Archive for September 3rd, 2004
Why Are So Many Business Books Awful?
The Economist: “The formula seems to be: keep the sentences short, the wisdom homespun and the typography aggressive; offer lots of anecdotes, relevant or not; and put an animal in the title — gorillas, fish and purple cows are in vogue this year. Or copy Stephen Covey (author of the hugely successful Seven Habits of [...]
Do You Have to be Rich to be an Entrepreneur?
Infectious Greed: “A new study by Kevin Moore for the Federal Reserve shows that with better measures of wealth the link to entrepreneurship only exists for people in the top-quartile of home equity value. In other words, for the majority of people wealth is not the primary constraint in becoming an entrepreneur. Matter of fact, [...]
Why Long Sales Letters Work on the Web
Excess Voice: “If you can hold someone’s attention with your writing, a long page gives you the space to deliver all the benefits, cover all the features and address a myriad of reader questions and concerns. So long as the letter carries momentum and holds the reader’s attention, people will keep scrolling.” via Debbie Weil.
Franchisors Taking More Interest in Franchisees’ Employment Practices
Society for Human Resource Management: Traditionally, one area franchisors tended to steer clear of was human resources policies and practices. While franchisors would provide cursory resources for good hiring practices and employment law requirements, creating an “employment brand” usually was left to each franchisee. Why? Because dictating the employment practices of individual franchisees might hold [...]
Property Taxes a Large Problem
Law & Entrepreneurship News: “Small business owners rank property taxes as the 6th largest problem that they are currently facing in a recent NFIB and Wells Fargo report. 23% of those surveyed considered property taxes a critical problem.”
How to Take Your Data With You in an Evacuation
Robert Cringely: Hurricane Frances is bearing down on Charleston, our third hurricane or tropical storm in a month, and the first one big enough to motivate the locals. While the conventional wisdom of old-time Charlestonians seems to center on getting drunk, then lashing themselves to some sturdy part of their houses, this storm has even [...]
Startup Success Recipe from Eric Hahn
Eric Hahn, former CTO of Netscape, in a Red Herring interview speaking about his recipe for success: Although every situation is different, were I to write the recipe for success in a “typical” early-stage startup, it would go something like this: Identify a market with an underserved need and attractive economics which could potentially be [...]
World Magazine: “One of the hottest bars in the Chinese city of Nanjing sports only a sofa, a few tables, and tissue paper – a lot of tissue paper. The AFP news service reports that the city’s first ‘cry bar,’ where customers can sit and cry for $6 per hour, is growing in popularity. Owner [...]
