The Anytime-Anywhere Time and Expense solution built for full integration with QuickBooks. Eliminate the need to re-key time sheets and expense claims into QuickBooks, now your employees and contractors can enter time and expenses through a internet browser, you review and approve and with one click they are downloaded in QuickBooks.
More at:http://www.zedoffice.net/
Tuesday, May 29, 2007
Exact Search feature to obtain what you want on the first page.
A search engine with a new twist. Check out the Exact Search feature to obtain what you want on the first page. This site is also listed for sale on ebay starting May 28, 2007 and lasts for 10 days. Starting bid $1000. Includes ownership of domain name and the intellectual property filed with the USPTO on the Exact Search feature.
More at:http://www.myexactsearch.com/
More at:http://www.myexactsearch.com/
Stock Noise enables you to stay informed about what all the noise is about in the Market today.
Stock Noise enables you to stay informed about what all the noise is about in the Market today. Users generate news stories and are also enabled to start and participate in stock communities. As far as the user generated stories are concerned, any user may submit one if he deems it relevant, and then other users vote for the articles and confirm or unconfirm that is of importance. Stock Noise is the new place for investors to congregate and praise, comment upon, and analyze the symbols they work with all day. All stories are tagged so searching with keywords becomes even easier to find exactly what you are looking for. They also feature the most voted sites on their homepage, as well as published material.
Stock Noise is about user generated news! The Stock Noise community submits and votes on all of their favorite stock related stories.
More at:http://www.stocknoise.net/
Stock Noise is about user generated news! The Stock Noise community submits and votes on all of their favorite stock related stories.
More at:http://www.stocknoise.net/
The Entrepreneur's Tool Kit
When Myra M. Hart, the MBA Class of 1961 Professor of Management Practice, joined the HBS faculty in 1995, she wondered if the increased emphasis on entrepreneurship both on the broadest social level and at HBS in particular had changed the career paths of HBS alumni.
"In the early 1980s, [HBS professor] Howard Stevenson had done a survey of alumni to analyze the career directions they'd followed," Hart told New Business. "He believed that although many viewed HBS as a training ground for Fortune 500 CEOs, it was also a hotbed of entrepreneurship-that many alumni were entrepreneurs. He found that more than 30 percent of alumni called themselves 'self-employed.'" Hart's subsequent research revealed that more than 60 percent of alumni defined themselves as, more specifically, "entrepreneurs," and more than 40 percent were involved in entrepreneurial ventures at various points in their careers. "I got to thinking that it might be useful to talk to alumni who are just at the moment when they're ready to start a business, and I interviewed many of them individually," Hart says. "As I did that, I saw a need for a program that dealt specifically with 'how you do it.'"
Her ideas resonated with then-president of the School's alumni board, Ed Hajim (MBA '64), an accomplished entrepreneur, venture capitalist, and businessman. Hajim felt that such a program was so critical to the needs of alumni that he offered a unique financing option to anyone considering the program: He would provide a significant portion of the fee, and participants would only need to pay it back if they were ultimately successful in their venture. "I'm a big proponent of lifelong learning," Hajim says. "I believe that the educational process doesn't end with graduation-in many ways that's when it begins."
This was the beginning of what would become The Entrepreneur's Tool Kit, an Executive Education program designed specifically for HBS alumni. Geared toward those who have recently launched an entrepreneurial venture, or who are considering doing so in the near future, The Entrepreneur's Tool Kit is an intensive three-and-a-half-day program that provides participants with nuts-and-bolts perspectives on how to get their venture started.
Participants are matched in groups with fellow alumni who are interested in similar industries. They are encouraged to present their business concept to the group, and during formal and informal group meetings they exchange advice. "We tell them that this is their board of directors," Hart says. "They meet with these people every morning. Each person shares the issues he or she is facing, and the group spends 20 or 30 minutes addressing it." Faculty members facilitate these meetings, but they don't tell participants what to do. The strength of the program lies in this community of peers. By discussing the challenges they are trying to overcome, participants learn from each other and teach each other.
In addition to the board of director's meeting, each day's schedule includes case study discussions and information sessions presented by experts on topics such as legal issues for entrepreneurs, angel financing, and business-plan creation. "We deal with really practical stuff," Hart emphasizes. "These people are contemplating a very big commitment, and they have so many questions." Those questions tend to follow a similar pattern: What kind of legal firm do I need? Do I need a lawyer now? How do I protect my intellectual property? How do I go about bringing in partners and arranging compensation? Should I give everybody equity, should I give options? How much working capital should I think about? Should I make my projections conservative or best-guess-should I create four scenarios? "Participants build a network of resources and professional contacts," Hart says, "and they can continue to draw from this long after they complete the program." Hajim adds, "In three-and-a-half days you get the complete 'playbook' for becoming an entrepreneur."
Many of the prospective entrepreneurs have gone on to run successful ventures. Hart estimates that for every 40 individuals who take the program each year, 30 will go on to run a business. ......
"An Interview with Linda Applegate
Lynda M. Applegate, the Henry R. Byers Professor of Business Administration, took over as chair of The Entrepreneur's Tool Kit (ETK) this year. Professor Applegate spoke with New Business about some of the ways in which the program will evolve under her leadership.
New Business: What are some of the new directions in which ETK may be headed?
Professor Applegate: Through the generosity of several alumni, we've gotten funding to create an international version of ETK. We are currently exploring opportunities to create a Latin America program. This will enable us to extend our research on entrepreneurship and building new ventures in very turbulent times to other parts of the world where entrepreneurship is critical to the development of the economy. We'll also learn how entrepreneurship is progressing in various regions, and what some of the issues are that we can take back to the ETK classroom at HBS and our entrepreneurial management curriculum in the MBA Program to provide a better understanding of the diverse implications of global entrepreneurship. Additionally, we'll bring in various academics from universities in Latin America, and after the program, we'll work with them to push forward research on global entrepreneurship and the use of some of the tools that we've been developing in other parts of the world. So this will be an exciting exchange of insights
New Business: I understand ETK will also be expanding its outreach to alumni
Professor Applegate: Yes, we're developing a lifelong learning program through the Alumni Office and HBS Publishing. There's a tremendous amount of excitement about this idea from ETK participants who want to stay in touch with each other and the School.
New Business: In what form might this lifelong learning concept be offered?
Applegate: That's still under discussion. Currently, the ETK participants develop an e-mail list and use it to keep in touch. We are very interested in building on the obvious interest for continuing to share perspectives and insights.
New Business: What has been some of the recent feedback on the Tool Kit?
Applegate: It's a very popular program, and the most recent session was extremely well rated by participants. We're also in the process of surveying alumni who've taken the program, to better understand how it has helped them with their carriers."
More at:http://www.hbs.edu/entrepreneurship/newbusiness/2003fall_2.html
"In the early 1980s, [HBS professor] Howard Stevenson had done a survey of alumni to analyze the career directions they'd followed," Hart told New Business. "He believed that although many viewed HBS as a training ground for Fortune 500 CEOs, it was also a hotbed of entrepreneurship-that many alumni were entrepreneurs. He found that more than 30 percent of alumni called themselves 'self-employed.'" Hart's subsequent research revealed that more than 60 percent of alumni defined themselves as, more specifically, "entrepreneurs," and more than 40 percent were involved in entrepreneurial ventures at various points in their careers. "I got to thinking that it might be useful to talk to alumni who are just at the moment when they're ready to start a business, and I interviewed many of them individually," Hart says. "As I did that, I saw a need for a program that dealt specifically with 'how you do it.'"
Her ideas resonated with then-president of the School's alumni board, Ed Hajim (MBA '64), an accomplished entrepreneur, venture capitalist, and businessman. Hajim felt that such a program was so critical to the needs of alumni that he offered a unique financing option to anyone considering the program: He would provide a significant portion of the fee, and participants would only need to pay it back if they were ultimately successful in their venture. "I'm a big proponent of lifelong learning," Hajim says. "I believe that the educational process doesn't end with graduation-in many ways that's when it begins."
This was the beginning of what would become The Entrepreneur's Tool Kit, an Executive Education program designed specifically for HBS alumni. Geared toward those who have recently launched an entrepreneurial venture, or who are considering doing so in the near future, The Entrepreneur's Tool Kit is an intensive three-and-a-half-day program that provides participants with nuts-and-bolts perspectives on how to get their venture started.
Participants are matched in groups with fellow alumni who are interested in similar industries. They are encouraged to present their business concept to the group, and during formal and informal group meetings they exchange advice. "We tell them that this is their board of directors," Hart says. "They meet with these people every morning. Each person shares the issues he or she is facing, and the group spends 20 or 30 minutes addressing it." Faculty members facilitate these meetings, but they don't tell participants what to do. The strength of the program lies in this community of peers. By discussing the challenges they are trying to overcome, participants learn from each other and teach each other.
In addition to the board of director's meeting, each day's schedule includes case study discussions and information sessions presented by experts on topics such as legal issues for entrepreneurs, angel financing, and business-plan creation. "We deal with really practical stuff," Hart emphasizes. "These people are contemplating a very big commitment, and they have so many questions." Those questions tend to follow a similar pattern: What kind of legal firm do I need? Do I need a lawyer now? How do I protect my intellectual property? How do I go about bringing in partners and arranging compensation? Should I give everybody equity, should I give options? How much working capital should I think about? Should I make my projections conservative or best-guess-should I create four scenarios? "Participants build a network of resources and professional contacts," Hart says, "and they can continue to draw from this long after they complete the program." Hajim adds, "In three-and-a-half days you get the complete 'playbook' for becoming an entrepreneur."
Many of the prospective entrepreneurs have gone on to run successful ventures. Hart estimates that for every 40 individuals who take the program each year, 30 will go on to run a business. ......
"An Interview with Linda Applegate
Lynda M. Applegate, the Henry R. Byers Professor of Business Administration, took over as chair of The Entrepreneur's Tool Kit (ETK) this year. Professor Applegate spoke with New Business about some of the ways in which the program will evolve under her leadership.
New Business: What are some of the new directions in which ETK may be headed?
Professor Applegate: Through the generosity of several alumni, we've gotten funding to create an international version of ETK. We are currently exploring opportunities to create a Latin America program. This will enable us to extend our research on entrepreneurship and building new ventures in very turbulent times to other parts of the world where entrepreneurship is critical to the development of the economy. We'll also learn how entrepreneurship is progressing in various regions, and what some of the issues are that we can take back to the ETK classroom at HBS and our entrepreneurial management curriculum in the MBA Program to provide a better understanding of the diverse implications of global entrepreneurship. Additionally, we'll bring in various academics from universities in Latin America, and after the program, we'll work with them to push forward research on global entrepreneurship and the use of some of the tools that we've been developing in other parts of the world. So this will be an exciting exchange of insights
New Business: I understand ETK will also be expanding its outreach to alumni
Professor Applegate: Yes, we're developing a lifelong learning program through the Alumni Office and HBS Publishing. There's a tremendous amount of excitement about this idea from ETK participants who want to stay in touch with each other and the School.
New Business: In what form might this lifelong learning concept be offered?
Applegate: That's still under discussion. Currently, the ETK participants develop an e-mail list and use it to keep in touch. We are very interested in building on the obvious interest for continuing to share perspectives and insights.
New Business: What has been some of the recent feedback on the Tool Kit?
Applegate: It's a very popular program, and the most recent session was extremely well rated by participants. We're also in the process of surveying alumni who've taken the program, to better understand how it has helped them with their carriers."
More at:http://www.hbs.edu/entrepreneurship/newbusiness/2003fall_2.html
Google Switch Could be Next Big Thing
"According to Nomura phone analyst Richard Windsor, the company has confirmed the project. 'Google has come out of the closet at the CeBIT trade fair admitting that it is working on a mobile phone of its own,' he said in a note. 'This is not going to be a high-end device but a mass market device aimed at bringing Google to users who don't have a PC,'" directtraffic.org reports.
Meanwhile, engadget.com also claims to have new info about the device, which it refers to as the Google Switch. The site even includes what could be a screen image of the phones contact program.
Google corporate, however, continues to neither confirm nor deny the report.
More at:http://www.directtraffic.org/OnlineNews/Google_admits_to_mobile_phone_plan_18094880.html
Meanwhile, engadget.com also claims to have new info about the device, which it refers to as the Google Switch. The site even includes what could be a screen image of the phones contact program.
Google corporate, however, continues to neither confirm nor deny the report.
More at:http://www.directtraffic.org/OnlineNews/Google_admits_to_mobile_phone_plan_18094880.html
Monday, May 28, 2007
Customer Relationship Managment Tool
Relenta is a new CRM (customer relationship management) tool for small business. This hosted (on-demand) software includes email, contact manager, shared calendar, and email newsletter marketing -- all within "one elegant Web 2.0 application." They employ a (now familiar) "Less is more" approach. They call it the "90/10 rule": "Designed for usability and efficiency, Relenta CRM achieves 90 percent of the functionality commonly required by small business users with only 10 percent of the application weight."
Relenta is a winning combination of the power of salesforce.com and simplicity of Highrise from 37signals. It also includes one killer feature that none of us can live without but yet no other CRMs offers -- good old email:
"The majority of sales and customer service work is conducted via email. In case of traditional CRM systems, most of the business knowledge assets are trapped inside email messages within individual user accounts. Relenta CRM solves this problem by associating email history with customer records and making it accessible to all team members."
Relenta extends my website into the sales process by letting me automatically capture leads from webform, and assign them to sequential email followups/autoresponder, like Aweber.com or VerticalResponse.
More at:http://relenta.com/
Relenta is a winning combination of the power of salesforce.com and simplicity of Highrise from 37signals. It also includes one killer feature that none of us can live without but yet no other CRMs offers -- good old email:
"The majority of sales and customer service work is conducted via email. In case of traditional CRM systems, most of the business knowledge assets are trapped inside email messages within individual user accounts. Relenta CRM solves this problem by associating email history with customer records and making it accessible to all team members."
Relenta extends my website into the sales process by letting me automatically capture leads from webform, and assign them to sequential email followups/autoresponder, like Aweber.com or VerticalResponse.
More at:http://relenta.com/
Top Temporary Mailbox services It Will Help You.....
Mailinator is one of the best and top rated disposable email services that gives you a temporary mailbox on the following address format e.g. something@mailinator.com
MyTrashMail is another good temporary mail service that gives you a mailbox in the address format e.g. something@trashymail.com and also gives you secure temporary mailbox if you signup
MailExpire stands out in the crowd by giving you the option to have a temporary inbox ranging from 12 hours expiry to as long as 3 months
TemporaryInbox is yet another simple and easy to use temporary email service that gives you an email address in different formats
MailEater gives you a free temporary email inbox in the format e.g. something@MailEater.com
Jetable not only allows you to set the life span of your temporary email inbox but also allows you to forward the mails in your temporary inbox to your real email address
SpamBox gives you a temporary email address in the format e.g. something@spambox.us and also allows you to set the lifespan of your inbox
GuerillaMail lets you generate a temporary email which expires in a time of 15 minutes and also tell you how to offer a temporary email service on your site.
SpamHole provides you a 2 hour long temporary email inbox at the address format e.g. something@spamhole.com
10MinuteMail generates an easy 10 minute email inbox for your temporary email needs .
More at:http://www.sizlopedia.com/2007/05/27/top-20-temporary-and-disposable-email-services
MyTrashMail is another good temporary mail service that gives you a mailbox in the address format e.g. something@trashymail.com and also gives you secure temporary mailbox if you signup
MailExpire stands out in the crowd by giving you the option to have a temporary inbox ranging from 12 hours expiry to as long as 3 months
TemporaryInbox is yet another simple and easy to use temporary email service that gives you an email address in different formats
MailEater gives you a free temporary email inbox in the format e.g. something@MailEater.com
Jetable not only allows you to set the life span of your temporary email inbox but also allows you to forward the mails in your temporary inbox to your real email address
SpamBox gives you a temporary email address in the format e.g. something@spambox.us and also allows you to set the lifespan of your inbox
GuerillaMail lets you generate a temporary email which expires in a time of 15 minutes and also tell you how to offer a temporary email service on your site.
SpamHole provides you a 2 hour long temporary email inbox at the address format e.g. something@spamhole.com
10MinuteMail generates an easy 10 minute email inbox for your temporary email needs .
More at:http://www.sizlopedia.com/2007/05/27/top-20-temporary-and-disposable-email-services
Resources For Entreprenuers
Two weeks ago, The New York Times published a nice introductory article on how to get started with a small business. Author Barbara Whitaker notes that about ten percent of small businesses fail each year:
Success comes with education, careful planning and adequate cash flow, specialists say. And it has never been easier to lay the groundwork for starting a small business. Many tools are available on the Internet and at libraries to aid aspiring entrepreneurs. Whole magazines are devoted to the subject.
Whitaker’s article lists a number of web-based resources for would-be small business owners, including:
The U.S. Small Business Administration web site
SCORE (the Service Corps of Retired Executives) offers business advice to entrepreneurs.
The Small Business Development Centers provide “management assistance to current and prospective small business owners”. For an example of the assistance available, visit the San Joaquin Delta College SBDC web site.
Work.com offers a variety of how-to guides for running a small busines.
e-Venturing bills itself as “the entrepreneur’s trusted guide to high growth.
For advice about entrepreneurship from others who have been there before, visit StartupNation.
Bplans.com features business plan software and free sample business plans, along with other expert advice.
CCH has an amazing variety of ready-to-use templates and documents, as well as links to official government forms.
The U.S. Library of Congress offers The Entrepreneur’s Reference Guide to Small Business Information.
For more about these resources, and for an extended discussion, please read the entire article.
I’m under the impression that the failure rate for small businesses applies to those with employees. If you follow Andréa’s advice and become a consultant, or if you take the route I’m pursuing and work as a wholly independent freelancer, I think the survivability rates are much higher.
Obviously, this is more information than you’ll need if you’re simply trying to make money from a hobby. But if you have bigger dreams, if you’d like to boost your income by starting your own business, these sites are a good place to begin your research.
[The New York Times: Small Business 101: How to Get Started].
More at:http://www.nytimes.com/glogin?URI=http://gk.nytimes.com/mem/gatekeeper.html&OQ=_rQ3D1Q26URIQ3DhttpQ3AQ2FQ2
Success comes with education, careful planning and adequate cash flow, specialists say. And it has never been easier to lay the groundwork for starting a small business. Many tools are available on the Internet and at libraries to aid aspiring entrepreneurs. Whole magazines are devoted to the subject.
Whitaker’s article lists a number of web-based resources for would-be small business owners, including:
The U.S. Small Business Administration web site
SCORE (the Service Corps of Retired Executives) offers business advice to entrepreneurs.
The Small Business Development Centers provide “management assistance to current and prospective small business owners”. For an example of the assistance available, visit the San Joaquin Delta College SBDC web site.
Work.com offers a variety of how-to guides for running a small busines.
e-Venturing bills itself as “the entrepreneur’s trusted guide to high growth.
For advice about entrepreneurship from others who have been there before, visit StartupNation.
Bplans.com features business plan software and free sample business plans, along with other expert advice.
CCH has an amazing variety of ready-to-use templates and documents, as well as links to official government forms.
The U.S. Library of Congress offers The Entrepreneur’s Reference Guide to Small Business Information.
For more about these resources, and for an extended discussion, please read the entire article.
I’m under the impression that the failure rate for small businesses applies to those with employees. If you follow Andréa’s advice and become a consultant, or if you take the route I’m pursuing and work as a wholly independent freelancer, I think the survivability rates are much higher.
Obviously, this is more information than you’ll need if you’re simply trying to make money from a hobby. But if you have bigger dreams, if you’d like to boost your income by starting your own business, these sites are a good place to begin your research.
[The New York Times: Small Business 101: How to Get Started].
More at:http://www.nytimes.com/glogin?URI=http://gk.nytimes.com/mem/gatekeeper.html&OQ=_rQ3D1Q26URIQ3DhttpQ3AQ2FQ2
Illumio is bringing you all the web information content you care about and delivering it to you quicker than you’d ever imagine
Illumio is bringing you all the web information content you care about and delivering it to you quicker than you’d ever imagine. Stop manually checking your social networking websites, your blogs and other content providers, let illmio update you on all the RSS feeds you belong to, and furthermore, let them discover new content for you that you’ll love. Illumios unique alogorithym for new content discovery and user matching. They search through your documents stored in My Documents, sent emails, contacts from Outlook and Thunderbird, what you have added as favorites, bookmarks, and general browser history. Illumio cares about your privacy, which is why they conduct research all from your PC, so you are protected. You can join communities of others who love the same web content that you love, and initiate a Q&A on any given feed to connect with other subscribers.
“illumio is a new way to stay informed and connected in a web world that is exploding with social networks, blogs, news, and other content. illumio frees you from manually tracking everything you care about on the Web: instead, illumio monitors the feeds you choose and groups you join and delivers to you only what's important to you. Because illumio runs on your PC, illumio can privately determine what information matches your interests and then alert you directly on your desktop.”
More at:http://www.illumio.com/
“illumio is a new way to stay informed and connected in a web world that is exploding with social networks, blogs, news, and other content. illumio frees you from manually tracking everything you care about on the Web: instead, illumio monitors the feeds you choose and groups you join and delivers to you only what's important to you. Because illumio runs on your PC, illumio can privately determine what information matches your interests and then alert you directly on your desktop.”
More at:http://www.illumio.com/
Home Commission
HomeCommission.com is uniquely designed to save both home sellers and buyers sales commission cost when buying or selling their home.
There are two type of auctions sellers and buyers can create:
Listing Commission Auction: Listing Commission auction created by sellers invites real estate agents to bid the lowest listing commission on the sale of their home. Lowest bidder wins, and is able to contact sellers to get their business.
* Cash Back Auction: Cash Back auction created by buyers invites real estate agents to bid the maximum cash back on the commission from the sales transaction of their new home. Highest bidder wins with this type of auction.
More at:http://www.homecommission.com/
There are two type of auctions sellers and buyers can create:
Listing Commission Auction: Listing Commission auction created by sellers invites real estate agents to bid the lowest listing commission on the sale of their home. Lowest bidder wins, and is able to contact sellers to get their business.
* Cash Back Auction: Cash Back auction created by buyers invites real estate agents to bid the maximum cash back on the commission from the sales transaction of their new home. Highest bidder wins with this type of auction.
More at:http://www.homecommission.com/
Sunday, May 27, 2007
Make Money With Pet Parties
Linda Franzblau began the party as she always did: by introducing herself to the guests; telling them about Petlane and its products for dogs, cats and birds; and talking about her own dog, Rocket, and her cats, Dot and Dash. Then she came to the point where every party differs--meeting the guests and learning about their needs. She asked each of them to introduce themselves and talk about their pets. A woman named Katy mentioned she had an older dog that she used to walk at night, but she couldn't anymore because the dog's eyesight was failing. Franzblau instantly knew how to help. As she handed out catalogs and order forms to customers, Franzblau took a moment to point Katy toward one of Petlane's newer products, the Pet Lamp, which attaches around a dog's neck and acts as a headlight. Katy's reaction? "She said, ‘It sounds wonderful; it looks wonderful. Sign me up,'" says Franzblau.
Her passion for helping pets like Katy's dog is the reason Franzblau, 53, decided to become a Petlane pet advisor in February 2006. She tries to help customers by not only finding products to fill each pet's needs, but also educating their owners on better pet care through the discussions and games at her parties. And Franzblau may be making money as the expert at her parties, but she's also receiving a valuable education. "Every day, I'm learning different things to make my pets' lives healthier," she says.
The Petlane business also allows Franzblau to mentor other entrepreneurs as she adds new pet advisors across the country to her sales team. She encourages and educates her team by having a group phone call each week and holding monthly training sessions online. Franzblau and her team also educate themselves through Petlane's annual conventions and its book clubs, in which they read a new book each month that's pertinent to their business.
While her Petlane business fulfills many of her passions, Franzblau also had practical motivations for getting started. She had just been laid off from her job in marketing and product development and needed a way to support herself and her daughter. Luckily, she has found that her passion and her pocketbook can go hand in hand, especially when that passion is part of a $38 billion pet industry in the U.S. She expects to easily make six figures in the next two years, all while doing what she loves.
More at:http://www.petlane.com/
Her passion for helping pets like Katy's dog is the reason Franzblau, 53, decided to become a Petlane pet advisor in February 2006. She tries to help customers by not only finding products to fill each pet's needs, but also educating their owners on better pet care through the discussions and games at her parties. And Franzblau may be making money as the expert at her parties, but she's also receiving a valuable education. "Every day, I'm learning different things to make my pets' lives healthier," she says.
The Petlane business also allows Franzblau to mentor other entrepreneurs as she adds new pet advisors across the country to her sales team. She encourages and educates her team by having a group phone call each week and holding monthly training sessions online. Franzblau and her team also educate themselves through Petlane's annual conventions and its book clubs, in which they read a new book each month that's pertinent to their business.
While her Petlane business fulfills many of her passions, Franzblau also had practical motivations for getting started. She had just been laid off from her job in marketing and product development and needed a way to support herself and her daughter. Luckily, she has found that her passion and her pocketbook can go hand in hand, especially when that passion is part of a $38 billion pet industry in the U.S. She expects to easily make six figures in the next two years, all while doing what she loves.
More at:http://www.petlane.com/
Creative marketing goes a long way when you are an entrepreneur
Creative marketing goes a long way when you are an entrepreneur.
Take Jim Kukral. He is one of the most creative people I know in the online world. He’s always coming up with new ideas for getting attention online. The fact that I consider him a friend and he’s located here in the Cleveland, Ohio area makes it all the better. Who says everything innovative has to happen on the coasts, right?
I watch with interest whenever Jim launches a new site (he has 80 websites). For instance, he started Awesome Million, an entertaining little diversion where you can create a page for someone awesome. Then there’s something a tad more businesslike, called Ask the Blogger. There you can ask him a question about blogs for business and he’ll give you advice.
But his latest site is interesting in yet another way. It is called: I Pay Too Much for Hosting.
So I asked Jim about it. In a recent email exchange, this is what Jim told me:
Question: Jim, why did you start IPayTooMuchforHosting.com?
Jim Kukral: Rackspace came to me to test out being a preferred partner. They wanted to see how a marketer could take their product and spread it around and see if it could generate business. I said sure, but I wanted to do it creatively.
Being a customer of Rackspace for years already, I was already passionate about the service. You could say I’m their biggest fan already, so taking on this project was easy to accept, and fun.
Question: What does the name really mean?
Jim Kukral: I came up with the name because it’s true.
I pay too much for hosting — but it’s worth it.
Rackspace is for people who don’t want hosting problems, ever. It’s the Bentley of web hosts. It solves problems for you by not giving you problems.
So I figured, why not tell people how much I pay for hosting and tell them why.
Question: I know you’re an expert in affiliate marketing — but this seems to go beyond typical affiliate marketing. It’s almost as if you’re becoming a customer evangelist.
Jim Kukral: That’s exactly what I have become. Rackspace realizes that small businesses are a great target for them, and they’re taking a unique approach to marketing by asking their biggest fans (me) to go out and become customer evangelists for them and giving us tools to help spread the word. I know for a fact that the CEO of Rackspace has personally reviewed my efforts so far. They get it. Sometimes in order to sell to your target audience, you have to let your target audience talk to each other and let them sell for you.
Plus, with this exclusive 15% off discount they’ve given me, I’m able to offer small businesses the incentive to at least get a free estimate.
Question: I notice that a big part of the site is your custom video message, which lets your personality come out (not to mention being where I learned you have 80 websites!).
Jim Kukral: Yes, I’m using video in my site to help convince people. Not a lot of marketers are using video yet. I’m finding that by using a personal video message I’m able to help people understand more about me and the offer. It’s natural — more like a conversation where someone would tell you why they’re recommending a product. I suggest video for more small businesses.
Check out Jim’s latest creative endeavor: I Pay Too Much for Hosting
More at:http://www.smallbiztrends.com/
Take Jim Kukral. He is one of the most creative people I know in the online world. He’s always coming up with new ideas for getting attention online. The fact that I consider him a friend and he’s located here in the Cleveland, Ohio area makes it all the better. Who says everything innovative has to happen on the coasts, right?
I watch with interest whenever Jim launches a new site (he has 80 websites). For instance, he started Awesome Million, an entertaining little diversion where you can create a page for someone awesome. Then there’s something a tad more businesslike, called Ask the Blogger. There you can ask him a question about blogs for business and he’ll give you advice.
But his latest site is interesting in yet another way. It is called: I Pay Too Much for Hosting.
So I asked Jim about it. In a recent email exchange, this is what Jim told me:
Question: Jim, why did you start IPayTooMuchforHosting.com?
Jim Kukral: Rackspace came to me to test out being a preferred partner. They wanted to see how a marketer could take their product and spread it around and see if it could generate business. I said sure, but I wanted to do it creatively.
Being a customer of Rackspace for years already, I was already passionate about the service. You could say I’m their biggest fan already, so taking on this project was easy to accept, and fun.
Question: What does the name really mean?
Jim Kukral: I came up with the name because it’s true.
I pay too much for hosting — but it’s worth it.
Rackspace is for people who don’t want hosting problems, ever. It’s the Bentley of web hosts. It solves problems for you by not giving you problems.
So I figured, why not tell people how much I pay for hosting and tell them why.
Question: I know you’re an expert in affiliate marketing — but this seems to go beyond typical affiliate marketing. It’s almost as if you’re becoming a customer evangelist.
Jim Kukral: That’s exactly what I have become. Rackspace realizes that small businesses are a great target for them, and they’re taking a unique approach to marketing by asking their biggest fans (me) to go out and become customer evangelists for them and giving us tools to help spread the word. I know for a fact that the CEO of Rackspace has personally reviewed my efforts so far. They get it. Sometimes in order to sell to your target audience, you have to let your target audience talk to each other and let them sell for you.
Plus, with this exclusive 15% off discount they’ve given me, I’m able to offer small businesses the incentive to at least get a free estimate.
Question: I notice that a big part of the site is your custom video message, which lets your personality come out (not to mention being where I learned you have 80 websites!).
Jim Kukral: Yes, I’m using video in my site to help convince people. Not a lot of marketers are using video yet. I’m finding that by using a personal video message I’m able to help people understand more about me and the offer. It’s natural — more like a conversation where someone would tell you why they’re recommending a product. I suggest video for more small businesses.
Check out Jim’s latest creative endeavor: I Pay Too Much for Hosting
More at:http://www.smallbiztrends.com/
Make Money Through Selling Imported Games Via Direct Marketing
After working in product development and marketing for a game company, Gail DeGiulio, 49, started a consulting business to help early stage companies. Through this business, she met Matt Molen and Jeremy Young, 33 and 35, respectively, who were importing European games into the U.S. and translating them into English, but were struggling to get their products into stores. Then DeGiulio approached them with the idea of using direct sales to sell games, and it clicked instantly. "On the retail shelf, regardless of what your product line is, you're competing against a bunch of other boxes," says DeGiulio. "We knew this was a product line that would benefit from being experienced in someone's home."
Though the trio thought they had a great idea, they took their time making sure they were right. They spent the beginning of 2004 researching the direct-sales industry by hiring an industry expert, attending other companies' parties and making sure they could make money for both their company and their consultants. "If you can't figure out a compensation model that works to make it worthwhile for the consultants," says Molen, "you shouldn't be in direct selling." Then, starting in summer 2004, the three partners spent six months holding parties in their homes and at their office, testing prototypes of their games, figuring out how the parties should work and making sure people would want to come back for more. Finally, in January 2005, they felt confident enough in their products and their plan to begin offering a direct-sales opportunity.
Now Bellevue, Washington-based SimplyFun offers its own line of games, puzzles, puppets and other family activities. The exclusivity of the products is essential to direct-sales success, according to Molen and DeGiulio, because the products don't have to compete with any others and the consultants don't have to compete with retail stores. "We want to make it easy for the consultants to be successful," says DeGiulio. To that end, they provide training in person, online, by video and through conference calls; choose not to charge their consultants for their website or require them to keep any inventory; and offer incentives to encourage their consultants to reach certain goals.
More at:http://simplyfun.com/
Though the trio thought they had a great idea, they took their time making sure they were right. They spent the beginning of 2004 researching the direct-sales industry by hiring an industry expert, attending other companies' parties and making sure they could make money for both their company and their consultants. "If you can't figure out a compensation model that works to make it worthwhile for the consultants," says Molen, "you shouldn't be in direct selling." Then, starting in summer 2004, the three partners spent six months holding parties in their homes and at their office, testing prototypes of their games, figuring out how the parties should work and making sure people would want to come back for more. Finally, in January 2005, they felt confident enough in their products and their plan to begin offering a direct-sales opportunity.
Now Bellevue, Washington-based SimplyFun offers its own line of games, puzzles, puppets and other family activities. The exclusivity of the products is essential to direct-sales success, according to Molen and DeGiulio, because the products don't have to compete with any others and the consultants don't have to compete with retail stores. "We want to make it easy for the consultants to be successful," says DeGiulio. To that end, they provide training in person, online, by video and through conference calls; choose not to charge their consultants for their website or require them to keep any inventory; and offer incentives to encourage their consultants to reach certain goals.
More at:http://simplyfun.com/
Multichannel Ads Exchange Network
ADS-click is describing themselves as “innovative and disruptive.” Though, I completely agree that they are innovating, I can only surmise that they are disrupting your “regularly scheduled programming” with unintrusive ad campaigns. Actually, most of what ADS-click has to offer are voluntary skype-me buttons (both SKY-Click and SKIPI) which combine costumer service and voIP. They also offer advertiseing on two levels, white label and publishing. White label enables you to harness advanced contextual and search sponsored links inclusive backoffine and adsever capabilities. On the other hand, Publisher offers traditional text-based ad links. SKY-click is a voIP services which integrates with your SKYPE, allowing users to click the button so that your company may call them back. Likewise, there is also a few button which you can utilize on you site, your blog and in your email which allows users to initiate voIP straight from your site.
“ADS-click is an innovative and disruptive company developing technologies that unite online advertising and voice over IP.
By integrating voice with advertising, ADS-click has found a customer base all around the world. ADS-click supplies services to large media groups, small and medium sized companies and individuals who wish to monetize their editorial content and knowledge. The company's search and contextual advertising technology is used by major Internet players in Europe, Japan and Australia and serves over 3 billion pages views per month.”
more ; http://www.ads-click.com/
“ADS-click is an innovative and disruptive company developing technologies that unite online advertising and voice over IP.
By integrating voice with advertising, ADS-click has found a customer base all around the world. ADS-click supplies services to large media groups, small and medium sized companies and individuals who wish to monetize their editorial content and knowledge. The company's search and contextual advertising technology is used by major Internet players in Europe, Japan and Australia and serves over 3 billion pages views per month.”
more ; http://www.ads-click.com/
With Monetize Media, you will now be able to host videos f ree of charge, and then generate revenue through subscriptions
Don´t let YouTube and Brightcove be the only ones monetizing off the videos you create! With Monetize Media, you will now be able to host videos (and likewise, channels) free of charge, and then generate revenue through subscriptions, advertising, downloads, and syndication. The ad rolls are focused on the target audience, meaning they work in context with the video they are viewing. Monetize Media promises that monetizing your videos is as easy as drag, drop and monetize, so you will be receiving complete end-to-end solution, including encoding, customization, deliver and payment. This way, you will get your content to market even faster. You can elect a few different business models, PPV, Subscription or Free with Targeted Ads, and all of your content will be protected with DRM.
“Monetize Media, Inc. is a dynamic and rapidly growing technology solution provider for the digital media. We provide complete end to end solution for the media, entertainment and enterprise customers. We help our clients to create, manage, market and monetize media, direct-to-consumers by delivering world class broadband online services.
more ;http://www.monetizemedia.com/
“Monetize Media, Inc. is a dynamic and rapidly growing technology solution provider for the digital media. We provide complete end to end solution for the media, entertainment and enterprise customers. We help our clients to create, manage, market and monetize media, direct-to-consumers by delivering world class broadband online services.
more ;http://www.monetizemedia.com/
Design your own T-shirt and sell it directly from your websites via our widget
Tshirt Takeaway is the new way to create tshirts and then get your design out on the market. You can sell your tshirts directly from your websites, blogs, and popular social networking sites, including MySpace, Piczo, Hi5, and others via a widget you can embed. Likewise, you can browse and shop for tshirts on the site featured in their online store. If you like a tshirt design, you can even grab their widget and place it on your site! You have some customization features for your tee, all the standard font, size, color and alignment, upload photos, and various tshirt types. Tshirt Takeaway will handle all of the payment and shipping, you can negotiate how much commission you will take.
“Design your own T-shirt and sell it directly from your websites via our widget. We handle the payments, make the T-shirts and send them to your customers. You decide how much commission you earn, come back and collect it.
More at:http://www.tshirttakeaway.com/
“Design your own T-shirt and sell it directly from your websites via our widget. We handle the payments, make the T-shirts and send them to your customers. You decide how much commission you earn, come back and collect it.
More at:http://www.tshirttakeaway.com/
Saturday, May 26, 2007
Photobucket
Photobucket, founded in 2003 by Alex Welch and Darren Crystal, is an image hosting, video hosting, slideshow creation and photo-sharing site. VCs including Insight Venture Partners and Trinity Ventures funded the company.
According to comScore, January 2007 report, Photobucket has 17.6 million unique monthly visitors in the U.S. and over 27 Million unique monthly visitors worldwide. The site has over 40 million registered users. According to Reuters, Murdoch's Newscorp (owner of MySpace), is all set to acquire Photobucket for an estimated price of $250 million. Photobucket, with close to 3 billion photos, is the # 1 photo site in the world.
More at:http://photobucket.com/
According to comScore, January 2007 report, Photobucket has 17.6 million unique monthly visitors in the U.S. and over 27 Million unique monthly visitors worldwide. The site has over 40 million registered users. According to Reuters, Murdoch's Newscorp (owner of MySpace), is all set to acquire Photobucket for an estimated price of $250 million. Photobucket, with close to 3 billion photos, is the # 1 photo site in the world.
More at:http://photobucket.com/
CoRank
When CoRank launched in March it was a social news ranking site (like Digg) that filtered news based on your sources -- people whose opinion you value. Or, as CoRank founder Rogelio Bernal Andreo told us, it was "yet another boring bookmarking site." Today, the site relaunched with a new focus: allowing users to create their own, branded social news and bookmarking site based on CoRank's technology using a set of simple online tools.
Rogelio, who is also the founder of eGrupos, one of the largest Spanish-speaking social networks on the web, said that a trial run of the new CoRank on the Spanish version revealed some demand for this type of build-your-own-digg service (Rumoreame is an example of a customized CoRank running on the Spanish language version that is getting some use).
More at:http://www.corank.com/
Rogelio, who is also the founder of eGrupos, one of the largest Spanish-speaking social networks on the web, said that a trial run of the new CoRank on the Spanish version revealed some demand for this type of build-your-own-digg service (Rumoreame is an example of a customized CoRank running on the Spanish language version that is getting some use).
More at:http://www.corank.com/
Fly In 10$
Europeans have become used to flights for under 10 euros or British pounds, thanks to RyanAir and EasyJet, which use secondary and tertiary airports, and which provide barebones operations. Will a new airline do the same for the USA?
Skybus, which is launching its inaugural flights this week from Columbus, Ohio, to other secondary airports near major markets, such as Portsmouth, N.H. (near Boston), and Burbank, Calif. (near L.A.), says it is setting aside a minimum of 10 seats available for $10 on every flight (not including taxes and fees of up to $7.90, and the 9/11 security fee of $2.50). Reports are that it has sold 200,000 pre-flight tickets.
More at:http://soundmoneytips.com/article/36149
Skybus, which is launching its inaugural flights this week from Columbus, Ohio, to other secondary airports near major markets, such as Portsmouth, N.H. (near Boston), and Burbank, Calif. (near L.A.), says it is setting aside a minimum of 10 seats available for $10 on every flight (not including taxes and fees of up to $7.90, and the 9/11 security fee of $2.50). Reports are that it has sold 200,000 pre-flight tickets.
More at:http://soundmoneytips.com/article/36149
How They Become Entreprenuer....
Dappen, 39, was attracted to Two Sisters Gourmet in particular because of the unique way the business is run. At her in-home parties, instead of simply talking about the company's gourmet food products and passing around samples, she holds interactive cooking classes in which guests prepare various dishes using Two Sisters Gourmet ingredients. "People go to home parties so they can socialize," she points out, and getting together in the kitchen allows for just that. Home parties have the added benefit of showing the guests exactly how the Two Sisters Gourmet products can be used--and that anyone is capable of using them.
Though she knew she would enjoy it, Dappen did not have big plans for her Two Sisters Gourmet business. As a stay-at-home mom, she was simply looking for a way to make ends meet when she had fewer clients from her telecommunications consulting job, and she thought the parties would be a way to earn an extra $500 a month. She hadn't considered the other side of the business, though: sponsoring new consultants. A year after becoming the company's first consultant in upstate New York, Dappen now has 61 people in her downline, which has boosted her expectations for how much she can earn. Says Dappen, "I have every intention for this to be a six-figure income for me in a year."
Now that she sees her business's great potential, she's found creative ways to attract new customers and new consultants. She wears her Two Sisters Gourmet name tag wherever she goes so people will ask her what it is, and she has helped a variety of organizations with Two Sisters Gourmet fundraisers. After her team met its sales and recruitment goals last November, the corporate office sent celebrity chef Jon Ashton to host a cooking show in Dappen's hometown of Webster, New York. The event attracted attention from TV networks and the local newspaper.
Dappen's direct-selling business has greatly exceeded her original expectations and given her a chance to have a taste of her catering dream, all while allowing her to concentrate on what she feels is most important. "I'm able to work my business around my family, not my family around my business," she says. "That's what I enjoy most."
More at:http://www.twosistersgourmet.com/
Though she knew she would enjoy it, Dappen did not have big plans for her Two Sisters Gourmet business. As a stay-at-home mom, she was simply looking for a way to make ends meet when she had fewer clients from her telecommunications consulting job, and she thought the parties would be a way to earn an extra $500 a month. She hadn't considered the other side of the business, though: sponsoring new consultants. A year after becoming the company's first consultant in upstate New York, Dappen now has 61 people in her downline, which has boosted her expectations for how much she can earn. Says Dappen, "I have every intention for this to be a six-figure income for me in a year."
Now that she sees her business's great potential, she's found creative ways to attract new customers and new consultants. She wears her Two Sisters Gourmet name tag wherever she goes so people will ask her what it is, and she has helped a variety of organizations with Two Sisters Gourmet fundraisers. After her team met its sales and recruitment goals last November, the corporate office sent celebrity chef Jon Ashton to host a cooking show in Dappen's hometown of Webster, New York. The event attracted attention from TV networks and the local newspaper.
Dappen's direct-selling business has greatly exceeded her original expectations and given her a chance to have a taste of her catering dream, all while allowing her to concentrate on what she feels is most important. "I'm able to work my business around my family, not my family around my business," she says. "That's what I enjoy most."
More at:http://www.twosistersgourmet.com/
Unype.com is an application that allows users to navigate images of cities, taken from Google Earth
Now you can tour the virtual world with your friends. Unype.com is an application that allows users to navigate images of cities, taken from Google Earth, as an animated character. The application, combined with the animated navigation function, links with Skype, enabling users to talk to other people using Unype. Therefore, users can walk the streets of Paris together, or stop and take a look at the Grand Canyon. Users can find out where their friends are located, and immediately be brought to there location, either as a follower of their movements, or as a leader. They also have the ability to see everyone using Unype at that moment, and can transport to a new persons location, and see if they would like to talk together on Skype. Best of all the application is free.
“Use your existing Skype account for a multi-user Google Earth experience.”
More at:http://www.unype.com/
“Use your existing Skype account for a multi-user Google Earth experience.”
More at:http://www.unype.com/
Share Your World With TileFile.com
Are you tired of having to distinguish between a video, picture, and audio file when saving to your computer, or while organizing flies and folders? With TileFile you can combine all the pictures, videos and audio files into one folder, in the order you want. Users have access to all their files online in their account. It allows the user to create a digital postcard of a file/clip. For example, you can take a video clip from your files, write information on the virtual back of the clip for all to see, and share the clip with another user, who can also see what you wrote on the back and add comments. The files you create can be private, shared, or public; whereas, if they are public, any user can take a copy of your file and place it in their file, website, or blog. There is no download or software required, and the application is free. All user accounts can be accessed from any computer.
“TileFile.com is the home base from which you create and share "TileFiles". TileFiles are much more beautiful and social than emails, but just as easy to manage. Think of TileFiles as the "Postcards of the Internet". They can be private, shared, or public. This is a much richer way of sharing your photos, videos and animations (including Flash). You can mix your own TileFiles with TileFiles from another people and then share that mixture. You can take TileFiles from someone elses mixture and include them in your own. You can also publish TileFiles on web pages, blogs, and in your favorite communities. Instead of an old fashioned website of forms and links, we've designed TileFile to feel more like a desktop application. However you don't need to download any software, which means you can log in from anywhere. The way TileFile brings you and your friends together is simple and colorful. It may change the way you "Share Your World™".”
More at:http://www.tilefile.com/
“TileFile.com is the home base from which you create and share "TileFiles". TileFiles are much more beautiful and social than emails, but just as easy to manage. Think of TileFiles as the "Postcards of the Internet". They can be private, shared, or public. This is a much richer way of sharing your photos, videos and animations (including Flash). You can mix your own TileFiles with TileFiles from another people and then share that mixture. You can take TileFiles from someone elses mixture and include them in your own. You can also publish TileFiles on web pages, blogs, and in your favorite communities. Instead of an old fashioned website of forms and links, we've designed TileFile to feel more like a desktop application. However you don't need to download any software, which means you can log in from anywhere. The way TileFile brings you and your friends together is simple and colorful. It may change the way you "Share Your World™".”
More at:http://www.tilefile.com/
All IT Jobs At One Place
Odin Jobs is about cutting out all the time you spend looking at the hundreds of job boards around the net, letting you access a great number of posting from one portal. Odin aggregates job postings from over 1000 sources daily to maximize you job hunting experience, saving you time as you will be viewing over 20,000 jobs a day. You are also garunteed that you won’t be viewing any spam or irrelevant jobs, given that Odin has developed a processor that evaluates fitness in terms of your feild, looking at language among other factors. This also means you won´t be using keywords, Odin’s “artificial intelligence” will sort it out for you.
“Odin collects jobs from job boards, corporate websites, groups etc. At last count Odin is collecting over 20,000 jobs from 1000 of sources every day.
To fulfill the key part of our mission - get the "Right" It job, Odin features a matching technology that sifts through all the jobs and selects the right ones based on your qualification, experience and preference.
Instead of using keywords and displaying 1000's of weak to irrelevant jobs, Odin employs language processing and artificial intelligence to determine the fitness of a job for you and shows you only the right ones.
We want you to find the right IT job. We want to make your search easier and faster and more relevant.”
More at:http://www.odinjobs.com/
“Odin collects jobs from job boards, corporate websites, groups etc. At last count Odin is collecting over 20,000 jobs from 1000 of sources every day.
To fulfill the key part of our mission - get the "Right" It job, Odin features a matching technology that sifts through all the jobs and selects the right ones based on your qualification, experience and preference.
Instead of using keywords and displaying 1000's of weak to irrelevant jobs, Odin employs language processing and artificial intelligence to determine the fitness of a job for you and shows you only the right ones.
We want you to find the right IT job. We want to make your search easier and faster and more relevant.”
More at:http://www.odinjobs.com/
Friday, May 25, 2007
Retailmenot
Collaborative system for finding, sharing and ranking coupon codes for online stores.
Users can get easy discounts with over 25,000 coupon codes and growing.
Also features an OSX Widget and Firefox extension.
More at:http://www.retailmenot.com/
Users can get easy discounts with over 25,000 coupon codes and growing.
Also features an OSX Widget and Firefox extension.
More at:http://www.retailmenot.com/
Ideas On Business
Many of us consult mentors and business coaches and most of us keep journals. All of us bounce ideas off of friends and collegues. This is an experiment in combining all of those actions together in one place.
The purpose of this community is to bring together a group of people who want to see their business ideas turn into something real, a success. By collaborating with friends and peers and writing about our successes and failures at each step of the way, we can create a means...
More at:http://ideasonbusiness.com/default.aspx
The purpose of this community is to bring together a group of people who want to see their business ideas turn into something real, a success. By collaborating with friends and peers and writing about our successes and failures at each step of the way, we can create a means...
More at:http://ideasonbusiness.com/default.aspx
Zipingo is the online place to find the cream of the crop in terms of local businesses.
Zipingo is the online place to find the cream of the crop in terms of local businesses. Search reviews to find the best local resturaunts, even colleges and universities. Imagine this as your online guidebook to the best places in your neighborhood, or better yet when you go outside of your comfort zone and travel. Find out what others have to say before you decide to settle at an italian resturaunt, read reviews on a cleaning service before you hire. Zipingo was created by a team of Intuit employees, yes, formerly those who worked on your Turbo Tax! May be completely unrelated, but these people know that your daily decisions affeft your finances in a big way, and thus should be fully informed before deciding to purchase or use a service.
In their own words:
“You may be wondering why Intuit, a company known for financial software since the mid 80s, would create something like Zipingo. Well, you're not alone. We’re asked the same question by our co-workers – along with “how’d you come up with that name?”
The connection is not immediately apparent, though the explanation is simple. Intuit was founded and operates on a core principle — watch what people do in their everyday lives and help them do it better. That's why we come to work everyday. It's amazing how much of what people do daily affects their finances.
The Zipingo team is an entrepreneurial bunch of Intuit employees who has come together to solve problems for both consumers and small businesses.
More at:http://www.zipingo.com/portal/home.psml
In their own words:
“You may be wondering why Intuit, a company known for financial software since the mid 80s, would create something like Zipingo. Well, you're not alone. We’re asked the same question by our co-workers – along with “how’d you come up with that name?”
The connection is not immediately apparent, though the explanation is simple. Intuit was founded and operates on a core principle — watch what people do in their everyday lives and help them do it better. That's why we come to work everyday. It's amazing how much of what people do daily affects their finances.
The Zipingo team is an entrepreneurial bunch of Intuit employees who has come together to solve problems for both consumers and small businesses.
More at:http://www.zipingo.com/portal/home.psml
SimplifyThis.com is an intuitive, web-based application that lets you easily invoice your clients and get paid faster online.
SimplifyThis.com is an intuitive, web-based application that lets you easily invoice your clients and get paid faster online. It’s specifically designed for freelancers, small businesses, independent professionals, and service providers who want to free themselves from complex accounting software, so there will be no more forgotten invoices, no software to install and no help manuals to read. Best of all, since SimplifyThis.com is a web-based application, you can use it from home, from the library, or from any other computer on the internet.
Key Features
* Intuitive and easy to use
* Customizable to your business
* Send invoices using email * Accept payments online
* Track payments
* Record one-time and recurring charges
The application is currently FREE as a trial.
More at:http://www.simplifythis.com/
Key Features
* Intuitive and easy to use
* Customizable to your business
* Send invoices using email * Accept payments online
* Track payments
* Record one-time and recurring charges
The application is currently FREE as a trial.
More at:http://www.simplifythis.com/
Xurrency is a new tool 2.0 that allows you to convert currency online and offers you the exchange rate information
Xurrency allows you to convert currency online with web 2.0 style. If you want to keep up to date on what the latest rates are, you can even subscribe to the various feeds. You can get the rates for a currency based on one of it, or in the inverse. You can do specific exchanges from the homepage or using the correct syntax URL. It’s all free, unless you are planning on use it for commercial purposes. Currently there are 42 different country currencies available, and that number will increase with time. So if you want to check what the latest exchange rates are before you travel or while you’re abroad, go to Xurrency and make the quick conversion.
“Xurrency is a new tool 2.0 that allows you to convert currency online and offers you the exchange rate information.”
It’s an easy and attractive way to find out currency conversions. RSS feeds of currency exchanges are a unique thing that people will find useful to keep up to date with money trends if they work internationally.
More at:http://xurrency.com/
“Xurrency is a new tool 2.0 that allows you to convert currency online and offers you the exchange rate information.”
It’s an easy and attractive way to find out currency conversions. RSS feeds of currency exchanges are a unique thing that people will find useful to keep up to date with money trends if they work internationally.
More at:http://xurrency.com/
Primofeed is a feed service that enables bloggers and content owners to monetize their web site.
People make a living from writing a blog. This service helps make that happen. Primofeed is a feed service that enables bloggers and content owners to monetize their web site. The site serves all major blog hosting companies, and all the blogger has to do is sign up as a PrimoFeed publisher, insert their ad code widget onto your blog, Primofeed runs targeted ads, and you get commissions when users buy their products. Now, what was not clear from reading the site was whether you only get a commission when an actual purchase is made from a reader of your blog (how do they track that?), or if you get a commission if someone clicks on their advertisement. They need to be more clear and upfront about that. Otherwise, if you are a regular blogger with a high traffic volume, take advantage of that and make blogging your career or at least a nice source of supplemental income.
As They say:
PrimoFeed enables you to monetize from your web site by displaying relevant products ads. It's a new advertising model approach by delivering ads in a form of a unique badge. This rich delivery system enhances click through rates and the bottom line impact of your web site's revenue earning potential.
More at:http://primofeed.com/
As They say:
PrimoFeed enables you to monetize from your web site by displaying relevant products ads. It's a new advertising model approach by delivering ads in a form of a unique badge. This rich delivery system enhances click through rates and the bottom line impact of your web site's revenue earning potential.
More at:http://primofeed.com/
Thursday, May 24, 2007
For Playing Game In Virtual World
Runescape is an extremely popular 3D online role playing game serving more than one million subscribers. The game serves people all over the world, but their core audience is in english-speaking countries. The game itself allows people to sign up (for free) and control a character. They then meet other characters in this virtual world and can choose to develop their character's skills and power during their "quests". Admittedly, this whole game world is foreign to me.
More at:http://www.runescape.com/
More at:http://www.runescape.com/
Cost Per Action It Will Multiply Your Earning As You Never Thought Off
CPA stands for “cost per action”. While most affiliate networks pay only for purchases and AdSense pays per clicks, CPA networks pay per “action”. An action may be a filled out form, an e-mail registration, a request for a brochure, a phone number, etc. My average pay out is anywhere between $1.45-$8.00 per such an action.
Here is a real example how Copeac works. Click this link http://affiliates.copeac.com/sw/9248/3291/
and you'll be taken to Shawn's Casey website. Shawn is giving away free internet marketing software. All he wants in exchange is your name and e-mail. Every time a person fills out an e-mail from, I get $1.30. As simple as that.
It's important to not that you can not (under any conditions) artificially inflate the number of opt-ins, but it's not necessary. Every time I run an article about Shawn I get about 50 dollars. People are all too happy to exchange their e-mail addresses for free software. Especially since my blog caters to the right crowd.
Some offers pay as high as $20 per lead. For exmaple this one. The high-paying offers are usually very specific (this one deals with military personnel only) and geotargeted to US only (some offers are exclusive to UK or Canada). All international traffic in this instance is re-routed.
But the best thing about CPA networks is that you can make MUCH MORE money not from your webiste, but from AdWords ads. My current ROI on Copeac ads that I run on Google is anywhere between 300% and 800% (it means for every dollar I spend on AdWords I get 3-8 bucks from Copeac). If you are interested in knowing more about that side of the business, make sure you drop me a line after your register with Copeac - there are a lot of little tips and tricks I'd like to share.
More at:https://affiliates.copeac.com/affiliate_signup.html?super_affiliate_code=3291
Here is a real example how Copeac works. Click this link http://affiliates.copeac.com/sw/9248/3291/
and you'll be taken to Shawn's Casey website. Shawn is giving away free internet marketing software. All he wants in exchange is your name and e-mail. Every time a person fills out an e-mail from, I get $1.30. As simple as that.
It's important to not that you can not (under any conditions) artificially inflate the number of opt-ins, but it's not necessary. Every time I run an article about Shawn I get about 50 dollars. People are all too happy to exchange their e-mail addresses for free software. Especially since my blog caters to the right crowd.
Some offers pay as high as $20 per lead. For exmaple this one. The high-paying offers are usually very specific (this one deals with military personnel only) and geotargeted to US only (some offers are exclusive to UK or Canada). All international traffic in this instance is re-routed.
But the best thing about CPA networks is that you can make MUCH MORE money not from your webiste, but from AdWords ads. My current ROI on Copeac ads that I run on Google is anywhere between 300% and 800% (it means for every dollar I spend on AdWords I get 3-8 bucks from Copeac). If you are interested in knowing more about that side of the business, make sure you drop me a line after your register with Copeac - there are a lot of little tips and tricks I'd like to share.
More at:https://affiliates.copeac.com/affiliate_signup.html?super_affiliate_code=3291
Get Things Done.
Vitalist is a web application designed to help people manage what they need to get done. It has been designed to work closely with the "Getting Things Done" methodology.
Vitalist offers web and mobile access. Free accounts are not limited any certain number of projects or actions. Premium acounts are $5 per month and include file attachments, sharing , and ssl security.
Vitalist is perfect for anyone needing to Get Things Done. Easily organize actions and projects on...
More at:http://www.vitalist.com/
Vitalist offers web and mobile access. Free accounts are not limited any certain number of projects or actions. Premium acounts are $5 per month and include file attachments, sharing , and ssl security.
Vitalist is perfect for anyone needing to Get Things Done. Easily organize actions and projects on...
More at:http://www.vitalist.com/
Messenger Aggregator
Pidgin is an instant messaging aggregator for Windows, Linux, BSD, and other Unixes. It supports the following clients: AIM, ICQ, Jabber/XMPP, MSN Messenger, Yahoo!, Bonjour, Gadu-Gadu, IRC, Novell GroupWise Messenger, QQ, Lotus Sametime, SILC, SIMPLE, and Zephyr. You can do almost all the same things you would normally be able to do on your AIM client, chatting, transferring files, putting up away messages, and costumization features. There are also features which are specific to your Pidgin ac...
More at:http://www.pidgin.com/
More at:http://www.pidgin.com/
Swap Your Media For Free
Have an old NSYNC album, an archeology book from a previous college course, or the old Grand Theft Auto collecting dust on your shelves, and not enough money to buy the new media that just released? Swaptree could be your answer. With swaptree, you can easily trade your CDs, DVDs, video games, and books for other media other users have available. All you need to do is type in the UPC or ISBN code on the back of the item, and the swaptree algorithms figure out which items you can trade for bas...
More at:http://www.swaptree.com/
More at:http://www.swaptree.com/
Wednesday, May 23, 2007
Make Money Without Really Trying
Kevin Ham -- one of a handful of major-league "domainers" in the world and arguably the shrewdest and most ambitious of the lot. Even in a field filled with unusual career paths, Ham's stands out.
Trained as a family doctor, he put off medicine after discovering the riches of the Web. Since 2000 he has quietly cobbled together a portfolio of some 300,000 domains that, combined with several other ventures, generate an estimated $70 million a year in revenue. (Like all his financial details, Ham would neither confirm nor deny this figure.)
And what few people know is that he's also the man behind the domain world's latest scheme: profiting from traffic generated by the millions of people who mistakenly type ".cm" instead of ".com" at the end of a domain name.
Try it with almost any name you can think of -- Beer.cm, Newyorktimes.cm, even Anyname.cm -- and you'll land on a page called Agoga.com, a site filled with ads served up by Yahoo (Charts, Fortune 500).
Ham makes money every time someone clicks on an ad -- as does his partner in this venture, the West African country of Cameroon. Why Cameroon? It has the unforeseen good fortune of owning .cm as its country code -- just as Germany runs all names that end with .de.
The difference is that hardly any .cm names are registered, and the letters are just one keyboard slip away from .com, the mother lode of all domains. Ham landed connections to the Cameroon government and flew in his people to reroute the traffic. And if he gets his way, Colombia (.co), Oman (.om), Niger (.ne), and Ethiopia (.et) will be his as well.
"It's in the works," Ham says over lunch in his hometown of Vancouver, British Columbia. "That's why I can't talk about it." He's nearly as reluctant to share details about his newest company, called Reinvent Technology, into which he's investing tens of millions of dollars to build a powerhouse of Internet businesses around his most valuable properties.
New ways to strike it rich on the Web
Given Ham's reach on the Web -- his sites receive 30 million unique visitors a month -- it's remarkable that so few people know about him. Even in the clubby world of domainers, he's a mystery man. Until now Ham has never talked publicly about his business. You won't find his name on any domain registration, nor will you see it on the patent application for the Cameroon trick.
There are practical reasons for the low profile: For one, Ham's success has drawn enemies, many of them rivals. He once used a Vancouver post office box for domain-related mail -- until the day he opened a package that contained a note reading "You are a piece of s**t," accompanied by an actual piece of it.
Bitter domainers are one thing, lawyers another. And at the moment, Ham's biggest concern is that corporate counsels will come after him claiming that the Cameroon typo scheme is an abuse of their trademarks. He may be right, since this is the first time he's been identified as the orchestrator.
When asked about the .cm play, John Berryhill, a top domain attorney who doesn't work for Ham, practically screams into the phone, "You know who did that? Do you have any idea how many people want to know who's behind that?"
Spreading the word
Kevin Ham is a boyish-looking 37-year-old, trim from a passion for judo and a commitment to clean living. His drink of choice: grapefruit juice, no ice. His mild demeanor belies the aggressive, work-around-the-clock type that he is. Ham frequently steers conversations about business back to the Bible. Not in a preachy way; it's just who he is.
The son of Korean-born immigrants, Ham grew up on the east side of Vancouver with his three brothers. His father ran dry-cleaning stores; his mother worked graveyard shifts as a nurse. A debilitating illness at the age of 14 led Ham to dream of becoming a doctor. He cruised through high school and then undergraduate work and medical school at the University of British Columbia.
Christianity had long been a mainstay with his family, but as an undergrad, he made the Bible a focal point of his life; he joined the Evangelical Layman's Church and attended regular Bible meetings. Ham recalls that it was about this time -- 1992 or 1993 -- that he was introduced to the Web. A church friend told him about a powerful new medium that could be used to spread the gospel.
"Those words really struck me," Ham says. "It's the reason I'm still working."
More at:http://money.cnn.com/magazines/business2/business2_archive/2007/04/01/8403365/index.htm
Trained as a family doctor, he put off medicine after discovering the riches of the Web. Since 2000 he has quietly cobbled together a portfolio of some 300,000 domains that, combined with several other ventures, generate an estimated $70 million a year in revenue. (Like all his financial details, Ham would neither confirm nor deny this figure.)
And what few people know is that he's also the man behind the domain world's latest scheme: profiting from traffic generated by the millions of people who mistakenly type ".cm" instead of ".com" at the end of a domain name.
Try it with almost any name you can think of -- Beer.cm, Newyorktimes.cm, even Anyname.cm -- and you'll land on a page called Agoga.com, a site filled with ads served up by Yahoo (Charts, Fortune 500).
Ham makes money every time someone clicks on an ad -- as does his partner in this venture, the West African country of Cameroon. Why Cameroon? It has the unforeseen good fortune of owning .cm as its country code -- just as Germany runs all names that end with .de.
The difference is that hardly any .cm names are registered, and the letters are just one keyboard slip away from .com, the mother lode of all domains. Ham landed connections to the Cameroon government and flew in his people to reroute the traffic. And if he gets his way, Colombia (.co), Oman (.om), Niger (.ne), and Ethiopia (.et) will be his as well.
"It's in the works," Ham says over lunch in his hometown of Vancouver, British Columbia. "That's why I can't talk about it." He's nearly as reluctant to share details about his newest company, called Reinvent Technology, into which he's investing tens of millions of dollars to build a powerhouse of Internet businesses around his most valuable properties.
New ways to strike it rich on the Web
Given Ham's reach on the Web -- his sites receive 30 million unique visitors a month -- it's remarkable that so few people know about him. Even in the clubby world of domainers, he's a mystery man. Until now Ham has never talked publicly about his business. You won't find his name on any domain registration, nor will you see it on the patent application for the Cameroon trick.
There are practical reasons for the low profile: For one, Ham's success has drawn enemies, many of them rivals. He once used a Vancouver post office box for domain-related mail -- until the day he opened a package that contained a note reading "You are a piece of s**t," accompanied by an actual piece of it.
Bitter domainers are one thing, lawyers another. And at the moment, Ham's biggest concern is that corporate counsels will come after him claiming that the Cameroon typo scheme is an abuse of their trademarks. He may be right, since this is the first time he's been identified as the orchestrator.
When asked about the .cm play, John Berryhill, a top domain attorney who doesn't work for Ham, practically screams into the phone, "You know who did that? Do you have any idea how many people want to know who's behind that?"
Spreading the word
Kevin Ham is a boyish-looking 37-year-old, trim from a passion for judo and a commitment to clean living. His drink of choice: grapefruit juice, no ice. His mild demeanor belies the aggressive, work-around-the-clock type that he is. Ham frequently steers conversations about business back to the Bible. Not in a preachy way; it's just who he is.
The son of Korean-born immigrants, Ham grew up on the east side of Vancouver with his three brothers. His father ran dry-cleaning stores; his mother worked graveyard shifts as a nurse. A debilitating illness at the age of 14 led Ham to dream of becoming a doctor. He cruised through high school and then undergraduate work and medical school at the University of British Columbia.
Christianity had long been a mainstay with his family, but as an undergrad, he made the Bible a focal point of his life; he joined the Evangelical Layman's Church and attended regular Bible meetings. Ham recalls that it was about this time -- 1992 or 1993 -- that he was introduced to the Web. A church friend told him about a powerful new medium that could be used to spread the gospel.
"Those words really struck me," Ham says. "It's the reason I'm still working."
More at:http://money.cnn.com/magazines/business2/business2_archive/2007/04/01/8403365/index.htm
Verticlans are online marketplaces that are run by you
Craigslist is undoubtedly one of the best inventions on the web. However, there is always an element of anxiety over who is going to respond to your ads or what kind of house you are visiting to pick up that new dresser, since people are..well, weird. This site eliminates that unknown factor by allowing you to post a classified ad to people you know, or at least buy/sell in a more closed universe of neighbors and friends of friends in your town. From there, the service is just like Craigslist, and free. Write in the title and description, insert the price, and add a few images. Others can subscribe to newly listed items via email. A limitation mentioned by others is the inability to link to another social networking or website.
Verticlans are online marketplaces that are run by you. When you create your Verticlan, you connect the people in your group to each other so that they can buy and sell stuff from each other. You can create a Verticlan for any group of people to sell anything.
More at:http://www.verticlans.com/
Verticlans are online marketplaces that are run by you. When you create your Verticlan, you connect the people in your group to each other so that they can buy and sell stuff from each other. You can create a Verticlan for any group of people to sell anything.
More at:http://www.verticlans.com/
www.orgpluslive.com
If you thought that organizational charts would be forever consigned to the depths of the useful yet boring apps pile, then you’d be wrong. OrgPlusLive has made web based charting that’s easy; so you can chart out your company’s organizational structure, build project teams, keep track of roles and tasks, and you can even organize sports teams. There’s no software to install and all charts are available offline. You can easily export your existing data, for example from Excel or Visio. OrgPlus uses a drag and drop interface; there are templates; and it’s all quite secure. As it’s flashed based OrgPlus works with any platform. Of course there are plenty of collaborative features, and the price starts at $9.95 a month.
“OrgPlus Live is a web-based organizational charting service designed to make it easier to create, maintain and share organizational charts. If you've ever struggled to keep track of different versions of org charts sent over email, OrgPlus Live is for you.”
More at:http://www.orgpluslive.com/
“OrgPlus Live is a web-based organizational charting service designed to make it easier to create, maintain and share organizational charts. If you've ever struggled to keep track of different versions of org charts sent over email, OrgPlus Live is for you.”
More at:http://www.orgpluslive.com/
Mogulus makes TV broadcasting available to anyone
Mogulus makes TV broadcasting available to anyone with a camera and a broadband connection. They provide tools to allow you to make your station look professional, such as with tickers, bumpers, logos, and your own personalized channel colors. Mixing various video clips is easy, and you can even have multiple people reporting live at the same time. Video clips can come from your webcam, YouTube, and your own original shots, mixing them together into your own personal TV show. If you want to share your channel to add content and collaborate with friends from all over, you can all contribute to your station. If you are having a live show, Mogulus even allows you to receive calls and broadcast them to the rest of the users, screening to select only the ones you trust, to make your station more interactive and more like the real deal.
They say:
“We're giving Mogulus users the power to create live, original television programming, all done on their own global broadcasting channel.
More at:http://mogulus.com/
They say:
“We're giving Mogulus users the power to create live, original television programming, all done on their own global broadcasting channel.
More at:http://mogulus.com/
Get Paid For Receiving Ads On Your Mobile
Have you ever thought about the amount of time you have spent reading advertisements? Now think about all the time you have spent reading advertisements about products, or services that you have no interest in buying. mGinger’s aim is to eliminate advertisements that do not appeal to the consumer, while at the same time paying the user for there reception of the ad. mGinger.com makes it possible for anyone with a mobile phone to be paid to receive advertisements in the form of SMS on your cell phone.
The user can sign up via their website, fill out a detailed profile full of interests, enlist their mobile phone number, and right a way begin receiving ads and payment. The user can choose the number of ads, and the time of day to receive ads. Depending on your profile description, advertisements will be targeted specifically to you. The user gets paid per reception of ad, as well as getting paid for the reception of ads of the friends they recommended. The payment is in the form of Rupees, and can reach up to the equivalent of 45 US dollars per month.
In their own words:
“mGinger works by sending you advertisements in the form of SMS to your mobile phone. The adverts will consist of offers, vouchers, news and more. These adverts will be related to areas of your interest that you specify during sign-up. Also, you will receive these only in the timings that you specify. You can refer your friends to become a part of your network. You will get paid for the adverts that you and your friends receive.”
More at:http://www.mginger.com/
The user can sign up via their website, fill out a detailed profile full of interests, enlist their mobile phone number, and right a way begin receiving ads and payment. The user can choose the number of ads, and the time of day to receive ads. Depending on your profile description, advertisements will be targeted specifically to you. The user gets paid per reception of ad, as well as getting paid for the reception of ads of the friends they recommended. The payment is in the form of Rupees, and can reach up to the equivalent of 45 US dollars per month.
In their own words:
“mGinger works by sending you advertisements in the form of SMS to your mobile phone. The adverts will consist of offers, vouchers, news and more. These adverts will be related to areas of your interest that you specify during sign-up. Also, you will receive these only in the timings that you specify. You can refer your friends to become a part of your network. You will get paid for the adverts that you and your friends receive.”
More at:http://www.mginger.com/
Second Brain
Second Brain is a fascinating startup now in testing and accessible by invitation only. The service is a personal library where people aggregate all their creations, services and favorites - and then share and/or publish them online. Second Brain was founded by Lars G. Teigen who also co-founded Making Waves, one of Norway and Poland's leading design and technology services. The project completed its prototype and alpha stages back in November 2006 and the private beta was released in early February of this year. Second Brain's vision is to be the central service for collecting and sharing knowledge in 2008.
The Second Brain site organizes the chaos people feel from utilizing content across a wide variety of services, like YouTube, del.icio.us, Flickr and others. Ultimately Second Brain is trying to fill the niche between people's need to organize and use data, and the need for services to attract and retain users. Second Brain looks at Web 2.0 and beyond as a network of mostly small independent applications serving the needs of the market. Essentially, they see the Internet as a widely distributed desktop, albeit a huge one.
More at:http://www.secondbrain.com/
The Second Brain site organizes the chaos people feel from utilizing content across a wide variety of services, like YouTube, del.icio.us, Flickr and others. Ultimately Second Brain is trying to fill the niche between people's need to organize and use data, and the need for services to attract and retain users. Second Brain looks at Web 2.0 and beyond as a network of mostly small independent applications serving the needs of the market. Essentially, they see the Internet as a widely distributed desktop, albeit a huge one.
More at:http://www.secondbrain.com/
Where Fom This word 'Entpreneurship' came
Frankfullard Says:
What is not so well known is that [the word 'Entpreneurship'] acquired its modern economic meaning from an Irishman, the French-based banker Richard Cantillon. In Cantillon’s view the entrepreneur was someone who identified the possibility to gain from the market by buying products (at that time, agricultural products) at a certain price, and selling at a price to be determined later; the difference between these two being profit or loss. Cantillon considered the entrepreneur, therefore, to be primarily a bearer of risk."
Frank's blog is a terrific addition to the business blogging scene in Ireland and Keith Bohanna has news that he's now been joined by another County Enterprise Board CEO - Sean McKeown in Kilkenny. Sean is off to a flying start with posts explaining what CEBs actually do, tips for trading into Northern Ireland, news of the National Centre for Creativity in Kilkenny and an introduction to the Tech Check initiative -
"Tech Check is basically a mentoring service that provides small businesses with the services of a professional practitioner/adviser, who will undertake an audit of their current utilisation of information and computing technologies (ICT), and present them with a report on areas for improvement."
More at:http://www.frankfullard.com/wordpress/?p=10
What is not so well known is that [the word 'Entpreneurship'] acquired its modern economic meaning from an Irishman, the French-based banker Richard Cantillon. In Cantillon’s view the entrepreneur was someone who identified the possibility to gain from the market by buying products (at that time, agricultural products) at a certain price, and selling at a price to be determined later; the difference between these two being profit or loss. Cantillon considered the entrepreneur, therefore, to be primarily a bearer of risk."
Frank's blog is a terrific addition to the business blogging scene in Ireland and Keith Bohanna has news that he's now been joined by another County Enterprise Board CEO - Sean McKeown in Kilkenny. Sean is off to a flying start with posts explaining what CEBs actually do, tips for trading into Northern Ireland, news of the National Centre for Creativity in Kilkenny and an introduction to the Tech Check initiative -
"Tech Check is basically a mentoring service that provides small businesses with the services of a professional practitioner/adviser, who will undertake an audit of their current utilisation of information and computing technologies (ICT), and present them with a report on areas for improvement."
More at:http://www.frankfullard.com/wordpress/?p=10
Real equity investment opportunities.
Equity funding worth £5m is up for grabs for high growth and technology start-ups in the Midlands.
The reserve pot for this year's Connect Investment Challenge, this is twice the amount on offer in last year’s inaugural event.
The competition is run by Connect Midlands, the not-for-profit network for investors, and high growth and technology businesses in the region.
"The fact that we have been able to more than double the equity funding this year is testament to the success of the inaugural competition,” says Isabell Majewsky, Director of Connect Midlands.
“This year's challenge will reach out across the Midlands and showcase entrepreneurial activity in the region's business community at its very best.
"Its primary objectives are to identify and highlight entrepreneurial activity, to provide a range of benefits and assistance to those companies, and ultimately lead to real equity investment opportunities."
Applications for the Connect Investment Challenge close 4 July. Click here for more details.
http://www.connectchallenge.org/web/million/index.cfm
The reserve pot for this year's Connect Investment Challenge, this is twice the amount on offer in last year’s inaugural event.
The competition is run by Connect Midlands, the not-for-profit network for investors, and high growth and technology businesses in the region.
"The fact that we have been able to more than double the equity funding this year is testament to the success of the inaugural competition,” says Isabell Majewsky, Director of Connect Midlands.
“This year's challenge will reach out across the Midlands and showcase entrepreneurial activity in the region's business community at its very best.
"Its primary objectives are to identify and highlight entrepreneurial activity, to provide a range of benefits and assistance to those companies, and ultimately lead to real equity investment opportunities."
Applications for the Connect Investment Challenge close 4 July. Click here for more details.
http://www.connectchallenge.org/web/million/index.cfm
TomboyTools
Dugger just celebrated her first year as a sales consultant for Tomboy Tools, which sells ergonomically designed tools marketed to women. Tomboy Tools was started in 2000 by three friends in Denver, Colo. The company has grown to more than 1,000 sales consultants across the United States and Canada.
The tools, made for a woman’s hands, are smaller than the standard varieties, Dugger said. The idea is to get tools in women’s hands that they will actually use and that make sense to them. Some of the company’s tools feature a tape measure with measurements of every one-eighth inch labeled, a lightweight compressor that can be picked up with one hand, and a utility knife with an easy-turning adjuster, so no screwdriver is needed to change the blade.
Tomboy Tools is based around home party sales that Dugger said allow her to not only get the tools into women’s hands, but also to teach some basic home repair lessons.
More at:http://www.tomboytools.com/
The tools, made for a woman’s hands, are smaller than the standard varieties, Dugger said. The idea is to get tools in women’s hands that they will actually use and that make sense to them. Some of the company’s tools feature a tape measure with measurements of every one-eighth inch labeled, a lightweight compressor that can be picked up with one hand, and a utility knife with an easy-turning adjuster, so no screwdriver is needed to change the blade.
Tomboy Tools is based around home party sales that Dugger said allow her to not only get the tools into women’s hands, but also to teach some basic home repair lessons.
More at:http://www.tomboytools.com/
Tuesday, May 22, 2007
Why Reunion Is Making Money
Reunion is a social networking company that looks decidedly old-fashioned, compared to glitzy (or garish, some would say) sites like MySpace.
And yet its simplicity, like that of Facebook, is apparently part of its success. It now has 28 million registered users, and is adding one million users a month — and by that measure, it ranks among the top five social networks (Facebook, by contrast has slightly more than 19 million registered users). That’s why Reunion has just scored $25 million in venture capital from Oak Investment Partners, in what is the largest first round of venture capital any social network has received to date.
So why have you never heard of it?
Launched in 2002, Los Angeles-based Reunion is far more retro than Facebook. It shrugs aside the sexy “widget” doodads popularized by companies in Silicon Valley — and has slogged away through the years quietly, without marketing hype or verve. Reunion targets the 25 and older crowd. When you register, it provides you a straight-forward profile page, and then lets you add a range of information about yourself (bio info, favorite movies, character descriptions, etc). At its simplest, you can add your friends, and then stay in touch with them — as the name “reunion” would suggest. No video sharing or anything. Plain-vanilla stuff. See screenshot below. Many of its 28 million users registered years ago, and aren’t that active. However, it has about eight million unique users a month, which comfortably places it among the top ten networks.
Yet its new users — because they are older — are far more profitable than users at younger sites, such as MySpace, says chief executive Jeff Tinsley. Reunion brings in revenue of more than $30 million a year, though he wouldn’t be more specific. Cyworld, the raging popular Korean site, has said it makes $2.10 revenue per users, and Reunion makes much more than that on its recent users, Tinsley said. “It’s interesting, we don’t get covered nearly as much as these other guys,” Tinsley said.
One source of Reunion’s traffic is the “people search” technology it offers to other sites. It powers people search for AOL, Infospace, and Lycos, and will announce another big deal in two weeks, he said. People search is becoming more popular, and it will soon “bubble up” to become a staple feature at the top of most major sites, Tinsley said. Reunion powers 60 million people searches a month.
More at:
http://www.reunion.com
And yet its simplicity, like that of Facebook, is apparently part of its success. It now has 28 million registered users, and is adding one million users a month — and by that measure, it ranks among the top five social networks (Facebook, by contrast has slightly more than 19 million registered users). That’s why Reunion has just scored $25 million in venture capital from Oak Investment Partners, in what is the largest first round of venture capital any social network has received to date.
So why have you never heard of it?
Launched in 2002, Los Angeles-based Reunion is far more retro than Facebook. It shrugs aside the sexy “widget” doodads popularized by companies in Silicon Valley — and has slogged away through the years quietly, without marketing hype or verve. Reunion targets the 25 and older crowd. When you register, it provides you a straight-forward profile page, and then lets you add a range of information about yourself (bio info, favorite movies, character descriptions, etc). At its simplest, you can add your friends, and then stay in touch with them — as the name “reunion” would suggest. No video sharing or anything. Plain-vanilla stuff. See screenshot below. Many of its 28 million users registered years ago, and aren’t that active. However, it has about eight million unique users a month, which comfortably places it among the top ten networks.
Yet its new users — because they are older — are far more profitable than users at younger sites, such as MySpace, says chief executive Jeff Tinsley. Reunion brings in revenue of more than $30 million a year, though he wouldn’t be more specific. Cyworld, the raging popular Korean site, has said it makes $2.10 revenue per users, and Reunion makes much more than that on its recent users, Tinsley said. “It’s interesting, we don’t get covered nearly as much as these other guys,” Tinsley said.
One source of Reunion’s traffic is the “people search” technology it offers to other sites. It powers people search for AOL, Infospace, and Lycos, and will announce another big deal in two weeks, he said. People search is becoming more popular, and it will soon “bubble up” to become a staple feature at the top of most major sites, Tinsley said. Reunion powers 60 million people searches a month.
More at:
http://www.reunion.com
www.corporateinterns.com
When Jason Engen was an undergraduate student at the University of St. Thomas in St. Paul, Minnesota, he and his friends knew the challenges students faced in finding worthwhile internships. So for one of his business classes, Engen wrote a business plan detailing a concept for an internship placement service--one that would interview and screen students and match them with local companies that needed interns. "We hit a nerve in terms of the marketplace and focused 100 percent of our efforts on students," says Engen. "We started a week after we graduated, and it took off."
More at:http://www.corporateinterns.com/
More at:http://www.corporateinterns.com/
Get Rich by Selling Aprons
Aprons are generally considered more of a fashion faux pas than fashion-forward. They're hidden in the backs of drawers and thrown aside in the presence of company. Helena Steele knew it wasn't always this way. She could remember when her grandmother, Jessie, would bake treats while clad in finely constructed aprons with beautiful patterns on them.
So in 2002, Helena and her daughter, Claire, formed Jessie Steele, a line of aprons meant to go far beyond the kitchen drawer.
When the mother-daughter team created their line of vintage-inspired aprons, their unique backgrounds proved to be invaluable. Claire, a former model and marketing executive, used her knowledge of fashion and marketing to promote the business, while Helena, an accomplished seamstress and the founder of Golden Gate Kitchens, a successful kitchen design company, helped with the design. Their mission was to create an apron that bridged the culinary/fashion divide, an accessory that could be worn whether buyers were making meatloaf or strolling down Fifth Avenue.
"We definitely feel that they're functional fashion," says Claire, 29, who helped Helena, 54, update the vintage apron styles and textiles for modern wearers.
Claire and Helena unveiled the aprons to immediate success. The vintage styles are a hit among home chefs, as well as hip retailers and boutiques, which have seen a growing demand for retro styles, from '20s flapper gowns to bell-bottoms.
More at:http://www.jessiesteele.com/index.php
So in 2002, Helena and her daughter, Claire, formed Jessie Steele, a line of aprons meant to go far beyond the kitchen drawer.
When the mother-daughter team created their line of vintage-inspired aprons, their unique backgrounds proved to be invaluable. Claire, a former model and marketing executive, used her knowledge of fashion and marketing to promote the business, while Helena, an accomplished seamstress and the founder of Golden Gate Kitchens, a successful kitchen design company, helped with the design. Their mission was to create an apron that bridged the culinary/fashion divide, an accessory that could be worn whether buyers were making meatloaf or strolling down Fifth Avenue.
"We definitely feel that they're functional fashion," says Claire, 29, who helped Helena, 54, update the vintage apron styles and textiles for modern wearers.
Claire and Helena unveiled the aprons to immediate success. The vintage styles are a hit among home chefs, as well as hip retailers and boutiques, which have seen a growing demand for retro styles, from '20s flapper gowns to bell-bottoms.
More at:http://www.jessiesteele.com/index.php
seahorsepower
The BigBelly is a solar-powered waste container that aims to eliminate those all-too-familiar overflowing trash cans, keeping public spaces cleaner and greener. The flagship product of US-based Seahorse Power Company, BigBelly units compact trash on the spot, optimizing refuse capacity — a BigBelly holds up to five times as much garbage as a regular, non-compacting bin. This reduces the number of times bins need to be emptied, and fewer collections means saved time, fuel and truck costs. Since they don't need to be plugged in, BigBelly units can be placed just about anywhere. The units also are fully enclosed and weather-resistant, are available with optional bear-proofing, and cost USD 3,600–3,900.
More at:Website: www.seahorsepower.com
More at:Website: www.seahorsepower.com
Tiger Woods Could Teach Us How To Run A Business
If you play much golf, you've probably heard the saying "Drive For Show, Put For Dough." For those of you who don't play, it means that driving the ball far on your first shot off the tee isn't really the key to winning in golf.
The funny thing is, if you ever go to a driving range, 90% of what you see is people with their drivers trying to smack the ball as far as possible. I've played with some of these people that drive 280 yards, but then they 3 and 4 put holes and end up shooting in triple digits. For some reason though, it's important to golfers that they be able to drive the ball far. To have the longest tee shot makes them feel good, even if they don't have the lowest score.
Now, most people know that Tiger Woods is one of the greatest golfers alive. A few years ago, my uncle got a chance to play on a Florida course frequented by Woods.
Driving by the range to begin the round, my uncle noticed that Tiger was on the driving range with a single club when they took off for 18 holes. Nearly 4 hours later, the round was finished and Tiger was still on the range. The guy driving the cart with my uncle knew Tiger and drove up to say hello. They chatted for a few minutes and realized that the whole time they had been playing, Tiger had been practicing with the same club - a 7-iron. A pile of balls out on the range showed that he had been within 10 yards of his target on every shot, but that wasn't good enough. He was trying to get even better. One club. Four hours. That's why he's one of the world's best.
There is nothing so useless as doing efficiently that which should not be done at all. -- Peter Drucker
In business, I think we often know the things we should do, but instead we try to do the things we want to do. We like the random fun things. We want to plan, brainstorm, hold meetings, all the stuff that doesn't require any discipline or focus. Unfortunately it's also all the stuff that doesn't make us better at what we are ultimately trying to do. We know we should be putting, but we want to take out the big driver and have a good time. Then we complain about our score.
More at:http://www.businesspundit.com/contributors.php
The funny thing is, if you ever go to a driving range, 90% of what you see is people with their drivers trying to smack the ball as far as possible. I've played with some of these people that drive 280 yards, but then they 3 and 4 put holes and end up shooting in triple digits. For some reason though, it's important to golfers that they be able to drive the ball far. To have the longest tee shot makes them feel good, even if they don't have the lowest score.
Now, most people know that Tiger Woods is one of the greatest golfers alive. A few years ago, my uncle got a chance to play on a Florida course frequented by Woods.
Driving by the range to begin the round, my uncle noticed that Tiger was on the driving range with a single club when they took off for 18 holes. Nearly 4 hours later, the round was finished and Tiger was still on the range. The guy driving the cart with my uncle knew Tiger and drove up to say hello. They chatted for a few minutes and realized that the whole time they had been playing, Tiger had been practicing with the same club - a 7-iron. A pile of balls out on the range showed that he had been within 10 yards of his target on every shot, but that wasn't good enough. He was trying to get even better. One club. Four hours. That's why he's one of the world's best.
There is nothing so useless as doing efficiently that which should not be done at all. -- Peter Drucker
In business, I think we often know the things we should do, but instead we try to do the things we want to do. We like the random fun things. We want to plan, brainstorm, hold meetings, all the stuff that doesn't require any discipline or focus. Unfortunately it's also all the stuff that doesn't make us better at what we are ultimately trying to do. We know we should be putting, but we want to take out the big driver and have a good time. Then we complain about our score.
More at:http://www.businesspundit.com/contributors.php
Why Adult Prepaid Cards?
Adult entertainment on the Internet is a multi-billion dollar a year industry that continues to grow in annual revenue each and every year without fail. No matter what the economic climate may be here in the U.S. or abroad, sex always sells! The Adult Prepaid business opportunity is a franchise that allows you to cash in on the adult business.
Why Adult Prepaid Cards?
100% Personal Privacy
No Credit Card Required
No Membership Obligation
No Hidden Fees
Global Access
And Much More...
Earn Incredible Profits!
The "Mini-Pack" consisting of 100 cards costs you only
$399.00 offering a potential return of $2,000.00
The "Senior Pack" consisting of 350 cards costs you only
$999.00 offering a potential return of $7,000.00
The "Distributor Pack" consisting of 1,000 cards costs you only
$2,499.00 offering a potential return of $20,000.00
Purchase an "Exclusive Territory Distributorship" for only $50,000.00 U.S.
which includes 25,000 cards offering a potential return of $500,000.00
This is your best opportunity to start making money from one of the Internet's top money-making industrys. In addition to our prepaid card program, we also offer a full line of turnkey adult web sites, casino web sites, and adult chat lines starting from only $99.00.
More at:http://www.entrepreneur.com/business-opportunities/adultprepaid/71012.html
Why Adult Prepaid Cards?
100% Personal Privacy
No Credit Card Required
No Membership Obligation
No Hidden Fees
Global Access
And Much More...
Earn Incredible Profits!
The "Mini-Pack" consisting of 100 cards costs you only
$399.00 offering a potential return of $2,000.00
The "Senior Pack" consisting of 350 cards costs you only
$999.00 offering a potential return of $7,000.00
The "Distributor Pack" consisting of 1,000 cards costs you only
$2,499.00 offering a potential return of $20,000.00
Purchase an "Exclusive Territory Distributorship" for only $50,000.00 U.S.
which includes 25,000 cards offering a potential return of $500,000.00
This is your best opportunity to start making money from one of the Internet's top money-making industrys. In addition to our prepaid card program, we also offer a full line of turnkey adult web sites, casino web sites, and adult chat lines starting from only $99.00.
More at:http://www.entrepreneur.com/business-opportunities/adultprepaid/71012.html
Etsy
Etsy is a lovely site with beautiful pictures of the handmade and craft items it sells. It also has cool technology allowing you to find sellers by their location, and it gives good background information on them. It's not the place to buy a mass-merchandise item like a baseball glove, but it has pewter baseball glove stitch markers.
Because it is something of an alternative site, Etsy has odd quirks that you may find endearing (or annoying). The “Time Machine” channel is a cool Flash site that shows items from “the past” (if you can really call one minute ago the past). But it wasn't clear to me whether these items were on sale (or bought). Nor does clicking on them give you anything but a pop-up Flash picture.
Nevertheless, if you want to make a personal connection with a craftsperson and her lovingly made items, Etsy would seem to be a great destination.
More at:http://www.etsy.com/
Because it is something of an alternative site, Etsy has odd quirks that you may find endearing (or annoying). The “Time Machine” channel is a cool Flash site that shows items from “the past” (if you can really call one minute ago the past). But it wasn't clear to me whether these items were on sale (or bought). Nor does clicking on them give you anything but a pop-up Flash picture.
Nevertheless, if you want to make a personal connection with a craftsperson and her lovingly made items, Etsy would seem to be a great destination.
More at:http://www.etsy.com/
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