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Social entrepreneur and educator Steve Mariotti on why naming your business is one of the most important decisions you’ll make.

A number of apps promise to translate text over the Web. But a new one goes a step further: It puts live interpreters only a click away.Online translation services, such as Google Translate, have a come a long way. Even so, when you’re traveling and get into a pickle or working with international customers and can’t afford even a hint of miscommunication, humans still beat machines hands down–or at least so say the guys running VerbalizeIt…

We’re highlighting small businesses from around the country as nominated by you, our readers. If your favorite small business is using Twitter to communicate with customers, let us know about it @fbsmallbiz with the hashtag #mysbc, and it may be featured as an upcoming Small Business Spotlight.

Want your app to get noticed in a crowded marketplace? Start by addressing these essentials.

A look at some of the top small business and startup news stories for February 27, 2013.

These start-ups could steal the spotlight at Austin’s big tech show.March brings South by Southwest Interactive, which means that some 25,000 entrepreneurs, marketers, journalists, and engineers will make their annual pilgrimage to Austin. Because the conference draws so many tech types together under one roof–and because both Twitter and Foursquare took off at previous festivals–SXSW has become the go-to destination for tech start-ups looking to make it big…

It’s been six weeks since the traveling treps of Unreasonable at Sea set sail. We check in with one young entrepreneur about his progress so far.

The Small Business Administration announced proposed changes Tuesday to its 504 and 7(a) loan programs, which the government agency says would increase access to loans for small business owners.

Inventory management might not be the most exciting part of starting a business, but it’s one of the most important.