Sunday, October 21, 2007

Teenpreneurs

Age: 17
Business started: 2006
Initial investment: $850
Education: Currently attending Montgomery Blair High School

Sacks got the inspiration for his business when his parents printed cards for his brother's bar mitzvah party. He developed his idea for a customized card business during his NFTE entrepreneurship class.

Today his business prints custom images such as a company's logo or a personal photo on the backs of playing cards, so that the decks can be used as a marketing tool or mementos at weddings and birthday parties. While making samples for his class, a Xerox (XRX) distributor asked to buy some cards. "When I made my first sale, I really knew I had a good product because he raised his original order from 5 decks to 75 decks once he saw the product."
More at:http://yodcards.com/
Via-UCB

How To Get Noticed Small Business

One of the oldest and most effective ways to market yourself online is through local small business directory listings. Small business Internet marketing requires starting with a listing of your small business in the major general directories then listing them in niche and industry-specific directories appropriate to your small business. It is a time consuming process to list your small business in the right directories, but a necessary one to ensure good rankings for your website.

The most essential directory for your small business to be listed in is DMOZ, also called the Open Directory Project. All the major search engines, and most of the minor ones, rely on DMOZ, located at www.dmoz.org, for information on websites. Google gets information on every website it crawls from DMOZ.

You should also list your small business in Google Local and Yahoo Local. All you need to do to get listed with Google is to go to Google, click on the Local link and find the "add your business link." For Yahoo, go to Yahoo, click on "Directory," then click on "Submit Your Site" at the bottom of the page.

You can find other directories online by using Google or Yahoo. Type in "directory of directories" and you'll get a list of small business directories, both paid and free, listed by state, industry, niche, and other categorizations. I recommend that you list in every directory that applies to your business. Here is a short list of local small business directory opportunities to help you attract local customers for your business:

• www.dmoz.org

• http://dir.yahoo.com

• www.joeant.com

• www.jayde.com

• www.avivadirectory.com

• www.goguides.com

• www.botw.org

Some directories, like the Yahoo directory, charge, but it is well worth what you pay to be listed. Once you are included in Yahoo's small business directory, you can bet your website will be indexed in the search engine as well.

There are three primary considerations for your small business when listing in directories online:

• The directory's PageRank

• The directory's age

• Is your small business category available?

PageRank is important for SEO purposes. Internet marketing pros all recommend getting inbound links from websites with high PR. A website with a PR higher than yours will benefit you with valuable inbound links that will give you a boost in the search engines as well. The age of the directory makes it more valuable because you know that if the directory has been around for more than two years then it will likely be around next year. You can get information on PageRank and the age of various directories at http://www.seocompany.ca/directory/web-directories.html.

Don't waste your time trying to get listed in a directory that doesn't offer a category you'll fit into. Be sure to browse the categories at any small business directories you consider before you list your business.

Two great sources for finding web directories for your small business Internet marketing efforts are www.dir-search.com and www.best-web-directories.com. The Best Web Directories website is perhaps the most comprehensive website for finding business directories online. If you want to find local customers through small business directories then I recommend these two resources for finding the best places online for finding small business directories for your Internet marketing efforts.
Via-AVM

Six groups enables you to start your own community for free

What Company is Offering:
Six groups enables you to start your own community for free, about every topic, available to everyone. Choose your design from a large variety of templates and define the data fields for your members' profiles. For the start of your community, basic features such as a group blog and a photo and media gallery are available to members, allowing you to organize private or professional social networks online.
How It Works:
At SixGroups.com you can create your own social network that can revolve around any theme you choose. You can make a community dedicated to Punk Rock or Outdoor sports. As manager you have complete control over the design of the layout, contact management, messaging, file management, photo gallery and weblog. You can choose what features you want your community users to have, you are in complete control of your community. Your community will be connected to the SixGroups network. All you have to do to start your own community is hit “start your own community” and you are on your way.
More at:http://sixgroups.com/

Share Photos And Get Paid

What Company is Offering:
Photrade makes it easy to share prints with your friends and family. Uploading is easy with our multi-photo uploader, and you can email the photos to friends and family, or post the photos directly in your blog or myspace. Your friends and family can even order prints of their favorite photos! Your photos will also be added to our library (if you choose) and you can share your photos with the world! People can also tag, rate & comment on your photos.
How It Works:
Create an account with Photrade.com and you can easily upload as many photos as you want. You can email you photos to your friends or post them on your blog or social network. Family and friends can pay for prints of your photos. You can earn revenue every time a different person visits your page or clicks on your photo. In order to earn revenue you must make sure that the Ad Revenue button is on in your preferences. People may be interested in buying your photos. In this case you can also choose how much you think your photo is worth and sell them accordingly. Photrade.com has many features which make displaying your photos easy and attractive to others. Other users can comment on your photos, tag them and rate them.
More at:http://photrade.com/

LittleEngine is a new small-business social network

What Company is Offering:
The aim of LittleEngine is to simply replicate the very actions that people demonstrate on a daily basis: locating small businesses that can provide them with the products or services they need. "We facilitate this by providing the resources to find and check out businesses that might have been unknown to consumers and business owners alike. LittleEngine provides the tools for business owners to reach out to consumers and consumers to find businesses that satisfy their interests. For information about our services check out the Take The Tour section on our homepage, and you can see what we are all about".
How It Works:
LittleEngine is a new small-business social network which brings this notion to the net; on this site you can sign up your small business and create a profile for it. Be sure to use LittleEngine’s tagging service to make it easier for potential customers to find you in searches. Like any social network, you can invite and add friends on LittleEngine to help promote your business There are numerous other features you can choose to take advantage of, including but not limited to: photo uploads, commercial uploads, offers and deals for your customers, multiple business profiles, . There are several levels of membership on LittleEngine; trial (free), basic (US $90/month) and Pro (US $140/month).
More at:http://www.littleengine.com/