused exclusively on the needs of aspiring and existing home-based entrepreneurs, takes place this weekend on Saturday and Sunday at the Hyatt Regency Valencia.

The exhibit includes business opportunities for those who wish to start a home-based business, products, and services for home business owners, and educational seminars.

If the visitors attend five business seminars, they can earn a free home business permit from the city of Santa Clarita, said Gary Buterbaugh, owner and executive producer at High Impact Event Resources and producer of the expo. The permits, worth over $40, are for people running a business out of their home.

The cost of admission covers all events, including the home-based business and vendor exhibits, as well as the seminars, Buterbaugh said.

A representative from the Small Business Administration will also be on hand for attendees at the expo.

We will have some people there whose home-based business has grown to the point where they may need to move out to a store front, Buterbaugh said.

The Biz@Home Expo runs Saturday, Feb. 18 from 9 am to 5 pm and Sunday, Feb. 19 from 10 am to 4 pm More information can be found online at www.bizathomeexpo.com.

Atlanta, GA, March 02, 2012 –(PR.com)– Summit Group is proud to announce the awarding of the 2012 PPAI Pyramid Award for Consumer Programs. The Silver place award was won for their work with Brown Forman and the Jack Daniels online virtual gift shop.

The truly collaborative partnership between Summit Group and Brown-Forman resulted in a 46% increase year-over-year with their new online store that brings unique Jack Daniels licensed product to its fans around the world. Jack Daniels has offered an online store in the past and re-launched the site with the help of Summit Group. The account team, Anna Cheney and Lindsay Pechi, work closely with the Brown Forman teams to produce and sell premium Jack Daniel-branded product with an upscale online presence.

Summits relationship with Brown Forman is the true definition of a partnership. This creative collaboration has brought so many exciting new products and experiences to the Jack Daniel fans, says Anna Cheney. A great brand presence has been developed because of this partnership and innovative and consumer-sought products provided by PPAI product providers.

The online store saw an increase in sales momentum and web traffic through season and event-specific campaigns that deployed e-blasts and site advertising. A virtual suggestion box provides over 200 valuable suggestions per month and these enable the team to learn consumers buying patterns and retail trends, leading to fresh merchandise.

Summit Group brings talented teams to the table account management, merchandising, marketing, web development, warehousing, fulfillment and distribution. Brown Forman and Summit Group work together to further their brand and consumer engagement. Summit works to promote the Jack Daniels brand through protecting and working within the distinct brand licensing.

About Summit Group
With roots dating back to 1969, Summit brings you dedicated, full-service teams throughout the United States. Summit leverages three distinctive disciplines to motivate your audience at every touch point; Branded Merchandise, Engagement amp; Recognition and Marketing amp; Communication Services. We call it The Power of 3. You will call it a well-integrated plan to energize your brand in new ways.

As a single source to engage your audience on multiple levels, Summit delivers a truly powerful brand experience.

About Brown-Forman
For 140 years, Brown-Forman Corporation has enriched the experience of life by responsibly building fine quality beverage alcohol brands. Brown-Formans brands are supported by nearly 3,900 employees and sold in approximately 135 countries worldwide. For more information about the company, please visit http://www.brown-forman.com

About PPAI
Since 1903, the Promotional Products Association International, a not-for-profit, has been the standard-setting international trade association for the promotional products industry. PPAI offers education, tradeshows, business products and services, mentoring, technology and legislative support to its members. For information regarding PPAI or to learn more about the proven power of promotional products, visit the PPAI website at www.ppai.org.

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Media Contacts
Dan Weil, dan.weil@summitmg.com

The survey by Small Business Logos aimed to help new businesses understand how well-known logos communicate a brand story.

It also uncovers trends and tips that new start-ups and small business owners can use when creating their first company logo.

The poll, which ran online, asked participants to choose from a range of well-known and iconic brands.

Logos were organised into a range of industry sectors; technology, retail, business products and services, business finance, communication, consumer brands, fashion, food and drink, online and travel and leisure.

The winners

1.#160;#160;#160;Apple: Clean, modern and extremely easy to reproduce

2.#160;#160;#160;BBC: Simple, memorable and works well on TV, online and in-print

3.#160;#160;#160;Nike: Suggestive of movement, ideal for a sports brand, and works well on the side of a trainer

4.#160;#160;#160;Amazon: Embodying the company’s philosophy: everything from A to Z, delivered with a smile

5.#160;#160;#160;Google: Strong primary colours, enhanced by ‘google doodles’

6.#160;#160;#160;London Underground: The capital’s most instantly recognised logo, the shape recalling the tube’s tunnels

7.#160;#160;#160;UPS: Brown is symbolic of parcel paper, with the shield suggesting security

8.#160;#160;#160;American Express: Squares and block lettering indicate strength and trust

9.#160;#160;#160;Sky: A versatile logo that supports brand extension: SkyNews, SkyHD, SkyMovies etc

10. HSBC:The only logo in the top 10 to use a very traditional serif font, more commonly associated with business and finance, suggesting authority.

Logos are a crucial part of a business’ identity, and, as our winners prove, over time they become important entities in their own right, instantly conjuring up the values and key messages of a particular brand, said Lucy Smith, marketing and e-commerce director for Small Business Logos.

We’ve taken a close look at what made our top ten to help businesses make informed choices when it comes to their own branding. Simplicity and the ability to reproduce in a range of different sizes, media and on products, is key.

Think about how colour, symbols and shapes might represent what you do or the sector you operate in Apple’s silver is widely associated with technology. If you have a growth plan factor this in to your thinking when briefing the initial logo; consider how versatile it is if your business develops.

#160;

IRVINE, CA, Feb 21, 2012 (MARKETWIRE via COMTEX) –
Sage North America today announced the release of Sage Source, a
forward-thinking new connected service designed to provide services
and benefits to small and midsized businesses and their employees
while encouraging work life balance.

Sage Source is an easy-to-use, personalized, web-based workspace
through which companies can offer their employees secure access to an
ever-growing library of value added services (“gadgets”), from
personal payroll history to company announcements and shopping
discounts. It is a cloud-based service accessible via internet
connection 24 hours a day. Sage Source requires no training or IT
administration, and is easy for businesses and their employees to
start using right away. Sage Source extends the value of traditional,
on-premise Sage products by making data securely available in the
cloud.

Sage Source empowers small and midsized businesses by enhancing
benefits packages to include offerings, such as group buying
discounts, typically only offered in the past by larger
organizations. It enables improved communication between a company
and its workforce, and embraces advances in technology to help
employees achieve work life balance.

Sage Source’s customizable views ensure each employee has access to
the information that is most relevant to them. Employees can view
their pay stubs, read the latest news, download company forms, book
travel, shop for the best deals, and more all from the same
centralized online environment. Allowing employees to stay connected
to the tools they use every day simplifies daily tasks and increases
productivity.

“Sage Source is an innovative new application that provides
businesses with the tools they need to be competitive in any industry
and maximize their return on employee investment (ROEI),” said Johnny
Laurent, vice president and general manager of Sage Employer
Solutions. “Providing employees with exclusive business products and
services helps fulfill a company’s commitment to taking care of its
employees; strengthens employee loyalty; and improves workforce
engagement, motivation, and productivity.”

Sage Source will be introduced to Sage customers in a phased approach
by product, starting with Sage HRMS customers and will become
available to customers of other product lines over the coming months.
For more information visit SageSource.com.

An industry-leading, customizable HRMS solution, Sage HRMS helps
companies optimize their HR business processes as well as maximize
their Return On Employee Investment (ROEI)(TM). Developed by HR
professionals for HR professionals, Sage HRMS delivers a tightly
integrated set of comprehensive features and functionality that
increases efficiency and improves productivity at every level in the
organization. With Sage HRMS, you can successfully meet and respond
to HR management challenges in the areas of payroll, benefits,
employee self-service, attendance, recruiting, training, workforce
analytics, and more. By automating and streamlining your day-to-day
HR business processes using Sage HRMS, you and your staff are freed
up to spend more time and energy on the business asset that is most
vital to your company — your employees. Learn more at

www.SageHRMS.com . Follow Sage HRMS on Facebook,

http://www.facebook.com/SageHRMS , and Twitter,

http://twitter.com/SageHRMS .

About Sage
Sage is a leading global supplier of business management
software and services for small and midsized businesses. The Sage
Group plc, formed in 1981, was floated on the London Stock Exchange
in 1989 and now employs more than 12,300 people and supports more
than 6 million customers worldwide. For more information about Sage
in North America, please visit the company website at

www.SageNorthAmerica.com . Follow Sage North America on Facebook,

http://www.facebook.com/SageNorthAmerica , and Twitter,

http://twitter.com/sagenamerica .

Press Contact:
Natalia Mikha
Sage North America
949.864.7093
natalia.mikha@sage.com

SOURCE: Sage

mailto:natalia.mikha@sage.com

Copyright 2012 Marketwire, Inc., All rights reserved.

A telling sign of how Facebook has superseded all other forms of customer relationship management is the Social Database.

Fan Appz has a new product by that name, and the companys Chief Executive Officer Jon Siegal told us all about it.

He described the idea behind Social Database as:

From a marketer’s perspective, building the audience and engaging them isn’t sufficient, so today, we’re announcing the critical piece of the puzzle.

Let’s take this audience and learn more about who these people are, what are their preferences, what are they interested in. And then let’s use that knowledge to create a better customer experience.

The idea behind Social Database is to help brand clients remember information shared by their fans and followers, and, at the end of the day, to do more business with these people.

Social Database allows marketers to more effectively use customer data they have collected via traditional opt-in interactions to individually target those consumers with products or services they have already expressed interest in.

Siegal added:

The idea behind Social Database is not to track people or follow people, but to focus on what they’re sharing back with the brand, such as products they like and preferences. Everything we do is opt-in with the purpose of providing a greater user experience.

The glow of fans, likes, and people responding to your posts only lasts so long. We’re helping our brand clients to take that next step to convert these fans’ and followers’ interaction and sharing into greater business value through Social Database.

Siegal offered an example of how a brand can use Social Database: one of Fan Appz retail clients ran a series of polls that allowed its fans to vote on their favorite new apparel offerings; the retailer used those poll results to incorporate top-scoring products into store signage; and after tying responses to unique customer records, the client company personalized email subject lines and content to reflect respondents’ preferences.

Fan Appz is “always looking at what Facebook is doing” in terms of new features, Siegel said, referring to timeline and open graph actions. He added:

We always want to implement features that make clients more successful. Facebook is a great place to build an audience and help an audience understand more about your business, products, and services. The dynamic nature of this business is not going to slow down. If anything, I think it’s going to accelerate. Facebook and Twitter are constantly changing their underlying platforms, as well.

In addition to today’s announcement about the release of Social Database, Fan Appz also detailed the following upgrades to its suite of social media marketing applications:

• New publisher apps;
• New customizable designs;
• New ways to share via social media and email;
• A new sweepstakes engine;
• A new refer-a-friend feature;
• New data analytics capabilities for publishers, engagement, promotions, and white label apps; and
• A single, secure administration panel for managing several social media pages simultaneously.

BATESVILLE, Ind., Feb. 23, 2012 — /PRNewswire/ — The board of directors of Hillenbrand, Inc. (NYSE: HI) has declared a dividend of $0.1925 per share on the companys common stock. The dividend is payable March 30, 2012, to shareholders of record at the close of business March 16, 2012.

ABOUT HILLENBRANDHillenbrand (www.HillenbrandInc.com) is a global diversified manufacturing enterprise that makes and sells premium business-to-business products and services for a wide variety of industries. We pursue profitable growth and meaningful dividends for our shareholders by leveraging our leading brands, robust cash generation capabilities and strong core competencies. HI-INC-F

SOURCE Hillenbrand

MANILA, Philippines – Globe Business encourages Filipino entrepreneurs to enjoy their passions outside of work by helping them run their business in ways that are simpler, more efficient and at less cost.

To show that doing business while enjoying life is possible, Globe Business has invited a group of select Filipino entrepreneurs to be Globe Business Ambassadors.

The Globe Business Ambassadors are role models and inspirations for all entrepreneurs to emulate so that they, too, may discover the secrets of having work-life balance. They were honored in Joie de Vivre: The Globe Business Hat Party held at the Prive Luxury Club recently.

Jesus Romero, head of Globe Business, said, Our new brand ambassadors inspire us because they take care of business while achieving what we call joyful living. They are entrepreneurs who maximize the use of modern telecoms products and services to run their business more simply and effectively, thereby reducing their work-related stress.

They also use these same telecoms tools to make their schedules and routines more efficient. As a result, they have more free time for their hobbies and recreation, including quality time spent with family and friends, he added.

Romero said all the brand ambassadors are relying on Globe Business products and services to maintain their joy at work and in their personal lives.

Model entrepreneurs

One of the newest ambassadors of Globe Business is Amina Aranaz-Alunan who designs and sells the world-class Aranaz bags. She is also the owner and school director of SoFA (School of Fashion and the Arts) and is a staunch advocate of women empowerment.

Lennie Dionisio established the Tomato fashion store franchise to address Filipinos need for affordable yet stylish and high-quality clothes. While overseeing 19 Tomato branches across the country, she is able to enjoy her hobbies which include traveling and playing badminton.

Yale-educated entrepreneur Jaime Daez is known for his thriving bookstore Fully Booked under his company Sketchbooks Inc. He also owns two specialty bookstores and a home furnishing company. Despite his busy schedule, he still finds time to be with his wife, listen to his growing collection of CDs, and watch movies.

Rose Ann Bautista is the owner and vice president for marketing and retail operations of Fino Leatherware Inc. and the co-owner of Skin, a leather furniture firm. She is able to be a doting mother and a loving wife, while pursuing her passions in water sports, running and the gym. After establishing 10 Fino branches and a new venture, she stays on top of her game.

While managing Puentespina Orchids and Tropical Plants Inc. could be taxing, owner Rex Puentespina can still enjoy his other interests such as hobie sailing. He is, in fact, the chairman of the Hobie Nationals Organizing Committee, and he also competes in regattas. He is likewise a member of the Taal Lake Yacht Club.

Happy Ongpauco-Tiu also comes from a clan of successful entrepreneurs. Her family is known for the Barrio Fiesta chain of restaurants and she has established her own Happy Concept Group of Companies. Her businesses include restaurants, party-themed carts, and a beauty clinic, among others. While running a business is her great passion in life, she says modern telecoms allows her to take care of her husband and kids and enjoy happy moments with them regularly.

Heritage Community Credit Union said it is seeing more people strike out on their own to start new businesses.

For this reason, the $200 million credit union in Sacramento, Calif., has launched a suite of business products and services to include checking accounts, credit and debit cards, merchant services, business tax payments and money market accounts.

Due to the current economy, people who formerly worked for other companies have gone into business for themselves, said Celeste Martinez, HCCU CEO. This new generation of entrepreneurs may be underserved by traditional large financial institutions. Heritage Community Credit Union wants to assist this growing portion of the market.

To encourage businesses to join the credit union and use their business services, HCCU is running a We Mean Business! promotion through the end of 2011. The promotion offers a $100 bonus to new business checking account owners who also apply for an HCCU Visa business credit card.

SMEs have been given the buying power usually associated with large companies thanks to a new request functionality created by a business group buying website, SME Discounts.com.

London, UK (PRWEB) November 29, 2011

SME Discounts is giving its members the opportunity to request a product or service that they have a specific interest in, and depending on the number of requests it receives, it will then find the best business deal to offer to its SME members.

Members simply log on to the new forum functionality to find out more about offers that have been requested and also to make requests of their own.

Managing director of SME Discounts Andries Smit is confident that the new pool functionality will take group buying for UK small businesses to a new level and offer SMEs the opportunity to buy in bulk and reduce costs.

He said: When business owners visit group buying websites they know what they are looking for but from time to time the deals they want arent available; by introducing this new functionality, UK small businesses get the chance to put their requests to us and get the deals they want.

This is a new dynamic for group buying that enables SMEs to reduce their cost by buying at the same stature as large companies with the added benefit of huge discount.

If you imagine that a large company needs new office chairs, they then purchase them in bulk at a reduced price; for SMEs this can be tricky and very expensive but by introducing this request process they are able to get the same sort of offers at a reduced price.

All they have to do is join the forum and state their request, this will then get a listing on our members forum and any other UK small businesses interested in the same sort of deal can add their approval.

At the end of each week, SME Discounts release details on the members forum about recent requests, highlighting the products and services UK small businesses want and how many of them they require.

If SME Discounts receive more than five requests for a single item or service, it will find the best deal for SME members.

Andries added: We have made the whole request process as simple as possible for our SME members, encouraging them to let us know what they want.

Many UK small businesses are experiencing a tough financial period meaning that the things they need can cost them dearly and bring repercussions elsewhere in the business; by allowing SMEs to make requests, we are doing what we can to help reduce costs.

SME business owners can find out more about the type of deals on offer at SME Discounts by visiting its website www.smediscounts.com.

Alternatively, existing members can join the business procurement forum get extra information about recent requests.

About SME Discounts

SME Discounts is the best Group Buying service for entrepreneurs, start-ups, home based businesses, freelancers, consultants, professionals, small and medium sized businesses. Offering 40-90% discounts on quality business products and services. It also offers an effective B2B online marketing solution for any size business, with no upfront costs or risk.

www.smediscounts.com

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For the original version on PRWeb visit: www.prweb.com/releases/prwebsme-discounts/uk-small-businesses/prweb8992515.htm