The Price of Experience vs. Straight Product Pricing

Business school will tell you quite a few things about costs and pricing. Almost everything you tend to learn in business school is based on some sort of manufacturing idea of a product that only accounts for things such as labor, cost of goods sold, and what you need to charge for the product to be profitable. Of course there is much more to it, but most business owners rarely get that far because they have skipped the entire added benefit of seriosus marketing study.

A sort of manifesto about who you sell t rather than what you sell called Price Isn't Tied to Your Product discusses this very thing. It describes the idea that you aren't selling just products anymore like you could 50 years ago. There are jsut way to many variations of the same kind of products.

Shoes, baby bedding, and most notably coffee, which he uses as an example to describe how paying a lot more for a cup of coffee at Starbucks has nothing to do with how good it is. It's the experience and the people who are willing to buy it.

Small Business Profitability Report and Calculator

The economy sucks. We all get it, and are sick of hearing about it. That doesn't mean you go hide under a rock though when it comes to your small business. You are doing your best to cut costs with the best you know how. While it is important to find the top rated car insurance companies for your company cars it is just as important to find the cheap ones to cutt costs as well. Same with everything you are doing now and most likely do anyways when the economy doesn't suck.

Inc.com put together a Profibility Report based on industry averages for you to compare yourself to others in the same industry. How are you doing in these tough times compared to the average for your industry? Check out the Profibility Report and Calculator to get some data based on yuour industry to see how healthy your business is right now.

Get Your Business on Reality TV?

We all know that reality TV is probably about the furthest you can get from real life, but one thing we can all agree on is that reality TV is big business. It is also big time exposure for a business. Whehter you are running an online lower shop, discount furniture sirte, or anything else it certainly can;t hurt your traffic any could it?

Stephanie Drachkovitch, co-founder and executive vice president of Studio City, Calif.-based 44 Blue Productions, a supplier of reality, documentary, lifestyle and action-adventure programming for U.S. broadcast and cable outlets. Drachkovitch is also the creator and executive producer of Peter Perfect, a business makeover reality TV show. She shares some tips about getting your business in the spotlight. Reality TV style.

College Kids Make You Look Bad For Not Having a Business

It's no surprise that more an more college students are starting their own businesses while in school. The ability in America to start a business is incredible. With the invention of the internet it is even more obtainable for almost anyone. College kids have their fingers ont he pulse of people their age, and these people like to be entertained, and people this age like to spend money on just about anything.

One thing many need, and I include myself in this, is people to bounce ideas off of. Other people to help build a business and come up with the ways to get it done. College is by far the easiest place to find like-minded individuals, and give you the screw around time to get something going while you are still on Daddy's dime :). There are such a diverse group of people on college campuses that you have to be trying not to find someone who has similar ideas to you. College is a networking dream.

So what kinds of businesses are some college students putting out right now that get them things like $1 Million in start up money? Anything from social gaming ideas to t-shirt companies to energy drinks to performance parts. Take a look at 9 Cool College Start-ups and see how simple ideas and following through are paying off for college kids who do things they just have fun doing.

Business Budget Trimming Secrets

You can't get enough advice about trimming unwanted weight like using NO2 Black, or more importantly for our purposes, business costs. Whether youa re extremely profitable, or not, there is a lot to be said for maximizing the things you can control in business. Costs are typically something that you can control, albeit not always something you should try to cut. That isn't to say there aren't ways to still cut things and not hurt the business.

A great way to look into cost cutting is to take some tips from successful businesses who were able to find some ways to trim their costs when the market was cutting their profits. Obviously not all tips apply to a particualr business, but they do give you something to think on. It may shape an idea in your head on how you can change something and save money as well. Here arte 7 Smart Ways to Trim Your Company's Budget.

Innovations From a Bad Economy

Some of the best and maybe even most important innovations have come in times of fledgling economies. While we are certainly in that state right now in the United States, let's take a looka t some of the innovations that popped up during past economic downturns.

I'm sure most understand that companies such as Campbell's actually do well when the economy stinks. They are after all selling can goods. Food that is typically less expensive, and can be bought in bulk when on sale because it can be preserved. While you might think they hwould have made some advancement in can tech they actually were distributing new products during tough economic times such as the introduction of the soup standard Chicken Noodle, and the cooking standard Cream of Mushroom in 1934 amidst the Great Depression.

A look at the last one hundred years if you are keeping time on your Breil watches, of poor economy innovations can be seen here.

Tailgating is Big Business

Something I have never considered as a business idea was to take advantage of tailgating for sporting events. Certainly I have attended my fair share of tailgating parties at sporting events around the country, but alas I was usually either too "geared up" for the game, or just too cold to think straight like at LAmbeau Field in Green Bay in December (burrrrr).

Fans flowing out to watch college football, or even the biggest sporting event in the United States, the Super Bowl, probalby have a lot of the tailgating standards that a fanatical tailgater has. Just who makes them, and what the standards are, has never been something I put much thought into until I saw this article today.

It shows an array of tailgating supplies that any serious tailgater should have. From grills to canopies. Also, shares who sells it all, and how they have transformed the tailgating experience and made it like having a portable house with you.

New Year Cars to Pay Attention to

If you have been out there spending your days doing an IT job search then you probably haven't had any time to check out what the cars are you are supposed to be looking at.

Instead of just listing what's hot, I thought this article about what kind of mindset the dealerships have would help you buy a new car that fits you. Check it out.

5 Ways to Kill a Marketing Plan

There is nothing worse than thinking you have a spot on marketing campaign, and then finding out that it is a flop after you get it rolling. Surely you knew before you went in to do the research first right? Many don't do any and just think about it as a great plan, but don't know that you have to at least do some testing to see if the money is going to pay off.

On top of not doing research people do wome crazy things that probably end up getting them sued by a Seattle injury lawyer because they are not bright. Being creative is great, but being too creative that it doesn't even apply to your target market is silly. Taking the shotgun approach is a waste of time and resources.

This is a great list of 5 marketing pointers to study.

4 Steps to Making $10 Million a Year from Home

Yup...it's that easy. Follow these steps and you are going to be making $10 Million a year :).

Plenty of Fish founder, Markus Frind runs a company that makes $10 million a year out of his house. He and others share 4 secrets that have helped them fill their pockets with cash.

Whether you are runinng a Fenphedra business, clothing shop, or whatever else out of your house, these tips may help you beat the competition ;)

Take a looka t the article on Inc.com for all the details to become the next armchair millionaire.