It’s Time to Thank Your Customers, the Social Media Way | BNET

It’s Time to Thank Your Customers, the Social Media Way | BNET: "3. Fund a business

Remember what it was like when you started your business? You probably had detractors, more than enough doubts of your own, not to mention the fact that it was likely challenging for you to raise the capital to get your business off the ground.

But now that you’re a bona fide business owner, how about helping someone else get their start?

There are a couple of ways you could do this.

First, if your preference is to support creative projects, consider checking out the several projects that are looking for funding on Kickstarter (Eat Your Serial is one example.)

Second, if you’re interested in extending your reach literally around the world, look at a micro-lending site such as Kiva.org. Essentially, you can choose from several small businesses, in a wide range of fields, that are looking for microfunding by browsing Kiva’s site, and support one. These loans are funded by people like you, and disbursed through Kiva and its “field partners” (read about the entire Kiva process here); and once the entrepreneur is off the ground, s/he repays the loan."