Mobile Advertising For Your Website

When people are away from their tv stands, and desktop computers and out in the world they all have a mobile phone. Is finding ways to advertise to them on their phones something that makes sense for you?

You probably have a website for your business. At least you should these days. It isn't like it costs a ton to run one if you aren't a web based business. At the very least many businesses have a cheap template with a blog to let customers know who they are and what they are selling. How well is your website set up for mobile phone viewing?

This article gives a lot of good tips about taking your website mobile. From seeing if your website already has the capability to possibly setting up a clone website that can be accessed by mobile users.

Layoffs Leading to Data Theft

Who doesn't get a bit angry when they get laid off from a job? Certainly it is one of the worst aspects of being an employee. Not only are you losing your job, but you are losing it in most cases not because you are a poor employee, but because your company isn't doing well, or they aren't running it well. Often times they come with out much warning. Many times you may even feel like you have a somewhat secure position that will last for a while and go out and long-term credit commitments like engagement rings, or even a home only to find yourself out of work. So...what do you do when that happens? Some people would like to turn turn to data theft if they thought they could get away with it.

In a poll of 226 workers on Wall Street, 58 percent said they would download sensitive corporate data as a pre-emptive move in case of job loss. Forty percent admitted they have already done so, according to Cyber-Ark, a Massachusetts-based IT security firm.

It is easy to see why on Wall Street. If you are in a sales position and you have a contacts list, you almost certainly will want to take it with you. After all, you probably built the list. Those are your clients, and they are working with you.

According to those polled, the data they would take includes customer and contact databases, plans and proposals, product information, and access and password codes.

Sixty-two percent of workers said it was easy to sneak company information out of the office. Nearly half said they would use a memory stick, while others said they would use e-mail, encrypted storage websites, CDs, and even cameras.

It isn't as prevalent in smaller businesses, but simple deterrents can be used according to Adam Bosnian, Cyber-Ark's vice president of products and strategy.

"Let employees know that you're going to keep an eye on your sensitive information, even if you don't put a software solution around that," Bosnian said. "That's a very low-cost and very effective way for small businesses to deter theft."

10 New Years Resolutions for Business

No matter how great of a year your business had, there are always ways to improve it aren't there? Of course there are unless you are just too prideful to notice. Since Christmas has just passed I have started seeing New Year's resolution shows on tv already just the next day so I figured I'd see who has put something aout about it online in the business world.

Didn't take long. David Javitch has created a Top 10 list of New Year's resolutions that focus entirely on emlpoyeed management. Here's a couple for a tase:

1. I will work smarter. Can you identify three things you can do to be more efficient and effective in your current job? Is your staff spending too much time on e-mail, for example? Too much time returning phone calls? Does it interrupt their work too frequently? Sometimes, those job inefficiencies are not very obvious. However, if they can specifically identify them, then those inefficiencies can be eliminated and staff can become more productive. This can increase work satisfaction as well.

2. I will increase my working network in and out of my immediate area and inside and outside my company. Can you encourage your staff to get to know more people? Can you meet more people not just to say hello, but to find out what they do, how they do it and what skills they use to be productive? Let them know about your traits, abilities and interests, too. Ask yourself if you can you interact with them to mutually benefit both your jobs. Can you include them in your circle of contacts so that you can call on them when you need a favor, a contact, or a reference? The reverse should be true as well.

Social Network Marketing: Etiquette for Businesses

There is a big difference between having a Facebook, Myspace, Twitter, etc. page for personal use than for business, but some still seem to make the mistake of doing the same things on the business side. Internet marketing is a lot easier than people tend to make it out to be. Sure if your expertise is treating Plantar Fasciitis, and you never took a computer class in your life it might seem difficult to get involved in socail networks. The way places like Facebook are set up though makes it extremely easy for anyone to set up their own page.

One of the biggest problems with people that are "new" to the internet, or at least socail interaction online is the tendancy to be very annoying. Yes...that is simplistic, but think about when you first got e-mail and you were the person that sent out forwards to 50 people at a time. Only new people do this regularly and end up being put on their own friend's ignore lists because of it. This has become something that many businesses tend to do when they get into social networks as well. Don't do that. You are a professional and people don't care about chain letters. Besides, it doesn't help you to do things like this because it has NOTHING to do with your business. LEave the comedy for your own time, and to the professionals.

Although that isn't why I wrote this post initially, the annoying factor is something people should understand. We get so much information sent to us o a daily basis that if you just add more "crap" to our lives we aren't going to want to have anything to do with you. People dislike spam for a reason. It is untargeted, and it isn't wanted. We don't want things from people we don't know, and we certainly don't want things from businesses that should be kept for private use. Especially if I am going to try and network with you. HAve some self control. Yeah the internet is really cool, but we already know that. You aren't the first to send it to us, and you won't be the last. Just don't send us things that have nothing to do with your business, and our relationship with your business.

Ahem...now that is out of the way take a look at some simple ideas to keep you grounded in the social networkign community. Learn to interact with the people that interact with you in the ways they interact with you.

Smart Small Business Cost Cutting

While the economy is beating the life out of some of our busniesses many are starting to panic, but at what cost? Cutting costs is always a priority, but when things are not going well it become even more important. The problem is that many small business owners cut things that will hurt them in the long run to save a few dollars now.

Certainly it is advisable to find a bit better deal with cheap auto insurance for your company car, but what other things can you do to ensure that you are not cutting the wrong things?

Take a look at some common sense suggestions for cost cutting here.

Getting Employees to Love New Technology

If you are before Generation X, or Z, or whatever they call us now, you probalby find new technology overwhelming. Many employees find that technology quite overwhelming as well. Trying to get them to embrace changes that help your business can be daunting at times. They either are just too overwhelmed to learn it, or they simply can't grasp it. The days of simply pumping out Kohler faucets with arcane technology is slowing passing us by. Now employees are supposed to adapt with the new technology environments they are put into. Either that or they become obsolete.

The most common mistake in implementing new technology occurs when the selection comes solely from the top, says Stephen Andriole, a former chief technical officer who teaches business technology management and corporate strategy at Villanova University's business school. Employees bristle at being force-fed new ways to do their jobs, especially if the technology is difficult to use and actually makes those jobs harder in the short term. "Many users will happily nod their head as the technology gets deployed," Andriole says. "But within days, they have figured out ways around it so they can do their job the way they always did, which results in a big waste of time and money all around."

Here. Here. Employees are actually a lot more creative than we give them credit for. When they are so used to doing things a certain way, usually they DO ffind a way to revert back to the old way because it is simply easier for them to do it that way. In the long run that doesn't help them, or the company if they continue to shelve new, and better technology to do their jobs.

How do you get them to not only use, but love that new technology? Take a look at this in depth report on how to implement new technology in your business, and how to get your employees to use it successfully.

Managing Your Business: NFL Style

I always like when someone uses something like football to describe the process of running a business. Certainly I love the use of catch phrases and people who use sayings every time they talk like coaches do. "We have to play a full 60 minutes", "We need to pound the rock", "That guy has a motor", etc. Nothing better than phrases you can use in everyday life to show that you don't like to actually think of things yourself.

If you watch the NFL you may not see it all the time, but the game is a manager's dream. The process of the vbuilding and running a football team is much like a business. This guy talks about how the NFL mirrors a business, or at least lessons you can learn about simple business concepts by seeing it in the NFL.

Whether you produce ball lock pins, or you are a financial advisor, seeing things in simplistic terms like he says is kind of important. Only a businessman could think of business all the time when they watch sports. Surely, his mind works that way and many of ours do too. Seeing opportunity, or seeing how to prevent loss in business in other aspects of life is somethng that we should notice in everyday life.

Marketing: Barack Obama Style

It doesn't take a marketing guru to understand that Barack Obama ran one of the best campaigns in political history. Since it is now over, and the success of winning has been achieved it may be time to take a look at just what he did, and see if it will help your business to emulate some of his strategies. Certainly when you notice that someone has come from a virtual unknown to president of the United States in less than a few years, you have to take notice of how they did it. Doesn't matter if you are motorcycle accident attorneys, doctors, or running a business out of your home. A lot of what he did can be done by anyone using the internet.

I'm not going to butcher this great analysis done by Maisha Walker at Inc.com. She has the same interest I do in evaluating the campaign that won a rpesidency. She does a very good job at pointing out the massive campaign he set forth, but at the same time if you look at it closely you can see how much of it you can do yourself, and at very little cost.

Entrepreneur Magazine Growth 2.0 Conference

Yes we are still in the Web 2.0 era. Whether you are trying to build sites for community interaction on something as far out as diet pills, or a site that has video to share, we are still in that era of the web. Of course there is more to business than just the internet. Tha tis why Entrepreneur.com is holding an FREE annual conference in which they give entrepreneurs some much needed advice while still trying to scoop up the web crowd with the 2.0 moniker ;).

Entrepreneur Magazine Growth 2.0 conference will be held December 9th, 2008, and is still open for you to attend. Instead of me basically telling you everything you can find out in that link you may as well just head over there asnd see for yourself all that is being offered. They do have some internet love as the guy that wrote "Rich Dad" is going to be appearing at the conference. Drefinitely something you don't wnat to miss if you are able to attend.

Recession Success Stories

There is always opportunity in every economy. A recession is no different. You can always make money in the stock market no matter how bad it is doing. You just have to know what youa re doing to do it. Whether you are making las vegas hotel reservations to try and get rich playing poker and win your financial freedom, or you are workign on a business, there is opportunity in a recession. It will end eventually. Then you become stronger than you were even in a recession.

Throughout American history there have been those that have found big profits when things go bad. That is because they understand what is needed at the time. That is because they run a good business and they know how to get things done. Take a look at the 17 Recession Success Stories outlined here for some examples.

How to Lose a Deal in China

It is sort of part of business, and even movie lore now that learnign about foreign culture just enough to make a deal is always there. You see it when some business guy meets with a Japanese CEO to try and make a deal, in some restaurant with modern furniture, and then he accidently uses the wrong word to say something which totally offends the Japanese CEO. The deal goes south, and the guy is left scratching his head as to what he did wrong.

With the way the world is now you may be more inclined to be making a deal in China these days than anywhere else. A good article on how not to screw that deal up is here. They picked 3 things that should keep you from killing a deal in China. Things that will make you look like aq fool, or just plain offend someone.

Can You Digg It?

Kevin Rose of Digg is pretty famous. Well...let's just say that he is what most internet and tech guys want to become one day. Someone who basically owns the world when it comes to having a corner on a huge portion of the people that surf on the internet. He has found the faucets for pouring out internet money so to say. Probably the water company itself.

If you haven't heard of Digg you probably don't have the internet, or you don't use it for anything except e-mail. If you did know aobut it, you probably wouldn't even bother going anywhere else to find the news. Digg is where it is at, and the people that use it vote for what news is important. Well...sort of. They have their quirks there. The crowd has a lot of favorites. Liberals, atheists, and the computer giant Apple. Of course I don't bring any of this up to review Digg. It's simply a waste of time to do so. If you can't figure it out you ahve a long way to go before the internet is useful to you. I mean I could tell you it is a great place to market websites and blogs, but if you can't figure that out...you don't knwo anything about marketing.

The main reason to bring this up is that it Kevin Rose is a great story for people in business. Particularly people that want to work either online, or in some sort of tech/media environment. Inc.com has a sort of homage to Kevin Rose you should check out. Certainly couldn't hurt to read a major success story could it?

Signs Your Leadership Doesn't Inspire

Whether you lead a retail sales team that sells HDTV equipment, run a manufacturing line, or just a boring office, there is usually a need to inspire your staff. Times aren't great, but that is no reason to hide in your office.

When you want to learn how to lead better it is always a good idea to take a look at some of the things that you may being doing wrong in the first place. Usually when you detect those inadequacies you already have a big advantage to improving your leadership, and could inspire better just by stopping the annoying things you do that irritate your employees.

If you have a hard time figuring out just what you are doing wrong, take a look at this list of 10 for a bit of a head start.

Finding Funds in this Credit Crunch

Being in business requires that you have some sort of line of credit many times. At least in most businesses you need money either to help you expand, when in a pinch, or whatever it is you are trying to accomplish. Starting a new business, or looking at franchise opportunities right now it is even more important to find credit somewhere.

Right now it isn't easy, but there are some helpful articlwes out there that give some good ideas on how to look for funds during this credit crunch. Take a look at this article from Inc.com for a bit of an idea on some opetions you may have.

Avoiding Burnout at Work

Doesn't matter what kind of job, or business you have, there are times when you just put way too much time in. Eventually it will catch up to you and you will suffer from burnout. Even if you work at home doing online trading, or blogging for that matter. No matter how much you love it you can only do the same thing constantly for so long before you become quite sick of it.

Take a look at some tips to avoid burnout, or actually how to deal with it if you know it is going to set in soon. Especially when running a business your mind and body beign in good shape is going to make you much more productive.

Help Influence Policymakers That Influence Your Business

No...I'm not talking aobut throwing a bunch of money into a campaign like you here about on the national scene where candidates only work for big oil, insurance companies, and banks. I ran a crossed an article today that discusses the policymakers that matter to you. The ones in your district, and your state. The people that will ultimately have a great impact on your own business.

Whether you think you can get a local candidate to come on over and have a helping of your healthy cooking to discuss some issues important to you, there are several ways to make your voice heard to your elected officials. Take a look at some of the ways you can go about influencing their decisions.

Public Speaking Help

It is said that the #1 fear of most people is public speaking. Problem is that sometimes you HAVE to speak in public. There is no way around it. Sure not everyone will ahve to in their lifetimes, but at some point many will be required to speak in front of at least a small group of people. Especially if you are a business owner, or you work in some aspect of business.

Most of the time salesmen are the worst speakers you will ever find. Sales jobs are a dime a dozen, and damn near anyone can get a sales job. That menas there are a TON of terrible salespeople out there giving terrible presentations. The salesperson has gotten the idea that they need to be like the classic used car salesman. At least this is the notion that most people have about a sales professional. That is just not the case at all. The sales pitch is as easy to see, and subsequently ignore as the glasses on your nose. We don't go to demos for Hydroxycut reviews. We go to get entertained. We want to be intersted.

Take a look at 11 Public-Speaking Tips that are sure to help you at least think a bit differently about how you appraoach a speech, address, or even a sales pitch.

Influential Women Tackle Questions on the Future

When two women make it as far as either being the one runnign for president of the United States, and another being nominated as the VP I think it is important to recognize some of the things other important women are talking about. So a bit of a look at the 2008 Women Presidents' Organization Annual Conference is in order.

The WPO, founded by president Marsha Firestone in 1996, is a peer advisory organization for women presidents and CEOs of privately held businesses grossing more than $2 million in annual revenue, or $1 million for service-based companies. The organization boasts a membership of 1,300 women, with an average of $13 million in revenue each. The WPO has 80 chapters across the globe, including locations in Canada, Peru and the United Kingdom.

So...while taking a look at a car insurance online quote why not take a look at some of the things these women are discussing in regards to their discussions on innovation?

75 Green Businesses That Can Make You Money

Sure it is nice to be worrying about green issues right now when some of us are worried about our health insurance, but Green is actually becoming big business.

This short list highlights a much bigger one that was compiled a while back. 75 Green Businesses You Can Start and Make Money On is a much more comprehensive list.

It's no surprise that Going Green has figured out a way to turn into a profitable operation. Just watch any presidential debate this time around and you can see there are more and more people that want alternative fuel options because of gas prices. Those aren't the only ways to make some green while going green, however.

What is the Biggest Employee Motivation Killer?

You can't run a business and not notice there are certain things that suck the life out of your employees. LAck of raiseds, fear of being laid off permanently, etc. One thing I have always found managing other employees in my observations are that managers tend to make the mistake of promising thisng they aren't sure of. Things such as telling employees they are not going to have to work overtime on Friday with a notice on Monday and then telling them Thrusday that they do indeed have to come into work that day. This of course would be for employees that work 4 10-hour shift work weeks. These kinds of things are great when they are actually true. Never, ever take something away from an employee that you promised them they would have. Managing employees is as much about psychology in how you handle them as it is about actually being competent at being their manager.

Did I actually tell you what the biggest motivation killer is already? Not if you go by the reason I started this post. In fact it is something that every employee thinks about subconsciously, and a few actually state blatantly when the observation is made. It's that people are not motivated to help the company. They are motivated to help themselves. This is just common sense to most. I care more about a .50 cent raise that covers my weight loss pills for the next year than I do about some exectutive's stock price going up 1/4 of a point. I work for myself. IF I don't get rewarded for working harder, and only the company does, what is my motivation to actually work harder?

Tha tabove paragraph is lined with thoughts from the movie Office Space. One of the most brilliant movies ever made in my opinion. One quote sums it up to me: "It's not that I'm lazy, it's that I just don't care. I could work my ass off so that my boss' stock will go up a 1/4 of a point, but I don't see a dime. Where's the motivation?"

Take a look at this subject discussed in depth here as well as some options to help you understand it, and to help bring back motivation to the work place.

10 Cheap Ways to Brand Recognition

I've always felt that some great promotional items were an easy way to cheaply build brand recognition in the small bbusiness area. Things like pins, calender magnets people always have on their fridge, etc.

I'm always interested in checkign out some easy ways to do a bit of marketing/advertising. When I see a list of cheap ways to do it...even better. Not only are there great ways to do things offline, but with the way the internet plays such a great role in business now there are even some great ways to do it online for virtually nothing. All the while increasing your sales. Take a list of 10 ways to build your brand here.

Top 50 Entrepreneurial Colleges

It's funny...I never went to college with the intention of starting a business. To my knowledge not many business owners really did have that idea when they were studying to get a degree. Tehy were more interested in finding employment. going to college in Philly to try and find contacts to get Philadelphia jobs, or any other college to get job contacts in that area.

Until I started reading about small business information I had never heard that there were colleges out there that touted themselves as Entrepreneurial colleges. Although I never attended an "Entrepreneurial college, I find the concept pretty enticing when I see colleges ranked according to this category. It's not my list, so i won't take credit and list 50 posts about each of the colleges to try and steal their thunder. Take a look at the Top 50 Entrepreneurial Colleges on the Entrepreneur.com website. They give you a brief look at each and why they are ranked at the top. You can also get links to all of them if you want to look into each college's entrepreceurial programs.

Best Lemonade Stands in America

A couple months back I posted about a contest searching for the Best Lemonade Stand in America Contest that was being held by Inc.com. Well...the results are in and the Best Lemonade Stand in America has been named.

Kids from a crossed the country went out and ran Lemonade businesses and then submitted their stories to Inc.com. A business that has been around since the old joke of the fireman being called to get the cat out of the cat trees, this business is a fundamental learnign tool for small (literaly) business owners.

Take a look at who won here.

Juggling a Business and a Family

An article I read today posed a very important question for business owners: How's the Family? This question seems like it won';t be a big deal when running a business, but myself, and people I know getting into to business know that this is a very important question. When you first start out in a business you have to be dedicated. With dedication that means you are going to spend most of your day sweating for your business.

Are you spending time with your wife? Kids? Do you help with things around the house like seniding out Halloween invitations for yuour kid's Halloween party?

The article above is pretty short, but it makes a very good point. HAving a business can't be used to give the excuse "I'm doing it for my family!". Certainly if your business takes precendent over your family, you may not have your family for very long.

Small Business Money and Time Tips

Running a small business is quite stressful. In fact, many times I may have to bust out the pimple cream from the excessive sweat I pour into mine. So...when someone offers some tips that they have found to not only save some precious time, but money as well I usually will at least hear them out.

Something that I have always used to save me tedious extra work, as well as time are business credit cards. The simplicity of it all make for so much less work. Doesn't matter what sort of business I have run, be it running a shop on Ebay that sell s new items purchased from distributors, or just running an office with employees. The biggest thing about it is that the parerwork it cut back on was phenomenal. Of course it is very fast and efficient, but when running expense reports the card does all the work for you. Account statements online are just plain handy.

I read an article that goes a bit more in depth about the use of business credit cards today and thought that I would share. Take a look

Millionaires Before 40

So...how do you get rich at a relatively young age with out being a sports/music/movie star, win the lotto, or inherit it? Entrepreneur.com is featuring some young millionaires who are sharing some of the things that helped them become wealthy at such a young age.

These are asome pretty good profiles of hard working dreamers who have realized their dreams well before most millionaires. Want your name on promotional pens because you are making bank? Take some tips from these young start ups.

Cites Hurt and Helped by High Gas Costs

While you may only head out west for Vegas vacations, there may actually be a reason to move out that way. Why? All these areas have something that other areas do not. Wind and solar energy in more abundance than anywhere else.

The New York Times, the Atlantic Monthly and the rest of the establishment press have their answer: big cities like New York, Chicago, and San Francisco will win out. Our assessment is: not so fast. There's a lot about the unfolding energy economy that is more complex than commonly believed, and could have consequences that are somewhat unanticipated. Read more

Is Low Cost Health Insurance Even Worth It?

Once you have taken care of all the important things for your business like which espresso machines to buy, you may take a long hard look at your health coverage. Everyone wants to save money on medical expenses, but how many corners are too many to cut?

If you are looking for health coverage you will definitely want to read this article about choosing health care you can afford. I used to sell insurance and I know the game. The worse the insurance the better the salesman who is selling it. When it is really good you don't need to sell it. It sells itself. That was always what I wanted to have in my portfolio when I was a saleman. Things that I could stand behind. LAck of research is the #1 reason peopel get ripped off. The 2nd? Too afraid to ask questions. Do both before you buy and read articles like the one above to help you decide what you even need.

Gold Medal Millionaires

With the Olympics looming, it may be of some interest to see just how successful some former Olympians have become. Millionaire Olympians that is.

I really haven't eve r thought a whole lot about how successful financially some of the immensely popular Gold MEdal winners from past Olympic Games have become. They all just seemd like they weren't in sports that money followed, and that people just really didn't care a whole lot abou tit once the games were over. I know I never really did. Expecially these days as the Olympics aren't even something I bother to watch anymore. Even the major sports like Basketball, or Baseball.

I suppose it has a lot to do with these people being "amateurs", as well as people being busted for things like steroids, taking some sort of crazy diet pills, or some muscle building formula to compete.

Anyways, Take a look at some of the Gold Medal Millionaires and see what they have become. You'll recognize quite a few I'm sure.

40th Anniversary of the Cubicle

For those of us that work at home ont he computer I guess you could say we are in our own cubicle world, but we at least have a bit more privacy than we did when we sat in a room of boxes listening to 50 people on their phones as well as much lower system memory needs that we get all to ourselves :).

The movie Office Space is the best movie ever made about cubicle life in my opinion. From the male perspective that movie is right on target. It doesn't give the female perspective too much, but for the guys you have to at least chuckle at some of the things they do in that movie.

Anyways, as this is the 40th cubicle Anniversary there was a little article that I found pretty amusing covering the last 40 years of cubicle life. Check it out here and enjot.

Top 10 Big Cites to do Business

If running a business stresses you out, just imagine what running one in a big city would do for your acne acne problem.

Inc.com has put together a tlist of the Top 10 Large Cities for Doing Business whtis week and you may be surprised what ends up on the list. The list is a slideshow so I won't list it here. Just take a look for yourself. Stats on all of them are listed in the slides.

Social Networking Online as Important as Offline

When you work in most sales industries, or any business position for that matter in the real world, networking is the key to success in most cases. Finding others to partner with, or to strike deals with is just what you need to do so that you cna expancd your scope of operation, and to get new clients. A financial advisor may work with accountants, lawyers, and even people that give away free mortgage quotes to build a solid team for his clients.

What about online? Just as important, if not more important than the offlien world. Social networks are key to get the word out about your products these days, or even to get peopel to read your blogs. At least the "proper" way to do things. Certainly there are plenty of shady ways to go about getting more internet presence, but Entrepreenuer.com lists 10 ways to build your online presence in an article earlier this week.

Collecting Customer Payments in a Bad Economy

Until I saw ans article on Business Week about this, I hadn't really considered this side of small business in a terrible economy. Collections.

While people are scrounging just to get enough money to pay for family needs like food, shelter, crib bedding, and gasoline, small business owners who are short on resources may have a lot more issues collecting payments from customers.

Business Week asks: How do you get customers to pay on time? What do you do if they don't? And how do you determine if you'll spend more time and money tracking down a debtor than the payment is actually worth?

Global Outsourcing for Small Busnisses

It used to be that only big corporations could strike deals for jobs they didn't have the skills in house to do with partners around the world by taking a private jet charter to a meeting. Today many small business owners are doing it as well. With the ability to connect to anyone around the owrld online it is much easier to search out not only a more qualified person to do the job you want, but allso allows you to find someone to do that work for much less than you might be able to get it for at home.

Randy and Nicola Wilburn run real estate, consulting, design, and baby food companies out of their home. They do it by taking outsourcing to the extreme.

Top 7 Hiring Mistakes for Start Ups

I saw this article and it was a perfect fit for what I was thinking aobut earlier today. A friend of mine is opening a new restaurant in the next couple months and we were talking a bit about it today. One of the things we were talking about were the people that he was going to hire. Sure enough I see this article today that tells you exactly what the most common hiring mistakes are when you start up a new business, and why it is so important for small business owners to hire the right people. After all...if you have a relatively samll business, are pinching pennies to make it boom, and end up hiring some people that reallyaren't gonna cut it, there is going to be trouble. Instead of planning your Hilton Head rentals vacation, you will be working more yourself because you can't trust who you hired.

1.Hiring someone just because you know them. This means friends, former co-workers, family members or your own children. For a husband, this means hiring your wife. For a wife, this means hiring your husband. Even part-time. There needs to be a certain sense of objectivity and accountability in the workplace. Friends and family expect to be treated to a different standard--and they should. Away from your business, but never in it. Read the other 6

Managing Conflict as a Leader

One of the most said things in sales training is "Seek pleasure, and avoid pain". This is what the seller is trying to do when they get into the mindset of a prospect. People want to know that what they are getting is going to resolve something painful, or maybe even bring them pleasure when the conflict is fixed.

This is no different when you are in a leadership position. IF you are workign on something like Boston resumes you will probably want to highlight your ability to solve conflicts as Boston is surely a place where conflicts will arise due to the bustling peoplke int he area. So why is it important?

Most people prefer to avoid conflict. Leaders don't enjoy it either, but effective ones know that too much is at stake to ignore conflict. Poorly managed, it can lead to a number of out-of-pocket expenses. Addressed skillfully, conflict can actually improve creativity and decision-making. more

American Immigration Policies Hurting Technology Industry?

George Will, of the Washington Post, brought up an odd issue this week. The idea that immigration policy in the United States is stiffling our dominance in technology. As we lose manufacturing of our products like an lcd mount to foreign factories who produce at lower costs, we may also be chasing away some of the brightest minds that have graduated from our universities as well.

Geroge Will says that policy makers should look into this ASAP. That we are losing some of the brightest minds of the world just because we aren't allowing them to stay. Seems astounding considering that we tend to cater to uneducated, and manual labor immigrants doesn't it?

As soon as U.S. institutions of higher education have awarded you a PhD, equipping you to add vast value to the economy, get out. Go home. Or to Europe, which is responding to America's folly with "blue cards" to expedite acceptance of the immigrants America is spurning.

Two-thirds of doctoral candidates in science and engineering in U.S. universities are foreign-born. But only 140,000 employment-based green cards are available annually, and 1 million educated professionals are waiting -- often five or more years -- for cards. Congress could quickly add a zero to the number available, thereby boosting the U.S. economy and complicating matters for America's competitors.

This is a great article. It talks about Obama and McCain as well and unlike most articles that complain about these things, Will actually gives some suggestions as to what wuould work.

Best Lemonade Stand in America Contest

Neat little contest here. Inc.com does an annual Best Lemonade Stand in America Contest in which they ask you to share your story about your lemonade stand. Winners get $1000 and featured on the Inc.com site. Before you were selling lipovox on the internet you surely were starting out as a lemonade stand entrepreneur were you not? Well...I don't think your story matters really. I believe they only giv e the award to kids. At least all the winners they show on the page are kids. I didn't see any rule that said it was ONLY for kids, but I imagine that judges would look to giving the award to a kid before someone older.

CEOs value lessons from teen jobs

What was your first job? Dishwasher, waitress, beer warehouse worker? Did any of those jobs teach you anything about being successful later in life? If you are like most of these CEOs you may say that those jobs most definitely made you want to finish college and do something with yourself. None of them wanted to contiue those manual labor positions for their whole lives. That hard work has made many of us want to find the "Easy Life" and cruise around in our BWM convertibles with our eyeglasses on.

"Demanding jobs motivated me to stay in school," says UPS CEO Scott Davis, 56, a former pear picker and lumber mill laborer.

How the bypassing of summer jobs in the spring of their careers will affect the next generation of leadership is unclear. But Software Spectrum co-founder Judy Odom, 55, all but single-handedly ran a tuxedo rental shop for minimum wage as a 17-year-old in Fort Worth, where the owner showed up at day's end to empty the cash register. She remembers placing cold calls from newspaper engagement announcements and, on weekends, acting as chief troubleshooter as the store turned frenzied with last-minute needs.

"I learned so much about business from that job, both do's and don'ts," Odom says.

The Hatlthy Entrepreneur

Not only is sleep important to being a well-oile small business owner like was discussed in my previous post, but there are many other things that effect your health. Take your diet and the possibility that you get Phentermine without prescription for example. Today we discuss 3 diet and excercise myths.

The 3 myths are:

Myth #1: I'm not athletic, so even if I wanted to become more active, I can't do it

Myth #2: It's too late for me to exercise

Myth #3: Exercise isn't enjoyable

To find out just why these myths aren't true take a look at this article.

Sleep Loss Hurting Your Potential?

Do you stay up too late playing your new PS3? feel like taking a nap during your lunch break?

Sleep deprivation may be one of the biggest hurdles you face when you are running a business. You aren't as quick to make good decisions, and you may just not feel like doing what you have to get done.

According to Dr. James Maas, author of Power Sleep, “Often we are totally unaware of our own reduced capabilities because we become habituated to low levels of alertness. Many of us have been sleep deprived for such a long time that we don't know what it's like to feel wide awake.”

It's been reported that at least 50 percent of Americans are chronically sleep deprived. If a bit of sleep deprivation seems like par for the course to you, consider that even just a slight sleep deficit has proven to decrease cognitive functioning, including processing time, ability to perform complex tasks, creativity and memory, weight gain, loss of coping skills, increased anxiety and decreased immunity.

Take a look at some of his recommendations to help you be more productive.

Maximize Your Small Busines Income Payout

One of the odd things about owning a business is deciding how much to actually pay yourself. Your income is sometimes a tough number to maximize while still trying to keep your tax bill as low as possible.

There are a few things you can do to increase your income, but it may not always be just straight Instead of taking a Slimquick approach to your income, maybe take a look at some of these options to either lower your taxable income, or simply spread the income hit out over years instead of all in one shot.

How to Make the First Million

This probably isn't anything more than interesting reading for most, but some have either felt the joy of making that first million dollar sale, or are desparately seeking it for themselves. Inc.com discusses a few entrepreneurs' journeys to their first million dollar sale and how that sale changed everything for them. Certainly a very good memory for all of them.

One of the comapanies that are covered is Wal-MArt. A company that has drawn a lot of criticism over the years for all kinds of business practices. Ever wonder how they got to where they are? Read this story to hear a bit about how it was in the beginning.

Free Office Priducts Are As Good as Pay Stuff Sometimes

There are so many open source software products out there now, it is a wonder why businesses still go out and spend thousands of dollars on software that they can get for free. Many of the open source options are just as good, if not better than their pricey counterparts.

Put away the Ebac dehumidifiers and stop sweating expenses you don't need to have. Take a look at some of the best free office stuff you can get and save yourself a lot of money.

Cutting Costs for Start Ups

The biggest challenge to starting a small business is the cost of opening the doors. All the expenses of just getting the place running ineeds to be considered, and before you even have an income stream there may not be enough money to keep you a float.

Careful planning, and serious thought about how to cut costs is a very important issue to cover when trying to get your ideas off the ground. Not everyone pays attention to anything more than the idea when it comes to running a business. The administrative side of the model just baffle many, and sure-fire ideas are lost because start up costs keep them from getting enough business to survive. This article on pinching pennies will help you make some things easier, and may afford you a few Orlando vacations to get a breather now and then.

The Revolution of Video Advertising

Advertising online has an incredible amount of potential for a small business. Be it just doing great Search Engine Optimization with your website by winning the war with your industry keywords, or just flat out paying the money to advertise on sites directly with things like Google Adwords. One of the biggest trends in online advertising is the use of video. Many find that places such as Youtube are an amazing source of free advertisement for their website and business. It is like giving yourself a chance to show your stuff off to hundreds of millions of people for FREE. At the very least a few tens of thousands will see your whackey pool floats videos and maybe you get at least one sale because of it.

Take a looka t this interesting case study on a business that has cashed in bigtime with the use of video marketing.

Hot Start Up Ideas

Being self-employed is becoming not just more advantageous than being an employee in this economy, but may actually be something that you ahve to do to even be able to survive in the future if you really want to have the good life. HAve the cars, homes, clothing, and Dansko shoes you need to look like a big shot.

This article about the Hottest 15 Start Ups discusses what new busnisses are popping up/ I always like to see what kinds of trends are forming. Simply because it gives you some sort of idea as to where new markets may be emerging. When you see new start ups coming there may either be companion ideas for it, or you may just be able to do it better than the original ;).

From Homeless to Millionaire

Many of us have had some hard times. We have been at the bottom, but many have never recovered. When Bob Williamson left home at 17, he lived on the streets and did time for heroin possession. Eventually he pulled himself together. He was able to drug rehab and build himself up into a real businessman.

This incredible story was published on Inc.com about how a man went fromt he gutter to the penthouse. Not because he got it handed to him, but because he turned his life around and worked for it. Truly a great story and something we can all learn from.

Great Idea Contest?

Anyone who has a small business mind, typically is an idea mind. Seeing money in virtually every situation, ideas tend to pop into our heads all the time. Do we share them with other people? Inc.com is asking you to share yours and win $5,000 to help your start up, plus being featured in many of their publicatiosn if they deem that you have the best idea.

I'm sure the entire contest is all in fun, and thought to be a great way to help out us thinkers, but do any of you really consider sharing your ideas with a mass audience before you have made it yours to keep? I know I certainly wouldn't. I've used more flight deals than you can count meeting with people that have ideas, and to work on projects with them, but I've never publically put my ideas out there if I thought they were real money makers. At least things that have to be kept quiet :).

If you want to win the $5K and get the publicity head on over there and register. You have until May 9, 2008 to get your great idea in. Just don't feel too bad if someone like me sees it, improves upon it, or changes it slightly to make it their own ;).

LOL All the Way to the Bank

While many sit at home in their massage chair chatting away on instant messaging systems, text messaging with their phones, and message boards, there are some that have taken internet and text messaging slang and turned it into cash machines.

Of course we all see the commercials for text messaging services that think they are "hip" because they use terms like "LOL", "GTG", etc. in their slogans, but how about IM:It who uses those slang acronyms to design a line of clothing? With projected sales of around $200,000 for 2008, the company may have found a small niche that will give them a nice income for now, and the future.

Women Bloggers in Washington D.C.

Always intersting when I see public asking for bloggers to help cover an event. In this case it is Research to Roadmap: Accelerating the Growth of Businesses Owned by Women of Color event that is asking for women to help cover it on May 6 and 7 at the Omni Shoreham Hotel in Washington, D.C., the Center for Women’s Business Research. Sorry, you can't cover the event loungig on your outdoor furniture, but if you are int eh area it may be a decent opportunity for you and your blog.

So...another blogger ont he board of the event is Calling All Women Bloggers to help cover the event and get some extra perks.

The Entrepreneur's diet

Since you are a fast-paced individual and raking in the cash, why not make sure that you are healthy as well, rather than gorging yourself on fast food? Entrepreneurs have very little time to prepare a meal for the most part, so they tend to eat a lot of crap they probably shouldn't so they don't apass out. For those people the diet features a "Quick Fix" alternative for every meal when you just have to get into your equestrian clothing head out for a ride.

World Traveling Business Owners

What is better than working for yourself? Working for yourself while you travel the world. With the ability for entrepreneurs to work from virtually anywhere in this online world, more and more are packing the computer and working while they travel the globe. Anything more exciting than that?

This is actually my goal as well once I get everything rolling the way I want it. Throw my laptop in a bag with my clothes, and bedding sets and hit the road. I can do almost every aspect of my online work from anywhere so why not do it while I kick it in every sports stadium in the world?

What are world travelling entrepreneurs doing? Take a look at a couple stories of small business travellers. Way to enjoy life is it not?

Employees Want Greener Employers

You must hear one of the most popular buzz words around right now constantly. "Green". Whether you believe that global warming is an elaborate hoax, or is a true issue, you aren't likely to get away from hearing about all the Green Projects, and celebrity endorsements of a Greener Way of Life. You can probably attribute a lot of this to Al Gore's low vision aids from his Nobel Prize winning documentary (if you really want to call it that) "An Inconvenient Truth".

Not just in the news, but the average employee is chiming in on the need for a Greener World.

Nearly 60 percent of 2,281 workers surveyed by Adecco USA, a Melville, N.Y.-based human resources firm, said they felt their employers should be taking more steps to reduce or recycle waist. Among all respondents, women and younger employees were the biggest supporters of workplace green practices.

Many employees also felt businesses tended to exaggerate their environmental policies, adding that green practices play a role in their choice of employer. Still, only 31 percent said they would take a pay cut for the sake of the environment.

Of course you have to take these leading surveys with a grain of salt. Who exactly is going to say no to questions like: "Do you think your employer should do more to recycle?" ? Seriously. Who would? Not many. So realistically you can say these surveys are rather insignificant, unless that is you are one of the peopel that don't think about polls that way. Many people do not, and the headline says it all.

New State Taxes Coming?

There are always some sneaky little taxes that states try to slip in for small business owners aren't there? States that are clueless about running their budgets try nearly anything to find ways to get into the pockets of business owners and residents. Places like Michigan do things like double fine you for traffic violations. Not only are you paying for the ticket, but the Secretary of State throws another fine on top of the one you already got. Nothing like paying ofr a crime twice now is there?

Well, Inc.com takes a look at some of the states like Ohio, and MAryland that are looking to add some revenue from who else? Small businesses. Whether you whip 7th Heaven book, or you produce heavy duty equipment there are probably some shady lawmakers out there trying to take a bigger cut of your income.

Teen Entrepreneurs

Starting a business has never really been subject to age, but there wasn't a whole lot of opportunity for a teenager to build a business before there was that thing called the internet. Be it websites, or just selling custom picture framing on a place like Ebay, the internet has opened the door to almost anyone to earn money with out being an employee.

Although I tend to think mostly of the opportunites available online, this article on Teen Business Tips gives all kinds of ideas that will help young money grubbers get their start. It wouldn't hurt most adults to check them out as well since there is gold in them there hills!

Quick Look at the Economy this Week: Home Sales at 13-Year Lows

After listening to the candidates talk about the economy with some pretty general points let's look at where we are at right now this week with some of the leading economic issues. Maybe you can look a head and get your luxury watches because you know what to expect.

Consumers are growing more pessimistic about the economy amid continued declines in the labor and housing markets. Here's a look at this week's economic developments and how they may affect your business. More on this

Sales of new homes declined by 1.8 percent in February to 13-year low annual rate of 590,000 units, the Commerce Department reported Wednesday.

By the end of the month, there were 471,000 new homes left unsold on the market, enough for a 9.8 month supply at the current sales pace. Despite the declines, median sales prices rose by $18,500 last month to $244,100.

New home sales have now fallen by nearly 30 percent over the past 12 months.

Candidates Views on Economic Crises Compared

All 3 of the presidential candidates addressed some of the economic issues we face in the country this week.The bulk of the areas discussed cover the financial and housing markets and the crisis that we face at the present time. Something that has many Americans sweating and in need of acne wash.

Listen to NPR analysis by Adam DAvidson here as well as see the full sepeeches by the candidates.

Recession-proof tips

The falling dollar has probably caused a lot of business owners to actually fall over fainting while watching the value of their proftits come in weak. Falling injuries are making walk in tubs all the rage as small business owners everywhere are gimping around after lowing the blood to their brains in this economy.

What can you do to help combat the looming Recession?

The "R" word strikes fear in the hearts of everyone, but it's particularly cruel for entrepreneurs who are already working against the odds--narrow margins, big-business competition and no more than 24 hours in a day.

Take a look at small business recession tips to help keep the blood pressure level and the fainting to a minimum.

Easy Business Card Creation and Logo Design

Got to take a look at a free business card creation tour today and had a pretty good time making one. If you want to try creating one check out this site and get ready for your logo design session.

The process is pretty simple. For a test and see way just go to that main page and take the tour. It will bring up a set of images you can choose from, then it asks you to put your business name and such on there. Then if you are more artsy than myself you can modify the look with the image tools they have. I got real fancy and cahnged the color of one of my words as you can see. Man, I'm talented. You can do much more than that. Then after that you can save your logo, and pick from dozens of business card layouts. You buy your logo and such and you are offered 100 free business cards at the end as well.

Should you Outsource Your Payroll?

Very good question. Something that I ahve considered many times in past businesses. In fact I have considered something that would outsource a lot of my employee administrative work. In some situations it would actually lower a few of my taxes and safety costs associated with various businesses. I never needed weight loss pills to when I had to think aobut such things as OSHA.

This article on Payroll Processes is definitely a must read for a small business owner who has several employees. You may find that the cost associtated with outsourcing far outweighs the headache, and in some cases the cost is actually less than your valuable time.

2008 Business Hot Trends and Topics

2008 brings us a new episode of 2008 Hot Trends that you should be checking out. These are the things that you should see at trade show displays as to what is going to be the hottest industries of 2008. Not surprisingly, the big focus of this year according to the article is that of Spirits. Alocohol, not ghosts, as well as speacialty foods and other tangibles.

Other focuses are senior citizen services and products. Things that help getting old easier, as well as services to spread the word about ailments.

5 Books for Women Entrepreneurs

To me, business is interesting in that there are quite a few instances where authors try to take advantage of the perceived differences between men and women in business. MAny books are written to help women not just survive, but excel in the world of business that is considered to be dominated by men. I'm not talking aobut a furniture catalog here or anything like that,, but these books are recommended to women to help them make their marks in the business world. See just what the different approaches are, and whether or not you believe these books are really necessary.

Banks Hasseling Businesses?

Many businesses are able to get the loans they need from mortgage lenders, business loan centers, and the like, but a recent Bloomberg article suggests that many are having much more difficulty.

``Many small- and medium-sized businesses are not complaining about credit conditions,'' Boston Federal Reserve Bank President Eric Rosengren said in a speech last week.

Bloomberg on the other hand decided they would take a deeper look into the situation rather than to take him by his word. They profile a small-business owner who is having quite a bit of difficulty acquiring cash.

``They're now saying we need two years of credit history before they will even consider us for a line of credit,'' says Arnett, who employs four people and estimates that revenue this year has soared to $900,000. ``Every financial institution we have talked to has used the same excuse, that banking regulators are scrutinizing loans, they're tightening up the restrictions. What they're saying is, we did some dumb things, we're not being penalized for it, but now you're going to get penalized.''

Solid and in depth artical discussing the issues that are being faced by business owners and by the Fed at this time.

The New Rules of E-Branding

Brandng a product off-line is a totally different thing than branding your business online. You may not be able to successfully brand your business offline, but if you learn enough and get the right people online you can actually compete with many of the big players there if you know what you are doing. Can't get sales for your audio racks with offline branding? Try some of these tips to successfully do it online.

1. Know your purpose. Are you an internet brand or a brand on the internet? The two are mutually exclusive. If you plan to use the internet primarily as a marketing vehicle and you have a store in the "real world," then you're a brand on the internet. The majority of DIY website templates are made with you in mind. However if you plan to generate most of your sales from your website, you're an internet brand--and everything gets more complicated. You'll need to conduct global competitive research, determine SEO strategies, investigate advanced shopping cart functionality, and forge other e-paths, like affiliate programs and partnerships, to get visitors to your site. Click here for 5 more tips

New UK Niche Site Promotes Free Line Rental Deals

I was just shown a really neat affiliate site (find-a-phone.co.uk) built with wordpress!

The site compares 50,000 mobile phone deals in the uk, and makes comission on every sale made.

Currently the site is heavily promoting so called free line rental deals, whereby retailers offer customers the opportunity to claim their money back at a later date.

Assuming the customer remembers to claim their money back on time (many do not, and this is where the mobile phone retailers make money on "free line rental deals") then they can run a mobile phone with inclusive minutes completely cost free!

If you are interested to see how wordpress can be used in afilliate marketing, or are in the UK and on the look out for a free mobile phone with 12 months free line rental

then you should check this site out ;-) .

Casual Games=Big Business

You know all those games that you play while you waste your employers' money? Solitaire, Bejeweled, etc. This industry is said to be a $2.25 Billion a year industry, and growing at 20% per year according to the Casual Games Association (CGA) 2007 Market Report.

With technology even becoming a necessity to waste time on vacations, people are packing away handheld game systems, iPods, and phones with their camping gear to play these time wasters. Check out more of what is on tap, and how this industry is booming here.

Would You Buy This Business?

IF you walk around with gold cufflinks because you like to spend your days on the course I doubt your manliness would sucumb tto such a business, but A Web pioneer, this online retailer began selling kitchen and home products--think pot racks and sinks--in 1996. Today, the average order is $310, and at presstime, the founder expected to close 2007 with $12.7 million in revenue and $1.25 million in net income. The company has 22 employees.

What does it cost? $9.9 Million. Drop in the bucket eh?

Why do I bring this up? Inc.com has an article discussin this very business and breaks down the reasoning behind the asking price, buying such a business, and selling such a business. IT is a very intriguing story about the way websites can be bought and sold, and really about what they are worth.

Entrepreneur.com's Top 50 Entrepreneurial Colleges

That's quite a toungue twister isn't it? Entrepreneurial is a toungue twister iteself, especially after following the base for the word. Anyways, going back to college may seem like a long lost dream for most of us who have decided to give up on being an employee and go out into the world as entrepreneurs. Although you may have the passion to go out and be your own boss ther emay just be a few things you need to know. Ever consider just going to college to learn how to run your own business? They don't really teach you that in business school. They teach you how to be employable for the most part. How can you run a business selling Hilton Head rentals with out a background in entrepreurialship (now that is my toungue twister of the day)?

Entrepreneur.com lists the Top 50 Entrepreneuial colleges for you and talks about hwy you woudl want to jump on board with their programs. Great article and very educational.

Hilton Head rentals

Inflation, and the Small Business Owner

Small business owners have many things to worry about. From competition with the big boys to individual health insurance. Some have big issues with inflation.

We all have issue with the rise of gas prices in recent years, but what of the small businesses that use durable goods to produce their products. John Gaines, president and co-owner of Subminiature Instruments, a million-dollar manufacturing company in Ogden, Utah, Gaines says he pays almost twice as much for steel, electrical wire and copper as he did a year and a half ago. "We saw a spike in many of our products," says Gaines, 31, who believes inflation may become a bigger economic threat and drag on his family's investment portfolio--63 percent stocks and 37 percent bonds. "[Prices] have been pretty flat over the past seven years, so I expect [inflation will] hit sometime." He says his risk tolerance has dropped considerably over the past few years since getting married and having a baby.

We Are All Born Rich

n an excerpt from their new book, Why We Want You to Be Rich, Donald Trump and Robert Kiyosaki tell you how to get rich by being more than a passive investor.

You want a plasma tv and a plasma lift console? You want to build an indoor basketball court in your back yard? I suppose if you believe in taking advice from richers you may want to check out Why We Want You to Be Rich: Two Men--One Message by Robert Kiyosaki and Donald Trump.

How Much Should Your New Website Cost?

More and more people are moving toward the internet to earn money. HAving your own website isn't anything unique anymore. It is almost something of a necessity and everyone is getting them. People want to sell baby gifts, old junk, sports memorabilia, or even just set up another in a million dating sites. The problem is figuring out how to do it right, bu most importantlu doing it at a reasonable cost. You want to make sure that everything is going to function properly, but at the same time you don't want to spend way more than you need to. So...how much should your website cost?.

Workplace Relationships

Workplace relationships have always been something either not to talk about, or highly frowned upon by superiors. Realistically it happens all the time, but it does cause many complications. When they break up the work environment becomes uncomfortable. When superiors find out it looks real bad when you are looking for a promotion. If you watch the show The Office you see first hand what work relationships mean. Seems like everyone on there hooks up with everyone else they work with. Falling in love over something as simple as a benefit for cerebral palsy therapy.

Inc.com has written an article suggesting that since people spend so much time at work bosses are starting to just look the other way when they notice an office romance.

Are You a Bad Boss?

Do your employees actually HATE you? Being in a power of authority usually comes with the realization that your employees will kiss up to you in front of you, but realistically you are still an enemy. There still comes the ability to have their respect regardless of the boss/employee divide as long as you aren't making ridiculous comments about employees, or harrassing overwieght employees when you actually sell plus size lingerie, or something you can probably win them over at least a little bit.

Inc.com has a list of 7 signs that your employees detest you. Pretty decent read and informative.

Use Google to Promote Your Business

Imagine my surprise when i went to Entrepreneur.com and saw a swection about Search Engine Optimization (SEO). Simply put, SEO is how you write, design, and market a website so that it will show up higher in the search engines. A very valuable tool for a webmaster, or even a small business. Someone who wanted to advertise travel insurance, video games, a store, or even an antique shop could benefit highly from using Google as a traffic source. Interesting that it showed up there since they don't typically talk about such things. On top of that it isn't really common knowledge to most business owners so it is probably a good thing.

For anyone that is already familia with SEO it isn't going to help you a whole lot as it is just general information, but for the people who haven;t it is a decent breakdown as to what Google can do for your business and is something you should consider. MArketing on the internet is very easy once you understand the basic concepts of it.

Test Your Customer IQ

How can you run a business if you don't know your customer? You can't. Are you going to try and sell swing sets to parents, or are you just going to try and throw darts at a board and figure out who to market to?

Kick off 2008 with the latest info on American consumers. You'll find helpful tips and insights into the minds of your customers with this fun quiz.

Finding a Company Travel Service

Many companies need a service to get their employees to where they need to go. Be it Emu Australia, or Detroit Michigan, for some, getting from here to there is a perk; for others, it's torture.Inc.com breaks down the best ways to help you find travel arrangements for your company based upon your needs in their article Travel in Style, or Not.

Donate Your Car to Help Make Educational Videos

As tax season rolls around people are always looking for ways to find more thigs to write off. That old junker sitting around in your driveway that isn't doing you any good can sometimes be worth more to you as a tax write off than it can as a saleable good. A car donation just may be something you can benefit from, as well as help a charity at the same time.

Car Angel is a non-profit company that uses car and other donations to make videos for kids and teens, and have given away over 2.4 million videos.

Here's an example:

Baby Cribs and Baby Furniture

I have been looking at baby cribs and baby furniture, not for the purpose of actually buying them for myself, but as a way to make some more money by getting them cheap and selling them to all my friends that are having kids. Only problem I had was finding good distributors out there for such a purpose. Ultimately I came to the conclusion that it wasn't going to work for me, but while doing some reasearch I found those two sites above that have the best quality of products I have seen out here. So if you happen to be looking for baby stuff you would likely find something unique and of high quality at either of those two sites. They have an baby furniture affiliate program there as well so if you are looking to get in on the baby market you have a nice selection of baby cribs, baby furniture, and other baby stuff to promote on your site if that is what you are looking for.

Financial planning and insurance

Most people look at their financial planning and think only about investments, and their retirement. It's all about stocks, bonds, and IRAs. The biggest problem with that is that many neglect the insurance aspect of the financial plan. Life insurance, disability insurance, and even long term care insurance. All are necessary evils when constructing a trun wholistic financial plan. What good is having all that money stocked away if you just have to spend it all on medical care, or force your beneficiaries to hand half of it over to the government in taxes?

Does Starbucks hurt small cafes?

One of the worst fears that small business owners have is when the big boys roll into town and open up shop right next door. In many cases it is a ligitimate fear as they have more money so they can buy more of those fiber optic cables, DVD players, televisions, etc. than you can so they get a big discount. Is this always the case though? If you have a little Radio Shack and Best Buy rolls in next door you may be in a bit of trouble, but what about fear of a Starbucks when you own a coffee house? Not necessarily. They aren't undercutting you. So does Starbucks hurt small Cafes?

Appropriate Work Conversation

OK....I'll admit it. I always said whatever it was I wanted to and didn't take any time to censor myself at work. I'm not PC at all and I never plan to be. I'm just not the type of person that will go along and think everything is great at work just because I am told to, and I just don't care about the little silly things people at an office care about. I'm Peter from Office Space.

So I found it kind of interesting to read this article about what is "appropriate" to discuss at work. This one is more about Politics in the Workplace and the discussions that come up. Still things can get a bit crazy when it is. This is probably one thing I never did talk about because frankly, I wasn't at work to debate about things like religion, fibromyalgia, abortion, or anything else that people have a hard headed idea about. I'm just not going to argue with someone that has a moral view I don't have because I won't get anywhere. Anyways, sorry for that tangent. I've been around my family for 2 weeks which consists of many more women than men and I haven't had a chance to talk in that whole time. Take a look at the article on Politics in the Workplace here :P.