Archive for December 11th, 2006
E-Mail Marketing for the Holidays
Gail Goodman at Entrepreneur.com: Sending holiday e-mail campaigns is an excellent way for you to stay connected with your customers, clients, investors and anyone else on your list. Here are some ideas you can incorporate into your communication mix: Remind customers about gift cards. Whether you own a retail store, e-commerce site, restaurant or spa, [...]
Biz Idea: Niche Exercise Accessories
Entrepreneur.com: Americans’ desire to lose weight and get fit isn’t slowing down. In fact, calorie-burners present a healthy opportunity for entrepreneurs. Whether they’re hitting treadmills, health clubs or the local biking path, you can bet they want equipment, apparel, multimedia products and other aftermarket accessories to help them achieve a better workout. The secret lies [...]
BruceJudson.com: Using the success of his own two start-up companies as formulas for success, author Bruce Judson offers sound, cogent advice for budding entrepreneurs. A well-known marketer himself, Judson explains how “going it alone” is different from being a typical small-business owner, the key being that the former is able to garner bigger profits despite [...]
Web Sites Fail To Reach People With Disabilities
InformationWeek: Only three of 100 Web sites tested in what researchers call the first global Web site accessibility survey met minimum accessibility standards for disabled people. Nomensa released the results of the United Nations commissioned study this week. The British agency provides assistance with Web site design, as well as consultation and training on accessibility. [...]
The Mercury: The next great business idea may be simmering on your stove. That was the case for Frank Barbalace and his business partner Steve Donze last year. The two Italian men were enjoying some pasta topped with Barbalace’s grandmom’s special pasta sauce recipe one day when the lightbulb went on: This sauce is so [...]
New Software Helps eBay Stop Fraud
Carnegie Mellon University researchers are using an old adage to develop anti-fraud software for Internet auction sites like eBay: It’s not what you know, it’s who you know. Sites like eBay rely on users to warn others if they have a bad experience with a seller by rating their transactions. But the CMU researchers said [...]
Skype Video Phone Connects With Loved Ones
YOU’RE going away on business and want to stay in touch with friends and family back home. Mobile phones, e-mail and instant messaging are all fine. But how much more heartening it would be if you could see your loved ones, as well as hear and swap messages with them. Well, you don’t have to [...]
PayPal Problems for Holiday Shoppers
We started hearing reports of problems with PayPal’s Recent Activity feature this morning and put in a call to PayPal. We haven’t heard back yet, but eBay posted a notice on its Systems Announcement Board: “Members are currently experiencing errors with some PayPal related aspects of eBay Checkout, such as using the PayPal payment status [...]
How To Protect Your Invention When Pitching It
Forbes: If you’ve developed a potentially marketable invention, you are faced with a dilemma. To make money from the invention, you must generally license the rights to it to another business, often a manufacturer or distributor. But in pitching the invention to potential licensees, you run the risk of disclosing so much information that the [...]
The Sweet Success of a Chocolate Business
Entrepreneur: The verdict is in: Chocolate has officially gone from sinful to unstoppable. In fact, trend-watching firm Datamonitor named chocolate “the new coffee” in a list of the top 10 trends to watch. But that’s not all: Studies have come out demonstrating the health benefits of flavanoids often contained in dark chocolate. Sales are soaring [...]
