Archive for January, 2009
Launching A Biz While Unemployed
Saturday, January 31st, 2009The Wall Street Journal: Being unemployed gives me a large chunk of discretionary time, but only a finite amount of which I can dedicate to a job search. The law of diminishing returns kicks in and it’s better to focus efforts elsewhere for the sake of productivity, not to mention sanity. I’ve ... Continue reading
New Business Providing Video Golf Lessons for Free
Saturday, January 31st, 2009There are social networks for virtually every profession, hobby and interest, and golf is no exception. Myriad sites already exist to help golfers connect, but a new one that just launched adds professional video analysis and online instruction to serve up free, personalized golfing advice. Links Lessons, based in Altamonte Springs, ... Continue reading
How Unique is Your Business
Saturday, January 31st, 2009All business owners like to believe that their business is in someway unique or unlike any other business. At its core though, how different are small businesses really? Nearly all small businesses struggle with relatively similar issues. Most owners wear multiple hats and have had to become jack of all ... Continue reading
Win This Gorgeous iPod Nano Before It’s Too Late
Friday, January 30th, 2009I am working together with Terri Lonier of WorkingSolo.com on a survey about small business insurance. I will have access to the survey results, which I will summarize and share with you. But in order to get enough information to share, I need your help. What kind of help? Completing the survey, ... Continue reading
Rentobile Providing New Cell Phones for Rent On a Monthly Basis
Friday, January 30th, 2009We should of known with the success of Netflix the passed few years new startup rental businesses would be popping up everywhere. We have seen the rental boom hit all retail items from DVD's to purses. Now a new company has come out with renting cell phones to consumers on ... Continue reading
Business Accountability Part 2: Both Sides Now
Thursday, January 29th, 2009(This is the second of a five-part series on accountability. The first was posted here last Thursday. It should be read to the tune of Both Sides Now.) How well do you delegate? Are you as good at giving credit as blame? How do you react when you ask somebody to ... Continue reading
Music Marketers Target Female Shoppers
Thursday, January 29th, 2009Billboard: With CD sales dropping fast, the music business is exploring nontraditional ways to expose consumers to recording artists. Among the new sales and marketing vehicles are Tara Leigh Music Party and musicShop. Both launched in November to target female music buyers. Tara Leigh is part of House Party, an Irvington, New ... Continue reading
How To Start A Little Business on Amazon
Wednesday, January 28th, 2009angel_rat_83 asked: I am starting a business a little business on Amazon. How should I keep track of things for taxes? Any advice on how I should run things, or what software to use. Should I save receipts for the supplies I buy? Any advice on anything please. Thank you! Continue reading
Internet Start Ups Ripe
Wednesday, January 28th, 2009Digg founder Kevin Rose on Friday shined light on a stormy economic landscape, saying the climate is right for launching Internet startups. Difficulty getting financing means fewer competitors entering the market and that there will be more media attention focused on young technology firms, Rose told those gathered at a Web ... Continue reading
Best Search Marketing Blogs
Sunday, January 25th, 2009Attempting to stay current on the latest search engine algorithm changes or search optimization tactics can be overwhelming for webmasters attempting to juggle it all. With this in mind, we have put together a list of the industrys best Search Marketing blogs. These blogs are current and discuss important issues ... Continue reading
Tips of Royalty Free Stock Photography for Website
Saturday, January 24th, 2009Stock photography websites contain thousands of existing photographs that can be licensed for specific uses. A customer who uses stock photography instead of hiring a photographer can save time, effort and money. Typically publishers can either purchase exclusive rights to a single image or they can purchase a subscription of ... Continue reading
Think Like An Entrepreneur In All Areas Of Life
Friday, January 23rd, 2009American-Statesman: Is becoming an entrepreneur on your list of New Year’s resolutions? “Life Entrepreneurs,” a new book by Christopher Gergen and Gregg Vanourek, argues that the concept isn’t limited to your career — it’s about creating the complete life that you want. The book takes readers through a process of getting in ... Continue reading
Why Are American Retailers Falling Down, Falling Down, Falling Down….
Friday, January 23rd, 2009"I knew we're in a recession and many retail companies in past few months have been knocked out from bankruptcy and have closed their doors. However, I can't believe these other companies mentioned in this article who have been staples in American retail might also get washed away by the ... Continue reading
Amish Flock From Farms To Small Bizs
Thursday, January 22nd, 2009The New York Times: The Amish, the religious sect that has determinedly kept the modern world at bay, have been leaving a quiet life of farming for jobs in small businesses — all the while trying to balance their own values with the culture of the marketplace. “Their whole intent is to ... Continue reading
Users Frustrated with Google Analytics
Wednesday, January 21st, 2009The Google Analytics Web site monitoring service suffered an outage that affected some users for more than 24 hours this week, prompting many to vent on blogs and forums their frustration with the situation and with what they perceived as unresponsiveness on Googles part. Most affected users reported problems on ... Continue reading
Enterprenuer Making Sure Your Coffee Is Really Decaf
Tuesday, January 20th, 2009I thought this was really interesting because I see so many companies making money doping consumers with false claims. But it's good to see a company making money and building a business on helping consumers. Springwise: When consumers order diet soda, they can usually tell by the first sip if they got ... Continue reading
Small Business Managers Are Turning Into Mouse Potatoes
Monday, January 19th, 2009InformationWeek: Spending too much business time on the computer when you’re not at work? You’re not alone. Small-business owners and managers, already tethered to their computers for long periods, are turning into “mouse potatoes,” increasingly eating and working while on their computers and while online, according to a survey released Tuesday by ... Continue reading
Five Things Every Small Biz Owner Should Do
Sunday, January 18th, 2009Open Forum: Five things that every small business owner should do in 2009. Don’t consider it a New Year’s resolution because there’s a whole psychology behind such things. Just do it. 1. Act like a prospective customer and call your company to see how the phone system and receptionist treat you. 2. See ... Continue reading
Health Nuts
Sunday, January 18th, 2009Revolution Foods wants schoolkids to trade french fries for roasted potatoes. Can it make good food--and money, too? Continue reading
What People Are Still Willing To Pay For
Sunday, January 18th, 2009It's called hope--brought to you by the freakishly resilient self-help industry. Continue reading
Australia Offers Best Blogging Job Ever
Saturday, January 17th, 2009The AFP reports on Australia’s attempt to pull in tourists by offering “the best job in the world”: An Australian state has launched a global search for candidates for “the best job in the world” — earning a top salary for lazing around a beautiful tropical island for six months. The job ... Continue reading
Sony, Like GM, Makes Products Nobody Wants
Saturday, January 17th, 2009The Financial Times’ Lex posts on why Kleenex would be a better investment than Sony right now: Sony forecast operating profits of $2.2bn for this fiscal year; but on Tuesday local media…reported it would lose $1.1bn. That would be Sony’s first since 1995, and implies an operating loss approaching $2bn ... Continue reading
Who Owns Your Great Idea?
Saturday, January 17th, 2009The New York Times: Peter Zummo, a senior double-majoring in design and mechanical engineering at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, is used to explaining the products he thinks up for his studio-class assignments. But last spring, he found himself answering questions of a different kind in a conference room at Rensselaer’s office of ... Continue reading
Great Lessons for Family Business
Saturday, January 17th, 2009The Bucksbaum family seemed to do everything right as family-business owners. Starting out with single shopping center in Cedar Rapids, Iowa, brothers Martin and Matthew became early pioneers of the indoor-mall industry. They built their malls in smaller towns, grew cautiously and maintained fairly moderate debt levels. John Lee/Tribune John Bucksbaum Martin, the ... Continue reading
Windows 7: What It Means For Small Business
Saturday, January 17th, 2009Could this new iteration be any worse than Vista? Continue reading
Bracing For New Mobile Security Challenges
Saturday, January 17th, 2009More of us are carrying sensitive information on smart phones--and that introduces all sorts of complications. Continue reading
Magic Johnson Has Magic Touch In Biz
Friday, January 16th, 2009USA TODAY: Almost nobody would question Earvin Johnson’s skill on the basketball court. But in his second career as an entrepreneur, there were doubters from the start. Johnson, best known by his nickname “Magic,” remains one of the best players to ever don the gold and purple Los Angeles Lakers uniform. Executives ... Continue reading
Microsoft and Piracy
Friday, January 16th, 2009Microsoft took another incremental step in its long-standing anti-piracy program this week when it filed lawsuits against 20 vendors in 13 states for allegedly selling pirated copies of its software. The company also launched a new educational site, HowToTell.com to help teach buyers tell the difference between legitimate and counterfeit ... Continue reading
Wells Fargo Prime Rate Credit Card Eases the Credit Crunch for Consumers
Friday, January 16th, 2009The new Wells Fargo Prime Rate Credit Card offers a panacea to shady interest rate hikes, a former specialty of the credit card industry. The premise of the card is that its rates never go higher than the Prime Rate, a rate used and referenced by banks. Today’s WSJ prime ... Continue reading
Layoff Etiquette for Good Times and Bad
Friday, January 16th, 2009Is 2009 the year of the layoff? According to the recent employment figures, in December 2008 alone more than 500,000 U.S. workers lost their jobs. That number is almost 2 million for the last four months of the year. If the trend continues, you may find yourself on one or ... Continue reading
Unique RSS Tools for Businesses
Friday, January 16th, 2009As the masses have adopted RSS as a more mainstream communication medium, Web 2.0 businesses and publishers have adopted unique and unusual tools to manipulate RSS content. Here are just some of the various RSS tools that are currently available... Unique RSS Tools for Businesses Continue reading
Women Gets 32,000 to Return on Junk Glass
Thursday, January 15th, 2009From Ananova: A woman who bought a plant and vase for £1 at a car boot sale has sold the glass container for £32,000. The owner, who has not been named, thought the vase was junk and was about to throw it away but decided to have it valued on the ... Continue reading
Company Scores With Fan Fests
Thursday, January 15th, 2009Star Tribune: Managing sports fan festivals is proving to be an entrepreneurial slam dunk for Joe Gallagher and his St. Paul-based FILO Productions. In February, FILO Productions (FILO is an acronym for first in, last out) will help produce the National Basketball Association’s All-Star Jam Session for the seventh consecutive year. The interactive, ... Continue reading
Turn Your Home Office Green, To $ave Green
Wednesday, January 14th, 2009CBS: In this economy, businesses are trying to cut costs any way they can. Turns out, one big way to save is by going green. Not only can the more than 27 million small business owners in the United States play a huge role in conserving our natural resources, but their ... Continue reading
The 25 Worst Business Failures In History….You Think?
Tuesday, January 13th, 2009It is said that up to 50% of businesses fail within five years of inception. Most of these business start and end in obscurity. A few of them, however, start up with the verve of a cannonball, only to crash with equal fanfare. Some of the companies listed below, like ... Continue reading
Fitness Gadget Tracks Every Calorie
Monday, January 12th, 2009Fortune Small Business: After falling in love with the Nintendo Wii’s physically demanding sports games, serial entrepreneur James Park, 32, started to ponder other ways to combine video games and fitness. The result: a $99 lipstick-size gadget that clips on to your clothes and uses a motion sensor to track everything ... Continue reading
10 Status Symbols We Hope Disappear in the Recession
Monday, January 12th, 2009If the financial crisis has a silver lining it is the decline and fall of the overpriced, over-hyped status economy. Getty Images You know, the one built on bling and Hummers and Louis Vuitton for the masses. The past decade may have had its excesses, but none were as stupefying as the ... Continue reading
Wealthy Investors Acting Like Three Blind Mice
Saturday, January 10th, 2009Let us say you are a billionaire venture capitalist and you are approached by a guy named John P. Rogers. His last venture, a group of chiropractic clinics in Minnesota, collapsed in a blaze of lawsuits. He had been arrested twice for domestic issues and was once booked on suspicion ... Continue reading
How to Downsize Your Nanny
Friday, January 9th, 2009As the rich cut back spending, household staff are taking a hit. From household managers to butlers, nannies, personal assistants, drivers and cleaners, the vast army of workers hired over the past decade to feed and care for the wealthy are getting downsized. Getty Images An article in The Wall Street Journal ... Continue reading
Millionaires Lose 30% of Their Fortunes
Thursday, January 8th, 2009American millionaires have lost about a third of their wealth during the financial crisis, according to a new survey. Getty Images The study, by Spectrem Group, the Chicago-based wealth-research firm, found that households with a net worth of $1 million or more say their assets have declined 30% or more. Nearly one-fifth ... Continue reading
I Got a Guy Wealth Syndrome is Under Attack
Thursday, January 8th, 2009If you stroll down Royal Palm Way in Palm Beach, Fla., you will see more than a dozen places for rich people to put their money. There are the big names–U.S. Trust, Northern Trust, J.P. Morgan Private Bank, Citigroup Private Bank. And then there are the boutique shops–the myriad versions ... Continue reading
Small Business News
Wednesday, January 7th, 2009The Difference Between Making Money and Having Wealth
Monday, January 5th, 2009Citizen-Times.com Many people are learning a painful lesson about the difference between having “things” and having wealth. When the economy is booming, money is easy to earn and credit is flowing freely, the urge to buy more things can be enticing. But just because you can buy a bigger house, a new ... Continue reading
Raising Money to Grow in Current Climate
Sunday, January 4th, 2009Before buying another business, assess whether you would still have an ample cash cushion with your current company to survive a potentially long downturn in business.read the full article Continue reading
Premium Chocolate Holds Steady
Sunday, January 4th, 2009Even in a recession, consumers shell out cash for popular premium chocolate, but the variety they purchase depends on its value, quality and manufacturer.read the full article Continue reading
Slump Batters Small Business
Saturday, January 3rd, 2009The downturn is threatening the survival of a major driver of the U.S. economy: small business.read the full article Continue reading
Clean Technology Investment Falls
Friday, January 2nd, 2009Venture-capital investment in clean technology fell 35% in the fourth quarter from the prior quarter amid the economic slowdown, the steepest drop in two years.read the full article Continue reading
Recruiting Talent to Ailing Firms
Friday, January 2nd, 2009Sick businesses often need fresh talent to recover. But attracting star players during bankruptcy can be difficult.read the full article Continue reading
Perseverance Answers Vegans’ Prayers
Thursday, January 1st, 2009Seth Tibbott, inventor of Tofurky and founder and president of Turtle Island Foods, on how he got to where he is today.read the full article Continue reading