San José Public Library, as a proud BusinessOwnerSpace.com member, would like to extend to you a complimentary invitation to attend the kick off for the City of San Jose’s new Shop San Jose Initiative at Festiv’ALL on October 12. Over 2,000 business leader attendees are drawn to this annual multi-cultural networking expo and mixer of the region's business and economic development organizations. The event itself will run from 6 pm to 8 pm and will also feature pre-event social media training at 5 pm to help businesses build their businesses using the latest tools. For more information about Festiv'ALL, visit http://festivall.hccsv.org/; for more information about Shop San Jose, visit http://www.businessownerspace.com/content/shop-san-jose.

Tickets are required and can be downloaded from the Hispanic Chamber of Commerce Silicon Valley’s registration site at http://festivall-work2future.eventbrite.com.

Hope to see you there!

The Silicon Valley/San José Business Journal will be offerering free workshops throughout October on using the Journal for sales leads. Many people have been using the Journal's Book of Lists for sales leads but now is your opportunity to hear from two of the Journal's sales folks.

I wanted to share an interesting resource, Khan Academy.  Khan Academy is an excellent online resource to learn through video lectures and exercises. Topics range from Linear Algebra, Investing and Finance to SAT Prep. The founder, Sal Khan, was named #7 in Fast Company's list of 100 Most Creative People in Business 2011.

Khan, who does all the lectures on the site, is also a Silicon Valley resident, former hedge fund manager, has 3 degrees from MIT and an MBA from Harvard. I think he's a qualified lecturer!  Khan Academy is a non-profit and access to the 2400 video lectures are free. Schools are using this resource and incorporating it into the curriculum. I imagine this would be a great learning resource for visual learners. In addition, the program tracks your learning progress and to keep things interesting, you have an opportunity to earn badges for accurately completing exercises. What a great resource for parents to suggest to their kids for math, history or SAT help.

I suggest you browse through the different classes offered, I am sure you will find something that you always wanted to know about in there. I think I might try and learn more about P/E ratios!

Every semester SJSU's School of Library and Information Science offers presentations online that are free and open to the public.& Usually these presentations are library oriented however I thought you might be interested in this Wednesday's presentation since it's business oriented. On, September 21, at noon, Jack Plunkett, CEO of Plunkett Research, will discuss his book The Next Boom: What You Absolutely, Positively Need to Know About the World Between Now and 2025.  Jack Plunkett believes we are on the verge of major economic growth and analyzes future trends and technologies. By the way, the library subscribes to Plunkett Research online and if you have not used it, it contains a wealth of market research information. If you can't make the live online presentation, it will be archived for later viewing.

I  knew  SCORE was a great organization that provides free in-person business counseling sessions. But did you know that you can get your business questions answered via email? SCORE proves business counseling via email and you can communicate with a counselor that matches your business need. You can communicate with SCORE counselors nationwide, so you are not limited to counselors located in Silicon Valley. What a fanatastic, convenient resource and it's free!

Networking. I don't mean social networking, this kind of networking doesn't require an Internet connection. Networking face to face allows for deeper connections and lasting impressions. Social networking may reach more people but networking in person puts a face to a business or job candidate. Anyway, you don't need much to get started and the more you get out there and start doing it, the easier and better at it you will be. Trust me, as someone who is not an outgoing schmoozer, it can be hard at first. However, I have met a lot of good contacts that I otherwise would not have if I didn't force myself to go to networking events. The benefits have outweighed my initial fear and apprehension. Plus, there's always the possibility of food and drink!

Networking is a great way to meet people that can help you or to meet people that you can help. You never know who you are going to meet that is someone or knows someone that can help you with that missing piece.

Before you perfect your handshake, you should probably know some tips on how to get the most out of your networking, whether the goal is increasing business or getting a job. For instance, you probably want to appropriately target your networking, meaning, going to a networking event in San José might not be as successful if you plan to do most of your business in San Francisco. Check out some of the books we have at the library for more tips to get you started on the road to better networking.

• 101 Successful Networking Strategies by Eric Kramer
• The Networking Survival Guide: Practical Advice to Help You Gain Confidence, Approach People, and Get the Success You Want by Diane Darling
• Smart Networking: Attract a Following In Person and Online by Liz Lynch
• Highly Effective Networking: Meet the Right People and Get a Great Job by Orville Pierson
• Work the Pond: Use the Power of Positive Networking to Leap Forward in Work and Life by Darcy Rezac