Archive for December 2010
Trendspotter Springwise reports PhotoBoxi is a sleek, portable and interactive digital photo booth that dispenses free photos while capturing consumer data, generating leads and facilitating social network marketing. How it works? Consumers pose for free digital photos using the rented self-serve booth at a venue or event. Those photos then get instantly delivered to their [...]
Moms Succeed With The Everyday Women’s Workout
Jennifer Hein and Brigette Polmar first became friends while working together on a weight-loss program. They soon found that they had similar problems. How could they find the time to work in some exercise? While laughing over a moment where exercise was combined with necessary activities, the two women found inspiration reports loudouni.com. Squeeze It [...]
Re-Inventing The Training Wheel
Training wheels have long been the go-to accessory for teaching kids how to ride a bicycle. Now there is another option: the Gyrowheel, from Gyrobike. Inc.com reports that the Gyrowheel, which replaces the front wheel of a child’s bike, rights the bike whenever it starts to tip. How? It contains a motorized spinning disk. In [...]
SBA Hosting Web Chat For Small Biz Owners
This month the U.S. Small Business Administration will be focusing on tax preparation for small business owners in its online chat, reports Trading Markets.com. Edward S. Karl, VP of Taxation for the American Institute of Certified Public Accountants (AICPA), will host the December web chat on “Year-end Tax Essentials for Small Business Owners.” Chat participants [...]
FTC Proposes New Online Privacy Restrictions
The Federal Trade Commission recently proposed a do-not-track privacy mechanism, which, if instated, could prevent online advertisers from profiting off of data derived from a user’s browsing history. The New York Times reports that the proposal could “cause major harm to…small and midsize publishers and technology companies like Yahoo that earn a large percentage of [...]
For many small businesses supporting local charities may seem like an unwarranted expense in our current economy. Yet, as The Los Angeles Times points out, giving can be an excellent way to spread goodwill about your company and connect with the community. More and more businesses are waking up to the fact they want to [...]
eJury is a website that allows an attorney the opportunity to “pre-try” the case before it goes to trial in front of an actual jury at the courthouse. Cases at the courthouse are usually tried to juries of 12 people. At eJury, each case is tried to a minimum of 50 people. This provides the [...]
The Miami Herald reports that Zalmi Duchman never went to college, financed his business on his credit card, and can’t even taste the food his company delivers, because he keeps kosher. But with an unstoppable drive to succeed, the 30-year-old founder and chief executive of the Fresh Diet has spearheaded the North Miami-based company’s growth [...]
Saying You Care With Keepsake Pillows
It is often said that the best gift is a gift from the heart. I imagine the same could be said about personalized products. They can share a special moment in the receiver’s life, or represent something they care strongly about. The women behind Keepsake Pillows by aliz know all too well what a personalized [...]
Sure, you love video games, but how’d you like a chance to make them? According to AppScout.com, training site GameSpark has launched a new online program that lets video game fans make their own games at home. The program features video tutorials and game-ready resources, letting anyone quickly create decent-looking games. The site currently has [...]
Great Inventors Deserve Great License Plates
Vanity plates are everywhere. They can stand for a name, a simple word, or have a special meaning. The Quincy Herald-Whig recently took a look at some great inventors from our past and what vanity plates would best suit them. What would your license plate say? Thomas Edison set an American record that might never [...]
Julie and Anthony Bayerl of St. Paul, Minn., love watching prime-time shows on the sleek 50-inch television in their bedroom. They also love that they pay nothing for the programming. The New York Times reports the Bayerls are using an old technology that some people are giving a second chance. They pull free TV signals [...]
Just ask Amy Reynolds, there is nothing wrong with giving old clothes a new purpose. That is the basic idea behind her business, Teamwear Totes, reports MyCentralJersey.com. She takes old sports jerseys and turns them into unique tote bags, pillows, or cinch sacks. Since the business was launched in August, Reynolds, a mother of two, [...]
Rumors have been swirling for some time, but the search giant has formally unveiled Google eBooks. According to a company blog post, users who access the eBookstore will be able to “browse and search through the largest ebooks collection in the world with more than three million titles including hundreds of thousands for sale.” The [...]
Smaller Online Retailers Get Scrooged
You can’t swing a dead cat without hitting a headline these days about the booming online sales this holiday season. Too bad it doesn’t necessarily include the small to mid-size e-tailers. Inc.com reports that overall, cyber shopping since the beginning of November has been breaking records left and right. Commscore reports it’s up to a [...]
It was THE hottest thing last summer during the World Cup soccer games. If you didn’t get one then you gotta get one now and they make great holiday gifts. Get one for your nephew and let him entertain that brother-in-law you’ve never really liked. I’m talking about the $7.49
Disability Shouldn’t Stop You Being An Entrepreneur
Vanessa Heywood had the world at her feet, her talent as a actor, singer and dancer winning her roles in prestigious touring theatre productions such as West Side Story, Twelfth Night and Elvis: The Musical. But then she began to notice something was not quite right. To her disbelief, a brain scan confirmed she had [...]
With winter on its way, people are scrambling to find a pair of gloves that will keep them warm and still allow them to play on their phones. Lincoln McCardle has created a pair of gloves that he feels might just do the trick, reports TheStar.com. Last winter, the part-time student from London, Ont., was [...]
Could Today’s Unemployed Be Tomorrow’s Unemployable?
The New York Times explores this question, stating simply: “The longer people stay out of work, the more trouble they have finding new work.” This is troubling news considering most recent Labor Department data shows that unemployment rose from 9.6 percent to 9.8 percent in November. One New Yorker, who has been unemployed since 2008, [...]
Flexability In Work And Motherhood
Joan Bell is on a roll. She had great success at the Winning Edge Awards, and now she is being recognized as one of the top 50 “MOMpreneurs” in Canada by MOMpreneur magazine, reports The Airdrie Echo. Six years ago, Bell decided to start up her own yoga and fitness club. “(Before) Genesis Place came [...]
8-Year-Old Inventor Gets Patent
An 8-year-old boy from Honeoye Falls, NY, has dreamed up a way to tame cell phone cord clutter — and got a U.S. patent for his invention, according to the Associated Press. Bryce Gunderman first thought of the idea when he was 6, and he heard his dad complaining about the tangled mess of chords [...]
UK Chocolate Entrepreneur Expands
Louis Barnett became the youngest entrepreneur in the UK when he set up shop at the tender age of 12. Now, at 19 years old, Louis is considering a change. Speaking to Insider, the South Staffordshire businessman – now aged 19 – said the government needs to do more to support young entrepreneurs before it [...]
From mega tax breaks to innovative business incubators, CNNMoney reports these places offer compelling incentives to would-be entrepreneurs. 1. Pittsburgh 2. Miami 3. Menlo Park, Calif. 4. Arlington, Va. 5. Chattanooga, Tenn. 6. Littleton, Colo. 7. Ventura, Calif. 8. Gahanna, Ohio Photo by Wikipedia.
Salvation Army’s Kettles Now Take Credit Cards
According to trendspotter Springwise, the Salvation Army has been experimenting with new cashless kettles featuring an attached credit card reader that accepts credit and debit cards and prints a receipt. When the new program launched late last year, cashless kettles were available at more than 300 locations in more than 120 cities across the United [...]
Listen Now: Or download: Weekend Wrap-up December 4, 2010
Inside Kevin Smith’s Booming Podcast Biz
According to Fast Company, the year 2010 did not begin quietly for voluble writer-director-übergeek Kevin Smith. The only thing that overshadowed the dreadful reviews for his action comedy Cop Out was his much-headlined booting from a flight for being too fat. “A lot of people thought I had a great sense of humor about the [...]
Square has recently filed a lawsuit against another company in an attempt to clear up a problem with their rights to its product, reports VentureBeat. Square and its chairman Jim McKelvey have filed a lawsuit against REM Holdings 3 because of a dispute over the filing of a patent that is fundamental to Square’s business. [...]
Tweet4Toys Uses the Power of Social Media for Good
Even the charities are hip to social networking these days. AppScout has a story about how the Salvation Army in Tulsa, Oklahoma, is using Twitter to get toys for needy children. It’s encouraging people to use the hashtag #Tweet4toys in their tweets, and when they do their profile photo will appear on the Tweet4toys.org Web [...]
Marri Anderson was unimpressed with the clothing available on the market. She wanted something different for her daughter and, like many moms before her, she did something about it. That something became Little Luca, a kids clothing like, reports Minnetonka Patch. “I thought it would be a fun way for her to have cute, unique [...]
According to the CargoCollective.com web site, the concept behind 4th Amendment Wear is simple: to get a few people to think a little more about their constitutional rights. The brainchild of Tim Geoghegan and Matthew Ryan, 4th Amendment Wear is underwear printed with the 4th amendment in metallic ink that is readable on TSA body [...]
Lemonade Day For Young Entrepreneurs
Layfayette, IN is celebrating entrepreneurship among kids next year by dedicating May 1st, 2011 to them reports jconline.com. Launched four years ago in Houston, the program encourages youngsters from pre-kindergarten through grade 12 to learn about running a business while giving back to the community by operating a lemonade stand and donating a portion of [...]
If you’ve enjoyed the functionality of the random button at the top of the page to find posts that you may have missed, but have recently noticed that it wasn’t working and didn’t tell me, shame on you! :) Luckily, a helpful reader did let me know that it wasn’t working and I’ve fixed it.
Visa To Use Phone’s Location To Prevent Credit Card Fraud
Sure, you like all the great benefits of having your phone know where you are. Looking up directions or local weather information becomes that much faster. But outside companies and agencies are equally delighted to have access to your location information–and not just to send you coupons. According to Fast Company, Visa Europe is going [...]
Cyber Monday, Biggest Online Spending Day In History
Comcast’s just published its survey of consumer spending for the Cyber Monday that’s just passed: It was the single biggest day ever for shopping online, the first to surpass a billion dollars in U.S. spending. It proves shopping has changed forever. According to ComScore’s research, November 2010 saw $13.6 billion dollars of e-commerce from U.S. [...]
Hologram Bracelets Are Wristy Biz
When Barbara MacIsaac puts on her black hologram wristband every morning, she feels like she’s just loaded a pack of batteries. “I can’t really even explain it,” said MacIsaac, a restaurant owner from San Juan Capistrano. “I just have this energy level that I’ve never had before. The only thing that’s changed is I’ve started [...]
Vintage Rock T-shirts Are A Good Investment
Investing was probably the last thing on the minds of Iron Maiden fans as they flicked their Bics to the heavy-metal band in concerts back in 1982. And yet, if they bought a T-shirt at the show, they made a decision that would make Warren Buffett proud. According to The Cleveland Plain Dealer, twenty-eight years [...]
Trained for Battle, Now Operating A Small Biz
While combat veterans face countless challenges in their transitions back to civilian life, Justin Bajema and many of his peers credit the military with giving them the courage, discipline and determination to start businesses according to a story The New York Times. They believe even harrowing experiences, if managed and overcome, can lend perspective and [...]
Gordon Boswell has a gift for turning out brilliant ideas. These ideas have kept him working at Masport for 56 years, and he’s still going strong reports NZHerald.co.nz. At 83, he has twice been called out of retirement to lend his brain to developing new and improved products. Most days, he is at the company’s [...]
Online Sales Changing the Tax Game
According to the National Retail Federation, Cyber Monday is expected to push online sales to $32 billion during the holiday season, up more than 10% from last year. Forty-five states rely on sales taxes on goods and services as part of their annual state budgets; the exceptions are Alaska, Delaware, Montana, New Hampshire and Oregon. [...]
Trying to start an online business from home? Chances are that you can get by with a computer, at least some business knowledge, and a spare room reports The Sydney Morning Herald. ”Having a purely online business can be cheaper in terms of infrastructure in some cases but not in all cases,” says the director [...]
The Product Network Connects Inventors With Consumers
Inventor and entrepreneur, Paul Davis, never seems to stop working. Known mostly for his product, The FrigeMate, Paul knows how hard it can be to get a product out on the market. Inspired by his experiences in the industry, Paul created The Product Network. This unique website allows offers inventors the opportunity to list their [...]
According to Neatorama, Hero of Alexandria (10-70 CE) was a Greek engineer and mathematician who lived in Roman-ruled Egypt. He invented many gadgets and wrote at length about them. In his book Pneumatics, he described an early vending machine. It dispensed holy water only when a coin was inserted. Here’s a selection from an English [...]
Does Your Ego Drive Your Marketing?
Why are you marketing? Are you marketing to see your name in lights; to see your face on a billboard or in an advertisement? Marketing exists to help make you money. There is no other reason for it. You most likely already know this, but you need to be considerate of each and every marketing [...]
It was estimated that Oprah gave away over $40,000 worth of gifts to each audience member in her two favorite things shows. My holiday gift suggestions don’t quiet reach that level, but they are much cooler! “It’s a Jungle in There: Inspiring Lessons, Hard-Won Insights, and Other Acts of Entrepreneurial Daring” by Steven Schussler. Steven [...]
In 2006 artist Chris Burden and a team of eight studio assistants, including an engineer, began “Metropolis II.” It includes 1,200 custom-designed cars and 18 lanes; 13 toy trains and tracks; and, dotting the landscape, buildings made of wood block, tiles, Legos and Lincoln Logs. The crew is still at work on the installation. In [...]
Settlement Helps Entrepreneur Create Multi-Million Dollar Biz
Leah McSweeney claims that she was assaulted by an officer for trying to defend a friend in 2002. The settlement, which amounted to $75,000, gave Leah a chance to support herself while starting Married to the MOB, a fashion line, reports Mail Online. She purchased a new computer, turned her apartment into her office and, [...]
Via: Pulse 2
Jessica Jacobs took a long maternity leave after having her first child just 9 years ago. During that time she began to re-think her career reports the Financial Post. Like many new mothers, she didn’t want to return to her job in the real estate development business. “Back then, I was working 24-hours a day, [...]
Entrepreneur’s Fair Path To Success
Chris Morrison looks more like a missionary than millionaire entrepreneur reports Stuff.co.nz. Through Phoenix Organics, the company he and his wife Deborah Cairns and partner Roger Harris laboured in for 20 years, he pioneered the organic drinks market in New Zealand. Now he’s doing the same with organic Fairtrade bananas. Wayfairer Ltd, trading as All [...]
Holiday Parties Make A Comeback
As you recover from the long Thanksgiving weekend, you might be relieved to know that a new survey by Challenger, Gray & Christmas has found that companies who ditched holiday parties during the recession are ready to bring them back. The survey of 100 human resource professionals found that 68 percent are planning parties this [...]
