Archive for January 11th, 2010
Nostalgia Puts Old Kiddie Rides Back In Play
Keith DeWitt was looking for a unique present for his new granddaughter when he stumbled upon a Web site, selling a lion kiddie ride for $2,000. As a big-game hunter, DeWitt thought the ride would make a nice addition to his trophy room above the garage. And it would be something his grandchildren would enjoy [...]
Online Store Devoted To Entrepreneurial Inventions
Yak About It is devoted entirely to products made by independent inventors and entrepreneurs. The site holds contests that pit two products against each other and deems the one with the highest sales to be the “most yakable.” Visitors can read about the products and the stories behind them, then make comments and purchases. Each [...]
Do you enjoy looking at vintage ads for inspiration? Feast your eyes on this: Vintage Ad Browser. The search function is especially fun. I’m not old enough to remember when marketers used babies in cigarette advertising, but now I can see them.
Cold Weather Brings Business Opportunities
It’s possible to profit from anything. Even freak weather. With the New Orleans area experiencing its lowest temperatures in 14 years, local businesses have benefitted from people’s efforts to stay warm, beat cabin fever or a potentially burdensome heating bill. Because it’s been so long since New Orleans has had a real winter, many people [...]
The “While You Were Out” form is a simple way to communicate with your local businesses. It gives you a polite way of letting a business know that you’d would have spent money in their establishment, but because they weren’t open, you couldn’t. I’m planning to use these in my community. There are four coffee [...]
photo credit: 35597202@N02 Psychic help isn’t just for people anymore. Since people will pay for anything for their pets, animal communicators, who are careful to say that they are not psychic, offer their ability to connect with you pets via telepathy for a price. AM New York: People most often call on animal communicators when [...]
More than 45,000 businesses closed their doors for good in 2009 — including some that survived for longer than a century reports CNNMoney. Here’s a look at one. On Christmas Eve, Mark Irvin closed the doors on a wholesale business that had been in his family for 125 years. Irvin Candy Company Inc. started in [...]
Next Little Thing: Invisible Power
Marin Soljacic couldn’t sleep. The problem was his wife’s Nokia cell phone. The tyrannical device beeped on the bedside table when it needed to be plugged in. It could not be disabled, reports CNNMoney. Instead of taking a hammer to the phone, Soljacic marveled at the fact that this device, and billions of others like [...]
Unemployed Developing More Inventions
With millions of Americans out of work, some of the unemployed are taking matters into their own hands, according to a story on myFoxDC.com. Experts say the number of new inventions being pushed into the marketplace is rising. Tough economic times often lead to new inventions as people out of work have more time available [...]
What would an eBay for shipping look like? Could you make shipping cheaper by taking advantage of the empty space in the backs of trucks already on the road? Matt Chasen did and he went on to found uShip. In 2001, Matt Chasen’s mother wanted to send an antique dresser from Ohio to Texas, but [...]
How many small businesses have a company web site? 17% 25% 38 % 44% 58% View Results Results on Friday. Photo by photofunia.
Moms Turn Baking Into A Business
Jacksonville.com: Lynn Yeager and Janice Copley were inside their small store on San Jose Boulevard, but Cookie Momsters wasn’t really open for business. It was a baking day. Yeager’s son Jacob, now 6, is autistic, and she started reading that gluten (the protein in wheat, rye and barley) and casein (a protein in cow’s milk) [...]
