Launchtags lets you create mini-pages about your expertise, interests, know how, hobbies, ideas or just about anything bright and shiny. Use text, pictures, videos, links and RSS feeds to build your page. Share 50% of the advertising revenue brought in by the traffic to your great page. Launchtags.com is simple, free and fun.
Members create mini-pages on which they can post videos, photos and links about their chosen subject. They’ll earn fifty percent of all advertising revenue generated from their pages. Subjects range from books and grandfatherly advice to London Hotels and France. Each contributor is given a profile which also links to each mini-page they’ve created. The Launchpad section plays host to ideas, it’s where you go for inspiration to create your own mini-page. Launchtags is free for everyone.
More at:http://www.launchtags.com/
Friday, July 20, 2007
How To Make Millions With Just Cat Pictures!
Eric Nakagawa, a software developer in Hawaii, posted a single photo of a fat, smiling cat he found on the Internet, with the caption, "I can has cheezburger?" in January, 2007, at a Web site he created. It was supposed to be a joke. Soon after he posted a few more images in the same vein: cute cats with funny captions written in a silly, invented hybrid of Internet shorthand and baby-talk. Then he turned the site into a blog, so that visitors could comment on the postings. What happened after that would have been hard for anyone to predict.
"We just thought, O.K., they're funny,"Nakagawa says. "Suddenly we started getting hits. I was like, where are these coming from?"
He saw traffic on the blog, I Can Has Cheezburger, which he runs with his partner, "Tofuburger" (she refuses to disclose her real name) double each month: 375,000 hits in March, 750,000 in April, 1.5 million in May. Cheezburger now gets 500,000 page views a day from between 100,000 and 200,000 unique visitors, according to Nakagawa. The cheapest ad costs $500 for a week. The most expensive goes for nearly $4,000. Nakagawa, an accidental entrepreneur who saw his successful business materialize out of the ether, quit his programming job at the end of May: "It made more sense to do this and see how big it could get."
Cheezburger's story is unusual in the upper reaches of the blogosphere in that the time between launching and reaching a critical mass of readers who sustain the site is so compressed. But many of the most popular bloggers have similar tales of starting out with a niche idea—an inside joke, a particular obsession—and watching it explode. Of course, most blogs linger in obscurity and are read by only a handful of people, and few ever reach the level Cheezburger has. What about a blog like Cheezburger lets it break away from the pack?
The initial appeal of the blog may have been a fluke, but its growth since then has been part of a tightly controlled experiment to help answer that question. Nakagawa and his partner constantly tweak the site to see what draws readers and what leaves them cold.
"We basically have a playground where people keep coming to play, so we're trying to create new games all the time,"Nakagawa says.
To drive traffic, they try to time their new posts with when people are most likely to be reading: in the mornings, on their lunch breaks, or in the evenings. Early on, when Nakagawa saw the site getting 1,000 page views a day, he added a widget that allows visitors to rate each post on a scale of one to five cheeseburgers. That helped boost traffic to 2,000.
Readers don't just rate or comment on the posts. They create them. Cheezburger depends on its fans to submit pictures, write funny captions, and send them in. Nakagawa has built a tool to let readers select a ready-made photo or upload their own, add and position captions, choose font styles, and submit a finished product. Any visitor can vote on the submissions, and the most popular ones make it to the main page. The function saves Nakagawa from having to find funny captions for photos, and it creates a lasting bond with readers.
That kind of interaction helps make I Can Has Cheezburger as much a community as a blog. A post by one user will inspire another to play off the theme, forming a narrative. "It's like you're creating a story supplied by people in the community, and then the people in the community supply the next part of the story,"Nakagawa says.
The idea of building a community around content supplied by users sustains several top blogs, and most put the idea of community ahead of making money.
More at:http://icanhascheezburger.com/
"We just thought, O.K., they're funny,"Nakagawa says. "Suddenly we started getting hits. I was like, where are these coming from?"
He saw traffic on the blog, I Can Has Cheezburger, which he runs with his partner, "Tofuburger" (she refuses to disclose her real name) double each month: 375,000 hits in March, 750,000 in April, 1.5 million in May. Cheezburger now gets 500,000 page views a day from between 100,000 and 200,000 unique visitors, according to Nakagawa. The cheapest ad costs $500 for a week. The most expensive goes for nearly $4,000. Nakagawa, an accidental entrepreneur who saw his successful business materialize out of the ether, quit his programming job at the end of May: "It made more sense to do this and see how big it could get."
Cheezburger's story is unusual in the upper reaches of the blogosphere in that the time between launching and reaching a critical mass of readers who sustain the site is so compressed. But many of the most popular bloggers have similar tales of starting out with a niche idea—an inside joke, a particular obsession—and watching it explode. Of course, most blogs linger in obscurity and are read by only a handful of people, and few ever reach the level Cheezburger has. What about a blog like Cheezburger lets it break away from the pack?
The initial appeal of the blog may have been a fluke, but its growth since then has been part of a tightly controlled experiment to help answer that question. Nakagawa and his partner constantly tweak the site to see what draws readers and what leaves them cold.
"We basically have a playground where people keep coming to play, so we're trying to create new games all the time,"Nakagawa says.
To drive traffic, they try to time their new posts with when people are most likely to be reading: in the mornings, on their lunch breaks, or in the evenings. Early on, when Nakagawa saw the site getting 1,000 page views a day, he added a widget that allows visitors to rate each post on a scale of one to five cheeseburgers. That helped boost traffic to 2,000.
Readers don't just rate or comment on the posts. They create them. Cheezburger depends on its fans to submit pictures, write funny captions, and send them in. Nakagawa has built a tool to let readers select a ready-made photo or upload their own, add and position captions, choose font styles, and submit a finished product. Any visitor can vote on the submissions, and the most popular ones make it to the main page. The function saves Nakagawa from having to find funny captions for photos, and it creates a lasting bond with readers.
That kind of interaction helps make I Can Has Cheezburger as much a community as a blog. A post by one user will inspire another to play off the theme, forming a narrative. "It's like you're creating a story supplied by people in the community, and then the people in the community supply the next part of the story,"Nakagawa says.
The idea of building a community around content supplied by users sustains several top blogs, and most put the idea of community ahead of making money.
More at:http://icanhascheezburger.com/
File123 is a secure online storage vault that allows businesses and households to store, search and retrieve paper and digital files
File123 is a secure online storage vault that allows businesses and households to store, search and retrieve paper and digital files. Users can fax or scan paper documents and email or upload computer files. Each account features: • 1 GB of storage for free and only $4.95 per month for 10 GB. • Create unlimited number of folders • Share large files with anyone via email • PDF file conversion allow the user to download either their original file or a PDF document. • OCR: Each file is read by our optical character recognition engine and every keyword is indexed for easy searching. • Site secured by Hacker-safe and Verisign SSL • Data secured by Amazon S3’s redundant data warehousing services • The site was built using all the latest Web 2.0 standards.
More at:http://www.file123.com/
More at:http://www.file123.com/
Price Protectr "It will monitor the prices of products you buy online and see if they go down "
Price Protectr is site for the consumer. It will monitor the prices of products you buy online and see if they go down (which apparently they often do). They will then notify you and you can collect your refund. Normally, you buy a product online knowing they have a price protection policy, but it is up to you to monitor the prices and ask for a refund. Who would do that? The site monitors 33 major stores including Amazon, Best Buy, Circuit City, Costco, Future Shop, Sears and Staples. All you have to do to get the service started is enter the URL of the product you bought and wait for the good news. Of course, it is up to you at that point to go back to the online store and start the refund process; but Price Protectr does offer detailed instructions on how to handle that process at most of its stores.
This site demonstrates the beauty of the internet. This site will help you reap money, for free. All you have to do is join, record you purchases at those stores with price protected policies, and wait.
More at:http://www.priceprotectr.com/
This site demonstrates the beauty of the internet. This site will help you reap money, for free. All you have to do is join, record you purchases at those stores with price protected policies, and wait.
More at:http://www.priceprotectr.com/
Get Your eCommerce Site With BlinkCart
BlinkCart will change your eCommerce experience .Get your eCommerce site rolling on some serious wheels with BlinkCart, a service that allows you to add a shopping cart to any page that supports HTML or Javascript codes. That means this shopping cart already works with your current website with nothing to download or install, given that it’s a fully web-based system. Sign up for a free trial account on the website and then choose your payment method, including PayPal, Check, or Bank Deposit. Then, add the products you wish to market, and copy and paste the button code on to your webpage. Your shopping cart will be up on your website in five minutes or less, making it the most convienient and affordable way to boost sales on your site.
How It Works:Works with your existing web pages •Accept multiple payment methods (Paypal, Cheque, Bank Deposit, etc.) •Shipping calculation (fixed or by weight) •Sales tax, VAT calculation •Product specific discount code support •Product thumbnail & stock level support •Online orders & inventory management system •Fully web based system. Nothing to download or install.
More at:http://www.blinkcart.com/
How It Works:Works with your existing web pages •Accept multiple payment methods (Paypal, Cheque, Bank Deposit, etc.) •Shipping calculation (fixed or by weight) •Sales tax, VAT calculation •Product specific discount code support •Product thumbnail & stock level support •Online orders & inventory management system •Fully web based system. Nothing to download or install.
More at:http://www.blinkcart.com/
Locate Your Nearest Golf Course Via BunkerShot
BunkerShot has an information rich website showing where the nearest and best courses are to wherever you happen to be located. There are even instructional videos on the site to show you how to cure that slicing problem you have or how to grip the club like Tiger Woods, you can even book your tee time online through BunkerShot. The site has an RSS feed that you can subscribe to to make sure that you are always in the know about what is going on in the golf world, and my personal favorite, a golf dictionary to figure out all of that crazy golf jargon.
More at:http://bunkershot.com/
More at:http://bunkershot.com/
Honeypitch fuses a proposal automation solution with CRM and business productivity tools.
Honeypitch fuses a proposal automation solution with CRM and business productivity tools. Quickly combine a presentation, proposal, estimate and contract into an invite-only website that can be negotiated online. The goal is to enable teams to create the perfect pitch of ideas, services, and products that generates immediate feedback and results. Each highly-personalized "Honeypitch" has version-controlled sections and topic-based message boards that allows both parties to agree to terms with confidence.
HoneyPitch will assign you anywhere from 1 to 50 employees depending on the package that you choose just to help you make your pitch the best and most effective that it could be. They can help you acquire sponsors, raise venture capital, or just about whatever you need HoneyPitch.com will find a way to help you get it. With affordable rates that start off at free (it doesn't get much more affordable than that, does it) up to $200 a month, you can get the help you need now.
More at:http://honeypitch.com/
HoneyPitch will assign you anywhere from 1 to 50 employees depending on the package that you choose just to help you make your pitch the best and most effective that it could be. They can help you acquire sponsors, raise venture capital, or just about whatever you need HoneyPitch.com will find a way to help you get it. With affordable rates that start off at free (it doesn't get much more affordable than that, does it) up to $200 a month, you can get the help you need now.
More at:http://honeypitch.com/
Thursday, July 19, 2007
Make Millions With Unusual Trade Associations
Pop quiz: What do birthing classes, spice sellers and crematoriums have in common -- besides bracketing the cycle of life?
Give up? They all have trade associations run by the quietest and fastest-growing company on K Street, SmithBucklin.
The Chicago-based firm (with a major Washington office) is the world's largest trade association management company. Its more than 200 trade associations and professional societies include Lamaze International, the American Spice Trade Association and the Cremation Association of North America.
These are not what you'd call high-profile entities, but that's the way SmithBucklin likes it. The company has stayed in the background, helping obscure but useful organizations, since 1949.
"People say, 'My God, there's really an industry for this?' " said Henry S. Givray, SmithBucklin's chief executive. "They don't fully grasp what we do."
What it does is operate full-time trade associations on what amounts to part-time budgets. It hires professional managers -- or develops them from within -- and assigns them to run one or two trade groups. Then it backs them up with teams of experts in accounting, training, marketing, event planning, human resources and, here in Washington, government affairs.
Voila, instant trade association! And the associations' members are none the wiser. Independent associations, however, are not always pleased with the competition. "Stand-alone association execs can sometimes get a little nervous about what we do," Givray said.
But clearly it's working well. SmithBucklin has grown at a compounded annual rate of 11 percent over the past five years and has 750 employees. Its industry (yes, it is an industry) comprises 676 companies, up more than 40 percent from 10 years ago.
Washington is, of course, a major hub for associations. Of the nation's 86,000 trade associations and professional societies, 3,500 are located in the D.C. area, more than in any other locale.
So SmithBucklin has a large and growing office here. In May, it hired Russell Snyder, 45, as senior vice president for its 160-person Washington office. Snyder, who last worked at SmithBucklin's largest competitor, Kellen Co., is a third-generation association executive.
Snyder's grandfather Calvin Snyder worked for the predecessor of the National Association of Realtors. His father, Dick Snyder, was the top executive of the National Lumber and Building Material Dealers Association. Dick Snyder was also responsible for roping his son into supervising associations for a living.
Russ Snyder has had responsibility over a weird and eclectic collection of groups: the National Candle Association, the Asphalt Roofing Manufacturers Association and the Greeting Card Association, among others. He now helps oversee three floors of a building on M Street NW that house 25 associations and a six-person lobbying shop. The associations include a few that you might have even heard of: the Pet Food Institute and the Regional Airline Association, for example.
Snyder's office also conducts back-office functions for the Managed Funds Association, which represents one of the country's most controversial businesses -- hedge funds.
Snyder said he enjoys his new job and would recommend it to the next generation of Snyders. In the meantime, he has had to spend a lot of time just keeping his clients' acronyms straight.
More at:http://www.smithbucklin.com/
Via-WashingtonPost
Give up? They all have trade associations run by the quietest and fastest-growing company on K Street, SmithBucklin.
The Chicago-based firm (with a major Washington office) is the world's largest trade association management company. Its more than 200 trade associations and professional societies include Lamaze International, the American Spice Trade Association and the Cremation Association of North America.
These are not what you'd call high-profile entities, but that's the way SmithBucklin likes it. The company has stayed in the background, helping obscure but useful organizations, since 1949.
"People say, 'My God, there's really an industry for this?' " said Henry S. Givray, SmithBucklin's chief executive. "They don't fully grasp what we do."
What it does is operate full-time trade associations on what amounts to part-time budgets. It hires professional managers -- or develops them from within -- and assigns them to run one or two trade groups. Then it backs them up with teams of experts in accounting, training, marketing, event planning, human resources and, here in Washington, government affairs.
Voila, instant trade association! And the associations' members are none the wiser. Independent associations, however, are not always pleased with the competition. "Stand-alone association execs can sometimes get a little nervous about what we do," Givray said.
But clearly it's working well. SmithBucklin has grown at a compounded annual rate of 11 percent over the past five years and has 750 employees. Its industry (yes, it is an industry) comprises 676 companies, up more than 40 percent from 10 years ago.
Washington is, of course, a major hub for associations. Of the nation's 86,000 trade associations and professional societies, 3,500 are located in the D.C. area, more than in any other locale.
So SmithBucklin has a large and growing office here. In May, it hired Russell Snyder, 45, as senior vice president for its 160-person Washington office. Snyder, who last worked at SmithBucklin's largest competitor, Kellen Co., is a third-generation association executive.
Snyder's grandfather Calvin Snyder worked for the predecessor of the National Association of Realtors. His father, Dick Snyder, was the top executive of the National Lumber and Building Material Dealers Association. Dick Snyder was also responsible for roping his son into supervising associations for a living.
Russ Snyder has had responsibility over a weird and eclectic collection of groups: the National Candle Association, the Asphalt Roofing Manufacturers Association and the Greeting Card Association, among others. He now helps oversee three floors of a building on M Street NW that house 25 associations and a six-person lobbying shop. The associations include a few that you might have even heard of: the Pet Food Institute and the Regional Airline Association, for example.
Snyder's office also conducts back-office functions for the Managed Funds Association, which represents one of the country's most controversial businesses -- hedge funds.
Snyder said he enjoys his new job and would recommend it to the next generation of Snyders. In the meantime, he has had to spend a lot of time just keeping his clients' acronyms straight.
More at:http://www.smithbucklin.com/
Via-WashingtonPost
Splunk,a system that could accurately track a transaction
Splunk,a system that could accurately track a transaction as it traversed the entire enterprise stack. If the transaction broke somewhere along the way, their software could help IT discover the cause of that failure. While it was clearly a pain point for some businesses, there was no clear customer and the value proposition was a relatively hard one to articulate. But the technology they were building created a whole lot of intelligence built on the fumes of the data center (namely the log files).
They had figured out that if they could track, manage and correlate log files across the entire data center in near real time, that they could create the killer IT Search Engine that would allow an end user to see into their enterprise stack in a way never before possible. The Splunk works using Voip data and how one could track all systems that touched a particular extension by simply searching for that extension in the Splunk engine. It was clearly a better way to manage the massive amounts of IT data that exist in enterprises today.
Splunk team has built precisely what they promised -- a large-scale, high-speed search technology for your data center. But despite the fact that Splunk's software has been downloaded by over 100,000 users and despite the fact that there are now more than 350 paying enterprise customers (including 21st Century Insurance, BEA, British Telecom, Catholic Healthcare West, Chicago Mercantile Exchange, Comcast, Dow Jones, FedEx, Fiserv, GE Consumer Finance, LinkedIn, Mantech, Mozilla.org, NASA, Shopzilla, Telstra, U.S. Department of Energy, U.S. Department of Justice, U.S. Department of State, Vodafone and Yahoo!), I would still have a tough time answering the question posed by my Limited Partner.
Splunk has not built an application. Nor is Splunk merely selling software. Splunk has created a software enabled platform that continues to be extremely broadly applicable. Is Splunk mission critical when it comes to maintaining availability of large scale enterprise systems? Yes. Is Splunk invaluable in the fight to maintain the security of your data center? Yes. Does Splunk uniquely simplify the process of data compliance? Yes. Can Splunk help you dig into your data and analyze it like no other solution? Yes. But, frankly, that's just the tip of the iceberg -- once you are able to query individual pieces of data across your entire data center in real time, the applicability of the platform is limited only by the creativity of its end users. And those end users are driving value back into the platform, creating applications we hadn't thought of before.
More at:http://www.splunk.com/
They had figured out that if they could track, manage and correlate log files across the entire data center in near real time, that they could create the killer IT Search Engine that would allow an end user to see into their enterprise stack in a way never before possible. The Splunk works using Voip data and how one could track all systems that touched a particular extension by simply searching for that extension in the Splunk engine. It was clearly a better way to manage the massive amounts of IT data that exist in enterprises today.
Splunk team has built precisely what they promised -- a large-scale, high-speed search technology for your data center. But despite the fact that Splunk's software has been downloaded by over 100,000 users and despite the fact that there are now more than 350 paying enterprise customers (including 21st Century Insurance, BEA, British Telecom, Catholic Healthcare West, Chicago Mercantile Exchange, Comcast, Dow Jones, FedEx, Fiserv, GE Consumer Finance, LinkedIn, Mantech, Mozilla.org, NASA, Shopzilla, Telstra, U.S. Department of Energy, U.S. Department of Justice, U.S. Department of State, Vodafone and Yahoo!), I would still have a tough time answering the question posed by my Limited Partner.
Splunk has not built an application. Nor is Splunk merely selling software. Splunk has created a software enabled platform that continues to be extremely broadly applicable. Is Splunk mission critical when it comes to maintaining availability of large scale enterprise systems? Yes. Is Splunk invaluable in the fight to maintain the security of your data center? Yes. Does Splunk uniquely simplify the process of data compliance? Yes. Can Splunk help you dig into your data and analyze it like no other solution? Yes. But, frankly, that's just the tip of the iceberg -- once you are able to query individual pieces of data across your entire data center in real time, the applicability of the platform is limited only by the creativity of its end users. And those end users are driving value back into the platform, creating applications we hadn't thought of before.
More at:http://www.splunk.com/
ZoomInfo is a business related people search engine
ZoomInfo is the premier business information search engine, with profiles on more than 35 million people and 3.8 million companies. ZoomInfo delivers a single site for quick and easy access to in-depth information on industries, companies, people, products, services and jobs. Find out more about how ZoomInfo can work for you.
The site aims to cover a large field. Search by company, people or job. Refine your search by geography or revenue. ZoomInfo will list info about where a person has worked as well as career highlights. If you need something more extensive, ZoomInfo has something called PowerSearch. It gives you the ability to perform in-depth people and company searches.
More at:http://www.zoominfo.com/
The site aims to cover a large field. Search by company, people or job. Refine your search by geography or revenue. ZoomInfo will list info about where a person has worked as well as career highlights. If you need something more extensive, ZoomInfo has something called PowerSearch. It gives you the ability to perform in-depth people and company searches.
More at:http://www.zoominfo.com/
TagTogga
TagTooga is going to change your experience of searching on internet. Dont go for Googles, the MSNs and the Yahoos, which all basically give you the same results, check out TagTooga.com, TagTooga will show you results that you might had never found if you went through the regular search routes. Anyone can submit their site to TagTooga as well, it is a simple 1 minute process. It is a totally free directory that anyone can edit. If there is a site that you like, and you think it should be more easily seen by the internet searching public, submit it in to the site and it will show up in search results, its that simple.
More at:http://tagtooga.com
More at:http://tagtooga.com
Mirro For You"Its New Media Player"
Miro is a free, open-source software project led by a non-profit organization. It's a platform that benefits everyone by keeping online video open. Our organization isn't controlled by venture capitalists or stockholders, which means we always put our users first. Open video will only have a real impact if it can reach a mass audience. Your ideas and efforts work better than any paid marketing campaign, because it comes from somewhere real.
Miro is downloadable for absolutely free and also has an emphasis on the open source video market, hence the old name, Democracy TV. Miro boasts that it has more HD TV than any other media player, which is an excellent selling point since laptops and recent computers are HD compatible. With Miro you can watch over 1500 free channels, and now on to the really cool stuff... You can download and save videos from YouTube and program Miro to automatically download any videos that show up within your search criteria.
More at:http://getmiro.com/
Miro is downloadable for absolutely free and also has an emphasis on the open source video market, hence the old name, Democracy TV. Miro boasts that it has more HD TV than any other media player, which is an excellent selling point since laptops and recent computers are HD compatible. With Miro you can watch over 1500 free channels, and now on to the really cool stuff... You can download and save videos from YouTube and program Miro to automatically download any videos that show up within your search criteria.
More at:http://getmiro.com/
Snooth is a wine review and recommendation service
Snooth is a wine review and recommendation service that launched early last month. The idea is simple--provide a few simple ratings of wines you like or dislike, and Snooth will serve up ones it thinks you'll enjoy. It runs on a similar system to the one you find on Netflix, with one to five star ratings, and a bevy of user reviews. The system currently has a listing of over 1.5 million wines, and if you can't find one you've had or liked in the past, you can simply add it.
In addition to showing user rants and raves, Snooth pulls professional reviews from online publications, which it pools into separate ratings. Each wine's page also features the option to buy it from one of the partnered wine dealers, which will jump you off Snooth's site, and onto their online store. In most cases, I found that the deals on the partner sites weren't that much better than the prices at my local wine dealer, but it's nice to have that option.
There's also a friends system, with user profiles that let you see what your Snooth buddies have been rating on the site, and an RSS feed in case you feel like keeping tabs in your favorite feed reader.
I like Snooth. I think it's simple to use, and does its job. After just five ratings you start getting recommendations, which is handy. As for actually purchasing wine online, I think I'll stick to my favorite.
More at:http://www.snooth.com/
In addition to showing user rants and raves, Snooth pulls professional reviews from online publications, which it pools into separate ratings. Each wine's page also features the option to buy it from one of the partnered wine dealers, which will jump you off Snooth's site, and onto their online store. In most cases, I found that the deals on the partner sites weren't that much better than the prices at my local wine dealer, but it's nice to have that option.
There's also a friends system, with user profiles that let you see what your Snooth buddies have been rating on the site, and an RSS feed in case you feel like keeping tabs in your favorite feed reader.
I like Snooth. I think it's simple to use, and does its job. After just five ratings you start getting recommendations, which is handy. As for actually purchasing wine online, I think I'll stick to my favorite.
More at:http://www.snooth.com/
Oh, don’t forget is a very simple tool used to send text message reminders
Oh, don’t forget is a very simple tool used to send text message reminders.
After entering your cell number, the date and time you want the message to be sent, and the message, Oh, don’t forget sends out the text message to your phone free of charge. This is a really handy tool for keeping track of those fleeting thoughts and random appointments that are thrown at you each day.
As explained in the F.A.Q. of the site, the service works without knowing the cell phone provider because “ohdontforget is actually one half web application, and one half magic voodoo potion. Even I’m not sure how the magic voodoo potion works :)” Makes sense to me.
More at:http://ohdontforget.com/
After entering your cell number, the date and time you want the message to be sent, and the message, Oh, don’t forget sends out the text message to your phone free of charge. This is a really handy tool for keeping track of those fleeting thoughts and random appointments that are thrown at you each day.
As explained in the F.A.Q. of the site, the service works without knowing the cell phone provider because “ohdontforget is actually one half web application, and one half magic voodoo potion. Even I’m not sure how the magic voodoo potion works :)” Makes sense to me.
More at:http://ohdontforget.com/
Wednesday, July 18, 2007
Pat Pending
When we were alerted to online retailer Pat Pending, it sounded promising: customers can buy exclusive rights to a design, allowing them to resell copies of a garment, or resell their rights to the design. Interesting new business model, right?
What would make this concept worthwhile, is if a customer could buy the rights to a truly unique design. Think a Threadless-like graphic on a t-shirt, or a quirky dress designed by a talented fashion student. (In their defence, Pat Pending is currently asking designers to submit designs that slogans can be printed in/on.) Buy and sell those designs, produce and ship the goods, add easy to operate, no-inventory webshops like Zlio, and you've created an innovative service that adds value for all parties involved. A bit like Etsy, the marketplace for handmade products, but for people who are better at selling than creating. Consumers across the world are designing and creating products, while others increasingly use the web to become part-time shopkeepers. An online design brokerage could match part-time designers with part-time sellers, each focusing on what they do best. One to start? If you do, be sure to let us know .
More at: www.patpendingstore.com
What would make this concept worthwhile, is if a customer could buy the rights to a truly unique design. Think a Threadless-like graphic on a t-shirt, or a quirky dress designed by a talented fashion student. (In their defence, Pat Pending is currently asking designers to submit designs that slogans can be printed in/on.) Buy and sell those designs, produce and ship the goods, add easy to operate, no-inventory webshops like Zlio, and you've created an innovative service that adds value for all parties involved. A bit like Etsy, the marketplace for handmade products, but for people who are better at selling than creating. Consumers across the world are designing and creating products, while others increasingly use the web to become part-time shopkeepers. An online design brokerage could match part-time designers with part-time sellers, each focusing on what they do best. One to start? If you do, be sure to let us know .
More at: www.patpendingstore.com
Healthline provides a search engine for health and health related items.
Healthline raised : $21 Million from GE/NBC Universal's Peacock Equity Fund, Aetna Ventures, Kaiser Permanente Ventures, U.S. News and World Report, VantagePoint Venture Partners and Reed Elsevier Ventures.
Healthline was founded as YourDoctor.com in 1999 and stuck around until it was re-launched as Healthline Networks in 2005. According to Healthline, they have become a top 10 health information destination site with over 4.2 million monthly unique visitors generating over 17 million page views per month.
Their current search engine Healthline.com provides comprehensive health content, from information on diseases to symptoms and drugs. Their search engine was developed in conjunction with physicians. They have an astounding terminology database of over one million medical terms and consumer-friendly synonyms, as well as 70,000 medical concepts. Their taxonomy gives structure and organization to the information.
Interesting virtual world and market place.
More at:www.healthline.com
Healthline was founded as YourDoctor.com in 1999 and stuck around until it was re-launched as Healthline Networks in 2005. According to Healthline, they have become a top 10 health information destination site with over 4.2 million monthly unique visitors generating over 17 million page views per month.
Their current search engine Healthline.com provides comprehensive health content, from information on diseases to symptoms and drugs. Their search engine was developed in conjunction with physicians. They have an astounding terminology database of over one million medical terms and consumer-friendly synonyms, as well as 70,000 medical concepts. Their taxonomy gives structure and organization to the information.
Interesting virtual world and market place.
More at:www.healthline.com
With Ebates You Can Make Money While Shopping Online
Ebates finds all the rebates online and collects them for you after you have purchased an online product. All you have to do is register, search for the item/product you want, buy the product and your cash back will return in your Ebates account.They have 800+ stores to buy from linked to their site, including all of the major brand stores. It's brilliant in its simplicity, actually. They even guarantee that you will receive your check from them every three months, that your earnings from the stores will be posted as soon as they receive them, and that your private information will be secure and confidential.
Ebates is all about saving money and getting Cash Back whenever you shop online. When you become a member and shop through Ebates, you can save literally thousands of dollars every year on the things you're already buying.
More at:http://www.ebates.com/
Ebates is all about saving money and getting Cash Back whenever you shop online. When you become a member and shop through Ebates, you can save literally thousands of dollars every year on the things you're already buying.
More at:http://www.ebates.com/
Connectbeam utilizes the technology that made other social networking sites prosperous and is transforming it to work in the context of business
Connectbeam utilizes the technology that made other social networking sites prosperous and is transforming it to work in the context of business. The site is testimonial rich from well know computer magazines and was listed in InformationWeek as one of 5 Enterprise 2.0 startups to watch. Connectbeam is privately held and venture backed.
The company has received attention from the Wall Street Journal, TechCrunch and many other blogs, and Gartner and other analyst firms. Connectbeam brings the 'Web 2.0' information-sharing, collaboration, and ease of use of sites like MySpace and del.icio.us to the daily work-flow of enterprise employees. It helps companies boost innovation, improve decisions, intensify collaboration, and build critical stakeholder relationships. Connectbeam was founded by experienced entrepreneurs with decades of experience in the enterprise software market. The company is venture backed and privately held.
More at:http://connectbeam.com/
The company has received attention from the Wall Street Journal, TechCrunch and many other blogs, and Gartner and other analyst firms. Connectbeam brings the 'Web 2.0' information-sharing, collaboration, and ease of use of sites like MySpace and del.icio.us to the daily work-flow of enterprise employees. It helps companies boost innovation, improve decisions, intensify collaboration, and build critical stakeholder relationships. Connectbeam was founded by experienced entrepreneurs with decades of experience in the enterprise software market. The company is venture backed and privately held.
More at:http://connectbeam.com/
Connecting Entrepreneurs
Cofoundr is a private community for entrepreneurs -- programmers, designers, investors, and other individuals deeply involved with starting new ventures. Members use this site to find co-founders, build teams, and get advice. The site is currently in public beta.
It’s a place to network with people who are interesting in starting up a new venture on the web. Ideas are everywhere, but you need a team to turn them into reality, well, a virtual reality, in a completely different sense of the word. Sign in and start building your profile, specify your abilities and the kinds of people you are looking to network with. Post your idea on the bulletin board or write on the forum. This is about increasing your chances to work with programmers if you’re more talented from the business end, finding promising ventures to invest in, and all of these things vice versa.
Building a proper network for this genre of business is going to be particularly successful, for a couple of reasons. First of all, because besides broader interest networks like LinkdIn or informal, decentralized discussion boards and networking are currently the only options for us. Secondly, because it’s more intelligent than simply uploading a profile and maybe some interests, it’s specifically designed so that you can network specifically to build a team and get your startup rolling. Kudos for this much overdue and well designed network.
More at:www.cofoundr.com
It’s a place to network with people who are interesting in starting up a new venture on the web. Ideas are everywhere, but you need a team to turn them into reality, well, a virtual reality, in a completely different sense of the word. Sign in and start building your profile, specify your abilities and the kinds of people you are looking to network with. Post your idea on the bulletin board or write on the forum. This is about increasing your chances to work with programmers if you’re more talented from the business end, finding promising ventures to invest in, and all of these things vice versa.
Building a proper network for this genre of business is going to be particularly successful, for a couple of reasons. First of all, because besides broader interest networks like LinkdIn or informal, decentralized discussion boards and networking are currently the only options for us. Secondly, because it’s more intelligent than simply uploading a profile and maybe some interests, it’s specifically designed so that you can network specifically to build a team and get your startup rolling. Kudos for this much overdue and well designed network.
More at:www.cofoundr.com
Download World Cinemas With"Jaman"
Jaman invites you to pop up the Jiffy and enjoy world cinema, without burning though your pockets at the Cineplex. Download and experience the magic of movies and then discuss them with other film aficionados. Jaman has created a portal that’s opening up a whole new world of social cinema, with high def films from all over the world with three full-length features. Watch, discuss, and watch it again if you want, best of all, you won’t have to worry about sneaking gummy bears past security to enjoy a spectacular cinematic adventure.
More at:http://www.jaman.com/
Via-Killerstartups
More at:http://www.jaman.com/
Via-Killerstartups
SwarmBuy provides a marketplace where individual consumer voices can be combined into a collective bargaining force
SwarmBuy provides a marketplace where individual consumer voices can be combined into a collective bargaining force. When a buyer is looking for a product they can join an existing Swarm or, if one doesn't exist, they can start a new Swarm point for the product. Buyers then choose amongst any available seller offers for the deal they like the most. On the flip side... Sellers can search for items they are willing to fulfill and can make offers to the members of the associated Swarms. Sellers may offer to fulfill as many, or as few items as they want, leaving the unfulfilled remainder available to other sellers. Sellers compete against one another to attract buyers by offering competitive prices and deals. Sellers benefit from this approach by having the opportunity to fulfill large orders that might not be possible for them within a traditional environment. Sellers are welcome to create their own swarms.
More at:http://www.swarmbuy.com/
More at:http://www.swarmbuy.com/
Tuesday, July 17, 2007
New Business Opportunities "Virtual Real Estate"
Weblo is a virtual world and virtual market place for you to buy and sell whatever you like. The catch is that nothing is for real, it is all pretend.
Three popular virtual items are property (real estated), celebrity fan sites, and domains. While the items are pretend they mimic real world entites or individuals. You may purchased property by being the first to register the exact address. Once it is purchased you may sell it to others.
Interesting virtual world and market place. Take a look at Weblo.
They raised:Weblo raised $3.3 Million from VantagePoint Venture Partners.
More at:http://weblo.com/
Three popular virtual items are property (real estated), celebrity fan sites, and domains. While the items are pretend they mimic real world entites or individuals. You may purchased property by being the first to register the exact address. Once it is purchased you may sell it to others.
Interesting virtual world and market place. Take a look at Weblo.
They raised:Weblo raised $3.3 Million from VantagePoint Venture Partners.
More at:http://weblo.com/
Build Start Up In Just72-Hours
Last weekend in Boulder, Colo., home of InformationWeek's Rocky Mountain Bureau, a group of about 70 or so entrepeneurs, investors, software developers, Web designers and marketing geniuses, plus at least one massage therapist, got together with an audacious goal: create and launch a new online business in 72 hours. Conceived by 23-year-old graphic designer Andrew Hyde, Startup Weekend was an experiment in company creation and an attempt to set the land-speed record for entrepreneurialism.
In marathon small-group sessions punctuated by hourly meetings (and 90-second yoga breaks), the flash entrepeneurs winnowed a group of 10 business ideas down to the three and then chose one: VoSnap, an online voting tool that "facilitates group decision making quickly and easily" by allowing boards of directors, business colleagues, knitting clubs to cast votes and share opinions immediately using a laptop computer, a mobile phone, or any other connected device.
Exhausting just to read, the Startup Weekend minute-by-minute blog is a look inside the sausage factory, from the early consensus on the initial group of business ideas, to "Legal has incorporated the company—it's real now" at 1:50 a.m. on Sunday, to boos and applause from the punch-drunk crowd, to business-building decisions made in minutes instead of weeks. The launch of VoSnap.com was supposed to happen by midnight Sunday evening; unfortunately at 3 a.m. on Monday, the small core of developers still at their screens "were ready to launch *something*" reports David Cohen, one of the instigators of the weekend, "but were crippled by the timing and the disbanding of the group. Nobody had the right passwords to the production servers, or whatever. It didn’t get done."
Oh well, every fledgling business has glitches – even one conceived and (nearly) launched in two-and-a-half days. Cohen has some very candid thoughts on what went wrong ("development is hard") and the many things that went right, including the following lessons for next time: make the goals clear both inside and outside the room; choose the "most experienced and respected folks," not just the Big Dog personalities, as team leaders; don't be laid back about milestone decisions; and make the Sunday midnight deadline completely firm. "Launch something at that time, no matter what."
Sounds like good advice for any startup, not just a weekend job. Cohen says 5 other cities have already contacted the Startup Weekend principals to ask about setting up their own versions.
More at:http://www.vosnap.com/
Via-Information Week
In marathon small-group sessions punctuated by hourly meetings (and 90-second yoga breaks), the flash entrepeneurs winnowed a group of 10 business ideas down to the three and then chose one: VoSnap, an online voting tool that "facilitates group decision making quickly and easily" by allowing boards of directors, business colleagues, knitting clubs to cast votes and share opinions immediately using a laptop computer, a mobile phone, or any other connected device.
Exhausting just to read, the Startup Weekend minute-by-minute blog is a look inside the sausage factory, from the early consensus on the initial group of business ideas, to "Legal has incorporated the company—it's real now" at 1:50 a.m. on Sunday, to boos and applause from the punch-drunk crowd, to business-building decisions made in minutes instead of weeks. The launch of VoSnap.com was supposed to happen by midnight Sunday evening; unfortunately at 3 a.m. on Monday, the small core of developers still at their screens "were ready to launch *something*" reports David Cohen, one of the instigators of the weekend, "but were crippled by the timing and the disbanding of the group. Nobody had the right passwords to the production servers, or whatever. It didn’t get done."
Oh well, every fledgling business has glitches – even one conceived and (nearly) launched in two-and-a-half days. Cohen has some very candid thoughts on what went wrong ("development is hard") and the many things that went right, including the following lessons for next time: make the goals clear both inside and outside the room; choose the "most experienced and respected folks," not just the Big Dog personalities, as team leaders; don't be laid back about milestone decisions; and make the Sunday midnight deadline completely firm. "Launch something at that time, no matter what."
Sounds like good advice for any startup, not just a weekend job. Cohen says 5 other cities have already contacted the Startup Weekend principals to ask about setting up their own versions.
More at:http://www.vosnap.com/
Via-Information Week
OblinQ can get you money through the internet without really selling anything.
OblinQ can get you money through the internet without really selling anything. OblinQ will help you make a website where you recommend products through any merchants and if someone decides to buy through your site you are given a referall fee for the hit from participating merchants. The basis behind OblinQ is that they believe that the consumer moreso than anyone else knows exactly what other consumers want. So by someone creating a virtual boutique store they can zero in on exactly what it is that the customers desire. And they think that the makers of these virtual boutiques deserve to be paid for their efforts.
Become a BRAND. Start recommending products with your very own store. You did the research, you bought stuff you love. Why not share and recommend your ideas to others? Earn commissions from participating merchants. "Even if you don't have your own e-commerce capabilities, you can create a website through OblinQ and get in on the new monetization strategies available in today's web economy through services such as OblinQ. " - Beti Cung, Manager, Microsoft Emerging Business ...
More at:http://www.oblinq.com/Home/Home.aspx
Become a BRAND. Start recommending products with your very own store. You did the research, you bought stuff you love. Why not share and recommend your ideas to others? Earn commissions from participating merchants. "Even if you don't have your own e-commerce capabilities, you can create a website through OblinQ and get in on the new monetization strategies available in today's web economy through services such as OblinQ. " - Beti Cung, Manager, Microsoft Emerging Business ...
More at:http://www.oblinq.com/Home/Home.aspx
Make Videos And Earn Cash
VIDSZoo.com has developed and created the most unique online video sharing competition available on the internet today. VIDSZoo.com “Where Where Creativity…PAYS!” the next generation of online video sharing is here and it’s called VIDSZoo.com. Navigate through the site and find out what being a part of the “Zoo” is all about. art of the “Zoo” is all about. VIDSZoo.com believes that we are in partnership with our members and as such, we have made the commitment to provide an easy, fun win/win situation enviornment that is sure to please.
In VIDSZoo’s case, you charge for membership, host contests, and share the revenue. Members upload their home made flicks and submit them in the appropriate category; there’s no submission limit, however, each video can be placed in only one category. If within 30 days your video is voted to the top, you’ll get cool merch (iPods, cell phones, etc.) or cash; there’s also a possibility of attending the (prestigious?)Blue Monkey Video awards. Even if you’re not a winner you’ll still enjoy unlimited uploads, a personal profile page and video library, and more. Sign up now for a free trial period; after that it’s $35 a year.
More at:http://www.vidszoo.com/
In VIDSZoo’s case, you charge for membership, host contests, and share the revenue. Members upload their home made flicks and submit them in the appropriate category; there’s no submission limit, however, each video can be placed in only one category. If within 30 days your video is voted to the top, you’ll get cool merch (iPods, cell phones, etc.) or cash; there’s also a possibility of attending the (prestigious?)Blue Monkey Video awards. Even if you’re not a winner you’ll still enjoy unlimited uploads, a personal profile page and video library, and more. Sign up now for a free trial period; after that it’s $35 a year.
More at:http://www.vidszoo.com/
Analystsedge.com is like reddit or digg for finance news
Analystsedge.com is like reddit or digg for finance news. Users can post and rate their favorite stories on all things finance. And, like Digg, the stories with the highest ratings get to the top of the site. The site offers three main categories of private equity, hedge fund, venture capital fund news. The site has a forum, and also lists the all-time most popular stories and the most recent news. The site also has a job board, which you can post for $150/30 days. The only obvious missing component that is a social networking angle to create individual profiles, which they may be hoping to add as the site gains momentum .
Creating a niche site for the financial world seems smart and will probably make some financial institutions and insider traders nervous.
More at:http://www.analystsedge.com/
Creating a niche site for the financial world seems smart and will probably make some financial institutions and insider traders nervous.
More at:http://www.analystsedge.com/
Monday, July 16, 2007
ViaTalk Free is a way to call people at no charge
ViaTalk Free is a way to call people at no charge. ViaTalk will connect you for free and you’ll get up to 10 minutes to chat away. Simply enter in your phone number and then enter the phone number of the person you’re trying to reach, and ViaTalk will connect you. This obviously works best if you’re using a land line and calling someone long distance, if you don’t already have a long distance phone plan. You could also use it with your cell phone, but then it wouldn’t be entirely free.
This service also doesn’t seem to work with International phone numbers. The primary goal of ViaTalk Free, however, is to help bring VoIP more into the mainstream, introducing broadband phone options to users that may not have considered VoIP as a personal option. Unfortunately there isn’t much information on the ViaTalk site regarding the free service option, but who doesn’t like free?
More at:http://www.viatalkfree.com/
This service also doesn’t seem to work with International phone numbers. The primary goal of ViaTalk Free, however, is to help bring VoIP more into the mainstream, introducing broadband phone options to users that may not have considered VoIP as a personal option. Unfortunately there isn’t much information on the ViaTalk site regarding the free service option, but who doesn’t like free?
More at:http://www.viatalkfree.com/
Make Millions With A Microsite
Gerald Prolman launched OrganicBouquet.com in 2003 to sell sustainably grown flowers that are freshly picked and then gift-wrapped. But as the company grew, he needed a better way to meet the increasing demand from florists, event planners and other whole-salers. So in June, Prolman launched a microsite to make it easier for these customers to place orders.
A microsite lets you focus on a specific purpose, such as selling clearance or discounted items, selling products to businesses vs. consumers, promoting new merchandise, or trying out a new product line. Sometimes the design and navigation of a microsite differs from its parent site. “Unlike consumers, florists shop by variety and color, so the site is set up to help florists find what they need quickly,” says Prolman, 46, who projects 2006 sales of up to $5 million for his San Rafael, California, company.
So why didn’t Prolman just launch a separate section on his existing website to focus on wholesalers? Simple: to prevent consumers or future competitors from having easy access to the customized pricing available to wholesale customers. “The pricing is tailor-made for each customer based on volume,” says Prolman. “Once approved as a wholesale account, they will be given access to the site.”
More at:http://www.organicbouquetwholesale.com/
A microsite lets you focus on a specific purpose, such as selling clearance or discounted items, selling products to businesses vs. consumers, promoting new merchandise, or trying out a new product line. Sometimes the design and navigation of a microsite differs from its parent site. “Unlike consumers, florists shop by variety and color, so the site is set up to help florists find what they need quickly,” says Prolman, 46, who projects 2006 sales of up to $5 million for his San Rafael, California, company.
So why didn’t Prolman just launch a separate section on his existing website to focus on wholesalers? Simple: to prevent consumers or future competitors from having easy access to the customized pricing available to wholesale customers. “The pricing is tailor-made for each customer based on volume,” says Prolman. “Once approved as a wholesale account, they will be given access to the site.”
More at:http://www.organicbouquetwholesale.com/
Find And Test Your Million Dollor Idea
This group will help you create and prove a business idea that leads to your life vision, won’t break the bank, and is based on your values, strengths, and passions!
“Once I get my million dollar idea, THEN I’ll start my business.”
We’ve all heard this excuse! It may be the most common one in the book and is based on the false premise that great business ideas just hit us on the head while we’re doing something else. The reality of most successful business ideas arise as a result of continued brainstorming and testing! This group will help you do just that.
Group Features
Unlimited support with 24-hr response from group leader
Daily step-by-step instructions that walk you through specific actions you need to take in order to come up with a viable business idea
Four one-hour conference calls to hold you accountable to completing the actions and to receive multiple perspectives on the challenges you're facing from other members
Help finding a like-minded, daily accountability partner
Topics Covered
Creating, testing, researching, prototyping, pitching, protecting, and planning a profitable business idea that helps you achieve your life vision and is based around your passions, values, and strengths.
This Group Is For You If…
You have a million ideas and don’t know which to choose!
You have no idea what business you want to start, but you know you want to start one.
You have one idea that you’d like to test the feasibility of once and for all!
Expectations
Attend all of the conference calls
Post on the discussion board when asked to by the group moderator
Spend at least 15 minutes every weekday taking action steps toward coming up with and proving your business idea
Find an accountability partner (we can help)
Honor the privacy of other members
Conference Call Dates
Join us on August 7, 14, 21, and 28, 2007 at 8:00-9:00pm EST!
More at:http://www.journeypage.com/groups/entrepreneurship_0707/
“Once I get my million dollar idea, THEN I’ll start my business.”
We’ve all heard this excuse! It may be the most common one in the book and is based on the false premise that great business ideas just hit us on the head while we’re doing something else. The reality of most successful business ideas arise as a result of continued brainstorming and testing! This group will help you do just that.
Group Features
Unlimited support with 24-hr response from group leader
Daily step-by-step instructions that walk you through specific actions you need to take in order to come up with a viable business idea
Four one-hour conference calls to hold you accountable to completing the actions and to receive multiple perspectives on the challenges you're facing from other members
Help finding a like-minded, daily accountability partner
Topics Covered
Creating, testing, researching, prototyping, pitching, protecting, and planning a profitable business idea that helps you achieve your life vision and is based around your passions, values, and strengths.
This Group Is For You If…
You have a million ideas and don’t know which to choose!
You have no idea what business you want to start, but you know you want to start one.
You have one idea that you’d like to test the feasibility of once and for all!
Expectations
Attend all of the conference calls
Post on the discussion board when asked to by the group moderator
Spend at least 15 minutes every weekday taking action steps toward coming up with and proving your business idea
Find an accountability partner (we can help)
Honor the privacy of other members
Conference Call Dates
Join us on August 7, 14, 21, and 28, 2007 at 8:00-9:00pm EST!
More at:http://www.journeypage.com/groups/entrepreneurship_0707/
Brightkite
Brightkite is a new notification service for the purpose of providing options to users as to what kind of notifications they’d like to receive. The service is currently under pretty tight wraps, and the public beta is set to launch soon.
With the options of receiving updates via email, instant messenger or SMS text messages, Brightkite will give website publishers the ability to extend these options to the end user. Instead of having to constantly check our email inbox, people will be able to choose which type of notification they’d like. This could be for signing up for the alert to check out the public beta (as brightkite has done) or finding out when your friends have uploaded new images to their blog.
Brightkite’s future plan is to enable users to send notifications to their community from a mobile device, sort of a reverse option for its initial service offering. This future plan is probably a more important development for the company, as it empowers the end user directly, instead of as a result of another client utilizing Brightkite’s service. That way, users choose where the messages are sent, and who sees these notifications, building on Brightkite’s own platform and creating smaller communities in the process. Otherwise, much of what Brightkite offers is already built in to many of the applications we already use: access to email and instant messengers on your cell phone, SMS notifications for your Facebook newsfeeds, and so on.
more at:http://brightkite.com/
With the options of receiving updates via email, instant messenger or SMS text messages, Brightkite will give website publishers the ability to extend these options to the end user. Instead of having to constantly check our email inbox, people will be able to choose which type of notification they’d like. This could be for signing up for the alert to check out the public beta (as brightkite has done) or finding out when your friends have uploaded new images to their blog.
Brightkite’s future plan is to enable users to send notifications to their community from a mobile device, sort of a reverse option for its initial service offering. This future plan is probably a more important development for the company, as it empowers the end user directly, instead of as a result of another client utilizing Brightkite’s service. That way, users choose where the messages are sent, and who sees these notifications, building on Brightkite’s own platform and creating smaller communities in the process. Otherwise, much of what Brightkite offers is already built in to many of the applications we already use: access to email and instant messengers on your cell phone, SMS notifications for your Facebook newsfeeds, and so on.
more at:http://brightkite.com/
Foodio54 is a new restaurant review site
Foodio54 is a new restaurant review site that has recently launched.
The main purpose of Foodio54 is to find new restaurants on a local level, and review the ones you’ve already been to. Foodio54 has already included a large directory of restaurants nationwide, so you’re likely to find what you’re looking for. If you come across a restaurant you’ve already been to, you can leave a review and a rating. For restaurants you may be interested in, you can set a reminder for Foodio54 to get back to you about it later. This directory can also be edited by the community, so if you find a restaurant that should be deleted because it went out of business, you can submit a deletion request. If a restaurant is not included in Foodio54’s directory, you can be the first to add it.
While you can befriend other users, you cannot subscribe to their reviews. One of Foodio54’s features is the tracking of all the places you’ve reviewed first, which allows users to build some authority and credibility within the site, making it more important to be able to bookmark or subscribe to other users. I’d also like to see the ability to include photos with a review, as well as create a permanent list of places I’d like to check out, such as Menuism has done. Relying less on friends’ reviews and incorporating a personal recommendation system, as Group Recipes has done, would be great as well.
More at:http://foodio54.com/
Via-Mas
The main purpose of Foodio54 is to find new restaurants on a local level, and review the ones you’ve already been to. Foodio54 has already included a large directory of restaurants nationwide, so you’re likely to find what you’re looking for. If you come across a restaurant you’ve already been to, you can leave a review and a rating. For restaurants you may be interested in, you can set a reminder for Foodio54 to get back to you about it later. This directory can also be edited by the community, so if you find a restaurant that should be deleted because it went out of business, you can submit a deletion request. If a restaurant is not included in Foodio54’s directory, you can be the first to add it.
While you can befriend other users, you cannot subscribe to their reviews. One of Foodio54’s features is the tracking of all the places you’ve reviewed first, which allows users to build some authority and credibility within the site, making it more important to be able to bookmark or subscribe to other users. I’d also like to see the ability to include photos with a review, as well as create a permanent list of places I’d like to check out, such as Menuism has done. Relying less on friends’ reviews and incorporating a personal recommendation system, as Group Recipes has done, would be great as well.
More at:http://foodio54.com/
Via-Mas
Semapedia
Tagging in the real, meatspace world is an urban, semi-artistic endeavor which entails scrawling your handle all over public surfaces. Tagging in the wired universe is, of course, a folksonomy, a means of categorizing and organizing ideas, terms, things and themes. Semapedia brings the two together again, so to speak. Here’s how it works: you choose a wiki article with a real world connection. Copy the article’s URL and paste it into the Semapedia form (on the site’s homepage). Semapedia will churn out custom made tags available as a printable PDF. Print out the tags and attach them according to the content they link to (in some cases, it’d be wise to ask for permission, or simply do your deed at under the cover of nightfall). Cell phone users will be able access the wiki info by simply pointing their screens at the tag (provided they first download a 2D Barcode Reader for their phone). It’s tagging 2.0 style.
More at:http://www.semapedia.org/
More at:http://www.semapedia.org/
Fundable.com lets groups of people pool funds to make purchases or raise money
Fundable.com lets groups of people pool funds to make purchases or raise money. Similar to online auctions, Fundable's pages are created by people who use this site. Each project has a description of how much money needs to be collected and what it will do. Once enough pledges (not payments) have been collected, Fundable turns them into real payments and sends the total to the project's organizer. No one takes a risk when making a pledge: if a collection expires before reaching its total in pledges, Fundable deletes all pledges and never charges money. This lets you participate in a group purchase or fundraiser without worrying about what other people will do. No one pays until and unless everyone else makes a pledge.”
Fundable.org is a great idea, and your imagination is the limit of what you might raise money for. It is a fast and secure way to raise money or even make group purchases in a very simple way. Also, you have the security that your credit card or paypal account will not be charged unless the goal is met, so you know you are not throwing the money away here: either you are sure that the money goes to the group leader when you pledge for a fund raise (a good cause, most probably); or you are being charged when you are sure the group purchase is going on.
More at:http://fundable.org/
Fundable.org is a great idea, and your imagination is the limit of what you might raise money for. It is a fast and secure way to raise money or even make group purchases in a very simple way. Also, you have the security that your credit card or paypal account will not be charged unless the goal is met, so you know you are not throwing the money away here: either you are sure that the money goes to the group leader when you pledge for a fund raise (a good cause, most probably); or you are being charged when you are sure the group purchase is going on.
More at:http://fundable.org/
Sunday, July 15, 2007
TrailGuide
Optimized Mobile Application With TrailGuide, the Basecamp experience has been adapted for efficiency on the phone so you can see more of the most important things on screen quickly and easily. Switching between projects takes seconds with just a few button presses and the whole application takes advantage of touch screens, scroll wheels, 5-way controls, back buttons and keyboards for navigation and data entry. View and Edit When you need to see what's fresh, check your projects to see if there's new activity. TrailGuide will post any pending changes you have made on the phone and show you if any projects have been updated. Just select the project to download the latest activity and begin working with it immediately. Stored Locally Having your project information stored locally on your phone does more than just give you access when you're offline. It provides instant visibility to Messages, Comments, Milestones and To-Do lists. Using TrailGuide, there's no waiting for pages to load in a mobile browser or scrolling through layouts that are designed for the desktop. Safe and Secure TrailGuide uses industry standard SSL to connect to Basecamp (the same level of security that online banks use), so your passwords and data are safe when downloaded to your phone. And even though TrailBlazer uses a server to communicate efficiently between your phone and your Basecamp data, nothing is stored permanently on the server.
More at:http://carrytheday.com/
More at:http://carrytheday.com/
Find New Customers in minutes "The New Google" Or Other Google"!
Find New Customers in minutes. Megaglobe Ads is the most cost-effective way for online advertisers to find new customers.
With millions of Internet users online, Megaglobe Ads provides an avenue for you to reach your target audience and drive traffic to your website.
Megaglobe Ads utilizes the Pay Per Valid Click (patent pending) technology to identify fraudulent and invalid clicks. Such clicks are not charged to our advertisers accounts.
Your Megaglobe Ads campaign is easy to create and allows you to advertise worldwide in minutes!
Are you ready to take your website to the next level? With Megaglobe Ads your new customers are just a click away.
More at:http://www.megaglobe.com/
With millions of Internet users online, Megaglobe Ads provides an avenue for you to reach your target audience and drive traffic to your website.
Megaglobe Ads utilizes the Pay Per Valid Click (patent pending) technology to identify fraudulent and invalid clicks. Such clicks are not charged to our advertisers accounts.
Your Megaglobe Ads campaign is easy to create and allows you to advertise worldwide in minutes!
Are you ready to take your website to the next level? With Megaglobe Ads your new customers are just a click away.
More at:http://www.megaglobe.com/
A New Online Social Networking Site Aimed For Professionals
www.highflya.com is a new online social networking site aimed for professionals all over the world highflya offers some unique features which are new to social network sites such as Vidmail its a form of videomessaging a professional individual ,its very good for getting consultations , industry advice and just communicating with other professionals on a more personal note .
HighFlya has an event listing board which can be sorted by date and country, there are also groups, forums and a job recruitment page on which prospective employees can post their CV’s. The site is free to join, however you can upgrade your account for a fee. Silver members pay 2 pounds a month and are allowed better listings on search/browse as well as 5 VidMails per month. Gold members must dole out 5 pounds in order to get even better listings on search/browse and 20 VidMails per month. Platinum members get the best listings and unlimited mails for a mere 10 quid a month.
more at:http://www.highflya.com/
HighFlya has an event listing board which can be sorted by date and country, there are also groups, forums and a job recruitment page on which prospective employees can post their CV’s. The site is free to join, however you can upgrade your account for a fee. Silver members pay 2 pounds a month and are allowed better listings on search/browse as well as 5 VidMails per month. Gold members must dole out 5 pounds in order to get even better listings on search/browse and 20 VidMails per month. Platinum members get the best listings and unlimited mails for a mere 10 quid a month.
more at:http://www.highflya.com/
Saturday, July 14, 2007
Intervals is a new hosted project and time management service for businesses
Intervals is a new hosted project and time management service for businesses by Santa Barbara-based web design firm Pelago.
After creating an account with Intervals, you are given your own sub-domain for one of two domains .Intervals is nothing like the simple “to-do list” site you may be used to. The site includes many advanced features and settings you may not get with other services. Similar to other project management services, you can create tasks and assign them to other members of the project team. Time spent on each task can be calculated out into billable and non-billable hours.
Intervals also features a handy timesheet feature allowing for calculation of real time spent for all members of the project team for all tasks involved in the project. Intervals also tracks clients, and can handle multiple projects at once. The free membership only includes one project, all other levels are not free. Many different types of graphs are available to help your team manage its time more efficiently.
At first, Intervals may seem a bit daunting, but the interface is actually very intuitive and includes many features you would expect from a great time management service. If you are managing a large project with multiple members, multiple clients, or have to juggle time sheets and billable hours, I recommend Intervals. They’re one of the few services to give the popular 37signals’ Basecamp a run for its money.
More at:http://www.myintervals.com/
After creating an account with Intervals, you are given your own sub-domain for one of two domains .Intervals is nothing like the simple “to-do list” site you may be used to. The site includes many advanced features and settings you may not get with other services. Similar to other project management services, you can create tasks and assign them to other members of the project team. Time spent on each task can be calculated out into billable and non-billable hours.
Intervals also features a handy timesheet feature allowing for calculation of real time spent for all members of the project team for all tasks involved in the project. Intervals also tracks clients, and can handle multiple projects at once. The free membership only includes one project, all other levels are not free. Many different types of graphs are available to help your team manage its time more efficiently.
At first, Intervals may seem a bit daunting, but the interface is actually very intuitive and includes many features you would expect from a great time management service. If you are managing a large project with multiple members, multiple clients, or have to juggle time sheets and billable hours, I recommend Intervals. They’re one of the few services to give the popular 37signals’ Basecamp a run for its money.
More at:http://www.myintervals.com/
PopShops is a new affiliate system that lets you create storefront widgets to place on your personal website or blog in order to make some extra cash
PopShops is a new affiliate system that lets you create storefront widgets to place on your personal website or blog in order to make some extra cash. The service is set to officially launch in the coming weeks.
With a reported 10 million affiliate products to choose from, PopShops offers variety and a long list of items that fit pretty much any walk of life. As the widget creator, you can choose by store or keyword to find the items you’d like to add. Your widget is fully customizable, from the number of items that show, to product description, size, color and more. What’s also helpful is the ability to save your template as a style sheet for future widget creations. Choose the embed code (Javascript, Flash, etc.) and place it on your site. PopShops also has plug-ins for a few blogs, including TypePad and Blogger, for easy insertion of your storefront widget.
PopShops lets you make money with its affiliate program from its associations with other networks, including Commission Junction, LinkShare, Red Galoshes and ShareASale. If you’re already member to one of these networks, you can use your existing affiliate badge number with PopShops to roll together the two accounts. PopShops offers basic stats for your storefront widget, such as page impression, but does not offer more inclusive tracking and reporting tools that could be helpful, even for choosing which products to add to your own widget.
Somewhat similar services include Starnum and Wize.
More at:http://www.popshops.com/
With a reported 10 million affiliate products to choose from, PopShops offers variety and a long list of items that fit pretty much any walk of life. As the widget creator, you can choose by store or keyword to find the items you’d like to add. Your widget is fully customizable, from the number of items that show, to product description, size, color and more. What’s also helpful is the ability to save your template as a style sheet for future widget creations. Choose the embed code (Javascript, Flash, etc.) and place it on your site. PopShops also has plug-ins for a few blogs, including TypePad and Blogger, for easy insertion of your storefront widget.
PopShops lets you make money with its affiliate program from its associations with other networks, including Commission Junction, LinkShare, Red Galoshes and ShareASale. If you’re already member to one of these networks, you can use your existing affiliate badge number with PopShops to roll together the two accounts. PopShops offers basic stats for your storefront widget, such as page impression, but does not offer more inclusive tracking and reporting tools that could be helpful, even for choosing which products to add to your own widget.
Somewhat similar services include Starnum and Wize.
More at:http://www.popshops.com/
Obopay, the company that lets you send money from your cell phone
Obopay, the company that lets you send money from your cell phone, has raised $29 million in its third round of funding. Led by Richmond Global Cellular, along with AllianceBernstein L.P., Citi, Societe Generale and others. Previous investors Qualcomm and Redpoint Ventures were also participants in this latest round.
With $17 million already raised by Obopay, the company is looking to take a strategic advantage point against the others in this space. Most of its competition could come from both Google Checkout’s and PayPal’s mobile payment option, which have been announced recently. Obopay’s most recent announcement was its AOL Instant Messenger integration, broadening the scope of options by which you can access and interact with your account. Many are looking to further integrate payment options into social networks, including MySpace’s own possible deal with Paypal, and the development of a PayPal facebook application.
More at:https://www.obopay.com
With $17 million already raised by Obopay, the company is looking to take a strategic advantage point against the others in this space. Most of its competition could come from both Google Checkout’s and PayPal’s mobile payment option, which have been announced recently. Obopay’s most recent announcement was its AOL Instant Messenger integration, broadening the scope of options by which you can access and interact with your account. Many are looking to further integrate payment options into social networks, including MySpace’s own possible deal with Paypal, and the development of a PayPal facebook application.
More at:https://www.obopay.com
Auctomatic, which provides tools for eBay Power Sellers
Y Combinator-funded Auctomatic, which provides tools for eBay Power Sellers, is expected to launch in the next few weeks. So far they’ve taken $400,000+ in funding, and other investors include Paul Buchheit, the creator and lead developer of Gmail. One of the founders, Patrick Collison, is an Irishman who landed a place at MIT: he’s now deferred his place and moved to San Francisco with younger brother John to focus on the auction service.
The site’s tools include listing templates, scheduling, bulk listing, image hosting and inventory management. As an eBay PowerSeller in a previous life, I can confirm that these tools are essential to anyone handling high volumes of listings: what’s more, PowerSellers are happy to pay for the convenience
More at:http://auctomatic.com/
The site’s tools include listing templates, scheduling, bulk listing, image hosting and inventory management. As an eBay PowerSeller in a previous life, I can confirm that these tools are essential to anyone handling high volumes of listings: what’s more, PowerSellers are happy to pay for the convenience
More at:http://auctomatic.com/
Finding The Right VC
Finding the right VC is a lot like dating–networking, friendly introductions and sheer luck all play a role. Discover how 3 entrepreneurs met their VCs and started lasting relationships that helped their businesses grow.
Smoothie-maker LightFull Foods was cooked up at 2-year-old Bay Area incubator Brand New Brands in May 2006. The San Francisco company received $6.1 million in venture funding last August from a half-dozen firms, led by Prolog Ventures in St. Louis. Other funders included Unilever Ventures, Burrill & Co., Mattson & Co., Palo Alto Investors and Great Spirit Ventures.
LightFull is headed by co-founders Lara Jackle, 37, a former Balance Bar marketing executive who is Light-Full's CEO, and Lynn Graham, 32, who is marketing vice president. LightFull's 90-calorie Satiety Smoothies--part of the hot "functional foods" trend--are sold in 1,300 grocery locations, including Dominick's, Safeway, Shaw's, Vons, Wegman's and Whole Foods Market. Nine months after the product hit store shelves, Jackle was forecasting more than $1 million in 2007 sales.
Entrepreneur: Lara, how did you get involved in LightFull?
Lara Jackle: It was a fortuitous story. I had an offer to move to Asia and head up emerging-market innovation for a big worldwide food company. A high-level career coach, Lori Ogden Moore, was helping me decide if this was the right move. She said, "I don't want to confuse your decision, but I know people who just raised a large [amount] of money and want to create the next generation of food products." She introduced me to Will Rosenzweig of Brand New Brands, and I became chief marketing officer of the incubator.
Prolog was an investor in Brand New Brands. [After LightFull was conceived at Brand New Brands], my original intention was to stay in the incubator [as an employee], but LightFull was so compelling, I ended up [leaving my job to take] it to market.
Entrepreneur: How did Prolog move from incubator funder to a funder of LightFull?
Ilya Nykin, Prolog managing director: LightFull didn't have an inside track. We needed to apply the same stringent criteria we apply to other investments. We were looking for the most breakthrough opportunities that address large unmet needs, that can be brought to market in a reasonable time and for a reasonable investment, and that have some scientific validity. This is the kind of company LightFull is. And Lara was the sort of leader we like to see: She has experience, energy, foresight, drive and vision.
Entrepreneur: Describe your relationship since the funding.
Jackle: We have a very active relationship. Ilya is a board member--we meet monthly on the phone and quarterly in person. As young women entrepreneurs, [Graham and I are] confident in our ability to market LightFull, but the investment community is male-dominated and can be intimidating. Prolog has been instrumental in helping us retain our independence and authenticity while we discuss possible investments from big companies.
2.
Ryla Teleservices & Frontier Capital
Kennesaw, Georgia-based Ryla Teleservices, which provides outsourced call-center services, landed $700,000 in funding in 2002 from SJF Ventures in Durham, North Carolina. Ryla has since grown from 21 employees to more than 350.
The 6-year-old company received just over $6.5 million in second-round funding in March, with Charlotte, North Carolina-based Frontier Capital as the majority investor. Founded by former D&B call-center manager Mark Wilson, 46, Ryla's president and CEO, and his wife, vice president and COO Shelly Wilson, 47, Ryla had $14 million in sales last year.
Entrepreneur: When did Ryla and Frontier first meet?
Mark Wilson: A little more than two years ago, when we were seeking growth capital. We were using a small consultancy [which has since dissolved] that provided [introduction] services to small businesses like ours.
Entrepreneur: So you essentially met on a blind date?
Wilson: That's right [laughs]. We were careful not to have our deal shopped around too much, though. I didn't want to talk to just anybody.
Entrepreneur: What exactly were you looking for?
Wilson: We wanted a partner that would let us do things in a creative, flexible way. Our approach, of being successful by developing people, requires patience. My experience with VCs is that not all are receptive to that; some are more focused on bottom-line issues.
Entrepreneur: What happened in the two years between meeting and funding?
Andrew Lindner, Frontier managing partner: Our model is to track a company for a while, which is exactly what we did. Ryla fit our stage and sector focus: We are a growth-capital provider focused on highly differentiated service businesses in the Southeast and Mid-Atlantic.
Mark got better and better looking during the "dating" period [laughs]. Seeing the dramatic growth in Ryla's top line, and expansion of gross margin, was one of those magic moments. He has no sales force and has grown from zero to $14 million in revenue pretty quickly.
Wilson: That [long time frame was] important to me. It makes me feel more comfortable that we took the time, and they know who we are.
Entrepreneur: Now that Ryla and Frontier have teamed up, how will your relationship work going forward?
Lindner: We look to be a valuable confidant to Mark as he grows his business. We hope to help from a strategic standpoint, figuring out how to scale [Ryla] into a bigger business, and to provide tactical support and coaching [on] all the day-to-day things required.
Wilson: Andrew is our board member from Frontier, but everybody that's part of Frontier has visited our center. I've gone to Charlotte on a couple of occasions as well.
Lindner: The plan is [monthly] board update/financial results calls and every-other-month face-to-face board meetings, for starters. We're coming down for an in-person, all-day strategy session as part of a 180-day kickoff plan.
Via-Entreprenuer Magizne
Smoothie-maker LightFull Foods was cooked up at 2-year-old Bay Area incubator Brand New Brands in May 2006. The San Francisco company received $6.1 million in venture funding last August from a half-dozen firms, led by Prolog Ventures in St. Louis. Other funders included Unilever Ventures, Burrill & Co., Mattson & Co., Palo Alto Investors and Great Spirit Ventures.
LightFull is headed by co-founders Lara Jackle, 37, a former Balance Bar marketing executive who is Light-Full's CEO, and Lynn Graham, 32, who is marketing vice president. LightFull's 90-calorie Satiety Smoothies--part of the hot "functional foods" trend--are sold in 1,300 grocery locations, including Dominick's, Safeway, Shaw's, Vons, Wegman's and Whole Foods Market. Nine months after the product hit store shelves, Jackle was forecasting more than $1 million in 2007 sales.
Entrepreneur: Lara, how did you get involved in LightFull?
Lara Jackle: It was a fortuitous story. I had an offer to move to Asia and head up emerging-market innovation for a big worldwide food company. A high-level career coach, Lori Ogden Moore, was helping me decide if this was the right move. She said, "I don't want to confuse your decision, but I know people who just raised a large [amount] of money and want to create the next generation of food products." She introduced me to Will Rosenzweig of Brand New Brands, and I became chief marketing officer of the incubator.
Prolog was an investor in Brand New Brands. [After LightFull was conceived at Brand New Brands], my original intention was to stay in the incubator [as an employee], but LightFull was so compelling, I ended up [leaving my job to take] it to market.
Entrepreneur: How did Prolog move from incubator funder to a funder of LightFull?
Ilya Nykin, Prolog managing director: LightFull didn't have an inside track. We needed to apply the same stringent criteria we apply to other investments. We were looking for the most breakthrough opportunities that address large unmet needs, that can be brought to market in a reasonable time and for a reasonable investment, and that have some scientific validity. This is the kind of company LightFull is. And Lara was the sort of leader we like to see: She has experience, energy, foresight, drive and vision.
Entrepreneur: Describe your relationship since the funding.
Jackle: We have a very active relationship. Ilya is a board member--we meet monthly on the phone and quarterly in person. As young women entrepreneurs, [Graham and I are] confident in our ability to market LightFull, but the investment community is male-dominated and can be intimidating. Prolog has been instrumental in helping us retain our independence and authenticity while we discuss possible investments from big companies.
2.
Ryla Teleservices & Frontier Capital
Kennesaw, Georgia-based Ryla Teleservices, which provides outsourced call-center services, landed $700,000 in funding in 2002 from SJF Ventures in Durham, North Carolina. Ryla has since grown from 21 employees to more than 350.
The 6-year-old company received just over $6.5 million in second-round funding in March, with Charlotte, North Carolina-based Frontier Capital as the majority investor. Founded by former D&B call-center manager Mark Wilson, 46, Ryla's president and CEO, and his wife, vice president and COO Shelly Wilson, 47, Ryla had $14 million in sales last year.
Entrepreneur: When did Ryla and Frontier first meet?
Mark Wilson: A little more than two years ago, when we were seeking growth capital. We were using a small consultancy [which has since dissolved] that provided [introduction] services to small businesses like ours.
Entrepreneur: So you essentially met on a blind date?
Wilson: That's right [laughs]. We were careful not to have our deal shopped around too much, though. I didn't want to talk to just anybody.
Entrepreneur: What exactly were you looking for?
Wilson: We wanted a partner that would let us do things in a creative, flexible way. Our approach, of being successful by developing people, requires patience. My experience with VCs is that not all are receptive to that; some are more focused on bottom-line issues.
Entrepreneur: What happened in the two years between meeting and funding?
Andrew Lindner, Frontier managing partner: Our model is to track a company for a while, which is exactly what we did. Ryla fit our stage and sector focus: We are a growth-capital provider focused on highly differentiated service businesses in the Southeast and Mid-Atlantic.
Mark got better and better looking during the "dating" period [laughs]. Seeing the dramatic growth in Ryla's top line, and expansion of gross margin, was one of those magic moments. He has no sales force and has grown from zero to $14 million in revenue pretty quickly.
Wilson: That [long time frame was] important to me. It makes me feel more comfortable that we took the time, and they know who we are.
Entrepreneur: Now that Ryla and Frontier have teamed up, how will your relationship work going forward?
Lindner: We look to be a valuable confidant to Mark as he grows his business. We hope to help from a strategic standpoint, figuring out how to scale [Ryla] into a bigger business, and to provide tactical support and coaching [on] all the day-to-day things required.
Wilson: Andrew is our board member from Frontier, but everybody that's part of Frontier has visited our center. I've gone to Charlotte on a couple of occasions as well.
Lindner: The plan is [monthly] board update/financial results calls and every-other-month face-to-face board meetings, for starters. We're coming down for an in-person, all-day strategy session as part of a 180-day kickoff plan.
Via-Entreprenuer Magizne
Friday, July 13, 2007
Tao Of John Chow
I see loads of blogs copying John Chow dot Com (Style, design, evilness, etc.). Sadly, many of them failed. Honestly, I am one of those. I am one of the victims who copied John Chow’s marketing tactics. But why did my blog became successful? What did I do to make my blog more interesting?
I’m not self promoting here guys. I’m just here to share the things that I learned from this great blogger that helped me through my blogging difficulties and marketing.
So, I’ll just go straight to the point. Here are the 5 things I learned from John Chow that made me a successful blogger.
1. Be Unique
“What the heck Carl? You just said you copied John Chow’s marketing strategies and now you want us to be unique?”
Yea I copied, but not literally! I just get the thought on how John Chow became successful and revised some of it.
Like for example, John Chow is the evil one right? That’s why people love him, he’s unique in some kind of way. John Chow uses branding for people to love him. So if I say, who is the root of evil again? What comes up in your mind? Of course, John Chow!
2. Socialize with famous bloggers
To those loyal John Chow readers here, did you remember the time when John Chow is chatting with Darren Rowse through Adwords? The “I love Darren Rowse” ad? That was the perfect idea that caught Problogger’s eyes and noticed JohnChow.com
3. Leverage Your Knowledge
There are so many great bloggers out there with great and useful post. Some are guru’s blogging just for popularity. But how did John Chow established himself as the make money online authority to many people?
As stated in the guest post of Adii from my blog:
I doubt that he knew anything about making money online and monetizing blogs when he first started blogging. But John Chow has persisted with his goal to be regarded as an expert (see the wording, his readers thinks he is the expert, although he might not even think so himself) and he had the self confidence and arrogance to back up these goals.
4. Don’t Play with Google
If you could recall, remember when John Chow edited his robots.txt? Then after a day or two, his rank went down in Google for the keyword “Make Money Online.”
Yeah… I know if you want to be an SEO expert, you gotta experiment. But please, not on your main blog that gives you 5 figure monthly. I hope John Chow gets some Google love soon.
Oh yea. I told Google that I hate them because you’re not in the top search results for the keyword John Chow! Though I’m not switching to Yahoo
5. Never, Never Give-Up
Even though John Chow is still not showing up number one in the search results today. He still have this sportsman spirit (John Chow used to hold the 100 meter dash in his High School) that keeps his blog alive and his community active. He even reached another blogging milestone by breaking the 6,000 RSS mark!
This is also a reason on why people don’t make money online. They give up. After few months they give up because they are not earning or they’re earning not enough. Remember, Blogging is like planting a tree. It takes years to harvest the fruits.
Via-Carl
I’m not self promoting here guys. I’m just here to share the things that I learned from this great blogger that helped me through my blogging difficulties and marketing.
So, I’ll just go straight to the point. Here are the 5 things I learned from John Chow that made me a successful blogger.
1. Be Unique
“What the heck Carl? You just said you copied John Chow’s marketing strategies and now you want us to be unique?”
Yea I copied, but not literally! I just get the thought on how John Chow became successful and revised some of it.
Like for example, John Chow is the evil one right? That’s why people love him, he’s unique in some kind of way. John Chow uses branding for people to love him. So if I say, who is the root of evil again? What comes up in your mind? Of course, John Chow!
2. Socialize with famous bloggers
To those loyal John Chow readers here, did you remember the time when John Chow is chatting with Darren Rowse through Adwords? The “I love Darren Rowse” ad? That was the perfect idea that caught Problogger’s eyes and noticed JohnChow.com
3. Leverage Your Knowledge
There are so many great bloggers out there with great and useful post. Some are guru’s blogging just for popularity. But how did John Chow established himself as the make money online authority to many people?
As stated in the guest post of Adii from my blog:
I doubt that he knew anything about making money online and monetizing blogs when he first started blogging. But John Chow has persisted with his goal to be regarded as an expert (see the wording, his readers thinks he is the expert, although he might not even think so himself) and he had the self confidence and arrogance to back up these goals.
4. Don’t Play with Google
If you could recall, remember when John Chow edited his robots.txt? Then after a day or two, his rank went down in Google for the keyword “Make Money Online.”
Yeah… I know if you want to be an SEO expert, you gotta experiment. But please, not on your main blog that gives you 5 figure monthly. I hope John Chow gets some Google love soon.
Oh yea. I told Google that I hate them because you’re not in the top search results for the keyword John Chow! Though I’m not switching to Yahoo
5. Never, Never Give-Up
Even though John Chow is still not showing up number one in the search results today. He still have this sportsman spirit (John Chow used to hold the 100 meter dash in his High School) that keeps his blog alive and his community active. He even reached another blogging milestone by breaking the 6,000 RSS mark!
This is also a reason on why people don’t make money online. They give up. After few months they give up because they are not earning or they’re earning not enough. Remember, Blogging is like planting a tree. It takes years to harvest the fruits.
Via-Carl
vBulletin is a professional, affordable community forum solution
vBulletin is a professional, affordable community forum solution. Thousands of clients, including many industry leading blue chip companies, have chosen vBulletin - It's the ideal choice for any size of community. Making your site a hub for information and discussion encourages visitors to return again and again. It's also a highly effective way of improving your service to customers or users of your website. Our dedicated development team constantly strives to keep vBulletin at the forefront of new Internet innovations, while always keeping an eye on security and performance.
More at:http://www.vbulletin.com/
More at:http://www.vbulletin.com/
PayScale is a market leader in global online compensation data
PayScale is a market leader in global online compensation data. With the world's largest database of individual employee compensation profiles, PayScale provides an immediate and precise snapshot of the job market. Our patent-pending real-time profiling system indexes custom employee attributes (such as industry-specific certifications) and specific job titles for every industry. PayScale Professional provides employers with accurate, reliable compensation detail never before available. My PayScale and PayScale Premium give individuals the accurate facts and negotiation know-how they need in order to make smart, informed career decisions.
More at:http://www.payscale.com/
More at:http://www.payscale.com/
Tv-Reality BusinessShow Inspiring Entrepreneurs
Millions of Britons are hatching new business ideas and inventions, with popular reality TV business shows such as ‘Dragon’s Den’ inspiring one in twelve wannabe entrepreneurs.
NatWest reveals that nearly 17 million Brits* harbour a business idea, with 30 per cent planning to turn their ambition into a reality – a quarter (26 per cent) within the next year. Of those wishing to set up in business, nearly half (43 per cent) view being their own boss as the ultimate reward.
Whilst some may resent reality TV dominating our screens, these ‘start up’ shows are already having a positive influence on UK plc by encouraging new business. One in five (19 per cent) young entrepreneurs (aged 18-34) who set up a company in the last five years was inspired by reality TV. However, how accurately such shows represent everyday working life is another matter, as those running their own businesses warn they make ‘starting up’ look glamorous (45 per cent) and easy (32 per cent).
Motivations to go solo include the ability to work more flexibly (77 per cent), the feeling of freedom and independence (70 per cent) and frustrations with their current boss (37 per cent) - nearly a quarter (22 per cent) had their ‘eureka’ moment at their work desk.
Whilst famous entrepreneurs like Alan Sugar represent the massive financial rewards to be had, those dreaming of owning a business have more achievable financial goals.
They expect to earn up to £40,000 annually from their business, just above the £28,000 that is actually earned by the average UK entrepreneur. In fact, making a fortune isn’t why most get into business, of those already set up, only one in ten (11 per cent) small businesses stated a desire to make a fortune as the original motivation for deciding to go it alone.
The entrepreneurial spirit is at its strongest within the IT and telecoms sectors, of all those considering having their own business, over one in ten (11 per cent) originate from these industries. Whether they want to stay in these industries may be a different matter as over half of all business owners (58 per cent) set up in a completely different sector from their previous career.
Life-changing moments also play a part in fuelling a spirit of enterprise. Redundancy (30 per cent), illness (17 per cent), having children (10 per cent) and career breaks (10 per cent) provided a trigger for the three in ten entrepreneurs prompted to go it alone.
According to the NatWest findings reality can far outweigh ambition when it comes to going it alone. Almost a quarter (23 per cent) of entrepreneurs starting out in the last five years were tempted to give up on their dream, with cash-flow problems, lack of finance and poor marketing knowledge the biggest practical hurdles to getting up and running. The fear of failure, stress and lack of confidence in their abilities were the greatest emotional challenges cited.
Launching a new package to get small businesses off the ground, Steve Pateman, Chief Executive, Business Banking, NatWest said: “Whilst it’s encouraging that TV programmes can inspire an army of armchair entrepreneurs into action, they only really scratch the surface of what it takes to run a successful business.”
Pateman continues: “Although over half (52%) aren’t confident they have the skills and financial know-how to get started straight away, with advice from an experienced local business manager offered by NatWest, plus useful money saving benefits, these initial hurdles needn’t be a barrier to getting a good business idea off the ground.”
NatWest reveals that nearly 17 million Brits* harbour a business idea, with 30 per cent planning to turn their ambition into a reality – a quarter (26 per cent) within the next year. Of those wishing to set up in business, nearly half (43 per cent) view being their own boss as the ultimate reward.
Whilst some may resent reality TV dominating our screens, these ‘start up’ shows are already having a positive influence on UK plc by encouraging new business. One in five (19 per cent) young entrepreneurs (aged 18-34) who set up a company in the last five years was inspired by reality TV. However, how accurately such shows represent everyday working life is another matter, as those running their own businesses warn they make ‘starting up’ look glamorous (45 per cent) and easy (32 per cent).
Motivations to go solo include the ability to work more flexibly (77 per cent), the feeling of freedom and independence (70 per cent) and frustrations with their current boss (37 per cent) - nearly a quarter (22 per cent) had their ‘eureka’ moment at their work desk.
Whilst famous entrepreneurs like Alan Sugar represent the massive financial rewards to be had, those dreaming of owning a business have more achievable financial goals.
They expect to earn up to £40,000 annually from their business, just above the £28,000 that is actually earned by the average UK entrepreneur. In fact, making a fortune isn’t why most get into business, of those already set up, only one in ten (11 per cent) small businesses stated a desire to make a fortune as the original motivation for deciding to go it alone.
The entrepreneurial spirit is at its strongest within the IT and telecoms sectors, of all those considering having their own business, over one in ten (11 per cent) originate from these industries. Whether they want to stay in these industries may be a different matter as over half of all business owners (58 per cent) set up in a completely different sector from their previous career.
Life-changing moments also play a part in fuelling a spirit of enterprise. Redundancy (30 per cent), illness (17 per cent), having children (10 per cent) and career breaks (10 per cent) provided a trigger for the three in ten entrepreneurs prompted to go it alone.
According to the NatWest findings reality can far outweigh ambition when it comes to going it alone. Almost a quarter (23 per cent) of entrepreneurs starting out in the last five years were tempted to give up on their dream, with cash-flow problems, lack of finance and poor marketing knowledge the biggest practical hurdles to getting up and running. The fear of failure, stress and lack of confidence in their abilities were the greatest emotional challenges cited.
Launching a new package to get small businesses off the ground, Steve Pateman, Chief Executive, Business Banking, NatWest said: “Whilst it’s encouraging that TV programmes can inspire an army of armchair entrepreneurs into action, they only really scratch the surface of what it takes to run a successful business.”
Pateman continues: “Although over half (52%) aren’t confident they have the skills and financial know-how to get started straight away, with advice from an experienced local business manager offered by NatWest, plus useful money saving benefits, these initial hurdles needn’t be a barrier to getting a good business idea off the ground.”
Online backup services can be a great, great way of keeping your data secure
Online backup services can be a great, great way of keeping your data secure.You could buy a 300 gig’er hard drive from Best Buy and use it, but nothing beats having a copy of a file directly on the Internet — it’s accessible from anywhere, and you never have to worry about waking up to find your hard drive corrupt. With broadband speeds increasing, it’s also getting faster and faster, and there is no doubt it’ll eventually be the preferred option for backing up data.
backup.com is"it’s simply letting a software/web service model automatically backup your data over the Internet so you never have to worry about doing it — that is of course, until you lose it, in which case it’s a simple one-click-restore.
It isn’t too processor intensive, and presents a clean look and feel. One downside to backup.com is the absence of a free plan and the high, high cost of storage — their plans are priced like it’s 2002! On the other hand, you get what you pay for, and its customer support service to be responsive and caring. If you’re the person who likes to get what he pays for and no strings attached, backup.com is probably your best solution.
more at:http://backup.com/
backup.com is"it’s simply letting a software/web service model automatically backup your data over the Internet so you never have to worry about doing it — that is of course, until you lose it, in which case it’s a simple one-click-restore.
It isn’t too processor intensive, and presents a clean look and feel. One downside to backup.com is the absence of a free plan and the high, high cost of storage — their plans are priced like it’s 2002! On the other hand, you get what you pay for, and its customer support service to be responsive and caring. If you’re the person who likes to get what he pays for and no strings attached, backup.com is probably your best solution.
more at:http://backup.com/
Managment Tool
VersionOne is an Atlanta-based provider of enterprise project and lifecycle management solutions for agile development. Enabling today's leading agile methodologies, VersionOne helps companies simplify the process of delivering software. By offering powerful, easy-to-use planning and management tools, VersionOne enables: Faster delivery cycles, Greater business adaptability, Reduced project risk, and Enhanced project visibility and predictability. The days of long, bureaucratic software projects are limited. Rapid return on investment drives today's business decisions, leaving traditional methodologies scrambling to address current business dynamics. VersionOne's agile project management tool offers flexibility and integrated support for next-generation software development methodologies which helps deliver the competitive advantage leading-edge technology organizations need to survive in today's markets.
More at:http://www.versionone.com/
More at:http://www.versionone.com/
Yoomba
World’s only open communications experience, where any email address can be instantly contacted by you for free - simply by calling or chat. Everyone has an email address, and with Yoomba, every email address becomes a phone or messenger. So why not email call or email chat with friends, family or colleagues around the world for free? There is no need for a new email address, a new ID, or another phone number - you just activate and Yoomba! Yoomba offers unique one-touch buttons which appear in your preferred email application, making connecting to anyone just one click away, and with Yoomba you also have access to your most popular contacts, at a glance. Whether it’s Outlook, webmail or simply from your browser – don’t change a thing – just Yoomba.
More at:http://www.yoomba.com/
More at:http://www.yoomba.com/
Thursday, July 12, 2007
DailyTube
Most of the time we lost in searching while getting right thing but suppose you want to search online video from youtube or other similarly site. DailyTube is there to help. They find the best videos on the internet and send them to subscribers via free email. They’ve got a team of 25 editors, webscouts, and writers to ferret out the cream of the crop on a daily basis. Each selection is posted and categorized as Humor, Celebs, Sports, Music, Late Nite, Web Stars, or Campaign ’08. Videos can be comment on, rated, and shared.
More at:http://www.thedailytube.com/
More at:http://www.thedailytube.com/
CrossLoop is a free screen sharing
CrossLoop is a free screen sharing utility requiring only a small download and no registration. Any computer user who can install a program can get this software up and running. The greatest thing about CrossLoop is that the service bypasses routers and firewalls. This is an amazing step forward for screen sharing technology, and it should make computer repair and diagnosis more efficient.
CrossLoop is secure, encrypting all data using 128 bit encryption and a random 12 digit access code. CrossLoop is made possible through the use of proprietary VIP Tunnel technology and the open-source VNC viewer from TightVNC.
One user acts as a host and the other user joins the session with the access code displayed on the host’s screen. Simple solutions like this help us solve some of the most frustrating problems. Never again will I sit with a family member on the phone trying to explain how to download software.
More at:http://www.crossloop.com/
Via-rev2.0
CrossLoop is secure, encrypting all data using 128 bit encryption and a random 12 digit access code. CrossLoop is made possible through the use of proprietary VIP Tunnel technology and the open-source VNC viewer from TightVNC.
One user acts as a host and the other user joins the session with the access code displayed on the host’s screen. Simple solutions like this help us solve some of the most frustrating problems. Never again will I sit with a family member on the phone trying to explain how to download software.
More at:http://www.crossloop.com/
Via-rev2.0
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