Archive for September 2010
How is a dollar bill different from a postage stamp? Both are produced by the government and seen by hundreds of millions of people each year. How come the government allows advertising on one and not on another? One artist did the math and figured out that the typical one hundred dollar bill changes three [...]
First Came Groupon, Now Daily Deal Services Abound
According to The Tampa Tribune, in a mad rush, the advertising world has fallen head over heels in love with daily discount deals. Websites like Groupon, LivingSocial, Gilt, DailyDeal.TBO.com, and a string of others have hit pay dirt with a marketing concept that’s spot on with our exhaustion with being so frugal: A once-a-day ridiculous [...]
If the news is any indicator then entrepreneurship among people under 18 is on the rise. However, The Independent feels that it is all a little premature. The benefits of youth entrepreneurship are obvious. However, the notion of entrepreneurship being the key to solving the youth employment crisis is certainly exaggerated. Indeed, there are at [...]
If you’re a `To-Do List’ kind of person, Forbes magazine suggests you should definitely check out TeuxDeux.com. It’s a cute play on French words which when pronounced properly sound like To-Do. It’s amazingly uncomplicated so you don’t need spend your time figuring out how to use the features. You just get stuff done instead. TeuxDeux [...]
7 Places To Start A Tech Biz In NYC
Are you working out of your home in New York City and in need of expansion? The Wall Street Journal recently took a look at a few locations that allow startups to work away from home and connect with fellow techpreneurs. NYU Poly Varick Street Varick Street [...] routinely holds events with industry experts to [...]
E-Book Author Makes His Business Helping Others Start Theirs
It is often said that when people can’t do then they teach. For Craig Wallin it was more along the lines of doing first and teaching later. Craig first noticed the need for business guides in the 1980′s. He was growing a breed of apples that are not found in stores. Through his connections as [...]
According to Vator News, Facebook-backer and PayPal co-founder, Peter Thiel, is offering teens $100,000 to put school on hold to focus on developing innovative tech ideas. Thiel announced his new “20 Under 20” program, which will award grants of $100,000 to 20 entrepreneurs under the age of 20 for developing interesting new tech business ideas. [...]
More Shoppers Doing Research Online Before Buying
Does your product have a good online reputation? Let’s hope so, because more and more shoppers are searching the Web before making purchases, according to a study from the Pew Internet & American Life Project. PC Mag reports that about 58 percent of people do online research before purchasing a particular product, up from 49 [...]
THAT’S MY BUSINESS!: Start Up Advice
In this episode, Rich Whittle talks with four entrepreneurs about what it takes to start a business. Listen Now: Or download: THAT’S MY BUSINESS!: Start Up Advice IAmAstuffedAnimal.com MyHusbandsNuts.com RunPee.com Skoy Cloth
Dry Bar: A Salon That Doesn’t Cut Hair
In Los Angeles there’s a hair salon that doesn’t cut hair. Instead, they only wash, blow dry and style your hair. All for $35. Is this a industry that the recession has created as it’s driven demand for lower priced alternatives to traditional services, or is this something else entirely? It’s a familiar tale: the [...]
What’s In The Small Biz ‘Jobs’ Bill?
Now that the Small Business Jobs and Credit Act of 2010 is finally law, it’s time to take a look under the hood and see what-all is in there. Carol Tice in a story for Entrepreneur magazine says some have noted that calling it a jobs bill is kind of a stretch. There’s nothing that [...]
Success With Fries and a Shake
It was just last summer when Jake Sendar and Timothy Patch decided to turn an old van into an ice cream truck. This year Sendar has gone solo as a fries and shake entrepreneur reports The Washington Post. Sendar put together a 50-page business plan over the school year, got some money from Grandma and [...]
Mom And Son Create Their Own Jobs
WJRT-TV reports that a Mid-Michigan mother and son decided unemployment was not for them. That’s why they started their own business a year ago. In May 2008, Sue Leja was laid off from her job as vice president of sales for a clock company. Her son Nick graduated from Kettering University a few months later. [...]
Moms Create Successful Products
It’s odd how ideas just seem to formulate out of nowhere. For example, Maria Bailey was inspired to create her best-selling barf bag when one of her children hunched over in church and began puking on the floor reports Sign On San Diego. Now a marketing expert who specializes in the elusive mom customer, Bailey [...]
Political Masks Are So Last Year!
The New York Times reports that all across the Gulf Coast and the country, the costume inspiring guffaws and flying off the shelves consists of a green jumpsuit covered in oil with BP in a sunburst logo over the left breast. The BP stands for “bad planning,” according to its creator, a Long Island company [...]
Segway Owner Dies In Segway Accident
James W. Heselden died recently while touring his property on a segway, reports The New York Times. He was 62 years old. His body was found late Sunday morning after a passer-by reported seeing a man plummet 30 feet into the River Wharfe, the police said, adding that a “Segway-style vehicle” had also been found. [...]
In September 2008, Joe DeLoss took a job as director of social enterprise at Lutheran Social Services, a 300-bed homeless shelter in Columbus, Ohio, reports Businessweek. His main task: creating businesses that would employ shelter residents and help them develop job skills. A former investment analyst who “ate a lot of really crappy boxed meals” [...]
Inventor’s Journal: Trademarks
In this episode, Rich Whittle talks about the value of trademarks and how they are used. Listen Now: Or download: Inventor’s Journal: Trademarks Search Trademarks Online. File Trademarks Online.
Aren’t you glad that your commute isn’t 1768 feet, straight up?!
Happi-Nappi Finds Niche in ‘Nap Bag’ Business
About 15 years ago, Cynthia Lea Talley saw a nap bag and figured she could make them better, so she made a few; they featured the top and bottom sheets sewn together so they can be handled and washed as one piece rather than two. Then she set about a one-woman marketing effort, reports The [...]
Mom of Five Bakes Her Way to Success
As a work-at-home mom myself, I have nothing but respect for any woman that can find the time to run a business and manage her family. To an outsider it might seem like the perfect mix of work and family but on the inside it can get quite hectic. Beth Reeber Valone over at The [...]
Missing Posters Move To Facebook
Another 80′s icon falls to technology. Advocates for missing children have soured on milk cartons says The Orlando Sentinel. Instead, they are increasingly relying on Facebook to get the word out. Experts say one in six missing children is found because someone recognizes them; they believe those chances improve when Facebook’s 500 million users are [...]
Cheap Space for Aspiring Innovators
As more entrepreneurs choose to cut back to save money in business, one location is doing its part to help innovators find space to do their thing for less reports MercuryNews.com. Consider Hacker Dojo, a do-it-yourself tech incubator that last week staged its first startup showcase at its Mountain View quarters — a rather low-rent [...]
Press Your Cremated Ashes Into A Vinyl Record
With digital music, vinyl records were declared dead. When you are declared dead you can become part of a vinyl record thanks to Andvinyly, a UK-based outfit. They offer after you die, you can have some of your cremated ashes pressed into a vinyl record according to Discovery News. There are many different packages available. [...]
Tie Buddies Helps Kids Learn The Art Of Shoe Tying
This year my daughter entered Kindergarten, and with it comes a long list of new responsibilities she must learn, one of which is tying her own shoes. So, when I had the opportunity to interview Wendy Welling I jumped at the chance. Anyone with a young child struggling to tie their own shoes should know [...]
Federal Regulations Costly For Small Bizs
Inc.com reports that because many costs are fixed, small businesses pay about a third more per employee than larger companies, finds the SBA. Businesses with 20 employees or fewer pay 36 percent more than their larger counterparts (defined as those with 500 or more employees), says the report – called “The Impact of Regulatory Costs [...]
Store Finds Its Niche By Marketing ‘DUI Scooters’
New to the scooter business, Doug Vitello and Gary Parr worked hard to meet their customers’ needs. But there was one type of customer they couldn’t serve, according to a story in The St. Petersburg Times. Again and again, they kept hearing: I got a DUI. I lost my license. Do you have something I [...]
Could Dick Tracy Watch Phones Be Next?
From the All That Is Old Is New Again Department comes this: The new state-of-the-art high-tech iPod Nano is being used as a wristwatch. According to The Arizona Republic, the compact portable music player, with its 1 1/2-inch-square screen, has a function that tells time. Not by using a digital readout but by creating a [...]
You might call them the Honey Police — beekeepers and honey producers ready to comb through North Carolina to nab unscrupulous sellers of sweet-but-bogus “funny honey,” reports The Associated Press. North Carolina is the latest state to create a standard that defines “pure honey” in a bid to curb the sale of products that have [...]
Inventors Back Support Helps End Pain
A landscape gardener has finally found relief for his back pain and it is all thanks to the prototype that Angus Macnab made for him reports Craven Herald And Pioneer. Vertibax is the brainchild of Angus, who himself suffered from back pain after a car accident in 2000. Following extensive medical treatment he was able [...]
There’s A New ‘Preneur’ In Town
Meet the “tempreneur.” Lynn Taylor at Womenentrepreneur.com has coined the term “tempreneur” for what she describes as an entrepreneur who also does temporary stints or project stints. I believe that the year 2010 is a paradigm shift to this entrepreneur/temporary worker, where the person is an entrepreneur in that she seeks her own business, but [...]
Mothers and Daughter Make Perfect Partners
LJWorld.com: Shawna Swanson, 29, spent 10 years in Los Angeles, working in the retail sector for Gap and Disney, before asking her parents if she could come home and join the family enterprise. They said yes, with a caveat. “We told her she couldn’t displace anyone who already worked there, and she wouldn’t be getting [...]
How To Research A Franchise Opportunity
Veronica Davis over at suite101.com says there are so many franchises to choose from today. With any and all possible products and services as potential business opportunities, choosing the right one can be difficult. Finding a field that is enjoyable and profitable is the ideal situation, so here are some tips on making sure this [...]
The emergency bra/gas mask combo that has won awards is now for sale on its website reports newser. For $29.95 you can receive 2 gas masks that double as a fancy bra, or is it a fancy bra made of two gas masks? Inventor Elena Bodnar, who witnessed the devastating effects of the Chernobyl disaster, [...]
CNNMoney is reporting that one week after the Senate passed a $42 billion bill aimed at helping small businesses, the House voted Thursday to send the bill to President Obama’s desk. The measure, which passed the House in a 237 to 187 vote, is aimed at creating 500,000 jobs, according to a Senate summary of [...]
Steven Johnson’s new book, Where Good Ideas Come From, comes out in a couple weeks. In Where Good Ideas Come From, Johnson steps back to ask: what is the relationship between place and ideas? What are the attributes common to places in which innovation happens? Via: Kottke
Weekend Wrap-Up Sept. 25, 2010
Story links: Small Business Wins Off The Field Big Biz Helps Small Biz Buddy Up And Cash In Cool Job: Entrepreneur-In-Residence I Want One! Wal-Mart To Aggressively Roll Out Smaller Stores THAT’S MY BUSINESS!: Brent & Marie Paugh Sell Your Cameraphone Pictures And Videos Listen Now: Or download: Weekend Wrap-up Sept 25, 2010
Unique products to inspire and amuse. Communication Prosthesis. But I want people to see ALL my teeth when I smile… Brick Sticky Notes. Write your novel and build a house at the same time. Star Trek Enterprise Pizza Cutter. Fire the pepperoni beam Mr. Sulu! Rubik Cube Locker. I put your keys in the top [...]
A New Way For Trash Bins To Help The Environment
While throwing trash in a garbage bin instead of on the ground might be reasonably good for the environment, one inventor has created a trash bin that takes the extra step necessary to really be eco-friendly reports toledoBlade.com. Smart Binz Corp. of Toledo won a $50,000 grant in August through the Pepsi Refresh Project, which [...]
According to the creator of this video, the penny is a “disgusting bacteria-ridden disks of suck that fail to facilitate commerce.” What do you think?
How They Made That Nissan Leaf Polar Bear Ad
It’s always fun to take a peek at how they make the commercials we see on TV and the Internet. USA Today has a behind-the-scenes look at the Nissan Leaf Polar Bear commercial.
Busy Breathers Mompreneur Wins Grant
Born out of need, like many inventions are, Michelle Staley’s product has just won a $15,000 Kimberly-Clark`s Huggies MomInspired grant reports The Fort Morgan Times. By demonstrating her unique child care product to make life easier for moms and dads, Staley became one of 12 entrepreneurial moms to receive grants in the first year of [...]
Christmas season sure does seem to keep getting earlier. I got word today that Santa’s Ornament Shop in Santa Claus, Indiana has launched an affiliate program to promote their 5,000 personalized Christmas ornaments. Affiliates can earn up to a 16% commission. The affiliate program includes: Largest inventory selection of its kind Highest payout commission structure [...]
Takeout Out Food At The Ball Game, If They Don’t Eat It’s A Shame….
The Phillies are changing the lyrics. Now, it’s takeout at the ball game. In what is being touted as a first at a Major League Basbeball stadium, The Philadelphia Inquirer says fans can order food via their smartphone and have it delivered to their seats. But if you’re envisioning some Thai from your favorite place, [...]
What’s Hot For The Holidays? Google Knows.
Want to get an extra early jump on this year’s holiday must-haves? Take an exclusive look at what products Google says are already burning up the Internet 14 weeks before Christmas. CNNMoney reports that Google’s trends spotting tool — “Insight for search” — which debuted in 2008, allows anyone to get a broad overview or [...]
New Advertiser: LowCostBusinesses.net
I’m happy to have LowCostBusinesses.net onboard as a new advertiser.
Entrepreneurs Mixed on Small-Business Bill
The Small Business Jobs Act simmering in Washington contains a host of new tax credits and lending measures that are designed to spur hiring at small businesses. But business owners and advocacy groups have mixed reviews on the provisions, according to The Wall Street Journal. Bill Rys, tax counsel for the National Federation of Independent [...]
Your Link To All Businesses Mom-Owned
With the rise in mom-owned businesses comes another trend, a rise in the number of people that go out of their way to buy their products. For that reason there has been a lot of attention on ways to bring these customers to these mompreneurs. Instead of going out and starting a business, Toni Bloomfield [...]
Copycats Can Steal Your Biz Idea
Quick, what’s the name of the blanket with sleeves? USA Today Reports that if you said Snuggie, you’d be in good company. But that wouldn’t make Gary Clegg or Sean Iannuzzi very happy. Clegg created the Slanket and Iannuzzi created the Freedom Blanket before the Snuggie launch — and then they were out-marketed by Snuggie-maker [...]
Sell Your Cameraphone Pictures And Videos
So you’ve got a camera phone, why not make some money out of it? Red Ferret is reporting that Fizwoz is a new online marketplace where you can auction your captured images and video to the highest bidder. You set the start bid and Buy it Now price, upload the content and sit back and [...]
