Business Opportunities Weblog

November 10, 2008 by Rich Whittle | 0 Comments

The Wall Street Journal:

The economic downturn is bad for the nearby mall but good for local consignment shops. Sales at these stores have soared since January as cash-strapped consumers look for bargains, income and tax deductions.

“This industry just keeps growing, but especially during slow times,” says Adele R. Meyer, executive director of the 1,000-member National Association of Resale and Thrift Shops. “Once people find that great bargain, they’re hooked.”

A recent survey of NARTS members found that 66.2% of the stores saw sales climb from January through August 2008, compared with the same period of 2007. The average increase was 35%. The survey found that 85.8% of stores have seen an increase in new customers and 74.5% are seeing new suppliers or donors.

Chris Cowman, president of NARTS, says she has seen businesses at her two consignment stores in the Columbus, Ohio, area increase by about 15% to 20% this year. Cowman says shoppers typically pay about a third of what they would for clothes and about half for furniture at retail stores.

But consumers also are turning to consignment shops to find extra cash. People receive a payment either when they bring in the merchandise in or when it is sold. Cowman says she’s seeing more designer brand clothes brought in. “I think people have found out that they could get rid of something they don’t wear,” she says.

Cowman also has noticed an uptick in the number of people taking the cash immediately rather than waiting for the typically larger amount they could receive by waiting for a consignment sale.

Photo by mtsofan.

In Clothing, Downturn, Economy | 0 Comments

November 10, 2008 by Rich Whittle | 4 Comments

BradentonHerald.com:

It’s Sunday evening, the weekend is winding down and you’re beginning to think about the work week ahead. What are your feelings?

Do you find yourself excited and challenged, looking forward to another week of doing something you love?

The most fortunate among us get to feel that way on a regular basis.

Or are you instead feeling something else, perhaps anxiety or even dread?

That’s a special kind of anxiety and stress I call “Sunday Night Syndrome.” All of us experience some form of SNS from time to time. What’s important is how often and how severe it is.

Read about the three stages of SNS and how to deal with it:

Photo by Tyla’75.

In Advice, Productivity, Psychology | 4 Comments

November 7, 2008 by Angela Shupe | 15 Comments

Anybody reading the headlines these days knows the world teeters on the biggest worldwide recession in modern history and our leaders are scrambling for solutions. It is very timely that I recently had the opportunity of interviewing Mr Steve Bolles, founder and President of Merchants Barter Exchange, one of America’s great innovators of economic change and stability right now. Bolles is far from reclusive, but rarely entertains interviews, however due to the seriousness of the current global crisis he extended this offer.

For those unfamiliar with barter, what is Merchants Barter Exchange and what does it do?

Historically barter is the one-on-one exchange of similar or like-valued goods or services instead of using cash or currency. Merchants Barter Exchange is an ever-growing national network of diversified business owners that utilize the simplicity, ease and efficiency of our MBE-barter system to trade for multiple hard goods and services at the same price as cash with other members of our network. In short we have created an alternative payment mechanism for business owners to turn what they have too much of (time, inventory, or capacity - in essence their inefficiency) into positive revenue, increased cash flow, better marketing, and save a bunch of cash as they do so.

What was your inspiration behind Merchants Barter Exchange?

Back in the 90s I had another business and was a member of an older and very different kind of barter company. The more I used their antiquated mechanism, the more I noticed many flaws and huge areas of improvement. They had no systems in place to prevent people inflating the price of their goods or services, or price gouging, they also charged when a client bought and when they sold, they didn’t seem to have much control over how people traded and with whom, and even allowed members to pay part in cash and part in trade, which didn’t seem to make any sense to me. Most of the other members I dealt with were very unhappy with the overall system. That’s when I started to look for a better barter company, but after extensive research I discovered that every single barter company had the same flaws and challenges.

Continue reading A New Breed of Barter Exchange Brings Hope to American Business

In Barter, Guest Posts, Interviews | 15 Comments

November 7, 2008 by Rich Whittle | 4 Comments

TIME:

From a genetic testing service to an invisibility cloak to an ingenious public bike system to the world’s first moving skyscraper — TIME’s picks for the top innovations of 2008.

The Global Seed Vault
Superman had it right: if you want to keep something safe, build a mountain fortress above the Arctic Circle. That’s the thinking — more or less — behind the Svalbard Global Seed Vault. Almost every nation keeps collections of native seeds so local crops can be replanted in case of an agricultural disaster. The Global Seed Vault, opened this year on the far-northern Norwegian island of Spitsbergen, is a backup for the backups. It’s badly needed — as many as half the seed banks in developing countries are at risk from natural disasters or general instability. The vault can hold up to 4.5 million samples, which will be kept dry at about 0°F (-18°C). Even if the facility loses power, the Arctic climate should keep the seeds viable for thousands of years. Let’s just hope we still like corn then.

The Short Refinance
This new term describes a rare but growing option for homeowners struggling to make payments on a house now worth less than when they bought it: another new lender agrees to rewrite the loan tied to a fresh appraisal. The tricky part is getting the current mortgage company to take less than what it’s owed — but given banks’ woes, it’s more likely than it once was.

Smog-Eating Cement
Take ordinary cement. Mix in an agent called a photo-catalyzer (titanium dioxide, if you really want to know), which speeds up the natural process that breaks down smog into its component parts. Now start paving things with the stuff. That’s what they’re doing in Segrate, an Italian town near Milan. The smog-eating cement is called TX Active, and the Italian firm Italcementi spent 10 years developing it. Now there’s a busy street in Segrate that’s covered with it, and Italcementi claims it has reduced nitric oxides in the area by as much as 60%. Bonus: buildings made with TX Active stay cleaner too.

Photo by Infinite Wilderness.

In Competition, Innovation, Invention | 4 Comments

November 7, 2008 by Rich Whittle | 3 Comments

Sioux Falls Business Journal:

Ginger Thomson saw the need for some kind of new door gizmo about 30 years ago. A town house she lived in had sliding patio doors.

“I kept thinking there needs to be a way to open the door when your hands are full,” the Brookings bank executive recalls.

About 12 years ago when she and her husband, Jay Vanduch, built a house, the need for a hands-free, door-opening device resurfaced.

Her husband, who operates a media production and creative services business, came up with the idea of sticking something with suction near the bottom of the door, Thomson says.

Initially, they used their son’s Bert and Ernie toy. It worked, at least for a while. The toy served as sort of an extra handle, allowing a person to slide open the door with a foot.

From there, development of the suctioned door flap now known as the Doorhickey became more precise. Prototypes have been designed and made, patents have been pursued, and marketing has begun. Menards stores might start selling the product.

If Menards or some other company places a big order, Thomson and Vanduch will have Doorhickeys made and packaged in bulk. Thomson expects it to retail for $9.99. “We think it’s a great idea. Will others find it useful? We hope so. We use ours all the time,” she says.

In Home, Invention, Safety | 3 Comments

November 7, 2008 by Rich Whittle | 4 Comments

St. Petersburg Times:

Katrina Hollon of St. Petersburg, Fla. had an epiphany when her second child, a daughter, was born. “My second child was born with peanut allergies, which changed my idea of heading back off to work anytime soon,” said Hollon, 38, who was a teacher at the time. So instead of returning to the classroom, she started making children’s clothes in a home business that she calls Strawberry Farm.

I started with pillowcase dresses, taken from the vintage ones my grandmother used to make from flour sacks. I also have blanket sets, peasant dresses, reversible pinafores, pajamas, little matching Scrappy Dolls, and a mod-looking, ’60s-inspired dress. I usually stock smaller sizes but will make any size by request, the pillowcase dresses are $25 each and the others vary. I had been ordering the same fabric over and over because it was a great seller, but I am moving away from that now and just buying enough to make possibly three or four items with my favorite fabrics.

Now I feel confident about the pieces I make and moreover, I genuinely enjoy the work. It’s art to me, because I create my own patterns, I draw them out on paper and then make it. I usually get it right on the third try. So my own daughter has all the first and second tries.

Photo by sugarsandwich’s shop.

In Small Biz, Women, Work at Home | 4 Comments

November 7, 2008 by Rich Whittle | 2 Comments

ArgusLeader.com:

Those who have creative ideas can bring them to reality by differentiating their product from competitors, the founder of Belvedere Vodka told a group of inventors, entrepreneurs and business leaders gathered at the Sioux Falls Convention Center.

Steve Gill of Belvedere Vodka was keynote speaker Wednesday at the Innovation Expo. The annual conference is sponsored by the Sioux Falls-based Enterprise Institute and brings together entrepreneurs.

Gill and his business partner, Eddie Phillips, launched Belvedere Vodka in 1996, sparking an industry revolution with their line of luxury vodka. Vodka had no luxury brands at the time, said Gill, and he saw the potential for one in the marketplace.

“You need to develop a truly superior and different product,” Gill said. “If it’s been done before, redefine it or don’t do it.”

Being different from competitors is key, Gill told the group.

“If you don’t differentiate yourself, you become a commodity,” he said.

Messages should continuously be repeated so it sticks with consumers, Gill said.

Belvedere Vodka began with small ads in a few publications. By the time it became a worldwide brand, Belvedere was advertising on a regular basis in major magazines and newspapers.

“We grew into a $100 million business with 12 people, Gill said.

Photo by saital.

In Advice, Ideas, Innovation | 2 Comments

November 7, 2008 by Rich Whittle | 1 Comment

Up And Running:

First, the global view: You’re rowing upstream. You’re facing several real problems.

1. First, the real value in business isn’t the idea but rather the building of the company to create, market, sell and manage the idea. That’s where the money is.

2. Second, ideas are very hard to sell as just ideas, because companies that can implement them understand that first point. It’s hard even to make the right contacts, because companies in the general area you’re working in might also be working on something similar, and they will avoid even talking to you because if they do, they’re potentially creating legal problems for themselves in the future if they ever develop something in that same general area.

So that’s not very encouraging, but I realize it doesn’t answer your question. Here’s the process.

1. Develop a plan. It should include good research on which businesses could be potential buyers, what their benefits would be and how much money they could make, given their existing business, if they had your tool. Make sure you explore their history with building new things vs. buying new things, and their history of reverse engineering new things to get around working well with others. Your plan has to include their costs and their benefits, which means a pretty good study of their market. And how to contact the potential buyers as well.

2. If the plan looks promising, then get going with the patent. If it’s an invention, you can patent it. Expect to pay a lot of money–five figures–for the legal help to get a patent that will really work for business, because that involves exploring a lot of existing patents and writing it up in a way that will actually protect you from people getting around your patent. That’s hard to do.

3. When your attorneys give you the go-ahead, then implement your plan in step 1.

And although I am discouraging you on purpose (it’s the best thing I can do for you), you and I both know there are exceptions to the rule. Some people make it in the way you want to make it, with an invention. It’s a small chance.

Photo by darkmatter.

In Advice, Patents, Protection | 1 Comment

November 6, 2008 by Angela Shupe | 2 Comments

There are quite a few printing options available around the internet. Each business has at least one special trait that they hold claim to which helps them draw in their customer base. Some offer lower than average pricing, others offer higher than average quality, while one business might be more flexible then the next. My1Stop has their own edge over the competition as well. Besides their “award winning online printing solutions”, they offer a business which is based around the theory that the customer comes first. They serve their customer as they are looking to be served. So when it’s time for that individual or business to reorder, it’s no surprise they would want to come back to My1Stop.

In a recent interview, Michael Del Chiaro, the President of My1Stop, has shared with us some information about the business, their goals and his own personal experience.

What inspired you to launch My1Stop?

We saw a real need for an online printing website that leveraged best in class technology with world class customer service. We used new technologies to provide instant online pricing for custom printing and we backed it up with real people to help solve problems and answer questions. This is still a novel but effective approach in the online commercial printing space. Further, most online printing companies are very narrow in their product offering. Our vision and motivation was to create an online custom printing superstore where businesses could purchase everything from A-Z in printed products instead of having to go to multiple sites, multiple carts, and multiple vendors. Lastly, I believe in the internet and believe in the transformation of marketing as we know it from a push model to a pull model. Viable business plans must take this into consideration.

How many printing options does your business offer? What are some of the ‘favorites’ among your customers?

Wow. That’s a great question because we offer so many different custom printing products – many with unique options. In general, most of our commercial printing options are for size and shape, material, printing colors and product-specific options like folding or laminating or gluing as examples. Among our commercial printing customers, I’d have to say or photo-quality printing is a big favorite. We are one of the few online printing sites offering photo quality printing at traditional printing prices. Our biggest sellers are Labels, Presentation Folders, Magnets and Plastic Card products. We supply the world’s largest online retailer with their distribution labels, small business their custom gift cards, and all size businesses marketing materials and unique direct mail campaigns. Our breadth of products and depth of expertise is truly an asset for any business to have on their side.

Continue reading My1Stop Makes It Your Last Stop For All Of Your Printing Needs

In Internet, Interviews, Success | 2 Comments

November 6, 2008 by Rich Whittle | 3 Comments

TIME:

From a genetic testing service to an invisibility cloak to an ingenious public bike system to the world’s first moving skyscraper — TIME’s picks for the top innovations of 2008. Yesterday, we looked at a couple of innovations. Today, three more.

Made-in-Transit Packaging
Most fresh food comes with a “best before” date, but Amsterdam-based Canadian designer Agata Jaworska thinks it should be marked “ready by.” Her concept: packaging in which food can keep growing during shipping to the supermarket so that it arrives ready to be harvested, in a state of optimum freshness.

Sunscreen for Plants
Sure, crops require sun, but they need some skin protection too. Purshade, a new SPF-45 spray, forms a film of microscopic mirror-like prisms over growing fruits and veggies to reflect harmful UV rays while letting the good light pass through. Result: higher yields and better-quality food.

Einstein’s Fridge
That Albert Einstein guy had some pretty good ideas — relativity, the photoelectric effect, the “up” hairdo — but his contributions to the field of refrigerator theory have been sadly neglected.

No longer.

Scientists at Oxford University have resurrected an eco-friendly refrigerator design that Einstein and a collaborator patented in 1930. Instead of cooling the interior of the refrigerator with freon — a serious contributor to global warming — Einstein’s design uses ammonia, butane and water. It also requires very little energy.

Though Einstein’s original refrigerator wasn’t all that efficient, the Oxford researchers have tweaked his version and believe it could eventually compete in the marketplace. Then maybe we’ll remember Einstein the way he wanted — as a guy who liked to keep things cool.

Photo by a_cinnamon_stick.

In Competition, Innovation, Inventions | 3 Comments

November 6, 2008 by Rich Whittle | 4 Comments

ThisWeek:

Nicholas Fala has two passions — bicycling and technology.

Bicycling is a hobby. His technology skills, on the other hand, allow the Westerville North High School junior to make a living, a very good living.

Fala said he became interested in computers when he was 10, around the time he was making money mowing lawns. His expertise grew and soon he was repairing Apple computers for family and friends.

Business really took off when Apple introduced iPods and Fala became an expert at repairing them. Then came the iPhone.

In 2007, his business had grown so big that it was no longer a hobby and he began the process of forming his own company, NF Technology Services.

His parents, Tony and Betsy Fala, supported him but his father told Nick that he had to do all the work to form a limited liability corporation (LLC).

Fala operates NF Technology Services out of his parent’s Westerville home, specializing in Apple products for both businesses and individual consumers. He promotes his company via online and print advertisements. In addition to servicing and repairing Apple computers, iPods and iPhones, Fala sells refurbished Apple products through his company Web site.

What’s more important than money, though, is what his son is learning along the way, he said. He pays his sales taxes, fills out quarterly returns, corresponds with customers, designs Web sites.

“He knows more than I do,” Tony Fala said. “He’s a pretty determined kid. … He wants to be his own boss. I used to think he needed to work in corporate America to learn, but now I tell him to just go for it.”

Photo by NF Technology Services.

In Success, Technology, Teens | 4 Comments

November 6, 2008 by Rich Whittle | 4 Comments

The New York Times:

Joel Moss Levinson always knew he had a calling in life. But it took cheap video cameras, YouTube and some desperate corporations to show him what it was.

Levinson’s skill is turning out homemade corporate commercials — what advertisers call a form of “user-generated content.” Companies, frantic to connect with younger consumers, sponsor contests seeking these commercials to find new ways to advertise their products, often attracting hundreds of entries and lots of attention.

So far, Levinson, a college dropout with dozens of failed jobs on his résumé, has won 11 contests — earning more than $200,000 in money and prizes. His success has made him into the digital age version of Evelyn Ryan, the woman from Defiance, Ohio, who supported her family by winning commercial jingle contests in the 1950s and ’60s.

While Mrs. Ryan’s talent was in writing, Levinson’s is in performing. He won $100,000 from Klondike after filming himself in the Arctic singing about Klondike bars. He won four months worth of free hotel stays from Best Western for a song he performed about his water cooler. When Little Penguin wine asked customers to film their best pickup line, Mr. Levinson submitted a video of his efforts to pick up a toy penguin, and won a trip to Australia.

Photo by Joel Levinson.

In Music, One-Person, Video | 4 Comments

November 6, 2008 by Rich Whittle | 2 Comments

New York Post:

Topher McGibbon’s 18-month-old enterprise, Kid Car NY, has a loyal clientele and a lengthy waiting list. But when he started out, McGibbon literally couldn’t give his services away.

Kid Car is a taxi service designed for parents of infants and young children, offering minivans kitted out with professionally installed car seats and specially trained drivers. So when he launched the business last year, McGibbon’s first step when it came to attracting customers “was to buy some vehicles and drive around New York and offering rides to people with strollers trying to hail cabs.”

It turned out to be a tougher sell than he’d expected.

“Nobody would take one,” says McGibbon, a 35-year-old Atlanta native and Columbia grad. “It turned out New Yorkers are suspicious of getting something for nothing.”

Today the Chelsea-based service has over 300 members, who pay $300 a year in exchange for discounted rates. For nonmembers, Kid Car charges $28 for a single journey within Manhattan, $70 by the hour and $100-plus for an airport run.

McGibbon is coy about discussing the growth of the business - he won’t divulge exact figures, or reveal how many vans he has on the street. But with “a waiting list as long as my arm,” he allows that “the consumer response has response has exceeded our expectations.” And he’s expanding - he’s added some new services, including Kid Car MD (for pediatric appointments) and Kid Car Outer Borough, and is considering branching out to other cities.

Photo by Kid Car NY.

In Kids, Safety, Transportation | 2 Comments

November 6, 2008 by Rich Whittle | 2 Comments

TCU Daily Skiff:

The Neeley School of Business has a strong entrepreneurial background. It seems only natural, then, for the TCU Bookstore to have some competition from one bright business student.

Horned Frog entrepreneur Josh Dennis, who founded Frogbookstore.com, and a team of three, claims to offer 20 to 60 percent discounts off the Barnes & Noble bookstore on campus and free delivery straight to the student’s door, provided it’s in the TCU area. Students just type in their course and department numbers and wait for the package to show up.

Dennis saw an area of need on campus and filled it with a savvy business idea that could give the TCU bookstore a run for its money - literally and figuratively.

Books from the university are already too expensive, and students are tired of shelling out the money for them - Daily Skiff opinion columns can attest to that - and it’s about time somebody stepped in to give students some relief from dropping the price of a down payment on a new car for books each semester.

Students should take advantage of good old American capitalism and check prices on Frogbookstore.com before emptying their wallets for books from the corner of Berry and University. At a campus that’s trying to go green, it doesn’t hurt to save some either.

Photo by Frogbookstore.com.

In Small Biz, Students, Success | 2 Comments

November 5, 2008 by Angela Shupe | 4 Comments

It’s amazing how dramatically websites like eBay have changed the ways we sell online. Years have passed since then, and things are beginning to change. 4Sale 4Now hopes to take that to a whole new level.

Buyers and sellers are now meeting each other in a whole new way. Rather than bidding or paying high ‘buy now’ prices, 4Sale 4Now has created a way for sellers to offer their products with an incentive. As time passes the price will drop, going as far as half off in some cases, but if you wait too long the product will be gone! They offer a fast-selling approach that work to the advantage of those looking to sell a product or service. Using this approach buyers are able to see the deal they are getting as the price continually drops, until it is sold out.

What was the inspiration behind 4Sale 4Now?

Joe Elias, the founder of the company, woke up in the middle of the night about 3 years ago and the idea just popped into his head. He started writing pages of notes about the concept. We still have those notes, and its amazing to look back to them, and then look at the site and the development. Its truly an amazing progression.

Are there any limits on products or services that can be sold on your website? Are there any limits on how much of one item a buyer could purchase?

There are certain things that we prohibit, such as the sale of firearms and illegal material, which is all posted on our site. The quantity the buyer can purchase is completely dependent on how many of the product the seller listed and what is still available at the time of the sale. If the seller posted one hundred thousand iPods, the buyer can certainly purchase the whole lot. It all depends on the quantity listed and available.

Continue reading Move Over Auction Sites, You Have Bid-Free Competition

In Ecommerce, Internet, Interviews, Sales | 4 Comments

November 5, 2008 by Rich Whittle | 4 Comments

TIME:

From a genetic testing service to an invisibility cloak to an ingenious public bike system to the world’s first moving skyscraper — TIME’s picks for the top innovations of 2008. Yesterday, we looked at a couple of innovations. Today, two more.

Camera For the Blind
Paradoxical as it sounds, the Touch Sight camera makes it possible for the visually impaired to take pictures. The photographer holds the camera up to his or her forehead, and a Braille-like screen on the back makes a raised image of whatever the lens sees.

Enhanced Fingerprints
English physicist John Bond developed a technique for analyzing fingerprints on a gun after it’s been wiped clean. Sweat corrodes metal, so Bond applied an electrical charge and a fine carbon powder to a gun’s corroded part, revealing a fingerprint pattern. Police are already using the four-month-old technology to reopen some cases.

Photo by TIME.

In Innovation, Inventions, Success | 4 Comments

November 5, 2008 by Rich Whittle | 3 Comments

Columbia Business Times:

Across the nation, many baby boomers are entering that next stage in life-the kids are gone and the large family home is superfluous. Kim Stanley started noticing this trend at open houses she hosted as a real estate agent.

“Upscale condos attract a lot of baby boomers. Their families have left and they have huge homes, but they’re looking at making a transition in their lives. The condo lifestyle is appealing or they’re curious about it,” Stanley said.

She learned people were “frustrated because they wanted a simpler, easier lifestyle but they were overwhelmed by the amount of work they perceived it would take to make it happen,” she said.

Barbara and John are two such people who want to scale back. Barbara, 70, said she felt burdened by her possessions until meeting Stanley.

“Stanley is very thorough at covering all of the bases that I was worrying about,” Barbara said. “I would stay awake at night and worry, and when she came along it was like God tapped me on the shoulder.”

Downsizing also comes into play for the boomer caring for an aging parent, and they have decided to either remodel their current home or move to a home with easier access to accommodate the health needs of their older parent. These scenarios create a need for downsizing, where it’s getting rid of stuff to make room for their parents’ things or reducing the size of home.

She provides two levels of services. One level is diagnosis and planning. In both cases, she meets with the clients to discuss their goals and time frame.

Photo by orvaratli.

In Boomers, Home, Trends | 3 Comments

November 5, 2008 by Rich Whittle | 4 Comments

Inquisitr.com:

Bacon Salt was the invention of Dave Lefkow and Justin Esch, two former employees of Seattle startup Jobster. The idea for Bacon Salt came over dinner one night. This is how they tell it:

“While on a business trip together, we had the chance to sit down for dinner and eventually, the conversation turned to our mutual love of bacon. It was then that Justin told Dave and another coworker named Kara about his idea for Bacon Salt. Kara, who is a vegetarian, loved the idea. Dave, a card-carrying carnivore and Midwesterner, loved it even more. Even the waiter at the fancy restaurant loved it.”

Working in a startup gave them a strong understanding of what was required to get a business off the ground, but venture capital for untried food products isn’t as easy to find as funding for a Facebook application.

Lefkow and Esch needed some seed capital to get the idea rolling, so they turned to the most unlikely source: Amercia’s Funniest Home Video Show. A video of Lefkow’s daughter took home $5,000 in prize money, and this kick started the company.

Along with a traditional website and blog, Bacon Salt was promoted strongly across social networks. Along with Lefkow’s YouTube account, Bacon Salt created groups on Facebook and MySpace. Thrown into the mix was a Twitter account and even a Zazzle store.

The aim was to build viral brand awareness while keeping costs low. None of the accounts I visited had huge numbers, but from what I’m told, they were enough to plant a viral seed.

Word of Bacon Salt grew, and within 3 months of launching the product Bacon Salt was popping up in the strangest of places. WWE magazine ran a story on Bacon Salt, along with some mens magazines, PC Gamer and even The New Yorker.

Initially Bacon Salt didn’t have any distribution deals, offering their wares by online order only, but this soon changed as the press continued to build. What started as a viral internet campaign turned into positive mainstream media coverage, and consumer demand for Bacon Salt in their local supermarkets.

Photo by BaconSalt.com.

In Creativity, Food, Social Network | 4 Comments

November 5, 2008 by Rich Whittle | 4 Comments

Work.com:

Have you ever had a dream, hobby or just plain crazy idea you wanted to turn into a business? Well you’re not alone - some 10 million American adults are involved in the process of starting nearly six million potential new businesses at any given time, according to a national study of entrepreneurship by the Kauffman Foundation.

Here’s a few suggestions I have found as I forge ahead on my quest.

• Join or start a club

• Attend a course

• Find a mentor

• Get a business coach

Let go your perfectionism: It takes time to learn something new, and making mistakes is normal - it’s part of the process. Little children couldn’t care less if they fall when they’re trying to take their first steps. They get right back up and try again until they succeed. And if they can do it, so can you! “Success is just a string of failures”.

Photo by oddsock.

In Advice, Small Biz, Strategy | 4 Comments

November 5, 2008 by Rich Whittle | 3 Comments

Yahoo Tech:

Never mind that people are doing work while they’re on the toilet, even casual electronics users are taking them into the bathroom for leisure use: A UK study says that 10 percent of broadband web users partake of their internet connection while they’re seated in the loo.

While another study found that 53 percent of adults take work-related phone calls in the bathroom, the new survey notes that 1 of 10 people regularly turns to an electronic device while using the bathroom in order to surf the web, finally encroaching into the one last stronghold where magazines, books, and newspapers have long been unassailable.

Photo by thejbird.

In Home, Humor, Ideas | 3 Comments

November 4, 2008 by Angela Shupe | 5 Comments

Of all the things that college kids use, paper would have to be right at the top of that list. Even in this electronic age, most students still need note paper for many of their classes.

The idea behind the use of advertising to pay for creating free products is wide spread in Japan. Rodrigo Namikawa took notice of what they were doing and has brought that idea to the US through his notebooks.

Eco-Notes is an eco-friendly notebook solution that uses advertising to pay for its printing costs. Students receive notebooks for free while local advertisers are able to get the word out about their product or service which makes it a win-win situation for everyone.

Why did you decide to put together and offer these free advertising-based notebooks?

There was a simple misunderstanding of launching a new business. It is never easy.
Placing ads at the bottom of notebooks sounded doable to me. That was the beginning.

Where can we find your free notebooks? Do you intend to expand your Eco-Notes into new areas?

Depending on the school, they will be available at campus centers, libraries, etc. I also plan to hand them out at school entrances.

Continue reading Eco-Notes Offers Eco-Friendly Notebooks To College Students At No Charge

In Advertising, Eco-friendly, Interviews, School | 5 Comments

November 4, 2008 by Rich Whittle | 4 Comments

TIME:

From a genetic testing service to an invisibility cloak to an ingenious public bike system to the world’s first moving skyscraper — TIME’s picks for the top innovations of 2008.

Yesterday, we talked about the number one choice. Today, we’ll look at a couple of other innovations.

Montreal’s Public Bike System
When lots of people use a communal resource — like, say, a cheap public bicycle-rental program — they tend to abuse it. So when the city of Montreal built its Public Bike System, nicknamed Bixi, the designers packed in all the technology they could find, in a desperate attempt to out-engineer human iniquity. The modular bike-rack stations are Web-enabled and solar-powered. The bicycles are designed with tons of sealed components to resist the savage beatings they will undoubtedly receive, and they’re equipped with RFID tags so they’re easily trackable.

The Memristor
Scientists have known it was possible for 37 years, but it took them that long to actually make a memristor, a new kind of circuit that remembers its history even when turned off. One possible application: a computer that flicks on instantly, like a lightbulb, with no boot-up required.

Photo by TIME.

In Innovation, Inventions, Success | 4 Comments

November 4, 2008 by Rich Whittle | 3 Comments

BloggingStocks:

No doubt, major companies like McDonald’s and Starbucks spend millions on finding the right locations for their stores. It’s critical to their success.

In fact, in today’s turbulent economy, location is probably even more important.

OK, but what if you don’t have a huge budget to research the location of your new business? The good news is that there is a free web-service that can help out: ZoomProspector.

“Our database covers all cities and counties in the US,” said Chad Catacchio, the marketing director at ZoomProspector. “A key part of our data comes from working with local governments over the past ten years.”

For example, you can search for an area that has 50% of the workforce that is white collar; where median income is $50,000; or where there is an airport nearby. What’s more, you can search for areas that have enterprise zones, which can provide your business with some nice incentives.

This kind of analysis can easily cost thousands of dollars and take months to put together. But with ZoomProspector, the process can take just a few minutes. And there isn’t even a sign-in requirement.

Photo by GIS Planning Inc..

In Advice, Information, Internet | 3 Comments

November 4, 2008 by Rich Whittle | 2 Comments

Paul Harvey:

One voter in each precinct of the United States will determine the next president of the United States.

One vote. That’s a big weapon you have there.

In 1948, just one vote in each precinct would have elected Dewey. In 1960, one vote in each precinct in Illinois would have elected Nixon. One vote.

More? Thomas Jefferson was elected president by one vote in the Electoral College. So was John Quincy Adams. One vote gave statehood to California, Idaho, Oregon, Texas and Washington. The Draft Act of World War II passed the House by one vote.

Plato said it: “The penalty good men pay for indifference to public affairs is to be ruled by evil men.” So your one vote is important. Historically, you use it…or you lose it. If you’re not sure for whom you should vote, turn to a newspaper you can trust.

Because everything we’ve won in 10 wars at the point of a gun can be taken away one vote at a time. Edmund Burke said it another way: “All that is necessary for the forces of evil to win in this world is for enough good men to do nothing.”

Editor note: Today is national election day in the United States.

Photo by cpualexd.

In Election, Government, Leadership | 2 Comments

November 4, 2008 by Rich Whittle | 3 Comments

USA TODAY:

Picture a mad scientist in his laboratory, cackling with glee as he tries to unlock the secrets of the human mind. Now, consider the unsettling possibility that the scientist may be on to something.

Marketing expert Martin Lindstrom is that scientist, caught up in the excitement of research in his new book, Buyology. Lindstrom first became aware of neurological marketing research through a Forbes magazine article, “In Search of the Buy Button.”

A difficulty of standard marketing research, Lindstrom says, is that people will not — or cannot — provide accurate information about their mental states.

When asked why they prefer a brand of soft drink, or how a warning label affects them, most people cannot give a straight answer. This, Lindstrom says, is the great advantage of brain waves.

• Warning labels on cigarettes don’t work. They stimulate activity in the part of a smoker’s brain linked to cravings.

• Traditional advertisements no longer create lasting impressions. By age 66, most people with a TV will have seen nearly 2 million commercials. That makes it hard for an ad to increase a viewer’s memory of a brand, despite the millions spent.

• Product placement only works when fully integrated. It works when Coke-bottle-shaped furniture is part of the set design on American Idol, for example, or when Reese’s Pieces candy was used for bait in the movie E.T. However, when a product is not integrated, such as FedEx packages appearing in the background of Casino Royale, there is no measurable effect with regard to viewer recollection of brand.

• Sex sells itself. Viewers of sexually suggestive ads did pay attention, but more to the sex than the ad. In one study, fewer than 1-in-10 men who saw a sexually suggestive ad could recall the product, while twice as many remembered the product in non-sexually suggestive ads.

• Successful branding functions like religion. Simple rituals, such as putting a lime wedge in a Corona or slowly pouring a Guinness, give the brand added cachet. Brands attract zealous followers — “I’m a Mac; I’m a PC.” Scans using fMRI technology showed that some viewers had the same neurological response to strong brands that they did to religious iconography.

• Subliminal advertising can be highly effective. When watching an advertisement, viewers automatically raise their guard against its message. With subliminal advertisements, viewers’ guards are down, so their responses are more direct.

• Marketing isn’t restricted to the visual. Many companies use smells to sell products. Fast-food restaurants and supermarket bakeries use artificial fresh-cooked food smells. Sounds also effect buying. A study showed shoppers purchased French or German wine depending on which nationality’s music was playing on store speakers.

Photo by Doubleday Business.

In Advertising, Customers, Psychology | 3 Comments