Small Business

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  • Local Online Advertising to Increase 18% in 2011

    Small Business Labs
    Steve
    25 Aug 2010 | 1:00 am
    One of the trends I find really interesting is the continued growth of small personal services companies. These are firms that provide life support services to increasingly harried, time-constrained consumers.  Basically, consumers outsource tasks they don't enjoy, aren't capable of doing, or don't have time for to these firms.  In many cases the services provided are things we used to do on our own, or simply did without.  Academic tutoring is a good example of a personal service.  The NY Times article As Private Tutoring Booms, Parents Look…

  • Is Your Business Either Growing or Dying?

    Tim Berry: Planning, Startups, Stories
    Tim Berry
    30 Aug 2010 | 7:15 am
    Is Paul Allen a patent troll now? The same Paul Allen that was Bill Gates’ partner in Microsoft? Paul Allen who is worth billions of dollars? Oh no. Say it ain’t so. Last week wired.com reported Paul Allen Files Patent Lawsuits Against Entire Web … Except Microsoft. Allen, Bill Gates’ original partner in Microsoft, and an extremely wealthy man, is suing nearly everybody who is anybody on the internet (“Google, Apple, Yahoo, Netflix, Facebook, AOL and eBay, among others”) because he has the patent. Wired said: The four patents at issue allegedly cover basics of online commerce…

  • If Apple's Ping Is Social, Then Where's My Facebook Friends?

    Fast Company Feature Articles
    Austin Carr
    2 Sep 2010 | 11:26 am
    There isn't one. Corporations don't have a conscience, people do. That means that every time you say, "It's just my job," or "My department has a policy," or "All I do is work here," what you've done is abdicated responsibility--to no one. It's convenient and even comfortable to blame the anonymous actions of many working in concert on a evanescent brand or organization, but that starts you on an inevitable race to the bottom. Organizations have more power than ever before. They are better synchronized, faster, and possess more tools to change the economy and the people in it than ever…

  • 10 Free WordPress Themes for Small Businesses

    American Express Open Forum
    2 Sep 2010 | 6:07 am
    From John Mariotti, Small Business Trends: In the Broadway show ANNIE, the lead character sings the hit song of hope and faith, “Tomorrow.”  The lyrics are familiar to most of us, and include the title of this article.  It goes on to say, “..bet your bottom dollar that tomorrow, there’ll be sun.”  So it is for the companies in the U.S. economy.  The question in everyone’s minds is, “When is tomorrow?”  The next question is whether clouds of doubt and concern will obscure that sun.   The recession is technically…

  • 4 Unexpected Ways To Develop Entrepreneurial Skills

    Toilet Paper Entrepreneur Blog
    Check out this list of ideas on how to start a business with only 100 dollars.
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    American Express Open Forum

  • How to Prepare for International Expansion

    2 Sep 2010 | 9:50 am
    From Anne Field, Business Insider: Thanks to President Obama’s recently announced National Export Initiative, now may be a good time to expand your business globally. The program aims to increase financing and other support to small businesses and, ultimately, double the amount of exports over the next five years.   Whether or not that goal can be attained, it underscores how crucial international expansion is for small businesses is these days. Branching out globally opens up new markets able to boost business when economic growth is slow at home. “You don’t put your…

  • 7 Ways to Measure Your Social Media ROI

    2 Sep 2010 | 9:27 am
    From Steve Strauss: People love social media for different reasons. For some, it’s all about the networking. For others, it's the branding. Whatever the case my be with your experience, the downside to social media is that it is sometimes difficult to know if your time with it is well spent.  So, as with the rest of your business, it is important that you periodically review the ROI of your social media efforts. How do you do that? Here are seven ways, some quantitative and objective, others qualitative and subjective, but all useful to some degree or another. 1. Money: If all of…

  • Is Zero Percent Financing a Free Lunch?

    2 Sep 2010 | 9:25 am
    From Kate Lister, Wise Bread: They're not zero-calorie drinks, they're minus-calorie drinks. Because your body has to warm the liquid up to body temperature, you actually burn calories with every swig. So, zero calorie soft drinks are actually a better deal than advertised.   Zero percent financing, on the other hand, may not be. Many such deals are simply a bait-and-switch ruse. Even when they're legit, they can wreak havoc with your credit.   Bait and Switch Come-On   Car dealers, and more recently furniture, appliance and home electronic outlets, have been using zero percent…

  • The Sun Will Come Up—Tomorrow!

    2 Sep 2010 | 8:49 am
    From John Mariotti, Small Business Trends: In the Broadway show ANNIE, the lead character sings the hit song of hope and faith, “Tomorrow.”  The lyrics are familiar to most of us, and include the title of this article.  It goes on to say, “..bet your bottom dollar that tomorrow, there’ll be sun.”  So it is for the companies in the U.S. economy.  The question in everyone’s minds is, “When is tomorrow?”  The next question is whether clouds of doubt and concern will obscure that sun.   The recession is technically…

  • 10 Free WordPress Themes for Small Businesses

    2 Sep 2010 | 6:07 am
    From Zachary Sniderman, Mashable: There are a lot of WordPress themes out there. Whether you're looking for a souped up, paid premium template or a free alternative, it seems everyone and their grandma has created a tweak on the basic two- or three-column WordPress model.   While it can be a little daunting to sort through the many options, the explosion of available templates is a healthy sign of a vibrant, sometimes prolific, design community. This is good news, of course, if you're a designer. This is not such good news if you're a small business looking for a simple, free, and…
 
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    Verizon Small Business Center

  • Customize or Perish – A Guide To Website Success

    Monte_Beck
    30 Aug 2010 | 11:08 am
    As was mentioned on Friday, small - and medium-sized businesses need a website and finding a simple, easy affordable solution to create one can be a distracting or daunting task for many.    We’ve looked at a lot of SMB research and it’s clear to us that the number one challenge for SMB is finding the time to design and the money for an effective website.  We already know that a large percentage of SMBs either don’t have a website or have ‘placeholder’ sites with limited functionality for the business.   No matter what kind of business…

  • A Website Is Essential For Any Business To Succeed - You Need A Good Front Door!

    Kevin_Laverty
    27 Aug 2010 | 2:36 pm
    As many small- and medium-sized business owners have learned in recent years, the days of not connecting with your customer base online has quickly disappeared. Sure, many small businesses are getting more and more engaged in social media channels or leveraging cloud-based services. However, one essential tool that can’t be ignored is the business’s website.  

  • Verizon Small Biz Blog Weekly Roundup

    Ellen_Yu
    27 Aug 2010 | 12:06 pm
    My online friends, where does the time go?  I’ve been trying to post this blog since this morning, but one thing led to another…  Check out below these interesting articles I spotted this week.  Let me know what you think of these weekly roundups and feel free to share a link to an article you found helpful for your business.  Until the next time, happy reading!

  • Introducing Simplicity, Savings and Flexibility – Isn’t That What You Want?

    Kevin_Laverty
    23 Aug 2010 | 2:46 pm
    Verizon pays close attention to what small businesses want and need – particularly when it comes to packaging voice, Internet, and TV services.  It really is a pretty straightforward world for business – you want simplicity when it comes to buying your services, savings – the best bang for the buck, and flexibility that allows you to adjust to changing conditions.  

  • Small Business Blogs Weekly Roundup

    Kevin_Laverty
    20 Aug 2010 | 8:50 am
    There's always something happening in the world and the online world has become more of our waking hours which means - as always - that small business needs to be alert to the latest trends and tips for you.  This week, there are a number of good posts included here with one focused on Facebook's announcement of its geo-location option - Facebook Places.  With more than 500 million Facebook users and still growing, this may be one you'll want to take a closer look at for listing your business.  
 
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    Fast Company Feature Articles

  • Huawei Pulls a Nokia with "World's Most Affordable" Smartphone: Ideos

    Kit Eaton
    2 Sep 2010 | 12:23 pm
    Huawei, famous mainly for 3G computing peripherals, is trying its hand at smartphones--and it's latest effort is pretty distinctive: It's bringing the smartphone to entry-level markets.Huawei doesn't mess around in describing the phone. The Ideos is championed as "an affordable smartphone powered by the latest iteration of Android 2.2." And one of the headline facts is its price: "Between $100 and $200, depending on the market." The smartphone is slowly but surely taking over the handheld world, and Huawei could be accused of attempting to pull a Nokia maneuver by aiming at the lowest…

  • The Downside of Clean Natural Gas: Contaminated Water

    Ariel Schwartz
    2 Sep 2010 | 11:37 am
    Natural gas is undoubtedly a practical source of electricity generation; it's plentiful, burns relatively clean, and produces minimal carbon dioxide. All good things--unless you happen to live near a drilling site with irresponsible owners. ProPublica reports that residents of Pavillion, Wyoming are being told not to drink their water and to even use ventilation when showering so as to avoid an explosion. Because apparently, they're all lathering up with benzene, phenols, metals, naphthalene, and methane.Test results from the EPA are pretty ugly: oil compounds were found in 89% of all…

  • iFive: Hawking vs. God, Layoff-Happy CEOs, Euro Shopping Spree, Walkmen vs. iPods, Hurricane Earl

    Kit Eaton
    2 Sep 2010 | 11:34 am
    Soon the TV you flick on to watch the news before your morning commute may be cinema-screen-sized and 3-D. Innovation, even when your eyes can't take the early-hour strain.1. Stephen Hawking's new book is due out, and the physics guru has apparently changed his mind about God, according to an extract published in the Times U.K. today. Previously the prof had been ambivalent--physics didn't rule out a creator, he thought, even while it reduced his powers to significantly less than godlike. Now he's saying "It is not necessary to invoke God to light the blue touch paper and set the universe…

  • The Corporate Conscience

    Seth Godin
    2 Sep 2010 | 11:29 am
    There isn't one. Corporations don't have a conscience, people do. That means that every time you say, "It's just my job," or "My department has a policy," or "All I do is work here," what you've done is abdicated responsibility--to no one. It's convenient and even comfortable to blame the anonymous actions of many working in concert on a evanescent brand or organization, but that starts you on an inevitable race to the bottom. Organizations have more power than ever before. They are better synchronized, faster, and possess more tools to change the economy and the people in it than ever…

  • If Apple's Ping Is Social, Then Where's My Facebook Friends?

    Austin Carr
    2 Sep 2010 | 11:26 am
    Yesterday, Steve Jobs boasted of iTunes' 160 million users when introducing Ping, Apple's new social music network. But anyone wading into the service this morning will find an empty community save a few artists (Lady Gaga, Yo-Yo Ma) and a few potential followers (Rick Rubin). Sure, early adopters are always a small crowd--but this is Apple, not some startup. Shouldn't we expect Ping to be a vibrant social network? Shouldn't there at least be some auto-integration with my other networks, namely Gmail, Facebook, and Twitter? Apple thinks so--the company even claims that iTunes 10 users can…
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    Escape From Cubicle Nation

  • You are officially granted permission to create a non-perfect first website

    Pamela
    25 Aug 2010 | 3:45 pm
    There are a few conversations I have so often with my coaching clients that they must become blog posts. This is one of them. Here’s the deal When you first start out in business, experts from all over the planet tell you that you must have a targeted niche, a clear and compelling brand and a snappy unique selling proposition. This is very wise advice to people who want to have thriving businesses, not expensive hobbies. Here’s the problem When you are first starting out, you may not KNOW exactly who your market is. You need to work with some people to see exactly whom you like…

  • Connectors, Mavens and Salesmen: The secret to your success

    Pamela
    23 Aug 2010 | 3:36 pm
    Malcolm Gladwell has contributed many great books and ideas to the business stream over the years with Tipping Point, Blink and Outliers. But  Tipping Point has changed the way that Charlie Gilkey, Michele Woodward and I do our work with job seekers and entrepreneurs. In Chapter Two of Tipping Point, Gladwell describes three special types of people: Connectors: “These people who link us up with the world, who bridge Omaha and Sharon, who introduce us to our social circles – these people on whom we rely on more heavily than we realize – are Connectors, people with a very…

  • Selling services without being sleazy

    Pamela
    9 Aug 2010 | 12:59 pm
    One of the most challenging parts of being a new entrepreneur is getting comfortable with sales. I looked to one of the smartest young entrepreneurs I know for a bit of advice — Ramit Sethi, founder of I Will Teach You To Be Rich and a new course on earning more money. In the four years I have known Ramit, I have seen him grow from exceptional blogger to exceptional best-selling author and businessperson.  He inspired my Perfectionists are Losers post, was interviewed for my pricing series, and was featured in my book in the Testing chapter, with the story of his co-founding of PB…

  • Final sprint to support “The Fight Within Us” – spread the word!

    Pamela
    28 Jul 2010 | 9:33 am
    Kiera Van Gelder and Amanda Wang, speakers at the National Alliance for Mentally Ill Convention. They spoke on the “Courageous Women in Recovery” panel. A few months ago, I wrote about Amanda Wang’s courageous and brilliant project The Fight Within Us, a documentary she is producing to raise awareness about Borderline Personality Disorder (BPD), a condition she was diagnosed with a few years ago. Amanda is training for a Golden Gloves bout, and using that as a living metaphor for the fight she faces each day to manage this challenging and sometimes debilitating mental…

  • How not to get old, jealous and bitter once you are famous

    Pamela
    19 Jul 2010 | 11:38 pm
    Robert Plant, Photo Credit Rounder Records I read a fantastic interview with Led Zeppelin member Robert Plant, conducted by Larry Rogers  in the Arizona Republic on July 16. The full interview is here. Plant, who is coming to Arizona to play with Patty Griffin in advance of a new album dropping in September, described his current musical path. Instead of touring under the legendary name Led Zeppelin, he chose Band of Joy. His reasoning: Q: Why did you choose the name of a band from before Led Zeppelin for this project? A: When I was a kid in the original Band of Joy, I wore my musical heart…
 
 
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    VISANOW Global Immigration Blog

  • September 2010 Visa Bulletin

    The VISANOW Legal Team
    31 Aug 2010 | 9:36 am
    The September Visa Bulletin is the last one in the immigration fiscal year, and this year ends on a strong note: the EB second preference category for China and India progressed to almost mid-2006, the EB third preference categories for all countries except China, India, and Mexico leapt ahead by 6½ months, and the Other Workers category for all nations except India and Mexico saw a big jump ahead of almost 10 months after stagnating almost the entire fiscal year. In prior years, the September Visa Bulletin has sometimes been the harbinger of bad news, often showing that the government…

  • H-1B Cap Count as of 8/27/2010

    Maina B.
    31 Aug 2010 | 6:32 am
    The U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) released H-1B cap numbers as of 8/27, receiving 34,900 toward the 65,000 cap-subject H-1B petitions and 13,000 towards the 20,000 H-1B Master's category. Thus, H-1B cap numbers remain available, and there is still time to submit your FY2011 H-1B visa application for foreign national applicants beginning employment on October 1, 2010 or later. Contact your immigration services provider to see if this is an option for you/your foreign national or learn more about best practices for preparing your FY2011 H-1B…

  • New ESTA Fee for Visa Waiver Program Effective 9/8/2010

    The VISANOW Legal Team
    27 Aug 2010 | 8:21 am
    Effective September 8, 2010, foreign nationals visiting the United States under the Visa Waiver Program (VWP) will be required to pay a fee of $14 once they submit an application for travel approval through the Electronic System for Travel Authorization (ESTA). The U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) declared this interim final rule in order to stimulate tourism to the United States and cover processing fees. $10 of the fee funds U.S. tourism marketing efforts and the remaining $4 covers administrative expenses. The new ESTA fee applies to all 36 countries under the VWP. Individuals that…

  • USCIS Proposes First-Ever Standardized Fee Waiver Form (public feedback ends 9/13)

    The VISANOW Legal Team
    25 Aug 2010 | 8:10 am
    U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services has proposed the Form I-912 or a request for an individual fee waiver. The standardized fee waiver form is the first of its kind and is intended to provide relief to individuals that are financially unable to seek immigration benefits. The Form I-912 was published in response to public concern and confusion over the criteria to file for a fee waiver. USCIS collaborated with stakeholders and the public while developing this form. Now they are requesting feedback and comments on the Form I-912 from the public until September 13, 2010. Form highlights…

  • 8/24 Webcast: Increased H-1B/L-1 Fraud Fees - What it Means and Your Options

    Maina B.
    23 Aug 2010 | 10:12 am
    President Obama recently approved emergency funding worth $600 million to enhance the security along the Southwest border, which will be funded by increased H-1B and L-1 visa fees. Specifically, H.R. 6080 requires employers with 50+ employees and more than 50% of their U.S.-based work force on H-1B or L-1 visas to pay approximately $2,000 more per visa application in fraud prevention and detection fees. An attorney will review the latest happenings, explain who is affected, and cover strategies on how to lower your H-1B/L-1 headcount and/or decrease the number of H-1B renewals needed in the…
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    Small Business Labs

  • Small Business Employment, Confidence Stalled

    Steve
    31 Aug 2010 | 1:00 am
    The Intuit Small Business Employment Index for August showed a slowing rate of small business job growth.  The good news is the index was positive, with small businesses posting a gain of 26,000 jobs in August. Also good news is wages and hours worked remained steady versus the prior month.  Both are indicators of slowly improving business conditions.  But as the chart below from Fidelity Investments shows, the economy needs to generate roughly 8 million jobs to recover to pre-recession levels.  It's going to be a long road back unless small business…

  • Linking Coworking and Innovation

    Steve
    30 Aug 2010 | 1:00 am
    "Accelerated serendipity" is a term you hear often in the coworking community.  It is a belief that coworking increases the generation of business ideas and productivity.  The concept is when smart people from diverse backgrounds come together in a coworking community, good things happen - including business innovation.  Our interviews with coworking users confirms that "accelerated serendipity" is not just a marketing phrase - it is occurring.  Coworking users tend to see strong business value in the idea generation, feedback and…

  • 20 TED Talks for Small Business

    Steve
    27 Aug 2010 | 7:58 am
    TED is a small non-profit focused on fostering ideas and new information.  The name comes from technology, entertainment and design and early on they brought together leaders and thinkers from those fields to discuss a wide a cross disciplinary issues. TED immediately was a hit and their annual conference is one of - if not the - top business conference in the country.  In addition to selling out the event live, it is simulcast to multiple locations around the world. Speaking at TED is now considered a top honor and those that get to do it spend weeks preparing their…

  • Despite Recession, Private Tutoring Booms

    Steve
    26 Aug 2010 | 1:00 am
    One of the trends I find really interesting is the continued growth of small personal services companies. These are firms that provide life support services to increasingly harried, time-constrained consumers.  Basically, consumers outsource tasks they don't enjoy, aren't capable of doing, or don't have time for to these firms.  In many cases the services provided are things we used to do on our own, or simply did without.  Academic tutoring is a good example of a personal service.  The NY Times article As Private Tutoring Booms, Parents Look…

  • Local Online Advertising to Increase 18% in 2011

    Steve
    25 Aug 2010 | 1:00 am
    Borrell Associatesis forecasting a solid increase of 14% in online advertising in 2011.  This results in the overall market for onlilne advertising reaching $35.7 billion.  This is much faster than their 2011 overall advertising growth forecast of 5%.  This forecast would result in the overall advertising market growing to $238.6 billion in 2011. One of the best performing online sectors is expected to be local online advertising, which they are forecasting to increase 18% and reach $16.1 billion. 
 
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    How to Change the World

  • How to Make Paper.li and Flipboard Rock

    GuyKawasaki
    24 Aug 2010 | 6:47 pm
    In the last few weeks two companies have released services that enable you to take tweets and turn them into a newspaper or magazine format: Paper.li and Flipboard. Alltop is a great source of information for both Paper.li and Flipboard newspapers. If you’d like to learn how to do this for Paper.li, click here, and for Flipboard, click here.

  • Need example of a personal story of enchantment

    GuyKawasaki
    19 Aug 2010 | 10:19 am
    I would like to include a few personal stories of enchantment in my next book. I am looking for examples of how people, products, services, organizations, ideas, or causes swept you off your feet. Specs: Written from your personal experience, not an external, academic view. 150-200 words Ideally, all the basics would be in your essay: who, what, when, why, and how. As an example, here is how something enchanted me: The second most enchanting moment of my life occurred in 1983 when Mike Boich showed me a Macintosh prototype. (The most enchanting moment was meeting my wife.) This life-changing…

  • Best Twitter Client for IPhone and iPad

    GuyKawasaki
    16 Aug 2010 | 9:43 pm
    After searching for months, I’ve come to the conclusion that Twitbird is the best iPhone and iPad Twitter client. If you’d like to see why, check out my post at the American Express Open Forum.

  • How to get a free copy of my first book, The Macintosh Way

    GuyKawasaki
    2 Aug 2010 | 10:01 am
    Information wants to be free, and I just freed some. I got the rights back for my first book, The Macintosh Way, and I’ve made it available for free here. Hope that you find it useful.

  • How to Find Freedom

    GuyKawasaki
    28 Jul 2010 | 9:25 am
    Let me confess: I’m addicted to Twitter and email, and my addiction increases the more I have to do something important like write a book. Luckily, I stumbled across applications called Freedom and Anti-Social that really help. I explain how they works here at the American Express Open Forum. If you’re have a tough time prying yourself away from online fun, they could really help.
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    Tim Berry: Planning, Startups, Stories

  • The 3 Most Often Overlooked Pieces of the Business Plan

    Tim Berry
    2 Sep 2010 | 8:54 am
    Yes, it is true that plans are stories and stories drive plans, but that’s not stories as visions of the future and plans as managing and steering to make those visions true; we’re not talking about fairy tales. Make your planning real. Make it help your business. Make it help you control your destiny and manage better. I believe in the just-big-enough business plan, where form follows function, and you plan as you go. Don’t include what you don’t need. For example, if you don’t have business reasons to describe your company and your management team to outsiders, then don’t bother…

  • And Who Can Blame Her for Cutting Off Comments…

    Tim Berry
    1 Sep 2010 | 7:14 am
    Damn. It’s been a long day, some of my sites got hacked, a car didn’t start, and … well, you know how that goes. You have those days too. This will go up tomorrow morning but I’m mad as hell tonight, while writing it. Just look at this picture: What a damned shame. Who can blame her for shutting off comments? I don’t. I do blame the people who have about the same contribution to thought, writing, or culture as slash and burn vandals. So here’s what happened: I was settling in after dinner, checking some of my favorite sites, and I ran into Jolie O’Dell’s well researched,…

  • When Patents Are Patently Absurd

    Tim Berry
    31 Aug 2010 | 7:03 am
    Is Paul Allen a patent troll now? The same Paul Allen that was Bill Gates’ partner in Microsoft? Paul Allen who is worth billions of dollars? Oh no. Say it ain’t so. Last week wired.com reported Paul Allen Files Patent Lawsuits Against Entire Web … Except Microsoft. Allen, Bill Gates’ original partner in Microsoft, and an extremely wealthy man, is suing nearly everybody who is anybody on the internet (“Google, Apple, Yahoo, Netflix, Facebook, AOL and eBay, among others”) because he has the patent. Wired said: The four patents at issue allegedly cover basics of online commerce…

  • Is Your Business Either Growing or Dying?

    Tim Berry
    30 Aug 2010 | 7:15 am
    True story: there were six of us at lunch together on a beautiful late spring day in 1996. We sat on an outside table in the shade and discussed the next big growth spurt. Would we take this marketing-on-steroids proposal, at a high cost? Would it work? Could we afford not to? I’m not sure any more which of us said it: The status quo is great. This company is fun. The team works well together. Do we really have to grow? I liked the idea, but didn’t fully buy it. My answer: Yes. We’re a software company. We shrink or grow. There’s no alternative. We did take the growth…

  • Is Personal Branding Really Impersonal Faking?

    Tim Berry
    27 Aug 2010 | 7:29 am
    Don’t get me wrong: I think the thinking behind it, the advice wrapped around the idea of personal branding, is excellent. I’ve recommended, for example, Dan Schawbel’s personal branding book Me 2.0 and I’m sticking to it. Dan has a great collection of real-world suggestions in that book. But I’m beginning to think I hate the term. And maybe some of what’s behind it. Last Friday I read Personal Branding is Bullsh*t (cowardly * by me, not her) by Arienne Holland, communications director of Raven Tools. She writes: A person doesn’t need a brand. A person is a person whether or not…
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    Inc.com

  • 8 Places To Find Advocates for Your Business

    Janine Popick
    2 Sep 2010 | 10:01 am
    You've probably spent a lot of time and energy building up your business, so now it's time to locate those people who love to shout from the mountain tops how great they think you are. Why? Well eventually you'll want to reach out to these very special people, thank them and treat them extra special.At my company VerticalResponse, we create a list of advocates from different channels so that when we're ready to really motivate them even more than they already are, we can do it easily. So where do you start?Your Employees - Your employees can be the very best advocates for your business. You…

  • Battle for the Nerds

    Jason Del Rey
    2 Sep 2010 | 9:18 am
    Each day, Inc.'s reporters scour the Web for the most important and interesting news to entrepreneurs. Here's what we found today:Google vs. Facebook: the employee bidding wars are on. Sure seems like a good time to be a developer at Google. According to TechCrunch's Michael Arrington, Google is combatting an increasing number of employee defections to Facebook by offering some astounding perks: in one recent case, Arrington writes, Google offered a developer threatening to leave for Facebook "a 15% raise on his $150,000 mid level developer salary, quadruple the stock benefits and...a…

  • Would You Challenge Taylor Lautner to Push-ups?

    Courtney Rubin
    2 Sep 2010 | 7:28 am

  • What About That Other Ping?

    Renee Oricchio
    2 Sep 2010 | 2:00 am
    So, there's Apple's new social network for iTunes called Ping. It was just announced this week and as Steve Jobs himself described it; it's "like Facebook and Twitter meet iTunes."We all know how this goes. Jobs launched it, so count on Ping to be Webster's newest verb by Friday. (As in, "let me ping you that song" or "what's the name of that new group? Can you ping it to me later?").But wasn't there already a Ping brand out there? What about the golf brand, Ping?It turns out, Apple has already cut a deal with the owner of the Ping name in golf. Ping's parent company, Karsten Manufactoring,…

  • 5 Ways to Improve Quality

    Inc. Staff
    2 Sep 2010 | 1:38 am
    Every business owner likes to think that he or she has a commitment to quality. If that were truly the case, of course, no product would ever disappoint, and no service would result in a complaint. So how can you improve quality at your company? Here are 5 steps you can take to put you on the right path.1. Make a commitment. W. Edwards Deming, the father of the quality movement, famously laid out 14 points for management—chief among them, the notion of "constancy of purpose."Deming argued that a company's commitment to quality had to come from the top, and it had to be reinforced over…
 
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    Copyblogger

  • The 10 Essential Ingredients of Successful Sales Pages

    Dave Navarro
    1 Sep 2010 | 7:12 am
    When you see dozens of copywriting formulas promising “the perfect sales page,” how do you know which ones to trust? After all, each formula seems to have a successful direct sales superstar behind it, and each one looks like a solid plan. What do you do in the face of these wildly different sales letter styles? The first step is to realize that copywriting is more than any one “formula” — it’s an exercise in communication and persuasion. Just like a recipe, different formats will give you different results. The recipe you’re looking for will depend…

  • A Four-Step Guide to Generating Sales Leads from Your Blog

    Dean Rieck
    31 Aug 2010 | 6:50 am
    Dean: Did you know you can use your blog to make money offline? Blogger: Offline? What is this “offline” you speak of? Dean: It’s the opposite of “online.” Blogger: (confused silence) Dean: You know. Offline. Not on the internet. The real world. Blogger: (shaking phone) Not only does this stupid phone drop my calls, now it’s translating them into crazy moon language. Okay, I jest. But to listen to some bloggers, you would think a blog’s only purpose is to make money online, by selling ebooks, membership sites, or advertising. The truth is, blogs have grown into a more…

  • Is Your Headline Good or Bad? Give it the Breath Test

    Sean D'Souza
    30 Aug 2010 | 6:55 am
    Bloggers have been asking the question “Do long or short headlines work better?” for a long time. But the answer to the riddle of how to create a headline that pulls in readers doesn’t necessarily lie in subtracting or adding one more word. There’s not a mysterious formula or arcane copywriter’s trick. The answer is much simpler than that. The best way to get a headline that works is by using the breath test. Try saying this headline aloud: How To Recognize Six Difficult Telltale Signs Of Disinterest And Lack Of Motivation In Your Student And Customer Ran out of breath,…

  • The Three Key Elements of Irresistible Email Subject Lines

    Brian Clark
    26 Aug 2010 | 6:11 am
    Email is back. Despite repeated proclamations of its extinction, rumors of the death of email marketing have been greatly exaggerated — especially since email and social media are a powerful combination. You might not reach the average college freshman, but for slightly older types (you know, the ones with the money), email is still the way to go in many lucrative mainstream niches. You must first, of course, get your emails read. And it all starts with the subject line. Email subject lines are a form of headline. They perform the same function as a headline by attracting attention and…

  • How To Write Eye-Catching Headlines that Transform Browsers into Buyers

    Dave Navarro
    25 Aug 2010 | 7:15 am
    In order to stop readers in their tracks, capture their attention through every word of your copy, and persuade them to click that “Add to Cart” button without a second thought, you need to master the “headline reading psychology” of your soon-to-be customers. Once you understand why magnetic headlines pull readers in, you’ll know how to do it for your own sales pages, every time. Follow along with me for the next ninety seconds and I’ll show you exactly how you can turn a casual browser of your sales page into an avid reader, curious to drink in your copy…
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    crowdSPRING Blog

  • 12 Questions: Meet Rommel Rojas (Venezuela)

    Audree
    31 Aug 2010 | 11:30 am
    In our 12 Questions blog series, we feature interviews with someone from the crowdSPRING community. For these interviews, we pick people who add value to our community – in the blog, in the forums, in the projects. Plainly – activities that make crowdSPRING a better community. Be professional, treat others with respect, help us build something very special, and we’ll take notice. We’re very proud to feature Rommel Rojas (crowdSPRING username: rommelrojas) today. Rommel lives and works in Valencia, Venezuela. 1. Please tell us about yourself. My name is Rommel Rojas, I live in…

  • Marketing Is About Values

    Ross
    30 Aug 2010 | 10:40 pm
    Today, Apple is considered one of the best brands in the world. The iPod wasn’t the first mp3 player but it redefined the entire industry. The iPad wasn’t the first tablet PC and yet Apple may sell more than 10 million of them in 2010. Apple may sell 48 million iPhones in 2010. Today, nearly everything that Apple touches turns to gold. But this wasn’t always true. From the mid 1980s to the mid 1990s, Apple was a niche company with many product failures and a poorly defined vision. The transformation that turned Apple from a niche player into an industry giant started when…

  • 10 things about kids from which entrepreneurs can learn

    Mike
    30 Aug 2010 | 7:00 am
    I have a couple of kids and, although they are getting older now and moving towards their own adult lives, I learn from them every day. Watching them grow, learn, and develop into individuals has taught me many lessons, including how to be a better entrepreneur. It is valuable to step back and consider ways in which we can all do and be better and lessons we can draw from children and their unique approach to living, their fresh attitudes about others, and their ongoing joy in making their way through the world. 1. Kids have their own logic. Kids approach the world with eyes open every day.

  • crowdSPRING’s Twitter Roundup On Social Media and Marketing

    Ross
    25 Aug 2010 | 7:11 am
    Every day on the crowdSPRING Twitter account and on my Twitter account, I post links to posts or videos about logo design, web design, startups, entrepreneurship, small business, leadership, social media, marketing, and more! Here are the links that I’ve liked and shared this past week about social media and marketing. Why you should give ideas away for free – http://tinyurl.com/347uf83 This Week in Brand Strategy & Advertising – http://bit.ly/c9xn8k Your Facebook Friends Are Watching You—Did We Just Move Closer to 1984? – http://tcrn.ch/bzwCwG 5 Reasons Why Facebook…

  • crowdSPRING’s Twitter Roundup For Small Business

    Ross
    24 Aug 2010 | 7:05 am
    Every day on the crowdSPRING Twitter account and on my Twitter account, I post links to posts or videos I enjoyed reading or viewing. These posts and videos are about logo design, web design, startups, entrepreneurship, small business, leadership, social media, marketing, and more! Here are the links that I’ve liked and shared this past week relevant to small business. A Guide to Online Marketing Tools – http://bit.ly/btCfB1 How to get more exposure for your Facebook pages – http://bit.ly/9x36uY Ruralsourcing: A Win-Win Idea for Small Businesses – http://ow.ly/18CEkD…
 
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    The Franchise King Blog

  • The Senior Care Franchise Services Sector Still Seems Unstoppable

    The Franchise King
    2 Sep 2010 | 6:05 am
    Talk about filling an unmet need. Yes..it's still an unmet need. Just because there are over 30 different franchises offering various medical and non-medical senior care services, it doesn't necessarily mean that our senior population is being taken care of. There are just so many folks getting to "that age." They don't want to end up in a nursing home, either.People really want to stay home instead. Add to it the utter confusion about insurance..what's covered, what's not, etc., and you have lots of headaches. And..this is important; lots of opportunity. You've been hearing about the huge…

  • It's Time For 356 Days Of StartUps!

    The Franchise King
    1 Sep 2010 | 10:12 am
                                 I "met" Laura Petrolino over at an amazing group that I'm a paid member of. This group. I made the decision to join this group because of the people behind it. No other reason. You see, I figured that if I'm going set myself up for maximum success, I have to be willing to step-up and learn how to be more successful from the best of the best. (Even if I have to pay for it.) So, I had just begun work on a new project of mine, called Franchise Online University.com, and I was hoping to get…

  • Margarita's, You're The Best. (New England Mexican Restaurant)

    The Franchise King
    31 Aug 2010 | 5:39 pm
    Margaritas was crowned the Best Mexican Restaurant in the "Baby, You're the Best" contest sponsored by NECN, the regional cable television network serving all of New England. The online contest was part of a summer-long quest to find the best food and drinks that New England has to offer. "We want to thank our loyal guests and friends of the company for their overwhelming support and to each and every one of our team members who have helped us create the ultimate guest experience, "said John Pelletier, founder of Margaritas Mexican Restaurants. "We also send congratulations to the other four…

  • "Honey, I'm Thinking About Buying a Franchise"

    The Franchise King
    30 Aug 2010 | 4:04 am
    And so it begins......... The scenario; A fairly successful 49-year old, (and recently downsized) executive, decides to start gathering some basic information on franchise businesses. (After enduring 6 months of absolute dead-ends in his job search.) He's starting to get tired of competing with approximately 500,00 other out of work executives, for the few good jobs that are actually being offered. He says to himself; "I think I'd better look at all of my options." This brings him to the place that we're at now, folks; the kitchen table conversation he's about to have with his loving wife of…
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    800 CEO Read

  • Conference Room B

    dylan
    1 Sep 2010 | 5:47 pm
    “The irreducible essence of leadership is that leaders are people who live their deepest personal values without compromise, and they use those values to make life better for others—that is why people become leaders and why people follow leaders.” —Stan Slap, Bury My Heart at Conference Room B (Portfolio, August 2010) If you follow Jack Covert Selects, you may recognize the quote above from Jack’s most recent review. It’s a quote that Jack and Carol appreciated so much that they asked me to put it on our conference room wall. It was fun project, and completed today.

  • How Made to Stick was Made to Stick: What Ideas Survived and What Died

    dylan
    30 Aug 2010 | 2:48 pm
    We really loved the Heath Brother’s first book, What Sticks: Why Some Ideas Work in the World and Others Don’t, when it first arrived in our office in 2007. So much, in fact, that we saved the manuscript—something we rarely do due to the staggering amount of books we receive every year. The subtitle was a little unruly, but the ideas spiral-bound up in that plastic cover were concise, well-written, and right on. We liked it so much that we also saved the galley when it came through (also rare) which reflects the first major change to the book. It’s title was tightened…

  • A Defense of Business Books

    Sally
    27 Aug 2010 | 2:47 pm
    It’s a common reaction. When I explain to people that I work for a bookstore that specializes in business books, most people either furrow their brows or wrinkle their noses. Sometimes this reaction is caused by confusion as bookstores, to most people, are brick and mortar locations that display New York Times best selling fiction, spin racks of greeting cards, and children’s pictures books. When that happens, I try to explain, in a nutshell, the origin of our company: we are what is left of the Harry W. Schwartz bookshops, an independent chain of bookstores in Milwaukee that…

  • BrandManageCamp 2010

    Jon
    26 Aug 2010 | 2:24 pm
    If you’re in the Vegas area (or are interested in going), be sure to check out this year’s BrandManageCamp, run by the great folks at ManageCamp. 2010 marks their 8th event, and this year’s lineup is not to be missed. Featuring a bunch of authors we’ve talked about (and with) at this site before: David Meerman Scott, Jeff Hayzlett, Jackie Huba, Bob Gilbreath, and many more, discussing ideas on building your company’s brand. With this great lineup of experts, attendees will be inspired with plenty of ideas on innovation, new media, and overall brand strategy. For…

  • Doing Both and the Importance of Getting Your Feet Wet

    dylan
    26 Aug 2010 | 1:38 pm
    Inder Sidhu’s Doing Both was number one on the Inc./800-CEO-READ Business Book Bestseller List in July. Jon recently sent him three questions he asks of all our best-selling authors, and I really enjoyed his answers: What’s the most influential book you’ve read? Outliers, by Malcolm Gladwell, which eloquently explains what drives extraordinary human achievement. Who in business had the most profound effect on you? My previous bosses, Gary Daichendt and Rick Justice, who represented unquestionable integrity, humble competence, respect for people, love for family, strength of…
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    Smallbiztechnology.com

  • Brent Leary (CRM Essentials) - Context, Not Content, Is King (Taste of Technology Series Video)

    1 Sep 2010 | 8:00 am
    On the occasion of the June 22 Taste of Technology Small Business Series, The Lies of Twitter and Facebook 3 experts in social media gathered to speak about how businesses can leverage the power of social media for their businesses. Laura P. Thomas, Dell Global Small Business Creative Experience Team Dan Zarrella, HubSpot Marketing Product Owner and Social Media Scientist Brent Leary, CRM Essentials In this next series of posts, we'll bring you their presentations. Here's the video and below is the video summary/transcript: Brent Leary, CRM Essentials What is a customer management…

  • Laura Thomas (Dell) - Social Media Lessons From Dell (Taste of Technology Series Video)

    1 Sep 2010 | 7:30 am
    On the occasion of the June 22 Taste of Technology Small Business Series, The Lies of Twitter and Facebook 3 experts in social media gathered to speak about how businesses can leverage the power of social media for their businesses. Laura P. Thomas, Dell Global Small Business Creative Experience Team Dan Zarrella, HubSpot Marketing Product Owner and Social Media Scientist Brent Leary, CRM Essentials In this next series of posts, we'll bring you their presentations. Laura P. Thomas, Dell Global Small Business Creative Experience Team Here's the video and below is the video summary/transcript:…

  • Dan Zarrella (HubSpot) - Stop Forcing and Tricking People Into Buying From You! (Taste of Technology Series Video)

    1 Sep 2010 | 6:00 am
    On the occasion of the June 22 Taste of Technology Small Business Series, The Lies of Twitter and Facebook 3 experts in social media gathered to speak about how businesses can leverage the power of social media for their businesses. Laura P. Thomas, Dell Global Small Business Creative Experience Team Dan Zarrella, HubSpot Marketing Product Owner and Social Media Scientist Brent Leary, CRM Essentials In this next series of posts, we'll bring you their presentations. Here's the video and below is the video summary/transcript: (Ramon is opening the event and then Dan starts at abut 8:53 minutes…

  • Events, Conferences and Webinars this Fall

    30 Aug 2010 | 11:26 am
    Labor Day is almost here and summer's winding down, but there are lots of great upcoming events to help you learn, connect and jump into Fall. This list of events, conferences and webinars for growing small businesses and entrepreneurs is brought to you every other week by Small Business Trends and Smallbiztechnology.com. * * * * * Advanced Facebook for Business August 31, 2010, 8:00pm EDT, Webinar Delve deeper into the world of Facebook for business with the Technology Therapy Group: how to create lists to organize your friends, change and customize your news feed, install applications to…

  • Stop Scratching The Surface of Twitter. Learn, Go Deep & Boost Profits

    30 Aug 2010 | 7:34 am
    Twitter is a VERY powerful tool for your business. To find customers, communicate with the customers you already have and research information about your industry. If you are just "tweeting" and not diving deeper, you're not getting as much out of Twitter as you could be. One way to do that is to ensure you get the regular updates from Biz Stone, founder of Twitter. Of course this also applies to LinkedIn and Facebook...go deep. Below is Biz Stone's latest newsletter, with all sorts of new goodies about Tiwtter. French impressionist Claude Monet said, "I am following Nature without being able…
 
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    Small Business Trends

  • Can You Cut Your Health-Care Costs by Self-Insuring?

    Rieva Lesonsky
    2 Sep 2010 | 10:30 am
    Although the results of the health-insurance reform passed earlier this year will take years to fully work out, there’s one way your small business might be able to save on health insurance right now, reports CFO Magazine: Do what a growing number of small businesses are doing, and self-insure. Large companies have used self-insurance for a long time, but until recently, the conventional wisdom held that was only a good fit for businesses with 1,000 or more employees.  But new data from PricewaterhouseCoopers shows the percentage of employers with fewer than 1,000 people that…

  • It’s About Time: 5 Tools to Streamline Your Social Media

    Diane Helbig
    2 Sep 2010 | 10:30 am
    Whenever I speak about social media, the biggest question I get is “How much time do you spend on it?” My response? Not as much as you’d think. I use a number of time management tools to help me streamline my activity. The 5 with the greatest impact are outlined here: 1. Hootsuite or Social Oomph The beauty of Hootsuite and Social Oomph is that they let you manage all of your Twitter activity and relationships in one place. You can post-date tweets for another time. You can monitor direct messages and mentions as well as your Twitter stream. You can decide which posts will go to which…

  • 6 Common SMB SEO Mistakes (& How to Fix Them)

    Lisa Barone
    2 Sep 2010 | 6:00 am
    I’m not an SEO expert. Lucky for me, my partners in crime over at Outspoken Media are. But even though I’m not an expert, that doesn’t mean I’m not careful to pay close attention to SEO best practices when creating and publishing content. Paying mind to search engine optimization ensures that I’m giving the search engines all the clues they need to determine what my content is about, while also giving customers what they need to know, as well. And if someone as non-technical as I can do it, then you savvy SMB owners can do it too. Below you’ll find 6 common SMB SEO mistakes and…

  • Small Business News: Social Media Power!

    Small Business News
    1 Sep 2010 | 8:58 pm
    If you haven’t figured it out, gotten on board, jumped on the bandwagon (pick your own expression)…well, we’re not going to try to talk you into it. Just be aware of the incredible value social media can create for your business if you use it correctly. In this news wrap-up, we look at tips, trends and great ideas. And we’ll look at the benefits of harnessing social media power for your small business…and the costs of not doing so as well. Trends Leveraging your small business with social media. Here are 80 tips about using the tools of social media to vastly…

  • Are Business Owners Risk-Takers? Not When It Comes to Their Finances

    Rieva Lesonsky
    1 Sep 2010 | 9:30 am
    Are entrepreneurs financial risk-takers? Conventional wisdom says yes, but a recent research report from the Kauffman Foundation, Business Owners, Financial Risk, and Wealth, suggests otherwise. Author Tami Gurley-Calvez studied 1989 to 2007 data from the Federal Reserve Board, Survey of Consumer Finances (SCF) to research three questions: 1.) Are business owners generally more or less financially conservative than their non-business-owning counterparts? 2.) Do business owners accumulate more wealth? 3.) Do business owners hold a smaller share of their financial assets in risky stock…
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    Seth's Blog

  • Better than nothing (is harder than you think)

    Seth Godin
    2 Sep 2010 | 2:36 am
    Most of the time, particulary in b2b and luxury sales, the competition is nothing. "I will buy this treat or I will buy nothing, because I don't really need anything." "I will buy your consulting services, or I'll continue doing what I'm doing now on that front, which is nothing." None of the above. "I will vote for you or I'll do what I usually do, which is not vote." "I'll hire you or I'll hire no one." While you think your competition is that woman across town, it's probably apathy, sitting still, ignoring the problem... nothing. Stop worrying so much about comparing yourself to every…

  • Launching the ShipIt Workbook

    Seth Godin
    1 Sep 2010 | 11:16 am
    Six months ago, I put together a workbook that would help Linchpin readers ship. After testing it out on hundreds of people, it's now ready for retail sale. [UPDATE on 9/2--yesterday, the workbook was so popular it went to the top 10 of all books on Amazon. And they sold all the warehouse could take. So it's sold out... I have shipped more to them, but they probably won't go on sale until the 8th. I'll update this post then. Thanks guys.] You can find details here, or jump right to the buy page. The goal? To make you uncomfortable at the beginning of a project (and successful at the end).

  • Responsibility and authority

    Seth Godin
    1 Sep 2010 | 2:08 am
    Many people struggle at work because they want more authority. It turns out you can get a lot done if you just take more responsibility instead. It's often offered, rarely taken. (And you can get even more done if you give away credit, relentlessly).

  • Just launched: Linchpin on the Vook on the iPad

    Seth Godin
    31 Aug 2010 | 10:49 am
    The details are right here. Created by Vook, based on the hardcover. Includes new video and interviews with some interesting folks... The long tail challenge of the iPad store is getting more and more obvious to people. The ratio of "shelf space" to inventory is about the worst of any retail experience in the world. There are more than 24,000 apps listed in the iPad store, and yet the front window (equivalent to the window of a bookstore) shows the user six choices. The spotlight coverflow up top shows another sixteen, fairly randomly. Meaning there's a little worse than a one in a thousand…

  • The corporate conscience

    Seth Godin
    31 Aug 2010 | 2:49 am
    There isn't one. Corporations don't have a conscience, people do. That means that every time you say, "It's just my job," or "My department has a policy," or "All I do is work here," what you've done is abdicated responsibility--to no one. It's convenient and even comfortable to blame the anonymous actions of many working in concert on a evanescent brand or organization, but that starts you on an inevitable race to the bottom. Organizations have more power than ever before. They are better synchronized, faster, and possess more tools to change the economy and the people in it than ever…
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    Our Editors

  • Moscow's Fires Strain Russian Workers, Companies

    Elena Evgrafova
    16 Aug 2010 | 9:18 am
    Last Wednesday, I saw the sky above Moscow after two weeks without it. I had never thought I would feel so good about breathing relatively clean air or seeing grey-blue skies, but that was before the fire and the smoke. It isn't over, though. The forests in central Russia are still burning, and, according to the forecasts, the smog will be back over Moscow this week. It's tough to pretend that it's business as usual in this weather. August is usually a slow month in Russia, but it has been terrible this year. The heat forced almost all the automakers, including GM, Toyota and Volvo, to shut…

  • No, Google Is Not Making You Stupid

    Paul Michelman
    12 Aug 2010 | 1:32 pm
    Nick Carr is right — or is he? Of course, Google and the Web have changed our reading habits and affected our attention spans. The changing nature of technology is driving us to consume a greater number of ideas today in less depth. Throughout history, societies have evolved around new technologies — the plow, the printing press, the telephone. And as our societies have changed, so have we. We adapt to our surroundings. We evolve to fit the world just as we endeavor to keep changing it. That's the virtuous circle of human evolution. My 11-year-old daughter spends half her day…

  • Steven Slater and the National Psyche

    Eric Hellweg
    11 Aug 2010 | 6:46 am
    We've finally found it: the Story of our Summer 2010. No tawdry and tragic tales of missing interns, no Summer of the Shark (although here in Massachusetts we're seeing quite a run). No, Summer 2010's story here in the U.S. is the Story of the Chute. We're growing increasingly infatuated with Steven Slater, a 38-year-old flight attendant who pulled his career ripcord on August 10th, after allegedly unleashing a string of profanities toward at least one passenger after his flight from Pittsburgh to NYC landed, grabbing a couple of beers from the galley and sliding down the emergency chute…

  • Can You Work for Someone Younger Than You?

    Roberta Fusaro
    10 Aug 2010 | 7:30 am
    I recently had drinks with a former boss — and got a glimpse into the new organizational world order. Lee's feeling painted into a corner. He's 54, and he's not happy with how he's being treated by his new, younger boss. ("She doesn't understand how we got here in the first place — and she doesn't want to understand, doesn't think what I have to say matters," he complains.) He's not ready to retire or otherwise move on from an organization in which he has worked his way up for almost 22 years. ("Wage freeze the past couple years equals not enough money to launch my own thing," he…

  • Apparently, These Are the Droids You're Looking For

    Scott Berinato
    3 Aug 2010 | 10:53 am
    New Nielsen research shows Google's Android smartphone operating system surging in the U.S. In the past two quarters, Android phones' share of the U.S. smartphone market jumped from four percent to 13 percent. Even more impressively, in the last six months Android grabbed 27 percent of all new smartphone subscribers — more than the iPhone (23%) and closing in on flagging leader BlackBerry (33%), both of which saw new subscriptions fall. Those numbers being startling, and this being a blog entry, we must now immediately declare What This Means: Apple is dying! Google is God! BlackBerry…
 
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    Tom Davenport

  • Blair, Bush, and the Problem of Political Judgment

    Julia Kirby
    2 Sep 2010 | 6:20 am
    by Laurence Prusak (Larry Prusak, Brook Manville, and I are at work on a book on judgment and how to cultivate it as an organizational, not just individual, strength. Over the next few months, we'll each be authoring posts in this blog to test-drive ideas and invite input as the research progresses.) We're being treated to two new memoirs, one just out and the other due in early November, reflecting on some of the most momentous events of the past decade. The memoirists, Tony Blair and George Bush, have been greatly vilified for some of their decisions. Their books will provide, say the…

  • Does Better Judgment Come With Age?

    Brook Manville
    24 Aug 2010 | 7:45 am
    by Brook Manville (Larry Prusak, Brook Manville, and I are at work on a book on judgment and how to cultivate it as an organizational, not just individual, strength. Over the next few months, we'll each be authoring posts in this blog to test-drive ideas and invite input as the research progresses.) I've been mulling over a column by The Wall Street Journal's Peggy Noonan since it came out last month. Entitled Youth Has Outlived Its Usefulness, it was about good judgment, and who has it. The premise of the piece, ever so gently chiding our current President, was that our nation is in bad need…

  • If Only BP Knew Now What it Knew Then

    Thomas H. Davenport and Laurence Prusak
    2 Aug 2010 | 6:35 am
    by Thomas H. Davenport and Laurence Prusak (Larry Prusak, Brook Manville, and I are at work on a book on judgment and how to cultivate it as an organizational, not just individual, strength. Over the next few months, we'll be coauthoring posts in this blog to test-drive ideas and invite input as the research progresses.) The new BP CEO, Bob Dudley, told ABC that the Gulf oil spill "has come out of nowhere" for the company. Maybe not. Perhaps it was coming for quite a while. In the mid-nineties BP was all the rage in management circles, in part because it was one of the very first firms to…

  • Five Ways Pixar Makes Better Decisions

    Tom Davenport
    15 Jul 2010 | 6:53 am
    I'm writing a new book with Larry Prusak and Brook Manville. If we had to name it today, we'd call it Judgment Days: How Great Organizations Make Great Decisions. It's about how organizations — rather than individuals — build their capacity for good judgment and decision making. We're going to try to show how individual decisions, made on particular "judgment days," were shaped and succeeded by activities to improve organizational judgment. We hope to describe a variety of organizations — from companies to schools to hospitals to foundations — that make consistently…

  • Why Can't American Airlines Make Travel Fun?

    Tom Davenport
    11 Jun 2010 | 5:53 am
    I'm sitting on American Airlines 1387 from Boston to Dallas, and by the time I land, I will be close to accumulating five million miles on this particular carrier. Unlike Ryan Bingham, the protagonist of Up in the Air, I am not particularly interested in accumulating more miles on American. In fact, I would be really depressed if I ever hit the 10 million mark. Why? Because it's a boring place to spend time. There are some things I like about American: It seems safe, the flight attendants are usually competent, the silver planes look cool, they serve decent sparkling wine in domestic first…
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    Bill Taylor on HarvardBusiness.org

  • The New York Times Is Dead Wrong

    Bill Taylor
    2 Sep 2010 | 10:38 am
    As a public speaker, I'm always looking for ways to engage my audience. One old trick — which I never use, precisely because it is so old — is to challenge executives and entrepreneurs to imagine their obituary in the New York Times. What impact did you have? What contribution did you make? What kind of life did you lead? As it turns out, this audience-participation exercise requires a special act of imagination for women. Consider this amazing statistic, brought to you by a Web site called The NYTpicker, which pokes, prods, and otherwise critiques the world's greatest newspaper.

  • The Real World (and Post-Vacation Vertigo)

    Bill Taylor
    24 Aug 2010 | 6:22 am
    I am just back from a long, blissful family vacation to Hawaii. We hiked, surfed (well, the kids did), went scuba diving (me too), and enjoyed a truly astonishing variety of fruit and fish. Best of all, we spent most of our time without cable TV or web access. So, being the informed citizen and committed management blogger that I am, upon our return I flipped on cable news, fired up the Internet, poured through newspapers, and re-engaged with the "real world." Big mistake. Much to my dismay, but as all of you already know, while I was off the grid, August overloaded our circuits with scandal…

  • Do You Pass the Leadership Test?

    Bill Taylor
    3 Aug 2010 | 9:19 am
    The true mark of a leader is the willingness to stick with a bold course of action — an unconventional business strategy, a unique product-development roadmap, a controversial marketing campaign — even as the rest of the world wonders why you're not marching in step with the status quo. In other words, real leaders are happy to zig while others zag. They understand that in an era of hyper-competition and non-stop disruption, the only way to stand out from the crowd is to stand for something special. I've said it before, and I'll say it again: It's not good enough to be "pretty…

  • Where Have all the Business Heroes Gone?

    Bill Taylor
    27 Jul 2010 | 6:35 am
    My friends at the Washington Post, where I'm a member of the newspaper's "On Leadership" panel, posed a provocative question to the group that is perfect for the times in which we live. Here's what the editors asked: "Tony Hayward, once credited for BP's 'green' turnaround, is forced to resign in disgrace. Michael Dell, the revolutionary high-tech entrepreneur, is sanctioned for misleading investors. Wall Street titans, once lionized, are now reviled. Where have all the CEO heroes gone?" I offered the Post a (necessarily) short answer to its big question, as did a terrific collection of other…

  • Does Your Job Title Get the Job Done?

    Bill Taylor
    15 Jul 2010 | 1:40 pm
    Nobody does a better job than The Economist at skewering the excesses and absurdities of organizational life. In a recent issue, the magazine's Schumpeter columnist took aim at the rampant inflation of job titles in companies and governments around the world. The winner, by a mile, was North Korean dictator Kim Jong Il, who, according to The Economist, has 1,200 official titles, "including roughly translated, guardian deity of the planet, ever-victorious general, and lodestar of the 21st century." Memo to President Obama: "Leader of the Free World" seems downright lame compared with "supreme…
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    Scott Anthony

  • An Innovation Lesson from Dr. Seuss

    Scott Anthony
    31 Aug 2010 | 8:54 am
    Dartmouth College graduates are generally big supporters of our most famous alumni — Theodor Geisel (Class of 1925) known better as Dr. Seuss. On Sunday evening, my son pleasantly surprised me by picking one of my favorite Dr. Seuss stories, The Sneetches, from the shelf for his bed time reading. Reading the story helped me visualize why a company I recently visited was approaching innovation the wrong way. For those of you who don't remember the story, the sneetches (yellow characters that vaguely resemble ostriches) start the book as a divided crowd. One group of sneetches has stars…

  • Does Your Innovation Pass the Deprivation Test?

    Scott Anthony
    26 Aug 2010 | 6:30 am
    It was 5 pm on August 9. I had just settled down for the three hour journey from Singapore to Manila. The seat next to me was empty, so after surreptitiously checking email one last time before takeoff, I switched my iPhone to airplane mode, and left it face down on the seat. After I got through customs, it hit me. I hadn't picked my phone back up (I use my U.S.-based BlackBerry when out of Singapore to avoid the ridiculous roaming bills you get with iPhones). Singapore Airlines of course handled the situation beautifully — letting me go back on the plane to look for my phone. But it…

  • With Innovation, You Don't Get Points for Difficulty

    Scott Anthony
    19 Aug 2010 | 7:40 am
    Someone in India recently asked me what I thought about an innovation strategy featuring a heavy dose of "imitation." My response was, "Innovation isn't Olympic diving." What did I mean? An individual diver's scores for an event are a factor of two things: how well they execute their dive, and the "degree of difficulty" of their selected dive. The more twists and turns you have, the more points you can earn. You don't get points for degree of difficulty for innovation. You get points for producing profits. Sometimes you do have to take higher risk, more uncertain approaches to produce those…

  • Innovation Notes from India

    Scott Anthony
    12 Aug 2010 | 6:30 am
    While in India last week, I gave two talks — one in New Delhi and one in Mumbai — as part of a "Thought Leadership Series" sponsored by Transearch and Harvard Business Publishing. I also visited Village Laundry Service, a business we launched in 2008 to provide affordable, high quality services for India's booming middle class. The week started with a successful, and somewhat controversial, IPO from SKS Microfinance, one of the leading lights in the microfinance industry. (The controversy relates to whether the social mission of microfinance can co-exist with profit-seeking…

  • When Failure Is Intolerable

    Scott Anthony
    5 Aug 2010 | 6:54 am
    I read with interest David Simms' recent post about the power of positive failure. I of course agree with the general perspective — given the probabilistic nature of innovation, failure isn't always a bad thing, and all things being equal, you'd support someone who has tried, failed, and learned over someone who has never tried. The interesting thing to me is that this isn't a particularly new perspective. Failure has long been a badge of honor in Silicon Valley; thought leaders like Henry Mitnzberg, Rita McGrath, and Tim Brown note how failure is an essential part of successful…
 
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    Rita McGrath

  • Anatomy of a Failed Launch — The Michelin PAX Tire

    Rita McGrath
    13 Aug 2010 | 10:40 am
    It is always instructive to examine how successful firms can go wrong, even in markets that they think they understand well. The market failure of the Michelin run-flat PAX tire illustrates the common mistake of failing to realize that even a groundbreaking product has to create a complete consumption chain. Broken links in the chain mean a broken customer experience, which can lead to new-product-launch heartbreak. The PAX innovation was a tire that could be driven damaged, at highway speeds, for a hundred miles or more. Such tire offers safety benefits, obviously. But it also meant that…

  • Resource Scavenger — A Common Innovation Job

    Rita McGrath
    9 Aug 2010 | 7:00 am
    Once executives get beyond the well-understood processes of exploiting a core business, many seem to have absolutely no clue how to institutionalize other critically important leadership tasks. Take innovation. Often it just proceeds in fits and starts. Someone gets the bright idea that, "Hey, we need more innovation around here!" They then get all the executives off in a huddle with a mandate to come up with some interesting ideas for growth. Which they do. Then some hapless task force is entrusted with making the idea happen. So they bang away at the thing for some period of time —…

  • Tech Merger Mistakes Create Déjà Vu

    Rita McGrath
    12 Jul 2010 | 6:08 am
    Flops, failures and mis-steps. These, unfortunately, are an inevitable part of becoming successful in a dynamic environment. But honestly, folks, do we have to keep learning the same lessons over and over? When something is massively uncertain, you can't plan it in the same way that you would if you actually knew what you were doing! I was reminded of this when reading recent press accounts of the sad fate of AOL's once high-flying social networking site, Bebo. AOL paid $850 million for the business (business? concept, perhaps) in a top-secret deal announced on March 13, 2008. At the time,…

  • The Benefits of Thinking the Unthinkable

    Rita McGrath
    7 Jul 2010 | 7:21 am
    My colleague Gökçe Sargut and I are doing some work on how executives can improve the way their organizations operate under conditions of complexity. As we did the background research, I was fascinated by counterintuitive thinking from Aaron Wildavsky, a well-known social scientist. He argued that when facing risks, organizations have two basic possible responses. Systems can be designed to stave off risks, or they can be designed to be resilient, so that when terrible things happen the system can respond. Most organizations are heavily biased toward risk prevention: we create systems so…

  • Innovation Is Equal Parts Politics and New Ideas

    Rita McGrath
    24 Jun 2010 | 6:30 am
    One of the great things about my job is that I get to observe the practices of many companies. If they're working with me, chances are that growth and innovation are somewhere on their agenda. And when it is, I'm sure to make the point that taking an innovation from a concept to an actual business launch requires at least three types of leaders. First, at the top, innovation leaders need to: define the territory that the company should be exploring, make sure that organizational systems support innovation, and draw the distinction between practices that are appropriate for business-as-usual…
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    HBR.org

  • The New York Times Is Dead Wrong

    Bill Taylor
    2 Sep 2010 | 10:38 am
    As a public speaker, I'm always looking for ways to engage my audience. One old trick — which I never use, precisely because it is so old — is to challenge executives and entrepreneurs to imagine their obituary in the New York Times. What impact did you have? What contribution did you make? What kind of life did you lead? As it turns out, this audience-participation exercise requires a special act of imagination for women. Consider this amazing statistic, brought to you by a Web site called The NYTpicker, which pokes, prods, and otherwise critiques the world's greatest newspaper.

  • For a Better Career Outlook, Look Inward

    Sharon Daniels
    2 Sep 2010 | 10:25 am
    Here's an idea for your next performance review: Do what the CEOs of Fortune 500 companies do for their annual evaluation by the board of directors — write a self-assessment that helps guide the conversation. What you write will be a valuable tool for the performance review and, even better, a custom guide for your own development. Ongoing self-assessment is one of the five zones of strength that leaders have and non-leader managers don't, according to one of our ongoing workplace studies (pdf). Indeed, self-assessment makes a major contribution to all the other strength zones, the…

  • Are These the Economy's Good Old Days?

    Eric Janszen
    2 Sep 2010 | 10:08 am
    Five years from now, will we look back on the dismal unemployment that we're suffering on Labor Day 2010 and see this year as the good old days? Within today's official unemployment statistics hides the true cost of decades of economic mismanagement: Historically unprecedented levels of unemployment and underemployment. The Great Recession that officially ended in 2009 has left millions of Americans without jobs for longer than the worst economic period in modern history — the early 1980s. Almost 7 million Americans have been out of work for more than six months, as compared with less…

  • The Dirty Truth About Digital Fasts

    Alexandra Samuel
    2 Sep 2010 | 8:30 am
    Last year it was the staycation. This year it's the digital fast. "How I unplugged" — from Twitter, from a Blackberry, from the Internet, or at the behest of the New York Times — is the new "what I did on my summer vacation." As people trade stories about how they survived, or even thrived, offline, I'm troubled by the underlying narrative, that our ability to unplug is necessary to prove that we're not Internet addicts. We're supposed to demonstrate our grasp of human relationships by our ability to relate face-to-face, as well as online. We're supposed to show that we can be…

  • Keeping Your Business Plan Flexible

    Amy Gallo
    2 Sep 2010 | 7:06 am
    People make business plans for all sorts of reasons — to attract funding, evaluate future growth, build partnerships, or guide development. Unfortunately, the vast majority of these plans are usually out of date by the time the printer ink dries. Business moves fast: the product's features morph, new competitors emerge, or the economic climate shifts. When these changes occur, many people just throw their business plans out the window. For a plan to be truly valuable it needs to evolve with your company and stay relevant in the face of uncertainty. What the Experts Say Despite the hype…
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    Susan Cramm

  • Where are Tomorrow's IT Leaders?

    Susan Cramm
    9 Aug 2010 | 6:37 am
    This week I met with some senior IT leaders to discuss my new book and the future of IT. At the end of the discussion, one of the participants expressed concern about the ability to develop future IT leaders in light of the fact that the company is outsourcing and "we aren't hiring junior IT people anymore." As I looked around the table, I realized that this organization is running on the leaders they developed five, 10, even 15 years ago, in their pre-outsourcing days. These people are getting older and looking tired. Outsourcers, not employees, are performing many of the jobs that helped…

  • Does Outsourcing Destroy IT Innovation?

    Susan Cramm
    28 Jul 2010 | 8:00 am
    Andy Grove penned a fascinating commentary about the impact of outsourcing on American job creation, and the subsequent ability to innovate in the sectors that have been outsourced. He challenges the belief that as long as knowledge work stays in the United States, it doesn't matter what happens to factory jobs. Grove believes that, "not only did we lose an untold number of jobs, we broke the chain of experience that is important for technological evolution." Grove makes a good argument that, over time, companies lose the ability to innovate in the sectors they outsource. Does this argument…

  • Outsource the Work, Not the Leadership

    Susan Cramm
    19 Jul 2010 | 11:00 am
    Think outsourcing eases leadership burdens? Think again. A company decides to implement some packaged software to streamline their financing operations. They decide to outsource the work. The company does a great job working through a disciplined process to define requirements, solicit bids, evaluate vendors, finalize the scope of work, and negotiate the contract. They hire a brand name consulting company to make it happen. The project seems to be humming along when the projects hits a wall, in what they thought were its final two months. It turns out that the users hate the software and for…

  • What To Do If Your IT Group Doesn't Deliver

    Susan Cramm
    7 Jul 2010 | 7:38 am
    There are two major reasons an IT organization is "bad," and what you do about it differs depending on the root cause. Mismatch between your expectations and the role. If your current IT capability reflects the grinder (the commodity view of IT), but you need a team player, don't blame IT. As an analogy, you don't hire an auditor to do financial planning and then pick on her when she doesn't do a good job. If expectations are mismatched, you can make the best of what you have (e.g., live with a sub-par financial plan) or serve yourself (e.g., develop your own financial plan or hire someone…

  • The Four Types of IT Organizations that Leaders Cultivate

    Susan Cramm
    29 Jun 2010 | 7:00 am
    By default or by design, companies get the IT capability they've bought and paid for. The CIO, and the IT organization as a whole, reflects an organization's understanding and aspirations for IT. To understand what your organization wants IT to do, identify the role that best describes your IT capability:The butler. This is the concierge view of IT. In these organizations, IT is expected to play a supporting role, responding to and fulfilling requests from the business in a "no fuss, no muss" manner. Although this may sound like heaven on earth, understand that butler IT organizations will…
 
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    cool global BIZ

  • From Africa to Asia, the Colors (Colours) of Beauty are Changing the Global Beauty Industry

    Edward Iwata
    24 Aug 2010 | 2:00 pm
    African fashion designers were inspired by the 2010 FIFA World Cup in South Africa.  Loreta Liphoko, fashion liaison officer for African Fashion International, called the event "a pan-African platform for designers to promote their products."  Video courtesy of ABN Digital and CNBC Africa's Vuyokazi Mnyengaza, via YouTube. THE MISS UNIVERSE CONTESTANTS might look like Barbie dolls in different shades.  But beyond glitzy pageants, the colors and colours of beauty are slowly but surely changing global consumer culture and the beauty…

  • Monstrous Traffic Jam: Is Beijing the New L.A.? Autos, Autos, Everywhere, Not Anywhere to Go

    Edward Iwata
    23 Aug 2010 | 12:05 pm
    A nightmarish, 9-day, 62-mile traffic jam outside Beijing.  Video clip courtesy of CNN and CCTV.   IS BEIJING THE new L.A.?  Welcome, China, to the urban traffic nightmare.  You knew it was coming. This monstrous, 9-day, 62-mile traffic jam on the Beijing-Tibet Expressway surely can only be matched by the daily humongous jams in Los Angeles on the San Diego Freeway.  In L.A., there's heavy, rush-hour traffic stretching 60 to 70 miles from the southern to northern tip of the freeway (Orange County to San Fernando Valley).  But Southern Cali…

  • The Food Network, Aarti Party and Down-Home, Cross-Cultural, Comfort Food

    Edward Iwata
    22 Aug 2010 | 3:55 pm
    Food blogger Aarti Sequeira recently beat 11 other competitors to win the Food Network's Next Food Network Star show.  Video courtesy of the Food Network, via YouTube. COMFORT FOOD COMES in all tastes and colors, and the streets and homes of America have been filled with culinary diversity for as long as folks have migrated here.  That's two or three centuries, eh?  So it's good to see the Food Network discover even more stuff in the multicultural heartland, a sprawling diaspora of down-home comfort food that us common folk can enjoy. The network's…

  • Rocky, Global M&A and the Dealmakers Are Back

    Edward Iwata
    20 Aug 2010 | 1:30 pm
    Sylvester Stallone and other action stars -- Jason Statham, Dolph Lundgren and Terry Crews -- from The Expendablesrang the opening bell at the New York Stock Exchange Thursday.  The Expendables was the top-grossing movie in the U.S.A. last weekend.  Video clip courtesy of Entertainment Tonight, via video search engine Blinkx.   HAIL THE DEALMAKERS, the dealmakers are back.  According to DealLogic and the Wall Street Journal, mergers and acquisitions are surging -- another huge sign of confidence that the global economy is healthier. …

  • Muslims and Disney: Can't We All Just Get Along, or What Would Walt Have Done?

    Edward Iwata
    20 Aug 2010 | 2:50 am
    Muslim restaurant hostess accuses Disney of discrimination -- a charge denied by the company.  Video courtesy of the Orange County Register. A MUSLIM EMPLOYEE wearing her hijab accuses the House of Mouse of workplace discrimination?  Oy, what's next?  Casino bosses banning burqas in Las Vegas?  Disney denies the hijab charge, saying it made reasonable accommodations for restaurant hostess Imane Boudlal to work "offstage" while wearing her headscarf.  There never will be a happy balance between workplace…
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    Duct Tape Marketing

  • WiseStamp Brings Your Email Signature to Life

    John Jantsch
    2 Sep 2010 | 7:33 am
    WiseStamp Brings Your Email Signature to LifeThis content from: Duct Tape Marketing On the spectrum of really big marketing tactics, the email signature isn’t terribly sexy, but this little touch can say a lot about what you do and how you connect. If you’re like me, you send a lot of email so why not make sure your email signature is working in the background for you. This doesn’t mean you need flashing lights and honking horns, but you should supply recipients, even those that contact you often, with all the necessary contact details, including social profiles, so that you…

  • Creating a Boutique Business

    John Jantsch
    1 Sep 2010 | 5:57 am
    Creating a Boutique BusinessThis content from: Duct Tape Marketing Marketing podcast with Sarah Petty (Click to play or right click and “Save As” to download – Subscribe now via iTunes The term boutique is often associated with fashion or beauty related businesses, but it’s a concept that can apply to any business. Case in point is this week’s guest on the Duct Tape Marketing Podcast, Sarah Petty, who by her own designation, owns and operates a “boutique” photography business called Sarah Petty Photography. Her belief in the boutique way led her to…

  • Duct Tape Coaching or Going It Alone

    John Jantsch
    31 Aug 2010 | 5:55 am
    Duct Tape Coaching or Going It AloneThis content from: Duct Tape Marketing One of my long-term missions is to build a network of small business marketing consultants that are equipped to install the Duct Tape Marketing system and essentially bring an end to all small business struggles. I admit it’s an ambitious mission, but I love helping small business and so I created the Duct Tape Marketing Coach Network. This growing global enterprise uses our tools, systems, brand and network to create a marketing coaching business and attract small business owners that like the idea of a…

  • 5 Ways to Make a Database For Your Customers

    John Jantsch
    30 Aug 2010 | 10:01 am
    5 Ways to Make a Database For Your CustomersThis content from: Duct Tape Marketing Standard marketing CRM type practice suggests that you should create and supplement a database of customers and prospects with the idea that you build more and more information to use to help build deeper relationships and create additional selling opportunities. What if you look at database building as a service you provided for your customers? Now, in some cases that might be a good service offering as a profit center, but I’m talking about providing a service that simply allows you to differentiate…

  • Weekend Favs August Twenty Eight

    John Jantsch
    28 Aug 2010 | 6:54 am
    Weekend Favs August Twenty EightThis content from: Duct Tape Marketing My weekend blog post routine includes posting links to a handful of tools or great content I ran across during the week. I don’t go into depth about the finds, but encourage you check them out if they sound interesting. The photo in the post is a favorite for the week from Flickr. Image credit: Charles Lam Good stuff I found this week: Color Blender – Input two colors and this tool will show you all the mid-point colors created by blending the two – very useful for finding complimentary colors Building…
 
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    Word of Mouth Marketing

  • Newsletter #799: The “Move It” Issue

    Andy Sernovitz
    2 Sep 2010 | 8:00 am
    Welcome back to the Damn, I Wish I Thought of That! newsletter. This is text of the great issue all of our email subscribers just received. Sign yourself up using the handy form on the right.] Sometimes all you have to do is shift it, reorder it, or move it to completely change the experience (and your business). A few fantastic examples here: 1> The salad bar 2> The car lot 3> The front desk 4> Check it out: Awkward Stock Photos 1> The salad bar Tiny moves can make a big difference. When researchers from Cornell moved a middle school’s salad bar to a more prominent…

  • Give them a reason to stop in your store

    Andy Sernovitz
    1 Sep 2010 | 7:05 am
    The Brookstone store at the airport offers to recharge your dead phone for free. What a great offer! Incredibly beneficial: Saves the butt of stressed travelers Easy to do: A few chargers, a power strip, no real cost Relevant: And, of course, they sell travel chargers Share:

  • How to be awesome. And greasy. In a good way.

    Andy Sernovitz
    31 Aug 2010 | 7:00 am
    Go to Five Guys and order a burger and fries. You’ll get a great burger.  And an obscene mound of fries.  Fries overflowing, fries filling the bag. A crazy+awesome quantity of fries. They have given you an instantly amazing experience.  Your first impression is that this is going to be special.  You’re talking to your friends about it before you’ve even taken a bite. How can you blow someone’s mind the instant they open your package? Share:

  • Who is going to train you to survive the zombie revolution?

    Andy Sernovitz
    29 Aug 2010 | 7:00 am
    This gym. ZombieFit puts an insane spin on standard fitness classes: What if you woke up tomorrow to find your city overridden with zombies, would you survive? This may seem childish, but by preparing for the impossible, you’ll be ready for the improbable. The keys to surviving Z-day are simple: Be able to lift and throw heavy things, run fast and for long distances, and be able to navigate obstacles and urban environments in an efficient manner. By following the ZombieFit WODs (workout of the day) and practicing parkour, you will achieve increased fitness through the performance of…

  • Make it part of a system

    Andy Sernovitz
    28 Aug 2010 | 7:00 am
    This boom box also charges the batteries for DeWalt power tools. Once you have the radio, you’re going to keep buying the tools that match so you don’t need to worry about bringing a charger to the job site. Great move by DeWalt. (They should give away the radios.) Lesson: Think about how you can connect your customers to a system of products — not by forcing them, but by making it easier and beneficial to stick with you. (Did you ever notice that iPod cords are just standard USB cables? Apple just changed one end of the plug and created an entire exclusive ecosystem around…
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    The Get Smart Blog

  • The Best Social Media Organizer…Today | Hootsuite

    I am a digital strategist, which means I create, build, and manage digital marketing campaigns for businesses. In my line of work finding tech tools to organize and keep track of the madness is a necessity! Every time a new one comes along we check it out, because if it works better it’s worth the [...] Related posts:Another Reason Email is NOT Dead: Email and Social Media Integration with Xobni Share In business we are constantly looking for innovative ways... Yahoo Turns the Table on Facebook: You Can Now Export Facebook Contacts Share When you join a social networking site, after…

  • Facebook Versus the Internet

    Facebook is closing in on 500 million users and total internet domination. They don’t just  want to be a place you visit while you are surfing the web, they want to be THE place you visit. All the recent changes with transparency on and off of Facebook are just to increase the reach and activity [...] Related posts:Yahoo Turns the Table on Facebook: You Can Now Export Facebook Contacts Share When you join a social networking site, after you... Events That Make the First Page of Google Share When we think of brand exposure and search engine... 7 Ways to use Yelp for Small Business…

  • Lets Make a Deal: Discount and Auction Sites

    If you are looking to get, give, or share a GREAT deal we have some websites for you. The discounts are fabulous for people looking for a deal and they can also be good for companies looking to get some exposure for their products and/or services. The only caveat is that you have to give a deep….deep [...] Related posts:Travel Talk: 40 Travel and Tourism Review Sites Share Who’s Talkin? Last week we discussed Business Review sites,... Business and Product Review Sites: Do You Know How You Rate? ShareThe most powerful weapon in the business arsenal is…. Knowledge....

  • Yahoo Turns the Table on Facebook: You Can Now Export Facebook Contacts

    When you join a social networking site, after you create your profile, the site prompts you to go through your email databases to connect with your friends on their site. Since that is what you are there to do, it is reasonable that they make it as easy as possible for you to bring your [...] Related posts:Facebook Versus the Internet Share Facebook is closing in on 500 million users and... Events That Make the First Page of Google Share When we think of brand exposure and search engine... 7 Ways to use Yelp for Small Business Marketing Share Yelp is a review site that was started in...

  • 7 Ways to use Yelp for Small Business Marketing

    Yelp is a review site that was started in 2004 to help people find information on local businesses, since its inception it has grown by leaps and bounds. In addition to being a business review site, Yelp has information on events, special offers, business lists and is moving into the social networking [...] Related posts:Events That Make the First Page of Google Share When we think of brand exposure and search engine... Business and Product Review Sites: Do You Know How You Rate? ShareThe most powerful weapon in the business arsenal is…. Knowledge.... Travel Talk: 40 Travel and Tourism…
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    Dane Carlson: Business Opportunities

  • Online Shoppers Want One Thing This Holiday Season

    Rich Whittle
    2 Sep 2010 | 10:10 am
    According to Website Magazine, e-commerce merchants who are still unsure of what consumers want this holiday season can direct their efforts toward providing user reviews, security verification and fair pricing. In a word, 2010 holiday shoppers are looking for online retailers they can trust. That was the fundamental message from ChannelAdvisor’s 2010 Consumer Shopping Habits Survey, the e-commerce solutions provider’s third annual report to help merchants prepare for the holiday season. An eye-opening 92-percent of the participating consumers said that they read product reviews, and…

  • The New King Of New Orleans

    Angela Shupe
    2 Sep 2010 | 10:00 am
    Chris Schultz can divide his time in New Orleans into pre- and post-K periods: before and after Katrina reports Portfolio.com. For Schultz, founder of the technology incubator Voodoo Ventures, the difference is that stark. What Schultz—who founded and sold an Internet travel business, Destination V.I.P., before moving to New Orleans from Los Angeles in 2002—has seen in the last five years is new blood in the Big Easy. “We had an amazing ‘brain gain’ post-K of smart, passionate young people moving to New Orleans to make a difference,” the 36-year-old told Portfolio.com. “Many of…

  • U.S. Birth Rate Falls, Possible Effect Of Recession

    Rich Whittle
    2 Sep 2010 | 9:09 am
    The Washington Post reports that the number of babies born in the United States has dropped for the second year in a row, according to new federal statistics released Friday that provide more evidence that the nation’s economic troubles are affecting the birth rate. Provisional data for 2009 found that an estimated 4,136,000 babies were born in the United States in 2009, a 2.6 percent drop from 2008, according to the National Center for Health Statistics. The drop follows a 2 percent fall in births that occurred between 2007 and 2008, which pushed the nation’s fertility rate below…

  • Tech Support By The Minute

    Angela Shupe
    2 Sep 2010 | 8:10 am
    If you’re having computer problems, who do you call? If your computer is outdated then tech support for your machine might be out of the question. However, to take your computer in to a repairman can cost $50 or more just for a consultation and if you want them to come to your home that fee only gets higher. One entrepreneur has found an alternative to the traditional tech support that allows you to pay for only the time spent helping you, whether it is 5 minutes or an hour. Computer Specialist Online was started by Ramanath as an alternative to fixed rate services that overcharged…

  • Think You Know E-commerce?

    Rich Whittle
    2 Sep 2010 | 8:08 am
    See the complete list here. Photo by Online MBA
 
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    DONNA MARIA @ INDIE BUSINESS

  • The Opportunity Mindset

    Donna Maria
    2 Sep 2010 | 7:44 am
    These days, especially since we are experiencing a recessionary economy, many people are bogged down in the bad news of the moment. Mainstream media, as valuable as it can be, does a god job of keeping some folks in just enough of a panic that they are forever distracted from creating their own good news. Well, I’ve got good news! You can overcome external negativity by creating and living The Opportunity Mindset. Here are three things I have learned to do (and continue to learn to do …) to live in The Opportunity Mindset: Identity. The first step to creating an Opportunity…

  • Welcome To The New Indie HQ!

    Donna Maria
    1 Sep 2010 | 10:33 am
    Today is the big day! It’s the official first day for us in Indie HQ’s new digs in uptown Charlotte! As you know, my business partner husband and I have managed Indie from our home offices for ten years. In this video, I interview Tyler Ford, our new office manager, about the space we are leasing. (Sorry about the noisy truck during the last few seconds! It sounds like a roaring lion …) We have always been in the virtual midst of the action. We are now thrilled to be more involved in our community physically. Since we’ve been working solely from home for a decade, you…

  • Featured Indie: Maggie Hanus of A Wild Soap Bar [VIDEO]

    Donna Maria
    31 Aug 2010 | 11:25 am
    Last month, I traveled to Austin, Tx, for the first time, to deliver the keynote for the Lone Star Soap & Toiletries Conference. While there, I was excited to once again see Maggie Hanus of A Wild Soap Bar — located just outside Austin. Maggie is one of IBN’s first members and it has been my honor to serve her for nearly 11 years as IBN’s founder and leader. (Geesh, I’m getting old …) Maggie’s successful business is a testimony to the benefits of small family business ownership. One of her sons is now employed as a chief soap maker, and Maggie does a…

  • Early Bird Registration Now Open For Indie Cruise 2011

    Donna Maria
    30 Aug 2010 | 6:18 pm
    I am pleased to announce that rearly bird registration for Indie Cruise 2011 is now open! You have until October 1, 2010, to take advantage of early bird, fully refundable deposit, registration so watch the video below, then click here to reserve your cabin at amazing prices starting at only $338.02! Not only will you network in a relaxing atmosphere, but you’ll also benefit from several hours of carefully planned Collaborative MasterMind Discussions designed to meaningfully connect you with other American small and independent business leaders. There will also be a Bon Voyage Tweetup…

  • Thank You Indie Readers And Sponsors

    Donna Maria
    29 Aug 2010 | 5:21 pm
    Can you believe summer is nearly over? Soon, we’ll be carving pumpkins, but while I still have a few weeks of sand and sun left, I thought this graphic was appropriate. For the first time in many years, I didn’t make it to a beach this summer. But I’ve got lots of other great things to show for the past three months, and my time invested here with you is surely one of them. Thank you for allowing me to join you on your entrepreneurial journey. It’s an honor! Please take a moment to learn more about the companies that help me bring you this blog. Essential Wholesale:…
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    Decker Marketing

  • Announcing my departure from Bazaarvoice...and search for my CMO successor!

    Sam Decker
    8 Aug 2010 | 9:02 pm
    This is a post about change. Winston Churchill said, “There is nothing wrong with change, as long as it is in the right direction.”  After 4.5 years at Bazaarvoice, I’m announcing a smooth and amicable departure from the company in order to pursue my next challenge and opportunity. (I announced this to our company last week at our quarterly all hands.)This is not your typical resignation. You could call this a ‘planned’ or ‘friendly’ departure. During this time I plan to remain on as Bazaarvoice CMO while I help recruit for my successor (one of the reasons for this…

  • The Paradoxes of Servant Leadership

    Sam Decker
    17 Jul 2010 | 7:07 pm
    I love this poem, which describes the paradoxes of being a "Servant-Leader". Strong enough to be weakSuccessful enough to failBusy enough to make timeWise enough to say "I don't know"Serious enough to laughRich enough to be poorRight enough to say "I'm wrong"Compassionate enough to disciplineMature enough to be childlikeImportant enough to be lastPlanned enough to be spontaneousControlled enough to be flexibleFree enough to endure captivityKnowledgeable enough to ask questionsLoving enough to be angryGreat enough to be anonymousResponsible enough to…

  • Do You Have Trapped Thinking?

    Sam Decker
    15 Jul 2010 | 7:57 am
     Since I left Dell, I’ve had conversations with several friends who were looking to take  their careers outside of Dell. They asked how I did it nearly 5 years ago. I told them I spent 2 years networking and evaluating ideas outside of Dell.  That’s not to say I didn’t perform during that time…in fact I ran a marketing department and helped grow a $1B business by 50%. However, just by ‘getting out’ I met great people and evaluated several opportunities. At first it was exploratory, but in the end it opened my eyes to the fact there was a world outside of the…

  • And They're Off! Austin Entrepreneurs begin Capital Factory 2010

    Sam Decker
    12 Jun 2010 | 12:18 pm
    We started second annual Capital Factory program which I co-founded with Joshua Baer and Bryan Menell last year. I'm excited about this year's companies, some are further along than others, but I'm most impressed with the entrepreneurs themselves. Here are the companies: Hurricane Party (Austin, TX) – a location-based social networking application that helps users create, manage and discover events that are relevant to them. Simpz (Boston, MA) - helps event organizers reach critical mass and sell unused spots through word-of-mouth marketing via Twitter, Facebook, and other…

  • Speaking on Customer Centricity with Land of Nod

    Sam Decker
    4 Jun 2010 | 6:57 am
    How The Land of Nod Uses Fan Feedback to Build Trust -- presented by Sam Decker & Michelle Kohanzo from GasPedal on Vimeo.
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    SOCOM Sales Tips

  • Channel Recruitment Plan

    SOCOM Sales
    12 Aug 2010 | 3:32 pm
    Partner recruitment is the foundation of a successful channel sales program. Without being able to identify and recruit the right partners and provide a value proposition to the decision makers at the VAR, you will be setting yourself and your company up for failure. Follow a set of real world examples of recruiting partners and structuring them correctly for the maximum impact. If you run a channel team and are looking for a solid written process for retaining revenue producing partners, or if you are a Territory Manager tasked with finding ...

  • Proven Prospecting Techniques

    SOCOM Sales
    9 Aug 2010 | 10:18 am
    Most of the businesses in the United States earn the majority of their revenue by selling to existing clients.  While that’s a component in the overall success and profitability of a business it is critically important to prospect and develop business relationships with new clients on a consistent basis.  Here are eight tried and true tips to help you improve your prospecting skills: Schedule time for prospecting every day: Salespeople should schedule a minimum of one-hour per day dedicated to prospecting or new business development ...

  • How to Sell in 60 Seconds

    SOCOM Sales
    9 Aug 2010 | 12:52 am
    When selling, you have one minute to pique your prospect’s interest. Here are some tips to make the most of your time. Q: I’ve always equated selling with telling, and lately I’ve noticed that my prospects cut me off when I am giving them my pitch. What’s the best way to get my point across and win the sale? A: I would imagine that this month’s question has value to all of us in sales and marketing. Let’s face it: Buyers are more educated than ever before. What we sales and marketing ...

  • Using WebEx for Online Meetings

    SOCOM Sales
    22 Jul 2009 | 4:42 pm
    There are a few different online meeting planning applications available. I choose WebEx because they have proven to be the easiest to use. From scheduling online meetings on WebEx to conducting a presentation or training online for 2-20 people, I have never had any issues. WebEx is the easiest platform to use for sales teams. WebEx meetings are a quick and efficient way of providing information to people that could be located in one office or spread across the entire world. As long as you have an internet connection, you can ...

  • Using Skype for Sales Calls

    SOCOM Sales
    13 May 2009 | 12:17 pm
    I am a traditionalist when it comes to sales. I’m far from old school but I have become fairly set in my ways on what technology is best and works most often. Every now and then I get a little geeky and try out something new. This week the new tool I started using was Skype. Skype is software that enables the world’s conversations. Millions of individuals and businesses use Skype to make free video and voice calls, send instant messages and share files with other Skype users. Everyday, people ...
 
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    Signal vs. Noise

  • QUOTE: Sometimes the problem has to mature before…

    Ryan
    2 Sep 2010 | 8:50 am
    Sometimes the problem has to mature before the solution can mature. —Kent Beck

  • A couple of interesting UI techniques at Flickr

    37signals
    2 Sep 2010 | 8:03 am
    1) Interesting use of unicode characters for the UI on Flickr: That triangle up top is actually two triangle characters side-by-side. Sucks that we still have to resort to such hacks for such a common UI shape — but this is a smart solution. 2) Also interesting is this inline tour of the new photo pages. Rollover a number and bubbles pop up to show you what’s fresh for that section. More...

  • Smiley: An app in 24 hours

    Jason F.
    1 Sep 2010 | 9:14 am
    Late Monday afternoon David, Kiran, and I were discussing how we could begin to measure how our customers felt about our customer service. We’re already measuring things like response time, average tickets per day per person, average tickets in a thread, etc. Those stats are helpful for measuring internal efficiency and speed, but they don’t measure quality from a customer’s perspective. The idea We talked about it for a bit and came up with this basic goal: Let’s make it really easy for our customers to quickly rate our customer service every time we talk to them.

  • QUOTE: If you ask an artist why, the greatest artists…

    37signals
    1 Sep 2010 | 9:09 am
    If you ask an artist why, the greatest artists will tell you, “Well, it was beautiful. It inspired me. It touched me. It reminded me of this or that.” But you ask a designer why and he says, “Well, I’ve got these 15 different things that all have to coexist in this 800×600 pixel area. And if I do this, that doesn’t work. If I do this, it breaks the other thing. So in order for these three things to be in harmony, I have to do that…” That points more and more to the challenge to somebody who’s trying to get into or who’s trying to get…

  • VIDEO: Oxxford Clothes is the last factory in the…

    Jason F.
    1 Sep 2010 | 6:02 am
    Oxxford Clothes is the last factory in the U.S. making custom tailored suits by hand. They are based in Chicago. Pitch perfect simple promotional video. One of the best I’ve seen.
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    Small Biz Survival

  • USDA's Victor Vasquez talks rural-urban connections

    Becky McCray
    2 Sep 2010 | 3:46 am
    Victor Vasquez, USDA Deputy Undersecretary for Rural Development, made the keynote presentation at the Midwest Rural Assembly. He started with the story of a road trip with a big city friend. As they reached a particularly empty stretch of land, the friend asked, should we turn back? Turn back? Victor asked, why would we turn back? The friend said, there's no buildings and no one around. What if we break down or have a problem? Victor knew that someone would stop and help if they needed it. And that's the essence of rural life; we depend on each other. Broadband Broadband is not just…

  • Is it already time to forget mobile?

    Becky McCray
    31 Aug 2010 | 4:26 am
    You know more and more people are using their phone to access the web, and you know that you need to make a mobile friendly site, especially for tourism. But wait, new advice is coming out: can you skip doing a mobile site? "Not that smart" phones like mine will be around for several years more At a recent major tourism conference, a speaker advised against creating mobile-friendly websites for your destination. The reason? Mobile browsers are getting so good, that real soon they will be able to display your regular page with no modifications. So there's no need to invest in…

  • Cooperatives as an alternative business model

    Becky McCray
    30 Aug 2010 | 3:50 am
    Dave Holm, executive director, Iowa Institute for Cooperatives led a round table discussion at the Midwest Rural Assembly. Since 2012 is the International Year of the Cooperative, this is an opportune time to share that discussion. The Farmers' CooperativeAmes, Oklahoma A cooperative is no different than any other business in this respect: you have to follow the same business principles. You make decisions differently and distribute profits differently, Holm said. First steps are to write the business plan and make sure it would work as a business. Then think…

  • Pick one piece of good news for the Brag Basket

    Becky McCray
    27 Aug 2010 | 3:57 am
    Even though I call this the Brag Basket, it's not really about bragging. It's about sharing. I started this so you can introduce yourself, share some good news, or congratulate a friend. The basket is open all weekend, from August 27-29, 2010. Speak up and add yourself or another deserving soul in the comments. We all cheer, and everyone feels great. It lets you meet each other a bit. Reading each others' stories brings us a bit closer to being a community. How does it work? You write a comment on this post, email me, tweet me, or comment on Facebook. You tell something great about your week,…

  • Meet Nebraska Senator Mike Johanns

    Becky McCray
    26 Aug 2010 | 5:23 pm
    During the recent Midwest Rural Assembly, Nebraska Senator Mike Johanns stopped in South Sioux City for a community coffee. Since it happened to be in the same building we were in, I stopped in to listen, too. Here are my live notes from the senator's presentation and the question and answer period. This is not intended to be a political editorial; it is intended to be a report of what I heard. I didn't even know the senator's name or political party when we met. The senator focused his talk on the budget. He presented a short set of poster cards to…
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    Superinnovator

  • Hurd's out, perhaps innovation is back in.

    Bill Burnett
    14 Aug 2010 | 10:42 am
    “If you hire honest, smart people, they will likely do a good job for you.1” It seems that somebody forgot to tell that to H.P.’s Board of Directors. They have a poor record when it comes to hiring CEO’s. This past week they showed the door to their latest pickpocket. Mark Hurd managed to pick their pocket for more than just an incredibly generous pay package, but also for about $20,000 in fudged expense report reimbursements. Time magazine online had the following observation: “If a midlevel manager had submitted $20,000 worth of bogus expenses, he or she would probably be ousted…

  • Will two people watch different shows on the same TV at the same time?

    Bill Burnett
    4 Jul 2010 | 4:59 am
    From the NY Times:Microsoft has created a prototype for an auto-stereoscopic display that viewers needn’t adjust by hand to find the sweet spot. Instead, an unusual lens paired with cameras in the display keep track of where the viewer is, then steer separate, narrow columns of video to each eye, said Steven Bathiche, director of research for Microsoft’s applied sciences group. In the future, he said, the light-steering technology can be used for 3-D televisions, laptops and mobile phones. TO build the prototype, the researchers bought a 3-D television that refreshes at 120 hertz rather…

  • Howie Leadership

    W Burnett LLC
    19 Jun 2010 | 3:32 pm
    Howie Leadership I gave a talk recently to a room full of soon-to-graduate MBA students. We discussed the choice between behaving as a manager or being a leader. If you want to improve from acting like a manager to becoming a leader, then here is the instant formula: Every utterance from your mouth is a question containing “how” and “we”. Before you speak a sentence out-loud, say it in your brain first. The reason you want to do this is because a leader listen first, thinks second, and speaks third. Every sentence you utter, first in your brain and then out-loud, will be a question…

  • Engagement depends on doing useful work.

    W Burnett LLC
    6 Jun 2010 | 1:57 pm
    Daniel Ariely recently spoke with Robert Siegel on NPR about his new book The Upside of Irrationality. In this interview he talks about an experiment in which he asked people to put together Lego robots. With one group, the experimentors had the subjects build as many robots as they wanted from fresh parts. And they discovered that people who said they enjoyed Legos tended to build more robots. With the other group instead of providing an endless supply of parts they only had parts to assemble two robots. To supply parts for subsequent robots, the experimenters took apart each finished robot.

  • Proof: Higher employee engagement results in better financial performance.

    W Burnett LLC
    4 Jun 2010 | 1:31 pm
    Yesterday I sat down with an executive in transition over coffee and in the course of our conversation he described a study he’d participated in at a former employer -- a national fast-food chain. This well known chain maintains great data on the financial performance of each of its stores across the nation. It also tracks all kinds of other performance indicators having to do with road traffic patterns, demographics surrounding the stores, competition in the immediate area, foot traffic in the stores etc.,. Finally the chain performs regular employee engagement and satisfaction surveys at…
 
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    Marketing Practice

  • Marketing Strategy : Customer Orientation Vs Competitor Orientation

    Harish B
    2 Sep 2010 | 9:57 am
    Should Your Marketing Strategy BeCustomer Oriented or Competitor OrientedOriginally published here in Adclubbombay.comAlthough many marketing literature propounds the dictum “Customer is the King”, it is seldom practiced in its fullest sense. Marketers would love to put customers at the center of their business strategy but the intense competitive environment forces them to think beyond the customer and move towards the competitors.There is a dilemma in the marketers mind with the choice of whether the firm’s principal orientation should be towards customer or competitors. Conventional…

  • Brand Update : Can Ambassador be saved ?

    Harish B
    30 Aug 2010 | 11:45 pm
    Recently the good old Ambassador was in the news that the brand owners - Hindustan Motors is planning to relaunch /rejuvenate this heritage brand. Both the brand and company is in deep crisis with HM posting losses of Rs 43 crore last year and its networth declining by about 50%.The company plans to relaunch the Amby in a new look and is planning to entrust a design house with the task. The report also suggest that the new Amby will have a retro- look and will be in the price range of Rs 5- Rs 7 Lakhs. The new Amby will be a niche product. The interesting question is can this brand be saved…

  • Is Social Media a mere extension of traditional media ?

    Harish B
    26 Aug 2010 | 9:00 am
    A guest post of mine was published in Indiasocial.in. Indiasocial is a resource- rich site for marketers interesting in social media. Marketers make a big mistake in viewing social media as mere extension of traditional media. But social media needs different learning and approach. Read the full article here .

  • Brand Update : Dettol & Lifebuoy Creating Hand Sanitizer Category

    Harish B
    25 Aug 2010 | 11:05 am
    Indian market is witnessing the creation of a new category in the hand hygiene segment - hand sanitizer. Although hand sanitizer products were existing in Indian since 2002, this category is witnessing lot of marketing action only in the last couple of years.Two giants in the Indian FMCG market is fighting it out in creating this category - Dettol and Lifebuoy. Hand Sanitizer is an alternative to soap and used for maintaining hand-hygiene . This product which is available in gel, spray, liquid or foam form can be used directly to the hand and unlike soaps need not be washed away. Just apply…

  • Brand Update : Hajmola Repositions as Audio Candy

    Harish B
    23 Aug 2010 | 2:38 am
    It has been a while since I updated about Hajmola Digestives. The most significant development happened last year ( 2009) when the brand undertook a major repositioning exercise . The brand started calling itself an Audio Candy. Hajmola which is a unique digestive tablet is a very powerful brand. This Rs 1 billion brand has been able to stay relevant in the consumer's mind through consistent campaigns and some smart distribution strategies. Hajmola digestive tablet is now selling approximately 2.5 crore tablets daily.Hajmola is known for its unique taste ( Khatta Meetha taste ) and the taste…
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    StartupNation

  • Back to Business – Good News or Bad?

    Melanie Rembrandt
    2 Sep 2010 | 8:51 am
    With Labor Day comes back-to-school and back-to-business. With this in mind, are you dreading your old routine and the cooler months ahead? Well, here are a few things you can do now to make a smoother transition and have more business success. 1.Check Your PR Action Plan. Review your plan of action for the next five months. What do you hope to accomplish, and what are you going to do to get there? For example, now is the time to contact various publications to get in their holiday gift-guides. Many of these lists are created months in advance due to print deadlines. With this in mind,…

  • 5 Facebook Tools to Help Online Retailers Sell More

    Corey Kossack
    2 Sep 2010 | 7:27 am
    Just about every online retailer out there is looking for ways to utilize Facebook as a channel to enhance their online shopping experience and acquire more customers. Below are 5 useful tools that help retailers do that: Addoway: An online marketplace for fashion, collectibles and more that integrates with Facebook’s social graph to recommend merchants your friends have bought from, know personally or have identified as having great deals they want to share with their friends. Addoway rewards shoppers for sharing deals they like on social networks with a virtual currency called…

  • Survival Tips for Attending A Celebrity Gifting Suite

    Heather Schuck
    1 Sep 2010 | 10:15 am
    Whether you agree with the phenomena or not, celebrity sells. I have personally seen the momentum it can create with my own company, Glamajama. A celebrity fan or customer gives your brand credibility in the marketplace and makes your company newsworthy. Celebrity Gifting Suites are one of the many ways you can gain access to celebrities for your brand. Think of these “swag parties” as extravagant trade shows with the attendees being celebrities getting freebies instead of paying store owners. The main goal of attending a show like this is grabbing the heart and attention of a…

  • Get PR Results - Not Rip-Offs

    Melanie Rembrandt
    26 Aug 2010 | 7:03 am
    “I just paid a small fortune to a big, PR agency and have nothing to show for it!” “We hired a freelance copywriter, and he took our money and ran.” “I paid a lot of money for media placements. Isn’t that how it works?” Yes, folks. These are just some of the unhappy questions I hear from entrepreneurs on a regular basis. And I can understand why. There is a lot of information out there so it’s easy to rely on an outside consultant to help you get through the maze of PR, social media and search-engine-optimization activities available. But before you hire that expert, here are…

  • Inspiration to StartUp: Should YOU Follow Your Passions?

    Heather Schuck
    25 Aug 2010 | 6:40 am
    This question has been in my heart and thoughts lately as my pet project, FitandFearLESS.tv, finally launches. As always, there are naysayers. Naysayers that question what a childrenswear designer could possibly know about the crazy world of online entertainment. As I take my first steps in this new venture, I’m often asked “I know this is a passion of yours, but is it worth it? Will it pay?” I can’t help but laugh since I was asked those exact same questions when I launched Glamajama. People thought I was crazy when I admitted to wanting to do more than just local…
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    Mobile Marketing Watch

  • Mobile Marketing Association (MMA) “Repositions” To Better Serve The Industry

    Justin
    2 Sep 2010 | 11:14 am
    The Mobile Marketing Association (MMA) announced recently that its beginning to reposition itself within the mobile marketing industry to better “promote and enable the global mobile marketing opportunity” and provide stronger benefits to its growing list of members. In a press release issued yesterday, the MMA said the move is aimed at enhancing the association’s effectiveness at the global, regional and national levels to keep up with the fast evolution of the mobile marketing industry.  The repositioning is based on feedback from a survey of members and non-member…

  • Vlingo App For Android Brings Voice-Based Checkins And Shout-Outs For Foursquare

    Justin
    2 Sep 2010 | 10:28 am
    If the act of whipping out your cell phone to checkin on Foursquare has gotten to be too much of a hassle, Vlingo has you covered.  The voice-triggered app for Android now allows complete voice-based control over Foursquare, including checkins, shout-outs and other socially-related voice-commands. Using just your voice, the app allows you to update your location status on Foursquare by saying something like “check into Starbucks,” or locate your friends with commands like “where are my friends?” and “who’s nearby?”  In addition, the app also lets users update their status…

  • Distimo: 60% Of Android Apps Are Free Vs. 29% Of iOS Apps, Prices Continue To Rise

    Justin
    2 Sep 2010 | 9:55 am
    Distimo, a startup focused on providing app store analytics, has published its latest report detailing the mobile app ecosystem across the Apple App Store for iPad and iPhone, BlackBerry’s App World, the Android Market, Nokia’s Ovi Store, Palm’s App Catalog and the Windows Marketplace for Mobile for July 2010 in the United States. Similar to previous reports, Distimo primarily looked at pricing characteristics across all major app stores to determine the proportion of free vs. paid apps and the average cost of which, which continue to rise.  The Android Market continues to…

  • Anime Show Targets Smartphones

    Eydie
    2 Sep 2010 | 2:00 am
    The Corpse Princess has set her sights on smart phones. The anime series of the same name is coming out on DVD September 14, and distributor FUNimation Entertainment is using the mobile advertising network iVdopia to get the word out. It’s all about engaging fans of anime, a genre of animation with roots in Japanese manga, or comics. Something called the Viper Ad lets users swipe away an entire screen-takeover with a fingertip, unearthing the next image. With mobile social media, users will be able to share Corpse Princess videos with friends on sites like Facebook and Twitter. Fans…

  • Mobile Still Thrives In India, SMS GupShup Hits 35M Users, 1M New Users Monthly

    Justin
    1 Sep 2010 | 4:30 pm
    Mobile is immensely popular in India, as evident in new figures out by SMS GupShup that indicate the text-based social network has reached 35 million total users while adding over 1 million each and every month. These figures show SMS GupShup surpassed July traffic on Facebook (with 21 million unique visitors) and Orkut (with 20 million unique visitors) — two social networks who have long fought for social dominance in the region.  Granted, SMS GupShup differs, but it shows mobile’s dominance in India. There are roughly 550 million mobile phone users in the country and only 50…
 
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    Business Blogs on Blogged

  • Burger King SOLD

    The Huffington Post Burger King Holdings Inc., the nation's perennially No. 2 hamburger chain, said Thursday that it is selling itself to little-known private equity firm 3G Capital in a deal valued at $3.26 billion. Its shares soared to an 18-month high. Thursday's $24-per-share tender offer comes after a day of speculation about the deal that sent shares up more than 15 percent. The offer is a nearly 46 percent premium over the company's stock price before rumors of a buyout began circulating...

  • Coca-Cola's New Ingredient in Japan Is Kale

    Advertising Age TOKYO (AdAge.com) -- Coca-Cola Co. drinks made from kale -- a nutritious but not very tasty leafy green vegetable -- could soon turn up on store shelves. Coca-Cola West, the Atlanta-based beverage...

  • Rebranding Baby Carrots As 'Junk Food'

    PSFK A new marketing campaign aims to promote a healthy snack alternative to school children.

  • Coming Soon: Fiat 500

    The Big Picture The Fiat 500 appears to be heading to American shores as early as January 2011, a product of the Fiat takeover of Chrysler.  2011 will possibly see a convertible version of the Fiat 500,...

  • Insurance Basics: How to Save on Insurance

    Get Rich Slowly This is the second part in a short series about insurance basics. Last week, I explained how insurance works. Next week (or possibly the week after), I’ll offer some tips on car insurance. Today’s...
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    Branding Strategy Insider

  • What Brands Must Do To Succeed

    Derrick Daye, The Blake Project
    30 Aug 2010 | 9:10 pm
    We believe that brands must make promises to their customers. They must promise relevant, differentiated benefits. That is, they must offer unique value propositions. And, even more importantly, they must deliver on those promises/value propositions. Leading brands have a highly compelling brand promise and insure that the promise is delivered at each point of customer contact.According to The Conference Board’s rigorous 1998 “Managing the Corporate Brand” study, the following factors are critical for brand strategy success:Organization Support•    CEO leadership &…

  • When Your Brand Name Is Damaged

    Steve Rivkin
    29 Aug 2010 | 9:05 pm
    The Tea Party Bookshop in Salem, Oregon, has a generous selection of titles on personal growth and spirituality. There’s a poetry reading on the third Thursday of every month. And every once in a while, there’s a “pagan meet-up,” when folks are invited to enjoy a nice evening chatting with fellow pagans. (Well, this is Oregon.) People who are angry about new Federal healthcare and happy about Sarah Palin wouldn’t necessarily shop there for books. But as the Tea Party political movement gained attention, they began calling and stopping by to ask what time the next anti-government…

  • Brand Marketing's New Reality

    Martin Lindstrom
    25 Aug 2010 | 9:10 pm
    If for one reason or another, you’d slept through the past five years, only to find yourself suddenly awake in August 2010, you’d quickly realize the world of advertising and marketing has fundamentally changed in three major ways. First, subconscious or subliminal communication (and research) has become part of the vocabulary of most marketers. Second, power has shifted from brand owners to consumers - even the most powerful brands know that successful campaigns have to systematically engage consumers, who will in turn use their mighty word of mouth to spread the messages opposed to…

  • The Brand Licensing Workshop

    Derrick Daye, The Blake Project
    24 Aug 2010 | 9:10 pm
    Brand licensing is one of the lesser known techniques for extending a brand into new categories.  The benefits of brand licensing are extensive and include:•    Building brand presence by getting product to market faster with little to no investment or inventory risk.  •    Accelerating the ability to gain additional shelf space or enter into new channels or regions.  •    Delivering valuable and steady royalty revenue increasing cash flow and operating income.  The Blake Project offers The Brand Licensing Workshop, a one-day engagement that is designed to deliver a…

  • Exploring The Value Of Sub Brands

    Brad VanAuken
    23 Aug 2010 | 9:10 pm
    Regular readers of Branding Strategy Insider know we welcome and answer marketing questions of alltypes. Today, Christine, a VP of Marketing in Detroit writes… "I was wondering if sub-brands are typically valuable for a company or if their value is dubious?"Interesting question, Christine. If a sub-brand is designed to reach a market or market segment that the parent brand could not reach by itself, it is worth it. That is the primary reason for sub-brands from my perspective, to make the parent brand more relevant to a new or different market or market segment.  Having said…
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    OPEN Forum Articles

  • Small Business Survival Stories from the Gulf of Mexico

    19 Aug 2010 | 6:46 am
    From Gus Lubin, Business Insider: For small businesses in Grand Isle, LA, it’s hard to imagine any good coming from the 4 million barrels of crude oil washing onto the local beach. Locals see the oil spill as a disaster that will cause some businesses to go bankrupt and tarnish the area’s reputation for years   But in every disaster there’s a silver lining, even if it’s just learning how to survive. All Americans can learn from these seven disaster survival stories:   1. Grand Isle realtor Carolyn Angelette saw a “horrific, just horrible” drop-off…

  • Making the Most of Failure

    19 Aug 2010 | 6:22 am
    From Laurel Delaney, Small Business Trends: “My great concern is not whether you have failed, but whether you are content with your failure.” ~ Abraham Lincoln   In Richard Branson’s recent American Express OPEN Forum article, “Entrepreneurs Have Nothing to Fear But Fear of Failure," he talks about how stories of failure are most interesting to him because they're how he learns the most powerful lessons.  I agree with that notion, particularly the two phases of failure he emphasizes:  the initial failure and the aftermath (how to bounce back). …

  • Where You Sell Says a Lot About What You Sell

    18 Aug 2010 | 9:00 pm
    From John Warrillow:  For every hour you spend developing your next great product, try to spend two on where and how you will sell it. Innovative products get ripped off, manufactured cheaply and pumped out to big box retailers at pennies on the dollar. Innovations around your sales experience may be more sustainable in the long run. For example, I bought a pair of those goofy-looking MBT shoes last week. These are the ones with the rounded soles that are supposed to promote good posture. I was turned onto them after my Mom bought a pair of knock-off MBTs at a discount shoe store on the…

  • Does Your Community Know You?

    18 Aug 2010 | 1:48 pm
    From Trent Hamm, The Simple Dollar: A few weeks ago, my wife discovered a wonderful little curiosity shop in a town near us called Blumster's. She and I have driven by the shop many times over the last few years, but frankly, had no idea what the business was at all.  My wife believed it was a florist shop and since she had no reason to buy flowers, she never stopped in.   In fact, she only happened to wander in the door because she was waiting in the area for another service and was strolling down the sidewalk by the shop.  She looked in the window, was intrigued, and…

  • Barbara Lynch on Knowing Yourself, Your Limitations and Whom to Hire

    18 Aug 2010 | 1:14 pm
    From Ed Levine, Serious Eats: When No. 9 Park was awarded Boston Magazine's Best of Boston Award for Best Restaurant in 2003, chef and owner Barbara Lynch was already as well known as her former mentor Todd English, or maybe even Fenway Park. And that was before she went on to open a stylishly casual oyster bar, B&G Oysters, a charcuterie and butchery outpost that serves $14 glasses of wine called The Butcher Shop, an ultra-modern speakeasy with the craftiest old-school cocktails in town, Drink, the modern Italian diner Sportello, and the contender for the Most Expensive Restaurant in…
 
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    Men With Pens

  • What To Do When Clients Haggle

    James
    29 Aug 2010 | 10:00 pm
    “You got to know when to hold ‘em, know when to fold ‘em, Know when to walk away and know when to run. You never count your money when you’re sittin’ at the table. There’ll be time enough for countin’ when the dealin’s done.” - Kenny Rogers, The Gambler Do you hate to haggle? Do you find it insulting when someone asks you to lower your rates? How do you feel when someone says they can’t quite afford you and would you consider taking the job anyways? I know people who light up on fire at the first sign of haggling. They feel…

  • Which Type of Entrepreneur Are You?

    Agent X
    26 Aug 2010 | 10:00 pm
    I didn’t even know Jeremy’s name (let alone how to spell it, considering that the name usually ends in an “i” where I live.). But when I saw his biz name, it all clicked into place – this was the nice guy who chatted with me on Twitter! Very cool. Also cool is the post he wrote about two types of business owners – and a pack of tips on how to avoid being the first type. Enjoy! There are two different types of entrepreneurs. Some become wildly successful because they’ve learned from and adapted to their mistakes, while others suffer in mediocrity because…

  • Bloggers versus Copywriters: The Rhetoric Debate

    James
    22 Aug 2010 | 10:00 pm
    A few days ago, Glenn Murray wrote a post for ProBlogger called Bloggers Versus Copywriters: 8 Reasons Why Bloggers Do It Better. Sly fox that he is, Glenn warned me the post was controversial, knowing full well I’d rise to the challenge of debate. He was chuckling over my impending comments, and I hadn’t even made any yet! Of course, comment I did. I had 500 words banged out in three minutes. Then I came to my senses and decided to write a post about it all. It’s much more fun that way. Now, to be fair, comparing bloggers to copywriters is a little like comparing masterful…

  • Is Your Freelancing Psychology Broken?

    Agent X
    18 Aug 2010 | 10:00 pm
    Many freelancers and solopreneurs think they’re totally motivated to build a rockstar business that wins them wealth, freedom and fame. It’s a lie. The truth is that most freelancers only believe they’re driven toward wealth and success. But dig deep down, and you discover that the opposite is the actual reality. Where does it all go wrong? What makes freelancers say they’re gung-ho about wealth and freedom when they’re actually not? Read on. You’ll learn the mental makeup of the freelancer that pinpoints the problem. How Motivated Are You to Gain Wealth?

  • Sundays, Short Posts and Fresh Coats

    James
    15 Aug 2010 | 10:00 pm
    Today’s post is going to be short and sweet. Short because I’m doing something I never, EVER do – I’m writing this post less than 12 hours before it goes live. That means it’s currently Sunday, which means it’s family day, which means I don’t really have the time to make this as great as I want it to be. But I’m sure you’ll forgive me. You might even be thankful to get a short post, for once! (And if you don’t forgive me, then I didn’t really want you as a reader anyways.) So. Short – and sweet. Sweet because this week, we…
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    Home Business Ideas

  • Wherein I Give A Bunch Of Stuff Away, Am Dubbed An Ambassador, And A Lot Of Cool Stuff Involving Glitter Happens

    Naomi Dunford
    2 Sep 2010 | 9:08 am
    This post has nothing to do with business. Except in the way that it has everything to do with business. The business part comes at the end. Every now and again, if you are blessed to be in the right line of work, you meet clients who become friends and those friends become the kind of friends you would happily lay down in traffic for. I have the kind of company where this happens a lot. Yay, me. Leonie Allen — known to many as Goddess Leonie — was a client of mine until she got so good that she didn’t need me anymore. (Yay, me, again.) Because she has magic powers, I try to…

  • What Should I Tweet About? It Might Not Be What You Think

    Naomi Dunford
    31 Aug 2010 | 5:16 pm
    I got a link the other day to a massive resource list of social media tips. (80? I think it was 80.) I will not find it and link to it because I think it was not just stupid, but damaging. The advice — from social media “experts”, God help us — fell in two categories. 1. Approximately 64 versions of “contribute to the conversation”. I think we all know what I think about that. 2. “Give really useful tips.” This got me thinking… if every expert in Christendom is saying this, perhaps there’s something to it. But, see, personally? I…

  • How To Get Into A Guru’s Pants

    Johnny Truant
    24 Aug 2010 | 8:38 pm
    This is a post from IttyBiz columnist, Johnny B. Truant. Let’s try a fun little mental experiment. Think of your favorite people to follow: The big guys and girls, the ones you look to as mentors and the ones who are where you’d like to be. To put a finer point on it, I’m talking about the people who have successful businesses, who are making a lot of money, who are in the public eye (at least as far as your industry is concerned), who have a big fan base, etc. Know who I’m talking about? Okay good. Now for today’s lesson. Those people put their pants on one leg…

  • Make Them Love You. THEN Ask For Money

    Naomi Dunford
    23 Aug 2010 | 6:57 pm
    One of the questions I get a lot, especially after the Money Calls incident, goes a little something like this: “I need to make [very high dollar figure] by [date that is alarmingly close to now]. I have [no blog /small blog/ no list/ small list]. I can’t imagine how to even start doing it. Can you help?” I love this question. The answer is surprisingly simple. Let’s put in some fake numbers and play it out. Let’s say you need $20,000 and you need it 29 days from today. The reason most people fail when given a task like this one – and when I say “fail”, I mean a level of fail…

  • Happy Birthday to the Reason IttyBiz Exists

    Naomi Dunford
    19 Aug 2010 | 9:00 pm
    Naomi is most likely back from her adventures in Ireland now, but we’ve reached the culmination of our countdown and wouldn’t dream of keeping you in the dark about the top post. And so, we present for your reading pleasure and general edification, Post #1 in the Unofficial List of The Top 15 Best / Favorite / Most Popular IttyBiz Posts, which proves that the IttyBiz readers are (a) suckers for adorable pictures of Jack, and (b) as fond of this particular post as we are. Originally published September 4, 2008 Dearest baby Jack, On Labour Day, 2000, I was going to school for…
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    All You Need Is A Good Idea!

  • THIS IS THE BEST THEY COULD DO?

    Jay Heyman
    2 Sep 2010 | 5:41 am
    I noticed this billboard last week, posted a block away from Penn Station, the busiest train station in North America. Literally thousands of people must pass by it every day. And I would love to know what the people that created this ad were thinking. I realize that I am probably not their target audience, but whom exactly do they believe they are talking to? The model looks crazed, the headline forced. Do they really believe that inhabitants of Newark consider the Hamptons the aspirational embodiment of style and fashion? And I am really delighted that they made sure to put in the…

  • LUCKILY, ACCIDENTS HAPPEN

    Jay Heyman
    30 Aug 2010 | 5:54 am
    Image by unloveablesteve via Flickr As all of us know, when Columbus discovered America, it was not what he was searching for. We all make mistakes, and some lead us to bigger and better results than what we were aiming for. The trick is to recognize what you have discovered, rather than just trash it because it is different from what you expected. Gizmodo offers a list of ten such serendipitous mistakes; products that were discovered “accidentally,” not because they were what the inventors were looking for.From the microwave to Play-Doh, to the Slinky, to, perhaps, your next good idea.

  • BORED, BAFFLED AND BEFUDDLED

    Jay Heyman
    26 Aug 2010 | 5:20 am
    What can you say about a sugar substitute that’s been around since 1957?I actually don’t know, but there must be something worthwhile. How about the competition from Equal (aspartame ) and Splenda (sucralose) or the latest sugar substitute Truvia (stevia)?How about taste reassurance, or heritage or something?How about a good idea?How about anything except the antiquated graphics and squandered media dollars?The point is, if you have nothing to say, why waste money saying it?Get the idea? Related articles by ZemantaCampaign Spotlight: Trying to Get a Sweetener Back in the Pink…

  • DO YOU WONDER IF THIS WILL BE YOUR LAST GOOD IDEA?

    Jay Heyman
    23 Aug 2010 | 6:12 am
    Image via Wikipedia You face an empty page or canvas or computer screen. Eventually you fill it with words or pictures, and, if lucky, the result accomplishes what you set out to do. But the problem facing most creative types is that we usually have no actual idea of how we have created our good idea, and therefore we are not convinced that we will be able to do it again. Lucky for us, an esteemed Cambridge graduate has some excellent advice regarding the creative process. I am referring of course to John Cleese. Yes, that John Cleese, who graduated from Cambridge with a law degree and has…

  • MY FAVORITE NEW JOKE LEADS TO A SERIOUS MARKETING THOUGHT

    Jay Heyman
    19 Aug 2010 | 5:23 am
    Image via Wikipedia “A penguin walks into a bar, and asks the bartender if his father has been in lately. The bartender replies, ‘I don’t know. What does he look like?’ ” Now, some people get it right away, some later, and some never. So how about trying it with a zebra walks into a bar. Or an elephant? The unspoken punch line of the joke, of course, is that all penguins, zebras and elephants look basically identical to one another. Which takes care of the joke portion of the blog. Now on to the marketing point. If everyone in your category looks like a penguin, why should you? If…
 
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    p2w2 blog

  • Ebook: 7 Great Tools for Internet Marketing

    Iswarya
    2 Sep 2010 | 12:43 am
    We are giving away a free ebook! Our free ebook 7 Great Tools for Internet Marketing is now available for download. This is the first in the series of free ebooks that we will be publishing regularly. Keep watching this space for more surprises! Download: 7 Great Tools for Internet Marketing Like this post? Share it now on twitter!    

  • Managing Your Daily Tasks

    Iswarya
    5 Aug 2010 | 6:15 am
    Let me ask you a question. How often has any of the following thoughts occurred to you? “I seriously don’t have enough time!” “Oh no, how could I forget that task?” “How am I expected to manage SO many things at once?” Roughly, atleast once a day huh? It used to happen to me, too. Being a part of a small business means that you will naturally have a hundred things on your mind. And when you can’t manage all your tasks and responsibilities, it’s guaranteed chaos. So it was only recently that I discovered the value of a little something…

  • How to Plan a Business Trip – Part II

    Iswarya
    22 Jul 2010 | 11:22 pm
    I wrote a post sometime back on how to plan a business trip. I had mentioned in passing that I would soon be writing a post that dealt with how to plan various events to attend during the course of the trip. So how do you really go places(excuse the mild pun) during a business trip? 1. Have a clear objective as to what are the type of people you need to be meeting with.  Depending on that you need to choose your target locations and events.These can be networking events, seminars, conferences, referral meetings, unconferences, informal meetups, etc. 2. Plan in advance. Search for events in…

  • Protected: Webinar Video – 14th July 2010

    Ravi Kiran
    19 Jul 2010 | 9:15 am
    This post is password protected. To view it please enter your password below: Password:    

  • A Useful Fix for Duplicate Content Issues

    Iswarya
    7 Jul 2010 | 6:16 am
    I recently came across the concept of canonical URLs. It’s a useful fix for duplicate content issues within your site. Say you have two different versions of the same web page, with very similar content. Maybe you use one of them is actually present in the navigation links in your website and the other is a landing page for your PPC ads. But obviously you wouldn’t want your page rankings and other metrics to be split between those two. An easy solution for this is to mark the “more important” page as a “canonical page” . According to the definition in…
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    Starting Your Own Business with Successful Entrepreneur Erica Douglass

  • Why Most Internet Marketers Fail

    Erica Douglass
    26 Aug 2010 | 8:44 am
    Richard writes in with a question: “When can a person tell a blog is just about making money with affiliate sales vs. truly helping a person or business? Sometimes they sound really alike.” This is a great question. Many bloggers–myself included–run promotions for both our own and other products on a regular basis. Some blogs are heavily promotional, with an affiliate link in nearly every post, whereas other bloggers make their money mostly through advertising and only rarely include affiliate links in their posts. First, let’s look at things from a…

  • How to Manifest Large Sums of Money

    Erica Douglass
    20 Aug 2010 | 8:55 am
    Manifest money — even huge sums! Here’s how. I smile at the delicious irony of this blog post compared to my last one. However, one of the things I enjoy most about having this blog is sharing things as I’m doing them. It’s really easy to already be successful in some area of your life and then blog about it, looking back with rose-colored glasses and saying “This is why I am successful.” It’s much harder to blog as you go, trying things, bumping into walls and fumbling around in the dark, and risk looking like a complete fool when things don’t…

  • The Failure Manifesto

    Erica Douglass
    11 Aug 2010 | 11:41 pm
    I think some of us want to believe that somewhere out there, someone else has a life that’s “easy”. She doesn’t have to worry about money. He has a successful business. She’s really popular. If you believe that, this blog post is about to flip that belief on its head. I spent hours crying today. My accountant tells me my company–the one that’s receiving the residuals from my former hosting business–owes the IRS another $13,000 for tax year 2009. I’ve already paid something like $70,000 in the last 6 months to various taxing authorities. I…

  • How to Increase Your Web Site’s Traffic

    Erica Douglass
    5 Aug 2010 | 1:28 pm
    Increase web site traffic with these simple tips. Traffic can really make or break your website. If you crank out piece after piece of great content, yet no one reads it, it can be demoralizing. (This, I think, is why most bloggers quit after a few months.) If you have a great product or service that you know can help a lot of people, but no one knows about it, and you’re on a limited budget, it can seem impossible to get your business off the ground. I understand. I’ve been in both of those places, and in both of those cases, traffic can help. Today, I’ll take you…

  • Starting Your Own Business: The Step-By-Step Guide

    Erica Douglass
    30 Jul 2010 | 4:51 am
    Starting your own business: The definitive guide. Are you hung up on the “idea phase” of starting your own business? Do you feel like none of your ideas are good enough–or do you have so many ideas and don’t know which one you should turn into a business? This post is for you! First: I hear from many of you who have heard the advice that business should be about your “passion”. If I hear the words “find your passion” or “follow your passion” one more time, I’m going to stick a fork in the eye of the person who says it. Starting…
 
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    JUST TELL ME HOW TO MANAGE

  • I’m the Boss & I Can Do What I Want.

    18 Aug 2010 | 7:21 am
    Read the title of this post and be honest…have you ever thought that? Are you thinking that right now? Or gawd fubid…have you ever actually said that to someone who works for you? I hope you think that’s a crazy idea, but sadly, there are too many managers who spew out that nonsense on a regular basis. Please believe me – it’s total rubbish.First, the advice on what to do about it: cut it out. Stop it. Don’t say it ever again. Just stop. In fact, don’t even think it anymore, ever. Everything about that sentence is bad for your business. (and for you, personally, but that’s a…

  • The "B" Word

    13 Jul 2010 | 1:04 pm
    Playground bullies can sense fear. Even when they’re just little kids. When you’re a manager you can create fear anytime you want - just because you’re the boss. If you want to know whether you are a bully boss, just ask. If you are you reluctant to ask then we both know the answer is yes. Maybe it’s a big yes or a little one, but yes is still yes. True this: Everything about bullying is bad. In case you need one, here’s a review: At worst, people probably hate you for it. Not mere dislike, but genuine, Webster-dictionary defined hatred. At best, they just really, really resent and…

  • Water Water Everywhere!

    31 May 2010 | 8:56 pm
    Lately, I see more managers engaged in frequent feedback sessions with employees. But too often, some feedback sessions become opportunities for regularly scheduled criticism. I think it should be equal parts of praise and criticism. Always. If we asked your staff would they say that your recipe is 50/50? Donald O. Clifton, the guru who ran the Gallup Organization for several decades had a simple and powerful way he put this into the workplace. It sounds a little corny, but his method was called "A Drop In The Bucket". He believed that we go to work with an empty "bucket" and mostly, we hope…

  • White Knuckle Management

    5 Mar 2010 | 8:44 am
    My Mom was always a “white knuckle flyer”. She used to walk around in an ascending state of fear as a trip approached, mumbling to herself and completely distracted. I could have painted my room purple and killed the dog, and she wouldn’t have noticed. Once, she asked a stewardess (it was the seventies) if it was possible to get a second seat belt. She gripped those armrests with all her might and truly, her knuckles were milky white the entire time.I swear, I know some managers who seem just as terrified of their own jobs. And while it is perfectly fine to admit a fear of flying, can…

  • Own The Yes

    28 Nov 2009 | 8:33 pm
    How many times did you say YES today? The kind of YES where you agreed to do something for somebody else? Maybe it was a small YES like agreeing to return a call. Maybe you promised to do a small favor or you gave your word to finish a project that’s already overdue. You’re the boss. When you say YES, you should mean it. Even more, when you say YES, you own it.Let’s face the truth first…do you really mean YES when you say it? Or, are you the guy who doesn’t want to disappoint so you say YES? Or, are you so over-scheduled that, without a doubt, some of your YES answers always turn…
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    Entrepreneur: Up and Running

  • Where to See Good Startup Pitches Online

    Tim Berry
    1 Sep 2010 | 7:37 am
    I was browsing in Quora over the weekend–I like Quora a lot, questions and answers laid out conveniently–and stumbled on somebody asking for online startup pitches. One of the answers included a link to A dozen of the best start-up pitches on the web at JonBischke.com. That’s a really good list, with some winners, some losers and some bad examples as well. Also, the ZocDoc pitch, from a TechCrunch show of a few years ago. This is another good one. That came up on the same Quora question. And I like the ones on the Forbes.com Boost Your Business site, too. You might start…

  • Looking Forward to Bend Venture Conference

    Tim Berry
    31 Aug 2010 | 7:41 am
    If you’re an Oregon company looking for angel investment, you should consider applying for the Bend Venture Conference before the Sept. 10 deadline. You can click here to go straight to the registration page. Although Bend is a relatively small town in central Oregon, it’s also relatively sunny for Oregon, has great outdoor activities and–here’s what’s relevant in this context–its annual venture competition draws an unusually powerful group of investors from up and down the Pacific Coast. Bend and nearby Sunriver have attracted a number of California and…

  • 20 Excellent TED Talks for Small Business Owners

    Tim Berry
    30 Aug 2010 | 7:26 am
    (Note: this is awkward. The list I linked to is down. I’ve emailed onlineuniversities asking about it, but in the meantime, it’s just not there. Damn. I’ve checked back at the TED site, hoping to provide a quick fix, and there does seem to be a good match with TED’s Not Business As Usual theme. You can click here to go there directly. ) My thanks to the folks at onlineuniversities.com for this list of 20 Excellent TED Talks for Small Business Owners.  I’m a believer in the TED talks as the best of the best, and this is a good list. And my thanks as well to Steve King of…

  • Great Advice About Your First Website

    Tim Berry
    26 Aug 2010 | 7:45 am
    I loved Pamela Slim’s excellent advice on her Escape From Cubicle Nation blog yesterday. It’s got a great title: You are officially granted permission to create a non-perfect first website. And she drives home a great point. It reminds me of the common advice about not waiting until all the lights are green before you leave the garage. Pam points out that as you start out, you try to have a good sense of strategy with market niche, value proposition and strategic focus. But you’re guessing in the beginning. You shouldn’t expect it to be perfect. But you do have to get…

  • Step-by-Step to Getting Started in Twitter

    Tim Berry
    25 Aug 2010 | 7:45 am
    The other day somebody asked me how to get started on Twitter. I decided to write my answer down and post it here, because I thought it might be useful to others. If you’re already a Twitter user, then this post is probably not for you. Sorry. If you aren’t a Twitter user and don’t want to be, then this is not for you, either. Sorry again. But if you aren’t a Twitter user yet and you’d like to be, I can help. I took the time to think it through and write it out, and here are my step-by-step suggestions. Examine your goals. What do you want out of Twitter? It…
 
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    San Jose Mercury News: Good Morning Silicon Valley

  • Once again, it’s Apple against the world

    Levi Sumagaysay
    2 Sep 2010 | 9:49 am
    It’s Cupertino vs. the world. Let’s look at Apple’s product revamp and examine recent developments in the competition between the champion tech-gadget pusher and other companies in the following worlds: TV and movies, music and now, social networking. •TV and movies: The...

  • HP-Dell bidding war by the numbers: 3Par on Cloud Nine

    Levi Sumagaysay
    2 Sep 2010 | 7:24 am
    The numbers don’t tell the whole story, but they are pretty incredible, and 3Par and its investors are flying high in the cloud. This morning, HP again raised its bid for Fremont data-storage company 3Par, continuing its high-tech bidding war with rival computer maker Dell. The drama began...

  • Quoted: Steve Jobs takes a jab at Android

    Levi Sumagaysay
    2 Sep 2010 | 5:08 am
    “People are throwing around a lot of numbers as to how many of their operating systems they’re activating per day. We’re activating a little over 230,000 iOS devices a day. We think some of our friends are counting upgrades.” — Apple CEO Steve Jobs, on Google CEO Eric...

  • Off topic

    Levi Sumagaysay
    2 Sep 2010 | 4:19 am
    If you like things just so, Things Organized Neatly might be for you. Foreign Policy lists disaster news you might have missed in 2010. And a dictionary/translator for Internet slang includes sections for sexting terms and drug slang. Send a dress that makes phone calls to...

  • Will Zuckerberg trade in his hoodie for a toga, and other pressing questions

    Levi Sumagaysay
    1 Sep 2010 | 9:59 am
    A follow-up item, plus some (truly) odds and ends in the tech world. • India has followed through on its threat to go after Google and Skype. Today it reportedly gave the two companies two months to comply with an order to install servers in the country so officials can monitor data from services...
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    Bizsugar

  • The Psychology Of Commitment And Getting Customers To Spend More

    mywifequitherjob
    2 Sep 2010 | 11:22 am
    How to use the power of commitment to get customers to spend more at your online store and how these tactics increased our average order size by 2916 Vote(s)

  • SugarTone: The Cool Business Blogging Competition

    channelship
    2 Sep 2010 | 11:11 am
    A Sweet business blogging competition! This time our theme is "Making your business amazing". It's free to enter and you can win some great HP prizes.16 Vote(s)

  • The Myth Of Overnight Success

    therisetothetop
    2 Sep 2010 | 11:08 am
    This post discusses the myth of overnight success in terms of building a brand online, or taking a brand online.16 Vote(s)

  • How to build PR for your business - effectively and on a budget

    bloggertone
    2 Sep 2010 | 10:33 am
    Have you had to reduce your marketing spend? Are you trying to build the profile of your business on a budget? This is how I did it with my company...18 Vote(s)

  • Way With Words

    nialldevitt
    2 Sep 2010 | 8:29 am
    HP Sugartone entry no2 comes from Mairead Kelly. Are you a people pleaser? Do you go out of your way to be nice to everybody in the hope that they will like you? Does it work for you? Or are you so busy pleasing everybody that you've no time to notice whether they do or not? Sometimes it's better to not please a client but rather to be bluntly honest in their best interests, even at the cost of upsetting them. This is a brave entry from a brave lady, give it some sweets (votes)luv19 Vote(s)
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    The BIG Kahuna

  • Living The Brand

    BIG Kahuna
    1 Sep 2010 | 12:41 pm
    A few years back we helped our client Humboldt Storage and Moving create their new brand identity “stress relief”. And they’ve done a fine job at delivering that message consistently. Here you can see the logo design, tagline and truck design we implemented. Click here to view the embedded video. Great job guys!

  • Dear Rust-Oleum

    BIG Kahuna
    7 Aug 2010 | 7:02 am

  • The Power Of Branding

    BIG Kahuna
    17 Jul 2010 | 8:02 am
    I always laugh at people who think branding doesn’t make a person feel a specific way for a company or product. Take this very funny viral video made to discredit Apple’s iPhone and brand. WARNING, this contains adult, vulgar language: Click here to view the embedded video. Let’s just say all these things are true and Evo’s phone makes the iPhone look outdated and behind technology, how does one explain the sales,  loyalty, dedication and overall brand committment to Apple? One answer. Branding.

  • Fun With Social Media

    BIG Kahuna
    24 May 2010 | 9:47 am
    You can do all kinds of great stuff with WordPress. You don’t have to stick to standard templates. Check out our latest project for the Parrot Club, a Gaming Entertainment Center in St. John US Virgin Islands. We also tied their Facebook and twitter accounts to their blog for automatic updates as well as using NetworkedBlogs.

  • Seattle’s Best Sells Out?

    BIG Kahuna
    20 May 2010 | 1:16 pm
    So you’re Seattle’s Best and Starbuck’s wants you to re-brand. Why re-brand? Well because being everything to everyone is much better than targeting a market and differentiating…right? Now that Seattle’s Best is expanding into Subway’s and Burger King’s it’s time to change a good brand to accommodate all those lower end types that visit those restaurants…that’s the thinking right? Check out the email I got from Mandi Armond at Cohn & Wolfe, a subsidary of  WPP: Hi Scott , Seattle’s Best Coffee, sub-brand of Starbucks,…
 
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    Bringing Brands to Life!

  • Celebrating Four Years of Blogging

    Thomas R. Clifford
    23 Aug 2010 | 5:19 am
    It's hard to believe but, yeah, it's been four years of writing articles on a variety of business communication topics, including: My 22 best-ever on-camera interviewing techniques Why precise email subject lines are like diamonds Why freewriting is an excellent idea for new bloggers How to stop email ping pong madness Employee engagement lessons from Fast Company's 30-Second MBA series My Interview with Author and Communications Coach Nick Morgan I honestly couldn't have done come this far without you and your support. Thank you for being part of the journey. I truly appreciate it. Tom PS.

  • Comfort Zones: How to Nurture Your Communications in 60 Seconds (or Less)

    Thomas R. Clifford
    9 Aug 2010 | 4:52 pm
    Your clients won’t say it. Your vendors won’t say it. Heck, even your blog readers won’t say it. They’d love to tell you this, that and the other thing. But they can’t. Or won’t. They’re, um, uncomfortable Uncomfortable? Yup. They’re uncomfortable speaking their mind. And there’s a ridiculously easy way to solve this little bug-a-boo of a problem. You create a “comfort zone.” What’s a “comfort zone?” A comfort zone is an atmosphere that is created to let people know their thoughts are welcome any time during your communications process. A comfort zone allows people…

  • How to Let Your Articles Breathe

    Thomas R. Clifford
    26 Jul 2010 | 4:23 pm
    You’re breathing, right? Good! Now carefully watch your breath. Did you feel that tiny pause? The pause in-between your breaths? No? Let’s try another example, then. Take your favorite CD. Notice what’s in-between the songs? Canyouimaginelisteningtoyourfavoritecdwithoutanybreaksinbetweensongs? Neither can I. That’s the power of the “pause” And your articles are no different. Articles need pauses, too. Pauses help your content to “breeeeeathe.” What does it mean to let your article “breathe?” Letting your article “breathe” means inserting periodic pauses throughout your…

  • How the 10-20-30 Principle Cures Chaotic Writing Schedules

    Thomas R. Clifford
    20 Jul 2010 | 6:27 am
    Ever get a song stuck in your head? Sure you have. Ah, yes, but have you ever tried to stop it? And you can’t? What makes that song so memorable? The song’s got rhythm, my friend, rhythm! But wait a minute. Is your writing schedule as infectious as that rhythm in the song? If not, then how do you throw some of that good ol’ rhythm into your writing day? Actually, it’s pretty darn easy. Just use the 10-20-30 Principle. What is the 10-20-30 Principle? The 10-20-30 Principle is a simple schedule to help build up your writing discipline. If you struggle with a disciplined writing…

  • How the Whack-a-Mole Factor Keeps You from Writing

    Thomas R. Clifford
    12 Jul 2010 | 3:28 pm
    Ever play Whack-a-Mole when you were a kid? Whack-a-mole is a popular games at arcades and fairs. The waist-high cabinet has five holes where five plastic moles “pop up” from out of the hole at random times. What’s your task as a player? To “whack” the “mole” back down into the hole with a rubber mallet before it “pops” back down by itself. Whacking every mole is nearly impossible to do, of course. All this popping up is designed to keep you distracted I call it the “Whack-a-Mole” Factor. And, yes, the Whack-a-Mole Factor may be distracting you from writing. What is the…
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    SpringWise

  • Canadian government rewards public servants for cost-cutting ideas

    Springwise
    2 Sep 2010 | 12:32 am
    Companies have long recognized that the best ideas can come from those in the figurative trenches, since they're the ones closest to the organization's day-to-day operations. That's a less common notion in government circles, but recently we spotted an example in the form of Canada's new incentive program to reward public servants for their best budget-cutting ideas. Beginning this fall, the new Employee Innovation Program will offer cash awards to public service employees with creative and practical ideas that lead to tangible savings and improved services to citizens. Through the two-year…

  • Bar innovation enables sampling and display of high-end beers

    Springwise
    1 Sep 2010 | 3:14 am
    Beer connoisseurs like to try before they buy just as much as the next consumer; the only problem is that high-end bottles of the stuff can cost a pretty penny, making bartenders reluctant to open them. That's where the BeerVault comes in. Designed by Australian design firm Jones Chijoff, the BeerVault gives bars a way to preserve and display their finest beers for sampling and beyond. The innovation began when Victoria-based Jones Chijoff was hired by Melbourne-based bar Biero to solve its sampling problem, driven by the fact that some of its boutique bottles of beer can cost as much as AUD…

  • Open source phone service for off-grid areas

    Springwise
    1 Sep 2010 | 2:49 am
    Mobile phones are increasingly viewed as a critical means of improving life for those in the developing world, whether through employment, healthcare or social connections. Such opportunities depend on access to cellular service, however—and that's where a new Silicon Valley startup comes in. Range Networks is currently developing what it calls “the world’s lowest cost, sustainable, full featured GSM infrastructure providing voice, messaging and data services for a wide range of applications and environments.” Starting with Linux-based OpenBTS, Range's new system works with a…

  • Tesco tests out drive-through delivery

    Springwise
    31 Aug 2010 | 2:22 pm
    Retailers are experimenting with numerous different ways to blend online and off for their customers, as we've already seen on several occasions. Curbside pickup of online orders has been the theme at both Sears and French hypermarket chain E.Leclerc, while Shutl and several others have been pushing the bounds of near-instant home delivery. The latest spotting? British Tesco, which just last week launched what it calls a “drive-thru supermarket.” Focusing initially as a trial at Tesco’s Baldock Extra store in Hertfordshire, the new service lets customers order their shopping as usual on…

  • At bar/gallery/pizzeria, photographers take turns curating exhibits

    Springwise
    31 Aug 2010 | 8:09 am
    It's not unusual to see artwork on the walls at bars and restaurants; what's less common is to see a bar and restaurant double as a photography gallery and community space—one in which the photographers themselves take turns curating quarterly exhibits. That, however, is exactly the premise behind The Camera Club, a new venture launching in Australia this week. The Camera Club is a new “community-minded bar & gallery concept that’s dedicated to celebrating creativity through camera-based pursuits,” in the words of its founders. With support from New Zealand vodka purveyor 42Below, The…
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    Venture Hacks

  • AngelList Scouts

    Nivi
    31 Aug 2010 | 9:00 am
    AngelList Scouts find high-quality startups for the angels on AngelList. When a Scout tells us to look at a startup, we pay attention. Update: Liz Gannes covers this story for GigaOM. We look at every startup that applies to AngelList — whether or not they have social proof — but a little social proof makes it easier for us to say yes. And the social proof of a Scout is especially interesting to us. Why? Because the average Joe usually doesn’t get anything when he makes intros for a startup. He might get some advisory shares but that’s rarer thank you think. The Scouts…

  • How we’re recruiting a product designer for AngelList

    Nivi
    25 Aug 2010 | 7:40 am
    We’re recruiting a product designer for AngelList. Here’s how we’re doing it and what we’re learning. (If you’re interested in working with us, details are at the bottom of this post.) I didn’t start by putting up a job post. I figured if everybody else is doing it, I need to take a different approach. So I called the smartest designers and entrepreneurs I knew and asked them for advice. Here’s what I’ve learned: We want a product designer. This job post from Quora defines a product designer as “Extraordinary product, interaction, and visual…

  • Xconomy covers AngelList

    Nivi
    20 Aug 2010 | 11:21 am
    This Xconomy article by Wade Roush does a great job of telling the AngelList and Venture Hacks story: In Seed Funding Race, AngelList Sorts the “Junk” from the “Maybes” I hesitated to link to it because these articles always make you look more handsome than you really are. But Wade does a great job of rounding up the state of the art of angel investing and placing AngelList in that context. Here’s a choice quote: “I think the way to get into angel investing is, first, you obviously have to have money; you have to have a brand, otherwise you are not going to be differentiated…

  • Quora Marketing

    Nivi
    19 Aug 2010 | 1:58 pm
    Quora is a Q&A site. We were planning on posting a question asking startups and angels to share their AngelList experience. But someone beat us to it: What do people think of AngelList? I can’t think of a better piece of marketing than this thread. There’s nothing we could say better. I want to replace the AngelList homepage with this thread. Quora spam Quora’s goal is “to have each question page become the best possible resource for someone who wants to know about the question.” The Quora community will kill you if you fill it with rubbish. You have to…

  • 7 angel investing tips in 7 minutes

    Nivi
    3 Aug 2010 | 12:47 pm
    Last week, Naval and a slew of angels shared their investing advice with an audience of angels-in-training at AngelConf 2010. Here’s the video (each talk is 7 minutes long): Video: AngelConf 2010 Wade Roush at Xconomy took detailed notes on all the talks and published them here and here. 7 angel investing tips Naval’s 7-minute talk starts at 26:00. Here are Wade’s detailed notes: “1. Don’t move in a herd, but do be a pack animal. Not everybody has all the information. One angle might know the market, one might know the founder, one might know the customer base.
 
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    YoungEntrepreneur.com

  • Entrepreneur Spotlight: 5 More Rising Stars Under 25

    Pete Kistler
    1 Sep 2010 | 5:00 am
    As I shared in last week’s post, I recently had dinner with Ankur Jain, founder of the Kairos Society of collegiate entrepreneurs and son of business mogul Naveen Jain, and we got to talking about young entrepreneurs and what it means to create real change. Inspired by our conversation, I’d like to introduce you to five young entrepreneurs making moves each in their own way, but with a shared passion and drive embodied by our generation. 1. Ascension Aircraft Jamail Larkins, 25 Augusta www.ascensionaircraft.com Jamail Larkins had his career mapped out since he first took flight at…

  • Hire Your Friends! (At Your Own Peril)

    Jared Mendelewicz
    31 Aug 2010 | 5:00 am
    Most business advice blogs tend to be full of stale, common sense puffery. My goal, as a guest blogger for Young Entrepreneur, is to apply my knowledge and experiences to the discussion of many business-changing decisions young entrepreneurs make or don’t make. Many of these practices are often considered taboo, but I plan to break them down in a contemporary and honest way. A typical managerial faux pas (coming in at a close second place to hiring your own family), is employing your friends. I’m sure almost all business owners would agree that hiring your friends only adds…

  • Is Your Business a Championship Ball Club or an 8 – 8 Team?

    Ken Sundheim
    31 Aug 2010 | 4:59 am
    I imagine entrepreneurship as a football game where your company is on offense and your opposing defense consists of your competition, the economy, your marketing acumen, your ability to hire the right people and, most importantly, your ability to handle stress and lead a team. When growing a business, you don’t have to put on a masquerade that you are a big, tough man or woman; however you do have to instill confidence in the people whom you are leading.  This gets harder with each hire that you make.  Businesses, without exception, must grow. Growth is a part of the game; without…

  • Tim Mai – From Fishing Boat Refugee to Real Estate Entrepreneur

    Dan Nichols
    30 Aug 2010 | 10:18 am
    I am so happy to have had a chance to not just interview Tim Mai but get to know him as a fellow entrepreneur. This guy has been through real adventure in his life. Have you ever been robbed by pirates? He has… at the ripe age of just 11. He’s not just a star in real estate investing but he’s shared his talent regularly with fellow entrepreneurs on what makes a business succeed. Check out this video for some inspiration. It’s neat to see how against a whole lot of pressure with no money at all and not even any food to eat you can emerge victorious. Enjoy!! Tim Mai…

  • Success in the Technology Business: Entrepreneurship or Stocks?

    Kalen Smith
    30 Aug 2010 | 5:00 am
    The technology business can involve different paths to success, but most of those paths rarely lead anywhere except to bankruptcy and discouragement.  These businesses are so complex and difficult for many of us to comprehend that we often simply give in to the hype that permeates the industry.  We are exposed to ideas in the media about where technology is headed and what we must do to profit off of it. True entrepreneurs know that hype and traditional wisdom are rarely worth listening to.  A recent article claims that people should consider buying stocks in businesses such as Apple and…
 
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    Slate: BizBox

  • Small Banks Still Struggle

    Steve Viuker
    1 Sep 2010 | 7:30 am
    A P is reporting that larger banks are thriving; while small ones are struggling. All of the 118 banks that have failed this year have been smaller or regional banks. Last year 140 banks shuttered, most of them small institutions. Most of the biggest banks have recovered with help from federal bailout money, record-low borrowing rates from the Federal Reserve and the ability to earn big profits from fees on banking services and investment fees FDIC Chairman Sheila Bair said banks' lending standards are beginning to ease for some types of credit. But lending will not pick up until businesses…

  • Small businesses win bigger share of federal contracts

    Steve Viuker
    31 Aug 2010 | 5:18 am
    The L A Times is reporting that small businesses won contracts worth more money from the federal government in 2009 than the year before. According to the Times, the U.S. government paid small businesses $96.8 billion last year to do a wide variety of jobs including defense work, scientific research, technological support and even janitorial services, up from $93.2 billion in 2008. That amounted to 21.89% of all federal spending on contracts and up from 21.5% the year before. By law, the United States government must track its efforts to offer contracts to small businesses owned by women,…

  • Esprida Software Is Ki (osk) To Profits

    Steve Viuker
    27 Aug 2010 | 8:59 am
    Self-service kiosks (DVD rental, photo finishing, product promotion, banking, health information, check-outs) often increase purchase options, boost impulse sales, lower per transaction costs and dispense marketing information. Additionally, they extend service beyond standard business hours and expand product offerings to locations where it does not make economic sense to staff retail outlets. In a time of thin margins and increased competition, kiosks can boost the bottom line. “Self service devices can be excellent tools for small businesses, particularly those in the retail, healthcare…

  • Glory Days Return to Asbury Park

    Steve Viuker
    19 Aug 2010 | 5:09 am
    For those of a certain age, Asbury Park is a town in New Jersey that Bruce Springsteen sings about. Indeed, a top-selling album of The Boss was titled, "Greetings From Asbury Park"; back in the 1973. But by that time, very few were sending greetings. The town, once a Jersey Shore mecca, had endured a crippling riot and the loss of both residents and businesses to nearby suburbia. LIke Miami Beach, Atlantic City and Coney Island, the "glory days' were behind it. Flash forward to the present and folks once again are sending 'greetings' from Asbury Park. "The past five years have seen businesses…

  • PaperG Offers Small Businesses The 'Write' Stuff

    Steve Viuker
    19 Aug 2010 | 4:28 am
    We can't all be like Mad Men and write compelling ad copy. But no need to cop-out. "PaperG makes it simple for small and medium-sized businesses to grow through local online advertising, even if they can’t afford an ad agency," said Victor Wong, co-founder and CEO. "PaperG's technology lets business owners automatically create a high quality display ad customized for their business, just by typing in their business name and address." (www.paperg.com) Wong explained that process guides the individual through the placement of the ad and monitors its performance across local websites; all in…
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    Money Magnet

  • Is China ending its relationship with Capitalism?

    2 Sep 2010 | 10:01 am
    I am listening to the head of GE speak in Toronto at an off-the-record speech to my secret handshake club.His remarks on China at a private function were disclosed last month and have continued to stir up debate about China and America's relationship. Here is a terrific comment in response to an article on China:I've spoken with executives at American companies that tell me they have "their own factories" in China, and they seem proud of it. But then when I ask, "Doesn't the Chinese government own 51% of your factory?" they'll then say "Yes, well, err, that's the way they do things…

  • 4 Worries for Owner Operators According to Private Equity

    1 Sep 2010 | 8:49 am
    Private equity fund managers are in touch with the business operator/owners and report that the top issues keeping these business leaders up at night are:1) Key employee retention2)  Management Succession in the C and V suites3) Customer retention4) Operational efficiencyWhat do you think?http://www.moneymagnetbook.ca

  • Entrepreneurial Businesses Drive Job Growth, says Harvard

    26 Aug 2010 | 6:57 am
    Politicians are too likely to guess wrong about which industries are worth attracting. With job growth worrying politicians, Toronto City Hall may be tempted to chase big companies to take a tax break and set up shop."That's a misguided approach," says Ed Glaeser and Bill Kerr, Harvard.Job growth and the big economic development coming from these new work roles is now proven to come from the successful incubation of "small, entrepreneurial employees--not a few big companies." Even adjusting for variables such as tax or industry, Glaeser and Kerr say, "the relationship between small firms and…

  • 4 Reasons Governments want to help Business

    25 Aug 2010 | 6:14 am
    Business owners will be able to attend a town hall on how Toronto can help business. Thanks to the Globe & Mail for sponsoring the Sept 9th discussion with the 6 mayor candidates.The economy has changed business as usual approach by government from city to country levels and encouraging a return to government involvement from puppet master to financial supporters of business. Four main forces are driving this revival of industrial policy. First is the weak state of the world economy. Governments are under pressure to reduce unemployment and stimulate growth: support for chosen…

  • Does Government Involvement in Business Help or Hinder?

    24 Aug 2010 | 6:05 am
    Toronto's Mayor candidates will talk to entrepreneurs about how the City can help. I have been asking business owners about their thoughts. These owners tend to run companies that are making a decent cash and the majority say,  "Simplify paperwork, taxes, hiring and firing rules and stay out of the way." They do not reach out for government programs like SREDS and find these annoying. Lawyers, who make a good living from explaining the difficult rules, may not like these ideas. I have also noticed that the companies that look for help from the government are often the ones…
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    Big Marketing For Small Business

  • How to Write Press Releases that Drive More Traffic to Your Website

    Rajan Sodhi
    31 Aug 2010 | 4:13 pm
    Tommy Humphreys of BCBusiness Blog offers simple tips for small and medium size businesses on how to use public relations and press releases to help promote your business. Today’s press releases can be done far more cost-effectively than ever before with all the different online tools and services available. And don’t forget the SEO and organic search relevance generated by well-crafted press releases that include your most important keywords. Remember, most press releases these days get re-published online rather than in print, so they can be advantageous in driving far more…

  • Changing Buying Behavior Means Sweating The Small Stuff

    Rajan Sodhi
    17 Jun 2010 | 5:17 pm
    Fantastic keynote from Rory Sutherland at TED about “Sweating the Small Stuff”. This is a must watch at 12min 30sec that goes by fast. He makes a compelling case that the world we live in wants to believe that big, important problems require big, important, and expensive solutions. However, the reality is that what changes our behavior is disproportionate to the amount of force and expense we apply to it. In other words, the more resources and money we use to change buying behavior, the less real impact it actually has. Take for example Virgin Atlantic Airways, who brings a salt…

  • Getting a Phone Presence Abroad With a DID Number

    Rajan Sodhi
    15 Jun 2010 | 10:58 am
    A DID number (also called DDI / virtual number) is a local telephone number in a selected area code that is forwarded to a landline,mobile, VoIP software or hardware, SIP, H.323, IAX, Skype or Google Talk anywhere in the world. For small businesses  operating internationally with limited resources and a limited budget presents a major challenge. To that end, the use of DIDs provides a multitude of advantages: DIDs covering numerous destinations worldwide can be acquired online. Through the use of a DID your customers will be able to call you at local call rates. This is particularly…

  • Cloud Storage An Affordable Place to Store All Your Web Files

    Rajan Sodhi
    2 Jun 2010 | 12:46 pm
    PEER 1 Hosting just launched CloudOne Storage, a very affordable, pay-as-you-go unlimited online storage product for all your web files and media. Starting at just $0.15 per GB per month, you can upload, store and manage unlimited data through an easy-to-use control panel or via the standards compliant Application Programming Interface (API) – the web-based interface for file management. This type of storage allows you to move your files off your web hosting server, which can dramatically increase the speed and performance of your website – which now impacts your Google quality score…

  • These Paid Search Pitfalls Deliver Poor Results

    Ryan Kelly
    12 May 2010 | 2:04 pm
    Many small businesses will revert to Google AdWords or other forms of paid search to offset any deficiencies in their SEO, or organic listings. There are a couple of things you need to know first, before you embark on a paid search campaign. 1. If your sales cycle is longer than 2 weeks from click to sale, your results might suck. This is an important one, and many people miss the mark here.  If whatever you are selling takes multiple visits, multiple people in the decision process, or is a large, emotional transaction, chances are your paid campaign will suck.  Let’s look at a few…
 
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    CNN/FORTUNE/Money: Small Business

  • Bagelers decry NY schmear tactics

    31 Aug 2010 | 8:45 am
    Any way you slice your bagel, if you slice it in New York, it's going to cost you more.

  • Car dealers fight for a second chance

    31 Aug 2010 | 8:45 am
    When Chrysler and GM filed for bankruptcy in 2009, they shuttered thousands of dealerships across the country. Fewer then one third are still in the running for a comeback.

  • Obama rips GOP for blocking aid bill

    31 Aug 2010 | 7:12 am
    President Barack Obama blasted Senate Republicans on Monday for blocking a small business assistance bill, calling their opposition "pure partisan politics."

  • Big sales from tiny shops

    31 Aug 2010 | 7:11 am
    In kiosks, trucks and other teeny spaces, entrepreneurs with big dreams but little money are shaking up the retail scene.

  • Barefoot shoes race the black market

    31 Aug 2010 | 6:58 am
    Imagine: You make a really ugly shoe, but one that takes a unique approach to ergonomics. A best-selling book heaps praise on your funny-looking footwear. A scientific study in a national journal confirms your shoe's structural excellence. Athletes go ballistic about your shoe, creating fan websites and buying the shoes faster than you can supply retailers.
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    Chief Home Officer Home Office, Home-Based Business, Remote Work, Telework & Cloud Computing

  • Bring Value: Be the Jack (Bauer) of Your Small / Home Business

    Jeff Zbar
    2 Sep 2010 | 7:58 am
    Adam Singer with The Future Buzz has a great take on the place and power of the non-conformist and provocateur in the business world. His subject: The fictional character Jack Bauer of 24. Bauer was a hard-headed, take-no-prisoners and indispensable an agent for the Counter Terrorist Unit (CTU).  He ignored orders.  He went off protocol.  That didn’t matter, he was critical to the success of the agency and the safety of the country as a whole within the context of the show. You should seek to be equally valuable to your organization and your industry – that is, if you want to have the…

  • Passive Small Business Marketing for Inquiring Minds

    Jeff Zbar
    30 Aug 2010 | 1:22 am
    People noodle. They surf. Sitting in their home office or corporate cube, they while away the moments or hours, sniffing out interesting tidbits or just exploring their environs. Are you part of those environs? Is your outreach ready to serve their inquiring minds – and possible land some new work? When you see a compelling link or comment on someone’s email signature, do you click through? Do you include such links to direct people back to your sites, services or brand? Here are a few ways to feed their need to find interesting stuff… - Tweak your email signature. Your email…

  • Are You an EntreProfessional?

    Jeff Zbar
    28 Aug 2010 | 1:02 am
    What are entreprofessionals? They’re small business owners – home office or traditionally officed – who sells their skills, knowledge and service. They can be in financial services, marketing, construction trades, software development, design, or a variety of other industries. But they share two main traits: They have very little overhead, and their businesses are built on relationships. According to John Gerber, founder of UpstartLegal.com, several clear signs proclaim when someone’s ready to become an entreprofessional. They include: 1. You are really good at what…

  • Small Business Pricing and the Cost of Loyalty

    Jeff Zbar
    24 Aug 2010 | 1:53 am
    We were pricing new flooring for our master bedroom recently. Nothing extravagant, but enough money that we needed to price-shop (heck, if you price shop for a ream of paper or a toner cartridge, I guess a room full of floors deserves similar treatment). We ended up getting our floors — and a lesson in small business pricing strategies. We called a three local flooring companies. They came out, measured our bedroom, and matched some sample product to their prices. Then I called the friend of a friend. He went through the same process — and came in 20% higher than the next highest…

  • Rockin’ to Some Home Office & Garage Band Power Solutions

    Jeff Zbar
    22 Aug 2010 | 1:30 am
    When I’m not working in my home office, I’m in a garage band. Like many bands today, we use our iPods, iPhones and MP3 players to queue up songs we want to cover. We take the player into the garage, plug it into the PA or boom box, and listen to the tunes. We’ll play tunes from the player over the PA before a gig or between sets to get or keep fans in the mood. I went to play some tunes to the other day and my iPod’s battery indicator was in the red. I searched the house for a charger, but my kids had them all hidden away who knows where (I had iPod cables, but no transformer that…
 
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    Lip-Sticking

  • Want a nonprofit job? Here’s how to stand out from the crowd.

    Amanda Ponzar
    2 Sep 2010 | 6:43 am
    Today we have a new author guest blogging at Lip-sticking. Amanda Ponzar is the Director of Communications for Global Corporate Leadership at United Way Worldwide, the world's largest privately-funded nonprofit. You can read more about Amanda on the team page. Enjoy Amanda's insight on non-profits, today and every other Thursday, going forward. I just read a story in the New York Times about young lawyers choosing public interest work rather than making the big bucks. With the economy taking a trip to Hades in a hand basket, why on earth do people choose to make less money to work for…

  • YouTube's Life in a Day project showcases 80,000 videos from one day in July

    Donna DeClemente
    1 Sep 2010 | 12:28 pm
    By Guest Blogger, Donna DeClemente, Donna's Promo Talk Today is the first of September. It feels strange to say September first because we're having a heat wave with a week of 90 degree days. So it definitely still feels like summer. However, it begs the question, were did the summer go?  I've been keeping up with my online reading this week and the bloggers and columnists who are not on vacation are writing about vacation. We're all supposed to take this last week before Labor Day to unplug, unwind and relax and then jump back in next week. Easier said then done, right? So here's an…

  • Professional Blogging: Susan Getgood describes...

    Yvonne
    29 Aug 2010 | 2:22 pm
    professional blogging as a blogger with "an interest in a subject..." to the point that the professional blogger, "has an interest, a professional objective, and a plan to achieve it." We've discussed the idea of planning more than once, on this blog. I recommend a plan - not always a full-blown business plan to get you started, but a plan that includes what you want to do, how you will do it, and why it's worth doing. That goes for being a professional blogger, also. Planning is vital to your success. Those who stumble along without a plan...will be trailing behind those who sit down and…

  • Back-to-school shopping season is the "holiday season" for OfficeMax and Payless

    Donna DeClemente
    27 Aug 2010 | 11:55 am
    By Guest Blogger, Donna DeClemente, Donna's Promo Talk Tomorrow my younger daughter, Alex, is heading back to college to start her sophomore year at the University of Buffalo. She'll only be 70 miles west of us, so we'll still see her occasionally on the weekends. Our older daughter, Kelsey, will be leaving on Monday to start her study abroad semester at NYU's campus in Florence, Italy. So we definitely won't be seeing her on the weekends. Soon it will be just my husband and I again in our house with our two dogs and two cats.....ahhhh! Last week I wrote this post, Back-to-school time is here…

  • Bring Susan B. Anthony Home

    Yvonne
    27 Aug 2010 | 8:06 am
    It's the 90th anniversary of the ratification of the 19th Amendment, granting women the right to vote. If you don't know how hard Susan B. Anthony worked to bring this to pass, including her arrest for voting, you need to go back to school and brush up on your American History. The good people of the Susan B. Anthony House in Rochester, NY have created a dynamic program to help her celebrate this outstanding achievement - as she did not live long enough to see the 19th Amendment passed. Let's promote this message: Bring Miss Anthony home! Click this link, or the picture of the Susan B.
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    OnStartups

  • 23 Tweetable Startup Insights From Seth Godin

    Dharmesh Shah
    1 Sep 2010 | 10:23 am
    Regular readers of this blog know that I’m a long-time admirer of Seth Godin.  He’s one of those “big thinkers” that has the added talent of being able to articulate high-level concepts in an immensely approachable way.  That’s a very rare, and dare I say remarkable intersection of abilities. The following is a list of short, pithy insights that I’ve been collecting from Seth’s Blog over the past few months.  They were not all written specifically for startups, but I found them to be particularly relevant for entrepreneurs.  I,…

  • Announcing My New Startup Project: The Most Ambitious Yet

    Dharmesh Shah
    26 Aug 2010 | 7:59 am
    I am thrilled to announce my most recent — and most ambitious — startup project to date.  My wife Kirsten and I are now expecting our first child — I’m going to be a dad! New Ambitous Startup Project: The Details 1. Funding:  Unlike my current startup HubSpot (which has raised $33 million in venture capital), this particular project will be self-funded.  Hopefully, it won’t be quite as capital intensive. 2. Founding Team: Though both founders are new to the domain, we hope to make up for the inexperience with passion and perseverance. 3.

  • Video From Business Of Software 2009: Building Great Software Businesses

    Dharmesh Shah
    23 Aug 2010 | 8:52 am
    Of the several conferences I attend or speak each at each year, my favorite is the Business of Software conference organized be Neil Davidson (of Red Gate) and Joel Spolsky (of Fog Creek).  There are several reasons for this.  The speakers are great and have enough stage time to really get into the topic they’re passionate about.  There’s no no “sponsor fluff”.  You can’t pay your way into a speaking spot.  There are no booths.  No panels.  It’s single track so you don’t have to make hard decisions around which…

  • 6 Simple Selling Tips For Software Entrepreneurs

    Dharmesh Shah
    20 Aug 2010 | 9:44 am
    The following is a guest post by David Mytton founder of Boxed Ice, which provides software for server monitoring.  Deep down inside, many software entrepreneurs really dislike selling.  This article provides some practical tips for “selling without selling”.  That is, ways to avoid having to be that stereotypical "sales guy". - Dharmesh "Sales" is sometimes perceived with an aura of mystery. As a developer, it's something I always assumed was reserved for a "real salesperson" and even though I was selling our products, I thought it was because the customer had come…

  • The Magical Founding Team Mix For Web Startups

    Dharmesh Shah
    16 Aug 2010 | 9:23 am
    At a startup dinner I had with a bunch of really smart software entrepreneurs in Austin, Texas during SXSW earlier this year, something really struck me.  Of the 8 founders at the dinner, half of them had a design/ui/ux background.  This got me to thinking: What would the ideal founding team at a web startup look like? [Note: I'm experimenting with a new feature that allows inline tweeting from the article.  Please click one of the twitter buttons in the article to try it out.  Thanks.] Magical Web Startup Founding Team #1. Developer.  If a web…
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    Junta42 Content Marketing blog

  • In-source or Outsource Content Marketing?

    Joe Pulizzi
    31 Aug 2010 | 9:22 am
    The answer is...Yes. According to a soon-to-be-released research report from MarketingProfs/Junta42, 55% of b-to-b marketers outsource some portion of their content marketing. Larger companies (1,000 employees or more) are 60% more likely to outsource than micro-companies (less than 10 employees). Makes sense, right?  Smaller companies with smaller budgets doing more with less resources. It may make sense, but business-wise, it's not smart. In my opinion, 100% of companies should be outsourcing at least part of their content marketing. Don't get me wrong...it's natural to…

  • Brian Solis Rocks Latest Junta42 Top Content Marketing Blogs

    Joe Pulizzi
    25 Aug 2010 | 7:54 pm
    This is our ninth installment of the Junta42 Top 42 Content Marketing Blogs.  Since our first back in January of 2008, Brian Solis has finished in the Top 10 five times, including a second, fourth and fifth place. This time the popular author, speaker and social media blogger earned a clear first place. Congratulations Brian. We started with reviewing 81 content marketing related blogs in 2007.  Today's Top 42 contains nearly 400 blogs. For those interested, here's how we judge the Top 42. Special thanks to our lead researcher, Janet Robbins, who goes through each one of…

  • Content Marketing is like Social Work 101 [guest post]

    Joe Pulizzi
    24 Aug 2010 | 5:22 pm
    The following is a guest post from Pam Kozelka, Junta42's Director of Operations. My background is in social work.  I know that makes absolutely no sense, but as I got older and had kids I realized it wasn’t for me anymore (at least full time).  So now I dig content marketing and social media.   I just read a post from MediaPost called It's about the Consumer Stupid and it really resonated with me.  Here’s why.   Lately a lot of the projects we have been getting at Junta42 are what we call content-only projects.  They are successful brands who know that…

  • Joshua Steals Show at 2010 Junta42 Golf for Autism

    Joe Pulizzi
    20 Aug 2010 | 8:26 am
    The 4th Annual Junta42 Golf for Autism on August 16th at the beautiful Acacia Country Club was indeed special this year. Yes, we had more golfers this year.  Yes, we had more sponsors this year.  To date, we've raised almost $50,000 to support the Easter Seals Northern Ohio autism services (setting a record this year). So many people to thank.  So many (see below). But without a doubt, Joshua stole the show. This year, Joshua told his story.  The video says it all. Transcript is below. My name is Joshua Pulizzi and I am eight years old, almost…

  • Smaller Companies Spend More on Content Marketing

    Joe Pulizzi
    19 Aug 2010 | 6:59 pm
    Only a few weeks left until we release our findings from the 2010 B2B Content Marketing Study from Junta42 and MarketingProfs with assistance from the Business Marketing Association and American Business Media. One thing that caught our attention was the difference in content marketing spending and tactics between small companies and larger business-to-business companies. A few key highlights: Small companies (those with less than 10 employees) blog more than large companies (over 1000 employees) at nearly double the rate (64% to 39%). Small companies have been faster to adopt social media…
 
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    Shoestring Branding

  • Is Pepsi OK?

    15 Aug 2010 | 8:23 pm
    Photo Credits: waferboard Go to a restaurant and order a Coke.  If the restaurant doesn’t carry Coke, the waiter will then ask you: “is Pepsi OK?”  I’ve heard this hundreds of times through many years and haven’t once heard anybody make a big deal about it.  Most likely, the answer is: “sure, that’s OK”.  The moral of the story: just because people know your brand doesn’t mean they’re going to buy it.  Coke has one of the highest, if not the highest, brand awareness in the world, however that doesn’t stop diners from being perfectly OK with having Pepsi…

  • The bridge to nowhere

    2 Aug 2010 | 11:13 am
    A couple of weeks ago I visited the Brazilian city of Manaus and took this picture of the bridge that is being build between the mainland and the small locality of Iranduba. Most of my Brazilian friends, pointing out that there was nothing on the other side, were quick to dismiss the project as a white elephant dreamed up by corrupt politicians so that they could enrich themselves. Given the nature of Brazil’s regional politics, there could certainly be an element of truth to that.  On the other hand, however, maybe the reason why there is nothing on the other side is that people can’t…

  • Are you treating your customers like rock stars?

    23 May 2010 | 5:39 pm
    I found this video of Aerosmith’s recent visit to Lima, Peru. It shows Steven Tyler, the legendary vocalist of the band, upon his arrival to the hotel as he pauses to snap pictures of the hundred or so fans that had congregated outside the hotel to welcome them. This small gesture may seem trivial but it really is not. Do you really think that Tyler, a veteran rock star who has performed for millions of people around the globe was so impressed by the handful of screaming fans that he felt compelled to produce his camera and start taking pictures? Of course not. So, why did he do it? To make…

  • Turning Problems into Opportunities

    2 May 2010 | 8:19 pm
    The elevator at the hotel I was staying last week had a sign that read: “Please allow 30 minutes for check-out in order not to disrupt your schedule”. The hotel had a problem: it couldn’t check people out fast enough. But they also had a choice. They could: a. Make it a customer’s problem b. Turn the problem into an opportunity They chose (a) and hanged the little sign in the elevator. Compare that approach to what this South Florida hospital is doing about another situation where customers don’t like to wait: emergency room visits. National average emergency room wait time is about…

  • Book review: Presentation Zen Design

    9 Apr 2010 | 7:43 pm
    I read and enjoyed the original Presentation Zen by Garr Reynolds, but felt that something was missing. While the book did a great job at explaining the planning and delivery stages of effective presentations, it didn’t offer much about the actual design phase. While some praised the fact that Presentation Zen was not “a book about making slides” I actually did want a book that could teach me how to make attractive, clear and effective slides. Presentation Zen Design is that book. In it, you will find actionable, how-to advice on topics like: choosing the the right font,…
 
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    Selling to Big Companies

  • If You're Crazy-Busy Too, This Might Help

    Jill Konrath
    1 Sep 2010 | 5:48 am
    Ever read a book and saw yourself in it? That's what happened recently when Mike started reading my new book, SNAP Selling.  As I described today's frazzled prospects who are struggling to get everything done, it hit home. But what really bothered him was when I pointed out that their frenetic multi-tasking actually caused them to accomplish less.  He knew it was true, but didn't know how could he stop this sales-derailing behavior. So he wrote to me for advice. Here are some of my suggestions:  Block out times in the day where you are uninterrupted.

  • Top Sales Resources: August 2010

    Jill Konrath
    30 Aug 2010 | 6:42 am
    Check these resources from colleagues whom I highly respect: A-Game SellingBy Leisa Mohler-EricksonIn this  ebook, Leisa says, "Back to basics" strategies are akin to rearranging the deck chairs on the Titanic --a losing proposition to effectively leapfrog the competition." She's absolutely right. Achieving an A-game requires a laser-focus on driving meaningful behavioral shifts throughout the ranks. Download A-Game Selling_________________100 B2B Sales Interview Questions By Lee SalzIf you're a sales manager, you'll love this ebook because Lee nets out…

  • What Do You Need to Master the World of Selling?

    Jill Konrath
    24 Aug 2010 | 3:04 pm
    Just a quick note today about a new book that's out called, "Mastering the World of Selling." This book, edited by Eric Taylor and David Riklan, includes articles from top sales experts, premier training companies, as well as the old masters. As someone who was selected as a contributor, I can assure you I gave them my "best stuff."  So did everyone else. You'll find articles from sales gurus/authors such as: Charlie Green, Trust-Based Selling Neil Rackham, SPIN Selling Linda Richardson, Perfect Selling Tony Parinello, Selling to VITO Colleen Francis, Honesty…

  • Social Selling to Crazy-Busy Prospects

    Jill Konrath
    23 Aug 2010 | 7:44 am
    Recently I had a chance to talk with Umberto Milletti, CEO of InsideView, about his perceptions on the changing sales landscape and the emerging concept of "social selling."Jill: How do you see social media impacting salespeople? I'm talking about things like blogs, twitter, Digg, YouTube and more.Umberto: Salespeople are now facing a new breed of prospect that I call Customer 2.0. These are socially-engaged and well-informed buyers. They have abundant visibility into the companies they are considering doing business with. They've done their homework.Plus, the control of a…

  • Creating Content that Attracts Prospects to You

    Jill Konrath
    20 Aug 2010 | 6:48 am
    Recently I had a conversation with Chas. Cooper about how important content is to capturing the attention of today's crazy-busy people. Personally, I believe if salespeople don't have quality content for all three stages of their prospect's decision process, they're fighting a tough battle that's hard to win. Good content is delicious. It makes your prospects want more. They can't wait to take another bite. Mmmmm good.   That's why, when Chas posted the resulting article on his blog, I asked if I could share it with you. Here it is!Maximizing the…
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    Caskey Sales Training │ Sales Strategy │ Leadership │ Indianapolis

  • Do You Understand Your Sales Funnel?

    Bill Caskey
    16 Aug 2010 | 6:45 am
    The proverbial sales funnel seems to be the ‘defacto’ way to measure results. No, it’s not always ‘revenue in’…it’s “what’s in your pipeline?” (Do you wake up in the of a nightmare hearing your sales leader shouting that question to you?) Not sure how we got to this point, but this short video blows up a little of our preoccupation with “funnel” because it highlights an important part–not all people in your sales funnel are equal. Nor should they be treated that way.

  • How Do You Demonstrate Value Before You Deliver It?

    Bill Caskey
    16 Jul 2010 | 4:00 am
    It’s the duh statement of the century: “My clients love me, and they have experience with getting great value from me. My problem is: How do I get people who haven’t worked with me to believe in my value?” Duh Isn’t that the essence of what salesmanship is? How do you demonstrate the value of your solution in advance of delivering it? And if you can do that, won’t you improve your closing percentage and increase your customer acquisition rate? So How Do You Demonstrate Your Value? I was in a training session last week with a company that sells a distributed product—in other…

  • Is Business Networking Still a “Must”?

    Bill Caskey
    15 Jul 2010 | 12:38 pm
    Recently got a call from Josh Hinds, a blogger-business networking specialist. He asked me to comment on some questions he’s posing to industry experts about networking. It caused me to think a little about business networking — and how I used to feel something was wrong with me because I didn’t like it. And wasn’t good at it. In his interview, I give you a few ideas you can try if networking is a ‘must-do’ for you in growing your business. Here are my responses on Josh’s blog.

  • I Love “Low-Hanging Fruit”

    Bill Caskey
    14 Jul 2010 | 4:00 am
    Why does “low-hanging fruit” get a bad rap. Why shouldn’t every business-to-business sales organization be totally focused on low-hanging fruit? Answer: They should. In my world (the world of sales training), low-hanging fruit is defined as the following: A business that has a problem that they are totally committed to admitting and fixing, and they don’t need a salesperson convincing them that they should do something about it. A business organization that has the funds to devote to solving the problem. (In other words, they have the budget and/or will spend money to fix it.) A…

  • Block and Tackle

    Brooke Green
    29 Jun 2010 | 2:30 am
    Do you ever feel like your business isn’t flashy or tricky enough? You know, you’ve been doing the same thing for a lot of years, successfully. However, you start to take it for granted and think you need to gussy it up a bit. Don’t be so quick to throw out the stuff that works. I recently lost a prospective client for that very reason. He and I had some great conversations. He thought I could help his team. I put together a beautiful recommendation. What could possibly be the problem? I asked him to have lunch with me to explain to me why he chose someone else. Here’s what he told…
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    B2B Lead Generation

  • B2B Marketing: Playbook for sales and marketing alignment

    Brian Carroll
    20 Aug 2010 | 10:54 am
    Be honest. How does Sales perceive the leads Marketing produces? They love them – couldn’t be happier! They complain about lead quality. They complain about lead volume. The say leads, what leads? Marketing gives us leads? If you chose answer number #1, the first thing I would say is, “Well done.” The second thing I would say is, “When is the last time you’ve talked with your sales team?”  The lack of synergy between Sales and Marketing on lead generation is so common as to risk cliché. To help sales and marketing teams address this issue, on September 15th in San Jose, CA…

  • How to Generate Leads Using Search and Social Media webinar

    Brian Carroll
    18 Aug 2010 | 12:29 pm
    Join me for a complimentary live webinar with MarketingSherpa's Todd Lebo and Jen Doyle on “How to Generate Leads Using Search and Social Media” Here's a chart of how Marketers are currently using Social Media.  You're probably hearing the words "inbound marketing" more and more these days. The idea is simple - your sales team's pipeline magically fills as prospects seek your company out. Of course, it's easier said than done. To help generate revenue using search engines and social media sites you'll learn the following:  How to effectively deploy a search and social media…

  • B2B Marketing: What are your biggest challenges and opportunities in the year ahead?

    Brian Carroll
    6 Aug 2010 | 7:15 am
    B2B marketers have been hit hard in recent years and have faced enormous challenges. One of the greatest challenges marketers continue to face is converting leads to pipeline revenue which could actually be the result of a bigger problem — marketers not generating high-quality leads in the first place. This week, MarketingSherpa launched their 2011 B2B Marketing Benchmark Survey and they’re looking for B2B Marketers to provide their data and insights via this short survey. It’s your opportunity to give your opinion on best practices, tactics and results in the key areas of marketing…

  • Marketing Leader’s Perspective: No cogs allowed in social media and content marketing

    Brian Carroll
    26 Jul 2010 | 9:15 am
    If you lead a team of marketers, you likely have a creative bunch. People who, ideally, have a lot of passion about what they do – the key ingredient for successful social media and content marketing. But that natural passion can easily get buried under layers of indiscernible corporate fiat. So how do you help your team break free of the stultifying grind that makes the average enterprise run? How do you make sure they don’t just feel like a cog in the wheel mindlessly hewing to corporate policy and filling spreadsheets all day? I sat down with Daniel Burstein, the Editor of…

  • Learn the New Rules for Selling to Crazy-Busy Prospects

    Brian Carroll
    21 Jun 2010 | 11:59 am
    For those of us in marketing and sales, our jobs are even tougher thanks to the busy lives of the decision makers we're trying to reach. Overwhelmed, impossible deadlines, crazy busy - these are just some of the words today's decision makers are using to describe their lives at work - and probably outside of work as well. The biggest hurdle we need to overcome is cutting through the clutter to show the decision makers information that is relevant and that will help them make their lives easier. That’s why I’ve invited Jill Konrath, author of Selling to Big Companies and her…
 
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    About.com Entrepreneurs

  • Getting Your Heads Around a Problem

    1 Sep 2010 | 9:17 am
    If you're a small business owner or entrepreneur, you probably know the feeling of having strategic problems and not knowing where to turn for advice. A solution worth considering is joining a group (or forming one) of like-minded people who can support you in your business by offering their perspectives, and for whom you can do the same. These types of groups are often called Mastermind groups. Read more...Read Full Post

  • A Mega-Billionaire Seeks a Few More Mega-Billions

    29 Aug 2010 | 2:44 am
    Microsoft co-founder and uber-billionaire Paul Allen owns a ton of assets, most of which can fit on the head of a pin (with room to spare). His assets are mostly patents on technologies acquired over the years....Read Full Post

  • Corporate Sales Executive Leaves Security Behind to Focus on Wine

    28 Aug 2010 | 3:47 am
    What would you do after a getting a degree in supply chain management from Penn State and making a great living selling software to corporate accounts? Become a wine coach, of course. Laurie Forster is The Wine Coach, making her living speaking to corporate and association groups and educating them about wine. Her path from high-powered software sales to entrepreneurship actually makes a lot of sense and teaches a number of valuable lessons for people who are considering going from executive to entrepreneur. Read more...

  • 20 Excellent TED Talks for Small Business Owners

    27 Aug 2010 | 3:41 am
    Onlineuniversities.com, an online resource for students interested in going to college online, has done a nice thing for small business owners: they've aggregated a series of interesting talks on entrepreneurship given at TED conferences.  TED (which stands for Technology, Entertainment, Design) is an organization that holds several conferences a year featuring top speakers from the arts, technology, politics and science....Read Full Post

  • The Good and the Ugly of Presentations

    20 Aug 2010 | 2:40 am
    I've written from time to time about effective presentations and my hatred of PowerPoint. A great blog post by content marketing expert Newt Barrett shows a perfect comparison between a great and miserable presentation. On the great side is Steve Jobs. The example Newt uses is Jobs's introduction of the iPhone4. No matter what you think of the phone, apparently the pitch was perfect.  A few great big images, very clear speaking points, delivered by the salesman of all salesman.  Then there's Microsoft and CEO Steve Ballmer bringing up the rear with an awful, complex explanation of Windows 7…
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    Solutions Are Power

  • ProductCamp DC Recap

    Steve Fisher
    2 Sep 2010 | 10:00 am
    This past Saturday on a beautiful sunny day in Northern Virginia, about 70 people passionate about building great products came out for the first ProductCampDC. Hosted by Network Solutions in Herndon, VA the space was great for three parallel tracks of topics that ranged from mobile product innovation, three types of product managers, adventures in P&L and managing engineers. Great Presentations All Around Shashi Bellamkonda, our Social Media Swami, was in attendance to take some great pictures of ProductCampDC and did a great write up on the Washington Business Journal and some of his…

  • The Importance of the Personal Connection

    Monika Jansen
    2 Sep 2010 | 5:00 am
    Photo courtesy of Pietro 999/Flickr When you are a small business owner, not only are you your business, you are also your brand and your #1 salesperson.  Take Steve Jobs.  Yes, I know he is not a small business owner, but he’s an excellent example of the connection between the company leader and the brand.  Chances are, when you think of Apple, you probably also think of him.   Now let’s throw out the names of some other big companies that are part of our lives: Coca-Cola, Nike, Pottery Barn, Gap.  Unless you work for or are a shareholder in one of these companies, I can pretty much…

  • All About Gnomedex 10 – How Volunteering, Tech & Great Women Inspired Tech Mavens (VIDEO)

    Ken Yeung
    1 Sep 2010 | 10:00 am
    If you don’t know Shauna Causey, then you’re missing out. She’s one of the best tech people in Seattle and she’s focused on at least three things: volunteering, technology and women in the industry. So I suppose it’s not that surprising that she decided to create a great organization with Melody Biringer called Tech Mavens designed to help empower and increase exposure of women in the tech scene. Formerly of Comcast, Causey is now working at Ants Eye View and is always out to help connect with people and get others to give back through volunteering. In this…
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    Ready Fire Aim

  • Get Financially Organized – A 20 Something’s Guide to the Real World

    Bill D'Alessandro
    23 Aug 2010 | 6:02 am
    My younger brother just graduated from college this year and is getting settled into a new job, life on his own, and financial independence. Along with his first paycheck, he’s also been bombarded with a lot of new financial choices and a lot of acronyms (IRA, 401k, etc). Everyone knows they should be saving money, but the reality is that nobody ever tells you exactly how to go about it short of stuffing cash under your mattress. This post isn’t going to be an in depth discussion of what stocks to buy or how much of your net worth to put in bonds – rather, I want to focus on…

  • Twitter, Tumblr, and Facebook: Is “Stream-based” Publishing a Step Back?

    Bill D'Alessandro
    11 Aug 2010 | 1:14 pm
    I used to use an RSS reader. Then I discovered Twitter and found a ton of new and interesting people to follow. Interesting people that posted interesting content. I quickly adopted Twitter as a way to find new content and began checking my feed reader less and less. Twitter’s RSS feeds are far too frequently updated to make sense in a feed reader, so I gradually abandoned RSS entirely and relied solely on Twitter to follow my friends and discover new content. Trouble was, if you weren’t on Twitter or weren’t tweeting your blog posts, it was hard for me to keep up with your…

  • The Six Principles of Influence

    Bill D'Alessandro
    1 Jun 2010 | 6:57 am
    I recently made a personal commitment to read more books, so I turned to the lengthy “Saved Items” cart on Amazon that I had been filling with friends’ recommendations for the past 18 months and ordered several titles. The first to arrive was Dr. Robert Cialdini’s fascinating and bestselling book “Influence: The Psychology of Persuasion”, which had been recommended to me by several friends, acquaintances, and subject matter experts, including Tim Ferriss, Guy Kawasaki, and Noah Kagan. In is book, Cialdini (formerly a nationally renowned professor of…

  • The Coming Chinese Internet Tsunami

    Bill D'Alessandro
    19 May 2010 | 7:38 am
    I have begun to think and write about China more and more lately; there is such an incredible opportunity across the Pacific that seems largely unobserved by a majority of Americans. The Chinese economy and population base is so large and modernizing so rapidly, and has transformed from 3rd world to 1st world in a matter of decades (that same evolution took us hundreds of years here in America). As you can see in this chart from Google, China’s internet adoption has blown past the United States, both in terms of growth rate and sheer number of users. And they’re still at only 20%…

  • A Study of Infographics

    Bill D'Alessandro
    6 May 2010 | 6:57 am
    I wrote earlier about the increasingly visual nature of media and news in today’s society. The prior post focused mostly on photography, but there is another visual technique that has risen dramatically in prominence in recent years, particularly online – the infographic. Infographics aim to make complex data sets easy to digest and understand. An entire newspaper has risen to prominence due to the quality of its infographics. There are whole blogs dedicated to the subject. A good infographic can pack a lot of data into a small space and help the viewer to draw out a pattern or…
 
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    Think Like A Consultant

  • Five Questions to Ask Every New Client

    One of the most important aspects of doing consulting work is identifying the needs of the client. This is not always easy! Some consulting clients do not fully realize the full scope of their needs at first, or they might need different things than they think they need. The role of the consultant is to [...]

  • Getting Paid In Your Consulting Business

    With the technological advances of today’s banking system, there are more options to get revenue into your consulting bank account. There are advantages to accepting more than one payment method from your clients. One of the most important is convenience for your clients, which will start off a business relationship on a good note. The [...]

  • 31 Days To A Better Blog

    Most people agree that it’s good practice for a consultant to blog. It’s a way to show expertise in your field, to attract clients and to network with peers. But transforming your blog into something that shines is another matter. Enter Darren Rowse, a career blogger who writes posts as naturally as a bird sings. [...]

  • Do You Need An Ergonomic Office Chair?

    Most people who have been around an office environment for some time have seen the distinctive mesh chairs that many employees covet. Herman Miller’s Aeron Chairs are typically accepted as being among the best for comfort and ergonomic design, so we tried one out. Although there are several styles and materials, all the chairs have [...]

  • Tough Times? Stay Afloat With New Client Business

    Given the current economic climate, landing new clients and generating new business is clearly challenging. “Sorry, we just don’t have the budget at this time,” seems to play over and over again like a broken record, rendering even the most thick-skinned of us weary. It can be all too tempting for freelancers and contract consultants [...]
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    Mine Your Own Business

  • New Employee Training

    Randy Alletag
    1 Sep 2010 | 1:53 pm
    As the economy starts to improve, most small businesses will eventually hire new employees as their business grows. It is crucial for the employee to be trained effectively both so the employee can grow in their job over time and...

  • Chaos Control for Small Businesses

    Randy Alletag
    30 Aug 2010 | 9:29 am
    We've posted so frequently on the challenges facing any small business owner that we even have a specific category for it titled Balancing Business and Personal Life. Now comes a new article in Small Business Trends that describes how more...

  • One Dilemma Facing Small Businesses

    Randy Alletag
    26 Aug 2010 | 11:15 am
    As we've frequently covered in Mine Your Own Business, small businesses by their very nature face a number of challenges. Some we've covered are finding and keeping good employees, customer service issues, increasing sales, effective pricing, getting new customers.....the list...

  • Help for Procrastinators

    Randy Alletag
    24 Aug 2010 | 2:59 pm
    Like many people, I've always had a problem with procrastination. I've always used the excuse that it is genetic since my Mother is a bad about procrastinating and is also a pack rat and I am guilty of both vices....

  • Organize Ideas Effectively

    Randy Alletag
    20 Aug 2010 | 2:02 pm
    There was a good article in USA Today that started with the premise that most small business owners come up with all kinds of new ideas to increase sales and improve their businesses. In fact so many that frequently it...
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    Bizinformer

  • Your Human Capital in Small Business

    27 Aug 2010 | 2:13 am
    © opensourcewayStarting a small business and managing its growth begins with a great idea --why not start it up right! Whether you embark on a home-based small business or envision a larger franchise, your dedication, vision and talents are your most valuable assets. MONEY: 1. DO remember that time = money. Save on your expenditures by using your own human capital, which includes time, service, and talent. 2. DON'T spend everything you make or take out unnecessary loans. Spending money doesn't always mean ...

  • 5 Myths About Job Searching

    20 Jul 2010 | 1:00 am

  • Job Market Grows Sharply In U.S. Capital

    19 Jul 2010 | 1:00 am
    © VinothChandarAccording to Businessweek.com, the jobs have grown the greatest in Washington D.C., based on a survey of the 100 largest metropolitan areas across the country regarding their hiring forecasts during the first three quarters of this year. Next to the nation's capital are San Antonio in Texas and Greenville in South Carolina. The worst employment outlooks are in Las Vegas and Reno in Nevada and Detroit, Michigan. About 23 percent of employers in Washington are planning to increase staffing level in the ...

  • What People Think About You And Your Workspace

    18 Jul 2010 | 2:04 am
    © martinroellYou spend most of your office hours at your desk, so you have a tendency to make it a bit more personal in its appearance. That makes sense. But you have to realize what you put on your desk gives other people clues about your efficiency, sociability and your competence. So pay attention to those small details lest, you give your supervisor and colleagues the wrong signals about your work ethics. You'd rather be doing something else. This is usually seen from pictures ...

  • 5 Habits That Irritate Your Boss

    6 Jul 2010 | 6:03 pm
 
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    the Selling Sherpa

  • Sales Tip of the Day: URGENT

    The $elling $herpa
    2 Sep 2010 | 12:01 am
    You have a great product, service, or treatment, and a great presentation, and your prospect still puts off making a purchase? Obviously, they don’t perceive their need as an urgent one.  So, what can you do about it? Well, if you sell to businesses, break down how much money they are losing each year, month, week, day or even hour that they go without your solution.  When they see a number larger than the price of what you sell, they’ll buy. And if you sell to consumers, take the same practical approach by breaking down how little it really costs to own what you sell. Either way,…

  • Sales Tip of the Day: YOU GET WHAT YOU GIVE

    The $elling $herpa
    1 Sep 2010 | 12:01 am
    What are you lacking most right now that would help you make sales?  Connections?  Referrals?  Introductions? If you need more of any of these, chances are you haven’t been giving them out either. My experience is the more I help others, the more I get the help I need.  Sometimes it doesn’t happen precisely on my time schedule, but it usually comes through for me at the precise moment when it’s needed most. You get what you give, so start giving out introductions and referrals everywhere you can. Trust me, it will come back to you. © 2010 YOU ROCK!™ Communications SEE BOB BURG…

  • Sales Tip of the Day: LOVIN’ EVERY MINUTE OF IT

    The $elling $herpa
    31 Aug 2010 | 12:01 am
    Sometimes I hear from sales people who are experiencing frustration. For whatever reason, they find themselves selling a product, service or treatment they don’t really believe in or, worse, working for a firm that doesn’t understand the true spirit of customer service. Most of the time, my response is the same:  find something else to sell. Every day should be a joy at the opportunity to serve others and really make a positive difference for your customers, whether consumers or businesses. If it’s not, you will never bring all of your skill and talent to bear, and you won’t be able…

  • Sales Tip of the Day: SURRENDER

    The $elling $herpa
    30 Aug 2010 | 12:01 am
    A customer calls and complains. The shipment didn’t arrive on time, the product was damaged in transit, the size, color, or model is wrong, the charges showed up twice on their credit card...for whatever reason, they are mad and feel the need to dress you down for the problem. You could immediately try to explain or justify the problem.  Most of the time, that will simply antagonize the situation. Instead of defending your company, customer support, or commodity, try something different. Surrender. Tell them you completely understand how mad they must be.  Admit there is probably no point…

  • Sales Tip of the Day: NOT FADE AWAY

    The $elling $herpa
    27 Aug 2010 | 12:01 am
    If you really want to be #1 in your market, you’ve got to know what prospects and customers expect from you. Here’s just a few important items on their want list: • They want you to really listen to them and not just blab on and on about you or what you sell. • They want to know you really care about helping them solve their problems. • They want you to be a knowledgeable resource so you can guide them through the process. • They want to know you will charge a fair price for a fair product or service. (You can use “good”, “excellent”, or “outstanding” in place of…
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    Future Changes

  • Steve Jobs: Choose “Things That are in Their Springs”

    Stewart Mader
    2 Sep 2010 | 8:44 am
    Steve Jobs, speaking at the D8 conference, explains how Apple chooses the technologies to include in their products: Apple is a company that doesn’t have the most resources of everybody in the world, and the way we’ve succeeded is by choosing what horses to ride really carefully – technically. We try to look for these technical vectors that have a future, and that are headed up, and, you know, different pieces of technology kind of go in cycles. They have their springs and summers, and autumns, and then they, you know, go to the graveyard of technology. And, so we try to…

  • 99¢ Could Change TV Like it Changed Music

    Stewart Mader
    1 Sep 2010 | 1:31 pm
    Apple’s announcement of a new Apple TV device with 99¢ TV episode rentals could have an impact on the cable TV industry much like the impact that 99¢ songs had on the recording industry. To understand this, lets’s start with a quick history lesson on music sales. Some bands produce true albums, where the entire recording is meant to be listened to as a unit. Other musical acts record songs, but don’t necessarily produce albums. When music sales were dominated by the CD, record labels tried to make every collection of songs into an album, and they would promote a few…

  • Bloomberg’s Purpose, Stated With Clarity and Confidence

    Stewart Mader
    1 Sep 2010 | 8:44 am
    This sentence about Bloomberg’s purpose exudes clarity and confidence. No “mission statement” jargon gets in the way of what it’s there to convey. It’s ambitious, and makes you want to be part of the action.

  • Guy Creese: “Usability” Sets iPad Apart From Notebooks

    Stewart Mader
    1 Sep 2010 | 8:25 am
    Guy Creese, Research VP at Gartner, on using his iPad during a family vacation: The interesting thing is that from a feature point-of-view I could have done the same thing with a 3G notebook. However, it’s the usability of the iPad (instant on, weighs very little, tablet interface, custom built tablet apps) that makes all the difference. What would have been a laborious, “Let me wait three minutes while my laptop boots up and then I’ll start typing” process turned into, “Let me open up my electronic book and then I’ll just do a little pointing and clicking.”

  • A Good Editor: Quality Assurance for Language & Meaning

    Stewart Mader
    31 Aug 2010 | 11:32 am
    In July, I linked to an article about an experiment conducted at IBM to measure the impact of an editor on content. That study found a quantifiable improvement: a 30% increase in reader response to content that had been edited versus raw content. Besides overseeing and improving the quality of content, editors are also responsible for keeping the trains running, so to speak. In Real Editors Ship, Paul Ford explains, with examples, why projects need editors: I recently left zineland and did a bunch of freelance work and hooboy do people not know how to ship. A three-year project that yielded…
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    ScottFox.com - Internet Riches - e-Riches 2.0

  • Which domain name should I use? (Cheap PPC Market Testing!)

    Scott Fox, eRiches 2.0 and Internet Riches Author
    1 Sep 2010 | 10:21 am
    Dear Scott Fox,I've hit a roadblock in building my new website business. I have 10 domain names registered but do not know which one to choose. Do I pick the domain name that's the easiest to remember, the easiest to spell, the one that might be the best for SEO, or??? I am at a loss as to which domain name to pick and it's holding things up. Thank you!! Michael S.ClickMillionaires.com MemberEscanaba, Michigan SCOTT FOX'S ANSWER Hi Michael, Congrats on the progress with your new web site business! If you don't have a strong "gut" inclination about which domain…

  • Radio Guests: How to Find Guests for Podcasts and Radio Shows

    Scott Fox, eRiches 2.0 and Internet Riches Author
    31 Aug 2010 | 5:39 am
    Radio Guests: If you are a podcaster, or a small market radio station or local TV show, you'd probably like to know how to get better guests and experts and authors to interview on your program. RadioGuestList.com helps you find better guests for your radio, TV, or podcast talk shows.  I started this free service as part of the research for my latest book, e-Riches 2.0, and to help find better guests for my own podcast radio show. Watch this short 3 minute video to learn more about how RadioGuestList.com can help you find better guests and experts to interview on your…

  • SEO: The Easiest Tip (not Article Spinning) - Video

    Scott Fox, eRiches 2.0 and Internet Riches Author
    25 Aug 2010 | 7:59 am
    The easiest way to improve your web site's search engine optimization is not article spinning. Correct use of your website's "titles" is even easier and can help you attract more visitor traffic for free! Watch this short video for a quick explanation of article spinning AND my easiest tip for SEO improvement, too. This free and easy SEO tip video is another clip from http://www.ClickMillionaires.com. What do you think of this SEO tip?  Do you have other "easy SEO tips" to share? Please leave me a Comment below.   [If you liked this video, now you can…

  • World Community Grid: Donate Your PC Idle Time to Help Humanity

    Scott Fox, eRiches 2.0 and Internet Riches Author
    21 Aug 2010 | 6:05 am
    The World Community Grid project makes it easy for you to help solve BIG problems like cancer, AIDs, clean energy, and hunger.  Even better, you can help with No Cost and No Time commitment!Sponsored by IBM, this cool project allows you to contribute the idle time processing power of your PC to the World Community Grid's virtual super-computer "grid".  Learn more about my experience with the World Community Grid in this short video. A Super Easy Way to Do Something Good   Now this may sound really "high tech" (like SETI) but setup is easy - it's just a quick and easy widget download.

  • Shocking Truth: You Need to Market Your Business!

    Scott Fox, eRiches 2.0 and Internet Riches Author
    12 Aug 2010 | 5:54 am
    Why are so many online marketers "in your face" with aggressive marketing strategies and long, loud sales pages? Some common online marketing strategies are more annoying than used car salesmen! Watch this short video to see my response to ClickMillionaires.com member, Dr. Jacquie, who recently asked me: "Do I really have to be so abrasive in my marketing methods to make an income online for my projects? The email marketing approach of UNNAMED GURU (in my opinion) is downright crass. I am not a snob but I value civility. Are there other equally effective approaches that are less "IN YOUR…
 
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    FreelanceFolder

  • The Client Machine is On Sale Now!

    Mason Hipp
    2 Sep 2010 | 4:05 am
    It’s been months of hard work and many sleepless nights, but the day has finally arrived — The Client Machine on sale now! For the next 5 days we will be selling it at a 40% discount — so if you’ve been thinking about buying, now is probably the best time. As always, we are including a 100% money-back guarantee :-) That’s all there is to say for now. Check out the landing page to learn more about the theme, and let us know what you think in the comments! [ Click to Read More … ] Related posts:The Client Machine: A Sneak Preview Coming…

  • Why & How Freelancers Should Exercise (from Fitness Expert Scott Tousignant)

    Lexirodrigo
    1 Sep 2010 | 5:30 am
    As freelancers, our biggest assets are our minds and bodies. If we get sick, we can’t do any work. If our minds are foggy, we can’t produce our best. Therefore, we don’t make any money or as much money as we could. Unfortunately, the care of our bodies is not always a top priority for many freelancers. It’s easy to get caught up in all our work–particularly because we enjoy it so much. Plus, if you work from home, you have fewer reasons and opportunities to get up, walk and move. I know of at least one writer who can sit in front of her computer for up to six…

  • Working on Your Business, Not Just in It

    Amber Weinberg
    31 Aug 2010 | 5:30 am
    When you’re a freelancer, you often find yourself doing several jobs. You may design, develop, write, manage, bill, consult and answer the phone. Unfortunately, while we’re busy taking care of all these roles in the day-to-day management of our business, we forget to step back and take a look at the long term. Working on the business may not seem important when you’ve got ten active clients and six projects due this week, however it’s an important task you need to take care of, if you ever plan on growing your business (whether you plan to stay a single person business…

  • Finding Success Through Your Strengths

    Jason Gross
    30 Aug 2010 | 5:30 am
    It’s the ultimate goal and dream of every grade school child. To be able to grow up and do what you love for a living, at the time it may be flying in space, driving large red trucks, or protecting and serving. As we grow older, some of us reconsider which profession would make us happy but the dream of doing it for a living stays alive. For most freelancers this dream is the root of the choice we have made to enter the freelance market. Whether you operate as “your own boss” on a full time basis or just on the side, you probably love what you do. What happens, though, when love…

  • Are You a Good Sport Freelancer?

    Laura Spencer
    29 Aug 2010 | 5:30 am
    If you work online (and most freelancers do), how do you handle it when you encounter someone who doesn’t agree with you (or even like you)? I grew up attending my brother’s little league games, and now I have the opportunity to watch my own children participate in sport activities. The one thing that nearly every coach stressed was good sportsmanship–which included the ability to get along with others on the team as well as the ability to handle losing gracefully. Not only is good sportsmanship vital to good teamwork, it’s also a crucial attitude for the successful…
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    The Global Small Business Blog

  • World: Work Past 100

    2 Sep 2010 | 3:01 am
    Wishing one of my favorite global execs, Warren Buffett, the best ever 80th birthday.Forbes on Warren BuffettPhoto credit: ForbesPosted by: Laurel Delaney, The Global Small Business BlogP.S. I still keep thinking that Bill Gates will take over Berkshire Hathaway someday!

  • The World According to the U.S. Census Bureau

    1 Sep 2010 | 6:10 am
    Countries and areas ranked by population in 2010, 2020 and 2030. Interesting. What are your thoughts about this? Two decades from now, India rules. The United States can't seem to alter its No. 3 position.Source: U.S. Census Bureau, International Data Base

  • What Is Fueling China's Interest in Africa?

    31 Aug 2010 | 4:19 am
    Part of it:With a growing population, increasing unemployment, a vibrant manufacturing sector and fast improving life-styles, China’s demand for natural resources, markets for its products and job opportunities is growing at astronomical rates. This has made it seek new sources of resources, markets and employment for its people and Africa fits the bill.Learn more here.Related article here.Photo credit here: Chinese President Hu Jintao, left, welcomes South African President Jacob Zuma to Beijing.

  • If You Were to Bet on Growth, Where Will It Come From?

    30 Aug 2010 | 2:49 am
    According to Abbott Laboratories Chief Executive Miles D. White:... he has assembled a business in fast-growing countries that the company will count on for a big part of its growth."Where do you think the growth in the world is going to come from?" Mr. White asked during an interview at his suburban Chicago office, a few miles from Lake Michigan. "Would you bet on the U.S.? Would you bet on Western Europe? It's going to come from emerging markets."The article goes on further to say:Now, the fast-growing emerging-market economies are much more attractive. Expanding middle classes in such…

  • Measure the Depth of Your Own Nature

    28 Aug 2010 | 5:00 am
    "A lake is the landscape's most beautiful and expressive feature.It is earth's eye; looking into which the beholder measuresthe depth of his own nature." ~ Henry David ThoreauHave a sunny and enjoyable weekend everyone!Photo credit: Laurel Delaney, The Global Small Business Blog, Chicago lakefront
 
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    Inc.com

  • 8 Places To Find Advocates for Your Business

    Janine Popick
    2 Sep 2010 | 10:01 am
    You've probably spent a lot of time and energy building up your business, so now it's time to locate those people who love to shout from the mountain tops how great they think you are. Why? Well eventually you'll want to reach out to these very special people, thank them and treat them extra special.At my company VerticalResponse, we create a list of advocates from different channels so that when we're ready to really motivate them even more than they already are, we can do it easily. So where do you start?Your Employees - Your employees can be the very best advocates for your business. You…

  • Battle for the Nerds

    Jason Del Rey
    2 Sep 2010 | 9:18 am
    Each day, Inc.'s reporters scour the Web for the most important and interesting news to entrepreneurs. Here's what we found today:Google vs. Facebook: the employee bidding wars are on. Sure seems like a good time to be a developer at Google. According to TechCrunch's Michael Arrington, Google is combatting an increasing number of employee defections to Facebook by offering some astounding perks: in one recent case, Arrington writes, Google offered a developer threatening to leave for Facebook "a 15% raise on his $150,000 mid level developer salary, quadruple the stock benefits and...a…

  • Would You Challenge Taylor Lautner to Push-ups?

    Courtney Rubin
    2 Sep 2010 | 7:28 am

  • What About That Other Ping?

    Renee Oricchio
    2 Sep 2010 | 2:00 am
    So, there's Apple's new social network for iTunes called Ping. It was just announced this week and as Steve Jobs himself described it; it's "like Facebook and Twitter meet iTunes."We all know how this goes. Jobs launched it, so count on Ping to be Webster's newest verb by Friday. (As in, "let me ping you that song" or "what's the name of that new group? Can you ping it to me later?").But wasn't there already a Ping brand out there? What about the golf brand, Ping?It turns out, Apple has already cut a deal with the owner of the Ping name in golf. Ping's parent company, Karsten Manufactoring,…

  • 5 Ways to Improve Quality

    Inc. Staff
    2 Sep 2010 | 1:38 am
    Every business owner likes to think that he or she has a commitment to quality. If that were truly the case, of course, no product would ever disappoint, and no service would result in a complaint. So how can you improve quality at your company? Here are 5 steps you can take to put you on the right path.1. Make a commitment. W. Edwards Deming, the father of the quality movement, famously laid out 14 points for management—chief among them, the notion of "constancy of purpose."Deming argued that a company's commitment to quality had to come from the top, and it had to be reinforced over…
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    Art Biz Blog

  • The 3 Most Critical Items on Your Facebook Fan Page

    Alyson Stanfield
    2 Sep 2010 | 7:37 am
    The best way to get your art online quickly and free these days is to create a professional PAGE on Facebook — a.k.a. a Fan Page. Facebook pages are public and are indexed by Google. Think of them as another website. “I don’t have time to mess with another website!” you might say. Of course you don’t. No one has time. You make time. You make time because you know that Facebook has over 400 million users. You make time because many of those 400 million people using Facebook prefer it as their primary online connection. I love Tim Bradford's short description about his art.

  • Promote Your Art with SlideShare

    Alyson Stanfield
    1 Sep 2010 | 3:00 am
    SlideShare is a presentation tool that can you help you promote your art to a whole new audience at no cost. If you have images and access to Microsoft PowerPoint or Apple Keynote, you can make a SlideShare presentation. Harriete Estel Berman of the Ask Harriete blog says SlideShare is her favorite method for promoting her art online. Her SlideShare site includes a number of presentations of her artwork. I recommend Obverse Obession, a 2-minute look at Harriete’s chocolate pot with the same name. It’s very entertaining! Harriete Estel Berman's channel on SlideShare There are…

  • Art Marketing Action Podcast: Promote Your Art with SlideShare

    Alyson Stanfield
    1 Sep 2010 | 2:59 am
    Tune in to this week’s Art Marketing Action podcast–an audio version of the newsletter/post of the same title. Read the newsletter here. listen to the podcast Make sure you don’t miss an episode: Subscribe to the podcast on iTunes. Or subscribe to the RSS feed. Are you a fan of the podcast? If you are a fan of the podcast, would you take 5 minutes to give it a nice review on iTunes? You must have an Apple or iTunes account to do so. Just go to the iTunes store and search for Art Marketing Action podcast and click on Reviews or Write a Review. You can leave a 5-star rating…

  • How to Know When You’re Ready to Sell Your Art

    Alyson Stanfield
    30 Aug 2010 | 9:49 am
    If you’re just starting your art career, you’ve come to the right place. Today begins a regular Monday Art Biz Blog feature for those of you taking the first steps toward selling your art. beginning biz basics Q: How far along do I need to be in my skill development to sell work? You can start selling art at any time that feels comfortable for you. If someone wants to buy a piece and you believe in the quality of the work, sell it. But there’s a difference between selling art and marketing it. (More on marketing in a minute.) A selling scenario might include a friend coming to a private…

  • @abstanfield Tweekly

    Alyson Stanfield
    29 Aug 2010 | 5:35 am
    The Twitter Tweekly is back! These are the best of my Twitter tweets for the past week or so — cleaned up for easier blog reading. ART MARKETING STUFF Count the number of personal pronouns in your artist statement? Sane? Or a crazy number? Is your artist statement older than your art? Time to get a new one. #1 Rule for your artist statement: It should compel people to look at your art. I’d Rather Be in the Studio! p. 51 Don’t forget to provide a call to action in your emails/newsletters. What is reader to do next? Artist marketing rule #1: Fonts, colors & logos…
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    Meryl's Notes Blog at meryl.net by Writer Meryl K. Evans

  • Drawn: Dark Flight

    Meryl
    2 Sep 2010 | 8:40 am
    I loved Drawn: The Painted Tower with its beautiful graphics and challenging puzzles. In the sequel, Drawn: Dark Flight, Iris has escaped from the Tower and needs your help! Explore the Kingdom of Stonebriar and solve the mysteries of the shadows that prowl its streets in this adventure game. Enter magical worlds through colorful paintings and meet a host of fantastic characters that will help you on your quest in Drawn: Dark Flight. Only someone with the power of imagination can unravel the mysteries of the three beacons, and save a future queen that will bring hope back to a people! With…

  • Catch of the Week 27 August 2010

    Meryl
    2 Sep 2010 | 8:32 am
    Apologies for the late catch. Trip recovery was harder than expected. PC Catch of the Week: The Magician’s Handbook II: Blacklore: Return to a world of magic and mystery and use the enchanted Magician’s Handbook as your guide! The evil magician pirate, BlackLore, has captured all the world`s magicians and fairies. Using their magic to fly his pirate ship, he’s terrorized all who tried to get in his way…and you’re next on his list! The Magician’s Handbook II: Blacklore will test your Hidden Object skills, as you travel to magical worlds! Catch the deal for…

  • Links: Howdy from Boston 2010 Edition

    Meryl
    26 Aug 2010 | 12:22 pm
    Image by Werner Kunz (werkunz1) via Flickr Travel. Love it. Hate it. I dream of going to London, Paris, Greece, Italy and other places. But then I think about all the work it takes to do overseas travel and the desire goes away… for a little while. Maybe it will be easier to do overseas travel when my life calms down — after the kids are grown. So I’m in no hurry. Going nine years without going someplace new is a bit much. (The last few trips have been to … Austin… Austin… San Antonio slash Austin… Not a big deal when you live in Texas and they were…

  • How a Freelance Writer Prepares for Vacation

    Meryl
    24 Aug 2010 | 3:09 pm
    Image by Giampaolo Macorig via Flickr Those who know me well probably just fell out of their chairs seeing “vacation” in this post’s title. “Vacation” and “Meryl” don’t go together. I know. That’s pitiful, not a thing to brag about. Anyway, for the past couple of weeks, I’ve been getting harsh reminders why I don’t like to travel often. The packing, the preparation, the clients. The stress of ensuring I have what I need and I make it to the airport on time without being too early. As organized and proactive as I am, I run into…

  • Catch of the Week 23 August 2010

    Meryl
    24 Aug 2010 | 7:23 am
    PC Catch of the Week: Midnight Mysteries: The Edgar Allan Poe Conspiracy: Use your famous mystery-writing skills to help solve an ancient homicide and capture Edgar Allan Poe’s murderer! Follow your ghostly guides through Poe’s classic tales as you meet the different suspects in this dark and haunting hidden object game. Find inspiration for your next book as you collect clues, interview witnesses, and crack the centuries-old crime in Midnight Mysteries: The Edgar Allan Poe Conspiracy! Catch the deal for your PC! Use coupon code CATCH299 Mac Catch of the Week: Help Hidden…
 
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    Capital Solutions Bancorp Blog

  • Antrim Shale in Michigan

    Capital Solutions Bancorp
    20 Aug 2010 | 7:00 am
    The bulk of Antrim Shale Play lives in Michigan with some of the shale in Ohio and Indiana. Originally known as St. Cleric, Antrim is a late Devonian age formation in the Michigan basin that consists of organic-rich upper and lower black shale. It also has some middle gray shale or limestone. Background on Antrim Shale Antrim first saw production in 1940 and picked up the pace in the 1980s. The counties of Antrim, Crawford, Kalkaska, Missaukee, Montmorency, Oscoda and Otsego see the most exploration and production action on the play's 39,000 square miles.read more

  • Gulf of Mexico Oil Slick Finally Disappearing from Surface

    Capital Solutions Bancorp
    17 Aug 2010 | 8:12 am
    BP CEO Tony Hayward plans to step down and take off for Russia where he will work on BP joint venture with TNK-BP. Should BP survive and remain in business, moving Hayward is the first step in helping BP start over in rebuilding the business. Since the start of cleanup efforts, BP has worked on relief wells and they're almost finished. However, the cleanup effort may not need the relief wells thanks to "static kill," which plugs the well by pumping mud and cement at the well. To be on the safe side, BP continues drilling the relief wells.read more

  • Meet a Rising Star: Haynesville Shale

    Capital Solutions Bancorp
    14 Jul 2010 | 7:11 pm
    Last March, Haynesville premiered at South by Southwest (SXSW) in Austin, Texas. Director Gregory Kallenberg takes the viewer on a trip through Haynesville Shale by zooming in on three lives affected by the play. The film also looks at the future of energy and Haynesville's role in it.read more

  • Overview of Arkansas Fayetteville Shale

    Capital Solutions Bancorp
    12 Jul 2010 | 6:31 pm
    Fayetteville Shale in Central and Eastern Arkansas in the Arkoma basin covers an estimated 4,000 square miles. The play has black organic-rich rock from the Mississippian age with similar geological traits as Barnett Shale in Texas' Fort Worth basin. Energy Information Administration in the U.S. Department of Energy ranks Arkansas as the seventh largest producer of natural gas in the U.S.read more

  • About the SBA's 504 Financing Program

    Capital Solutions Bancorp
    9 Jul 2010 | 7:41 pm
    The SBA hopes to encourage small businesses growth by offering incentives such as lower interest rates and no-fee contracts with its financing programs. With the SBA's 504 Program, companies can get long-term, fixed-rate financing to use for "brick and mortar"-related financing needs such as building or growing facilities, buying property or refinancing mortgages. Fixed-rate financing often requires the borrower pay 10 percent of the total price of the loan.read more
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    BusinessCast Podcast

  • Hyper-Competition: Lessons from John Sculley

    Andrew - BusinessCast Co-Host
    28 Aug 2010 | 3:37 pm
    Are your competitors dictating your business plans, your targets, your product offerings and your day-to-day operations? If they are, you’re in the throws of hyper-competition. So, how do you survive this intense and high-risk time in your business’ life? To get answers to this critical question, in BusinessCast #165, we sat down with John Sculley — the former President/CEO of Pepsi and Apple. John led these world-wide brands through some of their most turbulent and successful times — while thriving and optimizing hyper-competition.  Listen to BusinessCast…

  • Wisdom in Listening

    Andrew - BusinessCast Co-Host
    15 Aug 2010 | 11:20 am
    All entrepreneurs have powerful stories to tell and are often compelling story-tellers. In fact, story-telling is so important to business success that we recently interviewed Chris Carder, Thindata 1:1’s President onhow to use story-telling to close business deals, build stronger relationships and inspire your teams. But, what typically catapults entrepreneurs to achieve and sustain success is the less glamorous part of story-telling: the ability to listen. And, that means the ability to listen to the market, listen to clients, listen to advisors and listen to colleagues/employees.

  • Entrepreneur Bear Traps

    Andrew - BusinessCast Co-Host
    8 Aug 2010 | 12:05 pm
    As your business grows, have you ever hoped, perhaps secretly, for some way to avoid those costly and time-consuming pitfalls that are a natural, but painful, part of your inevitable success? Well as it turns out, entrepreneurs just like you often confide in Robert and me a desperate need for practical ways to steer clear of common business hazards. That’s why for BusinessCast #162, we sat down with Rick Spence to uncover today’s most common “entrepreneur bear traps” — those traps that snare even the most thoughtful, innovative, well-funded and profitable…

  • Amex Small Business Index

    Andrew - BusinessCast Co-Host
    29 Jul 2010 | 5:52 pm
    North America’s economy is a reflection of how entrepreneurs tackle challenges and embrace growth opportunities. That’s why it’s so important to review, analyze and understand the entrepreneurial mindset. And, that’s why for BusinessCast #161, Robert and I sat down with Eric Nielsen, the VP & General Manager, Small Business Services, Amex Bank of Canada. Throughout the year, Amex conducts a rigorous National study that provides insights into entrepreneurial visions and expectations. The result: a good understanding of how entrepreneurs will be approaching business…

  • Social Media Metrics

    Andrew - BusinessCast Co-Host
    25 Jul 2010 | 8:42 am
    Social Media — it continues to be a hot topic because of its implications for how every entrepreneur approaches and leads their business. That’s why over the last few months we’ve been bringing the insights of many of the world’s experts in the field of social media to the BusinessCast (see below, “A Selection of BusinessCast Episodes Tackling Social Media”). And, that’s why in BusinessCast #160, Robert and I sat down with the father of web metrics, Jim Sterne. For over a decade, Jim has been helping business leaders across the world better understand…
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    Connie Bensen

  • Warren Sukernek & Team Join Me at Alterian

    conniebensen@gmail.com (Connie Bensen)
    31 Aug 2010 | 11:05 pm
    I’m very excited to announce that Warren Sukernek and team are joining me at Alterian! I have known Warren since 2007 when I met him at the first conference I spoke at. It was in Seattle on the topic of Facebook. Life has changed a lot since then for both of us! We have both aspired to evolve best practices in social media strategies and sharing those with others. Warren is now with John Song at Intrepid. I met John a year ago when they started using SM2. Their focus has been helping their clients to identify new markets, develop new products and services, and create meaningful customer…

  • Does the Enterprise Understand Community?

    conniebensen@gmail.com (Connie Bensen)
    24 Aug 2010 | 10:52 pm
    I have come to realize that as community managers may be doing ourselves a disservice by choosing that title. We are all in agreement that we’re not managing anyone. But do organizations understand the term ‘Community’? It seems that the larger the organization, the bigger the challenge. Small businesses and start-ups understand the value of having a community manager. In the last few years it is in vogue to add the position. And if the brand has a product support site, then the role is defined as a forum moderator. Oh how narrow that view is! Let’s start with a definition for…

  • Celebrating One Year at Alterian

    conniebensen@gmail.com (Connie Bensen)
    18 Jul 2010 | 6:25 pm
    Last week marked the one year anniversary of the acquisition of Techrigy SM2 by Alterian. It’s been a busy year and a lot of changes have occurred. Allow me a quick walk down memory lane… Aaron Newman invited me to join in Oct 2008. My goals were to build brand visibility and scale customer interactions. There was a huge learning curve for the nascent social media monitoring space. Jim Reynolds joined to sell and we intertwined our skills. We grew the business 840% in 9 months which us to the acquisition in July 2009. We had less than a dozen people as we joined the Alterian family.

  • Dell Takes Listening to a New Level with #DellCAP

    conniebensen@gmail.com (Connie Bensen)
    22 Jun 2010 | 8:18 pm
    I experience a child-like wonder when a brand reaches out to me. And when it’s a big monolithic brand, like Microsoft or Dell, I am in total awe. I don’t think that will ever change. It is the power of the social web that I will always appreciate. Long ago in 2007 a developer from Microsoft commented on my blog post about LiveWriter. As team lead he asked for feedback. When I read his signature, I rubbed my eyes and asked myself, can this be real? Granted I came into the online world as a result of a company reaching out to me. So I asked my readers what their suggestions for MS…

  • Innovative Disruptor – Community Manager Role

    conniebensen@gmail.com (Connie Bensen)
    2 Jun 2010 | 9:17 pm
    On May 26th I was invited to present at #WebCom 2.0 in Montreal. My topic was the Community Manager role and how it supports innovation as well as the disruption necessary to drive the culture shift in an organization required to successfully engage in social media. I always enjoy conferences that are well organized. This one was very well done. They interviewed all of the speakers and put them on YouTube. What a nice touch! The slide deck from my presentation is below. The slide deck on Slideshare. I presented the deck virtually to a Roundtable group in Geneva, Switzerland. The recording is…
 
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    Dawud Miracle @ dmiracle.com

  • Remember, Your Website Is a Sales Tool – Don’t Be Afraid to Use It!

    Dawud Miracle
    25 Aug 2010 | 5:27 am
    If you have a website, it serves one purpose – to sell something! Whether you’re selling goods and services or ideas and opinions – websites are about selling. If you have an offer, you want people to buy it. If you like something, you want people to try it. If you believe something, you want people to believe it too. And if you know something, you want other people to know it as well. It doesn’t really matter how you slice it, the point of a website is to sell something. Otherwise, what’s the point of having a website? To display pretty pictures for everyone to…

  • What Keeps You (& Your Business) Going?

    Dawud Miracle
    13 Aug 2010 | 11:17 am
    If you’re running a business you’ve undoubtedly faced difficult times. Your plans fall through, launches go less than expected, and clients take more of your time then you’d like. The list goes on, right? It’s just the nature of creating something – specifically creating something that involves other people. And if you’re selling anything – ad space, products, services, etc – you’re creating something for other people. So when you find out you’re marketing isn’t working like you thought or that your great idea isn’t seen…

  • 4 Simple Questions That Make the Difference Between Business Success & Business Duress

    Dawud Miracle
    14 Jul 2010 | 9:16 am
    Do you consider your coaching business or healing practice successful? Or is your small business causing your duress? If it’s the latter, there are steps you can take to help you go from business duress to business success. Last week I introduced 4 simple questions to help you start and grow your business. They are the same 4 questions I use with my clients every day. They’re purposefully simple. Yet behind their simplicity lies all the depth and detail you need to create a successful business. Answer these questions fully and you’ll be on your way. So let’s review…

  • 4 Simple Questions to Help You Start & Grow Your Business

    Dawud Miracle
    6 Jul 2010 | 12:58 am
    So, you want to start working with clients – great! Depending on who you listen to, there’s so much you need to do in order to successfully launch your business. It doesn’t seem to matter whether you’re a life coach, business consultant or holistic healer, launching a successful business takes time, energy and even a little bit of money. More than anything, you need a plan. You need to know what you’re about and how your service will help other people. That’s the first step. Some would say you next need a business plan, a marketing plan and a clear revenue…

  • Is Your Business About Relationships? …and Why It Should Be!

    Dawud Miracle
    28 Jun 2010 | 12:00 pm
    What is your business about? Is it about branding and marketing? I’m sure it is. Is your business about sales and profits? I sure hope so. And is it about making some difference in the world? Ideally, that would be nice. But branding, marketing, sales and making a difference require one thing – relationships. Ultimately, business is about relationships. Doesn’t matter whether you’re selling products or pitching services, ultimately people buy because they trust you. And trust comes from developing a relationship – even if that relationship is built from content…
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    NC State of Business

  • Get Out The Message - Manufacturing Matters

    David Boulay
    2 Sep 2010 | 5:36 am
    Increasing attention is being given to the importance of manufacturing in our economy. Some recent reports and articles are below. While each one gives its own perspective, the message is the same– Manufacturing Matters: Manufacturing: The Misunderstood Industry by the Southern Growth Policy Board. Framework for Revitalizing American Manufacturing from the White House. Manufacturing resurgence; A Must for US Prosperity by Popkin and Kobe. Creative destruction in the Manufacturing Business Technology journal. September 27 – October 1 is North Carolina's opportunity to highlight…

  • Energy Management Systems – Time to Roll Up Our Sleeves

    Charles Parrish
    29 Aug 2010 | 6:30 am
    The new ISO 50001 that your NCSU-IES is helping to develop – is winding its way to completion. Now it’s time to put it into practice. OK, no problem, right? Step 1 – Define the Scope (locations) of the management system – easy – let’s say – the scope will be within the facility fence line. DONE. Step 2 – Come up with an “Energy Policy” – fun, light – How about - We will save the world and lower energy usage through our harmonized efforts (or something similar). DONE. Step 3 – Do the Energy Review - whoaaaaa –…

  • Government Services Without all the Delays, Redundancies, and Wasted Time. An Example of Lean Thinking in a Government Process.

    David Yates
    24 Aug 2010 | 6:39 am
    Just about every operation's model includes a focus on obtaining a desired level of quality.  While the approaches often differ, most organizations search for ways to satisfy their customer's expectations of the product or service being offered.  Customer expectations change over time and providers must make changes.  I recently had the opportunity to work with a government organization that provides services to the public.  One of their top objectives is to get their customers through the "legally required" process quickly and correctly.  Yeah, I know.  We have…

  • Manufacturing Helps the Artist Make It Real

    Bill Iacovelli
    20 Aug 2010 | 11:42 am
    If you’re in North Carolina, you probably know by now about the Manufacturing Makes It Real tour, a celebration of our state’s manufacturers. When many people think of manufacturing, what often come to mind are typical end-user goods, whether durable (e.g., autos, electronics, appliances) or consumable (e.g., food products, medicine, etc.). Not many think of artists and their associated creative output such as words, images, and music. My wife is a published author. Some of you reading this may be writers, painters, or musicians. On the surface, you may not see a direct connection…

  • The 10-hour OSHA Course is More Than Just a Card

    Wendy Laing
    15 Aug 2010 | 7:22 pm
    The 10-hour OSHA course represents 10 instructional hours of hazard awareness training in general industry, the construction industry, or the maritime industry. Topics addressed during the training include an introduction to OSHA, personal protective equipment, hazardous chemicals, electrical safety and other hazards found on the job site. Upon completion of a 10-hour OSHA course, the student receives a federally recognized card from the authorized OSHA trainer instructing the course. Some areas of the country and some job sites require workers to have a 10-hour OSHA card in order to work…
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    Business of Software Blog

  • Different: escaping the competitive herd (a book review)

    Neil Davidson
    2 Sep 2010 | 6:58 am
    One of the speakers pulled out of BoS2010 a couple of weeks ago, leaving a gap in the schedule that I've been trying to fill since. For me, the best speakers at previous years have been those who've left my brain throbbing gently by the end of their talk. People like Geoffrey Moore, Don Norman, Seth Godin and Jennifer Aaker. I've been trying to think of somebody - they're often substantial academics and great communicators - who could fill that slot. I've been struggling. Then I stumbled across Different: Escaping the Competitive Herd by Youngme Moon. I picked it up expecting a book like all…

  • Pricing a breakthrough product

    Neil Davidson
    30 Aug 2010 | 4:36 pm
    If you’re a horse rider then coming off your horse is something that’s going to happen to you occasionally: This rider survived – walked away, in fact – because he was wearing a special protective jacket.  As the rider fell, a ripcord attaching his jacket to the saddle was pulled. By the time he hit the ground, a CO2 canister had inflated an airbag inside his jacket and cushioned his fall. How do you price something like this? If you’re selling a product people are familiar with – a fizzy drink, a car, a house –then it’s straightforward. You look at the price everybody…

  • Free tickets for Business of Software 2010

    Neil Davidson
    26 Aug 2010 | 6:03 am
    Here's the list of people who'll be getting free tickets to come to BoS 2010: http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=1635106 If you're on the list, drop me a line at neil.davidson@businessofsoftware.org

  • Paul Graham on trends for the future

    Neil Davidson
    25 Aug 2010 | 4:37 am
    Paul Graham spoke at last year's Business of Software conference. "I’m going to try to do something for you guys that I’ve always resisted doing. One of the big questions, probably the biggest questions that I get from reporters, is 'what trends do you see? What’s going to happen in the future?' I sit reading hundreds of applications from would be start-ups founders. We’ve funded 144 startups so far, of which 93 are still alive. We had to write a CRM to keep track of them all. I’m suppose to know what’s going on. Yet reporters ask me this question all the time and I never have a…

  • Pay it forward: how to get a free ticket for Business of Software 2010

    Neil Davidson
    16 Aug 2010 | 1:25 pm
    I've got a handful of free tickets to hand out for this year's Business of Software conference. It should be great - Seth Godin, Joel Spolsky, Dharmesh Shah and Eric Sink are just a handful of the many speakers who'll be speaking about building long term, profitable and sustainable businesses. Plenty of people have written to me and said they'd love to come but can't afford it because they're start-ups, charities or because the people they work for won't foot the bill. If you’d like a free ticket, here’s what you have to do. You have to commit to using your…
 
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    The AppGap

  • Perfect Search Addresses Major Issues in Enterprise Back Up Search

    Bill Ives
    28 Aug 2010 | 4:00 pm
    The need for fast and more effective enterprise search continues to increase as data grows exponentially. I spoke with Ken Ebert, form Perfect Search, about this problem. According to Gartner, enterprise data growth over the next five years is estimated at 650%. To cope with this trend, enterprises must be equipped with a backup technology that will capture data and move it to a safe, secondary location where data is preserved. However, if a saved file cannot be quickly located and retrieved, then the backup environment does not help. I see this on a personal level as I am now constantly…

  • RightNow Adds Enhanced Mobile Connections to its Customer Experience Suite

    Bill Ives
    24 Aug 2010 | 1:22 am
    RightNow introduced RightNow Mobile in May 2010 and has now further upgraded capabilities in August with new cloud platform features. I have been covering RightNow for some time as I like their innovations in making CRM more customer focused and now social (see for example: RightNow Continues to Become More Social in its Offerings). The May release helps organizations engage and support consumers via any mobile device. Two of the initial clients tapping into RightNow’s mobile support functionality are CBS Interactive and Match.com. Both of these organizations have a robust and expanding…

  • Spigit Provides Version S3 as Market Matures for Idea and Innovation Management

    Bill Ives
    16 Aug 2010 | 2:59 pm
    I have been covering Spigit and the innovation management market for some time (see Spigit – Enabling Enterprise 2.0 Innovation Through Market Games (2008) and Spigit Increases Employee Engagement in Innovation (2009). I also continue to be a Spigit user as they provide the platform for the Enterprise 2.0 conference submission process. So it nice to see both Spigit and its market continue to grow.  Here is sample from the Enterprise 2.0 conference. I recently spoke again with Spigit CEO and Co-founder Paul Pluschkell to catch up on their latest news. We began with conversation about the…

  • Cisco Successfully Concludes Second I-Prize Competition

    Bill Ives
    10 Aug 2010 | 1:42 am
    I have been covering the Cisco I-Prize for several years and continue to be impressed with this initiative.  I spoke with Sharon Wong, the Director of Business Development for Cisco’s Emerging Technology group to discuss the conclusion of the second I-Prize. She said that the first one validated the desire for teams to work together on innovation on the global scale and they learned how much people really like to collaborate (Cisco Announces I-Prize Winner and Results of Their Global Collaboration).  So this time they provided greater collaboration support through Cisco tools including…

  • EchoSign Brings Multi-Language Support to e-Signatures

    Bill Ives
    6 Aug 2010 | 1:36 am
    Last year I reported on how EchoSign provides e-signing to take out last analog vestige in business processes. Recently. I spoke with EchoSign CEO, Jason Lemkin to get an update. Jason said that signers using EchoSign can now electronically sign documents in their native language, despite what language the contract was sent in.  The product supports a variety of European languages including English, German, French, Spanish, Italian, Dutch and others. Here is a sample screen with the directions in German. Jason said this enhancement is primarily targeted at English-based countries doing…
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    Rise of the Innerpreneur

  • Steve Kim: August 2010 Innerpreneur Spotlight

    Tara Joyce
    30 Aug 2010 | 1:34 pm
    Steve Kim Management Consultant ESKim Enterprise Consulting Follow Steve on Twitter I am: a business/management consultant focused on business development. My passion is for: studying the front-end systems that make organizations and industries operate and connect with each other and their customers while figuring out innovative new ways to generate new business – whether through new accounts, alternate sales & marketing methods, better customer relationship models, strategic partnerships, etc. My business helps you: look at your current front-end systems and figure out ways to increase…

  • It’s a Tactic, Not a Guarantee

    Tara Joyce
    25 Aug 2010 | 10:38 am
    Tactic = an action or strategy carefully planned to achieve a specific end Your business name, your tagline, your website, your brochure, your FaceBook fan page, or any other business tool – they are tactics – that you employ to reach a goal. Tactics don’t make a business successful No tactic, no matter how clever or cool, will keep a client coming back. The value your business creates will. You, the person behind the business – you, the person creating and providing the product and/or service – are ultimately what will make your business grow or shrink, and make…

  • Discovering a Sense of Boundaries

    Tara Joyce
    19 Aug 2010 | 9:28 am
    Artificial acceptance of people and circumstances we resent Why do we pretend? Why do we stay in situations that hurt us? It’s not that we’re being nice. It’s not that we care. We tell ourselves we’re needed and necessary. We inflate our importance. We feed our ego. Because we ‘care’ Because I ‘cared’ I used to happily let myself be a food source for others. I saw it as the thing I was good at. My fulfillment came from letting others dine freely on my time, talent and energy. They fed on my energy and my ego fed on their attention. Except, I…

  • Permission to Be What I Am

    Tara Joyce
    16 Aug 2010 | 12:03 pm
    Can you provide it for me? Unfortunately, I’ve agreed that in order for me to be something, I need external validation to be so. Things aren’t real and true because I feel them. They’re true when something bigger than me validates them. They’re true when some else agrees. Like you. Will ‘credentials’ make me confident being what I am? It’s easier to feel confident about what you’re doing when you have them. An MBA will give me permission to have confidence as an entrepreneur. A formal art education will allow me to paint and create without…

  • Ma and God by Shel Silverstein

    Tara Joyce
    16 Aug 2010 | 12:02 pm
    God gave us fingers–Ma says, “Use your fork.” God gave us voices–Ma says, “Don’t scream.” Ma says eat broccoli, cereal and carrots. But God gave us tasteys for maple ice cream. God gave us fingers–Ma says, “Use your hanky.” God gave us puddles–Ma says, “Don’t splash.” Ma says, “Be quiet, your father is sleeping.” But God gave us garbage can covers to crash. God gave us fingers–Ma says, “Put your gloves on.” God gave us raindrops–Ma says, “Don’t get wet.” Ma…
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    The Entrepreneurial Mind

  • Taking a Prudent Course

    2 Sep 2010 | 4:10 am
    Some polls out this week tell us that small business owners are becoming more cautious.The latest Intuit poll on small business employment suggests that hiring in small businesses has, once again cooled off.  While there were some gains earlier this year, the modest improvement we had been seeing seems to have stalled.  The results from a poll by Citigroup offers some insights as to why the optimism for economic improvement among small business owners has once again begun to sour.  From the Wall Street Journal:More than 85% of small-business owners are worried about a…

  • The Flame is Fading

    31 Aug 2010 | 3:44 am
    The impact of the changes in public policy over the past decades -- increased direct government control over the direction of the economy, higher tax rates, more regulation -- are not just simple on/off switches.  Even if we were able to magically turn all of this around tomorrow, the lasting impact would remain for years to come.What we often fail to understand is the impact of public policy decisions on our culture.  Just as on example, look at unemployment benefits.  Over the past years the tendency has been to extend government unemployment benefits during tough economic…

  • Effective Pitch Helps you Stand Out

    30 Aug 2010 | 3:20 am
    With a growing number of people seeking entrepreneurship as an alternative path in this rough economy, there is increasing competition for the key resources that can make or break the startup venture.New entrepreneurs are competing for essential resources, such as the funding, the customers and the staff they need to build a successful business. Attracting these resources often relies on how well the entrepreneur can deliver "the pitch" for his new business.An effective pitch starts with a hook -- something that grabs the attention of the person one is talking to about a business. The most…

  • Why Scott Shane is Wrong (Again)

    25 Aug 2010 | 3:48 am
    On Monday, Scott Shane wrote a post at Small Business Trends titled "Do Small Businesses Matter in High Tech?" As in most of Shane's writing he comes out swinging at small businesses in our economy.  In his opening sentence, he proclaims: "Small Businesses are much less important in technology-intensive industries than in the rest of the economy." In a conversation with Aron S. Spencer, Ph.D., who is an Assistant Professor, School of Management at New Jersey Institute of Technology, I found yet another kindred spirit in those who continue to be dismayed at Shane's antagonism toward small…

  • What Makes Entrepreneurs Tick

    24 Aug 2010 | 5:02 am
    Those who side with Scott Shane's view that entrepreneurship is generally an economically irrational act (i.e., why start a business when you could make more money working for someone else) really don't understand what makes entrepreneurs tick.One of my undergraduate students sent along this video that sheds some light on why entrepreneurs do what we do.  While profits matter, there is something much stronger that drives us to start new ventures....
 
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    The Small Business Watchdog

  • Small Business, Jobs, and the Tax Cut Debate

    rlkleinsteuber
    6 Aug 2010 | 9:17 am
    Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner was the featured speaker in an August 4 panel that focused in part on how tax cuts would affect small businesses and their role in job creation. John Podesta of the Center for American Progress introduced the panel, noting that a policy of continuing tax cuts to the top 2 percent of Americans would cost $700 billion and was ranked last among eleven policy options analyzed by the Congressional Budget Office for their effects on output and employment. Douglas Holtz-Eakin, President of the American Action Forum, countered that households with their current…

  • Capitol Hill Connection for the Week of August 2

    rlkrafft
    3 Aug 2010 | 7:45 am
    Each week while Congress is in session the Office of Advocacy will post a highlights schedule of congressional hearings and committee markups that we think will be of interest to stakeholders in the small business community. For further information on the hearings in question please contact the relevant congressional committee. As of last Friday, the House is now officially in recess until after Labor Day. The Senate will leave for August break at the end of this week. One of the Senate’s top priorities before leaving is to confirm Solicitor General Elena Kagan to the Supreme Court. Floor…

  • President Obama Announces Amended ADA Regulations and New Proposals

    rlkleinsteuber
    29 Jul 2010 | 1:05 pm
    To commemorate the 20th Anniversary of the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA), President Barack Obama announced Monday the publication of the final rule  that amends the Department of Justice’s (DOJ) regulation implementing Title III of the ADA.  These regulations set standards for making buildings accessible for people with disabilities and applies to private entities such as public accommodations and commercial facilities.  Here are the highlights of these regulations: New Standards- DOJ has updated the 1991 ADA Standards for Accessible Design. The 2010 Standards are requirements…

  • Capitol Hill Connection for the Week of July 26

    rlkrafft
    27 Jul 2010 | 7:28 am
    Each week while Congress is in session the Office of Advocacy will post a highlights schedule of congressional hearings and committee markups that we think will be of interest to stakeholders in the small business community. For further information on the hearings in question please contact the relevant congressional committee. Tuesday, July 27 10:00 a.m.       Full Committee Hearing Senate Small Business and Entrepreneurship Committee will hold a hearing titled “The Deepwater Drilling Moratorium: A Second Economic Disaster for Small Businesses?” Location:        …

  • Capitol Hill Connection for the Week of July 19

    rlkrafft
    20 Jul 2010 | 7:08 am
    Each week while Congress is in session the Office of Advocacy will post a highlights schedule of congressional hearings and committee markups that we think will be of interest to stakeholders in the small business community. For further information on the hearings in question please contact the relevant congressional committee. President Obama will sign the financial regulatory reform bill into law on Wednesday. The legislation, which passed the Senate last Thursday, includes language that would require SBREFA panels at the new Consumer Financial Protection Agency. The Senate will spend most…
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    Catherine Lawson

  • If You’re Not Getting Enough Business It’s Your Own Fault

    cathlawson
    26 Aug 2010 | 7:56 pm
    This may sound harsh, but it’s a fact. If your business doesn’t have enough work coming in, it’s most likely your own fault. If you’re sure your pricing is realistic, and you’re targeting the right customers, there has to be another problem. And I’m betting you’re just not taking your business seriously enough. Maybe it isn’t entirely your fault. You might have underestimated the amount of marketing that you need to do, to get your business off the ground. People tell you to do a lot of marketing – but how much do they mean by a lot? Well, here’s the…

  • 10 Business & Life Lessons From The Last 12 Months

    cathlawson
    3 Aug 2010 | 10:46 pm
    To stop learning is like dying before you’re dead. Here are 10 business and life lessons I learned in the last 12 months. 1. Awesome People: If you know an awesome person – tell them how great they are. Life is fragile and if you don’t do it now, you may never get another chance. 2. Assholes: Don’t prioritize people who deliberately cause you constant stress. Laugh at their stupidity and put any response to their demands on your “shit to do after the important stuff” list. 3. Over Thinking: Try not to spend so long thinking about your goals that you…

  • How I Made My Knowledge Sell & You Can Too

    cathlawson
    30 Jul 2010 | 4:53 pm
    Do you have information you can turn into cash? I bet you do. You might be surprised to discover that many people would pay to know what’s in your head. I wasn’t confident that I could make my knowledge sell, but I did it and you can too. Over a decade ago, I discovered that people would pay good money for the information I had to share. My first attempt at selling my knowledge wasn’t revolutionary, or mindblowing, but it worked. I had no special skills, or advantages in fact, I didn’t have a clue what I was doing. Here’s what I started out with: - No business…

  • Your 3 Year Jail Sentence

    cathlawson
    27 Jul 2010 | 8:00 am
    Some people throw business advice around without giving a toss about the consequences. One that really gets my back up goes something like this: “Pick a business and start it right now. Don’t hang around – be like Nike and just do it.” It’s fine if: a) You already know what you really want to do. or b) All you care about is making money. or c) You’re young enough not to care if you waste a few years of your life on something that isn’t right for you. Otherwise, it’s like giving yourself a 3 year jail sentence. And that’s the minimum term,…

  • Why You Are Letting Your Blog Readers Down

    cathlawson
    26 Jul 2010 | 9:00 am
    Did you ever stop to ask yourself if you’re giving your readers what they want? If you take your blog seriously, I’m guessing you focus on writing useful and enjoyable posts. Trouble is, in your attempt to please them, you may be letting your blog readers down. Many bloggers provide the kind of products, or services that their readers want. Trouble is, they are so focused on writing awesome content that they don’t let people know what else they have to offer. What Do Your Blog Readers Want From You? Most of your readers don’t interact with you in the comments section .
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    Startbreakingfree.com

  • Humans Are Not Well Designed

    Brian Armstrong
    28 Aug 2010 | 12:31 am
    Can you imagine if someone made a robot that… fell on the floor and hallucinated for 8 hours a day constantly needed to be pumped full of dead animals parts and vegetables got addicted to various oils and lubricants had parts that were impossible to fix or replace day dreamed during work about other robots got heavier over time had about 4 good hours of work in it a day in between checking facebook and youtube videos We are in trouble as humans I think.  Once machines get smart we’ll be obsolete quickly. The good news?  About the time robots replace us, we’ll probably be…

  • Mac OS XI (Eleven)

    Brian Armstrong
    17 Aug 2010 | 10:14 pm
    Random thought for the day: for the next version of Apple’s operating system, they should really think about synching all your programs, settings, etc across ALL your computers. Right now I carry a MacBook Pro between home and work every day because maintaining all my programs, files, and settings on two separate machines would simply be far too much work.  Why can’t those all be in the cloud?  I’d love to have the raw power and convenience of desktop machines at home and work – but the software underneath would have to all be the same virtualized computer or it…

  • Make Building Blocks

    Brian Armstrong
    16 Aug 2010 | 12:55 am
    I like the idea of a business that creates building blocks. In other words, your product may not be directly useful to customers, but it allows other people to create useful products. Amazon EC2 is a a building block.  So is Apple's App Store.  So are Heroku, WordPress, Paypal, and a bunch more. Some things that are cool about building a "platform" or building block like this: You're higher up the food chainThe guy who makes a great iPhone app makes $100 thousand.  The guy (Steve Jobs) who makes the the App store makes $100 million. You make other people rich If you make…

  • Great Post By Tony Wright On Cashing Out Of Your Business

    Brian Armstrong
    2 Aug 2010 | 8:38 pm
    Had the pleasure of meeting Tony recently for lunch. Really enjoyed this post he put up: http://www.tonywright.com/2010/rethinking-f-you-money/ Totally agree that the mythical 6-10% return is not being achieved by many these days, and that the real pay off of selling a business can come from the credibility – not the money. Definitely food for thought, Brian Armstrong

  • When To Skip The Contracts

    Brian Armstrong
    26 Jul 2010 | 3:49 pm
    I’ve seen a few startups recently who want to have their customers sign contracts to get started. The logic being that you can guarantee recurring income for your business (for the length of the contract) or you’ll have some recourse if the person fails to pay. But there are two flaws with this thinking: If your product is actually good, customers will stick around whether you have a contract or not If the customer owes you less than a few thousand dollars, it’s not even worth your time to sue them So if you are left with a contract that you’ll never enforce, why even…
 
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    Young Go Getter

  • Can You See Me Now?

    kylehall
    24 Aug 2010 | 9:25 am
    Everything from learning another language, to classes to meetings are being done via the Internet. So why not a conference? Video conferencing has been around since the 1960′s World Fair. It has been utilized only among large companies for the most part. But what about the beginning entrepreneur? What is the great importance of this [...]

  • Go Get’em Tunes! Music that Inspires

    Mark
    23 Aug 2010 | 6:54 am
    Long time YGGs. Introducing GG-tunes (dubbed Go Getters tunes … im serious). Touchdown here every Monday to get your weekly dose of audio adrenaline and jump start your week right. Suggest your all inspiring songs in our forum. Shine Down – Second Chance “Progress always involves risks. You can’t steal second base and keep your [...]

  • The Modern Presentation

    kylehall
    11 Aug 2010 | 9:45 am
    It is the age of gadgets. We are in an area where if you hesitate you’ll be left in cyber dust. The beginning entrepreneur is caught in a difficult battle between those who refuse to move with the times and the ones who are only interested in the “what’s next”. So what do you do [...]

  • Internet Marketing Strategies for Online Businesses

    Justin
    2 Aug 2010 | 8:53 pm
    Why do online businesses fail? Well, because, they fail to attract buyers. If you own an office, but no one knows about it, then you won’t be able to make any sales. The same way, if people don’t know about your website, then you won’t be able to make any money. Once you launch your [...]

  • WIN IT: 250 Free Business Cards from PrintRunner.com!

    Justin
    28 Jul 2010 | 7:34 am
    As a young entrepreneur, one of your biggest challenges is likely to be establishing yourself as a legitimate member of the business community – and that means having all the hallmarks of a consummate professional in your industry, including a set of memorable business cards. Business cards can go a long way toward enhancing your [...]
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    Improve My Business

  • Help Your Kids with Time Management

    Mary
    17 Aug 2010 | 7:32 am
    As we are gearing up for back-to-school, sports, and activities, do you find that your child is having trouble getting all their interests, and homework, fit into the day?  Is it becoming a source of stress rather than a source of joy, relaxation, or accomplishment? What can you do about it as a concerned parent? We’ve [...]

  • Blogging from the road

    McDCG Staff
    9 Aug 2010 | 7:23 am
    I recently gave a presentation at a well-known conference in my industry - something that I enjoy doing.  I get to share new ideas (or ideas combined in a different way), interact with folks, and get a conversation going.  Most gratifying to me was to hear a colleague whose opinion I admire and respect say, [...]

  • Funny Friday - job changes throughout the years…

    Barret
    30 Jul 2010 | 12:57 pm
    here’s a link to Ganesh Iyer’s TechKLite site on Facebook, where he posts lighthearted cartoons about technology - today’s is especially cute for those environmentalists out there (like me)… but you may want to review all of ‘em!     

  • Taking time to recharge

    Mary
    16 Jul 2010 | 7:24 am
    I’m here to write about the importance of recharging.  Actually I’m not really here - as our office is closed for 2 weeks while we all take vacation (or continue maternity leave).  Usually we don’t close entirely, but the vacation plans all require a set week or two off (cruises, free lodging, significant other’s only [...]

  • A great new site if you’re a business traveler…

    Mary
    6 Jul 2010 | 9:36 am
    If you’re like me, a road warrior, you will appreciate this new traveler site from Chris Brogan entitled Man On The Go.  Although not every post resonates with me like his main blog does, I still find it useful to pick up tips (and disagree with enough of the posts to realize that I have [...]
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    Linda's Business Blog

  • Customer Service: are you a May or How person?

    LindaMosaic
    30 Aug 2010 | 11:29 am
    In a potential sales situation, which of these two approaches do you think will bring a more successful response from a customer:May I help you?orHow can I help you?If you are the salesperson or the business owner who inquires, the first question most often results in only 1 of 2 one-word responses:"Yes" or "No"If you ask the "May I help you?" question as part of your good customer service policy chances are your sales won't be as high as the salesperson or business owner who asks "How can I help you?"The "How" question requires the…

  • Human Element is essential for Customer Service Success

    LindaMosaic
    25 Aug 2010 | 6:09 pm
    When you go shopping or are in some kind of retail situation, don't you want the salesperson, manager or establishment owner to be friendly, helpful and accommodating?  Who wouldn't?  Who doesn't?Recently I wrote about the importance of point-of-sale customer service and received a great response from a reader.  This reader, a young mom, related her experiences on a recent afternoon when she planned to take her toddler [age 3] to an afternoon matinee at the movies.  Her afternoon involved not one, but two examples of what NOT to do in the area of customer service.  She has…

  • Marketing and the Solopreneur

    LindaMosaic
    18 Aug 2010 | 3:30 pm
    I don't think Ivanka Trump is actually a solopreneur, I think she is probably an entire industry.  I like to include photos at the beginning of a post and went to PicApp [a great place to get photos for blog posts by-the-way] to find one for the word 'businesswoman.'  And I got photos of Ivanka Trump!  Well, it does show her holding a book she wrote, "The Trump Card: Playing to Win in Work and Life' and attending a book signing.  A book signing is a great marketing strategy where the producer meets directly with the buying public...kind of like direct marketing…

  • What is the Business of Business for an Artist-preneur?

    LindaMosaic
    13 Aug 2010 | 1:03 pm
    Times they have changed...but not all the way.  Artists still use easels and canvas and brushes and pigment but the female artists I know [me included] no longer wear those ridiculously tight and long and hot dresses!  Although I think we're all influenced by those who went before us in whatever profession we work.  Tools may change over time, materials may upgrade or go out of existence but the desire to manipulate the media [speaking of art materials] to express through color and shape and form an idea or feeling remains a shared thing.  I expressed this thought as the closing…

  • How to achieve a Work to Life Balance

    LindaMosaic
    9 Aug 2010 | 2:22 pm
    It's no joke that many people consider balancing work and Life a juggling act.  I'm married to someone who, as a young man, was a professional juggler and still amazes me with his 5 clubs in the air routine.  Now if only I could be so skilled with my life!I'm going to posit that this work/Life thing isn't so much a balance or juggling act as it is a teeter-totter.  Juggling to me implies that you have many items in the air and you're constantly scrambling and shifting underneath to keep them there because should one item drop, they all come tumbling down.  Not so…
 
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    Allison Nazarian

  • Shut Up And Look Within

    Allison Nazarian
    2 Sep 2010 | 8:56 am
    (Friendly Note: If you don’t like the truth or tough love or brutal honesty, don’t read this post today, or any day for that matter.) There are tons of complainers among us: Complainers who complain full-time. Complainers who are part-timers. Complainers who fancy themselves non-complainers and thus feel their complaining is more of a positive, [...]

  • Dear Inspiration, Where For Art Thou?

    Allison Nazarian
    1 Sep 2010 | 7:48 am
    This morning I told myself that nothing was doable, approachable or possible until I wrote something. Anything. Something. The opposite of nothing. So I fiddled around (fiddle is a technical term): I ordered some trilogy of books for my kid (he told me: “Mom, you won’t believe this but I may actually like to read [...]

  • You Care What They Think

    Allison Nazarian
    30 Aug 2010 | 7:16 am
    You say you don’t, but you do. We all do. We call them different names, but we are talking about the same thing, the same collective, the same people: “They.” “Them.” “Everyone.” Or, could be something like: “The neighbors” “The people from high school.” “My parents’ friends.” “My clients” “My husband” “My wife” “The cashier [...]

  • Finding An Imperfect Perfection

    Allison Nazarian
    29 Aug 2010 | 11:16 am
    Yesterday, I have concluded, was a perfect day. Perfect. As in, could not have been more betterer. It had all of the components of perfection. It was simple and good and lovely. (And it was a Saturday — always a plus.) Yet the components didn’t matter a ton. Even more than what I did (or [...]

  • The Ickiness Of Change

    Allison Nazarian
    25 Aug 2010 | 7:36 am
    Lately, I have felt an uncomfortable, different, kind of weird energy between me and others. Not all others, but some others. It’s actually hard to explain or put into words (which, of course, is why I am trying to write about it). Let’s try it this way: With great change comes, well, great change. Right? [...]
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    The Accidental Entrepreneur's Guide

  • Make More Happen by Letting More In

    Molly
    2 Sep 2010 | 10:48 am
    The following is a guest post from my friend and colleague, Michele Lisenbury Christensen. She wrote it during one of the few warm spells in Seattle this summer, thus the reference to hot weather. Lately, here in Seattle, the sun has been pouring out its sizzling blessings upon us, warming the earth and stirring activity in plants and people alike. And Monday night was the full moon. Having that zingy sundrenched buzz balanced out by the sweet softness of the moon’s blue glow last night reminded me how much we crave refreshment to align us amid our busy-ness. We’re so hungry for softness,…

  • When biz gets scary: How to play a bigger game without getting too big for your britches

    Molly
    1 Sep 2010 | 10:02 am
    Last week a group of coaches challenged me to play a bigger game. To declare a larger vision for my business, acknowledge long term goals, and live up to my ability to plan for and achieve them. I'm all over that, and yet... Playing a bigger game sounds suspiciously like self-aggrandizement. Ego inflation. Playing Boss of the Universe. Not a good idea. Perhaps you struggle with the same dilemma. You feel called to make a bigger difference in the world (and to show up bigger), but you can't see yourself actually doing it. If you, too, are a reluctant visionary, this article is for you. The…

  • Actually, you don't reap what you sow: The truth about thriving self employment

    Molly
    23 Aug 2010 | 2:52 pm
    It's not true that you reap what you sow. You reap what you sow and pay attention to. Take my garden. I'm an impulsive sort, so my evolution as a gardener began with somewhat slapdash, if enthusiastic, planting. I'd plant as soon as I got around to it in the Spring, usually a few weeks before or after the optimal time. And I pretty much trusted to time and nature for the rest. My results were spotty, and that was okay with me. After all, I wasn't relying on my garden for survival. Nonetheless, something in me wanted to create a more fruitful garden. So I became a better educated and more…

  • Why "The Secret" Hasn't Made You a Millionaire

    Molly
    13 Aug 2010 | 5:57 pm
    This article goes against much of what passes for spiritual teaching these days. It says that succeeding (even modestly) is hard work. It also says you can do it. If self-employment isn't turning out the way you want, this could be the most important thing you read this year. It begins with farming. Reading the "Farmers' Almanac" won't make you a farmer You wouldn't expect to transform yourself from a suburban gardener to a full-fledged farmer by reading the "Farmers' Almanac." For one thing, it's a hodgepodge of old wive's tales, raw data, and casual anecdote. Not the kind of guide you need…

  • The dangers of being jaded

    Molly
    13 Aug 2010 | 5:49 pm
    So, I'm dead set against magical thinking. But there's also danger in being jaded. Here's a quick take on the importance of believing in good things.
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    National Spending Journal

  • Shoeboxed Connector for Salesforce Now Available!

    Caitlin Hourigan
    18 Aug 2010 | 9:13 am
    Salesforce users can now have contact information from business cards entered into Salesforce without touching a keyboard or scanner. Shoeboxed.com today unveiled a connector for the Salesforce AppExchange that will enable Salesforce customers to directly import contact data from their business cards into Salesforce and easily flag duplicates, without ever leaving the Salesforce interface. The Shoeboxed connector is available free on the Salesforce AppExchange. “This new ability to seamlessly import contact info from paper-to-data innovator Shoeboxed.com into CRM powerhouse Salesforce.com…

  • New Features Added to Your Shoeboxed Account

    Caitlin Hourigan
    13 Jul 2010 | 2:56 pm
    If you’ve logged into your account recently, then you’ve probably noticed some of the huge improvements we’ve made throughout the site. At Shoeboxed we are dedicated to providing you with the best user experience possible. Based on the feedback and suggestions we receive from our users, we periodically perform system-wide updates with the goal of bringing you the best online application possible. All of us at Shoeboxed are very excited about the new features we added in the latest update—and we hope you are too! View/Edit Pane When you click to view a receipt, business…

  • Shoeboxed Is Giving Away iPads, Cash, & T-shirts!

    Sonny Byrd
    25 Jun 2010 | 12:43 pm
    For the next month, Shoeboxed will give you a T-shirt, $50 cash or an iPad when you invite your friends to sign up for Shoeboxed! Here’s how it works: we will send you a T-shirt just for inviting your friends to try Shoeboxed, even if none of them sign up. If three of your invited friends sign up for paid Shoeboxed plans, we will send you $50 cash. And we saved the best for last…if 10 of your referrals sign up for paid Shoeboxed plans, we will send you a brand new iPad! No joke! So don’t wait, start inviting your friends and contacts to sign up for Shoeboxed today! The fine…

  • Shoeboxed iPhone App for Receipts Version 2.0!

    Caitlin Hourigan
    23 Jun 2010 | 7:58 am
    Version 2.0 of the Shoeboxed iPhone app has just hit the iTunes store! If you thought our first app was a homerun, just wait until you’ve tried the new one. The new version offers the same on-the-go expense tracking features as before, but we’ve fixed the bugs and made it more user friendly. It’s now faster, more stable, and runs better on non-US iPhones. Oh, and the UI is prettier. Be sure to check it out! With the Shoeboxed iPhone app, you can easily track your expenses and create expense reports on your iPhone. Just snap photos of your receipts and Shoeboxed will extract…

  • Small Business Heaven | Minimizing Costs and Maximizing Benefits

    Sonny Byrd
    15 Jun 2010 | 11:21 am
    ShoeBooksRight? FreshOutBoxed? OutBoxedBooks? The small biz warriors at FreshBooks, Outright.com and Shoeboxed are interested in only one thing: helping you spend less time on busy work – like invoicing, bookkeeping and recording expenses – and more time doing what you actually love – running your business. That’s why all three companies have integrated their services. ShoeBooksRight? FreshOutBoxed? OutBoxedBooks? Not such great business name combinations. But Freshbooks, Outright and Shoeboxed? Now there’s a great business combo. We have always known that these integrations were…
 
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    Understanding Marketing

  • What Small Business Can Learn From Fortune-500 PR Mistakes

    John Sternal
    23 Aug 2010 | 9:31 am
    What can small business learn from the PR missteps made by companies such as Toyota, BP and Goldman Sachs? But it’s not just companies that have had to deal with brand defense. People like Mel Gibson, Tiger Woods and Lebron James have also been under fire for negative PR. Associations, too, like mining and the egg industry have all joined the ranks as entities fighting to save face. The important thing to remember here is that just because you may be a small business or even an entrepreneur, companies and entities or every size are at risk of losing PR credibility when something goes wrong…

  • Small Business Blogging Advice Can Bring Perks

    John Sternal
    23 Jul 2010 | 7:30 am
    Have you thought about turning your blog into a business in an effort to receive a few perks? It’s certainly possible! Whether you’re offering small business blogging advice or if you’re just blogging as a hobby, there may be perks involved as a way to reward you for your time and effort. We’ve talked about how to use your blog for marketing purposes so this should be of great interest to many of our readers. As documented in a great Orlando Sentinel story written by Sarah Lundy, more bloggers are combining their blogging passions with a little business acumen and…

  • Small Business Marketing Colors To Avoid

    Chrisanne Sternal
    21 Jun 2010 | 9:03 am
    A while back we offered insight into the right kind of colors to use in your small business marketing. Do they really matter and, if so, what kind of guidance can help you choose the right mix for your small business. Today we pose a topic that will reverberate throughout the marketing and business community since it has to deal with the ongoing BP oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico and its affect on business and local lives. Should you avoid using the color green in your marketing, advertising and promotions since today it makes many people think (negatively) of BP? This includes all branding…

  • John Sternal On FOX Business Network

    John Sternal
    20 Jun 2010 | 6:00 am
    John Sternal being interviewed by Gerri Willis on FOX Business network’s The Willis Report. Spokesperson for LeaseTrader.com, John was called in to do a live interview to discuss the trend of people escaping their car lease when they can’t afford to make the payment. &lt;br&gt;&amp;lt;br /&amp;gt;Watch the latest business video at &amp;lt;a href=”http://video.foxbusiness.com/” mce_href=”http://video.foxbusiness.com/”&amp;gt;video.foxbusiness.com&amp;lt;/a&amp;gt;<br />

  • Gas Station Marketing For BP Stations

    John Sternal
    16 Jun 2010 | 1:48 pm
    There are roughly 10,000 BP gas stations in the United States and nearly all of them are independently owned. What does this mean? It means if you drive by a BP gas station because you’ve decided the oil spill has had an adverse affect on your gas-buying decision, you are really only hurting a small business owner by driving to a different gas station. The Wall Street Journal had an interesting piece on BP gas stations dealing with this issue. So what kind of gas station marketing should BP owners employ? Because of this, BP gas station owners are turning towards marketing to help…
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    Business Pundit

  • Ferrari Recalls 1,200+ 458 Italias

    Drea
    2 Sep 2010 | 9:33 am
    Finally, a recall the middle class doesn’t have to worry about. Ferrari has recalled 1,248 Ferrari 458 Italias after fires destroyed five existing models. The BBC has more: …a Ferrari spokesman said the company had investigated the five reported incidents of spontaneous fires in the 458, and traced the problem to materials in the wheel arch lining and heat shield. According to Ferrari, the glue securing the wheel arch lining and heat shield can melt and deform when under high operating temperatures. When this comes into contact with the exhaust, “the glue can smoke and the…

  • Mariner Energy’s Vermillion Rig Explodes in Gulf

    Drea
    2 Sep 2010 | 9:22 am
    A Mariner Energy oil rig, the Vermilion Rig 380, caught fire off the coast of Louisiana today. Of the 13 workers on the rig, 12 are alive and awaiting rescue, and one is missing. At time of writing, the oil rig wasn’t producing any oil, but there’s no word on whether it sits on top of a live well. It’s unclear whether there’s another oil spill involved. CNN has ongoing coverage of the fire. Interestingly enough, deepwater drilling giant Apache Corp. agreed to buy Mariner Energy for $2.7 billion back in April, in a deal that would complete in Q3 of this year.

  • How “Kate Plus 8″ Motivated the Discovery Channel Gunman

    Drea
    2 Sep 2010 | 8:29 am
    Image: iamkennard/Twitpic Gunman James J. Lee was shot by police yesterday after taking hostages at the Discovery Channel headquarters near Washington, DC. After a four-hour standoff and negotiations, police killed Lee, who had a bomb and looked prepared to shoot hostages. What, exactly, was Lee’s beef with the Discover Channel? Bloomberg BusinessWeek explains: A gunman police shot to death after he took hostages at Discovery Channel’s headquarters said he hated the company’s shows such as “Kate Plus 8″ because they promote population growth and its environmental…

  • When Feedback is Too Honest

    Drea
    2 Sep 2010 | 3:38 am

  • Apple Announcement Covers iPod Touch 4, Revamped iPods

    Drea
    1 Sep 2010 | 11:15 am
    Today’s Apple announcement revolved around the iPod Touch 4, a new line of redesigned iPods, iOS 4, and more (see the NYT’s complete liveblog here.) Apple, aside perhaps from its Apple TV, is once again leading the industry in product design, aesthetics, and capability. Here’s a summation of Steve Jobs’ announcements on the new iPods and Apple TV: New versions of all iPods iPod Touch is smaller and has the same HD “retina” display as the iPhone 4. It has cameras in front and back, has video chat, and runs on an Apple A4 chip. Prices: $229 for 8GB, $299 for…
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    Small Biz Bee

  • 5 Ways To Waste Your Time On SEO

    smallbizbee
    30 Aug 2010 | 11:39 am
    With consumers spending more and more time on computers and mobile devices, while using Google as a primary tool to find products or services that they need or want, having a prominent position in search engines is an increasingly important part of effective marketing for small businesses. While hiring an SEO firm is often a desired luxury, most small businesses choose to learn and do SEO on their own. There are an abundance of free resources that provide instruction on how to plan and execute effective SEO like SEOMoz’s Beginner’s Guide to SEO and blogs like Search Engine Land.

  • Blogging for Small Business Owners & SME’s

    smallbizbee
    18 Aug 2010 | 11:23 am
    Imagine if you could listen intently and get up to the minute information, like a fly on a wall to millions of people as they talk about your business? That’s what type of power blogging for small business owners can promote. Now imagine if you could take that information and translate it into exactly what your customers want, how they want it and what they will ultimately buy and not to mention, what they will pay for it. The Many Benefits Of Blogging Blogging is a tool that businesses are using to make actual decisions on customer feedback and market intelligence. It’s the…

  • 4 Ways to Run Your Business from Anywhere, on Anything

    smallbizbee
    16 Aug 2010 | 1:42 pm
    There was never a time when a business could be successful while remaining stagnant. However, with the quickly moving world of technology, the need for fast paced solutions has become even more crucial. One way in which business management has gotten one step closer to the speed of light is through mobile applications on the Microsoft, Android, and Apple networks. As the most successful network, Apple’s iPhone provides a number of innovative business solutions. Here are some of the best. Google Apps Google has been providing a number of fantastic solutions for business owners, allowing…

  • Want to Rank Higher in Searches? Use Keyword Phrases for Your Business

    smallbizbee
    13 Aug 2010 | 10:47 am
    Everyone who owns and operates a website wants their site to be ranked higher and to be seen when people search for their business/industry. How can an owner of a business rank higher and be seen when people are searching for their product or service? The answer is to begin to use keyword phrases. Focus on the Long Tail In SEO (search engine optimization) the technical term for this is “Long Tail Keywords”. Just what is a Long Tail Keyword (phrase) and how can a business owner take advantage of this for their website? It seems like most people are only concerned about individual keywords…

  • 4 Ways Small Businesses Can Creatively Cut Technology Costs

    smallbizbee
    6 Aug 2010 | 11:55 am
    Out with the old and in with the new.  The philosophy we often apply to spring-cleaning works just as well for starting or maintaining a successful small business.  More often than not, small businesses come to a point when its time to leave behind old business practices to stay on par with budget. And chances are, your small business needs to get creative at finding ways to cut back monthly operation costs. So reconsider practices you thought you needed, and take a closer look at what is necessary for the business’ success. Make room for new best practices that can reduce costs, without…
 
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    Office Hero Headquarters

  • 3 ways to copy data from desktop to Android without a cable

    1 Sep 2010 | 5:54 am
    Here are 3 ways to transfer data from your desktop computer to your Android device without using cables.1) Google Chrome to Phone ExtensionAccording to Google, "This extension adds a button to Chrome that lets you seamlessly pushes links, maps, and currently selected text and phone numbers to your Android device."2) Awesome DropThis app lets you copy files via a browser from your desktop to your Android device. For example, you could quickly copy a PDF or any other file from your desktop to your device. Much faster than hooking up a cable.3) Webpage QR Code GeneratorsMobile Barcoder for…

  • Flight cancelled? 3 tactics for getting airborne fast

    26 Aug 2010 | 11:21 am
    Airfare search site Hipmunk shares these 3 tactics for finding the next flight out should yours be cancelled:Call the airline. If your flight is cancelled after you’ve already gotten on the plane—for example, because of a mechanical problem—call the airline right away! You’ll be on the phone with them minutes before everyone else leaves the plane and starts to line up, so you’ll have first dibs on being rebooked onto a convenient flight.Go to the next flight’s gate. If there’s a flight leaving for the same place you’re going, go to that gate and see if there’s space for you.

  • How to download all files from a web page with one click

    18 Aug 2010 | 5:35 am
    With the Firefox addon DownThemAll, you can download multiple files from a web page all at the same time. For example, I downloaded 96 PDF files with one click for a conference I'll be attending.

  • Metrics for web and social media

    15 Aug 2010 | 9:27 am
    According to the article Web Metrics That Matter, effective metrics for website and social media can be segmented into three categories: outreach, engagement, and conversion. Check out the example categories from the article to pick and choose what works best for your situation.

  • Strategies for difficult questions from reporters

    15 Aug 2010 | 8:22 am
    Ready Georgia's Media Training Manual suggests these strategies for difficult questions during media interviews.Hypothetical questions."What if?" questions ask you to speculate about the future or possible events. Refuse to answer them.Response: "I can't speculate any better than the next person about hypotheticals--let me tell you what actually happened in a related instance."Putting words in your mouth."Would you say that...?" or "would you agree that...?" questions are often loaded questions. You run the risk of having the reporter's language attributed to you. If a question contains…
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    Home Office Envy!

  • Budget For Your Legal Marketing Efforts Like Elmer J. Fudd

    Jay Fleischman
    2 Sep 2010 | 5:00 am
    Business thought leader Elmer J. Fudd was speaking at a Saturday morning seminar when I was a kid.  Decked out in a brown suit and jaunty cap, Fudd spoke the words that every law firm should remember at all times. Be Vewy, Vewy Quiet – I’m Hunting Wabbits I live by that statement each day and use it when marketing my bankruptcy practice.  And you should, too. Though Fudd didn’t win all the time, he WAS a millionaire.  He owned a mansion and a yacht, so he must have been onto something. But seriously, let’s think about this for just a minute.  If you shut up and…

  • How I Get Traffic To My Law Firm Blogs And Website

    Jay Fleischman
    1 Sep 2010 | 9:11 am
    You put up a blog or a website for your law firm, full of hope that this will solve your online legal marketing woes.  But how do you get people to show up and read what you’re writing? Once upon a time, I fancied myself a writer.  A fan of short form fantasy and science fiction since I was a teenager, all I wanted was to be the next Harlan Ellison – master of short speculative fiction, turner of words and thinker of interesting thoughts.  So much so that I took nearly as many creative writing classes in college as Economics, my chosen major. As with most writers, I have a…

  • 3 Compelling Reasons Why Marketing Your Law Firm Should Begin With Lead Generation

    Jay Fleischman
    31 Aug 2010 | 5:00 am
    You’re sitting in your office and the phone rings, or that annoying little ping signals you’ve got an email.  It’s a new potential client!  Stop the presses!  All work halts!  Why?  Because when a new client contacts you, it means you’re on the precipice of making money.  This is what marketing your law firm is all about.  But is that the right way to do business? Lawyers, especially those in historically direct response fields such as bankruptcy, personal injury and criminal defense, typically get the client when there’s an immediate need.  I get…

  • Death To The Virtual Law Firm!

    Jay Fleischman
    30 Aug 2010 | 9:22 am
    With all this talk about virtual law firms, we need to examine the message we’re giving to our clients when we engage in lingo.  To do so may enable us to positively effect a change in buying attitudes. This post is a long time coming. It’s been marinating like a steak waiting for the grill to get hot, but this grill has been heating up for awhile. There’s been a lot of talk about the virtual law firm going on lately.  It’s the topic du jour, likely in part because so many lawyers are looking for a way to reduce overhead and leverage technology to maximize profits…

  • Test

    Jay Fleischman
    26 Aug 2010 | 12:45 pm
    <!–6de7e37f82af4a71b28250461e0bddec–> Related posts:Take Camino for a test drive Calculate The Means Test On The Fly From Your iPhone Focus Test: Time to get away from the computer for a bit?
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    Triple Pundit

  • Women Move Corporations Green

    Leon Kaye
    2 Sep 2010 | 7:27 am
    At the Pasadena Convention Center, the Women in Green Forum is bringing together professional women (and yes, a few men) from various industries and functions to discuss topics from finance to fashion. Yesterday afternoon, women with sustainability leadership roles at AEG, Interface, and Walmart shared ideas on what can be done to get one's organization to move responsibly towards achieving that triple bottom line.

  • The Most Important Assets are not on the Balance Sheet

    Leslie Back
    2 Sep 2010 | 2:05 am
    In the context of accounting, an asset is defined as any item of economic value that a corporation owns, especially those that can be converted to cash. Examples include land, equipment, inventory and the like. Intangibles, such as patents, trademarks and goodwill (only recorded during times of acquisition) can also be quantified for the balance [...]

  • Profit Trends in Organic Food Markets

    Jeff Siegel
    2 Sep 2010 | 2:04 am
    The farmers’ market was absolutely packed this past Saturday. Of course, it was my own fault for getting up so late… If you’re not there by 7:00 a.m., you have to maneuver through the flocks of hungover hipsters that always seem to congregate around the Thai food stand that displays deep-fried spring rolls like delicate [...]

  • The Growing Backlash Against Smart Meters

    Cory Vanderpool
    2 Sep 2010 | 2:02 am
    If you think that the task of modernizing our nation’s century-old power grid seems overwhelming, you are not alone. This arduous, complex and multi-faceted transition is underway and even the initial steps are being met with resistance. Wireless devices are essential to a smarter grid and smart meters are a vital component to the overhaul. [...]

  • Will Money Talk? Banks Shy from “Dirty” Projects

    William Donovan
    2 Sep 2010 | 2:00 am
    One of the biggest breakthroughs in the area of corporate social responsibility came when major corporations looked at their social and environmental impact beyond their own doorstep and thought about their supply chains. Major brands with global networks such as Nike, Starbucks, Coca-Cola and Walmart made positive changes in where their goods were made or [...]
 
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    SCORE Women's Success Blog

  • Leadership: New in September

    scorementors
    2 Sep 2010 | 4:03 am
    Women’s Success Blog Welcomes New Bloggers Ask an Expert Bloggers, Steve Bloom and Greg Magnus join as the newest bloggers on the Women’s Success Blog. About Steve Bloom Entrepreneur, Steve Bloom, started several business ventures in mortgage banking, real estate development and management, importing, sign manufacturing and business consulting. Steve is a frequent speaker for Chambers of Commerce, SCORE and the SBA and currently speaks to numerous community groups on: “Crisis or Opportunity, Are You Ready.” He is an expert in financial opportunities and is well versed in all aspects…

  • Thank You: Your Support Counts

    scorementors
    1 Sep 2010 | 4:30 am
    SCORE Women’s Success Blog Recognized as Top 10 Success Blog Thank you for allowing SCORE’s Women’s Success Blog to be recognized as one of the Top 10 Best Success Blogs by YoungEntrepreneur.com! With your support, our blog was rated on three key elements: visual aesthetics, quality & consistent content and overall experience. Adam Toren from YoungEntrepreneur.com reported on our blog and said, “All entrepreneurs can learn a thing or two about achieving business success by following the very insightful tips and commentary provided here. It’s all about giving you the tools you…

  • Networking: Strength (and Power) in Numbers

    rieva7
    31 Aug 2010 | 4:30 am
    The Importance of Networking in a Tough Economy With the economy on a roller coaster ride that seems like it’s never going to end, where can small businesses turn for help? One place is to each other. I was reminded of this recently when I read an article in The Seminole Voice about Rep. Suzanne Kosmas (D-FL), who held a roundtable with a group of women small-business owners to talk about state and federal resources that could help them get through the tough economy, as well as brainstorm ideas. Kosmas said she initiated the meeting because she is focused on supporting small businesses in…

  • Grow: Growth through Scarcity

    roadmap
    30 Aug 2010 | 4:30 am
    Limited Offers can Achieve Bigger Results I was listening to a news story recently about a famous French chef (Chef Ludo Lefebvre) who loved to create, to cook, to push culinary limits – but hated the stress, hours and financial overhead of a traditional restaurant. So Chef Lefebvre decided to turn his entire business model upside down and create Ludo Bites – pop-up restaurants that show up at limited locations in the Los Angeles area, for a limited time, and with a limited menu. The results have been transformative for Chef Lefebvre. He works fewer hours, makes a greater profit (even…

  • Managing: Train Your Customers to Respond

    Guest Blogger
    27 Aug 2010 | 4:30 am
    Make Business Plans Easy on Your Customers My mechanic has me trained. When I take my car in for an oil change, he places a sticker in the upper left hand corner of my windshield to remind me what date and mileage I should have my next maintenance completed. But every once in a while, he forgets to put the sticker on the window. Then I have to remember the date and mileage details. It’s a good thing to train your customers and it can help you pump up your bottom line. But if you choose that route, it’s important to follow through. Because my mechanic occasionally forgets the oil change…
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    Zero-G Creative

  • SXSW 2011: Vote for Zero-G Creative!

    Stephanie Frost
    20 Aug 2010 | 11:50 am
    Once again, Zero-G Creative hopes to be well-represented in Austin this year at SXSW Interactive. We submitted our panel ideas and now we’re asking all of our friends to vote for us since it represents roughly 1/3 of the decision-making process.  Take a look at our panel submissions and cast your vote for us if you’d like to see us speaking at SXSW again this year. Thanks for your support!Practice Safe Site: Avoid Being Cheated By Developersby Erik Wolf and Stephanie FrostHorror stories of entrepreneurs being ripped off by web developers and online marketing scams are everywhere.

  • How “free” is free speech? Can employees be fired for what they say on social media?

    Erik Wolf
    20 Jul 2010 | 10:10 am
    This whole newfangledy “social media” bubble just gets bigger and bigger… Facebook is going to be announcing it’s 500 millionth (yes, MILLIONTH) user this week. But as we know, the changing and ever more public social landscape doesn’t just have implications in the way we interact in our personal lives — it affects our work as well. Business owners have become increasingly concerned with what their employees say on the Internet and the potential that their businesses might be embarrassed by their employees online. The question for many is “Can employees…

  • How to “Practice Safe Site” and avoid getting taken advantage of by your web developer

    Erik Wolf
    19 Jun 2010 | 6:59 am
    It’s an unfortunate reality but a LOT of small business owners don’t get what they pay for from their web people. Sometimes it’s neglect and sometimes there’s outright dishonesty involved but in a lot of cases a combination of factors causes a web project to fail, many of them innocent. Simple miscommunications or mismanaged expectations can be at the root of a failed web project as can the wrong hosting service, a poorly-worded or misunderstood contract or the business owner’s lack of experience in managing web projects.Every week it seems I hear new stories…

  • Save $75 on your ticket to The Business of WordPress Conference in Atlanta!

    Erik Wolf
    15 Jun 2010 | 8:54 am
    Want to see Zero-G’s Erik Wolf and the other great presenters talk about winning small business web strategies at The Business of WordPress Conference is June 22nd-23rd in Atlanta? If so, we have good news for you:The first 10 people to purchase their tickets online using the promo code “zerogcreative” at checkout will get a $75 discount! And, for an added bonus, The Business of WordPress Conference organizers will be making a $50 donation to North Fulton Community Charities — Zero-G Creative’s charity of choice — for every ticket purchased with the zerogcreative…

  • Erik Wolf to present at The Business of WordPress Conference on June 23rd

    Erik Wolf
    11 Jun 2010 | 1:58 pm
    The Business Of WordPress Conference is for non-technical business people who need a marketing roadmap for improving their organization’s web presence and who have chosen or are evaluating WordPress for their web platform. Since Zero-G has been advocating — and developing for — WordPress as a Content Management System for over two years (and over 100 websites) it’s only natural that a member of our team be included as a speaker at this event.I will be presenting “How to Select a Consultant or Agency” on Wednesday, June 23rd in Room B and will also be a participating…
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    Solo-E.com/SoloSavvy

  • Finding Time to Create Abundance with Gratitude

    Paula Eder
    1 Sep 2010 | 8:00 pm
    Finding time can begin with finding your heart. That might seem counter-intuitive, but think about it.  So often, when we are busy, the connection to our heart feels fainter. That, in turn, can start a constriction that leads straight to urgency, frustration and feeling that there’s simply not enough to go around. When you feel yourself tighten like that, don’t panic.  Instead, know that you have found the perfect time to transform your world from the inside out! Here’s how:  BE gratitude. This dramatic shift in consciousness generates instant fulfillment. It may sound unbelievable,…

  • The Big Decision of Which Events to Attend

    Bria Simpson
    1 Sep 2010 | 6:00 pm
    When making a big business decision, I’ve found it helpful to ask myself- What is the financial reward of doing this?  The emotional reward?  The energetic reward?  I write out my answers. Then I ask myself-  What is the financial cost of NOT doing this?  What is the emotional cost of NOT doing it?  What is the energetic cost of NOT doing it?  I write this out. As an example, if you are pondering which events to attend this year- why not use this technique? Think about which events speak to what you need right now to move forward.  Are there networking opportunities? Is it small…

  • What Dell Computer and My 8-Year Old Taught Me About Business

    Meredith Liepelt
    1 Sep 2010 | 4:00 pm
    While I was in Dallas a few weeks ago for the eWomenNetwork International conference, I met two women from Dell Computer.  The women were from a new Women Business Owner Initiative and spent a long time talking with me about how they are trying to connect with women business owners to meet their needs. I told them that they should try to connect on a personal level, as many, many women business owners are small companies operated out of their homes by moms just like me. As Nika Stewart says, we’re Laptop Moms! I went on to share with them about how my girls like to play “office” on a…

  • Create Your Opportunities

    Loren Fogelman
    1 Sep 2010 | 2:00 pm
    Creating my own business put everything in a different light. Suddenly things I had avoided because they were out of my comfort zone changed perspective. Those activities were now challenges to overcome. To strive toward my goals I had to become comfortable with being uncomfortable. Joining a high-level mastermind group gave me the impetus to step out of my comfort zone and expand my belief of what is possible. Connecting with my mastermind buddies provides support as I take each next leap of faith. Well this week was no different. My business coach offered me and several other members in the…

  • Article Marketing Should Be Part of Your Overall Strategy

    Marnie Pehrson
    1 Sep 2010 | 12:00 pm
    Is article marketing not working for you? If it’s not, then ask yourself whether it’s really part of your overall strategy? Have you set a clear intention for your article marketing? Is it an extension of your expertise? Does it lead fluidly to your web site? This video is the 2nd in the series I put together on article marketing and explores why article marketing might not be working for you and how to remedy that. Related posts:Get Off the Guru Train, Trust Your Intuition, and Hire ONE Business Coach How to Generate Leads with Articles Solopreneurs: Strategy Change is the…
 
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    Frank Thinking About Internet Marketing

  • I Call BS! 70% of CMO’s Claim Marketing and Sales Work On Equal Basis

    Frank Reed
    31 Aug 2010 | 6:08 am
    I am writing about the CMO Survey that has come from Duke’s Fuqua School of Business over at Marketing Pilgrim. As I was looking through the report I saw this chart and immediately I called BS! I just had to call BS on this one. I think that it is the smart thing to say that sales and marketing work on an equal basis because they should. Does it happen in real life 70% of the time? And what does working on an equal basis mean? With the other options being one works within the other’s function (marketing in sales and vice versa) this is confusing. What the real question needs to be…

  • The Slippery Slope of Self-Importance

    Frank Reed
    31 Aug 2010 | 4:13 am
    Just as a warning this is a complete opinion piece. If you want facts and figures you have come to the wrong spot. You have been warned. This is just a quick observation. Social media has created such an inflated view of self that we run the risk of actually losing who we really are. The social media industry is particularly guilty of this. There are social media rockstars, gurus, experts, ninjas, cowboys, mavens and more and it has gotten pathetic. It’s actually embarrassing to be a part of this industry. The activity of social media for business use is important and will remain so far…

  • Make Me Laugh and I’ll Pass It On

    Frank Reed
    27 Aug 2010 | 7:45 am
    No great insight here. Score one for GEICO.

  • Unbranding: What the World Has Come To

    Frank Reed
    25 Aug 2010 | 9:40 am
    I am a sucker for the weird and the odd especially when it comes to business. What’s even more interesting is when the weird and the odd makes more sense than the norm. That’s how I take the revelation that brands are getting smart enough (actually sneaky enough is a better term) to find ways to disassociate themselves from moronic pop culture ‘celebrities’ like Snooki from MTV’s Jersey Shore. Here is my full disclosure. I am from NJ but not the NJ you are thinking of. My New Jersey had farms and lots of space. I didn’t live anywhere near the Turnpike (although Exit 10 would be…

  • Has Google’s CEO Lost It?

    Frank Reed
    18 Aug 2010 | 8:41 am
    I am reading some of the comments that have some from the Google CEO’s mouth lately and I am hoping that they are mostly taken out of context. Why? Because he sounds like a lunatic, that’s why. From the Telegraph we read Eric Schmidt suggested that young people should be entitled to change their identity to escape their misspent youth, which is now recorded in excruciating detail on social networking sites such as Facebook Huh? Oh and it gets better “I actually think most people don’t want Google to answer their questions. They want Google to tell them what they should be…
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    Home Office Voice

  • We’re Live … But in Beta

    HoVver350000
    22 Aug 2010 | 6:40 pm
    Maintenance Mode off in 3, 2 1 … and we’re live. Champagne glasses clink, cigars are passed around, pats on the back… Reality. One guy sitting at his home office in his pj’s pressing a button. But why the beta? It’s simple, we’re not ready. But seriously … we’ve still got a few tweaks to perform on the site – mainly the joining section. These tasks will be completed over the next 2-3 days. I’m still waiting to see who our next Prime Minister is going to be and along that road what kind of broadband will we have for the next 10 plus…

  • Labor or Liberals or Does It Matter?

    HoVver350000
    19 Aug 2010 | 2:46 pm
    By the time you read this we will have an either PM Gillard or a PM Abbott. Have you been following the painful campaign trail, scripted to a tee and micro-managed so that any political passion has been squeezed out of you? The main aspect in this election for us home business owners, I think, is the issue of broadband. Labor wants to spend vast amounts ($43 billion) of tax payers money, whereas the Liberals want to modestly spend $6.3 billion and use current technology in a patch-up sort of way . But lets dig a little deeper, shall we? In a Australian IT (News) article today Homes to pay…

  • Welcome to HomeOfficeVoice

    HoVver350000
    16 Aug 2010 | 4:52 am
    The Home-based business in Australia is booming. As the Internet changes our lives and gives us powerful opportunities, we’re jumping off the “rat race” treadmill and into our own lifestyle home-based businesses. Did you know that in Australia there are around 1,000,000 of us running a business from home? Not only is this a high number relative to our population, the data shows that the home-based business is growing. And hence, it really was a no-brainer for me to develop HomeOfficeVoice and turn it into an Australian thing. So how can I explain HomeOfficeVoice and…

  • Is LinkedIn Good for Micro Businesses

    HoVver350000
    14 Aug 2010 | 6:23 am
    In a sea of social networking sites you’ve got no choice today but to decide which one(s) you’ll stay with and which one’s you let go. Today we look at LinkedIn. LinkedIn is a social networking site orientated towards business. You go there to build up business relationships and to seek out employment opportunities. Or that’s how I’ve been sold on it, but they seem to be the two main core areas of LinkedIn. But LinkedIn goes a bit deeper than just that. Depending on what industry you are in, LinkedIn could be your goldmine – a place where you can create…
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    Strategic Growth Concepts for Start-up, Small and Mid-size Businesses

  • Don’t Complain About Lack of Business From Social Media, if You Don’t Respond to Requests for Bids

    StrategicGrowth
    31 Aug 2010 | 10:41 pm
    You can probably tell by the title of this article that I have an issue, and I’m guessing from many other articles I’ve read and conversations I’ve had recently, that I’m not the only one! Everyday it seems, I see a posting on Facebook, Twitter or LinkedIN from someone complaining that they’re not getting any business from social media.  And of course, their assumption is that the social media platform is to blame and that it couldn’t possibly be as productive as “everyone” says it is, because after all, they’re not getting any business…

  • Small Businesses Won a Record $96.8 billion in federal contracts in FY 2009

    StrategicGrowth
    30 Aug 2010 | 8:24 am
    WASHINGTON – Small businesses won a record $96.8 billion in federal prime contracts in Fiscal Year (FY) 2009 (Oct. 1, 2008-Sept. 30, 2009), an increase of more than $3 billion from FY 2008, according to the U.S. Small Business Administration’s fourth annual small business procurement scorecard released today.  This dollar amount represents 21.89 percent of all federal spending – an improvement over FY2008.  Additionally, performance in each of the government’s socioeconomic subcategories increased for FY2009. Small businesses received a record $96.8 billion in federal contracts in…

  • Smartphones look to replace plastic as payment

    StrategicGrowth
    27 Aug 2010 | 8:02 pm
    What follows is an excerpt from one of RetailWire’s recent online discussions featuring commentary from its “BrainTrust” panel of retail industry experts. Okay, so the gas-powered car killed the horse and buggy as a mode of transportation (excluding the Amish). Video apparently killed the radio star. So what’s next to go? According to a Bloomberg report, plastic credit and debit cards may be doomed by smartphones. As it turns out, a number of wireless carriers, including AT&T, T-Mobile and Verizon, along with Discover Financial Services and Barclays, have formed a…

  • The Social Media Mistake Most Small Business Owners Make

    StrategicGrowth
    25 Aug 2010 | 5:35 pm
    One of the comments I frequently hear from small business owners who have begun to use social media is, “Okay, I’ve got accounts on all these social media platforms you told me to use, but I don’t see any increase in my business!”  Every time I hear it I think of the adage from an old Kevin Costner movie that says “build it and they will come” because people are apparently assuming that once they build a profile on social media, business will just magically come their way! When I hear it, I always find it fascinating that intelligent business owners and…

  • 80% of Businesses Embracing Mobile Strategies

    StrategicGrowth
    14 Aug 2010 | 12:16 pm
    Survey Indicates Businesses Prefer to Use Mobile Websites Over Downloadable Apps A recent mobile commerce survey by Adobe Systems indicates that 80% of businesses across a wide range of verticals are planning to, or already have, integrated Mobile Marketing into their existing marketing strategy.  Approximately 75% of the respondents were U.S. based businesses. According to Sheila Dahlgren, Senior Director of Product Marketing at Adobe, “Multi-channel shoppers tend to purchase more; therefore, companies must effectively engage customers by delivering consistent, rich experiences…
 
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    Small Business Blog

  • Are Small Businesses Hiring?

    31 Aug 2010 | 3:00 pm
    Are small businesses hiring yet? Here's what the nation's small business employers are doing according to the findings of the most recent Intuit Small Business Employment Index.

  • How Small Businesses Buy Technology

    24 Aug 2010 | 1:49 pm
    How do small businesses make technology buying decisions? Here are survey results companies marketing to small businesses will want to pay attention to.

  • Contest for business travelers

    6 Aug 2010 | 2:56 pm
    Marriott's Fairfield Inn & Suites has launched a $20,000 Small Business Challenge for business travelers. The contest is targetted at small business owners who travel frequently for business. Entries must be submitted by Aug. 20, 2010.

  • Trend Micro Tech-Support Promotion

    7 Jun 2010 | 2:52 pm
    Does your PC take forever to boot up in the morning? Is your virus software up to date? Is your PC vulnerable to security threats? If you've ever wished you had a tech person availalbe to make sure your computers are running smoothly and are protected from viruses and malware, you'll want to know about the Free Customer Support Day promotion Trend Micro will be running.

  • Ecommerce MakeOver Contest

    28 May 2010 | 11:10 am
    Looking for cash to improve your existing ecommerce website? Here's a contest you'll want to enter by June 15, 2010.
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    Become an Internet Entrepreneur

  • Beautiful and Functional Wordpress Themes for Free Download

    Bambang Haryanto
    18 Aug 2010 | 7:58 am
    The popularity of Wordpress is evidence enough of the many features and benefits that it offers to the bloggers. With the introduction of free WordPress themes it is possible to change the appearance of the blog with ease. If you are looking for the best free Wordpress themes for download, you may want to [...]

  • Why Internet Marketers Need More Protection

    Bambang Haryanto
    25 Jul 2010 | 9:17 pm
    From the moment you first connected to the Internet, you have probably been told that you need to use security measures to protect yourself. This is something that all Internet users face all of the time. There is a great deal more to protection for Internet Marketers however. Internet Marketers need more protection than that average [...]

  • 35 Highly Recommended Marketing Tools That Are FREE!

    Bambang Haryanto
    18 Jul 2010 | 12:28 am
    7 Zip: http://7-zip.org (free download) – An open source, free alternative to WinZip. Adobe Reader: http://get.adobe.com/reader (free download) – Used to view and print PDF files. Audacity: http://audacity.sourceforge.net (free download) – An open source software used for recording & editing audio files. AVG: http://free.avg.com (free download) – Anti-virus and anti-spyware protection. BrowserShots: http://browsershots.org (free online tool) – Use this [...]

  • Food Business Ideas

    Bambang Haryanto
    4 Jul 2010 | 7:40 am
    Less than 2% of the world’s populations are farmers. In addition, certain countries like the United States and Japan have an aging farmer population, mostly over 50 years old. While it doesn’t require as many people to farm as it did in the past, there is a growing concern and interest in all things related [...]

  • Prospective Business Ideas in Auto Industry

    Bambang Haryanto
    19 Jun 2010 | 9:21 pm
    We’ve all heard about the Big Three Bailout. The automotive industry is suffering some major losses due to the economic fallout. People either can’t get credit to buy a car or are putting off their purchases until their finances are more secure. While it means that new car sales are down, it means that there [...]
 
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    the Retail Doctor's Retail Sales Blog

  • Bad Retail Advertising: Groupon & Online Coupons

    bobphibbs
    2 Sep 2010 | 10:53 am
    So far I’ve taken aim at the background of why these sites are growing in popularity, the idea you are building your business and the hard realities of your financials when partnering with these sites using a case study. Part five of the eleven part series illuminates how Groupons and the rest are training your customers to wait. Did you ever see the Broadway version of Les Miserables? In one key moment, the stage clears and a giant barricade set arrives. It takes a few minutes to cantilever into place and, at the performance I saw, several audience members applauded the set moving…

  • Groupon Review: Local Businesses’ Perfect Storm

    bobphibbs
    1 Sep 2010 | 5:50 am
    So far I’ve taken aim at the idea you are building your business and the hard realities of your financials when partnering with these sites. Today part four focuses on why this is happening. Why pick on Groupon?  That’s because it’s been growing at an exponential rate over the past six months, and expects to end the year with as many as 25 million subscribers and $400 million in gross sales. Lest you think I don’t understand why business owners are grappling with Groupons, I do. When I was first trying to get business I took out Google pay-per-click ads.  Trying to do…

  • Alien Danger Using Groupon For Business Part 3

    bobphibbs
    31 Aug 2010 | 3:32 pm
    The last couple posts talk about the hard realities of your financials partnering with these sites. Today the Retail Doctor takes aim at the idea you are building your business. Did you see the movie Alien? Of course you did. Remember the scene? Yes THE scene . The one with the alien popping out of the chest of the guy while at dinner with everyone?  The alien had used his body as a host and destroyed him. The online discount sites, “deal-of-the day” blogs and their ilk are using your deal to build their lists. The customer loyalty is going to their pages, their offers, their friends…

  • Groupon Business Review Part 2: Horny For The Deal

    bobphibbs
    30 Aug 2010 | 5:24 pm
    Part 2 of a series of 11 on the perils of discounting for businesses.  Today’s post explores more about the financial costs of couponing, discounting and utilizing Groupon and their online clones, coupon blogs and their ilk. Introduction This is not a consumer blog. I’m unabashedly in the business owners’ corner. Whether it is as a multi-national manufacturer, a regional chain, a distributor, an established franchisor, a new franchisee or single store operator. My business is their business. As a retail expert who speaks and as an information entrepreneur, I speak and write to help…

  • Groupon Review: Worst Marketing For Your Local Business – Case Study

    bobphibbs
    25 Aug 2010 | 7:55 am
    [Part one of an 11- part post on discounting] Just because millions of merchants have fallen under the spell of Groupon, a PR juggernaut, and their like, it doesn’t mean you should. It’s a killer alright, a profit-killer. And while I’ll give you my opinions afterwards, here is an actual Groupon merchant story not glowing with anything but red ink. Meet Kim, Owner of a parent teacher store. I met Kim at a conference and she joined my Facebook Fan page awhile ago. Here is her Groupon story: The Background “First off, let me say that 2009 was a bad year for me.  It…
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    The Mogul Mom

  • 8 Ways To Increase Your Buck For The Bang

    Heather Allard
    31 Aug 2010 | 3:00 pm
    $30 off Get Famous Fast Want to get amazing media coverage on a DIY budget? Then Get Famous Fast between 9/1/10-9/7/10 and get $30 off. Over 150 media contacts and 50 editorial calendars from top publications! Discount applied automatically at checkout. Last week, I introduced you to the concept of “Buck For The Bang” and invited you to download the nifty B4B Worksheet I created so you could discover your very own buck for the bang. Now, I’m back with 8 ways to increase your buck for the bang so you’ll have more time to spend with your family and more money coming in.

  • What’s Your Buck For The Bang?

    Heather Allard
    22 Aug 2010 | 12:00 pm
    I’m sure you’ve heard the expression “bang for your buck”, and as moms and entrepreneurs paying for everything from groceries and car repairs to websites and production runs, we certainly want the most bang for our buck. But have you ever thought about your “buck for the bang”? That is, the hourly income you earn from the hourly time you invest in your business? Until recently, I hadn’t given it much thought. The Big Idea Over the past few weeks, I’ve been hashing out a new service for mom entrepreneurs that’ll help them get in the media…

  • DailyCandy Start Small, Go Big Contest

    Heather Allard
    18 Aug 2010 | 2:18 pm
    DailyCandy turns TEN this month and they’re celebrating by calling “all new business owners, entrepreneurs and everybody who spends nights and weekends making a dream pay off” to enter their first-ever Start Small, Go Big Contest. “DailyCandy editors have been identifying and championing emerging businesses since 2000,” says Beth Ellard, SVP and manager of DailyCandy. “As we finish our first decade and look to the next stage in our evolution we wanted to give a few businesses an even bigger DailyCandy boost.” The contest is in partnership with Chase’s new Ink card,…

  • How To Clear Your Website Clutter In 3 Key Areas by Reese Spykerman

    Heather Allard
    2 Aug 2010 | 1:00 am
    You know that feeling when you walk out into the living room, and all the stuff is put in place, and your amazing bookcase looks orderly, and there’s a clear line of sight out to the porch to check out the yard in the summer? Yeah. That. That’s what we’re going for here, but on your website. There’s peace in de-cluttering. Calm. A sense of empowerment. Order in the midst of chaos. So imagine what it would be like if your site or blog felt like this. Not just for you, but for your visitors, too. Imagine them coming to your site and thinking, even if subconsciously,…

  • Beauty & The Budget

    Heather Allard
    1 Aug 2010 | 7:52 am
    If beauty products routinely blow holes in your budget, learn to shop smart (and cover those bare essentials). Drugstore Diva Stop shopping exclusively at department stores. Maybelline, Cover Girl, Neutrogena, Suave and other drugstore brands have amazing makeup, skincare and hair products without the hefty price tag. Samples, Please Shop sites and stores like Sephora, BobbiBrown.com, Drugstore.com and MACCosmetics.com that are generous with samples. It pays to try products before you buy (and keep a stash for travel). Steal the Deals Coupon sites like Dealigg, CouponSuzy and RetailMeNot…
 
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    The Business Insider

  • Bill Fleckenstein: I Wouldn't Own A Financial Stock With A Gun At My Head

    Gus Lubin
    2 Sep 2010 | 11:27 am
    Bill Fleckenstein was on Bloomberg today with some unusually positive things to say about the market -- except for financial stocks, which he wouldn't own with a gun to his head. About the market, he says investors seem willing to go higher in the short term. About financials, he says the real estate crash hasn't worked through the system yet. He'd short financials if there were any way to guess total losses: If you absolutely had to be short something, I would look at the banks. But the reason I won't short them is because the accounting is so bad it's not possible to get your arms around…

  • Apple Doesn't Hate The Web. Apple Believes It's Better Than The Web

    John Battelle
    2 Sep 2010 | 11:25 am
    Steve Jobs pitched Apple's new social network, Ping, as "Facebook and Twitter Meet Itunes". Except.....as far as I can tell, they in fact don't ever meet. You can't leverage your networks on Facebook and Twitter in Ping. It's another closed Apple system, another Apple universe in a gilded gift box. It's not that Apple hates the web, it's just that Apple is better than the web. Apple doesn't need it. It seems Apple has it all figured out.I am sure Ping will get traction because it'll be fun, and if it truly helps folks discover more music, so much the better for all (especially iTunes sales).

  • Could the stumbling block between Apple's Ping network and Facebook Connect be browser cookies? (In that iTunes may ...

    2 Sep 2010 | 11:24 am
    Could the stumbling block between Apple's Ping network and Facebook Connect be browser cookies? (And that iTunes may not support them.) Maybe the "onerous" requirement that Facebook wanted from Apple was to spy on its users.Join the conversation about this story »

  • CBS News shreds The Daily Beast for its piece about the network collapsing. “Predictions of CBS News’ co...

    2 Sep 2010 | 11:18 am
    CBS News shreds The Daily Beast for its piece about the network collapsing. “Predictions of CBS News’ collapse is a perverse hobby for some writers and they are tiresome, unoriginal and always wrong,” a CBS News spokesperson told Mediaite.Join the conversation about this story »

  • Gossip Grind: Today's Wall Street Buzz in 60 Seconds (GS, C, RBS)

    Katya Wachtel and Courtney Comstock
    2 Sep 2010 | 11:05 am
    Citi is adding up to 12,000 jobs in China in the next three years. The bank's current headcount there is 4,500. RBS is cutting 3,500 workers in the UK. (Alleged) ponzi fraudster Kenn Starr's wife says private detectives hired by actor Wesley Snipes have been trailing her in the hope they'll discover evidence that would clear Snipes of tax charges. Lloyd Blankfein wears pink and pops his collar. We spoke to someone who sat next to Lloyd Blankfein, his wife and another couple at dinner last night in Sag Harbor and apparently the Goldman chief was wearing a pink shirt. And, the collar was…
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    HarvardBusiness.org

  • The New York Times Is Dead Wrong

    Bill Taylor
    2 Sep 2010 | 10:38 am
    As a public speaker, I'm always looking for ways to engage my audience. One old trick — which I never use, precisely because it is so old — is to challenge executives and entrepreneurs to imagine their obituary in the New York Times. What impact did you have? What contribution did you make? What kind of life did you lead? As it turns out, this audience-participation exercise requires a special act of imagination for women. Consider this amazing statistic, brought to you by a Web site called The NYTpicker, which pokes, prods, and otherwise critiques the world's greatest newspaper.

  • For a Better Career Outlook, Look Inward

    Sharon Daniels
    2 Sep 2010 | 10:25 am
    Here's an idea for your next performance review: Do what the CEOs of Fortune 500 companies do for their annual evaluation by the board of directors — write a self-assessment that helps guide the conversation. What you write will be a valuable tool for the performance review and, even better, a custom guide for your own development. Ongoing self-assessment is one of the five zones of strength that leaders have and non-leader managers don't, according to one of our ongoing workplace studies (pdf). Indeed, self-assessment makes a major contribution to all the other strength zones, the…

  • Are These the Economy's Good Old Days?

    Eric Janszen
    2 Sep 2010 | 10:08 am
    Five years from now, will we look back on the dismal unemployment that we're suffering on Labor Day 2010 and see this year as the good old days? Within today's official unemployment statistics hides the true cost of decades of economic mismanagement: Historically unprecedented levels of unemployment and underemployment. The Great Recession that officially ended in 2009 has left millions of Americans without jobs for longer than the worst economic period in modern history — the early 1980s. Almost 7 million Americans have been out of work for more than six months, as compared with less…

  • The Dirty Truth About Digital Fasts

    Alexandra Samuel
    2 Sep 2010 | 8:30 am
    Last year it was the staycation. This year it's the digital fast. "How I unplugged" — from Twitter, from a Blackberry, from the Internet, or at the behest of the New York Times — is the new "what I did on my summer vacation." As people trade stories about how they survived, or even thrived, offline, I'm troubled by the underlying narrative, that our ability to unplug is necessary to prove that we're not Internet addicts. We're supposed to demonstrate our grasp of human relationships by our ability to relate face-to-face, as well as online. We're supposed to show that we can be…

  • Keeping Your Business Plan Flexible

    Amy Gallo
    2 Sep 2010 | 7:06 am
    People make business plans for all sorts of reasons — to attract funding, evaluate future growth, build partnerships, or guide development. Unfortunately, the vast majority of these plans are usually out of date by the time the printer ink dries. Business moves fast: the product's features morph, new competitors emerge, or the economic climate shifts. When these changes occur, many people just throw their business plans out the window. For a plan to be truly valuable it needs to evolve with your company and stay relevant in the face of uncertainty. What the Experts Say Despite the hype…
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    TargetStars

  • Book Review: Word of Mouth Marketing: How Smart Companies Get People Talking by Andy Sernovitz

    Business owners are always seeking cost effective methods to attract new customers. However, none of them will ever be as effective as word of mouth marketing. Word of mouth marketing is a technique that requires companies to come up with concepts that would appeal to their customers and compel their customers to share their experiences [...]

  • Summer Seven1010 Tweetup at Wildfire

    I thoroughly enjoy meeting new people, so I try to attend at least two networking events a month. However, I currently live in the suburbs and the majority of the networking events are in the heart of the city so it is oftentimes difficult for me to make it into the city (Chicago). During one [...]

  • Life Entrepreneurs by Christopher Gergen and Gregg Vanourek

    People are always seeking ways to create the perfect work-life balance. Many may challenge that such a balance does not exist if you are an entrepreneur. However, those that subscribe to this notion would be shocked to meet the entrepreneurs in Life Entrepreneur by Christopher Gergen and Gregg Vanourek. The authors interviewed 55 business and [...]

  • Book Review: The Zen of Social Media Marketing

    Many books written on the topic of social media spend the majority of their time persuading readers why they need to incorporate social media into their marketing campaigns. However, what these authors fail to realize is that the majority of readers no longer need to be convinced about the power of social media marketing, but [...]

  • 2010 Windy City Social Marketing Challenge

    One of my favorite ways to acquire new skills is through collaboration. I recently attended the Windy City Social Spring 2010 Marketing Challenge at Macy’s Narcissus Room. The event consists of three companies presenting case studies and nine teams are charged with the task of creating a marketing plan that will enable these companies to [...]
 
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    BIG marketing for small business

  • How to Write Press Releases that Drive More Traffic to Your Website

    Rajan Sodhi
    31 Aug 2010 | 4:13 pm
    Tommy Humphreys of BCBusiness Blog offers simple tips for small and medium size businesses on how to use public relations and press releases to help promote your business. Today’s press releases can be done far more cost-effectively than ever before with all the different online tools and services available. And don’t forget the SEO and organic search relevance generated by well-crafted press releases that include your most important keywords. Remember, most press releases these days get re-published online rather than in print, so they can be advantageous in driving far more…

  • Changing Buying Behavior Means Sweating The Small Stuff

    Rajan Sodhi
    17 Jun 2010 | 5:17 pm
    Fantastic keynote from Rory Sutherland at TED about “Sweating the Small Stuff”. This is a must watch at 12min 30sec that goes by fast. He makes a compelling case that the world we live in wants to believe that big, important problems require big, important, and expensive solutions. However, the reality is that what changes our behavior is disproportionate to the amount of force and expense we apply to it. In other words, the more resources and money we use to change buying behavior, the less real impact it actually has. Take for example Virgin Atlantic Airways, who brings a salt…

  • Getting a Phone Presence Abroad With a DID Number

    Rajan Sodhi
    15 Jun 2010 | 10:58 am
    A DID number (also called DDI / virtual number) is a local telephone number in a selected area code that is forwarded to a landline,mobile, VoIP software or hardware, SIP, H.323, IAX, Skype or Google Talk anywhere in the world. For small businesses  operating internationally with limited resources and a limited budget presents a major challenge. To that end, the use of DIDs provides a multitude of advantages: DIDs covering numerous destinations worldwide can be acquired online. Through the use of a DID your customers will be able to call you at local call rates. This is particularly…

  • Cloud Storage An Affordable Place to Store All Your Web Files

    Rajan Sodhi
    2 Jun 2010 | 12:46 pm
    PEER 1 Hosting just launched CloudOne Storage, a very affordable, pay-as-you-go unlimited online storage product for all your web files and media. Starting at just $0.15 per GB per month, you can upload, store and manage unlimited data through an easy-to-use control panel or via the standards compliant Application Programming Interface (API) – the web-based interface for file management. This type of storage allows you to move your files off your web hosting server, which can dramatically increase the speed and performance of your website – which now impacts your Google quality score…

  • These Paid Search Pitfalls Deliver Poor Results

    Ryan Kelly
    12 May 2010 | 2:04 pm
    Many small businesses will revert to Google AdWords or other forms of paid search to offset any deficiencies in their SEO, or organic listings. There are a couple of things you need to know first, before you embark on a paid search campaign. 1. If your sales cycle is longer than 2 weeks from click to sale, your results might suck. This is an important one, and many people miss the mark here.  If whatever you are selling takes multiple visits, multiple people in the decision process, or is a large, emotional transaction, chances are your paid campaign will suck.  Let’s look at a few…
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    Business & Learning

  • Twitter: Coming Soon to a Tweet Near You

    Kelli Claypool
    2 Sep 2010 | 4:01 am
    The good folks over at Twitter made the following announcements earlier today: Over the coming weeks, there will be two important updates that will impact how you interact with Twitter applications. This notice is being sent to all Twitter users to make sure you are aware of these changes. What are applications? There are over [...]

  • Focus: Book of Ideas

    Kelli Claypool
    1 Sep 2010 | 11:20 am
    Do you have ideas coming at you from left and right, up and down, and side to side?  It seems that every waking moment I’m thinking of a new product or service which leads to the thought of a cool domain name, which then leads to designing a new website, and what colors to use, [...]

  • Online Security: Creating Strong Passwords – Video

    Kelli Claypool
    28 Aug 2010 | 11:47 am
    How to choose a safe password – Animated Explanations

  • Making Your Child’s Learning Experience More Engaging

    AnnSmarty
    26 Aug 2010 | 10:39 am
    Like most people when I first started attending nursery school I was enthralled by all the new sights and sounds my lessons had to offer me. Unfortunately, school doesn’t stay so enchanting forever. As learning through fun became learning through hard work and routine my attention began to waiver. Luckily my family were there to [...]

  • Direct Sales: Open Coaching Calls Every Tuesday at 9:30 a.m Central Time

    Kelli Claypool
    1 Aug 2010 | 6:57 pm
    Did you know that around the Campus we have a Direct Sales/Network Marketing Division? Yep, that’s right! Team Leader, Larry Liebling, is our direct sales extraordinaire and he hosts FREE open coaching/training calls every Tuesday at 9:30 a.m. Central Time (that’s 10:30 a.m. Eastern).  No optin required, simply call the Campus Conference Line at 712-432-0075 [...]
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    TradePub: Small & Medium Business

  • Target Marketing

    1 Sep 2010 | 12:20 am
    Target Marketing covers all direct response media, including direct mail, telemarketing, space advertising, the Web and direct response TV. Readers get insight into such subjects as using databases and lists effectively, acquiring new customers, upselling and cross-selling existing customers, fulfillment strategies and more.Request Free!

  • HR Magazine

    1 Sep 2010 | 12:20 am
    The publication contains editorial on benefits, training and development, employment and staffing, compensation, retirement planning, safety and security, awards and incentives, HR technology, relocation, management, diversity, international HR, as well as strategic planning.Request Free!

  • Brick Marketing SEO Newsletter

    1 Sep 2010 | 12:20 am
    Find out why over 110,000 businesses and marketing professionals read the Brick Marketing SEO Newsletter every week.The Newsletter is jam packed with free and useful SEO and SEM advice and tips from Brick Marketing President, Nick Stamoulis, who has over 12 years of optimization and online marketing experience. The Brick Marketing SEO Newsletter features articles from one of the top SEO blogs, the Search Engine Optimization Journal. Each Brick Marketing SEO Newsletter includes exclusive discounts to SEO workshops, trainings, services and much more!Request Free!

  • Sales Force Automation Comparison Guide

    1 Sep 2010 | 12:20 am
    Businesses of all sizes can benefit by automating all aspects of their sales processes with an SFA (Sales Force Automation) solution. But due to the sheer number of features that most SFA solutions contain, researching your options can be a time-consuming task. InsideCRM has done a lot of the work for you by comparing the features and costs of 15 top SFA solutions from vendors such as Microsoft, Oracle, Sage Software and Entellium. Whether you work for a small business, a medium-sized enterprise or a huge corporation, there's a solution that will fit the bill.This comparison guide addresses…

  • Pack & Ship: FREE GUIDE on Delivering Products Quickly

    27 Aug 2010 | 1:20 pm
    Order fulfillment services does exactly what it says: fulfills your product orders for the customers. This guide will outline exactly what you need to know when choosing a fulfillment center, and give you great questions to ask potential companies.When choosing a fulfillment center, you'll want to know the locations of your customer base and choose a center that is nearby. Fulfillment companies will track the product orders and returns, update your inventory and deliver reports to you. For e-commerce merchants and home based business owners, order fulfillment providers are a great solution.
 
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    NASE on Micro-Business

  • Shoestring Budget Success

    1 Sep 2010 | 1:06 pm
    Posted by Molly Nelson - The WSJ profiles three small-business owners who started their businesses on shoestring budgets of less than $150. If you have questions about starting a business on a shoestring budget, be sure to ask the experts at Shop Talk for advice, and check out an article on shoestring's cousin, bootstrapping, in the September/October issue of Self-Employed magazine. Did you start your business on a shoestring budget? Share your experience and any advice in the comments! [Start-Ups on a Shoestring]

  • Baggage Fee Refunds

    30 Aug 2010 | 1:56 pm
    Posted by Molly Nelson - Hate paying airline bag checking fees? If you're traveling between Sept. 1 and Dec. 30 and use a Visa card to book a weekend stay at any Holiday Inn or IHG-brand hotel, they will pay up to $50 of your checked baggage fees. The deal applies to weekend stays at: Holiday Inn, Holiday Inn Express, InterContinental, Crowne Plaza, Hotel Indigo, Holiday Inn Club Vacations, Staybridge Suites and Candlewood Suites hotels. To claim your reimbursement, you'll need your hotel bill (or third-party booking receipt) showing Visa payment method and travel dates, and your receipt…

  • Creating Your Logo – Tips For Startups And Established Small Businesses

    30 Aug 2010 | 11:19 am
    Posted by Maureen Petron -- Looking to create – or recreate – your business brand with a logo? This article from Mashable gives 4 things to consider when creating your own logo, or outsourcing the design. If you do look for a logo designer, the article suggests finding a recommendation from a colleague, or making sure to browse the designer’s work before engaging them for your project. An NASE Member benefit lets you go a step further than just browsing a designer’s portfolio. CrowdSPRING lets you work with dozens of designers, see hundreds of concepts – for your specific project…

  • Hot Links (8/23 – 8/27)

    27 Aug 2010 | 5:00 am
    Posted by Rosemary Hambright – Hello, NASE Members and NASE Staff Blog readers!  But, alas, now is also the time to say goodbye.  This will be the last of my weekly Hot Links because it is the final week of my internship at the NASE.  It’s been really fun for me to scour the web for interesting articles and relevant small biz news, not to mention educational. Speaking of the internet, social media has been a popular topic this week (as per usual!).  Philadelphia might start taxing bloggers.  Entrepreneur.com gave advice for making merchandise sites…

  • Taking A Break From Screens

    25 Aug 2010 | 12:41 pm
    Posted  by Molly Nelson - You're probably reading this on the screen of some digital device, but when you're finished you may want to (gasp!) leave all of the screens in your life alone for a few minutes. According to an article in the New York  Times, scientists are concerned that the constant checking of computers and smartphones is harmful to the brain. While downtime allows the brain to go over past experiences and solidify them into permanent long-term memories, constant stimulation of the brain prevents this learning process, according to scientists. The article describes a…
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    Sustainable Marketing Blog

  • Conversation as a driver of social sustainability

    Peter Korchnak
    2 Sep 2010 | 5:30 am
    This is my contribution in “Age of Conversation 3: It’s Time To Get Busy!” (emphasis added for this post). Read more about the project, or, even better, buy the book now. Social sustainability gets short shrift in branding. Reasons abound: it’s hard to define and measure quantitatively; it’s intangible, processual, and complex; it’s not as sexy as caring for the environment and not as immediately profitable. No wonder the People bottom line stays in the background. It doesn’t have to be so. Define brand as the sum of your stakeholders’…

  • Joy of pricing: Financial sustainability through flexibility

    Peter Korchnak
    30 Aug 2010 | 5:14 am
    In my discussion of business-to-business pricing strategies a while ago I discussed a variety of ways to satisfy both your company’s and your customer’s needs through fair prices and price discrimination. Since then–I can’t believe it’s been 10 months already!–I’ve discovered and have successfully applied two additional pricing methods: equal monthly payment and customized pricing. Equal monthly payment Equal monthly payment is a combination of hourly rate, fixed fee, and retainer. It works for long-term contracts or big projects. For a steady client…

  • unReview: Q2/2010 recommendations

    Peter Korchnak
    13 Aug 2010 | 12:21 pm
    The year 2010 is going by quickly. Continuing the nascent series of quarterly book recommendations (see the Q1 list), here’s a list of my recommendations from the year’s 2nd quarter (April-June). All of these can help, in one way or another, in your marketing and business. Enjoy! Business Peter Senge, et al., “The Necessary Revolution: How Individuals and Organizations Are Working Together to Create a Sustainable World”, 2008 — Wordy but useful and example-ridden guide to creating creative collaborations and collaborative organizations. Psychology, sociology,…

  • What does sustainable design mean to me?

    Peter Korchnak
    12 Aug 2010 | 4:56 pm
    I have mentioned AIGA Portland’s event “SHIFT: A Green Salon” a couple of times, here and here. The group’s sustainability committee puts on the awesome pecha kucha to spotlight answers to the titular question. At each SHIFT, 10 designers, marketers, scholars, practitioners, or students present, in 5-minute talks, their ideas, thoughts, and solutions across a broad spectrum of design. SHIFT 4, which takes place on Tuesday, August 24th from 7 to 9:30 pm at Ecotrust, will be an even more exciting one for me: it will feature my presentation titled, “Crowdsourcing…

  • Open eyes, mind, and heart in marketing

    Peter Korchnak
    29 Jul 2010 | 12:47 pm
    As my new venture takes shape (more on that in the coming weeks), I read a lot about startups. Amid the predictable stream of advice about the need for a “single-minded, uncompromising obsession with One Thing” (via War Room), the most intriguing case studies showcase companies that set out to offer Product A and ended up making it big with Product B. Not only do I see in those stories parallels with my own development and evolution toward the new venture, I’ve drawn a major business/life lesson from them. It’s one of those “Duh!” moments when you read it,…
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    Women Entrepreneurs GROW Global

  • Onetime Penniless Sweatshop Worker in China Takes on the Global Economy

    Laurel Delaney
    2 Sep 2010 | 9:36 am
    Self-made billionaire Zhang Xin (pictured), CEO of Soho China, is betting hundreds of millions of dollars on new buildings in Beijing and Shanghai. Zhang, 44, personifies the explosive rise of China, from the poverty of Mao Zedong’s communist rule to the riches of state-controlled capitalism in the world’s second-biggest economy. At age 30, armed with a master’s degree from the University of Cambridge in England and connections from working at Goldman Sachs, Zhang founded Soho China with her husband, Pan Shiyi. The company became central Beijing’s biggest developer…

  • Global Feminism At Its Best

    Laurel Delaney
    26 Aug 2010 | 5:25 am
    See how 50-year old Indian Artisan Kakuben Lalabhai Parmar (pictured far right) is an advocate for women here. Snippet here: “I already experienced the biggest change in my life,” she said, speaking a Gujarati dialect through an interpreter, “when I first got the chance to come out of my house and participate in society.” Ms. Parmar’s moment of liberation came roughly 20 years ago, when the not-for-profit Sewa Project formed a unit in her village to help preserve endangered handicrafts and, equally, to provide the people who make them a form of alternative employment. Photo credit…

  • Useful Websites for Australians Who Want to Export

    Laurel Delaney
    22 Aug 2010 | 4:15 am
    If you are thinking about exporting and are based in the New South Wales (Sydney) part of the world, consider these useful websites for taking your business global. Sample left sidebar on site: Thinking of exporting Getting started in export Assistance for exporters Export events and workshops Premier’s NSW Export Awards Success stories Useful websites Going Global Round Tables Posted by: Laurel Delaney Filed under: Country specific, Exporting, How-to, International business Tagged: Australia, Australians who want to export, going global round tables, Laurel Delaney, Sydney, thinking of…

  • Eat, Pray, Love and Go Global

    Laurel Delaney
    17 Aug 2010 | 4:16 am
    For women worldwide who read the book, “Eat, Pray, Love” by American author Elizabeth Gilbert and see the movie starring Julia Roberts (pictured), how might you take a similar journey to Gilbert’s but turn the global experience into a successful business at the same time? Snippet: Could the real Elizabeth Gilbert have survived her divorce without leaving New York?  Maybe.  I mean, probably.  I think it’s safe to assume she would have gone on breathing, like the rest of us.  But would she have become who she is today?  Doubtful.  After all, the whole point of…

  • Doing Good for Peruvian Women Entrepreneurs

    Laurel Delaney
    13 Aug 2010 | 1:50 pm
    Thunderbird School of Global Management is contributing its expertise and in-kind donations to the “Strengthening Women Entrepreneurship in Peru” project which provides training to women micro- and small entrepreneurs throughout Peru. Managed by Thunderbird for Good, Thunderbird is collaborating with the Multilateral Investment Fund of the Inter-American Development Bank Group (MIF/IDB), Goldman Sachs, Mibanco, Universidad del Pacifíco, and the Australian Government to bring business education and access to capital to thousands of women. The goal is to train 100,000 women entrepreneurs…
 
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    Big Red Tomato Company

  • Wednesday Wisdom: Including the only SEO Guide you’ll ever need

    Matthew Needham
    31 Aug 2010 | 10:00 pm
    Wednesday Wisdom is all about articles which will help you in three things, Better blogging, Better business, and finally more importantly a Better  life. This week I have selected some articles which I am sure will help you in one of these areas! This week let’s start with the articles which will help for Better Blogging. Better Blogging I noticed last week that many of the blogger sites that I regularly comment on haven’t been updated for a good few weeks. So, this article by Thomas Sinfield How to Fast Track ‘Blogger Burnout’! is very timely. Thomas identified 3 causes of…

  • A time for reflection

    Matthew Needham
    28 Aug 2010 | 2:57 am
    This weekend it is my birthday. I’m celebrating it with my wife, my new son and two of my best friends. One of the highlights will be spending some time going indoor skydiving with my best friend (more about this next week!), ironically a present they bought for me last year! In my opinion, birthday’s are a little like New Year’s in that they are a time to reflect on the past year and look forward to the future.  Mind you if you said to me last year that this time next year you’ll be getting up in the middle of the night holding a 9 week old I’d have laughed, so you can’t predict…

  • 10 brilliant ways to make a difference for $0

    Matthew Needham
    26 Aug 2010 | 10:00 pm
    Back for his regular slot after a brief holiday to the Welsh countryside, 6aliens.com author Ben Lumley is back with another guest post on 10 brilliant ways to make a difference for nothing. You can catch Ben over at his Blog on Facebook or on Twitter Ben is today’s Friday Follow (#FF), over to you Ben: So Matthew’s post on Monday inspired me. That’s not to say that his posts don’t normally, they do, but this one was a bit different and really made me rethink what I wanted to write about today. When Matthew first asked me write regularly here, we talked about kicking off things…

  • Wednesday Wisdom: Including 5 Ways to Squeeze Free Money Out of Your Business

    Matthew Needham
    24 Aug 2010 | 10:00 pm
    For this week’s Wednesday wisdom, I hope you will find some interesting articles which will improve your business, blogging and your personal life. If you’ve missed some of the previous posts, from Wednesday Wisdom, you can catch up here. Let’s start off with a post by our good friend Ben Lumley: Life is a race, we keep on running without even giving time for us to grow and develop, on our way we should stop to collect information for our own growth. Ben over at 6aliens.com suggests 3 ways to spot that we are running rather than growing and developing in our terms. Joshua opens…

  • Taking control and gaining your financial freedom

    Matthew Needham
    23 Aug 2010 | 10:00 pm
    Last week on the blog, we talked about the need to escape from the treadmill and taking control. This is something many of your related to, especially in these uncertain times. Being an employee is of course an honourable and sometimes enjoyable way to earn a living, but the downside is that you’re restricted to earning money only 8 hours a day, 5 days a week. In this post, I’m going to encourage you to think less like an employee and more like  an entrepreneur. A 100 years ago about 90% of us were entrepreneurs. Now that number is 10-20%.  In moving from farms to factories and…
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    The Rise Underground

  • THE Key Question Every Entrepreneur MUST Be Able To Answer About Their Website

    David Siteman Garland
    2 Sep 2010 | 5:10 am
    What about you? Can you answer it? What if you were to create a new website focused around content? What would your answer be? PS: This is one of the big reasons I wrote Smarter, Faster, Cheaper…to help folks become a trusted resource as opposed to a product pusher. Image Credit: wishfulthinking.co.uk

  • RISE #117: Adility: An Alternative To Groupon That Makes More Sense For Local Business Owners

    David Siteman Garland
    1 Sep 2010 | 7:08 am
    Click Here If You Prefer Audio Only Disclosure: Adility is a new partner of RISE. The deal of the day model is smoldering hot right now. Do consumers love it? You bet. I don’t think I’ve heard too many people say they don’t love a deal. Do local businesses love it? There are mixed reviews. Some have seen massive success. Others have had issues. The 800 pound gorilla in the room is of course, Groupon. Of course, there are many others. One of the knocks against Groupon though is the lack of control and the “one hit wonder” problem. Imagine, as a local business,…

  • The Myth Of Overnight Success

    David Siteman Garland
    31 Aug 2010 | 6:19 am
    Unless you are living under a rock buried under another rock on top of a rock, you (we) all know that social media and the new age of building brands online (or bringing an existing brand online) is exciting. Now entrepreneurs, small business owners, and passionate personal brands have the tools at their disposal to build, market, and promote. Awesome. Drive, creativity, passion, a great idea, nimbleness, connecting one-on-one with people, etc. are the new advantages in brand building online, as opposed to just a big budget for advertising. There are new a slew of new entrepreneurs that have…

  • RISE #116: How To Market Your Business Like The Grateful Dead With Special Guest David Meerman Scott

    David Siteman Garland
    30 Aug 2010 | 6:33 am
    Click Here If You Prefer Audio Only QUESTION: What does the Grateful Dead have to do with marketing your business smarter, faster, cheaper? ANSWER: Listen to David Meerman Scott, the co-author of the new book Marketing Lessons From The Grateful Dead (affiliate link) and marketing legend, joins me today to talk about two things you will find interesting: How David and co-author Brian Halligan surprised the heck out of everyone with this new book by doing the opposite of what everyone else in publishing does. Key lessons from how the Grateful Dead built, marketed, and promoted themselves that…

  • RISE #115: Want To Become Influential Online? Learn From Amber Naslund

    David Siteman Garland
    27 Aug 2010 | 6:12 am
    Click Here If You Prefer Audio Only One moment with Amber Naslund and you will be happier. Seriously. And lucky for all of us, I was able to nab her for more more than a few moments here on RISE. For those that haven’t met Amber yet, she is what I would like to call an online influencer. This isn’t a fluffy term. She is the Director of Community at Radian6, a popular blogger, a frequent speaker on social media for business, and an upcoming author as well. In this interview, I have the lucky job of picking Amber’s brain on her rise to the top, advice for you as a rising star,…
 
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    New articles | Biznik

  • Small Business and Taxes

    2 Sep 2010 | 7:15 am
    Should taxes be a prime consideration in making business decisions?

  • 7 Tips for Developing an Effective Team

    2 Sep 2010 | 1:03 am
    If you are developing or leading a team sometimes its hard to know how to get the best out of people. This article looks at 7 strategies you could apply that could help you with building an effective team.

  • Confidence Trumps Everything! Money, Education and Yes Even Stupidity!

    1 Sep 2010 | 7:55 pm
    The BIG question I asked was: What’s the difference between confidence, arrogance and being cocky? After some hard arguing and a few bottles of wine, we began to break it down into something relevant.

  • New Way For Professional Services to Get Customers

    1 Sep 2010 | 7:07 pm
    Today’s technology has changed the landscape as to how commerce happens in all industries. People communicate differently and have access to more information. Employees telecommute, and it is easier to do business globally. Customers choose their products and services differently.

  • A Guide to Creating Product Labels with Life!

    1 Sep 2010 | 12:19 pm
    The average consumer only glances at your product for 2-3 seconds. Make a statement with your design that will intrigue customers in this very short time span.
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    Mimiran

  • Don’t limit yourself on price

    admin
    26 Aug 2010 | 7:16 am
    If you’re reading this blog, you probably know the dramatic profit impact of small price improvements.  (For a company running at 10% net margin, a 1% price improvement increases profit by 10%.)  Yet even when companies want to improve pricing performance, they often feel like they are at the mercy of the market. If you’re truly in a commodity market, you are in fact at the mercy of the market.  Either focus on your cost, or differentiate to decommoditize. Few businesses are in true commodity markets.  And for a lot of these businesses, especially at the SMB level, the first…

  • In Apple Comparison, Dell Leans on Price

    admin
    7 Aug 2010 | 5:18 am
    Dell has launched a new back-to-school campaign highlighting the lower prices of of Dell laptops compared to Apple.  At a high level, this is a great idea.  Apple has regained a (the?) leadership position in the educational market, which is important beyond its immediate size because of its longer-term implications.  Dell has invested in design and now touts a nice-looking line that can reasonably compared with Macs.  Having the well-regarded Windows7 instead of Vista helps, too.  However, this effort suffers from several serious flaws: It’s really hard to tell what the advantages…

  • The best 5 minutes of TV for sales

    admin
    28 Jul 2010 | 8:12 am
    If you haven’t already, check out Gerhard Gschwandtner interviewing Ron Hubsher from the Sales Optimization Group on the sales negotiation process.  Ron looks at the sales process with the same philosophy I do– namely, selling value instead of price, and using that profit increase to build a much more valuable company.  However, he approaches the problem from a sales training perspective, a nice complement to the analytical approach we use. Check it out:

  • The World Cup, Data Analysis, and Maximizing Profit

    admin
    15 Jul 2010 | 7:35 am
    I’m a big fan of analytics.  And sports (although I no longer have time to keep up with them).  So I’ve always been puzzled that with so much money and pride on the line, teams have done so little analyze data to help them win.  Sounds a bit like pricing, right? There’s no shortage of stats in sports, just as there’s no shortage of KPIs in business.  While these numbers are interesting and sometimes even useful, they often provide little insight into true performance, and may even distort performance in a way that reduces overall effectiveness.  For example, some…

  • AT&T Pricing Plans: It’s About Time

    admin
    6 Jun 2010 | 1:58 pm
    As a heavy iPhone user, I was less than thrilled about AT&T’s plan to end “unlimited” data plans. Apparently, I consume over 3GB/month, despite doing most of my heavy lifting through WiFi. This means I will either need to reduce my network consumption, or pay more to AT&T. (I never hit the 5GB limit of the “Unlimited” Plan.) Despite this inconvenience, it’s about time AT&T realized that a supply problem can be converted into a pricing problem. Also, pricing is much more flexible and flexible than most supply chains, especially those involving…
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    What Works for Business - Business.com

  • Six B2B Selling Mistakes to Avoid

    Daniel Kehrer
    24 Aug 2010 | 10:07 am
    “Organic growth” – or building a business with your own internal resources – makes especially good sense in today’s tough economy.  For many small firms that sell business-to-business (B2B), growing through debt financing just isn’t an option anymore. But if you’re like most small firms that sell B2B, you may be making predictable mistakes that are inhibiting your ability to compete. Dan Adams, president of Advanced Industrial Marketing, Inc., has spent his career helping companies that sell B2B overcome obstacles that tend to stunt organic growth. Here are some of the missteps…

  • Six Steps to Better Business Execution

    Daniel Kehrer
    5 Aug 2010 | 9:24 am
    Many businesses have quality products and services, a realistic strategy, well-defined mission and skilled people.  Yet they can’t seem to gain traction, deliver consistent results or grow. So what’s up?  In most cases, the problem comes down to this: Execution. Some businesses are structured for results, and the people who run them know how to execute.  “If an organization can’t execute, nothing else matters — not the smartest strategy, not the most innovative business model, not even game-changing technology,” says Rick Lepsinger, president of OnPoint Consulting and someone…

  • Answer Questions Online to Generate B2B Leads

    Daniel Kehrer
    29 Jul 2010 | 4:31 pm
    Those of you looking for new B2B lead generation avenues will want to read this case study from Business.com’s B2B Online Marketing blog: Priceless Imprinters Finds New Revenue in Online Q&A It’s the best kind of success story. Priceless Imprinters, a promotional products supplier in New Jersey, started responding to questions from small businesses on Business.com Answers a few months ago, and they’re already seeing tangible results: $5,000 in revenue from new clients who found them through their posted answers. Is online Q&A a good source for new B2B leads? Priceless Imprinters…

  • 10 Ways to Boost Business Value

    Daniel Kehrer
    29 Jul 2010 | 9:45 am
    If you hope to sell your business someday, the time to think about increasing its value is now. Too many business owners are shocked to find out the business they’ve been running isn’t worth nearly as much as they thought, says John Martinka, VP of Partner On-Call Network, a Kirkland, WA-based firm that helps small businesses prepare themselves for sale. Here are 10 ways to make your business more valuable to potential buyers: 1.   Don’t let it be just you.  “Too many businesses suffer from the all-controlling owner who not only knows how to do everything but also insists on being…

  • Free Money from the Small Business Health Care Tax Credit

    Daniel Kehrer
    22 Jul 2010 | 11:59 am
    If you’re a small employer with a health insurance plan and pay at least half of employee premiums, you might qualify for a new health care tax credit worth thousands or even tens of thousands of dollars for 2010. Or if you don’t yet have a plan, here’s incentive to get in the game. Example:  An auto repair shop with 10 employees whose earnings average $25,000 can get what amounts to a 35% “rebate” on its health insurance premiums. Based on typical costs, that would be a credit of $24,500 this year, according to IRS estimates. Not bad. And that’s a credit…
 
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    MyWifeQuitHerJob.com

  • Mailbag: Customer Service For Moms, Inventory And Selling Margins

    Steve
    31 Aug 2010 | 7:51 am
    I’ve been out sick for the past two weeks so I apologize if I haven’t responded to any of your emails. The fact is that I hate seeing the doctor and it was only after a week of unbearable headache pain that I finally buckled and decided to go to urgent care. It was there that I discovered that I had a bacterial sinus infection that required antibiotics to cure. If only I had known this earlier, I could have saved myself from a full week of illness. UGH! In any case, I’ve been taking my medication for 3 days now and my head is starting to become lucid enough to resume…

  • The Psychology Of Commitment And Getting Customers To Spend More

    Steve
    24 Aug 2010 | 8:27 am
    I really hate getting nickel and dimed, especially when I believe that two items should come packaged together at no additional cost. For example, every time I go to McDonalds and order Chicken McNuggets, I get really annoyed. Back in the old days, McDonalds used to offer as many packets of sauce as you wanted for free whenever you ordered their Chicken McNuggets. But sometime within the last several years or so, they started charging you for extra sauce that exceeded their recommended quota. Photo By Fr1zz Now if you order 20 nuggets, you are only allocated 3 packages of sauce. For a 10…

  • Making A 6 Figure Income With Our Online Store – How Much Work Does It Take?

    Steve
    18 Aug 2010 | 7:48 am
    A few people have emailed me lately asking questions about how much time we spend running our store on a day to day basis and I completely understand why. Running a business can be difficult and time consuming so it’s important to understand what one is getting into before taking the plunge. I even received one email from a reader who asked. Why would I want to open an ecommerce site as opposed to something much more passive like affiliate marketing or blogging? Passive Income? First off, I just want to emphasize that no business is truly passive. No matter what, you have to put in a…

  • Buying Wholesale Versus Buying From A MiddleMan

    Steve
    10 Aug 2010 | 6:49 am
    A few weekends ago, my wife and I had the pleasure of attending the annual San Francisco Gift Fair held at the Moscone center. My mom was in town so we left the kids with her and took off to check out the latest gift wholesalers from across the US. The SF wholesale gift show had the usual requirements to keep out casual shoppers. You needed to show at least 2 forms of id which could consist of any of the following: your business license, LLC or corporation paperwork, EIN number, business credit cards etc… Young kids were not allowed in and you had to pay a hefty fee to bring in guests…

  • Mistakes Made In Finding Products To Sell: How My Wife Lost Her Favorite Hobby

    Steve
    3 Aug 2010 | 7:15 am
    One of the pieces of entrepreneurial advice that I hear the most often is to start a business based on something you are passionate about. Pick a niche based on something you enjoy doing and turn it into a business. Whenever I hear this advice, I start to roll my eyes because it’s not that simple. Sure, passion is important, but passion comes with the territory once you starting kicking butt. Passion comes naturally once you start seeing some traction and progress. The problem with picking a business idea based on what you enjoy doing during your leisure time is that you may not enjoy…
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    Optimal Web Consultants

  • Customize your Facebook Fan Page with a Welcome Tab

    optimalweb
    12 Aug 2010 | 5:13 pm
    Note: If you need help getting started with Fan Page basics, see the previous post about Promoting Your Business Through Facebook Make the most of your Facebook Fan Page by adding customized features that make you stand out from the crowd and engage your fans in a way that keeps them coming back. A simple way to use this on your site is through a customized Welcome tab. An attention-grabbing Welcome tab for your fan page gives visitors the red-carpet treatment and welcomes them to your fan page in a way that is unique and specialized to your business or organization. This technique uses the…

  • Restoring Facebook’s Privacy settings to private

    optimalweb
    7 Jul 2010 | 5:56 am
    Although this is not the typical article that I write for this blog, I think it is still important to go over none the less.   Many if not all of us use Facebook for personal use as well as helping our business grow after all.   Facebook polices on privacy keep changing all the time it seems.  Every three or so months a revision is made and the settings and options are getting more difficult, buried, and hidden.  Facebook is out to make money and if your information is public information… well they can sell it! This has turned many off to Facebook and some even have boycotted it…

  • Grade your website

    optimalweb
    22 Mar 2010 | 10:16 am
    Today I want to talk about one of my favorite online tools.  HubSpot (who maintains a terrific blog on internet marketing) offers this tool for free use called Website Grader.  All you need to do is input your website address, list some competing website and put in your email address.  Give it a few minutes to grade your website and it gives you a lengthy report back.  I want to take some time explaining each of these areas and how to improve your “grade”.  The list is long so I will only cover the most important ones. While waiting for my site be be graded I got this great quote…

  • Where have you been?

    optimalweb
    24 Feb 2010 | 3:15 pm
    Just wanted to give a quick update on what is cooking for Optimal Web.  We are on the tail end of complete re-design for our website.  We are shooting to launch the new site by the end of the week.  We are also restructuring our SEO packages and web design packages and will have some great specials for the spring. Needless to say this has taken up a great deal of time that I normally devote to Optimal Web Blog.  Once the changes go live we will continue with updating the blog on regular schedule once again. Thanks, P.S.  Thanks for being patient! Share on Facebook

  • Easily Re-size Photos

    optimalweb
    3 Nov 2009 | 3:19 pm
    Most of the ways you capture pictures will do so at the highest resolution.  This is great and you don’t want to change a thing here.  You always want to capture it at the best quality because you can always go down but you can’t go up.  You just need to re-size the photo so it does not bog your website down or take forever to send over email. How do you easly resize photos when everyone has diffrent programs to do the same thing?   Then add in the fact that each program has a totally unique way of doing the re-size.   You make it simple.  The below tutorial will walk you…
 
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    flyte blog: web marketing strategies for small business

  • Advanced Facebook for Business – #ftw2010

    Rich Brooks
    1 Sep 2010 | 5:19 am
    If your business is already on Facebook but you’re looking to take it to the next level you may want to attend Jaica Kinsman’s session on Facebook 201: Advanced Facebook for Business at the upcoming Social Media FTW Conference. In this brief interview she tells you what to expect, and what not to expect in her session. Rich Brooks Social Media FTW

  • Three Reasons to Say No a Smaller Project

    Rich Brooks
    30 Aug 2010 | 2:41 pm
    Dear Service Professional, As we (hopefully) move away from the Great Recession you may be seeing inquiries, albeit tentative. They’re interested in your landscaping/consulting/tutoring services, but they don’t want to spend that much so they ask you if you can scale back your proposal. Don’t do it. I speak from previous experience. Actually, my previous experience has previous experience. In fact, I’m writing this blog post to remind my future self not to sell half a web design, half an internet marketing campaign, or half of a social media consult to anyone who asks.

  • Advanced Blogging at #ftw2010

    Rich Brooks
    26 Aug 2010 | 11:22 am
    Between my responsibilities of blogging, speaking, generating business for my company, and trying to be a better husband and dad, I’m also ramping up for Social Media FTW, a conference I co-founded with Chrystie Corns and Jaica Kinsman. As part of our ongoing online marketing campaigns, we’re running a series of interviews with our speakers. Because I was around, we interviewed me first. Watch the lovely and talented Chrystie Corns strut her interview skills below or wach the interview on YouTube. And, if you haven’t signed up yet there’s still time! However, with over…

  • Marketing & Advertising Tips: The Placement of Flyers

    Rich Brooks
    25 Aug 2010 | 8:51 am
    Yesterday, as Colin from Market Street Eats and I were discussing owning the sales process (see yesterday’s post), we were putting up a new poster for Social Media FTW, the upcoming social media conference we’re putting on up here in Maine. Colin taped up the poster on the back of the Dasani cooler that faces people as they walk in and when they’re sitting down. While doing this we were  patting each other on the back for being able to see opportunities that other people miss (again, see yesterday’s post.) After five to ten minutes of this activity, and after the…

  • Owning the Sales Process

    Rich Brooks
    24 Aug 2010 | 1:29 pm
    I just had a great interaction at one of my favorite lunch places–Market Street Eats–with proprietor Colin Rankin. (So great, in fact, that I’m putting off paying work with a big deadline because I feel inspired to blog right now.) I always have a great talk with Colin, and it’s often about the pleasures and perils of running your own business. In fact, I got two, maybe three blog  posts (the others to follow) out of that one interaction. I went in to ask him if I could put up a poster for Social Media FTW, a social media conference we’re putting on in Maine on…
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    Business|BillyBush

  • Podcast: Entrepreneurs can save America

    Billy
    9 Aug 2010 | 6:45 am
    In this episode, we discuss the power of entrepreneurship as the answer to our economic and political woes.  It is the answer to keeping the American Dream alive, creating jobs, bringing financial stability, and bringing America back to its roots! Listen up and let us know your thoughts by commenting below… Related posts:Podcast: The Pivot Point Show Outline: Its all about the “pivot point” in entrepreneurship.... Introducing the Entrepreneur Pulse Podcast!! Well, I’ve done some radio shows and podcasts in the... Podcast: Start your business now! Show Outline: - a…

  • Taming the lizard brain – Seth Godin talk

    Billy
    2 Jun 2010 | 6:28 pm
    Seth Godin is a favorite marketing guru here and his latest book Linchpin is a great read.  This talk is based on a few topics therein. Check it out! Seth Godin: Quieting the Lizard Brain from 99% on Vimeo Related posts:Some questions everyone should ask about their site Seth Godin recently posted a list of questions that every... Related posts brought to you by Yet Another Related Posts Plugin.

  • The productivity framework – 4 key components

    Billy
    31 May 2010 | 2:40 pm
    For my own productivity ‘system’, I have identified 4 key components that simplify the understanding of any system out there.  The framework is completely underpinned by your personal modes of operation and your core purpose and desire.  With this, here is the framework: The 3 areas within the framework, as you can see, are tools, tactics and processes.  They are defined as follows: Tools – these are the technology pieces and other systems that help you facilitate your productivity.  This would be your computer, smartphone, and software. Also included here are your…

  • Podcast: The Pivot Point

    Billy
    21 May 2010 | 3:31 pm
    Show Outline: Its all about the “pivot point” in entrepreneurship. That is the point when the model is revealed, the niche is understood, and the organization shifts to match, followed by powerful growth. Most first time entrepreneurs experience this and many “serial” ones as well.  All organizations experience small pivot points, often regularly. Discussed Groupon.com and their pivot point to the “coupon” business that is creating overwhelming results. Keep it up and check out other posts and articles regarding this concept!! Let me know what you think,…

  • Get creative to get the introduction

    Billy
    18 May 2010 | 7:45 am
    Networking is a crucial part to entrepreneurship.  It is often a “who you know” business and industry (if you can call ‘entrepreneurship’ an industry…).   Getting creative may be needed, especially if you are attempting to jump the proverbial ‘line’, striving to meet a much bigger player than yourself.  The below video shares how one gentleman landed a job by getting creative. Now most of you are likely not looking to land a job but the concept is still an interesting and creative way to meet people your looking to connect with!  Check it out:…
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    TargetStars

  • Book Review: Word of Mouth Marketing: How Smart Companies Get People Talking by Andy Sernovitz

    Business owners are always seeking cost effective methods to attract new customers. However, none of them will ever be as effective as word of mouth marketing. Word of mouth marketing is a technique that requires companies to come up with concepts that would appeal to their customers and compel their customers to share their experiences [...]

  • Summer Seven1010 Tweetup at Wildfire

    I thoroughly enjoy meeting new people, so I try to attend at least two networking events a month. However, I currently live in the suburbs and the majority of the networking events are in the heart of the city so it is oftentimes difficult for me to make it into the city (Chicago). During one [...]

  • Life Entrepreneurs by Christopher Gergen and Gregg Vanourek

    People are always seeking ways to create the perfect work-life balance. Many may challenge that such a balance does not exist if you are an entrepreneur. However, those that subscribe to this notion would be shocked to meet the entrepreneurs in Life Entrepreneur by Christopher Gergen and Gregg Vanourek. The authors interviewed 55 business and [...]

  • Book Review: The Zen of Social Media Marketing

    Many books written on the topic of social media spend the majority of their time persuading readers why they need to incorporate social media into their marketing campaigns. However, what these authors fail to realize is that the majority of readers no longer need to be convinced about the power of social media marketing, but [...]

  • 2010 Windy City Social Marketing Challenge

    One of my favorite ways to acquire new skills is through collaboration. I recently attended the Windy City Social Spring 2010 Marketing Challenge at Macy’s Narcissus Room. The event consists of three companies presenting case studies and nine teams are charged with the task of creating a marketing plan that will enable these companies to [...]
 
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    Current Mom

  • Tools Update: Evernote, Instapaper, Echofon

    Lyn Millett
    2 Sep 2010 | 6:09 am
    Helpful tools in an information overload world: Evernote, Instapaper, Echofon

  • The Myth of Frazzled Working Moms: an Interview With Laura Vanderkam

    Stacy Feuer
    1 Sep 2010 | 7:38 am
    Work Wednesday I've been intrigued by Laura Vanderkam, author of 168 Hours: You Have More Time Than You Think (Portfolio, 2010), since she left a comment on a post I wrote last March about the dearth of working moms in...

  • Back to School Buzz

    Katherine Lewis
    31 Aug 2010 | 7:13 am
    Truth Tuesday I have a confession to make: I love back to school. As a child, I relished shopping for school supplies, picking out a new outfit for the first day and savoring the unknown -- who would be in...

  • Eat Well While Saving Money: Lemony Lentil Salad

    highchairdiner
    30 Aug 2010 | 6:00 am
    Meal Monday If you are like me, you are constantly striving to eat better while saving money. As I shared in a recent Work Wednesday article, the need to save money has reached a new height for me and my...

  • Back to School Without the Back to Crazy

    Katherine Lewis
    29 Aug 2010 | 10:42 am
    Startup Sunday My family returned from vacation yesterday to piles of back-to-school notices and meetings. Already, I've had to cancel one professional meeting that conflicts with meet the teachers night. And then there are the piles of unwashed laundry and...
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    Profitable Growth

  • You Can’t Be Serious!

    Andy Birol
    30 Aug 2010 | 1:55 pm
    After last month’s piece in the Pittsburgh Business Times,  (read it HERE), a Pittsburgher challenged me; “You can’t be serious!  Topography can’t be why Pittsburgh has thrived relative to Cleveland!” Seriously, I believe Western PA is mostly thriving because it’s mustering energy, creativity and commitment to keep climbing out of its valleys and avoid falling off its mountains. I’m finding Pittsburgh’s business community to be focused on innovation, science, and applying what they have learned to help new customers rather than fixating on…

  • A Shout Out for Razi Imam: Pittsburgh Entrepreneur, Author of “Driven”, and Teacher of “Junoon”

    Andy Birol
    30 Aug 2010 | 7:14 am
    Recently, I’ve had the chance to work with a most interesting entrepreneurial and thought leader here in Pittsburgh, Razi Imam. Imam is the founder of both Landslide Technologies and now, 113 Industries, an incubator for Nano technology-based material science companies. In addition to his entrepreneurial success, Razi has created some breakthrough work on how CEO’s can create high performing cultures with a singular focus on their founders’ missions is particularly compelling to me. And Razi’s brand new book “Driven” by Wiley, not only describes his crazy…

  • Do Your Sales & Marketing Dollars Work for You?

    Andy Birol
    30 Aug 2010 | 7:05 am
    Six Ways to Tell if You’re Getting Your Money’s Worth: Despite many experts who insist that “Sales and Marketing are different,” why aren’t they just as accountable as Finance is for accurate results and Production is for working products? When good products and services are well marketed and sold smart, profitable growth happens. But when they are not, it’s a disaster.  For example: A distributor negligently promises to sell a manufacturer’s new product line to her current buyers without learning that different employees at the customer make these decisions A manufacturer says…

  • Innovation! Don’t Stress Me But Tell Me What Kind You Need!

    Andy Birol
    30 Jul 2010 | 1:41 pm
    I am sitting here facing a deadline to write this article on innovation!  Isn’t it ironic yet obvious how innovation, stress and deadlines always seem to go hand-in-hand! Everyone needs and craves innovation, yet the more we chase it, the more elusive discovering the next “it” or “thing” seems to be. Most of us have cut all the costs we can and are already working harder than ever. In this stagnant, doubtful economy, innovation seems be the best path to success. What breakthrough can we create to enhance our results and profits? But given the choice, innovation always seems to take…

  • Pittsburgh vs. Cleveland: Why business in the ‘Burgh beats Cleveland.

    Andy Birol
    30 Jul 2010 | 1:23 pm
    “So, Andy, why is business better in Pittsburgh than in Cleveland?” After repeatedly being asked, I wrote an article for today’s Pittsburgh Business Times answering this question.  While I can say the answer has to do with topography you can click HERE to read it now if you are a subscriber, or send me an email requesting a free copy when its available in 30 days or simply call me at 412-973-2080 and I’ll be glad to share my thoughts in person. To your profitable growth!    Andy
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    Electra Glide In Blue

  • Riding the Storm Out

    Electra Glide In Blue
    22 Aug 2010 | 8:30 pm
    Going in to this exploratory surgery my surgeon named off about three different things he could find in there. One being a tumor on the colon and he told me to be ready for this. What he/we were not prepared for was the fact that my abdomen was so packed with tumors, mostly small, he [...]

  • Bottom End on this Old Harley Running Rough

    Electra Glide In Blue
    17 Aug 2010 | 6:17 am
    I turned 53 in May and thought I was doing pretty good health wise until mid June that is. I started feeling a pain in the stomach area, this came and went with thoughts of “this must be the way you feel as you grow older”. After putting up with this feeling for around a [...]

  • Sturgis Motorcycle Rally Revisited

    Electra Glide In Blue
    12 Aug 2010 | 10:59 am
    My last Sturgis Motorcycle Rally visit was ten years ago. In 2000 it was the 60 Anniversary year of the rally. I confess, I hauled my 68 FLH in the back of my truck and was glad I did. The heat in the Wyoming desert (from Lusk to Newcastle) was unreal and it showed on [...]

  • Downtown Elemental Discovery

    Electra Glide In Blue
    2 Aug 2010 | 4:20 am
    I finally took the time to get positioned downtown at the right moment to grab this shot of Elemental Discovery on the side wall of the Loveland Community Health Center’s Fifth street building. Elemental Discovery Elemental Discovery was commissioned by the City and created by artist Sheldon James. With nineteen years of experience creating commissioned [...]

  • Last Flight of a B-24 with the 450th Bomb Group

    Electra Glide In Blue
    29 Jul 2010 | 2:20 pm
    Flying with Heroes and Angels the 450th Bomb Group This is the story of the last flight of the John Barrett crew aboard the B-24 known as Joint Venture assigned to the 15th Army Air Corps, 450th Bomb Group (The COTTONTAILS) 722 Squadron (The Holy Joe Squadron). It was the 31st of May 1944 and [...]
 
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    CityVoter - Making Local Media

  • Mobile voting best practices in Indy.

    30 Aug 2010 | 11:26 am
    Naisa Pan-Asian Café, in Fountain Square, is using the QR code printout with CityVoter’s mobile site to make it even easier for customers to vote (see below).They say they have had positive feedback from customers, and they're currently in 1st place in the contest, but it took them a while to find the best place for their poster. At first they had it laminated, which didn’t work because it reflected too much light. Then they had it in a dark part of the counter, which didn’t work because there wasn’t enough light. After trial and error, they’ve found a spot where most mobile phones…

  • Closing in on a 100,000 mobile votes!

    30 Aug 2010 | 11:17 am
    Just a few weeks ago, we launched mobile voting by giving local businesses a campaign poster with a QR code on it like the one below. We've already received more than 90,000 mobile votes and the best part is that more than 30% of those mobile votes returned a local "deal" to the consumer while they were in store. These early results are very exciting. We're collecting outstanding data that shows how our contests are helping merchants deliver deals to their most loyal customers. If you're competing in this year's Seattle or Cleveland contest...make sure you log into the business center and…

  • Daily Deals Hit Seattle And The Best of Western Washington

    30 Aug 2010 | 9:27 am
    This month has disappeared on us. We've been enormously busy preparing for our next product release and more importantly, crushing our summer contests. Detroit has received more than 200,000 votes -- our first contest ever to pass this mark, and our Philadelpia, Denver, Indy, and San Diego contests are having very strong years.Most exciting is today's launch of our Best of Western Washington contest with King 5. We've introduced our new partner Tippr into the mix and they're already serving up voters a fantastic daily deal (you can see here).Tippr, King 5, and CityVoter have lined up…

  • Group buying is better advertising, CityVoter is a better loyalty program

    5 Aug 2010 | 11:35 am
    Today, Kyle Psaty put out a nice piece exploring CityVoter’s role in the local and group buying world. Since there’s already so much noise in this space, we are eager to get our vision out there. As Kyle aptly points out, daily deal sites like Groupon, Tippr, Living Social and BuyWithMe have proven that people are willing to spend a little money up front to get great discounts from local merchants. What’s unique about our approach is that we’re dividing the group buying world into two parts: customer acquisition and customer loyalty -- and trying to let our merchants decide when they…

  • Snapshot: Local Media Partners Success

    3 Aug 2010 | 7:04 pm
    With the exception of Belo in Seattle where we've joined forces to promote an existing Best of Western Washington brand, our media partners have used CityVoter to create new brands in their cities. For example, four years ago in Detroit, no one voted on WDIV's website to determine the "4 The Best" winners. No one in Sacramento, Denver, Indianapolis, Milwaukee, or San Diego had heard about the A-List -- it didn't exist. Now hundreds of thousands of people across these cities vote each year and businesses campaign like mad to win the title of the "best".I've been on my soapbox that building a…
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    Blog@PixelCrayons™

  • PixelCrayons Comes Up With Premium PSD to HTML Service Package for $259

    admin
    31 Aug 2010 | 6:38 am
    First of all, we would like to express our gratitude to our loyal customers for trusting us so much. Thank you, guys! We are constantly working on improving our service spectrum. In our ever-changing world of technology, we realized that there is a need to introduce some advanced beneficial options in our PSD to HTML services [...]

  • 13 Website Design Mistakes that Designers Should Avoid

    admin
    10 Aug 2010 | 4:16 am
    Website Designing is an art as well as a science. In the last decade, web design market has become very competitive. You ought to innovate some or the other thing in your work if you want to survive in this market.  Also, Internet surfers have become so smart that they can easily make out the [...]

  • .Co TLD Is Now Available to Register

    admin
    21 Jul 2010 | 6:23 am
    Yes! It’s true. With the announcement of a new TLD ‘.CO’ in the market by .CO Internet S.A.S. (www.COinternet.co) businesses, organisations and individuals are rushing to book their domain name by choice, with .CO TLD, which they couldn’t have booked earlier due the unavailability of the same. Most of the international businesses, from the Brand [...]

  • 6 Essentials of a Successful E-commerce Website

    admin
    12 Jul 2010 | 3:32 am
    E-commerce business is booming at a fast pace. “The first quarter returned the U.S. retail e-commerce market to healthy double-digit growth rates.” Also, it has been seen that though larger online retailers have continued to generate higher growth rates than the smaller retailers. Nevertheless, the small online retailers are finally beginning to see positive growth [...]

  • Get Trained and Certified by Magento

    admin
    8 Jul 2010 | 12:59 am
    Isn’t that sound exciting to Magento Lovers!!! Since everybody knows that Magento is always on the improvement side of its online help info that’s available from your Magento Admin Panels. Also, you must have noticed that Koby and a crew of (most excellent) volunteer moderators have been working hard in response to your feedback to [...]
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    WeLoveBusiness.co.uk

  • Visit the Orange Business Shop

    James Agate
    2 Sep 2010 | 4:48 am
    Create a flexible plan to suit your business needs; from one smartphone to hundreds of devices, dongles or business broadband. Orange can create a package that grows with your business.

  • How to get started with PPC

    James Agate
    2 Sep 2010 | 2:55 am
    PPC or pay-per-click advertising is a huge market and one that helps many businesses to sell their products. If you are unfamiliar with what PPC is then here is a quick explanation; essentially when you search for something in Google or Bing, any sponsored results that appear above or to the sides of the organic search engine results are there on a pay-per-click basis meaning that the advertiser pays every time you clickthrough to their website. As an advertiser you select the keywords that are most relevant to your business. PPC operates on a bidding basis meaning that you state how much you…

  • WLB talks to Great Guns Marketing founder Liz Jackson

    James Agate
    24 Aug 2010 | 2:30 am
    What was your first job? I started work young as I had a real urge to get out, start earning my own money and experience a taste of the working world. When I was only 14 I got my first ever job in my local branch of Littlewoods on a Saturday morning, which gave my pocket money a welcome boost each week! You run Great Guns marketing, can you tell us a little more about what the company does? Great Guns Marketing is one of the UK’s leading business-to-business telemarketing and lead generation companies. Our sole aim is to work with our clients to increase their sales. There are four branches…

  • We talk to Flirtomatic founder Mark Curtis

    James Agate
    19 Aug 2010 | 5:14 am
    WeLoveBusiness.co.uk was lucky enough to talk to Mark Curtis, the founder of Flirtomatic, the world’s number one flirting company, which recently announced that it has raised $9 million in Series C funding. He shares his thoughts on the British business system, what it takes to be successful and his rise to the top. What was your first job? Assistant to the Director of the Edinburgh Festival. I was 21; it was the best job I’ve ever had. Is Handmade Mobile/Flirtomatic your first business? No it’s my forth. As well as Handmade Mobile (Flirtomatic) there’s Curtis Hoy, a successful radio…

  • Reevoo.com founder Richard Anson talks to WLB

    James Agate
    9 Aug 2010 | 3:36 am
    WeLoveBusiness.co.uk – your home for small business resources and advice – was lucky enough to be given the opportunity to talk to Reevoo.com’s founder Richard Anson. He has built Reevoo.com into a customer review site that helps consumers decide which products to buy through reviews from people who have actually bought and used the products. Richard has just secured Series B of his funding for the company, expansion capital that’s going to be used to grow the company across Europe. In today’s economic climate this is no mean feat and Richard has worked tirelessly to…
 
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    Business Credit

  • 6 Major Types of Business Credit Applications You Should Know

    Marco Carbajo
    31 Aug 2010 | 12:56 pm
    Business Credit Application Before you begin applying for credit it’s important to determine what strengths and weaknesses your company brings to the table. Are you a startup or have you been in business for several years? Do you have projected revenues or actual revenues coming in year after year? Does your company process credit cards on a monthly basis? If so, how much volume? Are you struggling with poor personal credit or do you have strong credit scores? Does your company have any assets or are you relying on your own personal assets? Once you have made an honest assessment you’ll…

  • Consumer Credit Score Ratings below 600 Reach All Time High

    Marco Carbajo
    26 Aug 2010 | 12:28 pm
    Credit Score Ratings Just recently FICO released data showing that over 25 percent of consumers now have a credit score of 599 or below. That’s a whopping 43 million people that are considered subprime and what’s even more startling is those numbers continue to climb. Credit scores play such an integral role in our country’s credit system and more consumers need to be aware of how today’s financial decisions will impact tomorrow’s borrowing potential. In FICO’s world ‘damage points’ are applied to a consumer’s credit score when there is evidence of financial hardship or…

  • Company Credit: It’s a Journey Not a Destination

    Marco Carbajo
    23 Aug 2010 | 1:32 pm
    Company Credit What should you expect when building company credit? How long should it take to obtain the financing your business needs? There’s no cookie cutter answer to these questions because every business is different and has its own unique contributing factors. For example, a five year old business will have greater business credit opportunities than a company that just opened its doors a month ago. In addition, the credit needs for every business will continue to change as the business expands and requires additional funding. There’s not a point when a business owner says I’ve…

  • 25 Business Credit Building Rules For Small Business Owners

    Marco Carbajo
    16 Aug 2010 | 8:02 pm
    Building Business Credit There are quite a bit of obstacles that every aspiring entrepreneur faces as they strive to do all the right things in order to make their dream business a reality. It can be an overwhelming experience especially if you have limited support, funding and tools at your disposal. Whether you have a product or service to bring to the marketplace careful planning and execution can greatly improve the success of your new venture. To help you in your preparation I have assembled my top 25 rules which can greatly improve your ability in obtaining the credit your company…

  • Looking to Bid for Government Contracts? Better Complete Your CCR Registration

    Marco Carbajo
    9 Aug 2010 | 8:11 pm
    Bid for Government Contracts If you are a sole proprietor, corporation or partnership and plan to do business with the federal government you will need to be registered in CCR before being awarded a contract. There’s no cost to register and you can update your company information at any time and in one location via a CCR log in. Keep in mind all federal government agencies can retrieve your company data from this one central location making the process seamless and hassle free. So what is CCR? The Central Contractor Registration (CCR) is a government-wide registry and its sole purpose is to…
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    Sales Rescue Team

  • Creating Content 101 via Copyblogger Brian Clark Interview by Lee Odden

    TJ McCue
    1 Sep 2010 | 10:51 pm
    Great video interview by marketing powerhouse Lee Odden with Brian Clark, founder of Copyblogger.  If you’re interested in blogging as a business, you have to think like a media property, says Clark.  Lee Odden does a terrific job of getting a fast primer on how do you use content to build a business. Highlights: In creating content, ask yourself, what are you trying to achieve.  What’s the action you want a reader to take? Start there. Think like a media production company and have an editorial focus. Look at the many niche publications or productions in traditional media. …

  • StudioPress Merges into Copyblogger Media

    TJ McCue
    1 Sep 2010 | 9:58 pm
    WordPress is the choice of many small business owners for their website. If they’ve been around the block with different themes, most have landed on Thesis for WordPress or maybe competitor Headway.  I’m a Thesis guy and I discovered it by way of Brian Clark at Copyblogger.  Chris Pearson and Brian Clark recently split paths and Brian moved to working with StudioPress and it has officially merged into a new company under Brian’s leadership.  You can read about it here, if you are interested. It sounds pretty exciting for the Copyblogger team and I’m happy for…

  • New Small, Medium Business (SMB) Survey Reveals Six Secrets Of Selling Marketers Need To Know

    TJ McCue
    1 Sep 2010 | 11:45 am
    Search, Third-Party Reviews, Blogs and Forums Strongly Influence SMB Purchasing Decisions AUSTIN, TX—(August 24, 2010) – Ivy Worldwide, the leading social media and influencer marketing agency, today released the results of its 2010 SMB Technology Purchasing Survey, which reveals six “secrets” that every marketer should know about small and medium-sized businesses (SMB): What sources of information they consider worthwhile and what resources they use to help make technology purchasing decisions. Search engines remain the primary resource for SMBs to find information about products and…

  • New Business Model Lets Start-ups Small Companies “Borrow” Sr Marketing

    TJ McCue
    1 Sep 2010 | 11:11 am
    You can Submit Your News here, too if it pertains to new services and software to help the small business owner. New Business Model Lets Start-ups and Small Companies “Borrow” Senior Level Marketing and Public Relations Expertise Interimarketing(TM) Provides Short-Term Marketing Support and Long Term Strategies for Companies in the Early Stages of Growth BOSTON, Sept. 1, 2010 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) — Interimarketing(TM) is a new solution for small to midsized companies that lack the resources to develop and implement comprehensive marketing programs to reach the next level of…

  • VoX Communications Corp Plans Social Media Campaign for Voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP) Mobile

    TJ McCue
    1 Sep 2010 | 12:16 am
    Voice over Internet Protocol VOIP providers reviewed to help small businesses make better decisions about VOIP, Mobile, and more. VoX Hires Marketing Agency Scarlet Heifer WHITE PLAINS, N.Y.–Pervasip Corp. (OTCBB:PVSP) announced that its wholly-owned subsidiary, VoX Communications Corp, a leading provider of wholesale Voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP) telephone services and smart phone applications, has entered into an agreement with marketing agency Scarlet Heifer, LLC, to initiate a social media-based consumer campaign aimed at promoting VoX VoIP mobile services. “It’s a matter…
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    The Work at Home Woman

  • Upcoming Events for Bloggers, Women & Solopreneurs

    Holly - The Work at Home Woman
    2 Sep 2010 | 4:00 am
    Every Wednesday – From the Comfort of your Home The Integrated Mother – “Attention Work-at-Home and Telecommuting Moms: Discover how to effectively balance work, family and life – all under one roof! Introducing the Get Your Groove Back! eClass (beta), a one-on-one learning intensive for work-at-home moms with Michele Dortch, M.A. This class is made [...]

  • Things That Home-Based Mompreneurs Can Write Off

    Holly - The Work at Home Woman
    1 Sep 2010 | 4:00 am
    By Deb Howard Greenleaf Coming up with that perfect business idea and launching your new business is a lot of work!  Once your business is off the ground and you’ve begun to make some money, however, you quickly learn that making money is only half of the battle.  To maximize your profits, you’ll want to contain [...]

  • The Top 10 Mistakes People Make in Social Networking

    Holly - The Work at Home Woman
    31 Aug 2010 | 4:00 am
    By Angela Bickford During my last post, I talked about the importance of social networking. It was a big hit, and I promised to talk in this post about the top 10 mistakes people make in social networking. These will focus mainly on Twitter, Facebook, and blogging, because if you remember, they are my ‘holy trinity’ [...]

  • Interview with Jennifer Finke of Handle Your Own PR

    Holly - The Work at Home Woman
    30 Aug 2010 | 4:00 am
    Tell us a little bit about Handle Your Own PR and the idea behind it. Handle Your Own PR is a company dedicated to helping entrepreneurs, small business owners and independent PR professionals do their own PR. It offers access to downloadable, targeted media lists, offers free PR tips to help you get started with [...]

  • Winner of the Handle Your Own PR Media List Giveaway & Discount

    Holly - The Work at Home Woman
    27 Aug 2010 | 5:53 am
    Thank you to everyone who entered the Handle Your Own PR Media List Giveaway! There were a total of 75 entries for this giveaway, all entries were placed in a numbered spread sheet and the winner was selected using random.org I’m very excited to announce our winner, drum roll please… And the winner of the Handle Your Own [...]
 
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    Ordoro blog

  • How to write an ecommerce order follow-up email

    Jagath Narayan
    24 Aug 2010 | 11:56 am
    This morning, Jonathan of 37signals posted an example of a follow-up email from an e-commerce merchant after the order has been shipped. Please read the reader comments on that article for more ideas.

  • McKinsey study on multi-channel retailing

    Jagath Narayan
    22 Aug 2010 | 7:14 pm
    According to this McKinsey report on multi-channel retailing consumers who shop across a number of channels—physical stores, the Internet, and catalogs—spend about four times more annually than those who shop in just one. Companies that get multichannel retailing right can enjoy larger profit margins and yearly revenue growth more than 100 basis points higher than [...]

  • Two easy ways to lookup sales tax by zipcode

    Jagath Narayan
    18 Aug 2010 | 1:59 pm
    Just like everything else with the IRS, sales tax calculation can be a nightmare, particularly for ecommerce merchants. Sales tax numbers vary by zip code and change frequently. Fortunately, most shopping cart packages already have built-in sales tax calculators. When the customer places an order on your website, based on their zipcode, the shopping cart [...]

  • User myopia and UI design

    Jagath Narayan
    15 Aug 2010 | 10:09 am
    What do you do when you see a dialog box with a long text of instructions? We have all experienced this before. And usually, the long text is followed with two buttons – “Ok”, “Cancel” You have very likely encountered a UI like the one above. The plain fact is users will not read anything [...]

  • Business jargon eliminator

    Jagath Narayan
    13 Aug 2010 | 12:48 pm
    I found this cool website today. Unsuck It. It converts corporate speak into plain English. Here are a few gems - Blue-Sky Thinking : Using your imagination Boil the Ocean : Waste time We can’t boil the ocean, so let’s start by bucketizing the deliverables and picking the low-hanging fruit : Categorize Related Posts: Why [...]
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    Building online communities for business

  • How To Find Your Thought Leadership Voice Online

    30 Aug 2010 | 5:54 am
    There is plenty of information online about using social media for thought leadership. The returns and values have been well-calculated and, in some cases, well-articulated. One great example is our friends over at Bloom Group, who are the thought leaders for thought leadership. Few seasoned marketing professionals would argue that online thought leadership is a waste of time or money. Most would say it's an imperative. But while the "Must dos!" on this topic are whizzing past, the instructions on "How?" seem to have been left behind. To help with the how, I work with thought leaders within…

  • The Difference Between Doing Social Vs. Being Social

    17 Aug 2010 | 3:57 am
    There is a rather large difference between companies "doing" social and "being" social. For a company to succeed at this new business model, they must learn how to do social and also, enable their people to be social. Doing social is the imperative part of the equation. This means making plans, defining objectives complete with outcomes, tracking and measuring success and making adjustments to the plan along the way. Most companies start doing social within their marketing and sales departments to drive traffic to their site and raise awareness about their products or services. This usually…

  • The Humanness of Moderating Online Communities

    2 Aug 2010 | 6:41 am
    Effective community moderation often requires the ability to engage in (sometimes shameless) acts of human exchange. This has long been understood by experienced moderators. We understand that modeling conversations is critical to getting people to engage with each other. We reach out to people by phone and email to ask their opinions and ideas, we search countless databases trying to find commonalities among people. We make jokes, we make friends, and perhaps most importantly we make human connections all mediated, to some degree, by the computer screen. In earnest effort to get people to…

  • 5 Tips For Managers of LinkedIn Groups: It Takes More Than Tools!

    30 Jul 2010 | 5:29 am
    Spammers and overt sales people peddling low-end transactions -- "buy my thing" -- are a plague that has overrun LinkedIn Groups. The groups feature is a good idea -- let small(er) cohorts of people with shared affinities or interests exchange information with each other. But when a large group of people can interact online, the opportunity always seems to bring out the worst in some people. Spammers around the globe have swamped the discussions and turned a useful collaboration tool into a shameless (and worthless) marketing platform. However, LinkedIn seems to have realized the Groups…

  • Bad Social: Impact of Social Media on the IPhone 4 & AAPL Stock

    19 Jul 2010 | 11:37 am
    By Ryck Lent"It's the antenna, stupid!"Well, sure it is. But Apple's (AAPL) handling of this product problem in the new world of social media and social commerce is worth considering in detail. Here's the key statistic:During seven trading days, from the Friday (July 9th) prior to Consumer Reports' confirmation of the antenna problem and the "Not Recommended" review (Monday July 12) through Monday, July 19th, AAPL stock dropped around $15 per share. With a little over 900M shares outstanding, this means AAPL lost $12 BILLION in market capitalization -- a 5% decline. For comparison, the DJII…
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    Winning Workplaces

  • Four of Our Resources on Employee Training Programs, Plus One from WorkAwesome

    2 Sep 2010 | 8:11 am
    What’s the first thing to get cut when companies are economizing?  It’s always training.  In the last three years, training budgets have fallen by nearly a quarter.  It’s stupid.  ...  Because when you’re battling for customers and trying to do more with less, your most valuable asset is your staff.  And they can do more and better if you train them more.These are the wise words of "serial CEO" Margaret Heffernan on BNET this week.  If you found our blog searching for employee engagement or employee development strategies,…

  • Extended: Early Bird Rate for October Inc. Leadership Conference

    1 Sep 2010 | 7:46 am
    Yesterday in an email to our subscribers, and recently on this blog, I urged readers to register by August 31 for Inc.'s October 27-29 Leadership Conference in Denver so they can attend at the early bird rate, which is $300 less than the conference rate.Well, three things have changed:Inc. has a new website for their event (same dates and city/venue, though),The conference has been retitled/rebranded as a Leadership Conference (it had been called "Creating Competitive Cultures [C3]"), andBest of all if you have not yet registered, you can still get in at the early bird rate through…

  • Congrats to Our 2010 Workplace Award Applicants That Made This Year's Inc. 500 List

    31 Aug 2010 | 1:00 pm
    As we've observed every year that Winning Workplaces has sought out and honored small businesses that excel in exemplary people practices, a payoff of employee engagement is strong, year-over-year revenue growth relative to their peers – even (sometimes especially) in down economies.So we're proud to list below the applicants to our 2010 Top Small Company Workplaces award that our media partner for this project, Inc. Magazine, recently recognized as among the fastest-growing, private, for-profit companies in its annual Inc. 500 List:2010 Top Small Company Workplaces Award Applicant 2010…

  • If You Have a Captive Customer Base, Smart Hiring and Employee Engagement Are Absolutely Vital

    31 Aug 2010 | 7:47 am
    Last week I enjoyed a week off with my family in Canada, specifically Nova Scotia and Prince Edward Island.  But before I had even left the states, I was reminded of an important lesson when it comes to hiring for fit as well as employee engagement and workplace team building.My wife and I flew from LAX to Newark Liberty International Airport before connecting on a flight from there to Halifax.  Between our arrival and second departure gate was a small, '50s-style diner.  Not having much time and knowing there'd be at least a snack on our second-leg flight, we sat…

  • University of Iowa Prof: Don't Underestimate Leadership's Role in Business Success or Failure

    30 Aug 2010 | 12:10 pm
    Given this blog's focus on how employee retention tips and other people practices lead to a more productive workplace culture – and how leadership strategies such as succession planning reduce dependency of the business on key people if they leave or are otherwise taken out of the equation – a reader might conclude that decisions made in the C-suite matter less now than they once did.This conclusion would be wrong, however, argues Tyler Leverty, assistant professor of finance in the University of Iowa's Tippie College of Business.  According to this Newswise article, which…
 
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    Cheferia Blog - Tools for private and personal chefs!

  • 8 Do’s and 8 Don’ts of being a Personal Chef

    The Chef
    23 Aug 2010 | 1:08 pm
    The following 8 do’s and 8 don’ts of being a personal chef  listed below will offer you sound advice that will help you while you prepare and plan your next personal chef job. 1) Choose the menu wisely.  Talk with your client and find out whether you will be preparing a formal dinner party, barbeque, or buffet.  Once you know what type of menu that you will need to prepare, make certain that the food you will be preparing are within your abilities as a personal chef. 2) Do make a schedule and keep it as your guideline throughout the party.  The schedule will need to contain some form…

  • The top 4 books about personal chef business

    The Chef
    1 Jun 2010 | 6:56 am
    We selected some interesting books about personal chef business: how to start, how to grow your client base and how to monetize. These books are available on the biggest online bookstores. The Professional Personal Chef: The Business of Doing Business as a Personal Chef by Candy Wallace, Greg Forte BUY ONLINE The job of professional personal chef is one of the fastest growing careers in foodservice. People are choosing to become personal chefs in order to have a culinary career on their own terms, with a self-determined schedule and freedom from restaurant strictures. Not only do personal…

  • What is a Personal Chef…explained in videos!

    The Chef
    5 Jan 2010 | 10:15 am
    Some interesting videos explaining what is a Personal Chef and some tips on how to set up the business! If you still didn’t it register for Cheferia closed beta, request a free invitation here! (Cheferia is a platform for personal and private chef promotion and booking) A Day In The Life of a Personal Chef: Mark Tafoya This is a video that was recently produced for About.com’s Careers Website. I was approached by a producer for About.com who produces videos about the various careers available to people, and she asked if I would talk about what it’s like to own a personal chef…

  • A real world Personal Chef: interview with Dinner Bella

    The Chef
    18 Dec 2009 | 5:19 am
    This week we feature an interview with M. Nina Piccini, owner of Dinner Bella Personal Chef service(Rochester, NY)  to give you an insight into the everyday life of a real Personal Chef. When and where did you start your personal chef business? Dinner Bella, Personal Chef Service was started in Rochester, NY around June of 2009.  At least the concept started in June.  It took me until the beginning of September 2009 to get all of my certifications and licensees in place and then I was actually able to start cooking and catering. Which are your regular clients? Which service they request…

  • Best IPhone cooking apps for chefs

    The Chef
    14 Nov 2009 | 5:30 am
    From putting thousands of recipes at your fingertips to helping you choose just the right wine and cheese, iPhone has all the kitchen apps you’re craving. We report some of the best chef Iphone apps suggested by Apple. EPICURIOUS IPHONE APP Epicurious’ Recipes & Shopping List allows users to browse and search our 25,000 professionally created recipes, toggling between an easy-to-view shopping format, and a cooking format that shows one instruction step at a time. You can browse popular recipe collections, from Weeknight Dinners to Dishes Kids Love,  then swipe to flip from recipe…
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    Justan Brandt - Associated Content

  • 2011 Ford Harley-Davidson Edition

    10 Aug 2010 | 12:26 pm
    Ford and Harley-Davidson have collaborated on nine special edition F-150 models, but the 2011 model year will be the most powerful.Contributor: Justan BrandtPublished: Aug 10, 2010

  • Road Test: 2010 Chevrolet Camaro SS RS

    19 May 2010 | 8:23 am
    A sultry combination of modern design and retro inspiration make the new Camaro hard to ignore.Contributor: Justan BrandtPublished: May 19, 2010

  • 2008 Volkswagen R32 - Real World Test Drive

    16 May 2010 | 6:09 pm
    For those looking for performance and functionality outside of the SUV world, there is the 2008 Volkswagen R32. Only 5,000 of the R32s were brought to the U.S., a previous generation existed in 2004 with limited availability.Contributor: Justan BrandtPublished: May 16, 2010

  • What Audi Can Teach Your Small Business About Branding

    20 Jan 2010 | 3:43 am
    2009 was a tough year for small business. There was a downturned economy, lending freezes, decreased consumer confidence and so much more. But every small business can learn from what Audi, the luxury car manufacturer, did in 2009.Contributor: Justan BrandtPublished: Jan 20, 2010
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    Small Business Daily News, Blogs, Commentary

  • Are more women becoming serial entrepreneurs?

    Rieva Lesonsky
    2 Sep 2010 | 3:00 am
    By Rieva Lesonsky The world of serial entrepreneurs—people who love the thrill of startup so much, they can’t stop with just one business, but keep launching more—has long been considered the territory of men. But are more women becoming serial entrepreneurs? In this article, Forbes argues yes, although it offers only a few examples (Bliss spa founder Marcia Kilgore, who went on to launch FitFlops exercise shoes and Soap and Glory beauty products after selling Bliss, is one). At Springboard Enterprises, which connects women-led startups with venture capitalists, two-thirds of the…

  • Google’s “Priority Inbox”: Top 3 things to remember for your e-mail marketing

    Karen Axelton
    1 Sep 2010 | 9:19 am
    Google announced today a new feature that categorizes e-mail messages based on importance. Meant to unclutter the ever-crowded inbox, this may pose some new challenges for e-mail marketers. From a deliverability standpoint, if an e-mail is delivered to the “non-priority” area of a customer’s Gmail inbox, it’s similar to being delivered to the spam folder. However, small business marketers don’t need to worry. In today’s guest post, Melanie Attia Product Marketing Manager for Campaignere-mail marketing, offers three top tips to help you make sure your e-mails get through. 1.

  • Business lessons from Project Runway

    Karen Axelton
    31 Aug 2010 | 3:00 am
    By Karen Axelton “Crowdsourcing,” or turning to groups of people to get ideas or complete a project, has been a hot topic for a while now—and seems to be growing by the minute. But is the crowd always smarter than the individual? Last week’s episode of Project Runway, the reality show where designers compete to create the winning garment, suggests not. In the August 26 “challenge,” the 12 contestants were split into two teams of six and asked to design a collection of six garments. One of the teams, dubbing itself “Team Luxe,” featured the best designers on the show; the other…

  • Hot trend: Kids’ birthday parties for adults

    Karen Axelton
    31 Aug 2010 | 3:00 am
    By Karen Axelton Are you a party planner, event organizer or otherwise involved in the world of festivities? Here’s a fun trend to know about: According to The New York Post, a growing number of adults are planning kid-themed birthday parties. The Post cites several celebrities, including designer Betsey Johnson, politicial Charles Rangel and actor Tracy Morgan, who have held kiddie parties. But the trend is also trickling down to the non-famous. One party planner quoted in the article, Matt Toubin of Shine Events, says 10 percent of his clients are planning kid parties for themselves…

  • Enter Daily Candy’s startup contest and win help to start your company

    Karen Axelton
    30 Aug 2010 | 3:00 am
    By Karen Axelton business financing Dreaming of quitting your day job to start the business you’ve always wanted? It’s not too late to win Daily Candy’s Start Small, Go Big Contest. The website that spotlights the coolest clothing, restaurants and other trends has hit its 10th anniversary and, after 10 years of writing about many successful and creative entrepreneurs, is taking steps to help new ones blossom. One winner from each of the site’s signature categories (fashion, food and fun) will win $10,000, a trip to New York City, a write-up by DailyCandy editors, and a day at…
 
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    Advice for Small Business Owners

  • Growth, Expansion, and the First Hire

    Elie Kochman
    2 Sep 2010 | 4:45 am
    Perhaps the hardest decision made by the owner of a growing business is regarding the first hire. It’s at this point that the stakes in the business change, from being responsible for yourself to being responsible for employees. Where before a lack of business meant that you personally didn’t get paid, now there are other people relying on you to pay them. The first part, though, in deciding to make a hire, is to determine whether it’s financially worthwhile to hire someone. In general, an employee must bring in about 3 times their salary in increased revenues. Not from the…

  • Managing Multiple Projects

    Elie Kochman
    1 Sep 2010 | 4:45 am
    In recent weeks, the number of projects I’ve been involved with has rapidly grown, from the few constants and a couple small projects, to several large projects, a few smaller projects, and a constant turn-over of hourly projects. When I sat down one day to work, and realized that I had 8 active projects to work on personally that day, I spent a few minutes thinking about how to approach all those projects, and keep all my clients happy. The problem is actually one that many small businesses that grow face at some point in their transitionary period – where the word becomes more…

  • The Ideal Management Team

    Elie Kochman
    31 Aug 2010 | 4:45 am
    Working with several businesses at various stages of development, as well as many projects that are to become the basis for future businesses, I’ve discovered something interesting about management teams. Every business or project has one, even if the entire company consists of a single individual. However, what I’ve discovered is that there is a consistent pattern in the management team that correlates to the success of the business as a whole. The first thing I noticed was that businesses with only a single person involved in the decisions tended to limit their own potential.

  • The Personal Brand

    Sam Zipursky
    30 Aug 2010 | 4:45 am
    Sam Zipursky is a Brand Consultant, Internet Marketer, and aspiring Digital Nomad. He spends most of his time focusing on the connection between internet, branding, design and marketing. He is one of the authors from the how to become a consultant blog Business Consulting Buzz. He is also a Co-Founder with Advicetap – The place where Canadian marketing and creative professionals find gigs and build connections with other professionals. These days more than ever it’s really important to have a personal brand strategy in place. Whether you’re a freelancer, consultant, small business…

  • Writing Proposals

    Elie Kochman
    27 Aug 2010 | 4:45 am
    I recently had reason to draft a proposal for something out of the norm for my line of work. I was asked by a family member to assist in writing a formal proposal for an after-school program, with the added twist that the program had already been approved in principal, pending the formal proposal. Not really familiar with how such documents are written and structured, I spent some time reading through templates and examples, and finally assisted her in writing her proposal. What I discovered along the way is actually pretty simple. There are two parts to a proposal – content, and…
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    The Underdog Millionaire Blog

  • Niche Marketing-Bring New “Fire” to Your Business-Courtesy of a Lucky Golfer

    Joshua Black
    1 Sep 2010 | 7:08 am
    Over the weekend, a crazy chain of events led to a golfer making a wild shot that hit a rock, creating a spark, and eventually starting a blaze that burnt 25 acres of California forest. Now, this little shot was quite unusual, but there’s an important niche marketing lesson at stake here, one that can’t be avoided. Today’s Underdog Millionaire Tip Sheet is all about niche marketing. Now, if you’ve been paying attention for the past year or so (even if you haven’t) you will know that I like to talk about marketing a lot. Without marketing, your business will dry…

  • How to Attract Customers With A Giant Tarp and A Skateboard

    Joshua Black
    30 Aug 2010 | 6:51 am
    There’s a new trend emerging across the country in the world of skateboarding. These guys are now taking huge, blue painter’s tarps and “surfing” through them on skate boards in large parking lots. If you want to see videos of this, they’re all over the Internet. Now, on the surface, this looks pretty lame, but these guys are causing the sales of giant tarps to fly off the shelves in many cities, and you’ll probably see this in a parking lot near you within the next year. What in the Sam Hill does skateboarding on a tarp in the parking lot of a local…

  • How to Get Your Competition to Help You Sell More Stuff

    Joshua Black
    27 Aug 2010 | 9:12 am
    FIRST, before I go an further- The sales page is up for the Underdog Marketing 101 book. If you want to take a peek at everything that it has to offer, you can click on the image at the right, or click this link: www.attract-customers.com Ok, let’s get down to it. I know this might sound a little crazy, but bear with me. Once you have learned this little technique, you will have the ability to shortcut your small business education by YEARS. Whether you’re just getting started or you’re stuck in a selling rut, this technique will help you get more customers and close more…

  • 5 Ways to Get Customers Lined Up Like A Chinese Traffic Jam

    Joshua Black
    26 Aug 2010 | 8:27 am
    In case you haven’t seen the little blurb on the news lately, there was a 60 mile traffic Jam in Beijing that lasted 11 days before people could get through. Well, that traffic jam was something that NO ONE in their right mind would want to go through, except for the entrepreneurs that were selling things to the people trapped in their cars- Way to go Underdogs! However, I’m talking about a different traffic jam today. One that you’re gonna like. One that you’re gonna develop for your own business so that you NEVER have to worry about your level of customers again. If…

  • Consultative Selling- This Ain’t Your Grandma’s Close

    Joshua Black
    24 Aug 2010 | 7:26 am
    Today’s Tip Sheet is (hopefully) gonna knock the socks off your current selling strategy. It’s something that YOU may already know a little bit about, but the majority of people that are selling their products or services, completely ignore. If you want to become a grand master of closing the sale, then you need to keep on reading. Have you ever read a book or listened to a tape on selling, where it’s nothing but a pitch-fest,  with rebuttal after rebuttal until the customer is so worn out that they just give up and say “ok, ok, I’ll buy anything, just leave…
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    MLM Blog - Network Marketing Blog

  • Efusjon To MLM Reps: Your Fired!

    ty@tribble.org (Ty Tribble)
    1 Sep 2010 | 9:58 am
    MLM Blog was first to report on August 24th that Efusjon was going to either go out of business (that remains to be seen and in my opinion very possible) or cut ties to it's MLM compensation plan. As of today, Efusjon is done with MLM. Sidenote For Efusjon Reps Looking For A Home: My company is one of the fastest growing (and stable) Network Marketing companies in the U.S., we have an all natural energy drink (as one of our products) and a compensation plan that will pay you for your efforts.  I am going to be doing a special 4 Week Internet Marketing Intensive course that will help the…

  • USANA Launches New Nutritional Hybrid Technology

    ty@tribble.org (Ty Tribble)
    26 Aug 2010 | 6:56 pm
    USANA Health Sciences (NSDQ: USNA), a leader in nutritional supplement manufacturing, today announced that it will be one of the first companies in the industry to utilize Nutritional Hybrid Technology. This cutting-edge manufacturing method was unveiled to thousands of USANA independent Associates in attendance at the company's international convention. "USANA is proud to be a leader in the evolution of nutrition technology," said Dr. Tim Wood, USANA Executive Vice President of Research and Development. "USANA's Nutritional Hybrid Technology illustrates our commitment to innovative…

  • MonaVie’s Compensation Plan Outlawed In Germany?

    ty@tribble.org (Ty Tribble)
    25 Aug 2010 | 9:26 pm
    How would you like to go to prison for two years for building MonaVie in Germany? This is pretty wild because Germany is a huge market for MLM with several large companies headquartered in the country. Source (translated): By its decision of 24.08.2010 (Az: 3-12 O 98/10) the district court of Frankfurt am Main elemtare has forbidden parts of the compensation plan MonaVie LLC. Accordingly, contrary parts of the plan to the prohibition of canvassing progressive gem. § 16 para 2 UWG. This was done by our firm for our client acted in accordance with request made in full. Already dated 13.08.2010…

  • Study Links Red Bull and Heart Trouble?

    ty@tribble.org (Ty Tribble)
    25 Aug 2010 | 10:18 am
    The Times: Red Bull may claim to “give you wings” but drinking too much of the popular energy drink may also lead to heart damage, a study suggests. A study of 30 university students aged between 20 and 24 years old found that drinking just one 250ml sugar-free can of the caffeinated energy drink increased the “stickiness” of the blood and raised the risk of blood clots forming. Using tests to measure blood pressure and the state of blood vessels around the body, the Australian researchers said that after drinking one can participants had shown a cardiovascular profile similar to that…

  • Efusjon Going Out of Business?

    ty@tribble.org (Ty Tribble)
    24 Aug 2010 | 3:44 pm
    Multiple sources are telling me that MLM energy drink company, Efusjon is either going out of business or removing the Network Marketing portion of their business in the very near future.  One source says today, several say no later than the end of the month. Efusjon had some tremendous growth based on a bunch of hype and lies related to a "partnership" with Facebook. More as it rolls in. Update: I placed a call to Efusjon and the customer service person would not comment on whether they are going out of business.  When I asked to speak to someone who would comment, she said that…
 
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    Microbusiness Perspectives

  • Maintain Your Visibility Amongst Other Microbusinesses

    jasonvistaprint
    2 Sep 2010 | 7:00 am
    Today’s Micro Business contributed post comes from Bianca Hidalgo, owner of All Things Written. Oxymoronic as it may seem, many people decide to start a business during economic recession. In fact, many of the current heavy hitters in big business got their start during an economic downturn – General Electric, Burger King, Microsoft, and Hewlett [...]

  • Voicing Your Struggles Can Help Others

    jasonvistaprint
    1 Sep 2010 | 6:47 am
    - By Jason Keith If you haven’t yet seen the New York Times special small business video section titled, “How I Saved My Company” it’s certainly worth checking out. By encouraging real life businesses to submit their videos explaining how they have weathered the storms of the recession and managed to stay afloat, the NYT [...]

  • A “Catchy” Name Could Get You in Trouble

    jasonvistaprint
    30 Aug 2010 | 8:27 am
    by Jason Keith: What’s in a name? The truth is quite a bit.  As a micro business owner you’ve more than likely chosen a catchy name that incorporates what your business is, your own personal name, or something about you that you want everyone to know.  You’ve spent an inordinate amount of time agonizing over [...]

  • Do Customers Know Your Microbusiness? Are You Sure?

    jasonvistaprint
    27 Aug 2010 | 7:00 am
    by Jason Keith:  Trent Hamm recently penned a wonderful piece on OpenForum that highlighted a real life story about a small restaurant in his hometown.  While the outcome wasn’t uplifting, the lessons learned from the story are vital.  And it’s a story that’s recounted all too often amongst micro business owners. Essentially Hamm explains how [...]

  • Her Own Micro Business, At Just 11 Years Old

    jasonvistaprint
    25 Aug 2010 | 8:00 am
    Micro businesses are everywhere. They are run by people of all ages, educations, talents and passions. Today we wanted to highlight an amazing story in Massachusetts of a unique and successful micro business, but with an intriguing sole proprietor. McKenzie Plante, a local 11-year old girl in the seaport town or Gloucester, MA has started [...]
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    Entrepreneur & Self-Employed Business Journal

  • Solving the Identity Crisis: Imagery as Brand Reinforcement

    admin
    2 Sep 2010 | 8:45 am
    They say a picture is worth a thousand words. To the savvy marketer, it could just as easily translate into thousands (or tens of thousands) of dollars. Perhaps your business is suffering from an identity crisis – struggling to capture the attention of your target audience. By employing a simple psychological technique, you can begin to burn a lasting impression into the minds of your prospects and visitors. It’s not mind control — the answer is imagery. The use of imagery is a powerful psychological technique that has been used across a myriad of industries; in fact,…

  • Dan Ariely Says Defying Logic Can be Good

    admin
    1 Sep 2010 | 8:45 am
    It’s not often that the writing of a behavioral economist is thought-provoking and easy to read at the same time. But if you pick up Dan Ariely’s new book, The Upside of Irrationality: The Unexpected Benefits of Defying Logic at Work and at Home, you’ll find it’s like having a conversation with an old friend, a very wise old friend. Ariely’s self-depreciating humor and enthusiasm for human eccentricities will help you identify ways to improve how you love, work, innovate and manage. Some of the questions he answers: Why large bonuses can make executives less…

  • Kindle Competes Successfully with iPad

    admin
    31 Aug 2010 | 8:45 am
    The Apple iPad has sold millions of units in its first few months. But the Amazon Kindle reader was also doing well. It has big advantages for people who mainly want a reader. Sales of the Kindle went up after the iPad came out. Amazon reduced the price of their standard model to $189, which may be one reason. They predict sales of 3.5 million Kindles this year. Amazon says the iPad, at one and a half pounds, isn’t the best device for sustained reading. It weighs much more than the Kindle, which can be held in one hand like a paperback. Kindle’s “electronic paper”…

  • Pajama Jobs: Is Working from Home for You?

    admin
    30 Aug 2010 | 8:45 am
    Janelle Johnson refuses to get dressed for work. “I take a shower the night before and then get up and work in sweatpants and socks. It’s more comfortable and besides, I don’t have to worry about impressing anyone,” she says. Johnson, a legal customer service representative from Perry, Ia., is one of an increasing number of workers who spend at least part of their workweek from the comfort of their own home. In fact, one-in-five workers spend at least part of workweek working from home according to the U.S. Census Bureau’s 2003 “American Time Use Survey.” Johnson takes calls…

  • New Survey Reveals Social Media Trends Among Employers

    admin
    27 Aug 2010 | 8:45 am
    As companies emerge from one of the steepest economic downturns in history, they understand the significant reach and importance of using social media to promote and rebuild their organizations. A new CareerBuilder survey reports that 35 percent of employers use social media to promote their company. One-quarter (25 percent) of these employers said they are using social media to connect with clients and find new business, while others are using it to recruit and research potential employees (21 percent), or strengthen their employment brands (13 percent). The survey was conducted among more…
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    IASECP

  • Course Corrections for Solo Biz Success

    Barbara Saunders
    26 Aug 2010 | 11:17 am
    Did you know that missiles and rockets are off course most of the time they’re in the air? They reach their target because they continually course correct. You only make mistakes – or get off course – when you’re actively in the game. The trick is to get in the game, mess up as much as you need to, and make an effort to understand the rules. Rule #1: Change the way you measure progress If you’re more worried about having a full schedule or projects – any projects – in the line up, you may not be using the right measuring stick. If the projects are not…

  • Positioning: Are you a Freelancer or Self-Employed?

    Barbara Saunders
    18 Aug 2010 | 9:28 am
    Success in business is connected to perception. How you are perceived by your ideal client determines whether you get the project and how much they’re willing to pay you. Many solo pros – especially those that have spent time in the corporate realm – get this really wrong. Understanding how to leverage the perception of your ideal clients is a major key to your business’s success and profitability. There are three aspects of perception that you need to be aware of: The Label: Freelancer or Self Employed Solo pros occasionally sabotage themselves with the term that they…

  • Face the Fear and Move On

    Barbara Saunders
    11 Aug 2010 | 12:01 pm
    Be a Lion The Cowardly Lion was the one that was always scared – “I do believe in spooks!”? Yet he was the one that led the charge against the Wicked Witch and her monkey minions. Well, eventually… Fear can be paralyzing. It robs us of our peace and potential. Being in business can be scary. Things can move fast – especially on the internet. You don’t have time for fear. I would love to empower you to turn your fear into excitement. Tips To Help You Move On: I’m not good enough. One of the most common fears, especially for those that are recently laid…

  • Simplify

    Barbara Saunders
    4 Aug 2010 | 1:59 pm
    A Few Simplifying Tips from ZenHabits Three-box decluttering. Declutter a room, drawer, shelf, desk. Use three boxes to  sort. Quickly go through each shelf or drawer or flat surface at once, putting things into three separate boxes: Trash, Donate, Maybe. Create a no-distractions zone. This is great for when you want to do some focused work — which is just about every day for most of us. Create a zone with no distractions — no phones, no email, no co-workers or kids or spouses, nothing on the walls, no IM or Twitter, no web surfing. Just the tools you need and nothing else. Schedule time…

  • Terrific Twitterers to Check Out!

    Barbara Saunders
    27 Jul 2010 | 5:09 pm
    Calling them ‘Twits’ just doesn’t feel right… I know we feel really overwhelmed sometimes – especially when the inbox reaches the triple digits! That’s why it’s fun to check out a few high-octane pros on Twitter. @CarriBugbee: Carri is right here in PDX folks! She’s an award-winning tweeter, social media marketing strategist, speaker, educator (PSU); 20-yr PR/advertising pro; leader of @SocialMediaPDX. Get this: She even helped create a SECP brochure way back in the dawn of time (OK, it was like 2002, but still) @MilanaLeshinsky: I’ve been…
 
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    Kyle Griffith New York Business Broker

  • 7 Services to Find and Reserve Your Name Across the Web

    Hot: Today I ran into an excellent blog post by a fellow New Yorker Sarah Kessler who is one of Mashable’s newest writers. Sarah gave a great overview of 7 services that she recommends to use when checking the availability of  your name on the internet. It is very important that you secure your name, your company’s [...] Related posts:12 Ways To Do Social Media Marketing With Twitter Hot: Twitter is a wildly popular microblogging service. It involves... How to Promote a New Small Business Blog Hot: After analyzing plenty of market research information you’ve finally...

  • Top 3 Ways to Generate Traffic to your Website – using the Perpetual Traffic Formula

    Hot: Many of the concepts I write about in this blog post about generating traffic to your website is info I gathered from a report by SEO expert Ryan Deiss called Perpetual Traffic Formula. You can grab your personal copy of the report here. There has been a lot of buzz in the SEO and online [...] Related posts:3 Straightforward Techniques To Get Your Website Top Rankings Hot: Technique 1: Search Engine Optimization The mistake many website... 19 Tips for Driving Traffic to Your Blog Hot: Haven’t you ever wondered how some bloggers get loads... How to Promote a New Small Business Blog…

  • WordPress Preferred as Blogging Platform for Business

    Hot: This may come as no surprise but WordPress takes the cake in an online survey conducted by The National Federation of Independent Business via “SmartBlog on Social Media”. They ran a poll and asked business owners “Which blogging platform they preferred to use?” …and the results are in! Landing in first place was wordpress.org, the self-hosted version, [...] No related posts. Related posts brought to you by Yet Another Related Posts Plugin.

  • 12 Tricks to BOOST your Blog’s credibility

    Hot: The key to running a successful blog is convincing your readers that you’re a trustworthy source of the information they need, argues Michael Low . To produce that effect, sprinkle your posts with just enough jargon and technical detail to make yourself sound authoritative, and don’t be shy about mentioning awards or testimonials that speak [...] No related posts. Related posts brought to you by Yet Another Related Posts Plugin.

  • Physical Therapy Practice in Queens for Sale

    Hot: This well established practice has an outstanding reputation for providing top quality service and enjoys a diverse orthopedic patient population from a wide range of referral sources. The practice is operated out of a first class office environment with 3,350 square feet of space providing ample room for existing business and plenty of room [...] Related posts:Caribbean-West Indian Jerk & Seafood Restaurant for Sale Hot: Privately owned Jerk & Seafood Cuisine for sale due... Common Seller Questions Hot: How long does it take to sell my business?... Hi Volume Liquor Shop With…
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    Springwise

  • Canadian government rewards public servants for cost-cutting ideas

    Springwise
    2 Sep 2010 | 12:32 am
    Companies have long recognized that the best ideas can come from those in the figurative trenches, since they're the ones closest to the organization's day-to-day operations. That's a less common notion in government circles, but recently we spotted an example in the form of Canada's new incentive program to reward public servants for their best budget-cutting ideas. Beginning this fall, the new Employee Innovation Program will offer cash awards to public service employees with creative and practical ideas that lead to tangible savings and improved services to citizens. Through the two-year…

  • Bar innovation enables sampling and display of high-end beers

    Springwise
    1 Sep 2010 | 3:14 am
    Beer connoisseurs like to try before they buy just as much as the next consumer; the only problem is that high-end bottles of the stuff can cost a pretty penny, making bartenders reluctant to open them. That's where the BeerVault comes in. Designed by Australian design firm Jones Chijoff, the BeerVault gives bars a way to preserve and display their finest beers for sampling and beyond. The innovation began when Victoria-based Jones Chijoff was hired by Melbourne-based bar Biero to solve its sampling problem, driven by the fact that some of its boutique bottles of beer can cost as much as AUD…

  • Open source phone service for off-grid areas

    Springwise
    1 Sep 2010 | 2:49 am
    Mobile phones are increasingly viewed as a critical means of improving life for those in the developing world, whether through employment, healthcare or social connections. Such opportunities depend on access to cellular service, however—and that's where a new Silicon Valley startup comes in. Range Networks is currently developing what it calls “the world’s lowest cost, sustainable, full featured GSM infrastructure providing voice, messaging and data services for a wide range of applications and environments.” Starting with Linux-based OpenBTS, Range's new system works with a…

  • Tesco tests out drive-through delivery

    Springwise
    31 Aug 2010 | 2:22 pm
    Retailers are experimenting with numerous different ways to blend online and off for their customers, as we've already seen on several occasions. Curbside pickup of online orders has been the theme at both Sears and French hypermarket chain E.Leclerc, while Shutl and several others have been pushing the bounds of near-instant home delivery. The latest spotting? British Tesco, which just last week launched what it calls a “drive-thru supermarket.” Focusing initially as a trial at Tesco’s Baldock Extra store in Hertfordshire, the new service lets customers order their shopping as usual on…

  • At bar/gallery/pizzeria, photographers take turns curating exhibits

    Springwise
    31 Aug 2010 | 8:09 am
    It's not unusual to see artwork on the walls at bars and restaurants; what's less common is to see a bar and restaurant double as a photography gallery and community space—one in which the photographers themselves take turns curating quarterly exhibits. That, however, is exactly the premise behind The Camera Club, a new venture launching in Australia this week. The Camera Club is a new “community-minded bar & gallery concept that’s dedicated to celebrating creativity through camera-based pursuits,” in the words of its founders. With support from New Zealand vodka purveyor 42Below, The…
 
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    Social Pollination

  • Yet Another Round Up About the Lack of Women in Tech

    Monica O'Brien
    31 Aug 2010 | 5:04 pm
    Honestly, I hate this topic. It annoys me and it bores me and I wish everyone would just stop worrying about inequality in the workplace, and especially in tech start-ups. But since the topic is making it’s rounds again, maybe instead of being annoyed and bored I should take the opportunity to educate people on why this is not a problem. Here is the round-up first: Addressing The Lack Of Women Leading Tech Start-Ups from The Wall Street Journal… in which the writer talks about how we need more women in tech and for some reason singles out TechCrunch Too Few Women In Tech? Stop…

  • Write about what you are learning to keep your blog fresh

    Monica O'Brien
    16 Aug 2010 | 11:04 am
    I am not living in Atlanta anymore. This sentence seems so stupid because very few people even knew I was living in Atlanta, because from the moment I went to Atlanta I had a feeling Atlanta wasn’t going to work out, and I didn’t want to pretend I was excited then three months later tell everyone about my latest decision failure. So I am not living in Atlanta anymore. I’m living in West Haven, Connecticut now, in a perfect little second floor apartment with a tiny kitchen and a washer and dryer and a small glass table with a single chair where I can write a novel and look…

  • 3 Things Small Businesses Can Learn From Virgin America

    Monica O'Brien
    29 Jul 2010 | 6:36 am
    This is a guest post from Maria Ross, founder and chief strategist of Red Slice a branding and marketing consultancy based in Seattle. She is the author of Branding Basics for Small Business: How to Create an Irresistible Brand on Any Budget (2010, Norlights Press) OK, I have a major brand crush on Virgin America. Huge. I sigh when I see their logo at the airport, thrill when I’m able to fly them on quick trips down to San Francisco, and I just generally want to hang with Richard Branson over cocktails sometime. I talk about them a lot in my new book, Branding Basics for Small Business: How…

  • Pollinisation Sociale and LeWeb 2010

    Monica O'Brien
    29 Jun 2010 | 8:43 am
    I’m very excited to announce that Social Pollination was recently published in French! The book is now available for purchase at many bookstores across the country, and you can check it out online from the Diateino website. You can also join the fabulous Facebook page and see some fun pictures below: Pollinisation Sociale in bookstores! I’m also hoping to speak in France in 2010, and specifically at LeWeb 2010. They are taking speaker requests and if you have a minute before June 30th, I would love if you could suggest me as a speaker at this link:…

  • An Open Letter: What do you want to see next on this blog?

    Monica O'Brien
    18 Jun 2010 | 11:15 am
    Hi everyone! I’ve been thinking a lot about the direction of my blog. When I had this idea of doing a video series paired with a live Q&A a few days ago, I thought I wanted to do more in digital marketing, since that’s what I do for a living. The only problem was, everyone is at a different place with their marketing knowledge, and I had no clue what level and what specific topics to cover to satisfy the most readers. So rather than trying to guess (always a bad idea), I decided to ask. I sent an email to my newsletter list, asking them what free content they wanted to see in…
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    prnewswire.com: business technology

  • OnStar Encourages Hands-Free Calling Choices

    2 Sep 2010 | 10:27 am
    DETROIT, Sept. 2 /PRNewswire/ -- OnStar is launching a Bluetooth/Hands-Free Calling awareness campaign to help simplify the process of pairing cell phones to the hands-free technology. An analysis of random, anonymous data collected from thousands of vehicles indicates only 45 percent of Chevrolet,

  • Focus.com Launches New Interactive Summits; Announces Fall Schedule

    2 Sep 2010 | 10:24 am
    SAN FRANCISCO, Sept. 2 /PRNewswire/ -- Focus.com, the leading community for business expertise, with more than 850,000 members and over 5,000 business and technology experts, today announced the fall schedule for its Focus Interactive Summits. The Focus Interactive Summits, which are free to all me

  • BrainPOP and Promethean Announce Integrated Assessments for Learning

    2 Sep 2010 | 10:20 am
    NEW YORK, Sept. 2 /PRNewswire/ -- BrainPOP (www.brainpop.com), the award-winning creator of animated, educational resources, is pleased to announce that its curriculum-based quizzes are now fully integrated with Promethean's learner response systems, ActiVote and ActivExpression. (Logo: http://phot

  • Ingram Micro Appoints Renee Bergeron as Vice President, Managed Services and Cloud Computing

    2 Sep 2010 | 10:15 am
    SANTA ANA, Calif., Sept. 2 /PRNewswire/ -- Ingram Micro Inc. (NYSE: IM) today announced the appointment of 25-year IT services executive Renee Bergeron to vice president of managed services and cloud computing for its North America region. In this role, Bergeron is responsible for driving the divis

  • FastPencil Launches FastPencil Premiere Imprint Designed Specifically for Top-Tier Authors

    2 Sep 2010 | 10:13 am
    CAMPBELL, Calif., Sept. 2 /PRNewswire/ -- FastPencil today announced FastPencil Premiere (http://premiere.fastpencil.com), a new and exclusive line of general interest titles that provides top-tier and best-selling authors a publishing home with all the benefits of FastPencil's integrated suite of d
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    Meylah

  • Imitators and Knock-off Artists: Is My Product Protected?

    1 Sep 2010 | 7:12 pm
    You are finally seeing progress with your online shop, and one of your unique designs has just been mentioned in a small magazine – winning your store tons of attention. Things are taking off, just as you always hoped they would!Then, while browsing through a retail catalog, you notice something odd: "Is that ... No way!” You see an almost identical copy of your unique product!Companies have been creating copies or “knock-offs” of other companies' products for years. If you have ever exhibited at a trade show, you know that “snooping” – while discouraged – is difficult to…

  • Back to School for Creative Entrepreneurs

    31 Aug 2010 | 6:59 pm
    Though many of us dread the end of summer / back to school period, there is an upside to this time of year: Structure.Structure, planning and time-management are key to success in education and in business, particularly for those who want to be their own boss. Even if we're no longer students, the start of the new school year is a great time to refresh goals and action plans.Here are 5 ways to structure your efforts for a more successful creative business.1. Time for a new schedule. It's great that you're using a blog to boost your creative business. But rather than blogging randomly, take…

  • How To Display and Present Your Products Effectively

    30 Aug 2010 | 11:26 pm
    With online stores, photographs are the only way of communicating to a potential customer what your product looks like, so capturing it perfectly in one shot is imperative.  I scouted some amazing product photography online and talked to the people behind those photographs for their tips and advice on effective product photography.Tip #1: Create Dimension & PersonalityHaving a sense of depth adds more interest to a photograph.  Jennifer Herrick and Janet Thomas from Pretty N Preppy have a fun quirk to their product photographs.  They sell travel mugs, bottles and lavender sachets among…

  • Photographing Your Products: Choose Your Style and Stick With It

    29 Aug 2010 | 10:40 pm
    Tackling product photography, especially as a beginner can be an incredibly daunting task.  Oftentimes I feel that people (including myself) get so wrapped up in taking the perfect product shot that it winds up pulling them away from where they should really be focusing, which is on creating the products that brought them into this industry in the first place.I truly believe there is beauty in simplicity when it comes to product shots.  Here are a few seemingly common sense, but valuable lessons I’ve learned along the way:Focus on your Product If you’re exerting all your energy trying…

  • Doing the Necessary Things You Dread

    28 Aug 2010 | 10:56 am
    Recently I read a blog by Julien Smith titled Life Doesn't Start Tomorrow about getting the things you'd like to get done accomplished today.  He made the point that "If you don't want to do it now, you clearly don't want it bad enough."  We all have those "to-do's" that we dread, the ones that get carried over from day-to-day and week-to-week.  The type of tasks that stare at you from sticky notes on your mirror and dashboard and, if left too long, wake you up at night.So, today I'd like to encourage you to take care of one of the"to-do's" nagging at you.  Believe me, you'll feel…
 
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    i-netpreneur

  • 5 Best Sites for Premium Site Templates & Scripts

    cyrus
    27 Aug 2010 | 6:08 am
    There was a time when people had to spend thousands of dollars to get a decent website up and running. Those days are long gone. Solutions such as WordPress and Joomla give business owners the chance to bring their businesses online without spending a fortune on a content management system. There are websites that sell premium themes and plugins for these open source solutions. Technically, one could start a killer website without having to spend over $1000. As a business owner, you always want to test every aspect of your website and add new features to it. But the first step shouldn’t…

  • 5 Tools To Dig Up Your Competitors’ Keywords

    cyrus
    20 Aug 2010 | 6:51 am
    There is no shame in spying on others in the business world. As long as business owners can use the data gathered to make decisions to improve their businesses, there is no reason they should not do it. In order to effectively spy on your competitors, a decent set of tools is required. Spending hours each day to keep track of what others are doing is not the best way to use your time. These 5 keyword spy tools can solve that problem.iSpionage: iSpionage is a complete solution for all your PPC racking needs. It can help you protect your brand, measure your campaigns against those of your…

  • 5 Powerful Twitter Tools for Businesses

    cyrus
    13 Aug 2010 | 6:12 am
    Twitter is one of the best channels to create leads for almost any business. As long as you have a real business that provides real value to your customers, there is no reason you can’t use Twitter to get the word out about your business, connect with your customers, and take your business to the next level. As many experts have said in the past, having a Twitter or Facebook strategy is the wrong way to go when businesses should have a social media strategy. That being said, there are tools that can help your business manage, track, and utilize Twitter more effectively. Here are 5 tools…

  • 5 Ways To Get a Custom Twitter Background

    cyrus
    6 Aug 2010 | 6:20 am
    Every online business needs a Twitter page. Businesses that are not taking time to engage their customers and prospects on Twitter are leaving money and opportunities on the table. I have seen many businesses that are clearly interested in taking advantage of what Twitter has to offer but do not approach it the right way. An individual may be able to get away with the default Twitter background and certain tweets. That’s not so much the case with businesses. Having an attractive and professional Twitter background for your Twitter presence is a must.You don’t have to be a designer…

  • 5 Awesome Online Poll Tools For Business

    cyrus
    30 Jul 2010 | 6:25 am
    The Internet has made it so easy to listen to what our prospects have to say and develop goods and services based on their needs. Every small business owner needs to listen and ask people for feedback and suggestions. You never know what ideas you can come up with by knowing what your audience thinks about a specific topic. Creating online polls and surveys could not be any easier these days. There are plenty of services that let you create your own polls online and start collecting data. Here are 5 tools to get you started:PollDaddy: PollDaddy needs no introduction. It’s one of the…
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    Business Management US

  • Nielsen to raise $2 billion through IPO

    18 Aug 2010 | 8:08 am
    Nielsen, the world's largest TV and consumer measurement company, is to raise up to $2.01 billion through an initial public offering, more than the $1.75 billion it was originally aiming for, the company has said in a U.S. regulatory filing. Nielsen was originally taken private back in 2006, after a $10 billion deal backed by a consortium of six private equity firms - Carlyle Group, Blackstone Group LP, Kohlberg Kravis Roberts & Co, Thomas H. Lee Partners, AlpInvest Partners and Hellman & Friedman. However in June, the company said it planned to raise up to $1.75 billion through an…

  • General Electric to create UK online bank

    17 Aug 2010 | 5:37 am
    American power giant General Electric has announced it is to launch an online bank in the UK within the next 18 months. The news, that was broken by the Sunday Times, will see the firm's GE Capital unit attempt to break into the ever-growing market of online UK banks that includes the recent additions such as Metro and Virgin Bank. The GE online bank will hope to win customers from those banks that were hit hard during the global recession and have said they aim to launch their service within the next 18 months. GE Capital, has already launched a similar bank in Germany, called GE Direkt, but…

  • Toyota accidents caused by driver error?

    12 Aug 2010 | 6:16 am
    Accidents caused by Toyota cars, that dominated headlines earlier in the year and impacted on the company, could have been caused by driver error according to a preliminary investigation by the US National Highway Traffic and Safety Administration. The US group that has been tasked by Congress to investigate the accidents involving the Japanese vehicles said that in their initial findings, data recorders of 58 cars involved in incidents suggested brakes had not been applied in 35 cases. In another nine of the 58 cars, the group said that the brakes had been applied late, while another…

  • How USPS is going green

    10 Aug 2010 | 4:02 am
    Many national businesses produce sizeable carbon footprints but very few actually do anything about it. However, thanks to new guidelines from the Department of Energy, the United States Postal Service has decided to make itself one of the greenest delivery companies in the country by cutting its energy usage. The company may have recently cancelled a green roof project in Baltimore, but this hasn't stopped them from declaring that making its their assorted sites greener is the way forward. As such, the postal firm has said it will be looking at green roofs and methods such as optimally…

  • 60% of US financial firms use open source software

    6 Aug 2010 | 5:43 am
    It appears that open source software could be the future of IT technology in the financial industry. According to a survey from Accenture, around 60 percent of financial services firms in the US say they are fully committed to, and are already using, open source software. The survey saw over 300 public and private sector organizations questioned (in the UK and Ireland as well as the US) with the firms all having annual revenue of over $500 million. Of those asked, nearly two thirds of respondents from the financial services industry were committed to open source while only seven percent said…
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    Business Management Middle East

  • UAE to invest in Iraq oil and gas?

    17 Aug 2010 | 5:18 am
    Energy companies in the UAE are reportedly interested in investing in Iraq's oil and gas industry in a bid to increase output. Speaking to the press, Abdullah Ibrahim Al Shehhi, the UAE's ambassador to Iraq, said, "There are indicators that the UAE will have a place in the petroleum and energy sector (in the country)." One of the country's chief investors, Mubadala Development Co., is rumoured to be interested in expanding into Iraq, increasing the amount of bilateral trade between the two countries. Currently, the amount of trade is said to be worth around $5 billion, but that is expected to…

  • Fixed line profits up 23 percent

    16 Aug 2010 | 6:50 am
    Despite the growth of mobile technology, there is still a place for fixed lines, especially in the MENA region. As such, Vodafone Egypt, the country's fixed-line monopoly, has said second-quarter profits have risen 23 percent, beating all expectations as subscribers increased and margins widened. In a statement, Chief Executive Officer Tarek Tantawy said, "We continue to capture growth in mobile and data markets." "Net profit margins continue to expand over the period, as a result of cost control and our long-standing investment in Vodafone Egypt." The net profit margin widened to 35.9…

  • Qatar and Exxon partnership to end?

    13 Aug 2010 | 12:48 am
    Although the two companies signed a deal in January to build a US$6 billion petrochemicals complex, there are industry rumours that Qatar Petroleum and Exxon Mobil Corp may be about to go their separate ways. According to Arabian Business, Qatar Petroleum may be potentially looking for a different partner in the project, citing an official at the energy company. The unnamed official said that Qatar Petroleum will select as a partner "the company that makes the best proposal". The rumour was also backed up by the Middle East Economic Digest, who agreed that Qatar Petroleum was seeking new…

  • Saudi Blackberry - User privacy or national security?

    9 Aug 2010 | 5:31 am
    With Research in Motion's Blackbery causing such controversy in the Middle East, namely Saudi Arabia, now is the time to sit down and discuss the future of mobile communications and smartphones in the region - and the security concerns that go with them. As for this week, it was announced that Research In Motion and Saudi Arabia had reached an agreement that will allow BlackBerry services to continue in the country, but the government will be given the ability to monitor messages causing all sorts of privacy concerns. The deal will see a server installed in Saudi Arabia that will allow Saudi…

  • Saudi Blackberry ban to take effect

    6 Aug 2010 | 5:32 am
    The Kingdom of Saudi Arabia decision to ban the use of Blackberry phones for the sending and receiving of messages is due to come into effect today. The Kingdom has become concerned in recent months that the Canadian-produced devices allow messages to be encrypted, meaning monitoring is made impossible. Saudi Arabia is not the only one to implement a ban - Lebanon, India and Algeria have also announced similar measures or are contemplating them. Research in Motion, the company behind the Blackberry, are of course dismayed with the decision and are reportedly in talking with the Saudi…
 
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    Business Management Europe

  • German economy sees record growth

    13 Aug 2010 | 3:49 am
    While some European countries are still climbing out of the recession, Germany has seen record growth over the past quarter, with the economy growing 2.2 percent - the country's fastest quarterly growth in more than 20 years. It was stated by Destatis, the national statistics office, that Germany's growth was down to strong exports coupled with a weak euro. In comparison, the economy for the whole eurozone only grew by one percent, while the French economy only increased by 0.6 percent. It was even worse for some other European states; the Spanish economy grew by 0.2 percent in the second…

  • RBS to sell WorldPay stake

    9 Aug 2010 | 6:26 am
    The Royal Bank of Scotland has reportedly finalised a deal to sell over 80 percent of their stake in WorldPay payments processing unit to two private equity firms - Bain Capital and Advent International. It is reported that RBS's stake is worth up to £2.025 billion including a £200 million contingent consideration. However the financial institution will retain a 19.99 percent stake in WorldPay. If the deal does go through, it is believed that RBS will get around £1.7 billion in cash on closing of the sale of the 80.01 percent interest and up to another £200 million in…

  • Citigroup to sell Egg bank

    5 Aug 2010 | 7:11 am
    Citigroup is selling internet bank Egg as part of the US financial group's plan to shed billions of dollars in unwanted assets. Originally created by the Prudential, Egg was sold to Citi in 2007 for UK£575 million when the group looked to break the UK market. However, the global recession changed things, and with Citigroup hit hard the group is looking to get rid of any non-core businesses in order to cut their losses. In 2008, after huge losses due to the recession, 18 percent of Citigroup was seized by the US government to stop it collapsing. A golden egg? At the time of its…

  • Northern Rock makes profit

    3 Aug 2010 | 7:47 am
    Northern Rock, the bank that was nationalised in February 2008 after becoming the first bank in 150 years to suffer a bank run, has reported that it has made a profit. According to Northern Rock Asset Management (NRAM), the business branch that holds most of the rescued bank's old mortgages and unsecured loans, pre-tax profit has totaled £349.7 million for the first six months of the year. This is a massive increase of last year's loss of £724.2 million during the same period. Despite this those, Northern Rock PLC still saw a pre-tax loss of £142.6 million. These are the…

  • British Gas profits rise 98 percent

    28 Jul 2010 | 5:07 am
    British Gas, which is a part of Centrica, has reported a 98 percent rise in profits for the first half of 2010 - a total of UK£585 million. It is believed that the exceptionally cold winter in the UK may have benefited British Gas' profits for the year, with gas usage rising by eight percent, along with the addition of 223,000 new customers, despite price cuts earlier in the year. The rise in customers saw British Gas' customers total 15.79 million. For Centrica, the growth in customers saw the parent group secure overall operating profits of UK£1.56 billion, up by 65 percent on…
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    Jeff Korhan - New Media and Small Business Marketing

  • Want To Be A Small Business Celebrity?

    Jeff Korhan
    1 Sep 2010 | 11:43 pm
    A small business celebrity is not the one who craves media coverage and recognition.  That's a small business wannabe, and the social Web is a medium that makes their endeavor easily attainable. Traditional mediums such as television and magazines have conditioned us to believe that visibility makes you a celebrity.  It may for a while, but as most media celebrities know, its a slippery slope. True business celebrities are recognized leaders.  They have earned a place in their profession for being relevant sources of useful information.  This is why they are sought out for their honest…

  • Oops! Sorry, We Goofed

    Jeff Korhan
    1 Sep 2010 | 1:10 pm
    If you have been receiving emails that apologize for minor mistakes made in emails previously sent from the same source, then you are not alone.  This is a new email marketing tactic that is a direct result of our social media influenced marketing environment. Mistake Marketing When I first started noticing this email strategy, my inquisitive nature kicked into gear.  Was that really a mistake or was it intentional?  I wondered.  And so should you.  Good marketers are trained to notice what other marketers and doing and ask not what is happening, but why. I don't have to wonder any more…

  • Increase Your Work Efficiency with The Pomodoro Technique

    Jeff Korhan
    30 Aug 2010 | 9:40 pm
    Today I started using The Pomodoro Technique to better manage my time, and based upon my increased productivity today, I am very excited about its possibilities - especially with respect to my blogging here, my guest blogging, article commitments, and unfinished books. The Pomodoro Technique I just became aware of this technique over the weekend via John Jantsch and his Duct Tape Marketing Blog.  After perusing the free pdf from The Pomodoro Technique site, I was immediately intrigued, because this method is predicated upon how we use our minds - or let them use us, something I studied for…

  • Social Media and Small Business Marketing to Older Adults

    Jeff Korhan
    29 Aug 2010 | 3:34 pm
    Everything we do in life is driven by the desire for happiness. As we get older, there is a tendency to rely on what has made us happy in the past, which of course prevents us from making new discoveries that may well work better. This to me explains why older adults who were previously reluctant to give social media a try are now leading the pack. The Pew Internet project of the Pew Research Center recently released a report that shows the 50+ age group as nearly doubled their use of social media over the last year. (click graph to enlarge) This clearly indicates that older adults are indeed…

  • How to Start a Blog

    Jeff Korhan
    29 Aug 2010 | 1:35 pm
    Despite the millions of blogs in the blogosphere, it is still a fact that the percentage of small business bloggers in any industry other than technology is less than 10%, and probably much closer to 1%.  Let's take a look at some of the common challenges, some solutions for overcoming or working around them, and then a step-by-step process for how to start a blog. Common Blogging Challenges While the percentage of bloggers is small, it is not for lack of desire.  What I hear most often is that "I know I should be doing this."  So, let's focus first on what is holding everyone back. I have…
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    The New York Enterprise Report

  • How to Get Good Feedback

    Robert Levin
    31 Dec 1969 | 4:00 pm
    I read a newsletter from a company called eMedia Vitals which, as you might guess, serves the media business. The content is fantastic. I not only enjoy getting great feedback from NY Report readers, I enjoy giving it as well. So I emailed Prescott Shibles, eMedia’s CEO telling him “Just a short note to let you know I think your content is terrific.” His reply was even better; “Thanks so much for your note! I really appreciate it. What could we be doing better?”  At NY Report we have received so much fantastic praise over the years from readers and clients alike. I am…

  • Who is Talking Behind Your Business' Back?

    Hilary Topper
    31 Dec 1969 | 4:00 pm
    Do you know what people are saying about you on the Internet? Even if you don’t have a Facebook, LinkedIn or Twitter page, as a small business owner, you should monitor everything that is said about you. Why?If someone makes a positive or negative comment about your business, don’t you want to know? Companies that don’t monitor their exposure are liable to loose their market share. Take a look at companies like Domino’s Pizza when staff members posted a YouTube video that negatively reflected the company. It took the company’s CEO nearly three days to respond.  If someone says…

  • The Challenge in Meeting Your Own High Expectations

    Wyeth Killip
    31 Dec 1969 | 4:00 pm
    Its 5:15 pm on Monday and I just sat down to start working on my task list, yet I’ve been at work since 9:00 am.  What’s wrong with this picture? This is how my week started.  I arrived at work Monday morning not having had the best night’s sleep to face an endless task list that had piled up the previous week. Monday is our prime meeting day: “Round the Horn” meeting, ops meeting, planning meetings, customer calls – basically the day is jam-packed. The day flew by and before I knew it, it was after 5:00 pm. I had been in meetings all day and hadn’t even had a chance…

  • Tips to Balance Back-to-School and Back-to-Work

    Wendy Kaufman
    31 Dec 1969 | 4:00 pm
    Everywhere you turn is back-to-school shopping, back-to-school rushing, and back-to-school anxieties. Over the past 20 years I have seen so many small business owners literally fall apart during the Fall, so I have created a cheat sheet to help you stay on top of this time of the year. First and most importantly, instill the love of learning...in your child. Talk about how much you love learning and how, as a business person, you must continue to learn all the time. Certainly, learning is the key to all of our successes and failures, which make it possible for us to grow in the work we love…

  • What Did You Do This Summer?

    Nancy A. Shenker
    31 Dec 1969 | 4:00 pm
    This summer I:Overcame my fear of zip lining (and actually loved it!)Launched a new product for one of our clients, a pickle company, a client I started wooing a full year agoPublished a book and a new blogHired two fantastic internsForged an alliance with a new creative directorVastly improved my company’s profitabilityDeveloped a detailed growth plan for the fall…all while managing to work remotely (and outdoors) most Fridays No, I am not bragging. (Well, perhaps a little.) What I really intend to do is give readers an example of the type of “essay” you should be able to write at…
 
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    Business Tips, Bits, Bytes, And News

  • Get Into The Right Business – The First Time

    Shawna
    2 Sep 2010 | 10:49 am
    Recently I ran into a book I own about finding the best job to fit your personality. I never read it; I had actually bought the book for a friend but she wound up finding the job of her dreams before the book arrived from Amazon. One thing today that seems to be putting people into a quandary is wondering if they are where they should or could be in life—particularly in their occupation. You don’t need to read an entire book to figure out how to find the best business for you. A Touch of Business has an article (actually, it’s a part of an entire full small business guide),…

  • Starting A Small Business : Your Guide To A Stable Start

    Shawna
    1 Sep 2010 | 8:23 pm
    One of my all-time favorite online books that I recommend like crazy is Acey Gaspard’s Guide To Starting A Small Business. Out of all my college courses and every other business book I’ve read, THIS is THE book to get—and it’s free. It takes you step-by-step through each chapter and it’s so easy to bookmark and refer back to. Intro: Below you’ll find some very important steps before considering any business venture. These original articles will help you identity key issues about the business your considering. Some friendly advice; be honest with yourself…

  • 5 Great Small Business Marketing Ideas that Work!

    Shawna
    1 Sep 2010 | 11:30 am
    Image via Wikipedia A Touch of Business has a ton of fantastic articles on small business marketing and here are 5 of our favorites out of the hundreds—stay tuned for more as I keep gathering them together! 1. Have A Grand Opening (or Anniversary Re-Opening! – Excerpt: Long before your opening, there are many things you’ll want to do to prepare for a Grand Opening event.  Day 1 of business starts long before the day of your grand opening!  Here are some suggestions: Print business literature, put up your website, and begin your business before a launch date. Have a…

  • Does Free Internet Advertising Work?

    Shawna
    1 Sep 2010 | 10:54 am
    Image via Wikipedia With so many small businesses trying to figure out how to get more internet exposure, it can be a gruesome task to figure out where and how to blog and where to advertise and get more company branding. Then, of course, come all the emails promising you a world of FREE traffic through their FREE internet advertising solutions. There’s a great article on A Touch of Business that deals with this very topic, Free Internet Advertising – Myths Demystified and is well worth the read. Excerpt: Free Internet Advertising has different flavors. Among the most popular are:…

  • NEW! Free Small Business Marketing Workshop 1

    Shawna
    31 Aug 2010 | 4:04 pm
    Image via Wikipedia When you have a small to mid-sized business, sometimes you reach the point of pulling your hair out trying to create new marketing techniques and come up with new ideas and strategies to get the traffic to your door —or your website. Because these times have been so hard on small businesses, A Touch of Business is presenting a series of free workshops on a variety of topics, starting with Part 1 on Small Business Marketing. Because A Touch of Business contains such a huge library of articles on many topics, we don’t want to overload you so we’re listing…
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    New Business Partnership

  • Business Partnerships – Staying Connected – Tip #5

    “One thing you learn in a long marriage is how many sneezes to wait before saying, ‘Bless You’.” ~Robert Brault You can probably name at least one couple in which the partners are so connected, they not only know how many sneezes to wait, they finish each other’s sentences and anticipate the other’s needs. How [...]

  • Business Partnerships – Staying Connected – Tip #4

    A long marriage is two people trying to dance a duet and two solos at the same time. ~Anne Taylor Fleming
 Is there one right way to keep a business partnership happy and healthy? The obvious answer is no. If you look around at the long-standing successful relationships of people you know, you will note [...]

  • Business Partnerships – Staying Connected – Tip #3

    What counts in making a happy marriage is not so much how compatible you are, but how you deal with incompatibility. ~George Levinger Does this sound familiar? That cute habit or personality trait of your partner was endearing at the beginning of the relationship. Today, it gets on your nerves and is often the source [...]

  • Business Partnerships – Staying Connected – Tip #2

    “Creativity comes from a conflict of ideas”. Donatella Versace If you and your business partner have disagreements, does that mean your partnership is in trouble? The answer is…it depends. In healthy business partnerships the partners have learned how to have disagreements and how to bring out differences in opinion to arrive at the best solution. [...]

  • Business Partnerships—Staying Connected – Tip #1

    “Success in marriage does not come merely through finding the right mate, but through being the right mate”. ~Barnett R. Brickner Does selecting the right partner guarantee you will have a successful and long-term business partnership? If only it were that simple! Business partnerships are often compared to marriage.  If you’ve read any of my [...]
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    chipachi

  • Your Ideal Client (Part 2 – Demographics)

    24 Aug 2010 | 5:11 am
    This is part 2 of our series on ‘Your Ideal Client‘. Here is Part 1. Ideal Client Profile Demographics We established in the first post that we MUST work out our ideal client if we want our business to succeed. One of the first places to start is “demographics”. These are the basic component of an Ideal Client profile. If your business is targeting individuals, then Demographics include: Gender Age Employment Status Gender Occupation Income level Education Level If your business targets business, then the Demographics you need to consider are: Industry Type Number of…

  • Your Ideal Client (Part 1 – Why?)

    19 Aug 2010 | 6:11 am
    In my own business, we are going through the process of working out our Ideal Client. It’s something that we’ve attempted a couple of times, but now more than ever, it’s really key to know. In my process of asking around other business owners, I realised that if we’re really honest, most of us don’t know exactly who our ideal clients are. So I thought it may be useful to blog about the process. This is part 1… The ideal client is not a luxury. It’s a mandate! It doesn’t matter what type of business you run. You only have so many hours in a week.

  • Interview with Pete Harrison

    17 Aug 2010 | 5:28 am
    The following is an interview with successful freelance designer Pete Harrison 1. How did you get started in Freelancing? How did you land your first customer? Once I had started to create digital art, I posted it on forums and communities etc..my first customer saw some of my earlier works, and thought I could create something for one of their websites, so they got in touch with me and I did, we were both pleased with how it turned out, and I realised that it was easier than I thought and had fun doing it at the same time, I just had got paid for something I enjoyed doing..surely that’s…

  • 60 second interview – Nathan Littleton

    15 Aug 2010 | 10:52 am
    To kick off our series of 60 second interviews, we are starting with the young entrepreneur Nathan Littleton. I met Nathan at a networking event and his dedication to building a long term solid business. He is only twenty years old, but he’s already been in business for seven years. He was named Enterprising Young Person of the Year 2006 by the Institute of Directors. We are all busy busy busy, but I managed to grab a minute with Nathan and here’s the video. If you would like to have a 60 second interview, comment below…

  • Unplug yourself for Digital Down Day

    8 Aug 2010 | 11:12 am
    Friday the 13th September is now reserved as the  “Digital Down Day”. The guys over at Duct Tape Marketing seem to have started a mini movement in reaction to all the time we are spending online plugged into something. It might just be me, but it seems like there really is no escape from interruptions and information. The idea is that for 24hrs we are not allowed to Tweet, Friend, Post, Email or even use a laptop or mobile device. If whatever you do can’t be done with a pen, paper, head, hand and heart, you are not allowed to do it that day. On top of recruiting others,…
 
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    Hudsonhorizons.com RSS Feed

  • You Can Now Pay To Display Your Business Logo On Google Maps

    2 Sep 2010 | 11:13 am
    It's official: Google has just unveiled sponsored map icons in the United States, which will give businesses the opportunity to pay for their logos to show up directly on Google Maps, indicating the exact location of the business. Google has been toying with this idea for awhile now, even testing it out in Australia and New Zealand for six months before bringing it to the US. In an attempt to "make Google Maps as reflective of the real world as possible", Google has launched this new feature that provides clickable icons that will appear on the map when users are searching for things. Google…

  • 8 SEO Mistakes to Avoid

    1 Sep 2010 | 1:59 pm
    Search engine optimization is vital for the online success of any site. SEO is a complex process that involves making your website readable to the search engines. I've outlined the top SEO mistakes below, so that you can understand what not to do, in terms of SEO, and therefore rank higher amongst the search engines.   1) Targeting the wrong keywordsChoosing the right keywords can make or break your search engine optimization campaign. Sit down and think about keywords that describe what your company offers and phrases that people might be searching for if they needed your services. Once…

  • Technology Inspired Fashion: Your Little Black… Phone Dress?

    30 Aug 2010 | 12:58 pm
    Both fashion and technology are changing quicker than we can keep up with these days and you'll be surprised to learn about the latest styles that will soon be on the streets. What are the latest technology-inspired fashion trends? Cell phone dresses and shirts that hug. Seriously. Your little black... phone? Introducing the M-DressIf you're anything like me, when you're heading out for the night you're always trying to find the tiniest purse to fit three very important items: your keys, lipstick and cell phone, of course. And even when you find the right purse, you still have to deal with…

  • Gmail Calling

    27 Aug 2010 | 9:34 am
    In just 24 hours Google's new Gmail calling feature produced an amazing one million phone calls. Recent news speculates whether this new feature, which mimics in many ways calling application Skype, is only a novelty or if in fact Google has simply introduced a feature in its infant stage that will soon dominate other voice-over applications. This past Wednesday, August 25, Google unleashed its new calling feature that will optimize calling and provide options other than a mobile phone or landline as sole communication. If someone is trying to use their mobile phone, but they're experiencing…

  • Large Corporations Giving Back to Customers with Free WiFi

    26 Aug 2010 | 11:23 am
    As a recent college graduate, I spent many nights working feverishly on papers or studying until the early morning for an upcoming exam. Starbucks, thanks to its late hours, extremely strong coffee and comfortable seating was always my home away from home during my college years. However, the one thing that always presented an inconvenience was connecting to the store's WiFi. Sure, in the past you could come into Starbucks with your laptop, but it would cost not only a Starbucks gift card, but also several minutes of frustration, including website relocations and agreement pages that…
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    Money and Risk

  • Insuring a Man’s Hair for $1 Million – Troy Polamalu

    Kim Luu
    1 Sep 2010 | 10:50 pm
    The internet is buzzing about how Proctor and Gamble asked Lloyd’s of London to insure Troy Polamalu’s hair for $1 Million.  As a football player for the Pittsburg Steelers, he must be under severe risk of losing his hair from the rigors of playing. Insurance is all about transferring risks but who’s making money on [...]Related posts:Ford $200 Million Investment in CitiesHow to Save Money With 4 Simple QuestionsCOBRA Subsidies Not Renewed for Newly Unemployed

  • How to Save Money With 4 Simple Questions

    Kim Luu
    31 Aug 2010 | 1:34 pm
    Life is so complicated at times that adding finance and savings into the mix can be overwhelming.  I strive to continually simplify my life so that I can do things that I enjoy.  Even though I work in finance, budgeting is not something I enjoy doing or living with.  To deal with that mind block, [...]Related posts:How Your Sense of Style Can Save You MoneyIn Either Money Or Life; Are You Committed Or Just InterestedDon’t Depend On Small Businesses To Fix Unemployment

  • Don’t Depend On Small Businesses To Fix Unemployment

    Kim Luu
    30 Aug 2010 | 11:23 am
    Be careful of the rhetoric coming out of Washington about how small business will pull unemployment and the economy out of trouble.   The belief of our politicians is that more liberal bank requirements will somehow result in loans trickling down to small business and thereby opening  a floodgate of hiring.  Our fundamental problem is bigger [...]Related posts:New Healthcare Law To Cost Bloggers, Small Businesses $19 BillionThe Hidden Costs, Risks For Small Businesses from Health Care LawWith The Coming Changes In Healthcare, Is Your Job Safe?
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    Roundpeg | Small Business Marketing | Indianapolis

  • Life Without Lorraine

    Lorraine
    2 Sep 2010 | 3:34 am
    As Lorraine has become a nationally recognized speaker, she’s spending more time out of the office, traveling the country. It’s great knowing she’s out there promoting our brand across the U.S., but the change comes with challenges-and growth opportunities for those of us left behind. Business at Roundpeg starts with Lorraine. She’s the cog in the wheel, so it’s not uncommon for us to include her on every single business decision. Our’s is a fast-paced business, and sometimes things don’t go exactly according to plan. When thingsdo  go wrong, or simply take an…

  • Grow Your Business By Turning Away Customers

    Lorraine
    1 Sep 2010 | 3:11 am
    In the Indianapolis metropolitan area, there are 65,000 companies with sales under $1 million.   65,000!  The reality is I can’t serve all these small businesses. To use my time well, and do the  right thing for my clients, sometimes the best thing to do is to turn the project over to a competitor.  I know that sounds crazy, giving up a project especially,  in a tough economy, but when it isn’t a fit, I have learned it is better to walk away. Seth Godin had a great post recently on this topic.   He argued  passing a project to someone else better prepared to handle it…

  • Social Media: Repetition, Repetition, Repetition.

    Lorraine
    31 Aug 2010 | 3:38 am
    At BlogIndiana I heard an interesting statistic : Approximately 75% of the visitors to your blog or website are first time visitors. This didn’t sound right, surely people were coming back again and again. But I checked my own statistics and sure enough, 72% of my guests were first timers. All that new content I was generating, was it going to waste? If I just wrote the same post over and over again, who would know? Well I believe it isn’t going to waste, because every post builds SEO bait. At the same time, the practice is improving my writing skills. The fact that 3/4 of my…

  • Bring Your Date Home!

    Lorraine
    30 Aug 2010 | 3:04 am
    As Facebook expands their reach, launching a geographic platform ( Facebook Places) to compete with foursquare, it raises once again the question – Is Facebook All You Need? With custom fan pages, the simple user interface, the ability to take messages viral, why do you even need your own blog or web site? The Answer … Control!! While Facbook is an amazing tool, it is their tool, not yours. It is their game, their rules, and they can change the rules any time. This message was hammered home to me in several different presentations at BlogIndidana last week. After building a…

  • Want to Boost Sales? Give Stuff Away!

    Lorraine
    29 Aug 2010 | 5:22 am
    Whenever I go to the mall, and walk by the food court, there is always that guy, handing out samples of the Chinese chicken.  Why? Because if you don’t know what you are hungry for, very often a little taste is enough to convince you to buy an entire plate. That same try before you buy strategy works in many industries, particularly when the product or service is really unique or radically different from competing products. For example networking: Today, after more than eight years in the market place, most people are familiar with Rainmakers. That was not the case, eight years ago.
 
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    The Thriving Small Business

  • CrowdSPRING.com Review: A Few Things I Wish I Would Have Known

    admin
    30 Aug 2010 | 6:58 pm
    I’m excited about some changes to The Thriving Small Business website.  We now have an official logo and custom “look” thanks to the help of CrowdSPRING.   TTSB was officially launched in June of 2009.  In January of 2010, I made a personal commitment to spend more time developing the website.  As part of that development I recognized the need to have a logo developed in an effort to begin the process of branding TTSB. At this stage of the website, I didn’t want to invest a lot of money for an ad agency or professional designer.  I tried the “friend-of-a-friend” designer who…

  • Laws Related to Human Resources: What Every Employer Should Know

    admin
    23 Aug 2010 | 8:22 pm
    Every manager and business owner needs to be aware of the laws that govern employment practices.  Understanding the laws and incorporating them into policies is the best way to avoid labor law issues. Following is a historical list of the most common labor laws: Norris-LaGuardia Act (1932) This Act established a legal right for employees to participate in union membership. Wagner Act (1935) This Act established the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) which requires employers to bargain with employees for working conditions, work hours and wages if the majority of employees…

  • Flemings Restaurant Review: 10 Customer Service Tips

    admin
    17 Aug 2010 | 8:24 pm
    My husband treated me to dinner at Flemings Restaurant for my birthday. We don’t eat out at expensive restaurants very often but on special occasions we splurge, make a night of it and enjoy letting others wait on us. Our meal at Flemings was an experience with a lot of attention to detail. From the moment we walked in the door until we got in our car and left, we felt like we were special. Because we eat a nice meal out a few times a year, we have been exposed to several nice restaurants. More times than not, it is a positive experience, the food is good, the atmosphere is nice, the…

  • Human Resources Interviewing Questions

    admin
    12 Aug 2010 | 6:21 am
    Interviewing job candidates can be a daunting task.  Knowing the right questions to ask is critical to identifying the right fit for the organization.   Interviewing is a skill that is developed with practice but being prepared for the interview is an important first step. Matching the right questions with the job candidate can help facilitate a conversation that can clarify if a candidate is a good fit or not.  The goal of interview questions is to get the candidate talking, sharing and expressing themselves.   It is important to get to know the candidate so asking probing questions to…

  • Preparing to Interview a Job Candidate

    admin
    9 Aug 2010 | 9:11 pm
    Preparing to interview a job candidate is an important first step in the hiring process.  Making sure you are prepared and familiar with the job and candidate can be crucial in selecting the right person. It is always difficult to carve out preparation time but doing so can have a significant impact on the final outcome of the interview process. Steps to Preparing for the Interview: Spend time reviewing the job description and specific skills that are required to perform the job being interviewed for. Take time to think about the person vacating the job and what characteristics they had that…
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    Think Traffic

  • How to Convert Traffic into Buyers with Dave Navarro

    Corbett Barr
    31 Aug 2010 | 7:00 am
    Dave Navarro of The Launch Coach and Rock Your Day is an expert on product launches. He’s worked with some big names to produce 5-figure product launches and has built a booming business for himself based around his blogs along the way. In this interview, Dave shares his insider tips for converting traffic into buyers. He also details how he was able to leave his day job this year to focus entirely on his online business. Dave also has some awesome tips on how to cover a hot topic in a way that’ll bring you a load of traffic. Don’t miss this one if you have any interest in…

  • Ask the Readers: Why Do You Comment on Other Blogs?

    Corbett Barr
    26 Aug 2010 | 6:30 am
    There’s a debate that flares up between bloggers once in a while. Is commenting on other blogs a valuable strategy for building traffic to your own site? Some web marketers and new bloggers swear by blog commenting as a way to build traffic, make new connections and generally raise the awareness of your own site. Other people say it’s a complete waste of time. I’ll share my thoughts on the subject in an upcoming post. For now, I’d love to hear what you think. Why do you comment on other blogs? Please share in the comments. Last Month’s “Ask The…

  • 10 Examples of Killer Unique Selling Propositions on the Web

    Corbett Barr
    24 Aug 2010 | 7:30 am
    Two weeks ago, we talked about why a unique selling proposition is so important in building a high-traffic website or blog. Today let’s make this discussion a little more concrete. Below are 10 websites and blogs with phenomenal USPs. These are the types of businesses that quickly draw you in (or repel you, which can be a good thing) because of who they are. They wreak uniqueness and it’s clear from the first minute what they’re all about. Notice that few if any of them have invented entirely new topics or products. Each of these businesses sells something people already buy…

  • How I Created a Thriving Business Around this Blog in 5 Months (Think Traffic Monthly Report #5)

    Corbett Barr
    16 Aug 2010 | 11:53 pm
    Every week, we talk about how to build an audience full of raving fans here. What we maybe don’t talk enough about is what to do with that audience, and how to create a business around it. In this monthly report, I’ll share thoughts on how to turn your traffic into customers and clients. I’ll also share exactly how I’ve been building traffic to this site and how I’ve created a thriving business at Think Traffic in just 5 months. Things are heating up around here, so you won’t want to miss this report. A couple of weeks ago Glen from ViperChill (one of the…

  • The Ultimate Guide to Finding Your Unique Selling Proposition

    Corbett Barr
    12 Aug 2010 | 12:35 am
    Hands down, the question I get most from readers of Think Traffic is “how do I make my business or website unique?” I’ve talked to at least 10 of you over the past couple of months about that very topic. In marketing speak, this is known as the unique selling proposition, or USP. And it’s a fantastic question because deciding on a USP is possibly the most important decision you can make about your business. If you make your business stand apart from the crowd, everything you do will be easier. Customers will be easier to come by. Adoring fans will gladly spread the…
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    GannettLocal Blog

  • Where are You “At”?

    Kevin Spidel
    2 Sep 2010 | 9:59 am
    Image via Wikipedia Guest post by: Courtney Vix, GannettLocal Account Manager. In every sense of the word, you’ll need to know exactly where you’re at, as a business. You’ll need to know your location, mailing and email addresses, but do you know your online “locale”? In America, 64 percent of Americans use online search to find local businesses regularly. So again, where are you? Stamps Auto Repair wasn’t seeing the activity they wanted to their website, door, or telephone. They started a Google Places campaign with us, and started to see a measurable increase in traffic and…

  • Signs that Your Business is in a Marketing Rut (and What You Can Do About It!)

    Wendy Coneybeer
    1 Sep 2010 | 8:07 am
    When you first opened your business you probably spent a lot of your time focusing on how to spread the word to your community. You likely explored all of your possible marketing options and formed a strategy that would generate some excitement for your potential customer base about your products or service offerings. Unfortunately, after the opening marketing push many owners tend to settle into the same advertising tools and techniques. While these methods may produce good results for several months, or sometimes longer, it’s all too easy to lapse into a cycle of repetition that may begin…

  • Marketing Navigator Profile: Tony Starr

    Wendy Coneybeer
    31 Aug 2010 | 7:54 am
    One of the key elements to building community relationships is just putting yourself out there and getting to know others around you. Our team here at GannettLocal is no exception! Periodically, we’ll be publishing a “Marketing Navigator Profile” post that will give our readers a peek into the roles and lives of GannettLocal representatives. This week, we’d like to introduce you to Tony Starr, the GL Marketing Navigator who was the face behind one of our recent customer testimonials. Tony has been in sales for several years, and began working with high volume online sales when the…

  • Creating Community Platforms for Small Business

    Kevin Spidel
    30 Aug 2010 | 9:32 am
    This last week I had the pleasure of visiting Lori Quan and James Smith at the City of Chandler’s Economic Development department. They have a lot of great initiatives taking place to empower local businesses as well as champion their efforts. It is a great example of cities that embrace local small businesses by creating a community platform. Just one example of their work is with www.chandlerlocalbites.com. The city has committed resources to create a loyalty program encouraging local residents to shop local and support the success of these small businesses. Chandler gets it. Other…

  • Have you checked out checking in?

    Kevin Spidel
    27 Aug 2010 | 7:04 am
    As a small business owner, have you heard when you customers come into your store that they just “checked in.” Or that one of them just became “mayor” maybe they just “joined a new society?” I am sure that the first time you heard this, you gave them a weird look… right? Well they just “checked in” and alerted their social network that they are in your store/restaurant. These services are called “location based services.” They’re applications that are often web based, text messaging centered, or downloadable to smart…
 
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