A new website and media campaign are encouraging children to use their imagination to come up with technological innovations of the future.
The U.S. Patent and Trademark Office is working with the Advertising Council and the National Inventors Hall of Fame in launching the new initiative InventNow.
More:http://inventnow.org/
Monday, April 30, 2007
104 Money Making Tool
You will need internet marketing tools for your online business to make money online and buying everthing you need can cost you a lot. A new website names viralmarketinggiveaway2.com has just launched and the site let you download 104 internet marketing tools absolutely free.
The free tools include e-marketing e-books, software packages and guides which will help you succeed in your internet business. Besides that the site also claim that they can help you builde a opt-in list.
Here's the link to sign up
http://www.viralmarketinggiveaway2.com
The free tools include e-marketing e-books, software packages and guides which will help you succeed in your internet business. Besides that the site also claim that they can help you builde a opt-in list.
Here's the link to sign up
http://www.viralmarketinggiveaway2.com
If Your Mobile Phone Work Like Your Wallet
The idea of using a phone as some sort of wallet has been around for a while now and we've seen phones being used in Japan as payment systems too. Today, Reuters reports that Nokia together with mobile carriers have created a global initiative to turn all our mobile phones into wallets:
Consumers will be able to use a phone as a wallet or as an access card simply by waving it over a wireless reader -- and in some cases punching a PIN number into the phone -- similar to how travelers in Tokyo and London access public transport.
...The world's biggest payment card company, MasterCard, is also involved in the initiative, which is cheaper and much faster than other wireless payment experiments, like those using SMS text messages. Trials with the new standard are set to start in October.
Phones in the scheme with use a contactless chip called Near Field Communication (NFC) which the companies involved hope will become a global standard for electronic wallets in mobile phones.
More:http://today.reuters.com/news/articlenews.aspx?type=technologyNews&storyid=2007-04-25T101043Z_01_L25599726_RTRUKOC_0_US-MOBILE-WALLET.xml
Consumers will be able to use a phone as a wallet or as an access card simply by waving it over a wireless reader -- and in some cases punching a PIN number into the phone -- similar to how travelers in Tokyo and London access public transport.
...The world's biggest payment card company, MasterCard, is also involved in the initiative, which is cheaper and much faster than other wireless payment experiments, like those using SMS text messages. Trials with the new standard are set to start in October.
Phones in the scheme with use a contactless chip called Near Field Communication (NFC) which the companies involved hope will become a global standard for electronic wallets in mobile phones.
More:http://today.reuters.com/news/articlenews.aspx?type=technologyNews&storyid=2007-04-25T101043Z_01_L25599726_RTRUKOC_0_US-MOBILE-WALLET.xml
The Buddha Machine
UK online music shop Boomkat has an interesting interview with the creators of The Buddha Machine. The device, which has developed a cult following, is described as follows:
Reduced to it's core components, the Buddha Machine is little more than an AM radio - permanently tuned to a distant loop-emitting signal that encourages the listener to project their own interpretations on a series of diffused ambient compositions.
Here's an interesting excerpt from the full interview.
Q: Where did the idea for the Buddha Machine come from?
A: We took the inspiration from a similar device used in Buddhist temples. The device is used to play constant chants to the Buddha and some say it was developed because of the shortage of monks in modern times. I picked up my first one more than 10 years ago and it was a permanent fixture in my bathroom. For years, Zhang and I mused about how cool it would be to make an FM3 release "inside that little box" and then in 2004 we got serious and really did it.
Q: How does it make you feel when you hear that people like Brian Eno and Alan Bishop are bulk buying them?
A: Funnily enough, Eno was my very first paying customer! He bought six based on a prototype I showed him at dinner in Beijing last year. Our second customer was Thomas Felhmann from the Orb. He took about a dozen. And then shortly after that Alan Bishop ordered 24, based on a photo and an email description I gave him! Monolake and the crew at the Ableton software office bought something like 30... So from the very beginning we had great support from some quality musicians and naturally, as two guys sitting way out in Beijing, it's mind-boggling.
More:http://www.boomkat.com/article.cfm?id=3 and athttp://www.forcedexposure.com/artists/fm3.html
Reduced to it's core components, the Buddha Machine is little more than an AM radio - permanently tuned to a distant loop-emitting signal that encourages the listener to project their own interpretations on a series of diffused ambient compositions.
Here's an interesting excerpt from the full interview.
Q: Where did the idea for the Buddha Machine come from?
A: We took the inspiration from a similar device used in Buddhist temples. The device is used to play constant chants to the Buddha and some say it was developed because of the shortage of monks in modern times. I picked up my first one more than 10 years ago and it was a permanent fixture in my bathroom. For years, Zhang and I mused about how cool it would be to make an FM3 release "inside that little box" and then in 2004 we got serious and really did it.
Q: How does it make you feel when you hear that people like Brian Eno and Alan Bishop are bulk buying them?
A: Funnily enough, Eno was my very first paying customer! He bought six based on a prototype I showed him at dinner in Beijing last year. Our second customer was Thomas Felhmann from the Orb. He took about a dozen. And then shortly after that Alan Bishop ordered 24, based on a photo and an email description I gave him! Monolake and the crew at the Ableton software office bought something like 30... So from the very beginning we had great support from some quality musicians and naturally, as two guys sitting way out in Beijing, it's mind-boggling.
More:http://www.boomkat.com/article.cfm?id=3 and athttp://www.forcedexposure.com/artists/fm3.html
GIO Pillow
The Glo Pillow seeks to remedy such occurrences through a more gentle approach. A combination of memory foam and a series of LED-integrated fabric layers, slumber is theoretically broken by a gentle “glowing” that simulates a sunrise, as opposed to traditional shock-inducing bleating) allowing for a more peaceful start to your day. An RSA Design Directions Award winner in ‘06, the induction-charged pillow is controlled by a panel of six “soft buttons” on the side; the wireless transmitter allows free movement for those who are prone to tossing and turning. Not that you’ll be doing a whole lot of that after you discover what a “good night’s sleep” actually entails.
More:http://geeksugar.com/228623
More:http://geeksugar.com/228623
Sunday, April 29, 2007
Making Money With Medical Id Jewellary
Everything changed for Julia van Hees-Aidner the day Zoe Potkin was diagnosed with epilepsy.
In 2003, van Hees-Aidner was working in PR for several high-end jewelry companies when she received a call from her friend, Ralph Potkin, who was concerned about his daughter's refusal to wear the medical ID tag notifying doctors that she was epileptic. Van Hees-Aidner scoured lists of jewelers, searching for someone who could make a fashionable ID tag to fit Zoe's lifestyle. But she found no one.
Van Hees-Aidner, 49, was also reluctant to wear a medical ID tag alerting doctors of her drug allergies and lupus condition, so she decided to create a tag that wouldn't embarrass wearers. She partnered with vintage jewelry expert James Martin, 45, to create Jewels et Jim, a line of high-end, fashionable medical ID tags.
More:http://www.jewelsetjim.com/
In 2003, van Hees-Aidner was working in PR for several high-end jewelry companies when she received a call from her friend, Ralph Potkin, who was concerned about his daughter's refusal to wear the medical ID tag notifying doctors that she was epileptic. Van Hees-Aidner scoured lists of jewelers, searching for someone who could make a fashionable ID tag to fit Zoe's lifestyle. But she found no one.
Van Hees-Aidner, 49, was also reluctant to wear a medical ID tag alerting doctors of her drug allergies and lupus condition, so she decided to create a tag that wouldn't embarrass wearers. She partnered with vintage jewelry expert James Martin, 45, to create Jewels et Jim, a line of high-end, fashionable medical ID tags.
More:http://www.jewelsetjim.com/
Flexpetz.com
Flexpetz recently launched in Los Angeles and San Diego, and offers consumers the option of having a dog for just a few hours or days a week. Which is a good solution for people who'd love to have a dog, but are too busy, travel frequently, or live in buildings that don't allow dog ownership. The dogs come from breed rescue shelters, who take in specific breeds and help pick animals that are well-suited to a live as Flexpetz. When they're not spending time with members, the dogs live in a cage-free facility that provides a safe and steady base. The company's founder, Marlena Cervantes, views Flexpetz like an extended family: "When our dogs spend time with their extended family members, they are lavished with love and undivided attention. We feel our this concept allows our dogs more love and attention than single ownership can often provide."
More:http://www.flexpetz.com/
More:http://www.flexpetz.com/
Managing Your Blog Comments
If you were wondering how to manage blog comments of yours or the comments on interesting posts at blogs you rarely read, you might forget to check back and see if anyone responded. Sometimes an interesting conversation is difficult to track when it happens so asynchronously. A new tool, CoComment, aims to change that. Sign up and keep track of comments and conversations from over 150,000 web sites. This is one of those Web 2.0 tools that I think could actually be useful.
More;http://www.cocomment.com/
More;http://www.cocomment.com/
Mobile With Motion Sensors
A new mobile phone in Japan from wireless carrier NTT DoCoMo has motion sensors. You can even use the phone to play games through movements, just like the Nintendo Wii game console.
The D904i from Japan's largest carrier, DoCoMo, comes with a motion sensor that detects shaking and tilting. For game play users "can move the handset like a tennis racket or fishing pole in easy-to-play games, similar to those on Nintendo Co's popular Wii."
And the new DoCoMo phone isn't alone:
Meanwhile, two new phones from Sharp and Matsushita Electric Industrial use their built-in cameras to detect motion. Users can control a hip-hop dancer by wagging a finger in front of the camera, for example, or throw punches in the air for a boxing match.
The new motion-equipped phones are scheduled to ship in Japan in May. No word yet when motion-equipped phones will hit the U.S.
More:http://infotech.indiatimes.com/Tech_News/News/New_mobile_phones_detect_motion_/articleshow/1964810.cms
The D904i from Japan's largest carrier, DoCoMo, comes with a motion sensor that detects shaking and tilting. For game play users "can move the handset like a tennis racket or fishing pole in easy-to-play games, similar to those on Nintendo Co's popular Wii."
And the new DoCoMo phone isn't alone:
Meanwhile, two new phones from Sharp and Matsushita Electric Industrial use their built-in cameras to detect motion. Users can control a hip-hop dancer by wagging a finger in front of the camera, for example, or throw punches in the air for a boxing match.
The new motion-equipped phones are scheduled to ship in Japan in May. No word yet when motion-equipped phones will hit the U.S.
More:http://infotech.indiatimes.com/Tech_News/News/New_mobile_phones_detect_motion_/articleshow/1964810.cms
Five Best Free Websites Tool and Services
Google Analytics
Google Analytics has rapidly become the industry leader in site analytics - giving paid options such as WebTrends a run for their money. Simply copy and paste a small piece of code onto your web pages and Google offers advanced tracking and traffic statistics for free. To learn more about using Google Analytics, Ian Lurie of Conversation Marketing has developed a series of tutorial videos on the subject.
MyBlogLog and BlogCatalog
For Blogs I have not found a more effective way to drive traffic to a new site than through these two services. By combining social networking with helpful blogging tools, both MyBlogLog and BlogCatalog are making a huge impact on giving new blogs a kick-start to success.
HitTail and 103Bees
HitTail and 103Bees are similar in nature - they offer site owners a way to understand and analyze their search engine traffic in an easy-to-use interface. Both of them also indicate whether your site was found on the front page of search results, or in the “long tail” of search results (many pages down). This knowledge can then be used to develop content in specialized keyword niches to push your site up in search engine results.
The 37Signals Suite
Although technically not a suite of tools for websites, the 37Signals programs are critically acclaimed as they offer tracking of project management, contact management, group communications and information organization. Any tool that so elegantly increases productivity and makes life easier is well worth mentioning on this list.
Overture Keyword Selector Tool
For more advanced search engine optimization, it helps to do a little research on what exactly internet surfers are looking for. The Overture Keyword Selector Tool offers insights into the exact number of searches that Yahoo receives for search terms and their related phrases. By understanding what phrases are most common, you can use this knowledge to incorporate the highest volume keywords into your site.
Google Analytics has rapidly become the industry leader in site analytics - giving paid options such as WebTrends a run for their money. Simply copy and paste a small piece of code onto your web pages and Google offers advanced tracking and traffic statistics for free. To learn more about using Google Analytics, Ian Lurie of Conversation Marketing has developed a series of tutorial videos on the subject.
MyBlogLog and BlogCatalog
For Blogs I have not found a more effective way to drive traffic to a new site than through these two services. By combining social networking with helpful blogging tools, both MyBlogLog and BlogCatalog are making a huge impact on giving new blogs a kick-start to success.
HitTail and 103Bees
HitTail and 103Bees are similar in nature - they offer site owners a way to understand and analyze their search engine traffic in an easy-to-use interface. Both of them also indicate whether your site was found on the front page of search results, or in the “long tail” of search results (many pages down). This knowledge can then be used to develop content in specialized keyword niches to push your site up in search engine results.
The 37Signals Suite
Although technically not a suite of tools for websites, the 37Signals programs are critically acclaimed as they offer tracking of project management, contact management, group communications and information organization. Any tool that so elegantly increases productivity and makes life easier is well worth mentioning on this list.
Overture Keyword Selector Tool
For more advanced search engine optimization, it helps to do a little research on what exactly internet surfers are looking for. The Overture Keyword Selector Tool offers insights into the exact number of searches that Yahoo receives for search terms and their related phrases. By understanding what phrases are most common, you can use this knowledge to incorporate the highest volume keywords into your site.
Saturday, April 28, 2007
What Is Meshly?
Meshly is not really like Twitter; it is not really like del.icio.us; and it is not really like digg. But comparisons to all three are fair when trying to figure out just what exactly Meshly actually is. Like Twitter, Meshly is an instant blogging application, like del.icio.us it is about saving links, and it has a voting component that closely resembles digg.
The best way to describe Meshly is as an instant messenger based bookmarking tool. Using either MSN, AIM, or GTalk instant messengers, users post, tag, and describe links to Meshly. The entire sign up process is done via instant messenger, and is pretty painless. Once links are posted to the site, people vote on them digg-style so the best each day, week, and month are highlighted. Users can comment on the links via the site, or browse by tag like on del.
More:http://www.meshly.com/
The best way to describe Meshly is as an instant messenger based bookmarking tool. Using either MSN, AIM, or GTalk instant messengers, users post, tag, and describe links to Meshly. The entire sign up process is done via instant messenger, and is pretty painless. Once links are posted to the site, people vote on them digg-style so the best each day, week, and month are highlighted. Users can comment on the links via the site, or browse by tag like on del.
More:http://www.meshly.com/
WorkHack Redefine Simple Task Mangment
WorkHack, a task list web app that takes simple to a whole new level. There are very nearly no features to WorkHack. There is no sign up, no tagging, no due dates, no multi-user support. Just to-do lists, organized into three priority categories (High, Medium, and Low) and sorted by color or size.
Getting started with WorkHack is easy: just plug in the captcha text on the main page and go. Tasks are added by entering them into the large textbox on your to-do list page, and assigning a priority level. Tasks are marked by color (red for High, orange for Medium, and green for Low) or, if you turn on the option, by size (the bigger the task, the more urgent). When you are finished with a task, click "Done" and it disappears from view (though you can turn on an option to make WorkHack display completed tasks, and re-add them with a single click).
More:http://workhack.com/
Getting started with WorkHack is easy: just plug in the captcha text on the main page and go. Tasks are added by entering them into the large textbox on your to-do list page, and assigning a priority level. Tasks are marked by color (red for High, orange for Medium, and green for Low) or, if you turn on the option, by size (the bigger the task, the more urgent). When you are finished with a task, click "Done" and it disappears from view (though you can turn on an option to make WorkHack display completed tasks, and re-add them with a single click).
More:http://workhack.com/
Wakoopa For Your Deskstop Application.
Last.fm does for music what Dutch startup Wakoopa wants to do for your desktop applications. Like Last.fm, Wakoopa uses a downloaded tracker, except if follows how often you use applications instead of listen to music. Similarly, Wakoopa has also built a Rails-powered social website around the data, letting users share their preferences with friends, write reviews of their favorite application, and download new ones. Wakoopa is backed by a fund of the three biggest media companies in the Netherlands (Ilse, IDG, Telegraaf) and launches May 2nd.
Wakoopa’s tracker logs what applications you use and for how long, updating your personal profile every 15 minutes. On the website, the aggregate data lists the most recently used applications and most used applications of all time. Each application has a profile that lists the people and groups who use it, reviews, and tags. For free applications, it also includes a download link for various versions, potentially creating a more social SourceForge. For the private beta, Firefox is the top used application, used by 23 people logging over 117 hours. MSN messenger is an odd second place, logging a total of 14 hours.
Wakoopa’s tracker logs what applications you use and for how long, updating your personal profile every 15 minutes. On the website, the aggregate data lists the most recently used applications and most used applications of all time. Each application has a profile that lists the people and groups who use it, reviews, and tags. For free applications, it also includes a download link for various versions, potentially creating a more social SourceForge. For the private beta, Firefox is the top used application, used by 23 people logging over 117 hours. MSN messenger is an odd second place, logging a total of 14 hours.
CallTheFuture
CallTheFuture calls the specified number with the given return name.
Its Useful For:
Giving yourself a business reminder
Setting notification for appointment
Have an emergency reason to leave a meeting.
More: http://www.callthefuture.org/
Its Useful For:
Giving yourself a business reminder
Setting notification for appointment
Have an emergency reason to leave a meeting.
More: http://www.callthefuture.org/
Google Patent Search
As part of Google’s mission to organize the world’s information and make it universally accessible and useful, we’re constantly working to expand the diversity of content we make available to our users. With Google Patent Search, you can now search the full text of the U.S. patent corpus and find patents that interest you.
Frequently Asked Questions
Q. Where does this patent data come from?
A. All patents available through Google Patent Search come from the United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO). Patents issued in the United States are public domain government information, and images of the entire database of U.S. patents are readily available online via the USPTO website.
Q. What types of patents are available?
A. Google Patent Search covers the entire collection of patents made available by the USPTO—from patents issued in the 1790s through those issued in the middle of 2006. We don’t currently include patent applications, international patents, or U.S. patents issued over the last few months, but we look forward to expanding our coverage in the future.
Q. How many U.S. patents are there?
A. To date, the USPTO has issued approximately 7 million patents.
Q. How does it work?
A. Using the same technology that powers Google Book Search, Google has converted the entire image database of U.S. patents into a format that’s easy to search. You can search the full text of U.S. patents from the Google Patent Search homepage, or visit the Advanced Patent Search page to search by criteria like patent number, inventor, and filing date.
Q. How do you rank patents in the search results?
A. As with Google Web Search, we rank patent results according to their relevance to a given search query. We use a number of signals to evaluate how relevant each patent is to a user's query, and we determine our results algorithmically.
Q. Is Google hosting the patent pages?
A. Yes. We’re providing an easy way to find and read these patents.
More:http://www.google.com/googlepatents/about.html
Frequently Asked Questions
Q. Where does this patent data come from?
A. All patents available through Google Patent Search come from the United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO). Patents issued in the United States are public domain government information, and images of the entire database of U.S. patents are readily available online via the USPTO website.
Q. What types of patents are available?
A. Google Patent Search covers the entire collection of patents made available by the USPTO—from patents issued in the 1790s through those issued in the middle of 2006. We don’t currently include patent applications, international patents, or U.S. patents issued over the last few months, but we look forward to expanding our coverage in the future.
Q. How many U.S. patents are there?
A. To date, the USPTO has issued approximately 7 million patents.
Q. How does it work?
A. Using the same technology that powers Google Book Search, Google has converted the entire image database of U.S. patents into a format that’s easy to search. You can search the full text of U.S. patents from the Google Patent Search homepage, or visit the Advanced Patent Search page to search by criteria like patent number, inventor, and filing date.
Q. How do you rank patents in the search results?
A. As with Google Web Search, we rank patent results according to their relevance to a given search query. We use a number of signals to evaluate how relevant each patent is to a user's query, and we determine our results algorithmically.
Q. Is Google hosting the patent pages?
A. Yes. We’re providing an easy way to find and read these patents.
More:http://www.google.com/googlepatents/about.html
Friday, April 27, 2007
Small Sites Now Targeting Mobile Web
Mr. Tromp signed up for a mobile Web address with the newly available suffix "dot-mobi" and used a self-starter kit from a company called Roundpoint Ltd. to build www.kilburnie.mobi, the mobile site for his Inn at Craig Farm. He says he's gotten a surprisingly good response, with 30 to 40 new calls per month from interested travelers who heard of his inn by accessing the cellphone site.
"For people to find me, I have to make myself available any way I can," says Mr. Tromp, a Dutch native who was general manager of the Windows on the World restaurant in the World Trade Center before moving south for a career in hospitality.
As technology allows consumers to access the Internet with their cellphones, many big companies have launched mobile versions of their Web sites, including big media brands like MTV and ESPN and news sites like USA Today and The Weather Channel. But such projects can be costly and complex and until recently have been out of reach of small businesses.
Now new low-cost tools and services are making it easier to jump onto the mobile Web.
Internet registrars, who have made a living on small businesses and already offer a variety of tools to help them build basic Web sites, are taking advantage of the new opportunity in mobile.
For example, Harry Boadwee used GoDaddy to set up www.travelosa.mobi, a mobile Web site that provides information for travelers such as flight cancellations, weather and car-rental information. Registering the domain for a year cost him $12 . GoDaddy also provided Mr. Boadwee with site-development tools offered through a partnership with mTLD. Mr. Boadwee developed the site himself using those tools.
"For people to find me, I have to make myself available any way I can," says Mr. Tromp, a Dutch native who was general manager of the Windows on the World restaurant in the World Trade Center before moving south for a career in hospitality.
As technology allows consumers to access the Internet with their cellphones, many big companies have launched mobile versions of their Web sites, including big media brands like MTV and ESPN and news sites like USA Today and The Weather Channel. But such projects can be costly and complex and until recently have been out of reach of small businesses.
Now new low-cost tools and services are making it easier to jump onto the mobile Web.
Internet registrars, who have made a living on small businesses and already offer a variety of tools to help them build basic Web sites, are taking advantage of the new opportunity in mobile.
For example, Harry Boadwee used GoDaddy to set up www.travelosa.mobi, a mobile Web site that provides information for travelers such as flight cancellations, weather and car-rental information. Registering the domain for a year cost him $12 . GoDaddy also provided Mr. Boadwee with site-development tools offered through a partnership with mTLD. Mr. Boadwee developed the site himself using those tools.
Behance For Professional Community:Make Ideas happen
Behance is a new site all about developing knowledge, products, and services for the creative professional community. The entire team follows an incredibly well thought out philosophy they called Productive Creativity– and the execution of their site design, presences and overall aesthetic speaks strongly on how well they walk their talk. In addition to the daily content that peers into the lives and creative process of successful creatives, be sure to pop by the ‘Outfitter‘ and grab an Action Pad or two. Behance is about ‘making ideas happen’, after all what’s an idea without some solid follow through?
More:http://behance.com/
More:http://behance.com/
GotVMail
GotVMail's award-winning Virtual Phone System allows your small business to:
u Sound more professional: A single toll-free or local number, main greeting auto attendant, multiple extensions, live call forwarding, music-on-hold, and more.
u Be accessible to callers: Forward calls anywhere to any phone (cell, home, work, office, VoIP).
u Better manage messages: Receive voicemails and faxes via email as mp3 and PDF attachments.
u Save time and money: No equipment to purchase or maintain. No long-term contracts to sign. Setup the GotVMail system online in a few easy steps via myGotVMail.
More:http://www.gotvmail.com/
u Sound more professional: A single toll-free or local number, main greeting auto attendant, multiple extensions, live call forwarding, music-on-hold, and more.
u Be accessible to callers: Forward calls anywhere to any phone (cell, home, work, office, VoIP).
u Better manage messages: Receive voicemails and faxes via email as mp3 and PDF attachments.
u Save time and money: No equipment to purchase or maintain. No long-term contracts to sign. Setup the GotVMail system online in a few easy steps via myGotVMail.
More:http://www.gotvmail.com/
Innovative Investing Tool
The next Microsoft may be just a baby today. Find it, using the Web's most powerful screener. Search 9,000 stocks using hundreds of criteria. Or, choose from dozens of pre-programmed screens that look for everything from potential takeover targets to Warren Buffet-style bargains.
See which sectors the money is flowing into, which carry the least risk and which hold the biggest bargains. View the entire market at a glance, zoom in on one sector or dig deeper into a particular company with our revolutionary heat maps.
A hedge fund manager. A Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist. An expert economist. Plus, stock picks from our screening experts that have consistently stomped the market's returns.
Real-time quotes and tools
Up-to-the-second quotes, charts and tools can mean the difference between seizing an opportunity and watching one go by.
Stock compare
Amazon.com or Overstock.com? Pfizer or Johnson & Johnson? Size them up in a snap with our stock compare tool.
More: https://ecommerce.smartmoney.com/ecommerce/login?promo_code=WSJ0303SU&adv=WSJ.com&advtype=networkJournal_90x35
See which sectors the money is flowing into, which carry the least risk and which hold the biggest bargains. View the entire market at a glance, zoom in on one sector or dig deeper into a particular company with our revolutionary heat maps.
A hedge fund manager. A Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist. An expert economist. Plus, stock picks from our screening experts that have consistently stomped the market's returns.
Real-time quotes and tools
Up-to-the-second quotes, charts and tools can mean the difference between seizing an opportunity and watching one go by.
Stock compare
Amazon.com or Overstock.com? Pfizer or Johnson & Johnson? Size them up in a snap with our stock compare tool.
More: https://ecommerce.smartmoney.com/ecommerce/login?promo_code=WSJ0303SU&adv=WSJ.com&advtype=networkJournal_90x35
How To Start A Consulting Business?
Mr.X:I want to start a consulting business, targeting companies that have $1 million to $6 million in sales. My services will include cash management audits, operational audits, loan application preparations, financial trend analysis, and business loans.What is the minimum amount of capital that I will need? Initially, I will work from home.
How important is a website? How much can I expect to pay for the establishment and the maintenance of the website? What type of office equipment will I need? Should I incorporate, then get a bank account or should I open the bank account first? Are there other services that I should consider? -James Evans, President, Evans Business Advisory Service, Sugar Land, Texas
Dear X: Consulting does not require very much of an investment to get started. For what you are describing, you will probably only need a notebook computer and an Internet connection.
The best way to get started is to keep your regular job while you start to support a few clients. This will allow you to determine if you have a viable business. Once you have confidence that this is a model that you can develop, then focus on the areas that have brought you success so far. That is how you will best define what services you should promote, or lead with, when talking to potential clients
A website may be helpful in spreading the word about your business but it is not what is going to sell your service. In your field, word-of-mouth referrals are key. Yes, you will need to open a bank account, as soon as you anticipate getting your first client. If you anticipate earning profits of more than $20,000, incorporation may be worthwhile. It can help you protect your assets and give you a corporate name that will enhance your firm’s image.
How important is a website? How much can I expect to pay for the establishment and the maintenance of the website? What type of office equipment will I need? Should I incorporate, then get a bank account or should I open the bank account first? Are there other services that I should consider? -James Evans, President, Evans Business Advisory Service, Sugar Land, Texas
Dear X: Consulting does not require very much of an investment to get started. For what you are describing, you will probably only need a notebook computer and an Internet connection.
The best way to get started is to keep your regular job while you start to support a few clients. This will allow you to determine if you have a viable business. Once you have confidence that this is a model that you can develop, then focus on the areas that have brought you success so far. That is how you will best define what services you should promote, or lead with, when talking to potential clients
A website may be helpful in spreading the word about your business but it is not what is going to sell your service. In your field, word-of-mouth referrals are key. Yes, you will need to open a bank account, as soon as you anticipate getting your first client. If you anticipate earning profits of more than $20,000, incorporation may be worthwhile. It can help you protect your assets and give you a corporate name that will enhance your firm’s image.
Open Source Software And Keynote
Open source software doesn’t cost a penny - just go download it. It’s also reasonably safe, given that the source is open to the world and there are a lot of very intelligent people out there constantly improving it, particularly the more popular packages. As a personal finance blogger, this aspect is a very powerful one, but it was only the first step.
Keynote is a flexible, multi-featured tabbed notebook, based on Windows standard RichEdit control. It's always accessible with a single keypress, even if you work in another application. Take a look at the screenshots page.
For More:http://www.opensource.org/
Keynote:
The basic idea in KeyNote is that you can include many separate notes within a single file. This means that you do not need to open several files - for most purposes it is enough to create only one file and hold all your notes inside it. With the addition of the tree-type notes, you now have a three-dimensional notebook: many notes within one file and a multi-level, nested pages within a single note. Optionally, KeyNote can encrypt your data securely using the Blowfish or Idea algorithms. Keynote's interface and behavior are extremely configurable.
For More:http://www.tranglos.com/free/keynote_main.html
Keynote is a flexible, multi-featured tabbed notebook, based on Windows standard RichEdit control. It's always accessible with a single keypress, even if you work in another application. Take a look at the screenshots page.
For More:http://www.opensource.org/
Keynote:
The basic idea in KeyNote is that you can include many separate notes within a single file. This means that you do not need to open several files - for most purposes it is enough to create only one file and hold all your notes inside it. With the addition of the tree-type notes, you now have a three-dimensional notebook: many notes within one file and a multi-level, nested pages within a single note. Optionally, KeyNote can encrypt your data securely using the Blowfish or Idea algorithms. Keynote's interface and behavior are extremely configurable.
For More:http://www.tranglos.com/free/keynote_main.html
Thursday, April 26, 2007
Biggest And Fastest Video Search
Over to 7 millions hour of video.Its video search only.
Here:http://www.blinkx.com/
Here:http://www.blinkx.com/
Top Ten Start Ups Watch Out For
1. www.stumbleupon.com
FOUNDERS: Garrett Camp, Justin LaFrance, Geoff Smith
Launched in 2002 by three 20-somethings in a Calgary, Alberta, apartment, StumbleUpon now has 2 million registered users drawn by its knack for finding websites that match their interests and those of others with similar tastes as they "stumble" around the Net.
2.
www.bebo.com
NEXT NET INNOVATION: A social network, more than 30 million members strong, that keeps users' pages private but still allows them to share things like video and drawings made on an online whiteboard.
FUNDING: $15 million (Benchmark Capital)
3.
www.meebo.com
NEXT NET INNOVATION: Managing multiple instant-messaging services from one site. Meebo's killer app is a widget that places an IM window on your blog or webpage.
FUNDING: $12.5 million (Draper Fisher, Jurvetson, Sequoia Capital)
4.
www.slide.com
NEXT NET INNOVATION: Customizable and easily assembled slide shows of photos that can be embedded in a blog or a MySpace page, sent out in an RSS feed, and streamed to a desktop as a screensaver.
FUNDING: Not disclosed (Peter Thiel, Vinod Khosla, others)
5.
www.wikia.com
NEXT NET INNOVATION: A hosting service for ad-supported community sites that use the same software and collaborative content model that made Wikipedia a Web phenomenon. (See "Building a Wiki World,") Launched in 2004, Wikia communities range from fans of 24 to politics junkies. Wikia is also working on an open-source, user-generated search engine.
FUNDING: $4 million (Amazon.com (Charts), Marc Andreessen, Bessemer Venture Partners, others).
6.
www.joost.com
FOUNDERS: Janus Friis and Niklas Zennström
Forget the three-minute video blog. The 30-minute, broadcast-quality Web 2.0 TV show is coming in all its full-screen glory. And if serial disrupters Janus Friis and Niklas Zennström have their way, neither television nor the Internet will be the same. The duo behind peer-to-peer services Kazaa and Skype will officially launch Joost this spring, aiming to merge the best of TV with the best of the Net. (See "Make Way for Must-Stream TV") .
7.
www.blip.tv
NEXT NET INNOVATION: A platform for syndicating serialized online shows such as Starring Amanda Congdon and TreeHugger TV. Blip provides producers with software, ads, and distribution to websites and blogs. A deal is already signed with Web TV service Akimbo, which lets producers send their videos to TV sets.
FUNDING: Not disclosed (Ron Conway, Mark Gerson, Ken Lerer, Peter Thiel).
8.
www.dabble.com
NEXT NET INNOVATION: A tool for organizing videos into playlists of favorites. Users share them across the network, so, say, food lovers can dabble in one another's video collections.
FUNDING: $750,000 (Hank Barry, Evan Williams, others)
9.
NEXT NET INNOVATION: A service that ranks uploaded videos by popularity and feedback from a community of 17 million monthly visitors--and pays the creators for the success of their work. The auteurs get $100 after 20,000 viewings and $5 for every 1,000 subsequent views. Since September, Metacafe has paid a total of $250,000 to 200 contributors.
FUNDING: $20 million (Accel Partners, Benchmark Capital)
10.
www.revision3.com
NEXT NET INNOVATION: A production studio for geek-oriented online shows. Started by Digg founder Kevin Rose and its CEO, Jay Adelson, Revision3 sells sponsorships to companies like Go Daddy, Microsoft (Charts), and Sony (Charts) for as much as $10,000 per episode.
FUNDING: $1 million (Adelson, Marc Andreessen, Ron Conway, others) .
FOUNDERS: Garrett Camp, Justin LaFrance, Geoff Smith
Launched in 2002 by three 20-somethings in a Calgary, Alberta, apartment, StumbleUpon now has 2 million registered users drawn by its knack for finding websites that match their interests and those of others with similar tastes as they "stumble" around the Net.
2.
www.bebo.com
NEXT NET INNOVATION: A social network, more than 30 million members strong, that keeps users' pages private but still allows them to share things like video and drawings made on an online whiteboard.
FUNDING: $15 million (Benchmark Capital)
3.
www.meebo.com
NEXT NET INNOVATION: Managing multiple instant-messaging services from one site. Meebo's killer app is a widget that places an IM window on your blog or webpage.
FUNDING: $12.5 million (Draper Fisher, Jurvetson, Sequoia Capital)
4.
www.slide.com
NEXT NET INNOVATION: Customizable and easily assembled slide shows of photos that can be embedded in a blog or a MySpace page, sent out in an RSS feed, and streamed to a desktop as a screensaver.
FUNDING: Not disclosed (Peter Thiel, Vinod Khosla, others)
5.
www.wikia.com
NEXT NET INNOVATION: A hosting service for ad-supported community sites that use the same software and collaborative content model that made Wikipedia a Web phenomenon. (See "Building a Wiki World,") Launched in 2004, Wikia communities range from fans of 24 to politics junkies. Wikia is also working on an open-source, user-generated search engine.
FUNDING: $4 million (Amazon.com (Charts), Marc Andreessen, Bessemer Venture Partners, others).
6.
www.joost.com
FOUNDERS: Janus Friis and Niklas Zennström
Forget the three-minute video blog. The 30-minute, broadcast-quality Web 2.0 TV show is coming in all its full-screen glory. And if serial disrupters Janus Friis and Niklas Zennström have their way, neither television nor the Internet will be the same. The duo behind peer-to-peer services Kazaa and Skype will officially launch Joost this spring, aiming to merge the best of TV with the best of the Net. (See "Make Way for Must-Stream TV") .
7.
www.blip.tv
NEXT NET INNOVATION: A platform for syndicating serialized online shows such as Starring Amanda Congdon and TreeHugger TV. Blip provides producers with software, ads, and distribution to websites and blogs. A deal is already signed with Web TV service Akimbo, which lets producers send their videos to TV sets.
FUNDING: Not disclosed (Ron Conway, Mark Gerson, Ken Lerer, Peter Thiel).
8.
www.dabble.com
NEXT NET INNOVATION: A tool for organizing videos into playlists of favorites. Users share them across the network, so, say, food lovers can dabble in one another's video collections.
FUNDING: $750,000 (Hank Barry, Evan Williams, others)
9.
NEXT NET INNOVATION: A service that ranks uploaded videos by popularity and feedback from a community of 17 million monthly visitors--and pays the creators for the success of their work. The auteurs get $100 after 20,000 viewings and $5 for every 1,000 subsequent views. Since September, Metacafe has paid a total of $250,000 to 200 contributors.
FUNDING: $20 million (Accel Partners, Benchmark Capital)
10.
www.revision3.com
NEXT NET INNOVATION: A production studio for geek-oriented online shows. Started by Digg founder Kevin Rose and its CEO, Jay Adelson, Revision3 sells sponsorships to companies like Go Daddy, Microsoft (Charts), and Sony (Charts) for as much as $10,000 per episode.
FUNDING: $1 million (Adelson, Marc Andreessen, Ron Conway, others) .
Techdirt
Companies can use the Techdirt Insight Community to get a confidential instant focus group of experts, who can give feedback, test ideas, review products, make strategy suggestions, help with purchasing decisions or any number of other services that require a dedicated group of experts. Also, Techdirt's in-house analyst team regularly engages expert bloggers for their thoughts on how major current events impact Techdirt customers.
The best thing is that you can actually make some decent money at this. The catch is that you have to provide good answers. For example. I logged in yesterday and found a question about wireless technologies that offered $100 to the top three answers. You wouldn't know it from this blog, but I actually know quite a bit about Bluetooth, Ultrawideband, and wireless in general, and $100 was enough to tempt me to write an answer. That's what I like about the model - it's self-selective because it only rewards the best answers so the bloggers have to be confident that they can write a good answer or it's a waste of time.
One of the major problems with all this stuff about edge competencies and the denigration of core strategies as a result of web 2.0 is that it ignores the marginal value of time to the contributor. Most people that are highly successful and worth a lot of money per hour aren't sitting around contributing to Digg and YouTube. They have better things to do. Most successful people already make good money, and if you promise them a few extra dollars for a few minutes of work, it's not worth it. If you make 100K a year, do you want to make $5 for contributing to a project? No. Even if it is something you care about, there are still only so many hours in a day. You can't contribute to everything. Techdirt has a model that encourages participation even for busy people.
Let me try to make it simpler to understand. If you make $50/hr at your regular job, and you already work 50 hours per week, the pain caused by working that 51st hour can't be erased with $15. You are only willing to tie up another hour of your life for something that you believe in very strongly, or something that pays you enough money to compensate for the pain of working that 51st hour. The problem with "the edge" is that successful people are already tapped out, so the edge is filled with a few talented people who are very passionate about your company/cause, and lots of mediocre people who have a lower value on their time. Techdirt has found a way to raise that bar by offering a larger reward for valuable contributors. At the same time, they have offloaded the risk of participation to the answerer, who may or may not get paid.
It's a cool idea, and embraces some of the concepts from the Askspace project that some of you will remember. I think this idea has a good future, and if you blog, I encourage you to sign up and give it a shot.
HERE:http://www.techdirt.com/
https://www.insightcommunity.com/
The best thing is that you can actually make some decent money at this. The catch is that you have to provide good answers. For example. I logged in yesterday and found a question about wireless technologies that offered $100 to the top three answers. You wouldn't know it from this blog, but I actually know quite a bit about Bluetooth, Ultrawideband, and wireless in general, and $100 was enough to tempt me to write an answer. That's what I like about the model - it's self-selective because it only rewards the best answers so the bloggers have to be confident that they can write a good answer or it's a waste of time.
One of the major problems with all this stuff about edge competencies and the denigration of core strategies as a result of web 2.0 is that it ignores the marginal value of time to the contributor. Most people that are highly successful and worth a lot of money per hour aren't sitting around contributing to Digg and YouTube. They have better things to do. Most successful people already make good money, and if you promise them a few extra dollars for a few minutes of work, it's not worth it. If you make 100K a year, do you want to make $5 for contributing to a project? No. Even if it is something you care about, there are still only so many hours in a day. You can't contribute to everything. Techdirt has a model that encourages participation even for busy people.
Let me try to make it simpler to understand. If you make $50/hr at your regular job, and you already work 50 hours per week, the pain caused by working that 51st hour can't be erased with $15. You are only willing to tie up another hour of your life for something that you believe in very strongly, or something that pays you enough money to compensate for the pain of working that 51st hour. The problem with "the edge" is that successful people are already tapped out, so the edge is filled with a few talented people who are very passionate about your company/cause, and lots of mediocre people who have a lower value on their time. Techdirt has found a way to raise that bar by offering a larger reward for valuable contributors. At the same time, they have offloaded the risk of participation to the answerer, who may or may not get paid.
It's a cool idea, and embraces some of the concepts from the Askspace project that some of you will remember. I think this idea has a good future, and if you blog, I encourage you to sign up and give it a shot.
HERE:http://www.techdirt.com/
https://www.insightcommunity.com/
New Useful Magizne For Entreprenure
It provides you all new thing about entreprenureship.Its news based on and for only entreprenure.
http://news.ycombinator.com/news
http://news.ycombinator.com/news
Online Hotel Search
Trivop claims to be the first online hotel video portal. Using Google maps to help users find hotels, the website gives them the next best thing to visiting a hotel in person—a video walkthrough. Each video begins with some street footage near the hotel. The video camera then takes the viewer up to the entrance and into the lobby and other public spaces, and on to a room. Videos are available for each of type of room a hotel offers (standard, deluxe, junior suite, etc), including shots of the bathroom and the view through the window. No running commentary, just some fairly innocuous background music. Additional information includes the five most recent reviews on TripAdvisor, a full street address and a link to the hotel's website.
Travellers (and hotels) will be able to upload videos they've shot. In addition to amateur videographers, Trivop is also seeking freelance filmmakers to shoot professional videos: "Trivop is convinced that hotels must provide a video on their website. We want to open up many business opportunities for you by building the biggest community of filmmakers all around the world for the hospitality industry."
So besides the providing travellers with previews of hotels, Trivop will also tackle the B2B side by creating videos for hotels, or brokering between hotels and freelance filmmakers. With both professional and user-submitted candid videos, the website's visitors will benefit from the same kind of transparency that candid photos on TripAdvisor offer. Sources of revenue include production fees and hosting charges for hotel-directed videos, as well as referral fees. The company will also license its catalogue to online travel agencies. Trivop's main challenge is to build content and traffic quickly, since TripAdvisor (which has 20 million unique visitors each month and is owned by Expedia), started letting users upload videos last month. Watch this space!
Website: www.trivop.com
Travellers (and hotels) will be able to upload videos they've shot. In addition to amateur videographers, Trivop is also seeking freelance filmmakers to shoot professional videos: "Trivop is convinced that hotels must provide a video on their website. We want to open up many business opportunities for you by building the biggest community of filmmakers all around the world for the hospitality industry."
So besides the providing travellers with previews of hotels, Trivop will also tackle the B2B side by creating videos for hotels, or brokering between hotels and freelance filmmakers. With both professional and user-submitted candid videos, the website's visitors will benefit from the same kind of transparency that candid photos on TripAdvisor offer. Sources of revenue include production fees and hosting charges for hotel-directed videos, as well as referral fees. The company will also license its catalogue to online travel agencies. Trivop's main challenge is to build content and traffic quickly, since TripAdvisor (which has 20 million unique visitors each month and is owned by Expedia), started letting users upload videos last month. Watch this space!
Website: www.trivop.com
H3.com
Boost referral hiring, promote jobs and encourage referrals by offering a cash referral reward.
Leverage your social network, invite them to participate in candidate searches and share the reward.
Build your candidate short list, track referral activity; H3.com manages administration of the referral reward.
This sites is based on referal hirings and people or employee who refer particular person if that person get hired then he will get cash award.Unique way for HR managers for hiring.
More:https://www.h3.com/welcome.html
Leverage your social network, invite them to participate in candidate searches and share the reward.
Build your candidate short list, track referral activity; H3.com manages administration of the referral reward.
This sites is based on referal hirings and people or employee who refer particular person if that person get hired then he will get cash award.Unique way for HR managers for hiring.
More:https://www.h3.com/welcome.html
Wednesday, April 25, 2007
WebReservations.com
WebReservations.com is a way for small and medium sized businesses to take rental reservations online (for vacation homes, Recreational Vehicles, spa appointments, and so on). WebReserv.com was founded by Martin Israelsen, who is based in Atlanta, Georgia.
Martin and his colleagues started investigating and eventually found some software packages out there for hotels. But outside of the hospitality industry they discovered there were few options. For instance, there were few good systems to allow consumers to book classes for a scuba diving trainer or to rent scuba equipment.
So, according to Martin, “We took the challenge and created a Web-based reservations system for small and medium-sized businesses. It consists of two parts. There is a reservations engine, which you can embed into your own website to take rental reservations. You also can be listed for free in the business directory at WebReserv.com and be found that way. But both are integrated, avoiding double booking.”
More:http://www.webreserv.com/
Martin and his colleagues started investigating and eventually found some software packages out there for hotels. But outside of the hospitality industry they discovered there were few options. For instance, there were few good systems to allow consumers to book classes for a scuba diving trainer or to rent scuba equipment.
So, according to Martin, “We took the challenge and created a Web-based reservations system for small and medium-sized businesses. It consists of two parts. There is a reservations engine, which you can embed into your own website to take rental reservations. You also can be listed for free in the business directory at WebReserv.com and be found that way. But both are integrated, avoiding double booking.”
More:http://www.webreserv.com/
Fat Free Cart
The Fat Free Cart is a simple low-cost shopping cart solution that integrates with PayPal, GoogleCheckout, ClickBank and 2Checkout. It offers secure digital downloads, in addition to offering standard shopping-cart checkout for physical goods including shipping calculation.
It's an economical and slick way to integrate a checkout into your site. To get started, you simply register, then drop some HTML code into your site where you want the "add to cart" and the "view cart" buttons -- and it works. The whole thing is very smoothly integrated into your site and your customers don't have to leave until they go to check out.
More:http://www.e-junkie.com/ej/shopping-cart.php
It's an economical and slick way to integrate a checkout into your site. To get started, you simply register, then drop some HTML code into your site where you want the "add to cart" and the "view cart" buttons -- and it works. The whole thing is very smoothly integrated into your site and your customers don't have to leave until they go to check out.
More:http://www.e-junkie.com/ej/shopping-cart.php
Hamachi
LogMeIn Hamachi is a zero-configuration virtual private networking (VPN) application.
In other words Hamachi is a program that allows you to arrange multiple computers into their own secure network just as if they were connected by a physical network cable.
Hamachi is fast, secure and simple. Its core version is also free.
Hamachi gives you LAN over the Internet.
Virtually any application that works over local/home networks can also be used over Hamachi networks.
Think - Windows File Sharing, iTunes, Remote Desktop, Remote Assistance or even gaming - all fully encrypted, authenticated and peer-to-peer.
Technology
Hamachi is a zero-configuration virtual private networking application with an open security architecture and NAT-to-NAT traversal capabilities.
Hamachi is the first application to mix seemingly unrelated networking technologies in one powerful package to deliver an unprecedented level of direct peer-to-peer connectivity. More ...
Here:http://www.hamachi.cc/
In other words Hamachi is a program that allows you to arrange multiple computers into their own secure network just as if they were connected by a physical network cable.
Hamachi is fast, secure and simple. Its core version is also free.
Hamachi gives you LAN over the Internet.
Virtually any application that works over local/home networks can also be used over Hamachi networks.
Think - Windows File Sharing, iTunes, Remote Desktop, Remote Assistance or even gaming - all fully encrypted, authenticated and peer-to-peer.
Technology
Hamachi is a zero-configuration virtual private networking application with an open security architecture and NAT-to-NAT traversal capabilities.
Hamachi is the first application to mix seemingly unrelated networking technologies in one powerful package to deliver an unprecedented level of direct peer-to-peer connectivity. More ...
Here:http://www.hamachi.cc/
Online Business Planning Software
PlanHQ is ideal for:
Growing businesses who need a better way of planning to take on the world
Frustrated business people who have an out of date static business plan and know that there is a better way
Startups who want to develop a business plan from scratch, even if they aren't quite sure how to do it
Investors who want regular and accurate reporting on the success of the businesses they invest in.
As you use the system, it evolves organically to provide you richer information and business intelligence for making decisions. If you have the discipline to use this software and challenge yourself to account for all the extraneous details we often overlook, you'll be better equipped for success.
It's a brilliant bit of software. Very well designed, and comprehensive without being overwhelming.
Full Detail:http://www.planhq.com/home/
Growing businesses who need a better way of planning to take on the world
Frustrated business people who have an out of date static business plan and know that there is a better way
Startups who want to develop a business plan from scratch, even if they aren't quite sure how to do it
Investors who want regular and accurate reporting on the success of the businesses they invest in.
As you use the system, it evolves organically to provide you richer information and business intelligence for making decisions. If you have the discipline to use this software and challenge yourself to account for all the extraneous details we often overlook, you'll be better equipped for success.
It's a brilliant bit of software. Very well designed, and comprehensive without being overwhelming.
Full Detail:http://www.planhq.com/home/
Shopbloom
Bloom, a new chain of grocery stores recently unveiled by supermarket giant Food Lion. Bloom has incorporated both innovative technologies and customer-friendly practices to create ‘a different kind of grocery store’. With a swipe of their Bloom Breeze Cards, shoppers can get personal scanners to carry about the store, scanning items and bagging them right in their carts as they shop.
The scanners provide a running tally of how much customers are spending, so they can be mindful of their budgets. Scanners also allow Bloom to send instant messages to customers, alerting them when prescriptions have been filled or their deli orders are ready for pick-up. When they're ready to check out, shoppers simply go to any check-out lane and scan an “end of trip” barcode and the order automatically downloads to a register, so there's no need to unload and reload the cart. Which brings the average checkout time down to 32.7 seconds. (There are random checks to make sure nobody is cheating the system.)
Website: www.shopbloom.com
The scanners provide a running tally of how much customers are spending, so they can be mindful of their budgets. Scanners also allow Bloom to send instant messages to customers, alerting them when prescriptions have been filled or their deli orders are ready for pick-up. When they're ready to check out, shoppers simply go to any check-out lane and scan an “end of trip” barcode and the order automatically downloads to a register, so there's no need to unload and reload the cart. Which brings the average checkout time down to 32.7 seconds. (There are random checks to make sure nobody is cheating the system.)
Website: www.shopbloom.com
Tuesday, April 24, 2007
Clickbank Guide
Gabor Olah from http://plrwholesaler.com has prepared 14 part of Clickbank guide to help people understand how Clickbank works. The guide cover most of the aspects of Clickbank, including explanations on Clickbank important policies, what are the features available in both vendors (sellers) and affiliates accounts and what are the products statistic affiliates can use in selecting a right Clickbank's product to promote and make money.
http://viralprofitautomator.com/clickbankguide.html
http://viralprofitautomator.com/clickbankguide.html
Do You Know About 504 Bank?
504 Bank ("The Bank") connects investors with investment opportunities. The service is performance based so companies seeking financing pay 504 Bank a small transaction fee each time an investor downloads and reads their business plan or profile. The benefit of this approach is that a company seeking financing can significantly increase the quantity of targeted high quality investors who assess their business opportunity (only paying for results), while the investor has a more organized and comprehensive resource for identifying investments.
Full Detail:http://www.504bank.com/
Full Detail:http://www.504bank.com/
Worrying For How To Get Fund For New Business?Don't Now
Prosper.com is a peer-to-peer lending site where people put "auctions" for loans with the highest interest rate that they are interested in paying. Then users lend the borrower money in increments as small as $50. While, at first glance, about 75% of the postings are for "bail me out of credit card debt", there are a few small business startup loans, and those seem to have a quick response in being funded.
For Detail:http://www.prosper.com/
For Detail:http://www.prosper.com/
Startupping
Startupping is a one-of-a-kind community resource created for Internet entrepreneurs by Internet entrepreneurs. It is a place to share information, ask questions, and tap into the experience of others who have built and are building web businesses.
Check it:http://www.startupping.com/
Check it:http://www.startupping.com/
MyZaic.Com
After months of hard work and negotiations, two folks from Invenio have just launched MyZaic.com (your source for personalized mosaic posters). They will soon be making some excellent traction within that space and it will be exciting to see how they progress.
The post infrequency has been due to working hard on Atomic and keeping our heads down. We should have some very exciting news regarding Atomic Brokers in the coming days.
Full detail:http://www.myzaic.com/
The post infrequency has been due to working hard on Atomic and keeping our heads down. We should have some very exciting news regarding Atomic Brokers in the coming days.
Full detail:http://www.myzaic.com/
Monday, April 23, 2007
Gaia Online
It’s called Gaia Online,
“The world’s fastest growing online world hangout for teens.”
That’s the way Sherman and his team prefer to characterize Gaia, the brainchild of Studio XD, a comic art firm which gave the site its anime-influenced look. Gaia’s online world aspect (which launches in a separate Java-powered window) is a series of virtual towns where Gaian avatars can socialize (up to 100 in a single space), with apartments they can own, and treasures they can find. (No combat, however.) It’s just that 10% of total user activity takes place in the world itself.
Gold Currency:
A unique innovation is the way the company distributes its virtual gold currency: instead of selling it for real money (as with There) or allowing its trade on the open market (as with Second Life), Gaians are automatically given gold for participation: You get gold for posting on the Forums, for riding events, for uploading content, for exploring the world. Subscribers are rewarded for engaging in Gaia, in other words— and the reward incents them to engage in Gaia even more.
Gold for Auction
With the gold, Gaia subscribers can buy items, clothing, and accessories for their avatars, some sold by the company, but most of it sold via Gaian-to-Gaian auction. (They estimate some 52,000 auctions are completed every day.)
What pays in Gaia, however, stays in Gaia: the company strongly discourages real money trading, and works with Ebay to curtail it. That’s not to say Gaian treasures haven’t been sold online. “One item sold for $6000,” says Sherman. “Wonderful to tell you, but bad for what we’re trying to accomplish.”
More:http://www.gaiaonline.com/
“The world’s fastest growing online world hangout for teens.”
That’s the way Sherman and his team prefer to characterize Gaia, the brainchild of Studio XD, a comic art firm which gave the site its anime-influenced look. Gaia’s online world aspect (which launches in a separate Java-powered window) is a series of virtual towns where Gaian avatars can socialize (up to 100 in a single space), with apartments they can own, and treasures they can find. (No combat, however.) It’s just that 10% of total user activity takes place in the world itself.
Gold Currency:
A unique innovation is the way the company distributes its virtual gold currency: instead of selling it for real money (as with There) or allowing its trade on the open market (as with Second Life), Gaians are automatically given gold for participation: You get gold for posting on the Forums, for riding events, for uploading content, for exploring the world. Subscribers are rewarded for engaging in Gaia, in other words— and the reward incents them to engage in Gaia even more.
Gold for Auction
With the gold, Gaia subscribers can buy items, clothing, and accessories for their avatars, some sold by the company, but most of it sold via Gaian-to-Gaian auction. (They estimate some 52,000 auctions are completed every day.)
What pays in Gaia, however, stays in Gaia: the company strongly discourages real money trading, and works with Ebay to curtail it. That’s not to say Gaian treasures haven’t been sold online. “One item sold for $6000,” says Sherman. “Wonderful to tell you, but bad for what we’re trying to accomplish.”
More:http://www.gaiaonline.com/
Robot That Walks And Swim
European researchers have developed a spinal cord model of the salamander and implemented it in an amphibious robot that walks and swims like a salamander.
The robot changes its speed and gait in response to simple electrical signals, suggesting that the distributed neural system in the spinal cord holds the key to vertebrates’ complex locomotor capabilities.
In a paper appearing in the March 9, 2007 issue of the journal Science, scientists from the EPFL in Switzerland and the INSERM research center/University of Bordeaux in France introduce their robot, Salamandra Robotica. This four-legged yellow creature reveals a great deal about the evolution of vertebrate locomotion. It’s also a vivid demonstration that robots can be used to test and verify biological concepts, and that very often nature herself offers ideal solutions for robotics design.
Read More:http://pressesc.com/01173389508_salamander_robot
The robot changes its speed and gait in response to simple electrical signals, suggesting that the distributed neural system in the spinal cord holds the key to vertebrates’ complex locomotor capabilities.
In a paper appearing in the March 9, 2007 issue of the journal Science, scientists from the EPFL in Switzerland and the INSERM research center/University of Bordeaux in France introduce their robot, Salamandra Robotica. This four-legged yellow creature reveals a great deal about the evolution of vertebrate locomotion. It’s also a vivid demonstration that robots can be used to test and verify biological concepts, and that very often nature herself offers ideal solutions for robotics design.
Read More:http://pressesc.com/01173389508_salamander_robot
BuyYourWine
BuyYourWine.com. The online wine seller will then get back to them with a price and delivery details.
In the US, WineZap offers a similar service. If someone emails or texts them the vintage and wine name, WineZap will email or text them the current low, high and average prices for that wine. If a user adds their zipcode, WineZap includes a list of the nearest retailers that stock the wine, as well as their prices.
Both companies are currently offering the service at no charge. Another example of catering to people's insatiable desire for relevant information, when and where they want it. Wine-by-text is a great little add-on both for merchants like BuyYourWine, and for intermediaries like WineZap, and it could of course be expanded with such obvious options as letting customers send in cameraphone pictures of wine labels or barcodes. For more examples of how tuned-in companies are satisfying consumer infolust, check out trendwatching.com's briefing on the subject.
More: www.buyyourwine.com / www.winezap.com
In the US, WineZap offers a similar service. If someone emails or texts them the vintage and wine name, WineZap will email or text them the current low, high and average prices for that wine. If a user adds their zipcode, WineZap includes a list of the nearest retailers that stock the wine, as well as their prices.
Both companies are currently offering the service at no charge. Another example of catering to people's insatiable desire for relevant information, when and where they want it. Wine-by-text is a great little add-on both for merchants like BuyYourWine, and for intermediaries like WineZap, and it could of course be expanded with such obvious options as letting customers send in cameraphone pictures of wine labels or barcodes. For more examples of how tuned-in companies are satisfying consumer infolust, check out trendwatching.com's briefing on the subject.
More: www.buyyourwine.com / www.winezap.com
Bed Sharing
The Bed Sharing project aims to show the host city's most hospitable side, and actively involves Milan residents by inviting them to open up their homes to (young) conference attendees who haven't been able to find or can't afford regular accommodation in hotels. Shared bedrooms needn’t be palatial: "2 square meters are enough to put up a designer."
It's a simple way to add a personal touch and human scale to massive conferences and events, while helping local professionals expand their networks by meeting colleagues from abroad. One to set up for every major conference? Since almost everything can be arranged online, coordination costs aren't high. And given most events’ very specific target audiences, sponsors should be easy to find. (Bed Sharing’s main partners were easyJet, Samsung and Italian mattress manufacturer Ennerev.) A related organisation is SpaceShare, which we'll feature soon.
Website: www.bedsharing.org
It's a simple way to add a personal touch and human scale to massive conferences and events, while helping local professionals expand their networks by meeting colleagues from abroad. One to set up for every major conference? Since almost everything can be arranged online, coordination costs aren't high. And given most events’ very specific target audiences, sponsors should be easy to find. (Bed Sharing’s main partners were easyJet, Samsung and Italian mattress manufacturer Ennerev.) A related organisation is SpaceShare, which we'll feature soon.
Website: www.bedsharing.org
SmartDraw
SmartDraw gives you a head start and complete support.
With SmartTemplatesTM your graphic is practically already completed. Just add your information and easily edit to suit your needs.
SmartPanelsTM allow you to change global colors and styles with a single click.
SmartHelp guides you through the entire process.
Free live support is just a phone call away.
Full Detail:http://www.smartdraw.com/specials/context/finance.htm?id=44672
With SmartTemplatesTM your graphic is practically already completed. Just add your information and easily edit to suit your needs.
SmartPanelsTM allow you to change global colors and styles with a single click.
SmartHelp guides you through the entire process.
Free live support is just a phone call away.
Full Detail:http://www.smartdraw.com/specials/context/finance.htm?id=44672
Won After 5,127 Failures
Today, Dyson makes the best-selling vacuum cleaner by revenue in the United States and is one of the richest blokes in Britain. But it took him 15 years and nearly his entire savings to develop his bagless, transparent creation. His latest innovation, a hand dryer that uses neither heat nor evaporation, took only three years, but Dyson says his grinding, error-filled approach hasn't change.
Y0u once described the inventor's life as "one of failure." How so?
I made 5,127 prototypes of my vacuum before I got it right. There were 5,126 failures. But I learned from each one. That's how I came up with a solution. So I don't mind failure. I've always thought that schoolchildren should be marked by the number of failures they've had. The child who tries strange things and experiences lots of failures to get there is probably more creative.
Not all failures lead to solutions, though. How do you fail constructively?
We're taught to do things the right way. But if you want to discover something that other people haven't, you need to do things the wrong way. Initiate a failure by doing something that's very silly, unthinkable, naughty, dangerous. Watching why that fails can take you on a completely different path. It's exciting, actually. To me, solving problems is a bit like a drug. You're on it, and you can't get off. I spent seven years on our washing machine [which has two drums, instead of one].
How did the hand dryer come about? We had spent 10 years developing a vacuum-cleaner motor that runs at 110,000 rpm, three times faster than other motors. So we can squirt air [at 400 mph] through a .2-millimeter slot and create an air "blade" that literally wipes water off your hands. We were doing research for another product when we discovered this use. The Airblade dries hands in 10 seconds instead of 40, which means it uses less than a quarter of the energy. My business plan is to use technology to create a better product that solves a problem and is well designed. Do that and people will want to buy it.
Read More:http://www.fastcompany.com/magazine/115/open_next-design.html
Y0u once described the inventor's life as "one of failure." How so?
I made 5,127 prototypes of my vacuum before I got it right. There were 5,126 failures. But I learned from each one. That's how I came up with a solution. So I don't mind failure. I've always thought that schoolchildren should be marked by the number of failures they've had. The child who tries strange things and experiences lots of failures to get there is probably more creative.
Not all failures lead to solutions, though. How do you fail constructively?
We're taught to do things the right way. But if you want to discover something that other people haven't, you need to do things the wrong way. Initiate a failure by doing something that's very silly, unthinkable, naughty, dangerous. Watching why that fails can take you on a completely different path. It's exciting, actually. To me, solving problems is a bit like a drug. You're on it, and you can't get off. I spent seven years on our washing machine [which has two drums, instead of one].
How did the hand dryer come about? We had spent 10 years developing a vacuum-cleaner motor that runs at 110,000 rpm, three times faster than other motors. So we can squirt air [at 400 mph] through a .2-millimeter slot and create an air "blade" that literally wipes water off your hands. We were doing research for another product when we discovered this use. The Airblade dries hands in 10 seconds instead of 40, which means it uses less than a quarter of the energy. My business plan is to use technology to create a better product that solves a problem and is well designed. Do that and people will want to buy it.
Read More:http://www.fastcompany.com/magazine/115/open_next-design.html
Sunday, April 22, 2007
Transforming Spoken Messages Into Text
Jott transforms spoken messages into text. After signing up for the service online and validating their phone number and email address, users dial Jott’s toll free number (877-568-8486), say ‘me’ or the name of a contact or group of contacts, speak for up to 30 seconds and then hang up. Jott transcribes the spoken words into writing, and sends the message to its destination as an email or text message. Transcription usually takes a few minutes, or up to 20 minutes during peak hours. The original audio message is retained, and is linked to in the email for reference.
Jott is currently free, but will at one point offer members the choice between a free, ad-supported version, or a premium version for a fee. Which could bring in tidy revenues, since this is exactly the type of service that users are more than willing to pay for once they’ve incorporated it into their daily routine. Jott is only available in the United States and Canada. So, partner with them and/or set up your own local version. Offshore outsourcing will be more difficult if your language is, say, Swedish or Japanese, but that’s a challenge to overcome. And if you work in (mobile) telecom, we’re sure you can come up with a few interesting implications and appealing opportunities.
Website: www.jott.com
Jott is currently free, but will at one point offer members the choice between a free, ad-supported version, or a premium version for a fee. Which could bring in tidy revenues, since this is exactly the type of service that users are more than willing to pay for once they’ve incorporated it into their daily routine. Jott is only available in the United States and Canada. So, partner with them and/or set up your own local version. Offshore outsourcing will be more difficult if your language is, say, Swedish or Japanese, but that’s a challenge to overcome. And if you work in (mobile) telecom, we’re sure you can come up with a few interesting implications and appealing opportunities.
Website: www.jott.com
I Let You
iletyou lets you, and anyone else, set up a NetFlix-like video and game rental store in a matter of minutes. The San Diego-based start-up is aiming to give consumers access to an estimated 10 billion DVDs that can be found in US households alone, allowing both individuals and independent brick and mortar stores to set up shop online.
There's no minimum number of DVDs or games to get started, which means that anyone with a collection can start renting out to people with similar tastes. The rental economy, transumers briefing, caters to consumers more interested in experiences than ownership.
More:: www.iletyou.com
There's no minimum number of DVDs or games to get started, which means that anyone with a collection can start renting out to people with similar tastes. The rental economy, transumers briefing, caters to consumers more interested in experiences than ownership.
More:: www.iletyou.com
Few Quality Advertisers Which Works
* We promise to fill 100% of your advertising inventory with the best-rated banners and ads, and no default (self-promotional) banners.
* We also work with up-and-coming sites, believing in your ability to produce great content and future traffic.
* We primarily cover five vertical networks: entertainment, women’s interests, business, technology, and international.
Criteria for Consideration
Pageviews Per Month: 500,000
Unique Visitors Per Month: 75,000
Average CPM: No number listed ($.25-.75 is what we have heard)
Cut: No number listed (40% is what we’ve heard)
Blue Lithium
Advanced technology to bring you better rates
BlueLithium uses sophisticated behavioral and semantic targeting and then optimizes campaigns in real time to ensure optimal performance. These technologies, combined with BlueLithium’s approach of dividing sites into content channels, produce better results for advertisers while improving the relevancy of ads for site viewers. Data from BlueLithium and other next-generation ad networks shows that behavioral targeting alone can increase sales 10X for some advertisers over traditional run of network placement. Not surprisingly, advertisers are willing to pay more for this kind of performance.
Criteria for Consideration
Pageviews Per Month: -
Unique Visitors Per Month: -
Average CPM: No number listed
Cut: 35-60%
Burst Media
BurstDirect
Burst Direct helps publishers maximize their sell-through by providing massive reach to direct marketers. By joining the Burst Direct network, which is comprised of over 800 web publishers offering thousands of sites, you’ll be able to run a number of performance-driven campaigns across your site, and take advantage of the following benefits:
Criteria for Consideration
Pageviews Per Month: 20,000
Unique Visitors Per Month: -
Average CPM $.20 to 4.00
Cut: 35%
Contract Type: non-exclusive)
BurstNetwork
Criteria for Consideration
Pageviews Per Month: 5,000
Unique Visitors Per Month: -
Average CPM $
Cut:
Three years (exclusive) 40%
One year (exclusive) 45%
Month-to-month (non-exclusive) 50%
Casale Media
“Looking for an end-to-end solution that delivers maximum earnings and high quality advertising content? Casale Media® connects its publishers to a large selection of quality advertisers across all verticals, and provides the technology needed to track, analyze and optimize the value and utilization of online media inventory. All Casale Media® publishers are provided with a custom web-based account interface that empowers them to take complete control over every conceivable aspect of ad management. Best of all, every ad delivered to publishers’ sites is dynamically optimized to maximize advertising income and inventory allocation. That means happy advertisers, satisfied readers, and more revenue for publishers.”
Criteria for Consideration
Pageviews Per Month: -
Unique Visitors Per Month: 10,000
Average CPM $Not listed
Cut: 30%
More:http://www.younggogetter.com/2007/04/09/not-all-ad-networks-are-created-equal/#comment-2170
* We also work with up-and-coming sites, believing in your ability to produce great content and future traffic.
* We primarily cover five vertical networks: entertainment, women’s interests, business, technology, and international.
Criteria for Consideration
Pageviews Per Month: 500,000
Unique Visitors Per Month: 75,000
Average CPM: No number listed ($.25-.75 is what we have heard)
Cut: No number listed (40% is what we’ve heard)
Blue Lithium
Advanced technology to bring you better rates
BlueLithium uses sophisticated behavioral and semantic targeting and then optimizes campaigns in real time to ensure optimal performance. These technologies, combined with BlueLithium’s approach of dividing sites into content channels, produce better results for advertisers while improving the relevancy of ads for site viewers. Data from BlueLithium and other next-generation ad networks shows that behavioral targeting alone can increase sales 10X for some advertisers over traditional run of network placement. Not surprisingly, advertisers are willing to pay more for this kind of performance.
Criteria for Consideration
Pageviews Per Month: -
Unique Visitors Per Month: -
Average CPM: No number listed
Cut: 35-60%
Burst Media
BurstDirect
Burst Direct helps publishers maximize their sell-through by providing massive reach to direct marketers. By joining the Burst Direct network, which is comprised of over 800 web publishers offering thousands of sites, you’ll be able to run a number of performance-driven campaigns across your site, and take advantage of the following benefits:
Criteria for Consideration
Pageviews Per Month: 20,000
Unique Visitors Per Month: -
Average CPM $.20 to 4.00
Cut: 35%
Contract Type: non-exclusive)
BurstNetwork
Criteria for Consideration
Pageviews Per Month: 5,000
Unique Visitors Per Month: -
Average CPM $
Cut:
Three years (exclusive) 40%
One year (exclusive) 45%
Month-to-month (non-exclusive) 50%
Casale Media
“Looking for an end-to-end solution that delivers maximum earnings and high quality advertising content? Casale Media® connects its publishers to a large selection of quality advertisers across all verticals, and provides the technology needed to track, analyze and optimize the value and utilization of online media inventory. All Casale Media® publishers are provided with a custom web-based account interface that empowers them to take complete control over every conceivable aspect of ad management. Best of all, every ad delivered to publishers’ sites is dynamically optimized to maximize advertising income and inventory allocation. That means happy advertisers, satisfied readers, and more revenue for publishers.”
Criteria for Consideration
Pageviews Per Month: -
Unique Visitors Per Month: 10,000
Average CPM $Not listed
Cut: 30%
More:http://www.younggogetter.com/2007/04/09/not-all-ad-networks-are-created-equal/#comment-2170
Go BIG Network
The Go BIG Network has published data showing that funding requests by small businesses were down during the first quarter of 2007. The average amount of funding requested was $$928,875, down from $1,073,359 in the previous quarter.
That’s according to the Go BIG Network’s Small Business Funding Review (PDF), which notes:
The Go BIG Network’s survey includes funding requests made on its Web site of more than 40,000 small businesses in the first quarter of 2007 by entrepreneurs and startup companies seeking angel investment capital, small business funding and venture capital. The Go BIG Network connects entrepreneurs and small businesses to early stage investment sources to help fund startup companies.
Go BIG Network is another of the growing group of service providers that make available aggregated data of actual usage. In other words, this is not a survey. Rather, it is data of actual requests for funding by entrepreneurs.
More:http://www.gobignetwork.com/
That’s according to the Go BIG Network’s Small Business Funding Review (PDF), which notes:
The Go BIG Network’s survey includes funding requests made on its Web site of more than 40,000 small businesses in the first quarter of 2007 by entrepreneurs and startup companies seeking angel investment capital, small business funding and venture capital. The Go BIG Network connects entrepreneurs and small businesses to early stage investment sources to help fund startup companies.
Go BIG Network is another of the growing group of service providers that make available aggregated data of actual usage. In other words, this is not a survey. Rather, it is data of actual requests for funding by entrepreneurs.
More:http://www.gobignetwork.com/
Saturday, April 21, 2007
Online Animation Start Up
AniBoom is an online video aggregator for animated films, with online tools (such as a Shapeshifter) that empower users to create animation of different genres, techniques and means.
To provide the right incentive, AniBoom created a revenue sharing model based on popularity and prize-awarding contests to inspire participation. According to its FAQ, AniBoom is working on "Animated Idol", an online competition for animators.
More:http://www.aniboom.com/
To provide the right incentive, AniBoom created a revenue sharing model based on popularity and prize-awarding contests to inspire participation. According to its FAQ, AniBoom is working on "Animated Idol", an online competition for animators.
More:http://www.aniboom.com/
How To Get Out Of "Job Mentality"When Starting Business
The process of becoming a true, serial, (good) crazy entrepreneur is to view the world as a series of experiments. Instead of a subject matter expert, you want to become an expert in experimentation. And you want to plan on failing, falling on your face a few times, if for nothing else than to have a great story to tell your adoring stockholders and fans when you finally ring the bell at the opening of the New York Stock Exchange. Part of what makes Robert Kiyosaki's Rich Dad success so great is his self-admitted hubris and failure at his first start-up business.Here are some ways to get out of your job mentality and get into your entrepreneur mentality
Start with What kind of work am I meant to do?, not What kind of business should I start? This is a very important distinction that I want you to stop and really think about for a minute. It is related to your greater purpose for being on earth, or if you wish to frame it in corporate terms, your personal mission statement. When I spent some time reflecting on the work I am meant to do, I realized that it all has to do with promoting personal freedom, joy and expression through work. Kind of vague and squishy, huh? But it becomes concrete as I experiment with different business ideas to further this mission. I tried to work as a corporate consultant and had great fun and financial success. Then I decided to become a coach for wannabe entrepreneurs. Now I am playing with being an author and writing a book. In a few years, I may decide to create a product line or two. As I grow and evolve, my work may change too which will lead to different kinds of businesses.
Forget about permanence. If you are just starting your entrepreneurial journey, chances are you may need lots of fits and starts in order to find a business that gives you meaning, money and happiness. To use crass dating terms, you are not looking for Mr. Right, you are looking for Mr. Right Now, with the low expectation that he may surprise you and turn into Mr. Right. It has been awhile since I have been on the dating scene, but I do remember a few men I met that were waaaaay too intense in their search for a permanent mate. At the first date and coffee, if they asked about marriage and children, I would run screaming. Your work feels the same way - it needs time to get to know you. If the fit is right, go for it, if not, move on to the next one.
Read More:http://www.escapefromcubiclenation.com/get_a_life_blog/2006/09/5_ways_to_get_o.html
Start with What kind of work am I meant to do?, not What kind of business should I start? This is a very important distinction that I want you to stop and really think about for a minute. It is related to your greater purpose for being on earth, or if you wish to frame it in corporate terms, your personal mission statement. When I spent some time reflecting on the work I am meant to do, I realized that it all has to do with promoting personal freedom, joy and expression through work. Kind of vague and squishy, huh? But it becomes concrete as I experiment with different business ideas to further this mission. I tried to work as a corporate consultant and had great fun and financial success. Then I decided to become a coach for wannabe entrepreneurs. Now I am playing with being an author and writing a book. In a few years, I may decide to create a product line or two. As I grow and evolve, my work may change too which will lead to different kinds of businesses.
Forget about permanence. If you are just starting your entrepreneurial journey, chances are you may need lots of fits and starts in order to find a business that gives you meaning, money and happiness. To use crass dating terms, you are not looking for Mr. Right, you are looking for Mr. Right Now, with the low expectation that he may surprise you and turn into Mr. Right. It has been awhile since I have been on the dating scene, but I do remember a few men I met that were waaaaay too intense in their search for a permanent mate. At the first date and coffee, if they asked about marriage and children, I would run screaming. Your work feels the same way - it needs time to get to know you. If the fit is right, go for it, if not, move on to the next one.
Read More:http://www.escapefromcubiclenation.com/get_a_life_blog/2006/09/5_ways_to_get_o.html
Tubetorial
A site featuring excellent video/screencast tutorials.
Free videos with excellent instruction focused mostly on online ventures including online marketing, Adsense, blogging and various other money-making stuffs. They even have some beginner HTML tutorial bits.
Must See:
5 Steps to Making Money From Keyword Research.
7 Steps to Creating and Selling a Niche Information Product.
How to Build a Profitable Home on the Web.
For detail:http://www.tubetorial.com/
Free videos with excellent instruction focused mostly on online ventures including online marketing, Adsense, blogging and various other money-making stuffs. They even have some beginner HTML tutorial bits.
Must See:
5 Steps to Making Money From Keyword Research.
7 Steps to Creating and Selling a Niche Information Product.
How to Build a Profitable Home on the Web.
For detail:http://www.tubetorial.com/
MyCompany.Com
An online service that handles all of the necessary paperwork and legal documents for incorporation. You can do this paperwork yourself, but it's typically a quagmire of legalese and headaches. If you're running your own startup your time is usually better focused on building your business instead of dealing with arcane laws and forms for days/weeks.
For Detail:http://www.mynewcompany.com/
For Detail:http://www.mynewcompany.com/
Start Ups Paradise
Looking for advice on starting or running a business? Check out what the blogosphere has to offer. It's filled with scores of Web journals on various topics of interest to entrepreneurs.
Here's a sampling of blogs in this niche and what small-business owners can get out of reading them.
WorkHappy.net
www.workhappy.net
Carson McComas is on a mission to help fellow small-business owners succeed. His two-year-old blog provides advice, ideas, inspiration and resources he's accumulated through his own experience as a consultant to entrepreneurs and owner of four Web-based ventures. "A lot of entrepreneurially related content on the Internet is get-rich quick garbage," he says. "It's very important for me not to be that." Writing about once a week from his home office in Spokane, Wash., Mr. McComas reviews products and services such as mynewcompany.com, which helps entrepreneurs with the paperwork for incorporating a business. Readers can suggest items for review and submit their own write-ups, he says. Another feature, called "Happy Links," lists URLs to Web sites and blogs with helpful information for entrepreneurs, and "Happy Quotes" offers a regular dose of inspirational sayings. Look for interviews Mr. McComas conducts with entrepreneurs such as Markus Frind, founder of PlentyofFish.com, a dating site.
Franchise Pundit
www.franchisepundit.com
In spring 2004, Ryan M. Knoll considered purchasing a franchise, and he created this blog to document his research. Though, he later opted to practice law instead, he says he continues to blog about investing in franchises because the subject draws heavy commentary from readers. He also stays current on the subject because about a quarter of his law-firm clients are professionals seeking counsel on buying franchises, he says. Franchise Pundit discusses the pros and cons of various franchise investments, and many posts end with a thumb's up or down vote from Mr. Knoll on whether a particular franchise is a wise purchase. The blog, which is updated daily, also reports on emerging franchises, relevant legal news and various industry happenings. In addition, franchise owners frequently contribute posts about their personal business experiences. Check out the blog's discussion board and a page listing links to archived posts on franchises by company name.
Young Go Getter
www.younggogetter.com
Originally an online discussion forum, younggogetter.com was revamped in January as a blog. "We try and cover all aspects of starting and running a business from the perspective of a young person," says Travis Hines, one of its three twentysomething contributing writers from around the U.S. who each run their own businesses. The discussion board still exists as a link from the blog and has about 400 members. Another interactive feature is a weekly poll, which asks questions such as, "What business events do you attend most each year?" Look for posts offering opinions and advice, plus book reviews, podcasts and interviews with young entrepreneurs. There's also a section called "Entreprenews" which links to articles on the Web that discuss entrepreneurialism.
Escape from Cubicle Nation
www.escapefromcubiclenation.com
Nearly a decade after quitting a corporate-consulting job to start her own business, Pamela Slim started this blog to help other professionals switch to sole proprietorship. She says many of the cubicle dwellers she used to advise griped about their jobs, but were too afraid to try their hand at being entrepreneurs. For this reason, says she focuses her blog posts on the emotional aspect of leaving the corporate world to start a business. "I write about the human side of that change -- how to manage your personal fears in addition to getting the kind of information you need," she explains. She receives about 150 emails a week from readers and chooses topics to blog about based on their questions and concerns, she says. Her postings are syndicated to several Web sites.
Read More:http://www.startupjournal.com/howto/soundadvice/20070420-needleman.html
Here's a sampling of blogs in this niche and what small-business owners can get out of reading them.
WorkHappy.net
www.workhappy.net
Carson McComas is on a mission to help fellow small-business owners succeed. His two-year-old blog provides advice, ideas, inspiration and resources he's accumulated through his own experience as a consultant to entrepreneurs and owner of four Web-based ventures. "A lot of entrepreneurially related content on the Internet is get-rich quick garbage," he says. "It's very important for me not to be that." Writing about once a week from his home office in Spokane, Wash., Mr. McComas reviews products and services such as mynewcompany.com, which helps entrepreneurs with the paperwork for incorporating a business. Readers can suggest items for review and submit their own write-ups, he says. Another feature, called "Happy Links," lists URLs to Web sites and blogs with helpful information for entrepreneurs, and "Happy Quotes" offers a regular dose of inspirational sayings. Look for interviews Mr. McComas conducts with entrepreneurs such as Markus Frind, founder of PlentyofFish.com, a dating site.
Franchise Pundit
www.franchisepundit.com
In spring 2004, Ryan M. Knoll considered purchasing a franchise, and he created this blog to document his research. Though, he later opted to practice law instead, he says he continues to blog about investing in franchises because the subject draws heavy commentary from readers. He also stays current on the subject because about a quarter of his law-firm clients are professionals seeking counsel on buying franchises, he says. Franchise Pundit discusses the pros and cons of various franchise investments, and many posts end with a thumb's up or down vote from Mr. Knoll on whether a particular franchise is a wise purchase. The blog, which is updated daily, also reports on emerging franchises, relevant legal news and various industry happenings. In addition, franchise owners frequently contribute posts about their personal business experiences. Check out the blog's discussion board and a page listing links to archived posts on franchises by company name.
Young Go Getter
www.younggogetter.com
Originally an online discussion forum, younggogetter.com was revamped in January as a blog. "We try and cover all aspects of starting and running a business from the perspective of a young person," says Travis Hines, one of its three twentysomething contributing writers from around the U.S. who each run their own businesses. The discussion board still exists as a link from the blog and has about 400 members. Another interactive feature is a weekly poll, which asks questions such as, "What business events do you attend most each year?" Look for posts offering opinions and advice, plus book reviews, podcasts and interviews with young entrepreneurs. There's also a section called "Entreprenews" which links to articles on the Web that discuss entrepreneurialism.
Escape from Cubicle Nation
www.escapefromcubiclenation.com
Nearly a decade after quitting a corporate-consulting job to start her own business, Pamela Slim started this blog to help other professionals switch to sole proprietorship. She says many of the cubicle dwellers she used to advise griped about their jobs, but were too afraid to try their hand at being entrepreneurs. For this reason, says she focuses her blog posts on the emotional aspect of leaving the corporate world to start a business. "I write about the human side of that change -- how to manage your personal fears in addition to getting the kind of information you need," she explains. She receives about 150 emails a week from readers and chooses topics to blog about based on their questions and concerns, she says. Her postings are syndicated to several Web sites.
Read More:http://www.startupjournal.com/howto/soundadvice/20070420-needleman.html
Friday, April 20, 2007
Google Guide
Google Guide is an online interactive tutorial and reference for experienced users, novices, and everyone in between. Google Guide gives you more information about Google's capabilties, features, and services than I found on Google's website.
More:http://www.googleguide.com/
More:http://www.googleguide.com/
Google Vs Microsoft
The best side to be on in a bidding war is the losing side” — Warren Buffett
The concept that Buffett is putting forth is that when there is a bidding war, the price paid by the winner is almost by definition too high. The “loser” in the bidding war may not lose at all, because they have forced a competitor to pay too much for something.
I thought about this after reading that Google (a company I love dealing with) is buying DoubleClick (a company I HATE dealing with). I don’t want to get into the validity of this buyout because I don’t know enough about it to form an opinion and my hatred for doubleclick is most likely putting a bias in my heart and head.
What I do want to discuss is that Google seems to be continually winning in bidding wars. $1.6 billion for Youtube. Almost a billion in guaranteed ad buys on myspace. Now doubleclick. I’m probably missing some, but you get the point.
They always seem to win bidding wars. If Buffett is right (which I’m NOT going to argue with), then Google is likely the long term loser as a result.
Which brings me to the real questions:
Is it POSSIBLE that Google competitors like Microsoft are willing to engage in bidding wars in the hope and expectation that Google will pay too much for something outside of its core competency (search)? After all, has Google EVER lost a bidding war?
Is it POSSIBLE that Google (rightfully) sees its stock as currency that should be taken advantage of? If so, that basically means that they think their stock is overvalued (otherwise it’s not currency)….and if they think that…..shouldn’t you?
Read More:http://www.andyswan.com/
The concept that Buffett is putting forth is that when there is a bidding war, the price paid by the winner is almost by definition too high. The “loser” in the bidding war may not lose at all, because they have forced a competitor to pay too much for something.
I thought about this after reading that Google (a company I love dealing with) is buying DoubleClick (a company I HATE dealing with). I don’t want to get into the validity of this buyout because I don’t know enough about it to form an opinion and my hatred for doubleclick is most likely putting a bias in my heart and head.
What I do want to discuss is that Google seems to be continually winning in bidding wars. $1.6 billion for Youtube. Almost a billion in guaranteed ad buys on myspace. Now doubleclick. I’m probably missing some, but you get the point.
They always seem to win bidding wars. If Buffett is right (which I’m NOT going to argue with), then Google is likely the long term loser as a result.
Which brings me to the real questions:
Is it POSSIBLE that Google competitors like Microsoft are willing to engage in bidding wars in the hope and expectation that Google will pay too much for something outside of its core competency (search)? After all, has Google EVER lost a bidding war?
Is it POSSIBLE that Google (rightfully) sees its stock as currency that should be taken advantage of? If so, that basically means that they think their stock is overvalued (otherwise it’s not currency)….and if they think that…..shouldn’t you?
Read More:http://www.andyswan.com/
ZOHO-Smart Customer Service
Zoho gives you time to check it out. It also serves as a reminder to go check it out if you signed up and haven't used it much. Plus, they note that they aren't spamming you and that they simply want feedback, and won't bother you again. It's always refreshing when someone does a good job with their business.
Read More:http://www.zoho.com/
Read More:http://www.zoho.com/
T-shirts From Vending Machine
A new store concept from Uniqlo will sell limited edition T Shirts from vending machines. Opening later this month in in Harajuku, the Tees will be sold in plastic tubing.
More:http://jeansnow.net/2007/04/16/ut/
More:http://jeansnow.net/2007/04/16/ut/
Checkhouse
In Portugal, Checkhouse gives independent buyers confidence by extensively testing and checking a building's foundation, acoustics, wiring, roof, etc.
While traditional surveyors are mainly accustomed to dealing with real estate agents and builders, I believes there's a growing market for pre-sale building inspectors that focus on consumers, combing a keen eye for structural problems with a good bedside manner when it comes to telling potential buyers that their dream house is in fact a money trap. Start small, but think big: build a well-branded, nationally-known chain or network, partner with real estate sites and stay impartial by not working for construction companies. For real estate agents feeling the pinch from online listing and pricing tools, it might be time to change careers and become a home inspector.
Website: www.checkhouse.pt
While traditional surveyors are mainly accustomed to dealing with real estate agents and builders, I believes there's a growing market for pre-sale building inspectors that focus on consumers, combing a keen eye for structural problems with a good bedside manner when it comes to telling potential buyers that their dream house is in fact a money trap. Start small, but think big: build a well-branded, nationally-known chain or network, partner with real estate sites and stay impartial by not working for construction companies. For real estate agents feeling the pinch from online listing and pricing tools, it might be time to change careers and become a home inspector.
Website: www.checkhouse.pt
Thursday, April 19, 2007
CEO Refresher
We believe that people have lost sight of what it means to be accountable in organizations and have confused this concept with blame and punishment. This article is an effort to shed some light on accountability and in doing so engage the productive potential of the term.
As long as people see accountability as a threat instead of an opportunity they will find clever ways to avoid ownership of outcomes, disguise initiatives as imperatives, and confuse results with effort.
The first element that we need to address is that the foundation of any 'good faith' business transaction is the expectation of a fair deal for all concerned. In complex organizational relationships, it is all too easy to lose sight of the existence and terms of this deal. As a prime example, that particular employer/employee relationship, called a job, appears as a fair deal wherein the employer's money is traded for the employee's time and talent. The deeper reality, however, is that the employer is actually trading resources for a set of desirable results, which the employee is expected to deliver. The promise to faithfully deliver as agreed by both parties is the essence of accountability. To 'do what you say you will do without excuses' is the foundation of credibility which makes all business deals possible, including those specific deals called jobs.
We recommend that organizations document these bargains called jobs and give voice to individuals' accountabilities through a process called an Accountability Agreement. An Accountability Agreement clearly states the results that each member of an organization, from the most senior to the most junior, is expected to bring about [For specific examples of Accountability Agreements, please see our online tool at http://www.AlignOnline.com]. The following six principles form the foundation for negotiating and understanding accountability. Together they form a practical theory of accountability, the transforming effect it can have on an organization, its essential role in creating significant business results and how it helps to avoid the unproductive trap of focusing on blame and punishment.
I. Accountability is a Statement of Personal Promise
Accountability is both a promise and an obligation to deliver specific, defined results. Accountability, as we define it, does not apply in an abstract way to departments, work groups, or entire organizations. Accountability applies to individuals and their personal promise that these functions will deliver the agreed results. Accountability is first and foremost a personal commitment to the organization and to those the organization serves. It is more than just trying, doing your best, or behaving in certain ways. Accountability empowers individuals to push their circle of influence outwards in pursuit of results.
II. Accountability for Results Means Activities aren't Enough
Everyone in an organization, from the CEO to the janitor, has some piece of the business and a corresponding set of results which are theirs to achieve. Distinguishing results from activities requires a shift in traditional thinking built on an awareness of why we do what we do. For example, a typical supervisor's job description includes activities such as "training," "performance evaluations," and "timely communication". In contrast, a supervisor's accountabilities should include a result such as "the success of all direct reports." This concept addresses the common observation that everyone is busy but only some people are productive.
III. Accountability for Results Requires Room for Judgment and Decision Making
If you're not allowed to use any judgment or discretion on the job, if you're told to follow the rules no matter what, if no decision is up to you, then your boss can only hold you accountable for activities. You can be held accountable for doing what you're told, but you can't be held accountable for the outcome. Judgment and innovation can never be fully described in a job description. When employees are expected to be resourceful in the achievement of results, they are held accountable for capturing opportunities or ignoring them.
IV. Accountability is Neither Shared nor Conditional
Accountability Agreements are individual, unique, and personal strategies. No two people at the same level in an organization should have the exact same accountabilities. Separating each person's accountabilities can be challenging, but valuable clarity results from the struggle to eliminate overlaps.
Read Full Article:http://www.refresher.com/!smbksix.html
As long as people see accountability as a threat instead of an opportunity they will find clever ways to avoid ownership of outcomes, disguise initiatives as imperatives, and confuse results with effort.
The first element that we need to address is that the foundation of any 'good faith' business transaction is the expectation of a fair deal for all concerned. In complex organizational relationships, it is all too easy to lose sight of the existence and terms of this deal. As a prime example, that particular employer/employee relationship, called a job, appears as a fair deal wherein the employer's money is traded for the employee's time and talent. The deeper reality, however, is that the employer is actually trading resources for a set of desirable results, which the employee is expected to deliver. The promise to faithfully deliver as agreed by both parties is the essence of accountability. To 'do what you say you will do without excuses' is the foundation of credibility which makes all business deals possible, including those specific deals called jobs.
We recommend that organizations document these bargains called jobs and give voice to individuals' accountabilities through a process called an Accountability Agreement. An Accountability Agreement clearly states the results that each member of an organization, from the most senior to the most junior, is expected to bring about [For specific examples of Accountability Agreements, please see our online tool at http://www.AlignOnline.com]. The following six principles form the foundation for negotiating and understanding accountability. Together they form a practical theory of accountability, the transforming effect it can have on an organization, its essential role in creating significant business results and how it helps to avoid the unproductive trap of focusing on blame and punishment.
I. Accountability is a Statement of Personal Promise
Accountability is both a promise and an obligation to deliver specific, defined results. Accountability, as we define it, does not apply in an abstract way to departments, work groups, or entire organizations. Accountability applies to individuals and their personal promise that these functions will deliver the agreed results. Accountability is first and foremost a personal commitment to the organization and to those the organization serves. It is more than just trying, doing your best, or behaving in certain ways. Accountability empowers individuals to push their circle of influence outwards in pursuit of results.
II. Accountability for Results Means Activities aren't Enough
Everyone in an organization, from the CEO to the janitor, has some piece of the business and a corresponding set of results which are theirs to achieve. Distinguishing results from activities requires a shift in traditional thinking built on an awareness of why we do what we do. For example, a typical supervisor's job description includes activities such as "training," "performance evaluations," and "timely communication". In contrast, a supervisor's accountabilities should include a result such as "the success of all direct reports." This concept addresses the common observation that everyone is busy but only some people are productive.
III. Accountability for Results Requires Room for Judgment and Decision Making
If you're not allowed to use any judgment or discretion on the job, if you're told to follow the rules no matter what, if no decision is up to you, then your boss can only hold you accountable for activities. You can be held accountable for doing what you're told, but you can't be held accountable for the outcome. Judgment and innovation can never be fully described in a job description. When employees are expected to be resourceful in the achievement of results, they are held accountable for capturing opportunities or ignoring them.
IV. Accountability is Neither Shared nor Conditional
Accountability Agreements are individual, unique, and personal strategies. No two people at the same level in an organization should have the exact same accountabilities. Separating each person's accountabilities can be challenging, but valuable clarity results from the struggle to eliminate overlaps.
Read Full Article:http://www.refresher.com/!smbksix.html
RO0-BEE(Video Cooking)
The Food Network is a great resource– even if the majority of each show is uninteresting. But The Food Network has the downfall of all television programming– too many commercials, and annoying celebrities. Rouxbe (pronounced “roo-bee”), a new online instructional cooking resource. Step by step, in a pleasantly simple fashion, Rouxbe guides you through some yummy recipes– I thought it was simple yet engaging, somewhere between cooking school and a cooking show on TV. You can pause the presentation and step back and forth between different components of the meal, and adjust the volume of both the background music (soothing and loungy) and the instructor’s voice (Dawn). There are a couple of recipes up that you can view without becoming a member, but if you really want the goods, you should sign up. This is a super fun and helpful resource for those of you looking for some new recipes or just wanting to acquire some new skills in the kitchen.
More:http://www.rouxbe.com/
More:http://www.rouxbe.com/
Photoframe Play Music And Video
Aluratek has created a new version that doesn't just display your photos but also has 256MB of built-in memory. The photo frame can play background music or video in addition to holding all your photos. It even has a remote control. The 10.5-inch frames let you transfer files directly from your computer. The frame has 1024x768 video resolution and sells for $199.
More: http://www.aluratek.com/product_info.php?products_id=27
More: http://www.aluratek.com/product_info.php?products_id=27
Motorola's New Communication Plan
Motorola this year, explore new experiences by two new ways to communicate his brand power targeting the more voracious social sectors by the coolness. Cobranding strategy and Guerrilla communication. These days made a cobranding strategy with the internationalized argentinean brand "Trosman" (Jessica Trosman) characterized by the permanent innovation of silhouettes and textile development. Her designs are directed to the market segment denominated “designer clothing”, that is made up by articles of luxury of highest added value, which they have a very specific client who looks for and values the details of quality and design, and that at the same time, arranged to pay much more since it is handled almost like a collector. Next to her it presented/displayed exclusive designs for PEBL, KRZR1, and RZR cell phones, in the BAF week 07 in March.
In a parallel objective of communication, Motorola addopted a communication campaign in Buenos Aires called Guerrilla Paper. This concept of guerrilla invites the potential clients of the brand, to be designers by the concept of urban landscape, personal places and objects personalization. The campaign consists to atracct potential clients to download the papers designed by Joshua Davis, an illustrator who works with the chaos theory in art (or random generation in controlled surroundings) and persuade to stick them where the people want to do it. These new ways of communication explored by the brand generated a plus for the brand value (in a clear objective of association to “design brand”) next to a slope of personalization and interactivity with the products that offers.
More:http://www.motorola.com/
In a parallel objective of communication, Motorola addopted a communication campaign in Buenos Aires called Guerrilla Paper. This concept of guerrilla invites the potential clients of the brand, to be designers by the concept of urban landscape, personal places and objects personalization. The campaign consists to atracct potential clients to download the papers designed by Joshua Davis, an illustrator who works with the chaos theory in art (or random generation in controlled surroundings) and persuade to stick them where the people want to do it. These new ways of communication explored by the brand generated a plus for the brand value (in a clear objective of association to “design brand”) next to a slope of personalization and interactivity with the products that offers.
More:http://www.motorola.com/
ShopText
The New York Times recently reported on a company called ShopText that is enabling users to purchase products instantly through their mobile phone and charge it to their credit card.
The NYT writes:
To use the system, a consumer must first place a phone call to ShopText to set up an account, specifying a shipping address and card account. After that, all purchases can be made by thumb.
When ShopText receives text messages about donations or products, it charges the credit card it has on file for the buyer, then, if appropriate, sends the product from one of its warehouses around the country.
“E-commerce only represents a fraction of total retail — the thing that holds it back is it’s tethered to an Internet connection,” said Mark Kaplan, founder and chief marketing officer of ShopText. “The cellphones link products to media. When people get the impulse to buy, they have their cellphones.”
Print advertisers in particular are excited about how the new technology will increase readers interaction with magazines and loosen the death grip internet has held over non-retail impulse shopping.
For more detail:https://www.shoptext.com/main/index.action
The NYT writes:
To use the system, a consumer must first place a phone call to ShopText to set up an account, specifying a shipping address and card account. After that, all purchases can be made by thumb.
When ShopText receives text messages about donations or products, it charges the credit card it has on file for the buyer, then, if appropriate, sends the product from one of its warehouses around the country.
“E-commerce only represents a fraction of total retail — the thing that holds it back is it’s tethered to an Internet connection,” said Mark Kaplan, founder and chief marketing officer of ShopText. “The cellphones link products to media. When people get the impulse to buy, they have their cellphones.”
Print advertisers in particular are excited about how the new technology will increase readers interaction with magazines and loosen the death grip internet has held over non-retail impulse shopping.
For more detail:https://www.shoptext.com/main/index.action
Wednesday, April 18, 2007
Shespeaks
SheSpeaks is an online forum for product reviews. Only at SheSpeaks, there's no cost for product testers, and products are chosen for reviewers based on their interests. (At Cherrypicka, members do the picking.) And as the name indicates, SheSpeaks is for women only, which isn't surprising since women control over USD 5 trillion in spending in the United States and are responsible for 83% of all consumer purchases.
How it works: when users sign up, they complete a questionnaire about their interests, hobbies, likes and dislikes. SheSpeaks selects an appropriate product match, which the members receive in two to three weeks. Products are theirs to keep, as they try them out in their own homes and as part of their everyday lives. In exchange, members provide their candid feedback online on the SheSpeaks website. Discussion boards allow testers to exchange views and opinions with other women who have tested the same product.
Membership at SheSpeaks is free, and the site also offers free products, special offers and valuable coupons for members to pass onto their friends. Not only does this form of tryvertising equal efficient and effective product research for manufacturers, but it's a great way for them to connect directly with their intended markets. Product testing and sampling combined with an online community: definitely a concept that easily could expand to other product categories, countries and demographics. As long as opinions aren't filtered or censored.
Read More:: www.shespeaks.com
How it works: when users sign up, they complete a questionnaire about their interests, hobbies, likes and dislikes. SheSpeaks selects an appropriate product match, which the members receive in two to three weeks. Products are theirs to keep, as they try them out in their own homes and as part of their everyday lives. In exchange, members provide their candid feedback online on the SheSpeaks website. Discussion boards allow testers to exchange views and opinions with other women who have tested the same product.
Membership at SheSpeaks is free, and the site also offers free products, special offers and valuable coupons for members to pass onto their friends. Not only does this form of tryvertising equal efficient and effective product research for manufacturers, but it's a great way for them to connect directly with their intended markets. Product testing and sampling combined with an online community: definitely a concept that easily could expand to other product categories, countries and demographics. As long as opinions aren't filtered or censored.
Read More:: www.shespeaks.com
Xbox And Instant Messaging
Microsoft have just announced that they will be introducing their Windows Live Messenger service to Xbox 360 consoles, allowing gamers to "I.M. directly from their couch" and consolidating what have traditionally been two distinct friend lists.
The NYT's writes:
In the second week of May, those two worlds will begin to converge. Xbox Live members will be able to link their “gamertag,” the online identity they use within the Xbox community, to an existing Windows Live Messenger account. Players will then be able to chat with their instant-messaging contacts using a virtual on-screen keyboard or a U.S.B. keyboard plugged into the game machine.
For more:http://www.nytimes.com/2007/04/09/technology/09microsoft.html?ex=1333771200&en=de55381c10972fc4&ei=5088&partner=rssnyt&emc=rss
The NYT's writes:
In the second week of May, those two worlds will begin to converge. Xbox Live members will be able to link their “gamertag,” the online identity they use within the Xbox community, to an existing Windows Live Messenger account. Players will then be able to chat with their instant-messaging contacts using a virtual on-screen keyboard or a U.S.B. keyboard plugged into the game machine.
For more:http://www.nytimes.com/2007/04/09/technology/09microsoft.html?ex=1333771200&en=de55381c10972fc4&ei=5088&partner=rssnyt&emc=rss
Live Tube
One of the theories floating around is that people are far more likely to pay for live experiences than archived content. For example, you don't mind paying for your mobile phone call but you don't like paying for voicemail, or you don't mind paying for a ticket to a band's gig but you won't buy music, or you'd pay to watch your team's game live on cable but you won't pay for replays.
A new service plays on this idea of broadcasting live content that viewers pay for. Jalipo is an online distribution network for high-quality TV and video content which is signing deals with folk like the BBC to show live sports, concerts and more independent films.
For more:http://www.jalipo.com/epg/
A new service plays on this idea of broadcasting live content that viewers pay for. Jalipo is an online distribution network for high-quality TV and video content which is signing deals with folk like the BBC to show live sports, concerts and more independent films.
For more:http://www.jalipo.com/epg/
Transforming Spoken Messages Into Text
Jott transforms spoken messages into text. After signing up for the service online and validating their phone number and email address, users dial Jott’s toll free number (877-568-8486), say ‘me’ or the name of a contact or group of contacts, speak for up to 30 seconds and then hang up. Jott transcribes the spoken words into writing, and sends the message to its destination as an email or text message. Transcription usually takes a few minutes, or up to 20 minutes during peak hours. The original audio message is retained, and is linked to in the email for reference.
The service is deceptively simple, and lends itself to countless applications. It can be used to leave notes to oneself, from a reminder to buy a carton of milk, to capturing a brilliant idea. Or to draft emails, memos, or the next chapter of a novel while driving home from work. Lawyers and doctors, accustomed to speaking their correspondence and notes, can dictate on the fly.
Intriguingly, Jott has humans transcribing voice messages. Since phones are often used in noisy environments, and Jott’s founders didn’t want members to have to train speech recognition software, Jott uses a mix of machines and overseas agents that also work on medical dictations. For privacy protection, agents have no way of associating personally identifiable information with the recorded jotts they’re transcribing (unless a users makes that information part of the recording).
Jott is currently free, but will at one point offer members the choice between a free, ad-supported version, or a premium version for a fee.
For more:: www.jott.com
The service is deceptively simple, and lends itself to countless applications. It can be used to leave notes to oneself, from a reminder to buy a carton of milk, to capturing a brilliant idea. Or to draft emails, memos, or the next chapter of a novel while driving home from work. Lawyers and doctors, accustomed to speaking their correspondence and notes, can dictate on the fly.
Intriguingly, Jott has humans transcribing voice messages. Since phones are often used in noisy environments, and Jott’s founders didn’t want members to have to train speech recognition software, Jott uses a mix of machines and overseas agents that also work on medical dictations. For privacy protection, agents have no way of associating personally identifiable information with the recorded jotts they’re transcribing (unless a users makes that information part of the recording).
Jott is currently free, but will at one point offer members the choice between a free, ad-supported version, or a premium version for a fee.
For more:: www.jott.com
Tuesday, April 17, 2007
AudioSnacks
Chicago-based AudioSnacks is offering consumers. Users can download audio tours of select destinations and can put up their own tours for purchase.
“AudioSnack is a place to find, purchase, download, listen to and appreciate audio tours that people just like you have created to share, and a place where you can do the same for others.” Tours are modestly priced—some are even free. Many feature downloadable maps to accompany the audio footage, and customers can listen to a sample snippet of a tour before deciding to purchase.
Already there are tours available for destinations in the United States, Canada, Europe, Australia, South Africa and more. Customers get a unique perspective and insights: they can take an audio tour through Chicago with a Jewish hip-hop poet, for instance, or see the sights in Seattle with a hot DJ. Since members are encouraged to create and upload their own tours, the library is likely to grow quickly. The company is also building a new section, offering campus tours for (upcoming) freshmen "who look lost no matter how many times they've looked at their maps."
Read more: www.audiosnacks.com
“AudioSnack is a place to find, purchase, download, listen to and appreciate audio tours that people just like you have created to share, and a place where you can do the same for others.” Tours are modestly priced—some are even free. Many feature downloadable maps to accompany the audio footage, and customers can listen to a sample snippet of a tour before deciding to purchase.
Already there are tours available for destinations in the United States, Canada, Europe, Australia, South Africa and more. Customers get a unique perspective and insights: they can take an audio tour through Chicago with a Jewish hip-hop poet, for instance, or see the sights in Seattle with a hot DJ. Since members are encouraged to create and upload their own tours, the library is likely to grow quickly. The company is also building a new section, offering campus tours for (upcoming) freshmen "who look lost no matter how many times they've looked at their maps."
Read more: www.audiosnacks.com
DoMyStuff
DoMyStuff is an online marketplace where busy people can quickly find others to do their chores, from mowing the lawn or picking up dry cleaning to researching a cruise or planning a party.
How it works? Someone posts a task, choosing a relevant category and describing the task in detail. Businesses and individuals then bid for the task. Bids include the total cost to complete a task, when it will be completed and information on the service they will provide. The customer reviews the bids and chooses an assistant. Customers can view in-depth information on the service providers, including their names, locations and the ratings they've been awarded by past employers.
In addition to the bidding system, DoMyStuff has integrated several other features that take it beyond posting casual jobs on Craigslist or other boards. First of all, a rating system lets users share information on the quality of service providers. Which is important, considering many chores take place in or around a customer's home, making safety and reliability a key issue.
Secondly, to establish trust between buyers and providers, DoMyStuff provides an online escrow system that allows customers to forward payment for a task into an escrow account. While the task is being completed, neither customer nor assistant have access to the funds, but the assistant is able to see that the account has been funded for a specific task. Once the job has been completed to the customer's satisfaction, the funds are released to the assistant. Which protects both buyers and sellers.
Website: www.domystuff.com
How it works? Someone posts a task, choosing a relevant category and describing the task in detail. Businesses and individuals then bid for the task. Bids include the total cost to complete a task, when it will be completed and information on the service they will provide. The customer reviews the bids and chooses an assistant. Customers can view in-depth information on the service providers, including their names, locations and the ratings they've been awarded by past employers.
In addition to the bidding system, DoMyStuff has integrated several other features that take it beyond posting casual jobs on Craigslist or other boards. First of all, a rating system lets users share information on the quality of service providers. Which is important, considering many chores take place in or around a customer's home, making safety and reliability a key issue.
Secondly, to establish trust between buyers and providers, DoMyStuff provides an online escrow system that allows customers to forward payment for a task into an escrow account. While the task is being completed, neither customer nor assistant have access to the funds, but the assistant is able to see that the account has been funded for a specific task. Once the job has been completed to the customer's satisfaction, the funds are released to the assistant. Which protects both buyers and sellers.
Website: www.domystuff.com
Second Life Investment
Second Life is the best glimpse we have so far of what the whole Internet will look like in years to come.. The net will certainly have a three-dimensional interface by then, and avatars -- little 3D representations of our own selves -- are likely to be how we get around. Second Life lets you learn what works and what doesn't work in using the 3D Internet as an interface for users, customers, and business partners.
Measure your results. What do you want to achieve? Brand awareness? Traffic to a particular area? Sales? Second Life allows you to do some extraordinary measurements of traffic and avatar movements in areas you own, use those tools to measure the effectiveness of your in-world campaign.
Engage in the world. It's not enough to just build something in-world, you have to have your staff available to interact with SL residents. That's possibly the most important thing. Second Life, like Soylent Green, is people; if your people don't use what you build in SL, nobody else will either.
Don't expect big paybacks up-front. There's only a couple of hundred thousand people worldwide dedicated to using Second Life. The maximum capacity of an individual region is 30-50 simultaneous users. It'll take a while for revenues to become significant. You're in it for the long term.
What do you think are the best practices for real-world companies doing business in Second Life? What real-world companies do you see doing a great job doing business in SL? Leave a comment below and let us know.
Read More:http://www.informationweek.com/blog/main/archives/2007/04/what_are_the_be.html;jsessionid=JGOZR1U3RBXHOQSNDLRSKH0CJUNN2JVN
Measure your results. What do you want to achieve? Brand awareness? Traffic to a particular area? Sales? Second Life allows you to do some extraordinary measurements of traffic and avatar movements in areas you own, use those tools to measure the effectiveness of your in-world campaign.
Engage in the world. It's not enough to just build something in-world, you have to have your staff available to interact with SL residents. That's possibly the most important thing. Second Life, like Soylent Green, is people; if your people don't use what you build in SL, nobody else will either.
Don't expect big paybacks up-front. There's only a couple of hundred thousand people worldwide dedicated to using Second Life. The maximum capacity of an individual region is 30-50 simultaneous users. It'll take a while for revenues to become significant. You're in it for the long term.
What do you think are the best practices for real-world companies doing business in Second Life? What real-world companies do you see doing a great job doing business in SL? Leave a comment below and let us know.
Read More:http://www.informationweek.com/blog/main/archives/2007/04/what_are_the_be.html;jsessionid=JGOZR1U3RBXHOQSNDLRSKH0CJUNN2JVN
Internet Radio
Internet radio is enjoying an explosion of new services that could make it a viable replacement for broadcast radio -- if the record industry's allies in D.C. don't kill it first.
Internet radio and services that deliver personalized streams of music -- and help you discover new music and artists --are growing exponentially. In fact, they seem to be becoming a viable medium for promoting recorded music -- possibly replacing the shrinking broadcast radio audience. That makes it pretty ironic that the recording industry's aggressive push for performance royalties could kill Internet radio just as it shows some promise of throwing the record companies a life ring.
What's happening is that Internet radio is entering a new phase of its development. At first it was generalized, as broadcast radio stations streamed their over-the-air signals online as a promotional device. Then it became specialized, as Internet-only "stations" were created to serve niche markets. Now it is being personalized and, inevitably, socialized.
Read More:http://www.informationweek.com/story/showArticle.jhtml?articleID=199000898&cid=RSSfeed_IWK_News
Internet radio and services that deliver personalized streams of music -- and help you discover new music and artists --are growing exponentially. In fact, they seem to be becoming a viable medium for promoting recorded music -- possibly replacing the shrinking broadcast radio audience. That makes it pretty ironic that the recording industry's aggressive push for performance royalties could kill Internet radio just as it shows some promise of throwing the record companies a life ring.
What's happening is that Internet radio is entering a new phase of its development. At first it was generalized, as broadcast radio stations streamed their over-the-air signals online as a promotional device. Then it became specialized, as Internet-only "stations" were created to serve niche markets. Now it is being personalized and, inevitably, socialized.
Read More:http://www.informationweek.com/story/showArticle.jhtml?articleID=199000898&cid=RSSfeed_IWK_News
Monday, April 16, 2007
DoubleClick
Google announce acquisition of DoubleClick.DoubleClick provides a suite of products that enables agencies, advertisers, and publishers to work efficiently, that will enable Google to extend our ad network and develop deeper relationships with our partners.
This new partnership represents a tremendous opportunity for us at Google to broaden and deepen our inventory of available ads and to better serve both our publishers and users. Together, Google and DoubleClick will empower agencies, advertisers, and publishers to collaborate more efficiently and effectively, which will, in turn, provide a better experience for our users.
Sponsored information served by Google has always been, and will always be, clearly distinguished from objective content available via our search results and across our partner network. We want you to find the information that you are looking for—be it in an ad or elsewhere—quickly and without hassle. We know that our collaboration with DoubleClick will serve and advance this goal.
Read More:http://googleblog.blogspot.com/2007/04/next-step-in-google-advertising.html
This new partnership represents a tremendous opportunity for us at Google to broaden and deepen our inventory of available ads and to better serve both our publishers and users. Together, Google and DoubleClick will empower agencies, advertisers, and publishers to collaborate more efficiently and effectively, which will, in turn, provide a better experience for our users.
Sponsored information served by Google has always been, and will always be, clearly distinguished from objective content available via our search results and across our partner network. We want you to find the information that you are looking for—be it in an ad or elsewhere—quickly and without hassle. We know that our collaboration with DoubleClick will serve and advance this goal.
Read More:http://googleblog.blogspot.com/2007/04/next-step-in-google-advertising.html
Brain With Fantasy
LOTTERIES are a regressive tax on those who can't do math, runs the famous old saying. "Nonsense!" retort critics. "For a dollar, one can purchase the fantasy of being wealthy beyond dreams of avarice. It is cheap at the price."
Over at Overcoming Bias, Eliezer Yudkowsky says "But isn't that a waste of hope?"
But consider exactly what this implies. It would mean that you're occupying your valuable brain with a fantasy whose real probability is nearly zero - a tiny line of likelihood which you, yourself, can do nothing to realize. The lottery balls will decide your future. The fantasy is of wealth that arrives without effort - without conscientiousness, learning, charisma, or even patience.
Which makes the lottery another kind of sink: a sink of emotional energy. It encourages people to invest their dreams, their hopes for a better future, into an infinitesimal probability. If not for the lottery, maybe they would fantasize about going to technical school, or opening their own business, or getting a promotion at work - things they might be able to actually do, hopes that would make them want to become stronger. Their dreaming brains might, in the 20th visualization of the pleasant fantasy, notice a way to really do it. Isn't that what dreams and brains are for? But how can such reality-limited fare compete with the artificially sweetened prospect of instant wealth - not after herding a dot-com startup through to IPO, but on Tuesday?
Read More:http://www.economist.com/blogs/freeexchange/2007/04/the_future_of_fantasy.cfm
Over at Overcoming Bias, Eliezer Yudkowsky says "But isn't that a waste of hope?"
But consider exactly what this implies. It would mean that you're occupying your valuable brain with a fantasy whose real probability is nearly zero - a tiny line of likelihood which you, yourself, can do nothing to realize. The lottery balls will decide your future. The fantasy is of wealth that arrives without effort - without conscientiousness, learning, charisma, or even patience.
Which makes the lottery another kind of sink: a sink of emotional energy. It encourages people to invest their dreams, their hopes for a better future, into an infinitesimal probability. If not for the lottery, maybe they would fantasize about going to technical school, or opening their own business, or getting a promotion at work - things they might be able to actually do, hopes that would make them want to become stronger. Their dreaming brains might, in the 20th visualization of the pleasant fantasy, notice a way to really do it. Isn't that what dreams and brains are for? But how can such reality-limited fare compete with the artificially sweetened prospect of instant wealth - not after herding a dot-com startup through to IPO, but on Tuesday?
Read More:http://www.economist.com/blogs/freeexchange/2007/04/the_future_of_fantasy.cfm
How Internet Business Work
Think the concept of building a successful business on the Internet disappeared along with the money in your 401-(k)? Not so. Here's a collection of stories about businesses that not only have made the Internet the key to their strategy, but also have have developed innovative strategies to make it work.
How Google Grows...and Grows...and Grows
... Its performance is the envy of executives and engineers around the world ... For techno-evangelists, Google is a marvel of Web brilliance ... For Wall Street, it may be the IPO that changes everything (again) ... Keith H. Hammonds
Business Fights Back: eBay Learns to Trust Again
The world`s most successful Internet company is based on two pillars of growth: the global spread of Internet-style capitalism and confidence in the basic goodness of the people who do business on the site. Both ideas came under attack on September 11. George Anders
Why Is This Man Smiling?
You'd think startup wizard Atiq Raza would be getting hammered. He operates in trouble-plagued Silicon Valley, he launches companies in the wildly overbuilt telecom sector, and he runs -- gasp! -- a business incubator. Based on his impressive results, you may want to think again. Bill Breen
The New Face of Global Competition
Not so long ago, India`s Wipro Ltd. sold cooking oils and knockoff PCs. Now its 15,000 technologists cook up vital software applications and research for Ericsson, GM, the Home Depot, and other giant customers. Are you prepared to go head-to-head with the best the world has to offer? Keith H. Hammonds
The Internet Power Grab
Everyone knows that the Internet is moving from free to fee. John Ellis
La Dolce Vita, Internet Style
Colletta di Castelbianco is a 13th-century Italian village that was on the verge of extinction -- until an architect gave it a new design and Internet connectivity gave it a new lease on life. The story of how it became a haven for mobile professionals. Ian Wylie
Don`t Shout, Listen
At Procter & Gamble, branding is almost everything. And in the age of the Web, almost everything is up for grabs. Here`s how P& G has turned the Internet into a device for listening to customers -- and for experimenting with its brands. Fara Warner
For more:http://www.fastcompany.com/guides/digital.html
How Google Grows...and Grows...and Grows
... Its performance is the envy of executives and engineers around the world ... For techno-evangelists, Google is a marvel of Web brilliance ... For Wall Street, it may be the IPO that changes everything (again) ... Keith H. Hammonds
Business Fights Back: eBay Learns to Trust Again
The world`s most successful Internet company is based on two pillars of growth: the global spread of Internet-style capitalism and confidence in the basic goodness of the people who do business on the site. Both ideas came under attack on September 11. George Anders
Why Is This Man Smiling?
You'd think startup wizard Atiq Raza would be getting hammered. He operates in trouble-plagued Silicon Valley, he launches companies in the wildly overbuilt telecom sector, and he runs -- gasp! -- a business incubator. Based on his impressive results, you may want to think again. Bill Breen
The New Face of Global Competition
Not so long ago, India`s Wipro Ltd. sold cooking oils and knockoff PCs. Now its 15,000 technologists cook up vital software applications and research for Ericsson, GM, the Home Depot, and other giant customers. Are you prepared to go head-to-head with the best the world has to offer? Keith H. Hammonds
The Internet Power Grab
Everyone knows that the Internet is moving from free to fee. John Ellis
La Dolce Vita, Internet Style
Colletta di Castelbianco is a 13th-century Italian village that was on the verge of extinction -- until an architect gave it a new design and Internet connectivity gave it a new lease on life. The story of how it became a haven for mobile professionals. Ian Wylie
Don`t Shout, Listen
At Procter & Gamble, branding is almost everything. And in the age of the Web, almost everything is up for grabs. Here`s how P& G has turned the Internet into a device for listening to customers -- and for experimenting with its brands. Fara Warner
For more:http://www.fastcompany.com/guides/digital.html
Boober:New Way Of Banking
Boober launched last month, Boober is bringing peer to peer lending to The Netherlands. The start-up works much like Zopa and Prosper, with prospective borrowers listing the amount they want to borrow, their credit rating, purpose of the loan, interest rate they're willing to pay, etc. Credit ratings are determined by credit report agency Experian. And loans to AA and AAA borrowers are guaranteed by debt collectors Intrum Justitia, at 90% and 99.5% respectively. Investors are required to distribute their capital over at least 10 borrowers to minimize risk. Borrowers pay EUR 19.95 to have their credit rating determined, and if their loan is funded, they pay Boober a yearly fee of 0.5% of the loan. Investors pay a yearly fee of 0.5% over the funds they've invested, as well as an annual contribution of EUR 9.95.
Boober's founder, Guus Drijver, doesn't hesitate to share his feelings about why Boober is better than the Big Banks: "Boober doesn't work with hidden costs and is completely transparent. We don't sponsor yacht races or soccer teams, and don't have expensive headquarters or pay thousands of people high salaries." Boober isn't alone in this sentiment; many consumers are equally discontent with banks and their high profit margins, driving interest in alternatives like p2p lending. After a beta phase in The Netherlands, Boober hopes to expand to Belgium and Germany.
Website:www.boober.nl/
Boober's founder, Guus Drijver, doesn't hesitate to share his feelings about why Boober is better than the Big Banks: "Boober doesn't work with hidden costs and is completely transparent. We don't sponsor yacht races or soccer teams, and don't have expensive headquarters or pay thousands of people high salaries." Boober isn't alone in this sentiment; many consumers are equally discontent with banks and their high profit margins, driving interest in alternatives like p2p lending. After a beta phase in The Netherlands, Boober hopes to expand to Belgium and Germany.
Website:www.boober.nl/
Money Machine
What a Bloomberg can do
Bloomberg users can set up their screens any way they like. These displays show the data an equity investor might order up.
Stock price monitor
Users can get real-time stock prices by paying extra. Delayed prices are part of the standard subscription.
Stock charts
Bloomberg offers data on 136,000 equities.
Sliding tickers
A variety of price, volume, and earnings information moves across the screen to help the user follow three individual stocks.
Live videochats
Subscribers with cameras can have two-way chats, or Bloombergers can offer real-time support.
A portfolio, analyzed
Bloomberg's database includes regulatory filings from all over the world.
Bloomberg tv
The company broadcasts in seven languages in 23 countries. All transmissions from around the world are available on any Bloomberg.
News stories
Bloomberg News has 2,300 employees and publishes more than 5,000 stories daily. Its widely read "top stories" foreshadow the next day's newspaper headlines.
The keyboard
You can navigate on a Bloomberg with a special color-coded keyboard. Yellow keys take you to domains like "equity," green is for functions, red is for logging on.
Tradebook
Subscribers can use Bloomberg's automated broker-dealer to buy and sell equities, futures and options, paying commissions to do so.
Stock data, volume-weighted
Analytics make it possible for a day's trading in a stock to be displayed in a bar chart depicting the total number of shares traded at each price.
For More:http://money.cnn.com/magazines/fortune/fortune_archive/2007/04/16/8404302/index.
htm?postversion=2007040506
Bloomberg users can set up their screens any way they like. These displays show the data an equity investor might order up.
Stock price monitor
Users can get real-time stock prices by paying extra. Delayed prices are part of the standard subscription.
Stock charts
Bloomberg offers data on 136,000 equities.
Sliding tickers
A variety of price, volume, and earnings information moves across the screen to help the user follow three individual stocks.
Live videochats
Subscribers with cameras can have two-way chats, or Bloombergers can offer real-time support.
A portfolio, analyzed
Bloomberg's database includes regulatory filings from all over the world.
Bloomberg tv
The company broadcasts in seven languages in 23 countries. All transmissions from around the world are available on any Bloomberg.
News stories
Bloomberg News has 2,300 employees and publishes more than 5,000 stories daily. Its widely read "top stories" foreshadow the next day's newspaper headlines.
The keyboard
You can navigate on a Bloomberg with a special color-coded keyboard. Yellow keys take you to domains like "equity," green is for functions, red is for logging on.
Tradebook
Subscribers can use Bloomberg's automated broker-dealer to buy and sell equities, futures and options, paying commissions to do so.
Stock data, volume-weighted
Analytics make it possible for a day's trading in a stock to be displayed in a bar chart depicting the total number of shares traded at each price.
For More:http://money.cnn.com/magazines/fortune/fortune_archive/2007/04/16/8404302/index.
htm?postversion=2007040506
Sunday, April 15, 2007
FreshBooks
According to FreshBooks CEO Mike McDerment:
“FreshBooks has been designed for service-based businesses. Therefore FreshBooks users primarily fall into two categories: service-based businesses that bill for time (i.e. billing for time like lawyers, web designers, IT consultants, PR firms) and/or service providers that offer recurring services and benefit from recurring billing (alarm system monitoring companies, web hosts, ISPs, pool cleaners, lawn care companies). Technical competence does not seem to be limiting factor for uptake as we have both tech savvy customers (IT consultants, web designers, etc) and extraordinarily non tech savvy (dog walkers, dance studios, nannies…). We offer outstanding customer service by phone and email and therefore any business owner can take comfort in knowing help is available if they need it. That said, most of our paying clients never contact us directly, they self-serve thanks to the ease of use of the service.”
FreshBooks is an impressive efficiency tool. I set up a trial account and experimented with it. You can go online and issue invoices and send them out via email — or send a hard copy via snail mail through a service FreshBooks provides. FreshBooks keeps employee or contractor timesheets, including an online timer that automatically logs time spent on a task. You also can use FreshBooks to create an online help center for customers, with the ability for customers to lodge work orders and support tickets online. Your staff then goes in and handles the tickets. As the business owner you can monitor everything from the online control panel.
For more:http://www.freshbooks.com/
“FreshBooks has been designed for service-based businesses. Therefore FreshBooks users primarily fall into two categories: service-based businesses that bill for time (i.e. billing for time like lawyers, web designers, IT consultants, PR firms) and/or service providers that offer recurring services and benefit from recurring billing (alarm system monitoring companies, web hosts, ISPs, pool cleaners, lawn care companies). Technical competence does not seem to be limiting factor for uptake as we have both tech savvy customers (IT consultants, web designers, etc) and extraordinarily non tech savvy (dog walkers, dance studios, nannies…). We offer outstanding customer service by phone and email and therefore any business owner can take comfort in knowing help is available if they need it. That said, most of our paying clients never contact us directly, they self-serve thanks to the ease of use of the service.”
FreshBooks is an impressive efficiency tool. I set up a trial account and experimented with it. You can go online and issue invoices and send them out via email — or send a hard copy via snail mail through a service FreshBooks provides. FreshBooks keeps employee or contractor timesheets, including an online timer that automatically logs time spent on a task. You also can use FreshBooks to create an online help center for customers, with the ability for customers to lodge work orders and support tickets online. Your staff then goes in and handles the tickets. As the business owner you can monitor everything from the online control panel.
For more:http://www.freshbooks.com/
Franchise Vs Start UP
Entrepreneurs have plenty of questions that need answered when they’re planning new ventures, covering everything from business type to location to funding.
But there’s one other question that is just as important: Should the new business be a franchise?
Budding restaurateurs Brian Kubik of Buxton-Kubik-Dodd Interiors and Architecture and Paul Freeman of Computech Mailing Service, and industry veteran Jeff Hurshman chose a franchise – Cleveland-based San Francisco Oven – when they were ready to open an eatery in 2006 under the Oven Spaces LLC banner.
“With a franchise, a lot of the headaches have been worked out,” said Kubik, whose group paid $300,000 to renovate their first space, at 1845 E. Sunshine St., in May 2006.
“The menu’s been made, the kitchen’s been decided, the equipment has been decided, the approach, what people wear, what the place looks like, how the business is run.”
Dealing with details
That the details are taken care of by the franchise is one of the biggest draws for entrepreneurs, according to Terry Hill, vice president of communications for the International Franchise Association.
“You’re buying a system that is, as much as possible, perfected in the marketplace,” Hill said. “You also get a recognized brand and the marketing muscle behind that. You get a support system.”
Hill noted that IFA is gearing up to conduct a survey of U.S. franchise operations, but he said that in 2001, when the last survey was conducted, there were 2,500 viable franchise systems in the United States and more than 767,000 franchised businesses by the end of that year.
Read full: http://www.sbj.net/article.asp?aID=84180603.1037104.1001078.5576855.8504842.445&aID2=76997
But there’s one other question that is just as important: Should the new business be a franchise?
Budding restaurateurs Brian Kubik of Buxton-Kubik-Dodd Interiors and Architecture and Paul Freeman of Computech Mailing Service, and industry veteran Jeff Hurshman chose a franchise – Cleveland-based San Francisco Oven – when they were ready to open an eatery in 2006 under the Oven Spaces LLC banner.
“With a franchise, a lot of the headaches have been worked out,” said Kubik, whose group paid $300,000 to renovate their first space, at 1845 E. Sunshine St., in May 2006.
“The menu’s been made, the kitchen’s been decided, the equipment has been decided, the approach, what people wear, what the place looks like, how the business is run.”
Dealing with details
That the details are taken care of by the franchise is one of the biggest draws for entrepreneurs, according to Terry Hill, vice president of communications for the International Franchise Association.
“You’re buying a system that is, as much as possible, perfected in the marketplace,” Hill said. “You also get a recognized brand and the marketing muscle behind that. You get a support system.”
Hill noted that IFA is gearing up to conduct a survey of U.S. franchise operations, but he said that in 2001, when the last survey was conducted, there were 2,500 viable franchise systems in the United States and more than 767,000 franchised businesses by the end of that year.
Read full: http://www.sbj.net/article.asp?aID=84180603.1037104.1001078.5576855.8504842.445&aID2=76997
Offertrax
RSS is mainly used by bloggers and media companies to distribute their latest blog updates and news flashes. Adding to the mix, Offertrax is bringing Really Simple Syndication to the retail sector, offering consumers more purchasing intelligence and online merchants a new way to convert site visits into sales.
According to Offertrax, less than 3% of site visits convert to a sale. By letting merchants use RSS to distribute updates on products, Offertrax aims to bring visitors back for future conversions. How it works? The web-based application creates RSS feeds for entire online catalogues. Retailers just add a 'track this' button to each product page.
Consumers can then subscribe to a product's feed. As soon as a product's price changes or a retailer announces a special offer, trackers are notified. Merchants can also send notes and deal alerts directly to trackers. The service is free for consumers and merchants are charged a fee.
For more:: www.offertrax.com
According to Offertrax, less than 3% of site visits convert to a sale. By letting merchants use RSS to distribute updates on products, Offertrax aims to bring visitors back for future conversions. How it works? The web-based application creates RSS feeds for entire online catalogues. Retailers just add a 'track this' button to each product page.
Consumers can then subscribe to a product's feed. As soon as a product's price changes or a retailer announces a special offer, trackers are notified. Merchants can also send notes and deal alerts directly to trackers. The service is free for consumers and merchants are charged a fee.
For more:: www.offertrax.com
Saturday, April 14, 2007
Start Up Spark
If you’re an entrepreneur, blogger and interested in getting more involved online and working with a great company like b5 media, this is the right opportunity for you.
Check this site:http://startupspark.com/
Check this site:http://startupspark.com/
Spotzer Makes Video Advertising Affordable
Andrew Klein founder of Spotzer at last years ETRE in Barcelona. At this time Spotzer made first headlines as a alpha version but it has progressed tremendously since then. Time for an interview with Andrew:
1) What does Spotzer do?
Spotzer makes video advertising affordable for businesses around the world. We offer small and local businesses a library of pre-produced, ready-to-air video ads. Clients can buy a license to use an ad with a degree of exclusivity that matches their needs and budget. We will then personalize the ad using the client's unique logos, pictures, slogans and contact information. We also help clients plan and buy highly targeted spots on television, web and out of home TV.
2) What is the story of Andrew Klein? Tell us more about your earlier career and why you decided to become an entrepreneur?
I am the son of two entrepreneurs. I never seriously considered doing anything other than starting my own business, though I did go to law school and through six years of a legal career. I just thought I had to learn a few skills first, and save some money. Eventually, I took my first bet, starting a beer company in 1992 at the age of 32.
A few years later, I got lucky. The beer business was struggling to find investors. I came up with a scheme to offer shares in my beer company to beer enthusiasts who liked our Wit beer, and I decided to try to use the Internet to reach out to target investors. When it turned out that this stock offering was the first ever online, the beer company became very famous. Beer sales improved from the publicity and I started a new company, Wit Capital, to help other companies use the Internet to raise capital. Our little online investment bank eventually partnered with Goldman Sachs and itself went public on NASDAQ. By 2000 we employed 600 people and generated $400 million of revenues.
3) Spotzer has raised impressive piles of cash. How did you do it? And for what is all that money?
We are onto an opportunity that could be very large, but it is capital intensive. We are investing in systems that will automate several aspects of media planning and buying. And we are investing in making commercials for our library. And we are building sales and marketing teams in several countries at once. We raised the money we need to execute an ambitious plan. Investors are supporting us because they too believe the opportunity is very large.
Read more:http://www.tjacobi.com/
1) What does Spotzer do?
Spotzer makes video advertising affordable for businesses around the world. We offer small and local businesses a library of pre-produced, ready-to-air video ads. Clients can buy a license to use an ad with a degree of exclusivity that matches their needs and budget. We will then personalize the ad using the client's unique logos, pictures, slogans and contact information. We also help clients plan and buy highly targeted spots on television, web and out of home TV.
2) What is the story of Andrew Klein? Tell us more about your earlier career and why you decided to become an entrepreneur?
I am the son of two entrepreneurs. I never seriously considered doing anything other than starting my own business, though I did go to law school and through six years of a legal career. I just thought I had to learn a few skills first, and save some money. Eventually, I took my first bet, starting a beer company in 1992 at the age of 32.
A few years later, I got lucky. The beer business was struggling to find investors. I came up with a scheme to offer shares in my beer company to beer enthusiasts who liked our Wit beer, and I decided to try to use the Internet to reach out to target investors. When it turned out that this stock offering was the first ever online, the beer company became very famous. Beer sales improved from the publicity and I started a new company, Wit Capital, to help other companies use the Internet to raise capital. Our little online investment bank eventually partnered with Goldman Sachs and itself went public on NASDAQ. By 2000 we employed 600 people and generated $400 million of revenues.
3) Spotzer has raised impressive piles of cash. How did you do it? And for what is all that money?
We are onto an opportunity that could be very large, but it is capital intensive. We are investing in systems that will automate several aspects of media planning and buying. And we are investing in making commercials for our library. And we are building sales and marketing teams in several countries at once. We raised the money we need to execute an ambitious plan. Investors are supporting us because they too believe the opportunity is very large.
Read more:http://www.tjacobi.com/
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