How to Start an LLC in Maryland In 9 Simple Steps

The best LLC service for most people is ZenBusiness because it’s easy to use and affordable. Click here to sign up for ZenBusiness and start an LLC in Maryland today.

Regarding business formation, every state has different rules and regulations. LLCs are among the most popular business structures because they offer personal liability protection and tax benefits without some of the formalities associated with corporations.

That said, there are still some steps you’ll need to take to form an LLC in Maryland. This article will show you everything you need to do.

How to Start an LLC in Maryland in 9 Easy StepsHow to Start an LLC in Maryland in 9 Easy Steps

The 7 Best LLC Services for Starting an LLC In Maryland

There are plenty of LLC services out there, and we’ve tried dozens of them so you don’t have to. Here are the best LLC services for starting a Maryland LLC:

Click here to read our full reviews of the best LLC services.

Create Your Maryland LLC In 9 Easy Steps

Maryland is a great state to do business in due to its appealing geographical location and thriving economy. Open a Maryland LLC today to get access to the Washington–Baltimore metropolitan area, the Chesapeake Bay region, or the pastoral economies of western Maryland.

In Maryland, LLCs are easy to form and offer many benefits for businesses, including personal liability protection and pass-through taxation. You can have your Maryland LLC up and running in no time by following these simple steps:

  1. Choose a name for your Maryland LLC
  2. Appoint a registered agent
  3. File Maryland Articles of Organization
  4. Create an Operating Agreement
  5. Get a business license (if needed)
  6. Obtain an EIN
  7. Open a business…

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Chasing the Red Dot – Leadership Freak

Chasing the Red Dot

Spunky, our miniature dachshund, is long gone. I wasn’t glad to see him go, but in his absence, I regained my status. When he arrived, he replaced me as king of the domain.

He was brown like lightly roasted coffee beans and just as alert. He guarded the queen of the house like secret service agents guard presidents. But there’s nothing secret about secret service agents. They’re so obvious. That’s how Spunky was. His smug authority put me in my place.

Chasing the red dot. Image of a dachshund running. Chasing the red dot. Image of a dachshund running.

Spunky was bred to hunt but the only things he hunted were flies, bugs, mice that ran from under the wood pile, and red dots. He hated red dots like democrats hate republicans, maybe more.

I bought a laser pointer when I taught classes at one of the local colleges. The red dot was my revenge. It enflamed him. For a few moments I drove my antagonist crazy. Spunky saw the devil’s eye in the frantic dot on the floor. The only thing that excited him more was scraps of beef.

Spunky chased his antagonist around and under couches, beds, and tables. He persecuted the red dot back and forth in the hallway tirelessly. I laughed when he kept looking for the devil’s eye after I turned it off. Oh! the power. I’m smarter than a dog.

I thought of Spunky this morning when I wondered what I might post today. We love chasing red dots. Someone shows up with an issue and the hunt is on. The hair on our necks comes to attention. Fixing is in our blood.

Chasing other people’s red dots destroys you. Let people fix their own problems.

Before you chase the next red dot, ask, “Whose dot is this?” Never chase a red dot that belongs to someone else.

What’s seductive about solving other people’s problems?

How might you avoid the distraction of red dots?

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Episode 1896 Scott Adams PART2: Trump Makes His Argument About 2020 Election, The Smart Leaders Hate ESG

Episode 1896 Scott Adams PART2: Trump Makes His Argument About 2020 Election, The Smart Leaders Hate ESG

Content:

  • President Trump’s memo on J6 committee
  • Greta Thunberg clones vs Van Gogh painting
  • Key people’s opinion of ESG
  • If a democrat learned economics
  • Konstantin Sosin’s Ukraine peace opinion
  • Vaccination death questions and debate
  • If you would like to enjoy this same content plus bonus content from Scott Adams, including micro-lessons on lots of useful topicsto build your talent stack, please see scottadams.locals.com for full access to that secret treasure.

Podcast: Play in new window | Download

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Perpetual Traffic: LinkedIn’s 15 Best Podcasts for Modern Marketers

DigitalMarketer

The lovely content team here at DigitalMarketer works hard to make sure you have the best blog posts to read. But some posts require a group effort, and we decided to stop the rock-paper-scissors tournaments that decided the byline so that we had more time to write. Besides, we all graduated from kindergarten: we can share.

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Top 11 Best Business Loans – 2022 Review

Want to jump straight to the answer? The best business loan for most people is from Bluevine or Lendio.

From startups to companies that have been around for decades, it’s not uncommon for businesses to seek funding at one point or another. Loans can cover operating costs, purchase new equipment, buy inventory, help with expansion, and more. 

Regardless of your company size or capital needs, you can find the best loan for your business using this guide.

Compare Quotes From The Best Business Loan Companies

Get matched up with a business loan that fits your specific needs.

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Top 11 Best Business Loans for 2022

  • Bluevine — Best for established businesses seeking lines of credit up to $250,000.
  • Lendio — Best small business loan marketplace with 75+ lenders.
  • OnDeck — Term loans and lines of credit for business owners with a 600+ FICO score.
  • Fundbox — Best for new businesses in need of inventory or supplies from vendors.
  • Funding Circle — Best small business lender for loan terms up to five years.
  • Kabbage — Best for businesses with low monthly or annual revenue.
  • Lending Club — Best P2P lending marketplace for business loans.
  • Kiva — Microloans up to $10,000 at 0% interest for entrepreneurs.
  • SmartBiz — Best for SBA loans up to $5 million with 25 year terms.
  • Credibility Capital — Bank-backed loans for business owners with great credit.
  • CAN Capital — Best merchant cash advance for small business.

How to choose the best business loan provider. Quicksprout.com's methodology for reviewing business loan providers.How to choose the best business loan provider. Quicksprout.com's methodology for reviewing business loan providers.

I’ll review each business loan below. You can…

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Saturday Sage: Kris Wants to Be a Sage

Saturday Sage: Kris Wants to Be a Sage

Dear Kris,

Your interest in becoming a sage is honorable.  However, it takes longer than you expect. You don’t take a class in sagacity. Becoming a sage happens like seasons change, unnoticed at first.

What’s surprising about a sage? They have made peace with failure.

“Failures, repeated failures are finger posts on the road to achievement. One fails forward toward success.”  Attribution Uncertain

We all make lots of mistakes. Image of a smiling person.We all make lots of mistakes. Image of a smiling person.

You become a sage by building one good decision on top of another. But know that mistakes give birth to good decisions, mistakes that are costly and humbling. A sage has said forgive me more frequently than you expect.

If you want to become a sage, model wise decision-making in your own life.

A sage looks at life like a question and inspires others to wrestle with life choices. You won’t make decisions for people. You will help people make their own decisions.

“The way of the sage is to act but not to compete”. Laozi

I get it. Image of daughter hugging father.I get it. Image of daughter hugging father.

A sage doesn’t:

  1. Tell people what they need to be successful.
  2. Claim to have complete certainty.
  3. Talk more than listen.
  4. Suggest you live cautiously.
  5. Speak critically of others.
  6. Act unsympathetically.
  7. Violate a confidence by telling other people’s stories to persuade you.
  8. Struggle to convince.
  9. Flaunt sagacity.
  10. Hide their mistakes.

Are you still interested?

10 things a sage does:

  1. Models values that last.
  2. Knows how to live skillfully.
  3. Reminds you not to sabotage your life.
  4. Helps you recover from bad decisions.
  5. Wipes fog from the mirror.
  6. Brings you to a fork in the road and lets you decide.
  7. Points the way without telling you what to do. 
  8. Explains options.         
  9. Leads you toward your best options.
  10. Reminds you to walk with great people.

Of all the things you aspire to, sagacity guarantees you will not live life alone. When the future is fuzzy and decisions matter, we all want to sit with a sage.

Sages come disguised as experts, scientists, doctors, philosophers, and entrepreneurs. More importantly, they are mechanics, bus drivers, plumbers, moms, dads, and grandparents.

Are you humble enough to continue?

Now go do it. Image of an elderly man standing in the doorway with a smile.Now go do it. Image of an elderly man standing in the doorway with a smile.

Reflections:

What are the top three things a sage brings to someone’s life?

Have you ever met a sage? Describe that person.

Who are ten famous people who aren’t likely to become a sage? Why?

What…

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How To Discover Your True Passion With Visualisation

Pre-existing beliefs can stop people finding their true passion, research finds.

Visualising activities done in the past can help people find their true passion, a study finds.

However, it is critical to do this visualisation in the first person to avoid biases.

When thinking back, it is important to imagine what you saw, heard, felt and thought from your own perspective.

The key is to re-think, re-feel and re-hear exactly what you previously experienced.

Only then can you get a clue to your true passions.

Unfortunately, memories of pleasure and satisfaction are easily blocked by pre-existing beliefs, explained Mr Zachary Niese, the study’s first author:

“When we are developing our interests and looking back on our memories, I don’t think we realize how biased we can be by our pre-existing beliefs.

People think they know themselves and know if they liked something or not, but often they can be misled by their own thoughts.”

For example, a young girl might enjoy a science summer camp at the time.

However, this positive memory can be blocked by a belief that “science is not for girls”.

In other words, stereotypes can hold people back from their passions.

First-person visualisations, though, can help side-step this bias, the researchers found.

Dr Lisa Libby, study co-author, said:

“We can use imagery as a tool to tap into our memories and more accurately identify what our actual experiences are instead of relying on our old beliefs.

People sometimes have experiences that are inconsistent with what they think about themselves.

We may think we don’t like math, so if we enjoy a math class, that doesn’t fit in with our view of ourselves, so we dismiss that positive experience.

That’s what using first-person visual imagery helps overcome.”

For one of the studies in the research, 253 women took part in an experiment that tested their interest and enjoyment of science.

The results showed that women’s pre-existing beliefs about how interesting science is determined their experience.

In fact, at the time, many enjoyed a science-based game they were asked to play.

However, they couldn’t remember enjoying it afterwards because their pre-existing beliefs blocked the memory.

To unlock the memory of enjoyment, they had to use first-person imagery.

Mr Niese said:

“Part of what is so interesting and surprising about our study is that a simple manipulation — just the way people think about a past event — is changing their conclusions about what they’re doing and whether they’re interested or not.

It’s something people could do on their own if they wanted to and gain these benefits in situations where cultural stereotypes or pre-existing beliefs might be likely to bias their judgment or cloud their memories.”

The study was published in the Journal of Experimental Psychology: General (Niese et al., 2019).

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Improve Your Close Rate with The 4 W’s with Alex Schlinsky [VIDEO]

DigitalMarketer

The lovely content team here at DigitalMarketer works hard to make sure you have the best blog posts to read. But some posts require a group effort, and we decided to stop the rock-paper-scissors tournaments that decided the byline so that we had more time to write. Besides, we all graduated from kindergarten: we can share.

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Top 5 Best Start-Up Business Loans With Bad Credit of 2022 – In-Depth Review

Want to jump straight to the answer? The best start-up business loans with bad credit for most people are Upstart or Lendio.

Funding a start-up is a challenge. Most lenders want to look at your financial statements, annual turnover, business tax returns, collateral, and other financials that you’re yet to build up to par. The challenge is even more significant for startups with bad credit. 

Fortunately, some alternative lenders specialize in funding startups with bad credit, regardless of how long you’ve been in business. 

The Top 5 Best Start-Up Business Loans With Bad Credit 

  • Upstart— Best For No Credit Check Loans 
  • Lendio— Best Marketplace Lender For Comparing Business Loans
  • Bluevine— Best For Lines of Credit 
  • OnDeck— Best for Short-Term Loans 
  • Credibly— Best For Multiple Loan Options 

Company logos for our best start-up business loans with bad credit reviewsCompany logos for our best start-up business loans with bad credit reviews

Upstart – Best For No Credit Check Loans

  • No minimum credit score
  • Flexible repayment schedule
  • Access to free financial tools
  • Prequalify with a soft credit check

Check your rate in minutes

Many startups haven’t been in business long enough to build a credit history. In this case, traditional lenders like banks are out of the question. Fortunately, Upstart is one of the first lenders to offer loans to people with no credit history, a trend that continues to date. 

Screenshot from Upstart webpage showing how to apply for a loan in 3 easy stepsScreenshot from Upstart webpage showing how to apply for a loan in 3 easy steps Continue reading

The Best Leaders Know 3 Things Average Leaders Don’t

The Best Leaders Know 3 Things Average Leaders Don’t

The best leaders climb beyond natural ability. Image of a person raising their hands on top of a rock.The best leaders climb beyond natural ability. Image of a person raising their hands on top of a rock.

The best leaders aren’t made with cookie-cutters.

The best leaders know 3 things average leaders don’t:

#1. Wiring is only part of the equation.

Personality assessments are excuses for lousy leaders to justify poor performance.

The list of personality assessments includes:

Assessments like Enneagram, Myers-Briggs, DiSC, Eysenck Personality Inventory, Minnesota Multiphasic Personality Inventory, Hogan Personality Assessment, Californian Psychological Inventory, Keirsey Temperament Sorter, CliftonStrengths Assessment, and many more.

Personality assessments are fun because we are fascinated with ourselves.

The best leaders live beyond their wiring. Introverts learn to practice extrovertish skills. Thinkers learn how to get things done and Doers learn to develop relationships.

The best leaders don’t say, “That’s how I’m wired,” when they screw up.

Anyone who rises to meet challenges knows natural ability is essential but not all.

The best leaders climb beyond natural ability.

Personality assessments are excuses for lousy leaders to justify poor performance. image of an animal digging with their head in the sand.Personality assessments are excuses for lousy leaders to justify poor performance. image of an animal digging with their head in the sand.

#2. People don’t like you until you like them.

People don’t care if you’re successful. A few want you to fail.

Most people look at leaders with skepticism. They wonder about your motivation. Are you in leadership just for yourself or will you lookout for the interests of others as well? This is a question of heart. Is your heart big enough to make room for others?

We are fascinated with ourselves. The best leaders are fascinated with people.

A leader who doesn’t care about being liked is a tyrant or a fool.

#3. Trust is given, not earned.

The best leaders know trust is a gift.

Micromanagers use fear to get things done. Leaders use trust.

The ability to trust is about you long before it’s about others.

Humility extends trust; ego withholds it.

Productivity begins when you extend trust to competent people.

What might you add to that above list?

Added resources:

Cracking the Doer-Dreamer-Feeler Code

Trust: Better To Give Than Receive

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