StartupNation Honors Nation’s Top Home-Based businesses

Stacy Karacostas of Seattle-Based SuccessStream Sales & Marketing Solutions Wins Top Honors in Business Competition Under Slacker-friendly Category Seattle, Wash. – Nov. 26, 2008– Stacy Karacostas of SuccessStream has been recognized by StartupNation (http://www.startupnation.com) as the second-place winner in its annual Home-Based 100 competition under the category of Most Slacker-Friendly. Many of the StartupNation Home-Based 100 submissions revealed that small business owners are bucking the current economic downturn and finding business success in these tight times. Historically some of today’s most well known businesses started in a downturn, including Microsoft and General Electric. “It’s such an honor to be chosen by these illustrious judges as runner up out of the more than 300 entrants in my category!” says Karacostas. “As a Practical Marketing Expert specializing in helping other small business owners take the stress, struggle and confusion out of marketing, I’m thankful my company is growing fast despite—or maybe because of—the down economy, and hope this honor will allow me to help more entrepreneurs do the same.” “The 2008 ranking shows that the 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 for blazing your own trail and running your own show,” said Rich Sloan, co-founder of StartupNation.com, one of the leading small business networking and advice websites. “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 innovative thinking and pursuit of success by millions of Americans.” The StartupNation Home-Based 100 highlights 10 top-ten lists making it not just your ordinary business ranking. From the wackiest, to the most innovative, to the best financial performers – this unique and diverse list highlights the home-based businesses that usually go unrecognized, but still play a vital role in the economy today. The ten categories for 2008 include:

• Best Financial Performers
• Most Innovative
• Boomers Back in Business
• Greenest
• Yummiest
• Wackiest
• Grungiest
• Recession Busters
• Most Slacker-Friendly
• Most Glamorous

In addition to StartupNation staff, judges for this year’s Home Based 100 ranking included Adam Lowry, co-founder of Method Products, Howard Behar, former President of Starbucks North America, John Jantsch, founder of Duct Tape Marketing, Mel Robbins, host of Make It Happen radio show. The full results of the Home-Based 100 ranking are available on StartupNation’s website http://www.startupnation.com/homebased100. View Stacy Karacostas’ Winner Profile at http://www.startupnation.com/homebased100/winner/1598/index.php You can learn more about her at http://www.success-stream.com and at her online press kit http://www.stacykaracostas.presskit247.com/index.asp Or, contact her directly at 206-200-7594 or stacy@success-stream.com ### 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 a host of experts, podcasts, webcasts, eBooks, award-winning step-by-step advice, and more. . About the Startupnation’s Founders – The Sloan Brothers StartupNation co-founders and “chief startupologists,” Rich and Jeff Sloan, are two of the country’s leading small business experts and ran their business from home for eight years. The Sloan brothers 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 insight online at www.startupnation.com. The Sloan brothers 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.

######### For more information, press only: Kathleen Gratehouse, Borders + Gratehouse (415) 963-4174, kathleen (at) bordersgratehouse.com

[tags] Stacy Karacostas, SuccessStream Sales & Marketing Solutions, SuccessStream Sales & Marketing Solutions Wins Top Honors in Business Competition, Business competition, StartUp Nation, StartUpNation, home based business, home-based business [/tags]