StartupNation® Launches Online Networking Community for Entrepreneurs

Birmingham, MI – June 5, 2006 – StartupNation, www.startupnation.com, has launched an online community and entrepreneur forum that helps aspiring entrepreneurs connect with peers and mentors as they start and grow their businesses. Through StartupNation, entrepreneurs can create individual profiles, post to forums and cultivate business ideas. Entrepreneurs who register at StartupNation before June 27th are automatically entered to win two, free round trip tickets from Southwest Airlines.

“With over half of all businesses being run from home today, entrepreneurs are more isolated from each other than ever,” states Rich Sloan, StartupNation Co-founder. “We’ve addressed that problem by giving entrepreneurs real-time access to a thriving online community of peers, experts, mentors, and discussions on issues that confront them. At StartupNation, we provide our audience with simple connections to the tools, advice, people, step-by-step processes, and the inspiration they need 24/7 to create successful businesses.”

Entrepreneurs in StartupNation’s international, online community are already making connections that impact their business. “Through StartupNation’s community pages, I’ve already secured contacts with industry trend-setters who I previously could not easily access,” states Aron North of Perfect Beverage. “These experts are helping me take my cocktail mix invention to the next level.”

This new, web-community component complements StartupNation’s other multimedia resources such as podcasts, radio shows and articles, all designed to help entrepreneurs succeed. With a free registration at www.startupnation.com/pages/community, visitors can:

• Obtain valuable startup advice and information from the StartupNation experts
• Network with other like-minded entrepreneurs
• Find potential business partners and mentors
• Promote a business
• Post ideas and comments in entrepreneur forums
• Send private messages to other community members
• Rate other members on the value of their posts and community activity
• Add members to a personal buddy list
• Build a core group of key contacts
• Access all of the StartupNation podcasts, newsletters, articles, online seminars, radio programs, news, and information to start a business now!

To sign up and take advantage of the free benefits of StartupNation, visit www.startupnation.com.

About StartupNation
Founded by life-long entrepreneurs Jeff and Rich Sloan, StartupNation (www.startupnation.com) is a vibrant community which provides free advice and resources for entrepreneurs who want to start and grow a business. Through www.startupnation.com, entrepreneurs access articles, podcasts and seminars, as well as connect with mentors and peers through StartupNation’s online network. Hosts of StartupNation Radio, the Sloan brothers are successful inventors, experienced entrepreneurs and authors of "StartupNation: Open for Business" (Doubleday). They’ve been featured in numerous, international publications and frequently appear on national television.

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Media Contact: Melanie Rembrandt, melanie@startupnation.com, 248.540.9660 ext. 333