NxBizSuccess reaching out to entrepreneurs via portal, podcasts

As social media becomes more prevalent and newer, bolder ways of distributing facts, figures and fictions enter the picture, it seems the paradigm for acquiring and analyzing information shifts on a near daily basis.  Although this means more people are able to actively search out the information they seek (we live in a world where “Google” has evolved from an obscure mathematical term to a household name to a verb over the course of a few short years), the fact remains some people simply have no time to track down the advice they’re looking for.

It’s no secret that entrepreneurs — well known for working unconventional hours on side projects, often while holding down full-time jobs — fit squarely into that time-strapped demographic. It’s the very nature of those day-devouring schedules that spurred the creation of NxBizSuccess, an online portal that automatically brings entrepreneurs the information they need, often before they know they need it.

“The purpose of NxBizSuccess is to get real-time business information to entrepreneurs when they need it and where they want it — a lot of times, startups need this information yesterday,” said Tonia Franklin, NxBizSuccess web project manager and regional coordinator for NebraskaEDGE. “This portal serves as a way for individuals to go online and receive the information they’re looking for in an interactive way.”

Connected to 9 different social media outlets and boosting an impressive stash of 125 educational videos (ranging in content from small business profiles to how-to interviews with resource providers), NxBizSuccess certainly has plenty of information to dish out. But the crown jewel of the portal’s infrastructure is by and large its prestigious entrepreneur podcast.

Automatically uploaded to users’ iTunes accounts, NxBizSuccess’s instructive podcasts have enjoyed prominence as Top 25 downloads on iTunes U. iTunes U is a subsidiary of iTunes dedicated to educational content, attracting uploads from universities the world over, including the likes of Yale, Harvard and Oxford. Since the portal went public in November 2009, eager entrepreneurs have downloaded over 1200 CDs worth of NxBizSuccess podcast data.

Tonia Franklin, NxBizSuccess web project manager and regional coordinator for NebraskaEDGE

“The economy today is mobile — people are liking this attitude of having everything within their handheld devices,” Franklin said. “Entrepreneurs are very busy people. A lot of Nebraskans hold multiple jobs at once, so obviously time is an issue.”

The entire project was built from the ground up with entrepreneurs in mind. Originally conceived as a way for rural entrepreneurs to educate themselves while waiting for a NebraskaEDGE course to be offered in their area, NxBizSuccess was brought into existence by a grant from the Nebraska Enterprise Fund following an increase in state financing of projects related to microenterprise expansion.

In addition to its videos and podcasts, NxBizSuccess also posts entrepreneurial-themed scholarly articles and keeps a running, statewide list of all available training courses. The portal also recently added a new mechanism that allows organizations such as chambers to have their own private forums.

“This is a way for us to encourage entrepreneurial growth across the state of Nebraska, especially while entrepreneurs are waiting for that EDGE course to come to their community,” Franklin said. “It’s a social platform for entrepreneurs in general to come online, get info and also communicate with other members who are out there and really learn from each other.”