Archive for October 2009
Web Entrepreneur Gets Mileage Out Of Site
An article in The Columbus Dispatch reports that a couple of years ago, Michael Bragg of Apopka, Fla., noticed his girlfriend (now his wife) jotting something down in a small notebook. She was keeping track of her car’s fuel mileage. “Her family had always done that,” he said, “and she just started doing it, too.” [...]
Teen T-Shirt Entrepreneur Meets Obama
CBS News has a great story about an entrepreneur who won $10,000 and met President Obama. 17-year-old Kalief Rollins got to the White House by spreading positive messages of hope and empowerment. He’s the future of America; He’s the promise of a new generation; He’s … the president of the Phree Country clothing company. It [...]
How many minutes are spent on Facebook daily? 75 million 100 million 8 billion 15 billion View Results Answer on Wednesday. Photo by facebook.
Mom’s Take Boy’s Clothing Line National
OCRegister.com: Ladera Ranch mom Kim Marquis was sick of dressing her 4-year-old and 1-year-old sons in boring clothes when she dreamed up Haute Boyz Clothing with friend and business partner Jill Hoffman of Laguna Niguel. “We couldn’t find anything we liked, so we started making (shirts) ourselves,” said Hoffman, the mother of a young son. [...]
Unique products to amuse and inspire. Blood Energy Potion What every pseudo-vampire needs. Double-Sided Condiment Bottle When you just can’t wait for the ketchup to trickle down from the bottom. Mirdle (man girdle) When you need to get those love handles in check. Bacon Jam It’s Bacon You Can Spreaaaaaaad. Take that, Smuckers! Photos by [...]
PetSmart is looking for innovative pet products of all kinds. After receiving such a great response to its first Live Product Search, PetSmart is back for round two and wants to see ALL of your innovative pet product ideas! This time around, PetSmart is broadening the search to accept submissions for pet product concepts of [...]
Lesley Mitchell at the One Cheap Chick blog has an interesting story. She reports that if you’re awash in candy after Halloween, you can trade it in for cash at South Mountain Dental. Dentist Christopher Johnson is buying candy from kids of all ages at the rate of $1 per pound on Nov. 2 from [...]
WalletPop’s Jason Cochran interviews Sandy Hyun and Roman Peters about their home grown microbusiness and their appearance on the TV show Shark Tank.
YouTube Racking Up “Over a Billion Views a Day”
The New York Times is reporting that according to comScore YouTube surpassed 10 billion views in a single month in the United States for the first time. That made YouTube nearly 20 times more popular than its nearest rival in online video, Microsoft, which showed just 547 million videos. But on the third anniversary of [...]
On Monday, we asked readers if they take a proper lunch at work. Well, it looks like there might be a business opportunity here, lunch deliveries. 52 percent said NO they don’t take a proper lunch and 48 percent said YES they do have a good lunch. I think I’ll go make a sandwich. Photo [...]
Moms Are Supporting Moms In Business
NBC San Diego: At a La Mesa coffee shop called Java Mama, Nichole MacDonald shows off the latest in eco-friendly purses. One’s made of recycled polyester, treated to look and feel like leather. Another has a zippered compartment to hide your green shopping bag. Her year old business Bagonia is thriving, she says, in big [...]
Thirty-five people showed up at TeleBrands’ headquarters in Fairfield, N.J. and were allotted just five minutes to present consumer product inventions to the ultimate judge, AJ Khubani. He is the CEO and founder of TeleBrands, a leader in the direct response television industry and the “As Seen on TV” category, reports New Jersey Newsroom. Set [...]
Entrepreneurship: The New Mid-Life Crisis
An entrepreneurial boom is on its way, but don’t expect it to be led by 20-somethings. Instead, America’s best economic recovery plan is in the hands of those aged 50 and up, according to a recent study by the Kauffman Foundation. The study found that over the past 10 years, most company founders were between [...]
Most of the country has prohibited customers from smoking in restaurants. Yet a reminder of a time when it was okay to light up before dessert refuses to flame out: the matchbook. Statewide smoking bans tend to slow matchbook sales initially, but restaurant owners always return to the matchbooks. The New York Times says “in [...]
There’s an interesting article at Fast Company about solving problems by copycatting. Pete Foley, associate director of the cognitive science group at Procter & Gamble, was looking for an inspired solution to challenges faced by P&G’s feminine-care business unit. Its R&D staff had pursued several approaches, but none of them offered the breakthrough that Foley [...]
How Businesses Can Take Full Advantage Of Facebook
photo credit: Torley Many business owners are getting on the Facebook train realizing it is a great way to achieve low cost social media marketing. However, some of them still don’t quite know the true full potential of Facebook and how they can use it to their companies advantage. Companies can create a “business account [...]
The Wall Street Journal reports that retailers are finally coming around to a concept I have long advocated: free shipping. You don’t get charged a brick-and-mortar-store fee when you buy something in person – it’s built into the price. Why shouldn’t online shoppers have the same experience? Plus, the Journal says consumers are four to [...]
Add the Internet to the list of metered services you receive says The Wall Street Journal. Some service providers are contemplating stepping back in time to the days of AOL when you paid for the time you used on the Internet, instead of paying a flat fee constant for broadband access. The Journal says the [...]
Mom Fills Home Accessory Niche In Williamston
Lansing State Journal: Barb Sharp had talked for so many years about wanting to open a home accessories store that it had become a joke in her family. “We’d go into a store and I would say, ‘That place was nice, but I would do it like this,’ ” Sharp said. “My kids would finish [...]
Web Boost For Unlikely Entrepreneurs
The New York Daily News has an interesting article about a new breed of worker that has emerged from these tough economic conditions: the unintentional entrepreneur. These are people who have lost their jobs and have been unable to find new employment, then decided to try their hand at consulting, freelancing or turning a hobby [...]
Twitters Uses For Small Businesses
photo credit: Often businesses join a group such as Twitter without really realizing the benefits that they have to offer small businesses. There are several uses to Twitter that greatly help out any small business company or even large businesses for that matter. Look below for some of the suggestions that CurrentMom.com had to offer [...]
Is Entrepreneurship in Your Genes?
Josh Spiro at Inc. com asks an interesting question, is entrepreneurship in your genes? If you made your first sale while still in diapers and your lemonade stand was a substantial contributor to the family income, you’ve likely been called a born entrepreneur. But just how heritable is the ability to work hard, take risks, [...]
Dealing With Negative Comments
photo credit: saebaryo It isn’t worth getting upset about. And perhaps if something comes at you repeatedly from numerous people their may be some truth to it and maybe you need to change as well. Welcome all commentary. Don’t let the negabots get you down and remember no matter what, you are you at the [...]
Sitting in a duck blind gives hunters a lot of time to be inventive, especially if the birds are landing somewhere else writes The Omaha World Herald. Camouflage-clad Mark Andersen was hunting ducks and Canada geese near Pierre, S.D. He was freezing. Shooting was slow. He stood to peer out of the blind. “I looked [...]
Supercharge Your Business Connections
photo credit: ralphbijker Business.com: Even if you’re a “lone wolf” type, the idea is to forge better business relationships and a network of colleagues and contacts who will stick with you. “And best of all they will voluntarily recommend your services to others,” says Kuzmeski. If you’re ready to ramp it up, here are some [...]
How To Start And Run A Dropshipping Business
The following is a guest post by Alex Maas. Step 1: Choose the right product You should choose some niche products to promote – you need to find a business opportunity, a niche with some space for your small, but profitable home business. You don’t want and can’t compete with top Internet retailers. Product selection [...]
photo credit: John Althouse Cohen When we attend meetings and seminars, many of us take along a notebook of some sort in order to jot down some notes to remember after the meeting or seminar. The problem with this is that many of us, when looking at our notes later on, can’t remember why we [...]
Working With Your Virtual Assistant
photo credit: Torley Targetstarsblog.com: You never get a second chance to make a first impression: Once you find a Virtual Assistant that meets your requirement, be sure to take a look at their website. You want to make sure the site has a professional appearance and lists various ways that you can access them. Does [...]
Farmers Use Vending Machines To Sell Produce
In a world wrapped up in complex supply chains, small farmers are in a catch-22: sell to the supermarkets and get less cash for your carrots, or spend a lot more time and effort trying to sell directly to customers. Consumers, meanwhile, are torn between loyalty to local businesses and the convenience of those established [...]
CitySquares Online Inc. saw sales start to decline dramatically in late 2008 as some of the local-search-engine provider’s customers could no longer afford its advertising services writes The Wall Street Journal. So the small business turned to its board of six volunteer advisers—experts in areas such as sales, marketing, finance, entrepreneurship and venture capital—who suggested [...]
It Pays To Be Social, No Really, They Pay You
When building a new Web 2.0 site, especially a new social network, there’s always one hurdle that needs to be overcome – establishing a large enough userbase to make it both attractive to newcomers and worth using once you arrive. ReadWriteWeb reports that a new site, Spiffbox, thinks they have figured out how to workaround [...]
Mom ‘Charms’ Sharks With Invention
The Post and Courier: Leslie Haywood’s rise from stay-at-home mom entrepreneur to reality TV business sensation started with simple dinner party glitch. Her husband, Jason, unable to tell the difference, had served her spicy jerk chicken instead of a milder flavor at their West Ashley home one evening in 2006. Then he had mentioned that [...]
The Practical Chef Brings The Cooking Lessons To You
While your favorite cooking show might be a great way to learn a new recipe or skill, nothing will ever beat having an actual chef in your kitchen to show it to you. However, most people don’t get that opportunity. Until now. Using the tools that are readily available in nearly every kitchen, The Practical [...]
Reader’s Digest has an interesting profile and interview with the guy who parlayed a childhood fascination with computers into one of the nation’s most-visited news websites, Kevin Rose. Digg.com gets 35 million different visitors a month. One link from Digg’s home page can produce a tsunami of traffic that can turn a Web newcomer into [...]
When asked about their company’s policies for monitoring employees, more than one third of business owners say that they do not screen employee computer use in any way. An Inc.com poll, which surveyed readers between September 22 through October 6 and received 305 respondents, found that 25 percent of companies blocked “unproductive” sites like YouTube, [...]
Training Employees Will Boost Your Sales
photo credit: coxy Inc.com: Investing up front in your new employees will save a lot of time — and even customer service — from all parts of your company in the long run, and it’ll show in your sales numbers. Start today. Training your employees sounds like it is a no brainer concept, something that [...]
photo credit: Ivan Walsh Are you thinking about hiring someone to write your business plan for you? If so, you might want to consider some of these questions from Tim Berry: If you wanted to get your body in shape, would you hire somebody else to eat better and exercise regularly? How would you feel [...]
Urban Beekeeping Kit For Honey Lovers
Trendspotter Springwise has a sweet article on urban beekeeping. Omlet’s Beehaus kit brings the practice back down to earth for individual consumers. The Beehaus comes as a complete hive ready for colonization, with all the parts necessary including honey jars and a comprehensive beekeeping guide. Priced at GBP 465, the Beehaus is available in a [...]
Don’t Waste Your Time Away In A Networking Group
photo credit: pfala Entrepreneur.com: Success in a networking group comes when the rest of the group members trust you enough to open up their best referrals to you. Unless they’ve seen your work, you have to earn that trust by demonstrating your professionalism to them. Since founding BNI almost 25 years ago, I’ve seen how [...]
photo credit: Las Valley 702 OpenForum.com: Branding. We’re done with that word. Instead, focus your efforts on expressing your identity fully and freely. Concentrate on transferring your passion to others. Make what you sell a natural extension of your personality. It won’t feel or look like branding, and as such, people will buy it. When [...]
Nurture Your Employees Like You Nurture Your Kids
photo credit: carvalho When people think about children, they tend to think that their minds work in a way that is much simpler than that of adults. However, they are just miniature adults. Their minds work in much the same manner as that of a 30 or 40 year old. Take, for example, when your [...]
Inside Edition reports on 13-year-old Maddie Bradshaw who designs and sells thousands of Snap Caps — colorful bottle caps that can be worn as charms on necklaces, bracelets, and hairpins. Photo by OMLET.
When victimized by workplace food thieves, some curse, others write threatening notes. Some might even contemplate surveillance cameras, if they’re hit often enough. Being an inventor, Sherwood Forlee found another way to fight back when his sandwiches repeatedly went missing from the communal fridge at the SoHo ad agency where he worked reports The New [...]
Shoppers who have cut their spending — some drastically — during the downturn are now suffering from what some call “frugal fatigue” so reports The Washington Post. Most ardent shoppers don’t seem to be giving in to their cravings yet: Consumer spending was sluggish last month, and credit card debt is waning. But with the [...]
Home Business Is A ‘Peace Of Cake!’
Idaho Statesman: Being a working mom – in or outside the home – can be a challenge, but for one Star mother of two young children, it’s a Peace of Cake! For the past 2 1/2 years, Mindy Lin of Star has taken advantage of naps, bedtime and a supportive family to turn her creative [...]
Mom’s Are Wiping Out Competition, One Boogie At A Time
There are plenty of puns that I could use to introduce Julie Pickens & Mindee Doney. When you enter the type of business that they have, it’s hard to avoid them. Rather than pick on them, these women deserve to be applauded. If you’ve ever chased after a child with a runny nose and found [...]
The Associated Press has an article about British inventor James Dyson. He has unveiled a bladeless fan which he is touting as a healthy and environmentally friendly alternative to air conditioning. The 62-year-old designer, better known as the inventor of the bagless vacuum cleaner, said that his sci-fi-looking fans are safer and easier to clean [...]
The two-century-old technique of preserving food—or “putting up,” in canning-speak—is making a big comeback reports The Wall Street Journal. The worst recession in decades and a trend toward healthier eating are inspiring many Americans to grow their own food. Now the harvest season is turning many of these gardeners into canners looking to stretch the [...]
Kevin Morley and business partner Dean Eggers are busy trying to promote and raise capital for their invention, the Dish Trapper reports The Las Vegas Business Press. The device is a stretchable nylon net that can be attached to a dishwasher rack to keep plastic containers in place, thus preventing water from splashing onto the [...]
Turn Your Entire Office Into A Whiteboard
Fast Company has an interesting story on IdeaPaint, which is simply a paint that turns any paintable surface into a dry-erase board. The benefit–besides being able to brainstorm on almost every inch of your office–is that the paint is half the cost of whiteboard and better-performing–you can leave marks up indefinitely, and they won’t stain [...]
