Archive for June 2009
Think You Can’t Launch Your Invention During a Recession? Think Again!
The following is a guest post by Joan Lefkowitz. You might think that during times of economic recession consumers are in no mood to experiment with, or purchase inventive products. Counter-intuitively, starting a business or launching an invention during a recession can be one of the smartest moves to make — depending of course, on [...]
Bleacher Buddies is a stadium seat fundraiser and business opportunity. Bleacher Buddies are steel frame stadium chairs with nylon padded seat and backs that are rented to spectators, for a donation, at sporting events by fundraising groups. The group hands out the chairs at the beginning of the event, and retrieve them afterwards. The President [...]
Web 2.0 Has Made It Easier To Launch Bizs
paidContent.org: The current economy is making it tougher than ever to try to grow a startup?but in many ways, it’s never been easier to launch a new business. Tech platforms like social networks and open-source software have boosted the chances that people with good ideas will get their startups off the ground, even if they [...]
Can A Microbiz Help You Enjoy A Better Retirement
Entrepreneurialism: Not having enough money for a comfortable retirement tops the list of financial concerns among aging Americans, according to a recent Gallup Poll. It even outweighs peoples’ worries about having a serious illness or accident. With statistics showing that Americans can expect to live 20 or more years after reaching retirement age and our [...]
Entrepreneur: You can choose either to do the organizing work or to come in to a home and consult on the things the homeowner could do to better organize. Have a portfolio of different organizational scenarios in different rooms in the home and talk with the homeowner about the style he or she likes. Create [...]
Even the Shopping Cart Needed Marketing
The launch of the shopping cart was a huge flop.
Customers didn’t want to use the new invention. Young men thought they would appear weak using the carts; women thought they were unfashionable and too suggestive of a baby carriage.
New Product Search: Make it Green
Edison Nation: Yahoo! Make It Green is looking for do-it-yourself ideas that improve lives and help our planet. This Live Product Search is a little different from our other searches. Yahoo! has built an entire site dedicated to allowing their members to vote on the best do-it-yourself green ideas. They’ve even subsidized the $25 entry [...]
Home Office Tax Benefits Alluring To Entrepreneurs
NJ Biz: Abby and Ken Kohut both launched home-based businesses three years ago. Staffing Symphony, Abby Kohut’s recruitment consulting firm, occupies an office in their Springfield home a few steps from the office of Ken Kohut Photography. “It is a wonderful experience to have your own business,” Abby Kohut said. “But you have to be [...]
A new pizza vending machine will cook an entire pizza with fresh ingredients, flour, water, tomato sauce and ingredients in less than three minutes.
In this global world there is an enormous demand for people to communicate in multiple languages. Language Champs is a system and methodology for teaching a second or third language that is currently being implemented in schools and centers located in Australia. The languages offered include English, Chinese, French, Spanish, German, Italian, Japanese, Polish, Russian [...]
BabySteals.com Allows Parents To Stock Up For Less
Anyone parent and parent-to-be is likely to know what it is like to prepare for a new baby. The preparation alone can be tiring but the cost isn’t much better. Babies tend to be expensive but, thanks to a website called BabySteals.com, new parents and parents-to-be simply need to visit the website at 9am every [...]
Health Insurers Refusing To Change Policies
photo credit: Todd Huffman One of the biggest problems today is the number of uninsured individuals in this country. Many small businesses can not even afford to offer insurance to their employees because of the cost, which in turn makes it impossible for the individual to afford it on their own as well. Larger insurance [...]
Entrepreneur: Keyword research is incredibly effective for market research because the main reason people use search engines is to find solutions to their problems. And people with problems might be willing to pay money to solve them. But there are so many ways of expressing the same problem. “Cat food” could also be “cat treats,” [...]
Kelly Ripa (from Live! With Regis and Kelly) is teaming up with TLC and HSN to find women with great ideas and prototypes. If you have a brilliant product and a working prototype, TLC and Kelly Ripa want to help you manufacture, market and sell it on the Home Shopping Network They are seeking women [...]
How To Handle Difficult Employees
photo credit: mackenzienicole These difficult people harass you and others, ask too many self-explanatory questions, neglect details, distract you and repeatedly challenge you and others. Even worse, when they interact with customers, vendors and people lower than them on the corporate hierarchy, they can be grouchy, impolite, condescending, uninformed, misleading, inappropriate or simply wrong. Do [...]
Here’s an interesting idea out of India: ATV. Basically it’s a business opportunity TV network that is run on late night Indian television as an infomercial. Their advertising and sponsorship PDF is here.
Weird Invention: Treadmobile When you imagine walking on a treadmill, you don’t envision yourself your traveling anywhere, right? The inventors of the Speedfit Treadmobile obviously don’t think inside your box, because they’ve invented a treadmill that travels! See the video below.
10 Ways to Promote Your Online Business
photo credit: Jesse757 If you have a home-based internet business you need to get the word out and attract people to your site. There are several ways to do this. Just remember to have a budget and stick to it. Make a plan and do something every day to promoteyour business. It is a competitive [...]
Green Irene Joins Direct Selling Association
Green Irene a popular eco-friendly network marketing company we’ve written about in the past, has been approved as an official member of the Direct Selling Association. Green Irene, a national eco-consulting company, completed a one-year rigorous approval process culminating with the approval of its membership by DSA’s Board of Directors. DSA is a highly regarded [...]
5 Tips For Entrepreneurial Students
Savvy Auntie: 1) Save for your dream. It’s coming I started my company on the small inheritance my late mother had left me when she passed away 20 years ago. This was the savings I would nuture and grow and one day, when the time was right, finally put towards my dream – whatever that [...]
Entrepreneur: In many parts of the country, this business tends to be seasonal, but you can find ways around that. Rent a storage unit and offer to store people’s bicycles over the winter after you do a tune-up and any needed repairs on them. If you want to cater to the Lance Armstrong wannabes, you [...]
Recession Fuels Frugal Mommy Bloggers
photo credit: Mike Licht, NotionsCapital.com Breitbart has an important story about the rise of the Frugal Mommy Bloggers today. The recession is clearly fueling the popularity of mother-oriented blogs that focus on penny pinching. But it’s difficult to estimate how many there are because many female bloggers who used to limit themselves to such areas [...]
photo credit: ttarasiuk Now this is an interesting idea. Juridica Capital Management invests in lawsuits. The investing companies say that because they do not take control of the lawsuit from the company and lawyers waging it, their most important task is identifying cases likely to produce a substantial return. That means, for example, rejecting claims [...]
Inc. magazine is getting ready to start their 4th Annual Best Lemonade Stand in America contest. If you’re between 5 and 12 and live in the United States you can enter your stand starting on June 18th. So find the perfect spot, taste test those recipes, build and paint your stand, and craft your pitch, [...]
‘Work At Home’ Jobs That Really Work
ABC15.com: The hottest Google search right now is “work at home.” Experts warn many work at home jobs are scams, but some are legit and could work for you in a down economy. “I love working at home,” said Treena Scism who works from home for VIPDesk.com. Scism works as a virtual concierge of sorts. [...]
GDP Hints Recession Is Moderating
Reuters: The U.S. economy shrank slightly less in the first quarter than initially estimated, while corporate profits rebounded, according to government data on Friday that pointed to moderation in the recession. Perceptions that the worst of the 17-month-old downturn was over pushed consumer confidence to its highest in eight months in May, and a report [...]
The first stage, of our 2009 redesign is now live. If you’re reading this in a feed reader, click on over and check out the new look and features. If you find anything that doesn’t quite work, or look right, please leave a comment on this post. Thanks!
photo credit: uberzombie Whether you are writing a simple article, a cornerstone blog post, or a landing page designed to breathe life into your budding dreams, there might be nothing more important than the care you give to crafting your argument. CopyBlogger recently posted a very interesting article regarding how to make sure your copy [...]
photo credit: gutter If your getting ready to start your own business, or even if you already have an established business but need a loan for various reasons, it is necessary to understand how your bank thinks when going to borrow money. This way if you understand how they think, you will be well prepared [...]
What The Recession Should Have Taught You
photo credit: optimal tweezers During this recession we have all seen many changes in business including some closing, cutting of staff, higher prices in some, shorter hours of operation and more. With all of this change going on and hard times, there are many lessons that should have been learned as suggested on Open Forum. [...]
Business First of Louisville: As the frailty of growing older begins to set in, many people insist on staying put in their homes rather than moving into senior-living facilities. But private residences often aren’t structurally equipped to allow maximum mobility and ease of living for the elderly. With that in mind, business partners John O’Callaghan [...]
photo credit: kwerfeldein Like air travel, IT projects deliver too little, too late, for too much. (Share your views about working with IT by participating in this survey.) Smart “IT travelers” know how to increase the likelihood of getting to their destination, on time and on budget, provided that they keep a few principles in [...]
Kristi G Bags Look Good And Hide Baby Wipes Too
Handbags come in a variety of shapes, sizes, and colors. With all the handbag designs available on the market there has never been anything quite as unique as the Kristi G diaper bag. Yes, you read that right. The Kristi G bags are made to look like an everyday handbag with the sensability that comes [...]
Are You Being Paid For Your Time
photo credit: bogenfreund In a world today where companies are downsizing right and left and employees are out looking for more secure and better jobs, we all must ask the question of if we are truly getting paid for our time at work and all the little thing’s we do during our day. The problem [...]
Kid's Clothing "Mompreneur" Lisa Gold Offers Others A Business Of Their Own In LikeWear
EarthTimes.org: After deciding she wanted something a little more intellectually stimulating than coordinating carpools, Lisa Gold got entrepreneurial while her husband was on a business trip. What started as a keen idea to embellish children’s clothes from her kitchen, has turned into LikeWear a national direct sales company with apparel licensing deals for General Mills [...]
Mom Creates ID Tags That Help Reunite Lost Children With Parents At Theme Parks
Philly.com: Jamie Rayko was visiting Orlando, Fla., in 2007 when her 7-year-old daughter became separated from the group during a trip to a theme park. Her daughter found a park employee to help her, but in the panic of the moment, she couldn’t remember her mother’s cell-phone number. There was no way for the employee [...]
Starting A Biz Right Now: Government Services
Inc.: In the past year, government services has been gaining steam as a top category among the fastest-growing private companies on the Inc. 500 | 5000 list. From 2007 to 2008, the total revenue for companies in this category nearly doubled, from $678 million to $1.2 billion, and the median four-year growth rate for companies [...]
photo credit: tommy THE pariah Do you remember the story of Chicken Little? If one person tells you the sky is falling, you laugh at him. But if you’re told the same story over and over, pretty soon you believe it. This also rings true with branding–just because everyone else is saying or doing something [...]
Resourceful Ways For Small-Biz Owners To Save
GateHouse News Service: Here are several resourceful and creative ways that small-business owners can save money as they navigate today’s economy. • Barter: While bartering may sound a little old fashioned, it’s a great way to work out deals between businesses and save cash. • Save: Take advantage of programs designed to help you save [...]
Entrepreneur: If you are proficient in both Macintosh and PC, you should offer training in both types of computers. You could probably make a living helping seniors learn how to use the internet and e-mail to keep in touch with their loved ones, who are now commonly spread around the country. Err on the side [...]
SBA Emergency Loans To Start Mid-June
Reuters: The U.S. Small Business Administration has announced a new emergency bridge-lending program geared toward helping struggling small businesses ride out the current recession. Calling it another “tool to our toolbox” SBA head Karen Mills said the new American Recovery Capital (ARC) program will offer “viable” small businesses temporary six-month loans of up to $35,000. [...]
Resources That Can Dramatically Change Your Blog
photo credit: juanpol Many business owners who have a blog that supports their business finds that at times their blog is not exactly up to par or is found to be lacking excitement, information, better topics, traffic and more. CopyBlogger recently posted an article on two resources that are sure to dramatically turn your blog [...]
photo credit: pasotraspaso Today so many people are looking for better and more promising companies to work for, they want to work for a comopany that not only has a good purpose in life but has a great CEO who takes care of their employees and customer’s as well. Below are a few good tips [...]
Steps To Your Startup Sweetspot
photo credit: Kanko* When starting your own business it may seem overwhelming at how many different things you have to consider and take care of before your ready to open your doors. There is such a thing however as your sweet spot, this is the place and time where everything falls into place and motion [...]
Tips On Running Your Food Business
photo credit: kspoddar So many people often open up a new restaurant or some sort of eatery thinking there shouldn’t be too much to it, it’s food, everyone loves food and for the most part know’s how to cook food. The problem is that when it comes to food and the places people pick to [...]
photo credit: manfrys A new feature of Google was announced on May 29th, the Google Wave. Some people are excited for this new feature, but others however are terrified and with good reason according to Fast Company. While Google says that one benefit is the “rich formatting”, this rich formatting means loss of punctuation, shorten [...]
Moms Are Finding Work They Can Do At Home
The Augusta Chronicle: Kathy Voss can pay her mortgage with the money she makes working at home. It’s the best of both worlds for the 41-year-old work-at-home mother: She can stay at home with her three children and supplement her family’s income by selling jewelry for Dallas-based Premiere Designs Inc. “Especially during these recession times [...]
Mom Entrepreneurs Run Successful Online Boutique
WCNC.com: Running a business is tough. Being a mom is tough. Doing both at the same time is really tough! But two mothers are doing it all in Charlotte. From celebrity endorsements to exposure on CNN, Wendy James and Jane Hunter have made it big with their company Organica Deluxe. It’s is an online boutique. [...]
photo credit: Tambako the Jaguar In today’s world many people and businesses nationwide are switching over to eco-friendly products and services. But when venturing into this new sector some people are finding it difficult to market their new green ideas. Entrepreneur.com recently posted an article with some helpful tips on green marketing. Prove your product to your [...]
New Yorker Magazine Cover Drawn On iPhone
Artist Jorge Colombo drew the image that graces the June 1st cover of The New Yorker magazine with Brushes, a $4.99 iPhone app. Virtually “finger-painting” an image like this onto a tiny iPhone touchscreen. Amazing! Video credit: New Yorker.
