The Huffington Post won its first Pulitzer Prize Monday — becoming the first online-only daily news website to do so.

The prize, in the national reporting category, was awarded to veteran reporter David Wood. His 10-part series, “Beyond the Battlefield,” explored the lives of several veterans who were severely injured while serving in Afghanistan and Iraq.

The award may be Wood’s, but Huffington Post cofounder Arianna Huffington is a clear beneficiary. Over the past few years, Huffington has made a point of hiring experienced, well-known and (no doubt) expensive reporters like Wood.

The hirings are part of an effort to position the Huffington Post as a serious news organization — not, as former New York Times executive editor Bill Keller has described it, as an “overaggregator” of “celebrity gossip, adorable kitten videos, posts from unpaid bloggers and news reports from other publications… [with] a left-wing soundtrack.”

The Pulitzer is one small testament to the success of that strategy, and will likely feature prominently in the media kits the Huffington Post‘s sales team sends to potential advertisers.

The Huffington Post is the second online-only news organization to win a Pulitzer, following ProPublica‘s wins in 2010 and 2011. ProPublica partners with many offline publications, however, and focuses on long-form investigations rather than daily news.

Politico, which started as an online-only news organization and has since begun printing a print edition, also won an award this year in the editorial cartooning category.

Jeff Donn of the Associated Press and Jessica Silver-Greenberg of The Wall Street Journal were named runners-up for the national reporting prize.

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KONY 2012 was the most-viral video of all time. Its sequel? Not so much.

More than a week after KONY 2012: Part II – Beyond Famous hit YouTube, the video, which was also created by Invisible Children, has racked up about 1.7 million views. That’s less than 2% of the traffic that KONY 2012 got in its first five days. Part II’s performance shows that the success of the initial video will be hard, if not impossible, to repeat.

“The first campaign was an anomaly,” says Matt Fiorentino, director of marketing at Visible Measures, a video measurement firm. “We’ve never seen anything like it before.” Fiorentino adds that 1.7 million views is still very good for a video, particularly one with a social good message. “Compared to a regular campaign, it’s pretty good,” he says. “Whatever they put out is going to be very visible.”

Both KONY 2012 and its successor were designed to raise awareness about Joseph Kony, a Ugandan warlord behind the Lord’s Resistance Army, a guerrilla force dedicated to overthrowing the Ugandan government. The videos aim to have Kony arrested for war crimes by the end of 2012. Invisible Children is also planning a worldwide rally on April 20 called “Cover the Night.”

Released on March 5, KONY 2012 is now up to around 180 million views, according to Visible Measures. The success has drawn critics, including a group called Visible Children that took issue with Invisible Children’s overhead costs.

Invisible Children also drew unwanted attention a couple of weeks after the video hit when the group’s director and co-founder, Jason Russell, was detained by police in San Diego for charges of public drunkenness and lewd behavior.

With all that back story, there was a lot of curiosity about the KONY 2012 sequel, but Fiorentino says there was probably nothing Invisible Children could have done to garner another video with comparable views, except maybe to wait longer before it released the sequel. Says Fiorentino: “They needed to give the audience time to breathe.”

Representatives from Invisible Children could not be reached for comment.

More About: kony 2012, Social Good, viral videos, YouTube

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Foursquare has added five million registered users in the last 16 months, bringing its total user base to 20 million.

The three-year-old startup confirmed the 20 million number through a 4sqDay badge, which is being awarded to anyone who uses the app to check in on Monday (April 16 or “four, squared”).

“Thanks to all 20 million of you for making us part of your lives,” the badge’s message reads.

New user growth has slowed since the last time Foursquare announced a milestone. When the company announced it had reached 15 million users last December, it had tripled its userbase and added 10 million users in about one year.

Foursquare users have, however, checked in 2 billion times in the last two years, according to the 4sqDay badge message. On average, that’s 100 times each — suggesting that while checking in may be the least prevalent smartphone activity, those who do use Foursquare do so frequently.

A December 2011 study from Forrester Research found that just 5% of U.S. adults use any location-based check-in services, suggesting that checking in has a long way to go before reaching the mainstream.

But Foursquare’s user base is large and valuable enough enough to have attracted partnerships with big brands such as American Express, and its newest features emphasize its value as a resource rather than a check-in service. Its new web interface, for instance, focuses on discovery features, and the web version of its recommendation feature Explore now includes 250,000 restaurant menus.

Do you use Foursquare? Tell us why or why not in the comments.

More About: foursquare, location-based networking

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Heather R. Huhman is the founder and president of Come Recommended, a content marketing and digital PR consultancy for organizations with products that target job seekers and/or employers. You can connect with Heather and Come Recommended on Twitter and Facebook.

In today’s digital world, your job search has to be as much online as it is on paper. Social media platforms such as LinkedIn, Twitter and Facebook can help you establish your personal employment brand and connect with potential employers — in fact, almost 90% of employers are using social media to recruit potential employees [PDF]. What better way to have all of your online and offline job search tools in one place than in a portfolio?

An online portfolio allows you to compile what makes you employable — it should include things like your resume, cover letter, references, certifications, transcripts and any examples of your work (including writing samples, press clips, artwork or lesson plans). Plus, you should include basic contact information, such as a phone number and email, and more modern information, like a Twitter handle, LinkedIn profile, or Facebook URL. Put all of this into one online package that’s easy to browse and voilà — you have an online portfolio!

Here are five great options that can host your online portfolio. There’s a breakdown of each one, so you can pick which one works best for you and your career goals.

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1. WorkSimple

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Summary: WorkSimple is the first work portfolio that helps you manage your career and performance inside your organization. Users have endorsements, followers, goals and accomplishments, which can help you build your professional and social reputations. Set your professional focus, add your goals, and get recognition for your work.

Additionally, WorkSimple allows users to brand themselves by sharing goals and contributions with co-workers in real-time. Essentially, it’s a Facebook Timeline for professionals.

Best Feature: WorkSimple encourages you to set career focus and add “Social Goals” that support your direction, which help you keep track of your accomplishments, efforts and successes as you build your reputation. Plus, you can get great feedback from co-workers.

What Needs Work: Those looking for a traditional portfolio to display resume, work samples and more may not find these features in WorkSimple.

Ideal User: A corporate worker who is tech-savvy and wants to establish goals and stay synced with co-workers. Like the other portfolio platforms, you can add images, but this portfolio is not solely image-based.

Cost: Free for an individual plan but pricing plans exist for team or company plans.

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2. Behance

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Summary: Behance is a platform for creative professionals to gain exposure and manage their careers. Users can create multimedia portfolios that showcase their work to millions of visitors.

Best Feature: Behance turns your work into an online gallery; It claims to get 15 times the traffic of all other leading portfolio sites combined (including Carbonmade, the next site on our list). Recruiters can find and track talent and post jobs for the creative professionals on the site.

What Needs Work: In order to have your own personal portfolio website, rather than just a profile on Behance, you need to join ProSite. This costs $11 a month, but it allows you to create a full website without coding, and it syncs with your Behance portfolio.

Ideal User: Any creative professional wishing to showcase multimedia projects — images, text, audio or video. The layout of the site is better for viewing visual projects, so anyone from graphic designers to photographers to industrial designers can benefit.

Cost: Free for a Behance profile, $11 a month for the ProSite.

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3. Carbonmade

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Summary: Carbonmade is an online portfolio platform that helps users show off their work — especially creative work like design, illustration and art.

Best Feature: Carbonmade makes portfolios easy. Users can create a profile in a snap, and the service offers tons of ways to personalize your portfolio. Plus, users can establish their own URL — for example, yourname.carbonmade.com.

What Needs Work: The site isn’t conducive to any text, audio or video work — a still image is best for this portfolio.

Ideal User: Again, this portfolio service is primarily for creative professionals. In comparison to Behance, Carbonmade seems even more geared toward visual art. Any professional who can share an image of their work — fashion designers, illustrators, architects and more — would find Carbonmade useful.

Cost: Free

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4. Pinterest

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Summary: Pinterest is basically an online pin-board. It’s primarily a social photo-sharing website where users can create separate boards for various things. For example, you could have a board for recipes, pictures of places you’d like to travel or, in this case, your professional creative work.

Best Feature: Pinterest is far more social than Behance or Carbonmade, so you can have eyes from all parts of the globe on your work. Plus, you can “pin” any image, and when users click on a pinned image, they’re redirected to the original website. For example, if you “pinned” a piece of your artwork from, say, your personal blog, you can attract more traffic to your blog.

What Needs Work: The platform was not made to be a professional portfolio site. Therefore, the site may have a different audience of viewers than an actual portfolio platform. Plus, like Carbonmade, text or audio works cannot be “pinned.”

Ideal User: Pinterest only allows photos or videos (which will be “pinned” as a still picture), so creative professionals with image-based work will find this site most useful. Any professional with visual work that can be put into image form can display their portfolio on Pinterest.

Cost: Free, but you do need to request an invite.

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5. Dribbble

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Summary: Dribbble is a “show and tell” for designers, where users can share small screenshots of their work.

Best Feature: The platform shows off your work with screenshots of your progress or completed project. Plus, it’s easy to browse other people’s work by tags or color.

What Needs Work: Dribbble isn’t useful for anyone with non-visual works; it’s really only conducive to visuals.

Ideal User: Anyone who creates visual work that can be shared via an image, especially graphic or web designers, illustrators and logo designers.

Cost: Free

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Conclusion

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All online portfolio platforms have their pros and cons, and different sites work better for varying types of professionals in myriad industries. There are many portfolio services to explore aside from the ones mentioned above, but what all of these sites have in common is that they allow professionals to display their work online and continue to build their personal brand.

Do you have an online portfolio? What service do you use? Let us know in the comments.

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Social Media Job Listings

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Every week we post a list of social media and web job opportunities. While we publish a huge range of job listings, we’ve selected some of the top social media job opportunities from the past two weeks to get you started. Happy hunting!

• Manager, Digital Media Analytics at Digitas in New York
• Web Community Manager at ZS Associates in Evanston, IL
• Director Business Development at Liveramp in San Francisco

Image courtesy of iStockphoto, aluxum.

More About: behance, dribbble, features, job search series, mashable, pinterest, WorkSimple

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Who can forget their first computer game? It wasn’t just kind of awesome, it’s what took up most evenings and every weekend. If you’re the type to have spent far too many hours playing these games in the 1980s and ’90s, you might want to clear your schedule now.

Some of the best gaming franchises are making a comeback. Here are five being revived in a new-school way, thanks to the crowdfunding site Kickstarter.

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1. Double Fine Adventure

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The Double Fine Adventure project isn’t a remake or continuation of a retro game series. Rather, it’s an effort to revive an old style of gameplay — the point-and-click adventure game. And who better to bring it back than Tim Schafer, one of the most creative and quirky innovators in the genre?

Throughout the 1990s, Schafer played a major part in classic adventure games such as The Secret of Monkey Island, Day of the Tentacle, Full Throttle, and, what many consider his magnum opus, Grim Fandango.

But even that kind of clout couldn’t help him find a publisher that would finance this recent venture. So he turned to Kickstarter in February, looking to bring in $300,000 for a new game, plus an additional $100,000 to film a documentary on the game-making process.

Shafer’s past success might not have had much sway with game publishers, but it definitely had some pull with fans. The Kickstarter campaign met its goal in eight hours and reached $3,336,371 by the time it ended on March 13. Shafer’s wildly successful campaign has inspired other developers hoping to revive an old franchise.

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2. Leisure Suit Larry in the Land of the Lounge Lizards: Reloaded

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In the late 1980s, most computer games were created primarily for kids. However, there was one mainstream franchise that was made with adults in mind, Leisure Suit Larry, from famed adventure game publisher, then called Sierra On-Line.

The six-game series followed the exploits of Larry Laffer, a leisure suit-wearing loser looking for love in all the wrong places. Filled with humor that was a little bit seedy and a whole lot funny, the series was widely played around the world. In fact, the first game was so popular that it’s been called one of the most pirated games ever.

The last franchise game was released in 1996, but Replay Games later convinced series creator Al Lowe to come out of retirement. The result: Leisure Suit Larry in the Land of the Lounge Lizards: Reloaded. This remake will feature updated graphics, a touchscreen interface, and will be available on PCs and tablets — if it reaches its $500,000 Kickstarter goal. The company is well on its way to 100% funding, and has until May 2.

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3. Shadowrun Returns

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Shadowrun is a pen-and-paper role-playing game mixing elements of Tolkien-esque fantasy and William Gibson-style cyberpunk, creating a world filled with trolls, elves, hackers, and cybernetically-enhanced street samurais. First released in 1988, the game was adapted into two American role-playing video games in the mid ’90s, and a poorly-received first-person shooter for Xbox 360 in 2007. The problem is, every version has had to make certain compromises to the gameplay style, leaving many fans disappointed.

Fast-forward to April 4, 2012, and game developer Harebrained Schemes has brought Jordan Weisman, the creator of Shadowrun, on board for a Kickstarter campaign that promises fans an old-school, turn-based computer RPG set in the dystopian streets of Seattle.

Shadowrun Returns set out to raise $400,000, and surpassed that goal in 28 hours. (The campaign ends on April 29.) But it’s not just going to create a game with that money. The company is also giving players the ability to create their own Shadowrun adventures with an integrated game editor, which should help keep the Shadowrun world alive and kicking for years to come.

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4. Wasteland 2

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America has been devastated by nuclear war. Misfits, mutants and man-eating machines have made the deserts of the Southwest an inhospitable place. The only hope for mankind are the Desert Rangers, a small group of men and women trying to bring civilization back, one bullet at a time.

This was the world of 1988′s Wasteland, a post-apocalyptic computer role-playing game well known for its sense of humor, a “sandbox” world ripe for exploring, and a branching narrative where decisions made early in the game could have an impact later on. Despite an outcry from fans, Wasteland never received a direct sequel. However, many of the same developers created the early entries of the Fallout series.

Brian Fargo, the creator of Wasteland, tried for many years to get a sequel made, but he wanted to stick to the same gameplay that made the original famous. Modern game publishers refused to back a game that wasn’t a first-person shooter, so Fargo and his company, inXile entertainment, turned to Kickstarter. The initial goal for the Wasteland 2 campaign was $900,000, but fans have spoken to the tune of more than $2.5 million and counting.

As a way to give back to the Kickstarter community, Fargo has started a grassroots program called “Kicking it Forward.” The gist is that any Kickstarter campaign that gets funding and joins this group agrees to reinvest 5% of its profit to help fund other Kickstarter campaigns. There’s no oversight committee or auditing process; Kicking it Forward works purely on the honor system. And it’s already gaining support, with dozens of campaigns involved, including two retro revival games, Shadowrun Returns and Leisure Suit Larry: Reloaded.

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5. Project Fedora

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Heavily inspired by Blade Runner, the Tex Murphy games continually pushed the envelope of computer gaming technology between 1989 and 1998. This immersive world of gun molls and gangsters, developed by designer Chris Jones, left fans clamoring for more.

However, the developer, Access Software, was bought by Microsoft in 1999, and the team shifted its focus from back-alley deathtraps to back-nine sand traps as it worked on the successful Links series of golf games. The division was sold off again and changed names numerous times, before finally going out of business in 2006.

Although Jones, now head of Big Finish Games, has tried to revive the franchise nine times with a new game called Project Fedora, he has yet to find the funding to make it happen. Now he’s giving it one more shot with a Kickstarter campaign set to launch on May 15. If Jones and Big Finish are able to drum up the kind of funding other retro games have, who knows what kind of groundbreaking game we’ll see added to the Tex Murphy legacy?

1. The Oregon Trail

The game that made dysentery fun was released as a Facebook app last February, much to the delight of grown-up school children everywhere. It's now social, of course, but the decision whether to ford the river is all your won.

Click here to view this gallery.

Image courtesy of iStockphoto, adamfilip

More About: contributor, features, kickstarter, trending, video games

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Big things have happened this week in the world of tech and social media — Facebook acquired Instagram, Google redesigned Google+ and YouTubers rapidly shared yet another Herman Cain ad that doesn’t make much sense. With all of this going on and more, it’s understandable if you missed some of our latest resources. But now it’s time to catch up with our weekly features roundup!

This week, we’ve covered services to help you migrate Instagram photos to your desktop, ways that educators can use Pinterest for the classroom and types of high-tech clothing that can make your life easier. We also have tips for maintaining digital customer loyalty, apps to help you prepare for allergy season and creative hacks for a new cover photo on Google+. We even spoke with standup comedian Jim Gaffigan about his new online comedy special.

Get started!

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Editor’s Picks

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• How Social Media Is Changing Disaster Response
  We examine how government agencies and other organizations are using social media during emergencies.
• Deleting Your Instagram Account? Here’s How to Save Your Pics
  Facebook bought Instagram, and some Instagram users aren’t happy about it. How to delete your account while saving your pics.
• Why Jim Gaffigan Is Banking on Social to Sell His $5 Comedy Special
  Standup comedian Jim Gaffigan is the third top comic to bypass traditional distribution channels with a comedy special. He hopes social media will help seal the deal.
• How Digital Populism Is Reshaping the Body Politic
  We see the emergence of what may well be the most important political development of the 21st century — digital populism.
• 5 Modern TV Shows Recut as Classic Sitcoms
  We’re taking a look at popular television shows re-edited with situation comedy title sequences.

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Social Media

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• 9 Social Networks for Sports Fans
  A rundown of 9 of the web’s baller social networks for sports fans.
• Facebook Instagram Acquisition: 20 Witty Reactions
  People express their satisfaction, dismay and an array of other opinions to the news of Facebook acquiring Instagram for $1 billion.
• How a Social Network Changed the Game for War Veterans [VIDEO]
  There are 2.3 million veterans of the Iraq and Afghanistan wars, and IAVA aims to reconnect them to civilian life through an online community.
• 20 TV Shows With the Most Social Media Buzz This Week [CHART]
  Which TV shows generate the most buzz on social networks? Find out each week from our social TV chart.
• 16 Ways Educators Can Use Pinterest [INFOGRAPHIC]
  Find out how teachers can use Pinterest to organize lesson plans, collaborate with other faculty and even encourage student participation.
• 5 Ways to Market Your Brand With Location-Based Networks
  If your marketing plan includes location-based networks, here are five ways to get started.
• Why Mobile Ads in Emerging Markets are the Future [INFOGRAPHIC]
  This infographic looks at the mobile landscape in emerging markets with advertisers in mind.
• 13 Creative Google+ Cover Photo Hacks
  Google+ overhauled its interface and many users have already uploaded new cover photos. We’ve found 13 cover photo hacks on Google+.
• 8 Great Uses For Google+’s New White Space [PICS]
  Fans have suggested some uses for the liberal amount of white space under Google+’s new design.
• 5 Hot New Events In Social Media, Dev, Advertising and More
  Our Events Board is an essential resource for helping you build relationships, engage face-to-face and learn about new trends in the business.
• 9 Ways to Follow Coachella on Social Media
  California music festival Coachella is back and ready to take on the throngs of hip, dance-crazed fans. Follow the action online.
• 7 YouTube Channels of Nerd Entertainment
  There’s a new breed of entertainment being produced by nerds for nerds on YouTube, and we have some of the best of the bunch right here.
• ‘Who Needs Feminism?’ New Tumblr Promotes Gender Equality
  16 Duke University students created the “Who Needs Feminism?” campaign to help facilitate discussion on gender equality.

For more social media news and resources, you can follow Mashable‘s social media channel on Twitter and become a fan on Facebook.

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Business & Marketing

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• 3 Ways Events Can Enhance Your Brand’s Online Presence
  Bringing the party offline can cause a major boost in your online presence. Here’s how and why.
• How to Think Big in Business
  What exactly constitutes thinking big, how does one do it and what typically gets in the way? Read on to find out.
• 6 Ways Social Media Can Bring Your Next Event to Life
  Here are six ways to effectively incorporate social media into your brand’s next event.
• 5 Tips for Creating and Maintaining Customer Loyalty
  Selling software-as-a-service applications depends on customer success. Here are 5 tips on how to generate and maintain customer love.
• 15 Essential Twitter Chats for Social Media Marketers
  If you want a few tips on how to best create a great chat on Twitter, here are 15 hashtags that fit the bill.
• How the #BullyMovie Twitter Campaign Triumphed Over the MPAA
  Bully’s R rating meant the film’s target audience — teenagers — wouldn’t be able to see it. That’s when their voices took off on Twitter.
• Disconnect: 5 Business Benefits of Working Out
  What if there was a business benefit to working out? Here are 5 that will get you pumped up to hit the gym.
• 7 Lessons From Content Marketing’s Greatest Hits
  A handful of companies have really nailed down the art of content marketing. Here’s a closer look at some of their greatest hits.
• Find The Necessary Paperwork For Your Small Business With One Site
  Starting a business is exciting but stressful. In addition to thinking about your bottom line, you also must complete loads of paperwork.
• 7 Mistakes to Avoid on Your Ecommerce Site
  If you actually want people to stick around and buy stuff from your site, you may want to take note of these common pitfalls.
• How to Perfect Your Elevator Pitch
  Here are 5 tips on how to give a great elevator pitch and network like the pros.
• 3 Marketing Lessons From Facebook’s Instagram Acquisition
  Marketers should take a cue from Facebook’s Instagram acquisition and apply the following tips.
• 6 Cuddly Mascots Created by Tech Companies
  Some brands use flashy advertisements. Others make an impression with cuddly, relatable mascots.
• 3 Tips for Effective Social Media Contests
  Social contests are popular, and can be highly effective, if done correctly and under the right circumstances. Here are tips on how to do that.
• Why Global Mobile Marketing Starts With Localized Apps
  To reach mobile customers in emerging countries, companies must create localized apps. Here are 4 things to consider when starting.
• 5 Things That Waste Your Time at Work [INFOGRAPHIC]
  The modern knowledge worker is more efficient than ever, but there are still things that slow down his productivity in the office.

For more business news and resources, you can follow Mashable‘s business channel on Twitter and become a fan on Facebook.

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Tech & Mobile

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• ‘Legend of Grimrock’ Resurrects the Old-School Dungeon Crawl [REVIEW]
  Like your corridors dark and your heroes uncomplicated? Then you’ll love “Legend of Grimrock,” a fresh dungeon crawler out this month for PC.
• 10 Waterproof Smartphone Cases to Prevent Disaster
  In preparation for summer swimming, cycling and singing in the rain, we’ve gathered 10 waterproof smartphone cases to keep your device dry.
• The Internet Is Ruining Your Brain [INFOGRAPHIC]
  Internet use is increasing exponentially, and it’s taking a toll on our well-being and mental stability.
• 10 Hip MacBook Decals [PICS]
  You know what your MacBook needs? A fun decal on its lid to make it stand out from the crowd.
• High-Tech Threads: Can Your Clothes Do This?
  From saving your life to charging your gadgets, this wave of innovative fashion makes city living safer and a bit more convenient.
• Relive the Titanic’s Doomed Voyage Online
  Have a look at the ways that the legacy of the Titanic continues to live on in the digital realm.
• Designing a Mobile App? Don’t Make These 10 Mistakes
  Developing a solid mobile app requires discipline and practicality. These mobile design “don’ts” will help you avoid some messy obstacles.
• Secret Sauce: What Does It Take to Create a Viral Video?
  Mashable asked viral video agency Seedwell what today’s web audience is looking for and how to recognize a viral sensation before it happens.
• Online Poker: One Year After the Biggest Bust in Gaming History
  On the anniversary of the biggest shakeup in the online gaming world, poker in the digital age is a far cry from what it was one year ago.
• 5 Mobile Apps for Seasonal Allergy Sufferers
  If you see the beautiful sights of spring through itchy eyes, then these 5 apps will help you better prepare for allergy season.

For more tech news and resources, you can follow Mashable‘s tech channel on Twitter and become a fan on Facebook.

Image courtesy of iStockphoto, akinbostanci.

More About: Business, COMMUNICATIONS, Features Week In Review, Social Media, Tech

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Slava Rubin, co-founder and CEO of crowdfunding website IndieGoGo, has an ambitious plan to plant the seeds of entrepreneurship in the minds of students: He wants them to launch a new startup every year for ten years in middle school through college.

“The best way for students to become entrepreneurs is through practice and experience,” writes Rubin in his contribution to the #FixYoungAmerica book, to be published in May. “LeBron James became a basketball star because he practiced and played basketball regularly from an early age, not just because he watched Michael Jordan on television.”

Rubin believes entrepreneurship deserves a place in classrooms nationwide, right alongside calculus and biology. Few schools, says Rubin, teach students that they can become successful entrepreneurs and business owners, so the career field doesn’t appear on students’ radars the way that “doctor” or “lawyer” might.

“Most college students think their options are limited to the jobs they’ve already been exposed to,” says Rubin. “No one mentions ‘entrepeneur.’”

Rubin’s curriculum is divided into four parts, one for each semester of the school year. During the first semester, students would learn the basic theories of business and crowdfunding. Next, students would be tasked with brainstorming ideas, research and designing their marketing campaign. In the third semester, students would run their campaign and pitch to investors. Finally, students would review their experience and apply the lessons they learned to next year’s project.

Coming up with an idea, a business plan and a sales pitch for a new startup every year may seem like a daunting task to many, but Rubin says it’s about teaching confidence. He certainly doesn’t expect every one of these startups to succeed. In fact, he insists that failure is an important and humbling part of becoming an entrepreneur.

“Kids will grow and learn from their mistakes,” says Rubin.

Rubin also acknowledges the difficultly of instituting such a sweeping education reform in a political climate where major changes often face considerable opposition. For him, the plan is about disrupting the American education system in a way that’s not limited by any constraints.

“I didn’t limit myself by how feasible [this plan] was tomorrow,” says Rubin. “I wanted to come up with my proposed solution in a blue-sky way, considering reasonable limitations.”

Raising money through crowdfunding, says Rubin, will help these students streamline the process of opening a business. Rubin also points out that it’s a time-honored tradition, and not a new concept born of the Internet age — New York City, he writes, turned to contributions from residents when it needed to raise money to build a base for the Statue of Liberty.

For Rubin, this is all about teaching kids that anyone with a good idea and a dream can become the next Zuckerberg.

“I think it’s really unfair how massive a leap I had to make to become an entrepreneur,” says Rubin. “It didn’t feel comfortable or safe or intelligent in a common sense way — when it really it could be if it was taught in the education infrastructure.”

Rubin’s plan is part of the #FixYoungAmerica campaign, an initiative to help reduce youth unemployment through entrepreneurship.

SEE ALSO: Can We Fix Young America With Technology and Entrepreneurship?

Do you think it’s worthwhile for students to learn entrepreneurial skills in a hands-on way? Sound off in the comments below.

Image courtesy of iStockphoto, mediaphotos

More About: entrepreneurs, fixyoungamerica, Small Business, Social Good, Startups

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This post originally appeared on the American Express OPEN Forum, where Mashable regularly contributes articles about leveraging social media and technology in small business.

Do you ever feel like there’s a competitor around every corner? Budding entrepreneurs often hesitate to follow their business dreams because they believe their target market is already so saturated that there simply is no more room to absorb any new entrants.

However, savvy small business owners can make it in a crowded field, even one filled with a couple of 800-pound gorillas. The key to your business’ success doesn’t hinge on finding a completely empty field, but how you define your company and its place in the market.

Here are four easy ways to set yourself apart from the din of voices in your industry. Do you have any tips for making it in a crowded market? Let us know in the comments.

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1. You Don’t Have to Reinvent the Wheel

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Many first-time entrepreneurs make the mistake of thinking they need to blaze a new trail to be successful. Of course, the market always needs innovators, but a business doesn’t necessarily have to be disruptive in order to succeed.

Rather than struggling to come up with a brand new idea, take a look at your target industry and see where there’s a void to be filled. Then, figure out the best possible way to service that need and run with it. Starbucks wasn’t the first company to sell coffee, but they did revolutionize the coffee shop by selling an experience along with a caffeine fix.

These days there may be more than 17,000 Starbucks all over the world, but other coffeehouses around the country are finding a niche. From Smokey Row in Des Moines, Iowa, to Rock City Café in Rockland, Maine, local coffee shops are succeeding by promising more than a cup of coffee and a place to sit. They’re tapping into some of the most primal elements — community, connectedness, security and comfort.

Your product and service may be similar in many aspects to that of the competition, except for a few defining factors — and those are the key to everything. You should be good (or great) at all the basics, and then put your energy and focus on being exceptional at what makes you different.

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2. Customer-Centric Companies Win

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When trainer Chris Stevenson wanted to open a fitness center in Southern California, many questioned the decision. Here he was, in the heart of the recession, starting a business in an area that was already saturated with multiple boutique gyms and two large, corporate, chain fitness centers competing for the same customers from the same nearby neighborhoods.

Yet despite contending against huge chains with deep pockets and big advertising budgets, Stevenson Fitness is hugely successful today. Why? Chris focused on creating a one-of-a-kind culture at his company that defies people’s expectations of what a fitness center can be. There’s no snootiness, intimidation or pretentiousness at Stevenson Fitness. Yes, it offers top-caliber facilities and a great range of classes, but what sets Stevenson Fitness apart is the friendly, approachable personality of the entire staff. The tag line “Your community, your gym” says it all. His company continues to grow because customers love what Chris’s company gives them.

No matter how big your business gets and how much staff you bring on, I always advise business owners and top management to stay as close to their customers as possible. Talking to customers one-on-one is the best way to truly take the pulse of the market, customer needs and just how your company is doing.

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3. Don’t Compete on Price

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Eager to attract customers, many small businesses feel the only way they can compete in a crowded market is to undercut the competition on price. I have to admit that my husband and I fell into this same trap with our company — we dropped our prices to unsustainable levels. Our business grew, customers were happy, more customers came in, yet we were nearly losing money with every new order.

This happens to many small businesses in crowded markets. They find themselves running as fast as they can, yet they are still barely bringing in enough money to keep their operations afloat. Faced with this situation, what we did do? We repositioned from competing on price to competing on service.

In a saturated market, someone will always be able (or willing) to absorb a lower cost than you. You’ll need to find a new way to stand out; for us, this was by offering personal service. We began providing free business consultations to everyone who wanted one. We increased our customer service. We even increased our prices to support the higher service levels, and we saw sales and repeat business rise. The key was defining who we were and what made us different, and then focusing on being as exceptional as possible in those differentiating areas.

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4. Saturation Can Mean Strength

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A competitive and crowded industry indicates that customer demand exists, and that the market is viable. If you carve your own niche, there will be room for your business.

If you’re considering starting a business, don’t be disheartened if a lot of other companies are already offering a similar kind of product or service. You should still look before you leap and do your research on how you can stand out, but don’t let the idea of a saturated market stand in your way.

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More Small Business Resources From OPEN Forum:

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- Should Small Businesses Follow Everyone Back on Twitter?
- Are You Falling into the Pricing Trap?
- How to Innovate for Top Social Media Sites

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Social media connectivity and the digitization of news have not squashed American fervor for local news, a Pew study says. Nearly three quarters of adults are consistently plugged into local news — so much so that 32% of survey participants say the loss of local outlets would majorly impact their lives.

A recently published Pew Internet & American Life Project report finds most Americans continue to follow local news. The reliance on local news is consistent in all age groups, though stronger among those who are 40+, and among female consumers.

The younger population, 18 to 39 years old, use the greatest number of local news sources — an average of 4.38 weekly. Older local news followers say they use about two to three different sources a week.

SEE ALSO: Upworthy Aims to Make the News as Shareable as Cat Videos [EXCLUSIVE]

About 80% of adults older than 40 get their news from television broadcasts. Nearly half of the adults surveyed say they regularly use “word of mouth,” the radio and regional newspaper. Besides reading and chatting about their communities, people also stay in-the-know using mobile phones and tablets.

Younger local news enthusiasts, surprisingly also use “word of mouth” to find out about area news and highlights. The connected generation more likely uses Internet news sources including search engines, local newspaper websites, T.V. station websites and social networks.

Individuals who care about local news are characterized as being very connected in their communities. Many have strong roots in their locales; about 32% of the local news consumers surveyed have lived in their community for more than 20 years.

Local news consumers are fans of news in general. About 63%, six in 10 local news consumers, also follow international news consistently, while 78% say they consume national news consistently. One-third of local news enthusiasts say they get everything that need from regional media.

The Pew report suggests local news is not going anywhere yet. Enthusiasts are generationally diverse, using many news sources to learn about their local communities. Americans are turning to local outlets both online and print — though less and less — for news that would affect them including breaking news, politics, crime, business, schools and education.

What role does local news play in your live? Where do you get information about where you live — online or in print? Tell us in the comments.

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Aside from the time you purposefully waste at work — checking Facebook or playing Draw Something, as the kids do — there’s a lot of other stuff that can slow you down at the office. The productivity of a “knowledge worker” (read: non-farmer) hinges on communication and the ability to locate information quickly.

VoIP communications company Fonality conducted a survey to find out which mundane office tasks suck the most time out of the day. Pinpointing and compiling all those wasted man hours could save companies some substantial coin. The folks at social performance management tool Rypple compiled the infographic below based on that data.

The top time stealer? Trying to contact customers or colleagues. Duplicate or unwanted information (including spam) ranks highly as well.

SEE ALSO: The Internet Is Ruining Your Brain [INFOGRAPHIC]

The study also proposes that “unified communications” (UC) solutions can reduce much of this waste, though it’s difficult to determine by how much.

“Calculating the potential cost savings for a UC implementation is an inexact science at best. Each company has different needs. And UC implementations do not consist of an exact set of components,” the report reads.

Still, it doesn’t take a rocket scientist to see that cloud computing is one way to mitigate certain time sucks. What factors waste your precious time at work? Can they be overcome with better technology? Let us know in the comments.

Thumbnail courtesy of iStockphoto, daneger

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