Archive for February 2007
Home Business Wiz: The typical networking event. You come to a luncheon with a pocketful of business cards, then spend time meeting other business people with whom you might strike up a relationship. Too boring. What if, instead of a restaurant, you can meet other business people on the ski slopes? That’s what happens each [...]
How a Funky Ice Cream Truck Can Change Your Business
Smart Biz Blog: Adam Ellis has reinvented the ice cream truck. In doing so, he’s reinvented a street vending business. Boutique flavors, a chandelier on the inside, and a truck that customers can write on, this is the ice cream truck overhauled, inside and out. An awesomely unique truck begs to be explored, and clearly [...]
Mompreneurs 10 Years and Still Going Strong
WebWire: It was just over 10 years ago, in September of 1996, that authors Ellen Parlapiano and Patricia Cobe released their first Mompreneurs book, catapulting work-at-home mothers into the spotlight, and coining the catchy word “mompreneurs� to describe entrepreneurial moms. As work-at-home moms themselves, Parlapiano and Cobe decided to write the book when they couldn’t [...]
Entrepreneur: David Friedberg was 20 years old and living across the road from a bicycle rental shop. Every day that it rained, the bike shop was closed. “It became pretty noticeable,â€? recalls Friedberg. After watching the bicycle rental store owner get rained out day after day, Friedberg started noticing how many other companies–think golf courses [...]
Work.com: Word-of-Mouth marketing may be the oldest form of advertising but, as a marketing discipline, “WOM” is a relatively new phenomenon. Viral marketing, buzz marketing, blogging, community marketing, customer evangelism and other “consumer-to-consumer” techniques all inspire people to recommend your product or service. Properly executed, WOM marketing is an incredibly effective weapon in your marketing [...]
Keep Your eBay Profits By Saving on Shipping
Remember the early days of eBay selling, when saving money was of prime importance? People were dumpster diving for memorabilia to sell–still not a bad idea–picking up packing peanuts once a week from the local beauty supply store and foraging for boxes behind any store possible. Those were the days. I even remember creative eBay [...]
The Oakland Press: It’s become a daily ritual: rifling through your mail to separate real notices from advertisements. With each person receiving nearly 560 pieces of junk mail a year, a group of Michigan residents has come up with an idea to curb the waste. Sander DeVries, and his brothers Shane Pfannes and Tim Pfannes, [...]
Entrepreneur: Garry Aloia is an owner and managing partner of My First Home, a business that caters specifically to first-time homebuyers. Aloia, who also co-owns parent company New State Mortgage, came up with the idea when he realized that because agents are driven by commissions, “human nature takes over. If there’s a bigger commission involved, [...]
MSNBC: People have a harder time coming up with alternative solutions to a problem when they are part of a group, new research suggests. Scientists exposed study participants to one brand of soft drink then asked them to think of alternative brands. Alone, they came up with significantly more products than when they were grouped [...]
Turn Your iPod Into Full Working PC
Yahoo Tech: What if your entire PC could fit on your iPod (or any other MP3 player, hard drive, USB flash device or even a cell phone)? No more struggling with excess laptop weight and your fully-rigged mobile “computer” would fit right in your pocket. RingCube Technologies, Inc. says that’s when you’ve got your Mojo [...]
San Francisco Chronicle: When it comes to paying income taxes, eBay’s legions of small-time entrepreneurs are on an honor system in which they are supposed to declare their profits to the Internal Revenue Service. Many users, however, ignore the law or are unaware of their obligation. Now a growing chorus of tax experts is hoping [...]
I was extremely annoyed by eBay’s (EBAY) Skype acquisition, and the consequent stock price drop that eBAY delivered. Needless to say I am an eBAY shareholder, albeit a rather restless one at the moment. Now that Skype is inside eBAY, however, I’d really like to see it perform, grow, deliver the grandiose numbers that were [...]
Skype Seeks FCC Help To Open Mobile Industry
Skype Ltd. is looking to a 1968 ruling by the U.S. Federal Communications Commission to open up the country’s mobile phone industry for “unlocked” devices and third-party applications — such as Skype. On this topicVonage subscriber growth slowsNokia Siemens Networks: IP all the wayMobile VOIP is on the marchThe Business Case for Unified MessagingExperts Weigh [...]
What trend will go BIG in 2007?
What trend will go BIG in 2007? Web 2.0 applications Going “green” Baby Boomer services Other pollcode.com free polls
Is Participatory Culture in The Future For eBay?
I attended Beyond Broadcast at MIT yesterday. The conference theme was “From Participatory Culture to Participatory Democracy.” Henry Jenkins, Director of Comparative Media Studies Program at MIT and author of “Convergence Culture: Where Old and New Media Collide,” gave an outstanding keynote presentation and posed the question, what does democracy look like in the 21st [...]
Inc.: The success of an emerging business depends largely on the owner’s ability to convince potential employees or customers that the nascent company is operational, according to new research. In an attempt to explain why some organizations succeed and others flounder, Erno Tornikoski from the Seinajoki University of Applied Sciences and Scott Newbert from the [...]
Filet-O-Fish Inventor Just Wanted More Friday Business
The Cincinnati Enquirer: In 1962, Lou Groen was desperate to save his floundering hamburger restaurant, the first McDonald’s in the Cincinnati area. His problem: The clientele was heavily Catholic. Back then, most Catholics abstained from meat every Friday, not just during Lent, a 40-day period of repentance that begins this week with Ash Wednesday. His [...]
Manage Money For Better Business
Rhonda Abrams at Gannett News Service: Money! That’s what business is supposed to be all about. So why do so many people in business fail to pay attention to it? Oh sure, we spend lots of time and effort on how to make money. But most of us hate to deal with the often-unpleasant aspects [...]
Work.com: A business without customers is like a lake without water: empty. Keep yours full when you give your customers the service they crave and the gratitude they deserve. A simple, “Thank you,” accomplishes a lot when it comes to customer service. Verbally thank your customers for doing business with you each and every time [...]
Smart Biz Blog: Have an idea for an Internet business, but finding it hard to know what your potential customer is thinking about? Try using one of the tools set up to optimize keyword searches. These search tools are set up to help in Internet marketing by showing what key words are being used most [...]
eBay Gives Back to the Non-Profit Charity Listings
eBay Giving Works, a program dedicated for charity listings, announced that the program now has 10,000 nonprofits registered. eBay Giving Works launched in November 2003 and enables nonprofits to raise funds online while letting buyers and sellers support the causes that are most important to them. To celebrate the milestone, the eBay Foundation will be [...]
Seasoned eBayer Responses to Stock Blog
Firemeg, who, if the name is any indication, is not a supporter of eBay CEO Meg Whitman, provided this well-thought out response to a blog I wrote on eBay (NASDAQ: EBAY). Firemeg made some interesting points. Firemeg said: In its current state, I would never buy ebay stock to hold onto. The numbers you have [...]
eBay Seeking Banking Charter for PayPal
SAN JOSE Officials from eBay Inc. and its payments division PayPal Inc. have recently held private discussions in Washington about the possibility of applying for a limited banking charter, according to two people familiar with the company’s moves. The charter would reduce PayPal’s dependency on partnerships with other banks. But San Jose-based eBay’s plans were [...]
Today’s column is for all the friends and co-workers who have asked for advice over the years about buying and selling on eBay. I am the eBay Queen. It started four years ago when I was researching an article. Within minutes of getting a user ID I took a break from my research and began [...]
eBay In Trouble Over Unfair Advertising
An advert for popular auction site eBay that showed a coffee machine available for under ÂŁ100 has got the company into trouble. The Advertising Standards Authority (ASA) upheld a complaint from a member of the public who had been unable to find the item at that price on eBay. The advert also featured a chair, [...]
eBay Boss Breaking Work Patterns
By the end of February, most of the employees at eBay’s San Jose headquarters will collect their possessions, wave a final goodbye to their landline telephones and change cubicles. But what John Donahoe, president of one of eBay’s most important divisions, really wants is for his colleagues to change the way they work. “I’m a [...]
Although Skype 3.0 was just released a few months ago, a new public beta version has already been made available. Skype 3.1 brings to the table, among other things, including a new business search feature. SkypeFind is the main addition to 3.1, and Skype is calling it a feature that allows users to find and [...]
Skype Wants FCC to Go After Cellular Providers
VoIP firm Skype wants the Federal Communications Commission to force cellular providers into letting people have more choice about how they connect to those wireless networks. Professor Tim Wu at Columbia Law School has spurred Skype and the wireless trade group CTIA into a vocal spat that has resonated at the FCC. Buoyed by Wu’s [...]
Free Online Resource Helps Small Bizs
Small Business Computing: As a small business owner, it often feels like everyone is trying to sell you something. But sometimes, companies give stuff away. That’s the case with the online resource offered by Hewlett Packard Small Business. Granted, they hope you’ll eventually buy something when the need arises, but the information and services can [...]
Mothers Hit The Market With Invention
MediaNews: While feeding a baby, Debbie Stauffer and Kathleen Whitehurst came up with an invention that landed them a spot on “Oprah,” an article in Good Housekeeping and a hit new product. It’s a counter. A simple, cute digital counter in bright colors. If you’ve mined moldy leftovers out of the refrigerator, over-fed your fish [...]
Retailers Take a Tip from MySpace
BusinessWeek: Retailers are taking a page from MySpace. They know that customers, especially the younger and more Net-savvy, want to be heard, and they also want to hear what others like them think. So increasingly, retailers are opening up their Web sites to customers, letting them post product reviews, ratings, and in some cases photos [...]
New Booming Business: “Crazy Coffins”
CityNews: Vic Fearn and Company is a 160-year-old English business that makes coffins. That doesn’t sound terribly exciting, but recent customers may make you think twice. They’ve been coming in asking for exotic caskets to be buried in to reflect their passions in life. It started with an odd request from a woman who was [...]
Missouri Starts Small Business Web Site
Kansas City Business Journal: Missouri Gov. Matt Blunt and Secretary of State Robin Carnahan on Tuesday launched a new Web site designed to help Missourians start their own small businesses. Called the Missouri Business Portal, the Web site is designed as a one-stop access point for business owners to interact with state government support agencies, [...]
This week’s Carnival is being hosted by Ty Tribble of eBay Business Opportunities and we have 9 articles for your review. This is the third week for Ty to host the Carnival of eBay Sellers and he’ll be doing it for the entire month of February. So here we go with this week’s submissions: Barbra [...]
StartupNation: Your best chance of success as an entrepreneur is to offer a product or service that’s unique to a marketplace that needs what you and your business have to offer. Charlie Warner, for example, has been a lifelong comedy fan. He retired as a marketing vice-president for America Online and wanted to start his [...]
Larry Chase’s WDFM: What the Buzz? is a keyword research tool that will tell you who’s talking about a certain keyword. By talking, we mean: How often has that keyword been blogged about, and how popular is that keyword within blogs day by day? Has it been tagged in blog posts? What are the exact [...]
Niche Biz: Multiethnic Wedding Cake Figurines
Unusual Business Ideas That Work: An observer might say Ellie Genuardi and Rená Puebla act a lot like a married couple. Having known each other for years, they even finish each other’s sentences and bicker playfully. In 2004, this pair of longtime friends and business associates said “I do� to a marriage-related business: Puebla and [...]
Best Marketing Mix: Old and New
Smart Biz: While much has been discussed about the impact of the Internet on local businesses in recent years, 2007 should be the year that local businesses fully embrace useful online tools in order to market their business more effectively, efficiently and affordably. Internet advertising is already invaluable for businesses. Over the past two years, [...]
StartupNation: The sole goal of this organization is to help women-owned businesses pass the million-dollar mark. Depending on the size of your business, you can apply for a program award, which includes up to $45,000 in financing and a year of mentoring from a team of business advisors, or a micro loan of up to [...]
Using Your MySpace Page For Business
MarketingProfs.com: Here’s a checklist to make sure that your MySpace page is optimized to generate leads for you. They all center around one huge rule: You must bring the business conversation away from MySpace. As long as you are on MySpace, you have to play by its members’ rules. 1. The first thing you must [...]
ABC’s “American Inventor� Begins Second Season Search
American Inventor: Fremantle Media North America, producers of “American Idol,� are coming to a major city near you this Spring as they kick off the second season of ABC’s AMERICAN INVENTOR. A nationwide search to discover the ultimate in homespun ingenuity will make one struggling inventor’s dream come true with a grand prize of one [...]
Entrepreneurs Find Market For History Trivia
Lansing State Journal: Starting a business is a little bit like playing a board game. It takes a bit of skill and a whole lot of luck. Take the trio of Sylvia Alexander, Bob Cavin and Germaine Redding. When they rolled the dice on their Test of Time Enterprises about 1 1/2 years ago, they [...]
When Is It A Good Idea To Move Out Of Your Home Office?
BusinessWeek: Once you’ve decided to take the plunge and move your home-based business to a commercial office space there are a number of decisions you’ll have to make. First, where will you go and what facilities will you need? Taking an office close to your home and your employees’ homes is always a good bet, [...]
Profitable Niche Markets on eBay
AuctionHints.com Forum: I am currently exploring the emerging trend of men who have embraced traditional “Wet Shaving” and are purchasing Vintage Safety Razors on eBay and at antique stores all across the country. Several active forums are fueling this trend which is catching on quickly. One forum I visit on a daily basis on the [...]
Treat Customers as Next-door Neighbors
Pamela Hazelton at Practical eCommerce: People often ask me where I learned so much about ecommerce and business in general. I didn’t attend business school, nor do my college degrees reflect what I do today. Besides being book smart and having been raised “old school,” I accumulated the majority of my knowledge from experience, logical [...]
Reading, Writing and Entrepreneurship?
Entrepreneur: Wish you could’ve taken entrepreneurship instead of arithmetic in elementary school? You’ll be jealous of the kids at Jean Parker Elementary School in San Francisco. It’s not that they’re foregoing a traditional education, but the fifth graders are getting supplemental classes in business from Salesforce.com and the BizWorld Foundation, which includes hands-on experience running [...]
Britney Spears Hair Worth What on eBay!
Britney Spears hair may be worth more than she is with reports of her lushes locks being auctioned on ebay this morning. There are at least 25 auctions all claiming to be authentic and ranging in price from $1.00 to $99,999,99.00, but one has to wonder which are real (if any) and which are a [...]
US eBay Turns More International
eBay is changing the way British listings appear on the US eBay.com website. Previously, items listed on eBay.co.uk also appeared in the default search results on eBay.com, but are no longer guaranteed to appear there. eBay UK said it is testing different options because, “As eBay.co.uk has grown over time, the volume of items listed [...]
Perhaps the budget deficit is getting too large. The IRS is trying to get eBay Inc. (NASDAQ:EBAY) to turn over records on its customers, especially the larger ones, so that the IRS can go after those who have not paid taxes on their auction transactions. What fun. Getting a company to rat out its own. [...]
You’ve Got To Sell Yourself On Making Money
Rhonda Abrams at Gannett News Service: For most business problems, there’s an obvious solution: Make more sales. Need a new Web site? Need more staff? Need new products or services? The answer: Get out there and make sales. Let’s face it, most business problems can be helped – if not solved – by having more [...]
