Business Opportunities Weblog

June 23, 2009 by Angela Shupe | 2 Comments

PeoplePond understands the networking individual. Through SEO (search engine optimization), they help their members take better control of their online identities. They help train search engines to rank the most relevant information higher in the search while also guiding prospects to a place where they can find all the information they need about you, instead of the bits and pieces that they might find around the web. If you ever needed one place to control all of your virtual identities, this is the place to do it.

Tell us a little about PeoplePond.

People have been told to create lots of content across the Internet in order to improve their chances of reaching their best prospects. What has been discovered from this is that prospects will locate a part of someone’s online identity but will not know that there is much more in the other locations. PeoplePond increases the visibility of each location while also serving as a central online identity hub that not only trains the search engines to promote the right content but also serves as a great landing page to link to that exposes prospects to the entire online identity. In short, PeoplePond provides a boost to one’s personal SEO, and identifies their entire online identity to visitors.

Additionally, increased exposure is enabled by increased visibility in search engines, distribution of the PeoplePond profile information using blogging platform plugins, Facebook applications and the free and open ADAM API.

Continue reading PeoplePond Helps You Corral Your Online Identity Into One Source

In Internet, Interviews, SEO | 2 Comments

June 22, 2009 by Dane Carlson | 8 Comments

A reader wrote:

Good afternoon,

Are you able to tell if these two websites below are online home business scams? It sounds too good to be true. I am skeptical about these three websites.

• www.dailyjobstribune.com/jobs/?t202id=12539&t202kw=work%20at%20home
• dailytribunes.com/finance/?c1=12&c2=72&c3=132&c4=0
• rs971.speedypaycheck.com/?pubid=23829

Thank you in advance!

Right now I don’t have a job. Currently, I am looking for an online business opportunity so I can free up most of my time for my children.

These programs consist of a membership website with lessons. The lessons teach you how to place advertisements on Google Adwords for other online programs that you have an affiliate relationship with. These programs have an ongoing monthly membership fee, that can be as high as $70. They aren’t scams, per se, if they do provide you with training, but they aren’t very upfront about the monthly fees.

Also, from what I’ve heard, there are so many complaints about these programs, that they keep changing their name and URL. That’s a danger signal to me.

Can you make money online using Google Adwords to promote other affiliate programs? Sure, but is it worth $70 a month to find out? I don’t know.

I don’t know if they’re part of the program, or just something that someone is using to market them, but the websites you sent me strike me as scammy. The sites use an IP-based location service to figure out where the viewer is web surfing from and then they change the info on the page accordingly so that they look like they’re talking about people that are local to you.

For example, one of the sites mentions:

Mary, a mother from Oakhurst, California is thriving, in the middle of an economic recession working in the comfort of her own home.

The other one says:

For Mike Richardson, who lives in Mariposa , CA , who filled out a simple online form, working online was the way to get a new job.

Both Mariposa and Oakhurst, California are very close to me — I live between them. If you open the pages, you’ll see a different city listed. If I didn’t know better, I’d assume that they were really talking about local people doing this business, but they aren’t. It’s just marketing.

Thanks for the question. Hope I was able to help.

In Reader Mailbag, Reviews, Scam | 8 Comments

June 22, 2009 by Dane Carlson | 5 Comments

Just in time for the start of hurricane season comes a new business called We Are Safe And Sound. It is a electronic lost and found bulletin board for families. Families pre-register for the site and receive a login ID, password and voicemail box number. If, unfortunately, they’re involved in a disaster like a hurricane, tornado, earthquake, or terrorist attack, family members can update the website, either via the internet or telephone and leave a message for their loved ones letting them know where they are and their condition.

I think it’s an interesting idea, and I do see a need for something like this, but I don’t know if the company’s business model is viable. It consists of selling advertising space on the website and audio advertisements on the voicemail system during the initial setup. The founder of the site, Alvin Brown, explained that advertising does not play when a user is a leaving a voicemail, so that not no one is ever forced to listen to an ad for the local insurance salesman while clinging to the roof of a building during a flood, for instance.

In Ideas, Profiles | 5 Comments

June 22, 2009 by Dane Carlson | 4 Comments

photo credit: Jesse757

A new post up on Dgital Photography School offers four tips for improving the photographs you use on your online store. They are:

1. Turn Off the Flash
2. Remove Distracting Elements
3. Utilize Simple Staging.
4. Employ Creative Use of Depth of Field to Highlight Product Detail

In Ecommerce, Photography, Sales | 4 Comments

June 22, 2009 by Jaclyn | 3 Comments

photo credit: Christmas w/a K

As business owners we face a number of challenges on a daily basis. Some are small no big deal challenges and others require a great deal of time and attention in order to overcome them. Many of us find ourselves at a loss when it comes to defining our challenges. Office Hero Headquarters offers some suggestions.

Consider all of the problems and grey areas that you are facing at the moment and ask yourself what is not working in the scenario. This is where you can correctly pin point the factors that are currently bugging you.

Once you have correctly pin-pointed the challenge at hand, now you must ask yourself how you can overcome this challenge or how you can correct the challenge your facing and better the situation.

Would this feel like success? This is your “checking question.” It gives you a way to make sure you’ve defined the challenge accurately.

In Advice, Entrepreneurs, Information | 3 Comments

June 22, 2009 by Rich Whittle | 4 Comments

The Wall Street Journal:

Small-business owners who are struggling to keep their companies afloat are doing anything they can to ride the recession, even taking on second jobs.

For Darren Hammond, co-owner of Chile Blossoms, a Concord, Calif., importer of peonies from Chile, the winter was particularly harsh as clients stopped paying or fell behind in payments. Sales are down 60% from last season, Hammond says.

Last year, he had to stop taking a salary so that he could continue paying business expenses.

To manage personal expenses, such as cellphone bills and car payments, Hammond found a part-time job working two to three days a week as a customer-service representative and weekend guide for All-Outdoors California Whitewater Rafting in Walnut Creek.

“Everybody has bills to pay,” he says. “It’d be nice if I could sit back and collect money from Chile Blossoms and live a very comfortable life. At this stage, that’s not the case.”

Small-business owners like Hammond are looking for alternate sources of income to make ends meet and to fund their troubled companies.

Some 18% of owners surveyed in April said they are working a second job, according to the latest findings from the American Express Open Small Business Monitor.

Many of them have sacrificed their personal finances and have stopped taking a salary to deal with the current economic reality.

“It’s an indicator that small-business owners are experiencing challenges the type of which they haven’t faced for a long time,” says Alice Bredin, small-business adviser for American Express Open and president of Bredin Business Information Inc., a consulting firm in Cambridge, Mass.

The goal for most is to simply bring in enough money until business picks back up. The second job, she says, is “a bridge to better times.”

Photo by Chile Blossoms.

In Advice, Economy, Entrepreneurial Lifestyle | 4 Comments

June 22, 2009 by Jaclyn | 1 Comment

photo credit: faeryboots

In business when entering into marketing and advertising, every business owners dream is to strike their prospects with attention getting headlines, content, pictures and more. Below are some suggestions on proven awesome headline formulas that are sure to sell like crazy, recently found on Copyblogger.

Put it out there plainly and simply. No jokes or pun on words. Something such as “all jeans 40% off, no interest for 1 year”. Don’t beat around the bush with people, say it straight out and they will respect that.

Say it with commands to get their attention. “Become a better writer in 10 days, get tax relief now, buy now and get free shipping” are all great way’s to get their attention quick and get your message across to them.

Relay an honest, enthusiastic testimonial. A testimonial headline can do two things for you. First, it presents your reader with a third party endorsement of your product or service. Second, it capitalizes on the fact that people like to know what other people say.

In Advertising, Customers, Ideas, Marketing | 1 Comment

June 22, 2009 by Rich Whittle | 0 Comments

Springwise:

This summer, KiosKiosk will be offering a small kiosk space to start ups selling ceramics, art, fashion and other creative products. At no cost to its temporary tenants.

Creative organizations, businesses or individuals ready to trade simply send in their details and explain why they’re a good candidate to fill the space.

KiosKiosk’s founders note that, although the number of people enrolling in design courses in the UK increases each year, it’s difficult for creative businesses to find affordable retail space in locations with enough foot traffic to attract potential buyers.

The initiative is backed by the London Sustainable Development Commission, working to promote creative independent shops instead of more dime-a-dozen souvenir stalls.

The first KiosKiosk—an eye-catching design by Geraldine and Wayne Hemingway—will be set up outside London’s City Hall all summer, with plans to roll out the concept in other parts of the city and country at a later stage.

As well as encouraging start ups and up-and-coming designers, the kiosk is a low-cost way for London to showcase the abundance of local creativity to visitors from around the world.

Photo by KiosKiosk.

In Location, Microbusiness, Niche | 0 Comments

June 22, 2009 by Jaclyn | 1 Comment

photo credit: Mzelle Biscotte

Email marketing is all about customer retention. It’s about building stronger relationships with customers who already know you and decided that, yes, they want to keep hearing from you. They want to stay up to date on what you’re doing, they want to hear about new products, they want to hear about hot deals, etc.

Put yourself in your customers place, think about what your customer wants and needs. This can be accomplished by thinking about what you yourself wants and needs as a customer, that will at least give you a rough idea of their wants and needs, as stated on Small Biz Trends.

Always make sure that your subject line is a unique and attention getting subject line. Often times if something in the subject doesn’t strike their interest it gets automatically deleted. Look for a great template to use. Your email should speak to your readers including the way it looks and what it reads, so choose something unique and interesting to help catch their eye to the email.

In Advice, Email, Marketing, Writing | 1 Comment

June 22, 2009 by Rich Whittle | 1 Comment

CNET News:

I received an e-mail asking if I had ever taken a look at sites and services for inventors. I hadn’t. And judging by the size of those sites’ communities, I’m guessing that most other folks haven’t, either. Below are some of the neatest resources designed specifically for inventors.

• Incuby is an online community designed for inventors who want to get the word out about their inventions. Once you sign up, the site asks you to input information about yourself. After that, it asks for pertinent information about your invention. You can give it a title, describe it, choose a category, and let the community know if your invention is patented yet.

• InventBay enables inventors to list their products to target investors who might want to bring those products to store shelves. InventBay itself even does some investing.

• InventNow is a really great idea. The site is an outlet for child inventors to show off their inventions. They can list their product, describe how it works, explain the problem it solves, and (hopefully) be seen by an investor.

• InvenTube is a place where inventors and investors can work together to make a product a success. After you sign up for the site, you need to input information about your product, including whether it is patented, what you plan to do with it, and more. You then describe the product you want to sell and place it on the site.

• The Patent and Trademark Office site is a handy tool for any inventor. It is filled with how-to articles on inventing a product, checking to make sure that your creation isn’t patented by someone else, and patenting your inventions. The site also has a variety of search tools and software downloads to help inventors and attorneys determine if a product or something similar has already been patented. It’s a helpful resource for any inventor.

Photo by raja4u.

In Advice, Invention, Patents | 1 Comment

June 22, 2009 by Jaclyn | 0 Comments

photo credit: lumaxart

Recently Entrepreneur.com posted an article regarding what truly motivates your employees in a down economy that i don’t necessarily think is true for everyone. While they state that money sure does motivate your employees in today’s economy, they are more suggesting that the recognition you give your employees motivates them more than money.

It’s the recognition and status that are the true motivators for the increased output.  Take for example, the high tech salesperson who sold more product than anyone else in the department.

I have no doubt in my mind that employees appreciate recognition a great deal, however, i wouldn’t go as far to say that they prefer that over money in a down economy. Maybe during times of good business the recognition would mean a lot more, but let’s face it, during good times people enjoy more money so they definitely are going to enjoy it a great deal during times when they very much need it.

Entrepreneur.com suggests that smart employees don’t need to be motivated that they are self motivated through their status and recognition. I would say that no matter the employees status or their recognition or even how smart they are, they are still going to want a decent if not better than decent salary otherwise they will go somewhere else.

In Economy, Employees, Morale, Work | 0 Comments

June 22, 2009 by Rich Whittle | 1 Comment

Business Wire:

eBay launched the eBay Sellers Challenge, a unique initiative with a simple goal: empower and inspire entrepreneurs to grow existing businesses – or start new ones – on eBay.

The Sellers Challenge asks entrepreneurs to answer a simple question: “How would you use $25,000 to grow – or start – an eBay business?” Four winners will each receive a $25,000 business grant, along with marketing advice and assistance from eBay.

The challenge requires entrepreneurs to develop a compelling plan for growing or establishing an eBay-based business, using the powerful tools and access to buyers offered only by eBay, the world’s largest online marketplace.

Entrants are encouraged to submit a business plan and an accompanying video in one of four categories:

* Current or former members of the Unites States armed forces;
* Individuals or small businesses who have not sold on eBay;
* Part-time sellers who want to go full-time on eBay; and
* Full-time eBay sellers who want to grow their business further.

Submissions will be evaluated by eBay and the Ewing Marion Kauffman Foundation, the world’s largest foundation devoted to entrepreneurship.

Working with eBay, the Kauffman Foundation has also made available a wealth of information and resources for entrepreneurs – including tips for success, guidance for starting and growing an online business and advice on business plan development – at the eBay Sellers Challenge Web site.

Photo by eBay.

In Competition, Ebay & Online Auctions, Startup | 1 Comment

June 22, 2009 by Jaclyn | 0 Comments

photo credit: timsamoff

If you haven’t yet hired a coach or didn’t have a good experience with one, my hope is that the following will encourage you to consider why a coach would be beneficial to you and your business.

Hiring a coach for your business offers a very supportive environment for you and your company. They always have “the client comes first” attitude when working with you, which is how it should be in business as our clients are the most important key to our success.

A coach is about listening and being helpful and supportive in all situation’s that you and your business encounter. They can help provide fresh ideas and solutions to your challenges that arise in your business. Your coach will provide a safe and secure place for you to express your ideas and concerns without being judge or put down for the way you think.

In Coaching, Decisions, Office | 0 Comments

June 22, 2009 by Rich Whittle | 0 Comments

Please share your favorites in the comments section.

In Polls | 0 Comments

June 22, 2009 by Angela Shupe | 2 Comments

What do you get when you mix a beauitful deck with an extraordinary company? DECKStraordinaire. You might remember them from a post last week.

DECKStraordinaire is a Michigan-based company that designs and builds decks with flair. They are flexible and adjust to all the needs (and wants) of their customer. Anyone that is interested in the deck business might also find their franchise opportunity to be of some interest.

What separates your decks from the competition?

A DECKStraordinaire deck is a deck of extraordinary beauty. We have proprietary finishing techniques and building methodologies that make each deck (from the smallest to the largest) the highest quality possible. Most importantly, DECKStraordinaire takes the time to help the customer choose materials and plan their deck project so that each one of our decks is fully customized to the customer’s specifications.

Continue reading Extraordinary Decks That Make A Statement

In Biz Ops, Featured, Franchising, Interviews | 2 Comments

June 21, 2009 by Jaclyn | 4 Comments

photo credit: Bull3t

Today in business it is very important to have a business website, one that really speaks highly of you and your company, one that resembles your company well and intrigues the prospects visiting the site. I recently found an article on SmallBizBee with what i think are some really great tips on creating your business website.

Take the guess work out of your links. One of my biggest issues like many others is i will not click a link unless i know exactly where it will take me, so make sure you are clear about where your link will take your prospects.

Don’t over due to color on your website. This isn’t when you were little and anything you made was considered to be a work of art to mom, your followers don’t want to be overloaded by you using every color in the rainbow, it will turn their brains to a spiral mush.

Include Key Words in your homepage content. This is not your web designer’s job, so you can’t blame them for not doing it. Again, they don’t know your business and wouldn’t have the slightest clue what words would make the most sense to include on your homepage. Key Words are those words your users will type in search engines to find you…or your competitors.

In Advice, Internet, Online | 4 Comments

June 20, 2009 by Jaclyn | 1 Comment

photo credit: ArtemFinland

Most people often times do not like to discuss their finances, especially if they are not doing very well at the moment. It’s because most people actually don’t know how to handle their finances correctly which is what gets them into trouble, and more over, they sure don’t want to be scolded on their mistakes. Below are a few suggestions on being more financially savvy in the future, recently located on ArtBizBlog.

Do not ever just rely on your spouse to handle all of the financial matters. This is a big no no, what if something happens to that spouse, what will you do? YOU need to know everything there is to know regarding your finances no matter who writes out the bills in the end.

Keep up with your accounting every week. Often times people try to put it off and do it just once a month and this often times get them into trouble as there are lost receipts, forgotten expenses and more.

Do most of your banking online. One of the biggest pains every week for people is being able to get to the bank before it closes. If you have direct deposit that definitely helps, whats even more helpful is banking online. You can check your balance, print out statements, switch money between accounts, pay bills online and more.

In Financing, Ideas, Money | 1 Comment

June 20, 2009 by Jaclyn | 8 Comments

photo credit: elliottcable

With all of the rising new technology and Internet applications for ones business, many owners are asking themselves why they need these services such as Twitter. Twitter helps run your business smoother in so many different ways that ultimately make your life simpler.

With Twitter you can gain more exposure, and lets face it that is what every business is ultimately looking for, the most exposure they can get for their company.

Generate Leads. There are literally millions of people using Twitter day in and day out…some of them are bound to be interested in what you do.

Twitter can help you build trust with your prospects, the more they interact with you (say on Twitter) the more they will think you are trustworthy. You can expand your network by a great deal, there is such a wide variety of people located on Twitter, imagine all of the new possibilities for prospects.

Your Twitter account can be an awesome testimonial tool. Every customer and potential customer wants to see and read honest to god testimonials regarding who they are about to do business with, it just verifies their decision to do business with you.

For the complete list of reason’s as to why Twitter is beneficial for your business, go to SmallBizBee.com.

In Advice, Networking, Small Biz, Twitter | 8 Comments

June 20, 2009 by Jaclyn | 0 Comments

photo credit: andyp uk

Many business owners today have some sort of a blog regarding their business online. However, most of them don’t even realize all of the hidden benefits that blogging has for their business. Duct Tape Marketing recently posted an article regarding some of the benefits to blogging that you may have never even thought of but could take advantage of and improve your traffic.

Writing your blog can make you a better thinker. You no longer are speaking before you think, now your writing to which takes some concentration and thought on how you want to word it.

Blogging also in time makes you a better listener. With the writing right in front of you, you can go over it again and again re-reading it making sure you grasp the entire concept of what the writer is trying to tell you.

Blogging allows me to create bigger ideas - This one is related to testing out ideas, but the habit of producing content over time also affords you the opportunity to create larger editorial ideas that can be reshaped and re purposed for other settings.

In Benefits, Blogging, Online, Writing | 0 Comments

June 20, 2009 by Jaclyn | 0 Comments

photo credit: Sister72

I recently stumbled upon a very interesting post located on FastCompany listing the top most creative people in the web business. Some on the list i never would have even thought about until i saw them there towards the top.

• Reed Hastings-The CEO of Netflix. He has got to be doing something right as Netflix recently mailed it’s 2 billionth DVD out reaching record highs in the industry as they have doubled their their stock price since last November.

Evan Williams, CEO, Twitter
@ev Site getting more buzz than F-book. Yearly traffic up 1,200%. Estimated worth = $500 million+. Wow! #twitter

• Dave Morin-The Senior Platform Manager of Facebook. Morin is heading up the new application on Facebook regarding identity protection on the web, to which he and his crew recently launched their newest application Facebook Connect which allows users to connect to over 8,000 sites.

In Creativity, Internet, Online | 0 Comments

June 20, 2009 by Jaclyn | 0 Comments

photo credit: joebeone

Many people doing their own taxes worry about being audited for making a mistake or claiming too much. I know i do every time i file them myself. Even small business owners often times file their own taxes through Turbo Tax online and worry if something will come back to haunt them. The IRS never furnishes as to why they are auditing your return, however there are some very clear signs that will basically tell you where you went wrong.

If your numbers are significantly different than the national averages, you may find your tax return up for scrutiny.

While your lifestyle is not said to be a factor, it most definitely is. If you are living in a $300,000 dollar home, paying payments on expeditions and BMW’s then obviously if you only claim a mere $40,000 annual income your almost guaranteed to be audited.

During January you receive all of your required documents showing how much you earned and what you paid out, the IRS receives this same information, so when you file they match them up to their records and if something is not right you are either put under audit or billed accordingly.

To continue reading audit factors and what to look for, go to Entrepreneur.com.

In Money, Reviews, Taxes | 0 Comments

June 19, 2009 by Rich Whittle | 3 Comments

USA TODAY:

John Joseph Houghtaling, the inventor of the “Magic Fingers Vibrating Bed,” which brought weary travelers 15 minutes of “tingling relaxation and ease” for a quarter in hotel rooms across America, has died. He was 92.

During its heyday in the 1960s and ’70s, Magic Fingers was a pop culture icon.

In a 1963 New York Times profile, Houghtaling said he was selling beds with a built-in vibrating mechanism when he realized during a repair job that it would be much cheaper to create something that would attach to the outside of an existing bed.

“After ripping away the frills, I found that it was the vibrator that counted, not the bed,” he recalled. “Magic Fingers was born then and there.”

In its heyday, there were about 175 Magic Fingers franchise operators across the country, and the gadgets collected $6,000 to $7,000 a month in quarters, Houghtaling’s son said.

By the late 1970s, dealers complained they spent more money to repair devices that thieves broke open. Houghtaling developed a debit card-like system for the machines to replace the coin slots, but the idea never took off.

“He was trying to move it to a cashless mechanism so people wouldn’t have any reason to break into them,” his son said. “Unfortunately, it was kind of ahead of its time.”

Photo by AP.

In Inventors | 3 Comments

June 19, 2009 by Jaclyn | 2 Comments

photo credit: tttallis

In business there are many signs to look for that indicate how healthy or not your business is. SmallBizBee has ten of them, and what to do to fix them. Here are the first five:

Sign #1 You don’t know you unique selling proposition (USP)

Sign #2 You have to play with the #’s to “make it work”

Sign #3 You haven’t made short and long term goals for the business

Sign #4 You lack support

Sign #5 You’re having partner problems early on

In Disaster, Information, Prediction | 2 Comments

June 19, 2009 by Rich Whittle | 2 Comments

Forbes:

Even in a recession, the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office keeps busy. Since 1996, the annual number of patent filings has jumped 130% to 485,000 last year.

But what some consider innovation, others might call a boondoggle–especially given the prohibitive costs of papering a patent.

In the best-case scenario (where an application gets stamped, sealed and approved on the first try), inventors pony up about $15,000, assuming they hire a skilled patent attorney.

Apparatus for Facilitating the Birth of a Child by Centrifugal Force
Patent No. 3,216,423

Combination Pillow and Crash Helmet
Patent No. 3,538,508

Pneumatic Shoe Lacing Apparatus
Patent No. 5,205,055

Fresh-Air Breathing Device and Method
Patent No. 4,320,756

Photo by USPTO.

In Humor, Inventions, Patents | 2 Comments

June 19, 2009 by Jaclyn | 1 Comment

photo credit: TheTruthAboutMortgage.com

Writing valuable content-rich articles for your target market and submitting them to article directories and other publishers is one of the best ways to market your business, become known as an expert in your field, and add subscribers to your list. As stated on Solo Entrepreneur this week.

One of the most important aspects of writing articles is to always protect your work. Do this by always adding your copyright to the article.

Write or maybe even revise one of your already written articles that is directed toward your niche in the market and that contain a lot of useful and valuable information for your readers.

In the end, make sure to submit these articles.

In Advice, Ideas, Writing | 1 Comment