Third Annual StartupNation Home-Based 100(R), sponsored by Microsoft Office Live Small Business, Infusionsoft and FedEx Office, ranks top performers among the 16.5 million home-based businesses.

SAN FRANCISCO, Nov. 17 /PRNewswire/ -- StartupNation (http://www.startupnation.com) today announced the 100 winners of the third annual StartupNation Home-Based 100® ranking of the nation's top home-based businesses. From among thousands of contestants, winners were organized into 10 categories such as Most Innovative, Recession Busting and Savviest in Social Media, the Home-Based 100 celebrates the passionate and resourceful home-based entrepreneurs at the backbone of the U.S. economy. The full results of the 2009 Home-Based 100 ranking are available on StartupNation's website at http://www.startupnation.com/homebased100/.

"The 2009 ranking shows that home-based business is more relevant than ever. The current recession has spurred a new wave of home-based businesses as a response to loss of jobs, the need for supplemental income and the sheer passion of blazing your own trail and running your own show," said Rich Sloan, co-founder of StartupNation.com and one of the country's leading small-business evangelists. "Home-based businesses are the biggest block of all businesses in existence and we expect numbers to grow ever greater as extra bedrooms, kitchen tables, basements and garages become host to the passions, innovative thinking and pursuit of success by millions of Americans."

According to the Small Business Administration, over half of all U.S. businesses are based out of an owner's home, and home-based businesses contribute more than $530 billion to the U.S. economy each year.

The StartupNation Home-Based 100, composed of 10 top-ten subcategories, presents a unique look at the nation's top home-based businesses. Category winners span a wide range of revenue levels, sectors, ages and other characteristics. Categories include the following:

1. Recession Busters
2. Wackiest
3. Savviest in Social Media
4. Most Glamorous
5. Yummiest
6. Greenest
7. Boomers Back in Business
8. Highest Vote-Getters
9. Most Innovative
10. Most Slacker-Friendly
    

Judging of the contestants was conducted by an internal StartupNation review panel.

Many of the StartupNation Home-Based 100 submissions revealed that business owners are bucking the current economic downturn and finding business success in these tight times. They're cleverly using social media and good doses of innovation to prevail in spite of reluctant customers. Historically some of today's most well known businesses started in a downturn, including Microsoft and General Electric.

The common theme among this year's winners was that they were each problem solvers. Almost like charities, but with a profit motive, their businesses address major needs and provide opportunities for their customers, making these home-based winners relevant, valuable, and in demand.

About StartupNation

StartupNation (www.startupnation.com) provides over 175,000 pages of business advice and networking for entrepreneurs and serves millions of entrepreneurs annually. StartupNation is a free service founded by entrepreneurs for entrepreneurs with the intention of providing a one-stop shop for entrepreneurial success, including blogs from small business experts, podcasts, forums, webcasts, eBooks, award-winning step-by-step advice, online and offline networking groups, and more. StartupNation co-founders and "chief startupologists," Rich Sloan and Jeff Sloan, are two of the country's leading small business experts and run StartupNation from home to this very day. They speak frequently at entrepreneurial forums and act as sources for top media venues nationwide. They are authors of StartupNation: Open for Business, published by Doubleday, and provide their insights online at www.startupnation.com. The Sloans are regularly quoted and featured in media such as The New York Times, Wall Street Journal, Fortune Small Business, Entrepreneur Magazine, CNN, CNBC, MSNBC, FOX News and many others.

About Microsoft Office Live

Microsoft Office Live is the award-winning service that offers a complete, affordable set of easy-to-use Internet-based tools that help small business owners create a professional web presence. More information is available at http://www.smallbusiness.officelive.com. Founded in 1975, Microsoft is the worldwide leader in software, services and solutions that help people and businesses realize their full potential.

About Infusionsoft

Infusionsoft, the leader in automatic follow-up software, helps small businesses grow fast by putting email marketing, CRM and e-commerce on auto-pilot, backing it with the 'Double Your Sales' guarantee. The privately held, three-year-named Inc. 500 company is based in Gilbert, Ariz. and is funded by Mohr Davidow Ventures and vSpring Capital.

Marketing and small business insight from the Infusionsoft team can be found on the Infusionsoft blog at www.infusionblog.com.

SOURCE StartupNation

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