Student Made Three Million Dollors By Chiffnote Websites

Sam Yagan's first successful business idea came to him in the middle of an all-nighter during his senior year at Harvard. His paper on Hamlet was due the next day, and he was kicking himself for not buying the CliffsNotes version of the play before the bookstore closed. "Why can't a student get a study guide at midnight?" he asked himself, and SparkNotes was born.

The series of free online study guides acquired by Barnes & Noble in 2001 for $3.55 million. At Stanford Business School, a different question, "Why can't online dating be free?" led him to his latest project, OkCupid.

His advice for would-be entrepreneurs: Instead of spending a lot of time waiting for a great business idea to suddenly materialize, get out in the world and ask questions. "If you look at things with a quizzical approach, you're going to uncover a lot of opportunities. A lot of times the answers you come up with are going to be wrong, but if you keep asking questions, eventually you'll hit on the little thing that's not quite right, and go from there."
More at:http://www.sparknotes.com/

How To Become A Product Entreprenuer

A very important topic to talk about is how to organize your time when working on your blog or web site. Many readers ask me how I structure my day and it has taken me a couple of months to get to a point where I can function at my peak levels. I will share a few suggestions with you that can really help you be more productive.

Keep A To-Do List.

Each day when you wake up, write down the top 5-10 things you have to accomplish that day. It is best to not do any other web based activities until you can cross off each item on your list because it is too easy to get caught up reading other blogs and forums before getting your own work done. Before you know it, you have spent 3 hours reading and getting none of your work done. If you did not finish an item from your list, carry it over to the next day.

Assign A Certain Amount Of Time For Important Items.

Tell yourself the first thing you will do each morning is check and respond to email for 30 minutes. I know some people think email should not be the first thing you do in the morning, but I prefer to get it out of the way first. You also never know who sent you a pressing item that can help you monetize your site. If you read an email but do not respond immediately, mark it “un-read” so you do not forget that you have to respond later.

Figure Out What You Like Least And Make Yourself Spend Time Doing It.

Sometimes I struggle to write ReviewMe posts and the only way I can get myself to do it is if I sit down and tell myself that for the next 2-3 hours, the only thing I will do is research and review the web site. I force myself to write a review and I go back and proof read it later. Whatever your weak points are, be sure to take the time to do them anyways. They could be valuable to your readers and your blog’s value.

Do Not Check Stats More Than Twice Per Day.

This is a big one. So many people waiste time hitting refresh on their visitor stats and affiliate sales all day. I used to do the same, only to realize that my productivity is so much better now that I only check stats once in the morning and once in the evening. There is nothing you can do to increase your statistics that much by hitting refresh every 10 minutes that you cannot do by checking stats in the beginning and end of the day. Try this for a few days and you will be happy you did.
More at:http://www.johnchow.com/maximize-your-daily-efficiency/

Earn Money With These Sites

Adoptme.com - Win $100 just for adopting a free virtual pet. Open to all ages.

OvernightStars.com - Win cash prizes in this American Idol type online talent search. Free to enter and open to all ages.

HotPlaylists.com - Win $100 for sharing your iPod song list with your friends online. This site will automatically import your iTunes playlist and create a free page for you listing all your songs. You can also use song lists from Winamp, Windows Media Player, & other music programs.

Halloween Costume Contest - Win $100 just for submitting your photo or see people in their outrageous costumes. Also enter the Halloween Pumpkin Carving Contest and win $100.

Earn Cash Online - Get paid to read emails, play video games, sign up for online offers, and fill out surveys.

VirtualMiners.com - Dig for gold and win up to $25 cash. Free to enter, open to all ages.

Mystery Photo Game - View a photo of a small part of an item and try to guess what the item is. All correct guesses are entered to win $10 each week.

TriviaBucks.com - Win money by answering trivia questions. Free to enter and open to all ages.

LifeBets.com - A free game where you bet fake money on the outcome of current events like "will Hillary Clinton become President" or "will Britney Spears win an Oscar"? The top 3 players win real cash prizes. Must be age 13+ to win.

Global Test Market - Share your opinions and get paid. Age 14+.

SigTrader.com - Do you make posts to forums, newsgroups, or online communities? If so, make money by selling the ad space in your signature line. No listing fees or commisssions. Open to all ages.

WallStreetPros.com - A free virtual stock market game where you buy and sell stocks using pretend money. The player who's stocks go up the most will win a $100 cash prize (in real money). Must be age 13+ to win.

StreetRacingWar.com - A free online role playing game (RPG) where you can win a $100 cash prize if you get the highest score. The objective is to get your friends to click your special link. Each click you receive builds up your score. You can also attack other users to steal their money, and you can purchase offensive/defensive items with your game cash. No age restrictions.

Survey Club - Get paid to take surveys online.

Treasure Trooper - Get paid to sign up for online offers, many of which are free to join. You also get rewarded with virtual gold coins and other treasures that can be redeemed for fun goodies including pieces of the Treasure Map. In addition, you get 20% of the money that anybody you refer to the site makes, plus an additional 5% of your friends' friends' profits.

E-Poll - Take online surveys and win free prizes: CD's, movies, video games, gift certificates and more. The more surveys you take, the more prizes you win. Must be 13 years of age or older.

TeenOffers.com - Free stuff for teens: video games, cd's, magazines, contests, beauty products, posters, and more. Only lists free offers that don't have minimum age requirements.

Are You or Your Family Owed Unclaimed Money? - You may be owed unclaimed money by the government. Search the FindMoney.com database of over 11 million names for FREE to see if you name is on the list. This money can come from such sources as old bank accounts, wills, insurance, tax refunds, and previous employers.
Get Rich Online - Dozens of free tools that you can use to create and run your own website. Sell stuff online or make a site with interesting content and sell ads on it.

Search Cactus - A search engine where you get paid for each search you do. Must be at least 13 years old and a U.S. resident.

Get Paid To Take Surveys - US residents only, age 13 or over.

Win Up To $10,000 for taking surveys online.

Make Money Surfing The Web - pays you up to $500 cash instantly for signing up for free offers, searching the web, shopping online, and more. They have paid out over 9 million dollars so far. You must be 13 years of age or older to participate.
Do you want an extra $1,000? - The NPD Group is a top-ten marketing research company and we are looking for people just like YOU. If you're interested in answering online surveys, and would like the chance to win CASH this is a great opportunity for you! This offer expires soon, so join today!
More at:http://www.bored.com/categories/paidtoplay/paidtoplay.html

Art Entreprenuership

The internet is true collaboration and communication realized.
It is time that artists are given the proper tools to benefit from this.

What if every creative professional on earth had the right to a virtual endless room?
By empowering art and artists through technology, we hope to provide every artist
with the opportunity to support themselves by doing what they love — for art’s sake.

To become a pre-beta tester and help shape the vision of this site, enter your email...

More at:http://www.endlessroom.com/

xFruits is a mashup RSS feed creation tool to organize and manage your information systems online

xFruits is a mashup RSS feed creation tool to organize and manage your information systems online. So far, xFruits gives you a few tools they call “bricks” to enhance and simplify the composition of your online information systems. The bricks they have developed thus far are Aggregator RSS, RSS to Web, RSS to Mobile, Post to RSS, RSS to PDF, RSS to Mail, RSS to OPML, OPML to Mobile, Mail to RSS, and... (horns sound) RSS to Voice! Take as many bricks as you like and start building your own feed-based service, then post a link on your website that features the latest RSS feeds of your choosing, post it in your blog or share the link with friends.


“XFruits makes possible the Mashup RSS creation in a very simple way thanks to the Composer.
You can assemble the bricks together so as to build your own feed-based service.
"xFruiter" service's users are referenced.

xFruits has been thought of as from its origin to be upgradeable and modular, and thus, to allow a developer's community to take part in the project. Our ambition is to create dozens of new bricks!”
More at:http://xfruits.com/

CityPixel, the digital internet city. Travel, shop, interact with others, submit your artwork to be utilized on the website

Does reality bite or what? Get a helmet or get into CityPixel, the digital internet city. Travel, shop, interact with others, submit your artwork to be utilized on the website. CityPixel enables you to create your own apartment which more or less acts as your “profile” or home website in the internet city community. Add photos of yourself and arrange the furniture however you like, design it to give it your own personal flare. Unlike reality where the closest thing you have to cool neighbors is the octegenarian accordian player on the fifth floor, (actually true in my case) CityPixel´s apartment complex are full of interesting people you can talk to in your apartment or go into theirs. If you are feeling introverted, do the things you would normally do in real life, watch a video, play a game, explore your neighborhood and community art. This service is free of charge, all you have to do is sign up!


“citypixel is an Internet city. The intent is to provide our community a digital place to travel, shop, interact, and, well, everything else you'd do in a city!”
More at:http://www.citypixel.com/

MassMirror is a free service that allows you to upload your files of all types: image, documents, music, etc

Need an easy way to upload and distribute files on the web? MassMirror is a free service that allows you to upload your files of all types: image, documents, music, etc., the service doubles as a mirroring service (pun completely intentional). Simply upload your file type to their server with their real-time progress bar. Then your file will be saved onto their supported free servers. From there you’re done, so you can do anything and everything with the link you like, well not everything. For instance, you cannot eat it for breakfast. You can share it with friends, family, co-workers, but it is not edible.


“MassMirror is the easiest way to upload your files to the world wide web. This free service allows you to upload any file (image, music, documents, and more.) for free to the Internet. It is great for distributing files to your friends, family, or co-workers.

This technology enables you to upload your file to our servers with a real-time progress bar. Your file will then be saved and stored on the free hosts we support. Then simply share the url to anyone with access to the world wide web. You can even use this service to mirror file downloads from your own site.

This is one of the most advanced, most compatible, quickest, and easiest upload services on the world wide web .
More at:http://www.massmirror.com/

Newsberry was created for business professionals who desire a simpler way to send out mass emails while simultaneously adding a touch of design to it

Newsberry was created for business professionals who desire a simpler way to send out mass emails while simultaneously adding a touch of design to these emails. Send out your professional campains with elegance and ease, great for resturaunts, teams, marketing, tourism, and many others who display similar needs. Manage and monitor all of your massive emails, keep track of your businesses contacts and communication. You can manage your email lists by seperating them into catagories, so when you want to send out a particular email to a specific demographic or team, Newsberry makes it extremely easy for you to do so quickly.

“Newsberry is ideal for any business wanting to create or maintain a subscriber base through mass email campaigns. Our system was created to allow users the ability to send professional campaigns easily and quickly. Newsberry is a great choice for restaurants, professional organizations, educational facilities, marketing companies, tourism organizations and many others. We provide the necessary tools to help businesses with several email lists and separate list demographics. It's simple, if you send emails, or want to send emails, quickly, efficiently and in an affordable way then Newsberry is for you.”
More at:http://www.newsberry.com/

Interaction Is Connecting Your Customer

Interaction is the key to growth, especially on the net. Interaction chat has developed the ultimate tool for this very purpose. Upon entering your website, interaction chat will open up a chat box so that you can interact in real time with your potential customer. Get feedback, find out exactly what your customer wants. Customers can also initiate a conversation on their own time, or the customer can ask you to call him/her back. It's simple to implement too: each version, from the free Standard variety to the $49 a month Enterprise version is Ajax based; users needn't install any software and Interaction is compatible with Opera, Firefox, and IE; any computer with an internet connection can use it by inserting a snippet of code to the chosen website. Interaction is perfect for any sized companies and features a gamut of supported languages, smileys, private interaction between operators, transfers, searchable chat histories, SSL, canned messages, and tabs. Of course you'll have to pay for the premium features, but you're guaranteed to retain customers with a more proactive and personalized approach all affored by Interactive chat.


Sign up, include your code and start chatting with the visitors of your web site instantly! It's fast and easy, find out who is visiting your web site and would like to chat with you.
More at:http://www.interactionchat.com/

Seven new quality control tools, often called the seven management and planning (MP) tools

In 1976, the Union of Japanese Scientists and Engineers (JUSE) saw the need for tools to promote innovation, communicate information and successfully plan major projects. A team researched and developed the seven new quality control tools, often called the seven management and planning (MP) tools, or simply the seven management tools. Not all the tools were new, but their collection and promotion were.

The seven MP tools, listed in an order that moves from abstract analysis to detailed planning, are:

1. Affinity diagram: organizes a large number of ideas into their natural relationships.


2. Relations diagram: shows cause-and-effect relationships and helps you analyze the natural links between different aspects of a complex situation.


3. Tree diagram: breaks down broad categories into finer and finer levels of detail, helping you move your thinking step by step from generalities to specifics.


4. Matrix diagram: shows the relationship between two, three or four groups of information and can give information about the relationship, such as its strength, the roles played by various individuals, or measurements.


5. Matrix data analysis: a complex mathematical technique for analyzing matrices, often replaced in this list by the similar prioritization matrix. One of the most rigorous, careful and time-consuming of decision-making tools, a prioritization matrix is an L-shaped matrix that uses pairwise comparisons of a list of options to a set of criteria in order to choose the best option(s).


6. Arrow diagram: shows the required order of tasks in a project or process, the best schedule for the entire project, and potential scheduling and resource problems and their solutions.


7. Process decision program chart (PDPC): systematically identifies what might go wrong in a plan under development.
More at:http://www.asq.org/learn-about-quality/new-management-planning-tools/overview/overview.html

Knowledge Managment Tools

With the rapidly changing business world, companies are facing a host of challenging questions:

* How to encourage more dialogue among employees?
* How to encourage better interaction between and amongst staff and clients?
* How to find out who knows what I need to find out more about something?”
* How to find out what should I be reading to find out more about something?”
* How to find out where is a particular item of information or knowledge within the firm?”
* How to find out who would benefit from communicating with whom?”

# Given the messy human and social issues involved in these issues, firms are tempted to look for a short-cut, some kind of off-the-shelf product that could solve these issues for them, among them:

* Autonomy, Inc.(www.autonomy.com)
* BackWeb Technologies (www.backWeb.com)
* Communispace (www.communispace.com)
* Docushare Xerox Corporation (www.xerox.com)
* Eugenia Unity Desktop (www.engenia.com)
* Excalibur Technologies Corporation (www.excalib.com)
* Hummingbird (www.pcdocs.com)
* Intraspect Software, Inc.(www.intraspect.com)
* MAGI (www.projectmagi.com)
* Open Text Corporation (www.opentext.com)
* Plumtree Software (www.plumtree.com)
* SageMaker (www.sagemaker.com)
* Tacit Knowledge (www.tacit.com)

In considering whether to use such tools, some of the questions that should be addressed should include:

* What benefits should each tool should, assuming successful implementation particularly of the human factors, be able to offer?
* Particular attention should be given to the proviso namely "assuming successful implementation particularly of the human factors".
More at;http://www.stevedenning.com/new_knowledge_management_tool.html

Business Intelligence System: A New Tool for Competitive Advantage

Buy and read this book.
http://www.amazon.com/Business-Intelligence-System-Competitive-Advantage/dp/0814459293

Untapped Business Opporunities Which Is Next Big Thing On Internet Is Buying And Selling Of Advertrising Space

The next big Internet race might turn the buying and selling of advertising space on Web sites into the online equivalent of the pork-bellies pit.

Over the past few years, a host of small companies has started electronic exchanges where advertisers and Web sites can buy and sell online advertising space. The companies, with names like Right Media Inc., AdECN Inc., Turn Inc. and ContextWeb Inc., have been an obscure sideshow to a broader battle over Internet advertising.

That's changing quickly. The biggest Internet companies, including Microsoft Corp., Google Inc. and Yahoo Inc., are focusing attention and money on the emerging business, hoping to be first with the kind of large-scale, dynamic market for the ad industry that the Nasdaq market brought to stocks.

Over time there will be "a handful of winners that build very high-tech marketplaces," predicts Jim Barnett, chief executive of San Mateo, Calif.-based Turn. "That's what we're trying to do; that's what Google is trying to do."

Today, online publications and Internet companies have space for display ads built into their Web sites. Typically, that space gets filled with ads either the old-fashioned way -- through a salesperson -- or by a mix of computers and people called an ad network that automatically sells ads for the spot. But a significant portion of the available ad space -- called "inventory" -- remains unsold, or is sold for next to nothing. Enter the exchanges, which use automated systems to match buyers with sellers of unsold space.
More at:http://www.startupjournal.com/ecommerce/ecommerce/20070531-guth.html

China's New Virtual Universe

China has the world's largest population and one of the world's largest economies. Now it will get a massive virtual universe to match.

Swedish software company MindArk, which operates the online game Entropia Universe, has authorized a Beijing company to create what it calls the largest-ever virtual world for China, MindArk said Friday.

Entropia Universe, which has more than 580,000 players, is an online game set on a fictional planet in which users can work, meet friends, trade and buy virtual land with real cash.

Gothenburg-based MindArk said in a statement the Chinese virtual world will have a capacity of 7 million concurrent players and aims to draw 150 million users in total.

It said the new game is expected to generate $1 billion in economic activity every year.

Elina Heng, a spokeswoman for the new project, said MindArk aims to launch the new game in August 2008.

MindArk Chief Marketing Officer Carl Uggla said MindArk will train artists from its Chinese partner, Cyber Recreation Development Corp., in Gothenburg to design and run several planets within Entropia Universe.

"They will design the planets to suit China, Chinese users," Uggla said in a phone interview.

He declined to say how much the deal is worth.

The MindArk executive said it's up to Cyber Recreation Development to decide whether to allow the Chinese government to censor communications within the Chinese planets.

"That's something between them and the Chinese government," he said.

Cyber Recreation Development didn't immediately respond to faxed questions from The Associated Press.

Some have expressed worries that China's lack of Western-style civil liberties will carry over to the new virtual society.

Though China's communist government promotes Internet use, it has also set up an extensive surveillance and filtering system to prevent Chinese from accessing material considered obscene or politically subversive.

Hong Kong Apple Daily newspaper predicted Friday in a full-page story virtual police will exist in the Chinese game, and that it won't allow players to protest the 1989 Tiananmen Square crackdown, which killed hundreds of people.

Uggla said Friday, "we don't have any police force in Entropia Universe."

More at:http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2007/06/01/tech/main2873578.shtml

Boxxet endeavors to rein in the best web content using a combination of algorithms and community interaction.

Boxxet endeavors to rein in the best web content using a combination of algorithms and community interaction. Users are able to compile info-- photos, videos and text into a sort of greatest hits page or box set. You pick the topic, say Keira Knightly or iPods, and then you and other Boxxnet members select the top 25 news items and related sites. Here's where the automation comes in: Boxxnet uses Yahoo's search engine to find relevant articles which are then ranked; users can consequently give their own ratings and the system will respond in kind, putting emphasis on top user rated content while eliminating low rated sites. Each box also contains recommendations of related content and lists the top contributors. You'll find bookmarks submitted by users which feature relevant news stories or blog links as well as media. Essentially, each box is meant to be a fairly comprehensive best of compilation to be honed by community members.


"Boxxet (pronounced "box set") brings together the "best of" news, blogs, videos, photos, gear and much more on your favorite subjects. For the things you care about (teams, hobbies, interests, schools, towns, etc), Boxxet's unique combination of computer automation and community participation produces the most diverse and complete best-of compilations."
More at:http://www.boxxet.com/

Food Of Thought For Entreprenurs

During today's Cornell University Alumni event at Google headquarters, I spoke to entrepreneurs about their startups. Most CEOs had already started selling ("traction") and were eager to speak about their companies.

However, a few CEOs in recent days said "We are in stealth mode" and they declined public comment.

Stealth mode means you are starting a new enterprise in secret. That is hard to do. But it is how you can surprise competitors. You might even shock them so much they give up when you go public about your company. Surprise can be an important element in building your unfair competitive advantage.

So how does a stealth startup operate? In a few words: very secretly, with a great deal of cunning.

Stealth startups have to recruit people by divulging a minimum of information.
Stealth startups get angel and venture capital firm money by exposing the minimum of facts needed to get the money.
Stealth startups tell reporters and bloggers a carefully prepared story, one that gets them curious but leaves them searching a false trail.

It feels something like taking your clothes off: you remove as little as possible to get the job done.

Candidates for employment move along a process that starts with bits of information and adds more and more as the process moves on to a job offer.

Venture firms are told just enough to get their initial interest and then get incrementally more information as they proceed to make an investment decision.

The prepared story for the media is intended to entice the curious but stop well before much is revealed.

The hardest part is to keep founders from bragging to their friends after a few beers. Startups are exciting. You want to tell the world all about yours. But to do so will make yours a public company and you'll loose your surprise power. This is a discipline that serial entrepreneurs are very serious about. They insist that all employees and investors adhere to secrecy as if the hidden secrets were top secret government facts that determine life or death.

BOTTOM LINE: Keeping your mouth shut is a sign of a wise entrepreneur. Until you are ready to go public about your company (typically when announcing the launch of your first product), you will gain a lot of power by keeping secret all that you can. It is one of the most important disciplines of a world-class unfair advantage core management team. I hope yours falls into that category.
More at:http://nesheimgroup.typepad.com/my_weblog/2007/05/stealth_startup.html

KeepYouSafe.Com offers digital safe deposit boxes that people use to safely store vital personal information

KeepYouSafe.Com offers digital safe deposit boxes that people use to safely store vital personal information such as insurance policies, financial and medical records and the like. An Online Safe Deposit Box is completely secure, totally private and accessible from anywhere at any time. All you need is an internet connection and a web browser.”
Are you afraid of losing important documents or files? Or, maybe you have a fear of hackers stealing something from your computer? If so, you can store important text-based documents and flies/folders in an online safe deposit box at KeepYouSafe.com It allows users, free of charge, to store up to 10 documents or files, in a 100% secure environment, where only the person with the password can access the digital safe deposit box. For a fee of 4 dollars a month, a file space of 500 megs and room to store 500 text-based records or files is available. The user can access the box from any computer with internet access.
More at:http://www.keepyousafe.com/

Speakageline is an instant website publisher tool for any voice or video message that is sent by a phone

Speakageline is an instant website publisher tool for any voice or video message that is sent by a phone. Fully compatible with all websites and blog platforms. Can be configured as a user generated content "receiver" with an email being sent to the moderator after receiving any incoming message."
Imagine if you could instantly publish to your blog or website just by using your mobile phone. Speakageline makes it possible. You are provided with your own landline based number in your country; to post messages simply call the number speak your piece and hangup. Speakageline will add a nifty header jingle and background music about fifteen seconds after you've recorded your message and place the recording on the site automatically; you can choose to a add a title or edit your message via your web browser There's no technical know needed whatsoever. It's also compatible with most blogger platforms. You can even create a video if you've a cameraphone; or you can create your own radio program with interviews via the conference mechanism. You also can leave your speakageline number on your website so that readers can record their own comments providing for facilitated interaction. The targeted audience are the business types, time strapped CEO's who are always on the run; however, Speakageline is versatile enough that anyone can use it.
More at:http://www.speakageline.com/

Startup Search tracks the web technology referenced as "Web 2.0."

Startup Search tracks the web technology ecosystem commonly referenced as "Web 2.0." We collect facts and figures about new web products, startup companies, key startup employees, and the funding dollars powering their growth.
Startup Search is a community site for everyone interested in tracking our growing industry. We hope this collected information engages a more informed user base and empowers startup entrepreneurs during their various stages of growth."
Startup Search is a newly launched directory of all things 2.0. It's got listings of the highest traffic gainers, companies and their highest ranked partners, along with detailed descriptions of start-up products. Start-ups are given an overall score based on buzz and traffic which are depicted in handy little tabs below the description. Buzz is currently determined by the number of mentions a site gets as measured by Google, Technorati and Yahoo. Traffic is rated by Alexa, Compete, and Quantcast observations. There are Flickr images on the side panel for added visuals, although they frequently have little to do with the sites themselves. Startup also gives you broader searching parameters with queries by person, investors and partners; Google maps display base locations and there is additional info about a person's experience, investment history, etc.. It's still pretty early to tell how well they'll do, but Startup has potential.
more at:http://www.startupsearch.org/

Nenest introduces the most advanced technology to create affordable software to serve customers around the world

Nenest introduces the most advanced technology to create affordable software to serve customers around the world.”
So, you think you can create your own web software, eh? Nenest thinks so too, but not without the help from their form-based software platform which makes Joe Shmoe into a software developer. You will, at the very least, be able to create a software program which supports a database of online content, such as information for contact management, and accounting, bills, bookings and more for finance management. The list could go on forever, the big idea is if you have web content to store and manage, you can create personalized software for you and your business to promote efficiency and organization.
More at:http://www.nenest.com/

Keepm for all your contact management and sharing needs.

Keepm for all your contact management and sharing needs. It is an amazing and free application that holds unlimited contacts and even has a unique promotion where you can send them your business cards and they will scan them into your account...for FREE!!! More at:http://www.keepm.com/

ReliMatic is a global IT services company that specializes in creating world-class technology solutions and custom applications for software companies

ReliMatic is a global IT services company that specializes in creating world-class technology solutions and custom applications for software companies, enterprises, and online business customers. Through a proven global delivery platform, we offer a highly integrated suite of application development, IT consulting, and outsourcing solutions to our clients. We use innovative engagement models, balancing a sophisticated understanding of business with a close attention to detail, to custom-design our process models and meet our client's offshore development.
More at;http://www.relimatic.com/

Appirio delivers services and products to help medium to large enterprises accelerate on-demand adoption.

Appirio, is derived from the Latin word aperio, which means "to reveal or to make clear." Appirio delivers services and products to help medium to large enterprises accelerate on-demand adoption. With a differentiated business model that blends strategy, services, custom application development, integration and products, Appirio is a thought leader in on-demand solutions delivery. We leverage Salesforce.com's CRM solutions, Apex - the Salesforce.com platform and Google Apps to address the business needs of our customers.
To reveal or to make clear” is Appirio’s latin translation and overall mantra, and it’s clear that the new gadgets Appirio has been revealing the past few weeks are pretty stellar. Appirio offers services to Salesforce and Google Apps customers, delivering products to assist medium to large scale businesses speed up on-demand adoption. Appirio has launched iGoogle Gadget on Appexchange and in the Google Gallery, all for free, for now. Four widgets are already availably, all customizable and delivers data from 4 separate datasources inside the salesforce. Appirio combines the CRM solution and Apex platforms to meet the multifaceted needs of saleforce customers.
More at:http://www.appirio.com/

The 4-Hour Workweek is the compass for a new and revolutionary world

Whether you're an overworked employee or an entrepreneur trapped in your own business, The 4-Hour Workweek is the compass for a new and revolutionary world.

Forget the old concept of retirement and the rest of the deferred-life plan—there is no need to wait and every reason not to. Whether your dream is escaping the rat race, high-end world travel, monthly five-figure income with zero management, or just living more and working less, this book is the blueprint.

You can have it all—really.

Join Tim Ferriss, popular guest lecturer in entrepreneurship at Princeton University, as he teaches you:
How to outsource your life and do whatever you want for a year, only to return to a bank account 50% larger than before you left
How blue-chip escape artists travel the world without quitting their jobs
How to eliminate 50% of your work in 48 hours using the principles of little-known European economists
How to train your boss to value performance over presence, or kill your job (or company) if it's beyond repair
How to trade a long-haul career for short work bursts and frequent “mini-retirements”
What automated cash-flow "muses" are and how to create one in 2-4 weeks
How to cultivate selective ignorance—and create time—with a low-information diet
Management secrets of Remote Control CEOs
The crucial difference between absolute and relative income
How to get free housing worldwide and airfare at 50-80% off
How to fill the void and creating meaning after removing work and the office
The 4-Hour Workweek also includes the sample e-mails, voicemails, and real-life deals (with dollar figures and all) you will need to master the new world of luxury lifestyle design.

Who is Tim Ferriss?
Serial entrepreneur and ultravagabond Timothy Ferriss has been featured in The New York Times, National Geographic Traveler, MAXIM, and other media. He speaks six languages, runs a multinational firm from wireless locations worldwide, and has been a world-record holder in tango, a national champion in Chinese kickboxing, and an actor on a hit television series in Hong Kong. He is 29 years old.

Read The 4-Hour Workweek Overview PDF
More at:http://www.4hourworkweek.com/4hww-flyer.pdf

How do you like specialized search? If you do, here are some Internet search engines to help you manage deals online.

How do you like specialized search? If you do, here are some Internet search engines to help you manage deals online.

www.bookfinder.com
www.pricewormer.com/books
Book Finder lists the lowest-priced books not only for new copies but used, as well. The site's main flaw is that shipping prices aren't included in the overwhelming results.

www.pricewormer.com/music/home.htm
Music Wormer (a sister site of Book Wormer and other media search engines) offers a variety of search options for CDs and sorts the results by total price, including shipping.

www.dvdpricesearch.net
DVD Price Search is one of the most full-featured comparison sites going, with a shopping cart that even tabulates which vendor has the best deal on several discs ordered at once. Its results include shipping and note coupons or promotions that might affect the price.

www.gamespot.com
The review site Game Spot is clunky, but it does the job. You have to search for a title, then pick the proper version and then click on the Buy It button in the upper-right part of the page for that game. Then scroll past the EB Games ad (which might have the lowest price) to see the results, which don't include shipping. Also try www.gamepricezone.com, run by the same folks behind DVD Price Search, although it's not as comprehensive.

http://dealnews.com/digital-cameras
Digital cameras and camcorders can be big-ticket items, but they also are popular gifts. Powerful Dealcam offers a wealth of search functions and gives comprehensive results from screened merchants that include the best total price and note coupons and other promotions that might apply.

http://dealmac.com
Computer-oriented price-search sites tend to be too wide-ranging, too narrow in their results or too difficult to use. Good luck with well-meaning sites such as www.pricewatch.com and www.streetprices.com. The related might be your best bet, but they focus on bargains, not price comparisons.
More at:http://www.charlotte.com/business/story/139249.html

Money Making Tools For Bloggers

The Blog Mastermind Partners affiliate program is now available.

If you have a blog or newsletter or website or any means to contact people who are interested in earning money from blogging, then please consider joining my new affiliate program.

You earn $20 USD repeat commission every month for each person you refer and a once off commission of $300 for each person you refer into the Blog Mastermind Elite program.

You can sign-up and become a partner here -

www.BlogMastermind.com/partners/

Affiliate membership is free and once you join you will have access to a range of tools I provide for affiliates to make promotion easy, including banners, text links, email templates and blog articles.

Act Now
I’m releasing my special report later today. As an affiliate you can recommend your readers download the report via your affiliate link (and I know they will thank you, there’s great content in it) and if any of them join my mentoring program in the next 90 days you will be credited with the referral commission.

The earlier you act on this the better since this is the first time I have released the report and made an affiliate program available. Those who act fast are rewarded because there isn’t as much competition and the news about my report is fresh.

For any bloggers or email list owners who have a list of people interested in making money from blogging or just making money online, this is a fantastic affiliate program.
More at:http://www.blogmastermind.com/partners/

"Business YouTube"

John Byrne, BusinessWeek's executive editor and the acting editor-in-chief for Businessweek.com, said that company is looking to create a "business YouTube" essentially an online video hub for wannabe moguls to post short pitch videos for a new ventures or companies.

The site is also exploring the launch of an online-video-based contest that would invite anyone with a idea for a new business to submit a plan on the site with the chance to land $500,000 in venture capital funding.

Byrne, speaking during a panel session at the Interactive Media Conference in Miami, Fla. on May 24, said that like on YouTube, users would rate each proposal and ultimately vote on the winner, who would receive half a million dollars from a VC firm to invest in the proposed business.

To help create the YouTube-like platform, Byrne said the company was looking to purchase a new technology platform.

According to Byrne, the drive behind the proposed launch, given its potential appeal among non-BusinessWeek-readers, is to help widen the site's audience while also boosting repeat visits among existing users.

Given the challenging economics of print, and the need to cash in on larger online audiences, Businessweek.com is "Looking to do things that are highly engaging but are completely non-journalistic in many ways," he added.
More at:http://www.mediaweek.com/mw/news/recent_display.jsp?vnu_content_id=1003590128

Quattro’s mobilization services enable advertisers to create dynamic mobile landing pages and microsites that are optimized for all mobile

The Quattro Wireless mobile web network delivers a next-generation framework for easily and quickly launching adaptive, mobile-optimized web sites that pull content directly from a Publishers wired web source and are tightly integrated to a network of high-quality advertisers.
Quattro’s mobilization services enable advertisers to create dynamic mobile landing pages and microsites that are optimized for all mobile devices and browsers. Unlike other solutions in the marketplace that only offer a “templated” approach, Quattro ad pages and sites are fully customized to reflect the advertisers’ brand and unique campaign initiatives.
More at:http://www.quattrowireless.com/

Meeting Tomorrow offers business customers easy access to audio visual equipment. Hotels often charge extortionate prices for renting a equipment

Meeting Tomorrow offers business customers easy access to audio visual equipment. Hotels often charge extortionate prices for renting a projector or display screen, and other meeting venues don't always have the equipment needed for a presentation.

On Meeting Tomorrow, you choose the equipment you need, order it online or by phone, and the equipment is delivered to your home, office, hotel or meeting location on time. Advance orders are delivered the day before the meeting, and same day orders are welcome. (Meeting Tomorrow offers same day delivery to 95% of the US, and next day service to the rest of the country.)

The beauty of the concept is how simple it is for customers, who can rely on the equipment arriving on time and don’t have to go out of their way to pick up or return a projector. For returns, Meeting Tomorrow takes a cue from Netflix: pre-paid adhesive FedEx return labels are included with projectors and laptops.

More at:http://www.meetingtomorrow.com/

If you play the stock market daily or at least regularly, this site could be a good source of user-generated content for stock information

WallStPoP is a Web2.0 style website. The stock market news and blog articles are constantly updated via RSS. People read that news and Pop what they like best. If that news rock and receive enough Pops, it is promoted to the Front Page for the millions of visitors to see.

WallStPoP is all about stock market news and blog articles. The site highlights those blogs and articles voted the most popular by the readers, and encourges reader input and contributions. If you play the stock market daily or at least regularly, this site could be a good source of user-generated content for stock information. The site borders on overwhelming the reader with too much information in its sign design and layout. In this new consumer revolution on the web, this is yet another attempt to inform and educate the little guys.
More at:http://www.wallstpop.com/

Rated Tradesmen will help them find a reliable tradesman in UK

Seven out of ten people in the UK say they have been unhappy with the work performed by tradesmen on their homes. This site aims to change that statistic by offering an online service that matches UK tradesmen with customer-submitted jobs. Whether a homeowner in the UK needs a plumber, builder, gardner or carpenter, Rated Tradesmen will help them find a reliable tradesman. They submit a job, get quotes, hire one and then rate them. Simple. They rightly brag about having a 94% average customer rating. They also offer advice for homeowners, post recent ratings and experiences of customers, and rate suppliers as well. If this site doesn't exist in every city in the US, it should.


We're making home improvement better for everyone. There are thousands of honest, reliable tradesmen in the UK. But others aren't so good. How do you find one of the best?

A recommendation from a friend is great when it works. But Rated Tradesmen is even better?we have a massive network of carefully selected tradesmen who get 'rated' by their customers on every single job they complete.
More at:http://www.ratedtradesmen.com/

iQzone is a mobile classifieds service that lets you easily place ads in as easy as snap, send, and sell

iqzone allows anyone with a camera phone to take a photo or video clip of anything to post a classified ad in less than 60 seconds. Sellers can broadcast their mobile ad to a universe of free online classifieds, paid sites and print publications. Buyers can connect with sellers in real-time by setting mobile alerts for items or services they are interested in. They can also search for items using their mobile phone or the web.”

iQzone is a mobile classifieds service that lets you easily place ads in as easy as snap, send, and sell. You can create a classified ads from your mobile phone, take a picture of the item you would like to sell from your mobile or upload one, type in a blurb and selling price and send it into iQzone. Your ad will be displayed all over RSS feeds such as Yahoo! AOL, Google, and Windows Live. You ad will be disributed so that people will recieve updates quicker and they will find exactly what they are looking for in a more efficient manner. Now that people are going bonkers over Facebooks latest decision to allow third party application to be added to member profiles iQzone has taken advantage of this opportunity as well. You can add this featurer to your Facebook account, making it even easier for you and the buyer to connect in a whole new way. iQzone also enables you to share your own ads and even the ads of others, and functions as a mean to cut down time you spend creating and distributing ads to multiple locations and a wide audience.
More at:http://iqzone.com/

P-2-P (peer-to-peer) search engine which believes that searching really ought to be decentralized

Faroo is the p-2-p (peer-to-peer) search engine which believes that searching really ought to be decentralized. Internet architecture itself is decentralized, I personally like to think the WWW stands for Wild, Wild, West. Faroo scours the frontier based on what you, the searcher, thinks is relevant, with out any central institution gun slingin.’ Nothing stands in the way of the information you want and the searcher, because all pages are ranking based on user ranking. In the same manner, those who provide the content are to be sure their content will be found, since all Faroo search results are current, comprehensive and efficient.


“The collection of the whole, exponentially growing Web on a single central system is not successful on the long run. Despite constantly increasing investments in hardware the completeness and freshness of the search index will steadily decrease.
With the concept of a distributed peer-to-peer search engine the same users, who provide the content of the internet assure also, that it is findable too. Thus the search results may be provided more up-to-date, more comprehensive and more cost-efficient.
The searcher becomes a part of FAROO. The architecture is decentralized like the Internet itself. There stands no more central institution between the information source and the searcher.
With the tremendous growth of information the relevance of search results becomes more important. This is assured by an fully automatic ranking of web page content by the users of the peer-to-peer search engine.”
More at:http://www.faroo.com/

A1 Webmarks, stands for Anywhere 1 click away, and is a personal bookmarking site with additional social attributes

A1 Webmarks, (which musn't be confused with the steak sauce) stands for Anywhere 1 click away, and is a personal bookmarking site with additional social attributes. It allows users to categorize and tag personal webmarks for assignation to a topic; most used webmarks, or favorites, can be accessed instantaneously, and all webmarks are alphabetized and checked periodically so that you'll know which ones are no longer accessible. The social aspect of A1 comes in the form of recommendations; based on usage info of all A1 webmarkers, the site will point you in the direction of other sites you may enjoy. A1 also allows its users to see the most popular tags and the corresponding webmarks. There are lists of the most popular webmarks on a specific topic and users can create new ones. to add to your Webmark you have three choices available to you: you can 1) click on the "My Webmarks" button and enter the url of the page you want marked, 2) you can also use the "add" link if you're on the site, or in your own webmarks, or finally you can choose option 3) and download the webmarks bookmarklet. The site requires that you sign up to use it, but overall, it's pretty useful and easy to navigate.

"A webmark marks a location on the web, just like a bookmark marks a location in a book. It's a web page, whose address you want to remember for some reason. Webmarks are often called bookmarks or favorites, especially when the webmark itself is stored offline on your PC."

More at:http://www.a1-webmarks.com/

Geocommons takes Google maps and allows users to graph and chart particular data sets according to geographical location

Geocommons takes Google maps and allows users to graph and chart particular data sets according to geographical location. For instance, if you're interested in knowing how many windmills are in Holland, or if you want an idea of bottled water consumption within the inland Northwest, Geocommons provides the means to create an intelligent map that suits your needs. The site has ready access to a repository of high quality geodata which any one can use with a few simple clicks of their mouse. Demographics, environmental attributes, political info,crime rate, unemployement-- all of this information is available for your use, and it's still expanding. If you're moving for instance, you can use Geocommons to find out about your neighborhood, it's crime rate, schools, traffic, and pollution. You can create your own data sets and export them to Google Earth's KML and you'll get your own smart, customized map. Or you can use Geocommon's workspace and search their data archive adding it to your map as you go. Data is supplied by Geocommon users, NGO's, goverments, and neo-geographers. Currently to create your own Geocommons map you'll needn't spend a cent, however the site will enable private data in the future for an additional cost.

"GeoCommons is a place to explore, create and share intelligent maps and geographic data."

"If you work with geographic information (or have tried to), you know how difficult it can be to find data and how much of a hassle it can be to make data you find usable. On GeoCommons, you have access to a huge repository of high-quality geodata that is ready to use with a few simple clicks. GeoCommons includes a wide range of data in areas such as, population, environment, recreation, schools, crime, employment, traffic, politics, shark attacks and whatever wacky or edifying information the community contributes."
more at:http://www.geocommons.com/

Poly9 Free Earth is a cross-browser, cross-platform 3-D map viewer that comes with tons of great features.

Poly9 Free Earth is a cross-browser, cross-platform 3-D map viewer that comes with tons of great features. They are currently working with applications Twittervision 3D, Flickrvision 3D, and UFO Maps to help create the best platform for you to view your 3-D maps. Features include GeoRSS feed, mapstraction compatibility, solar system planets and maps, embeddable videos, pushpins, mouse control, and the ability to zoom and tilt to get a more enhanced view of your world. The application size is 189k, and developers are permitted to include Poly9 Free Earth on their website since they have a Javascript API. You do need Flash Player 9 to view the maps.

“Poly9 FreeEarth is a cross-browser, cross-platform 3D globe which does not require any download1.
Developers can learn how to include FreeEarth on their own site by reading about the JavaScript API.”
More at:http://freeearth.poly9.com/

XuQa is an online reality game in which you must climb the social ladder to become the most popular and riches person in the XuQa network

XuQa is an online reality game in which you must climb the social ladder to become the most popular and riches person in the XuQa network. There are game different rooms to play the game and you can create your personal own and invite others to play along with you. Users are ranked according to popularity; the more popular you are, the higher you rank. In order to increase your rank you can play poker, become a Xuqalebrity, post in the forums, and challenge friends. To get to the top level, level ten, you need to socialize a lot, and earn a lot of peanuts. Peanuts are the XuQa currency. They can be used to activate premium services on the site. Each XuQa member has their own profile with 5GB of storage space for photos, etc. There's a Crushlist for you to write down your loves without anyone knowing. If your crush adds you to their list a match is made. Actions, such as tinkles, kisses and bitch slaps allow your friends and crushes to know how you feel. To join you've got to register.
"What is XuQa? An exciting network of friends where you socialize and compete to become the Richest and popular person in the game."
More at:http://www.xuqa.com/

Must Watch 7 Websites If You Want To Make Money

Stuart Smith Says: "These 7 Websites Will Earn Me...
300 Maybe 400 Thousand Dollars"
I've researched, reviewed, tested and retested hundreds of "make money" programs on the internet. Now I'm going to reveal to you right here and now my findings.

Only 7 sites passed my tests and they're listed on this page. I've discovered these sites to be completely scam free, guaranteed.

Hope you find this web page helpful, as I've spent months researching these sites to provide this service to the public.
More at:http://www.nerdgetsrich.com/
http://www.forexenterprise.com/

A Big Opportunity for IT Vendors

In March 2007, the New York-based Access Markets International (AMI) Partners, Inc., a provider of global market intelligence and consultancy services said that small and medium businesses (SMBs) in India were expected to spend around US$8 billion in 2007 to improve their IT infrastructure. This represented a 24% growth over the amount spent in 2006. In the past, some of the issues that constrained most SMBs from investing in IT infrastructure were cost considerations, inability to afford technical experts, and lack of awareness of the value of IT.

Analysts noted that though controlling costs still remained a priority for SMBs, they had begun to realize the opportunities provided by IT. The growth of the Indian economy and revenues of SMBs was a factor that was expected to result in an increase in IT spending among SMBs.

According to AMI, 93% of small businesses (i.e. businesses with 1 to 99 employees) and 86% of medium businesses (i.e. businesses with 100 to 999 employees) showed an increase in revenues in 2006.

Moreover, in a business environment in which they had to compete with larger domestic and international competitors, SMBs were increasingly viewing their investment in IT as a competitive strategy. This presented the IT vendors with a huge opportunity as this market had traditionally been underserved by most vendors.

In March 2007, Intel India (Intel) announced that it had started an initiative across the country called as the “SMB Advantage Program”. Through this initiative Intel aimed to assist its channel partners to increase their business with SMBs. It had identified 160 channel partners (comprising System Integrators, Original Equipment Manufacturers and Retail Partners) from 15 cities across India.

Intel had also identified five key SMB verticals – manufacturing (auto ancillaries, gems and jewelry, pharma and textiles), animation, stock broking and higher education. Intel would provide special training to its partners on the IT needs of these SMBs to help its partners adopt a consultative selling mode and deliver customized solutions. Intel also said that it had started this initiative as the target segment preferred to do business with local firms.

In collaboration with its partners, Intel also planned to host special events for these verticals where customers could purchase a complete solution. It had also tied up with ICICI bank to work with select partners to provide special loans to SMBs to invest in Intel’s solutions.

Some of the other initiatives in the program were focused on helping partners to establish proof of concept centers to help showcase its SMB solutions, and development of case studies along with partners that showcased how Intel’s solutions had made a difference to the SMBs.

There were also reward and recognition programs for outstanding partners. In addition to Intel, other IT giants such as Microsoft Corporation and HP had also adopted aggressive strategies to woo SMBs in India.

However, some analysts opined that these were significant challenges in targeting the SMBs. These businesses were spread throughout the country and across various industries and the IT needs of SMBs in one sector were quite different from that of the other.

The awareness level of the value of IT was still low among a high percentage of small businesses. Other challenges included lack of skilled and competent partners, and wide-scale piracy. The choice of an effective marketing communication strategy, media channel, etc, too posed a considerable challenge due to the diversity among the target segment.
More At:http://www.icmr.icfai.org/business%20Updates/micro%20casestudies/Business%20Strategy/MCBS0014.htm

FaxZero allows you to send a fax to any fax machine in the United States or Canada for free.

FaxZero allows you to send a fax to any fax machine in the United States or Canada for free. You don't need a scanner or fax machine. All you do is send an email with text or attach a PDF, Microsoft Word or an Excel spreadsheet, and FaxZero will fax it. The only hitch for a free fax is that the cover page will have an advertisement on it and you can only send 2 faxes per day up to 3 pages. If you don't want the advertisement, you can still use the site but pay a $1.99 premium and send faxes up to 15 pages. They don't recommend the site for those who send mulitple faxes regularly. The site is simple, easy and smart.

FaxZero lets you send a fax to any fax machine in the United States (including Puerto Rico) or Canada for free. You don't need a fax machine yourself, but you do need a valid e-mail address.
More at:http://www.faxzero.com/

www.zedoffice.net

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/

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/

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/

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

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

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/

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

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

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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:
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