How easy is it for someone to find your home? Is your house number easily visible from the road so people know what driveway belongs to you? Many homes don’t have their number visible for people to easily find and that can cause problems. If you were to call 911, and your home isn’t marked with the house number to be found with little effort, that help you called for might not make it in time. It’s an unfortunate reality and it opens up a whole niche that can help bring in customers to the right business.
Classic Address is one of those businesses which caters to that specific market. From this website, people interested in starting their own business can also do so. After contacting David Prince for the appropriate name and password, he opens up a world of information to potential entrepreneurs with tips on how they can do what he has successfully done - fill a niche while easily supporting a thriving business!
Unlike traditional businesses, this is an opportunity that you can pursue as a vendor for the product. By attending different trade shows, craft shows and flea markets you should be able to bring in a full time income working those events. Of course not everyone is a born salesmen (or saleswoman for that matter) but, thanks to a quality product, pulling together an income from the product offered shouldn’t be too difficult.
On the 4th we posted an interview with Sheena about Passion Parties and she has offered up to 10 goodie bags to be given away to our readers. That giveaway ends tonight! If you were interested in entering for your chance to win, do so now. The giveaway will be ending at 11:59pm tonight. As a reminder, these are the things that will be included in the goodie bags:
Naughty IOU’s
Passion Powder
Edible Strawberry Lubricant
A Fun Temporary Tattoo
A Sample of Pure Satisfaction
Visit the original post for more information on how to enter.
All giveaway rules apply. Only qualifying entries will be counted.
Diabetes is a problem that many people have to face every day. That also includes the needles and medicines that are needed daily.
When Catherine (KK) Patton was diagnosed with Type 1 Diabetes during her pregnancy, she had to face a situation that may have looked bleak at the time but would eventually inspire her to create a product and start a business that would open up a whole new option for diabetics everywhere. This option would remove the need to insert a needle multiple times a day without having to carry around an insulin pump. This product would become the i-port.
Much like the pump, someone only has to poke themselves with a needle once every 3 days to attach the i-port. That will insert the tiny catheter of the i-port into their body, but unlike the pump this option is no where near as bulky. When a diabetic would need another dose of insulin all they would have to do is inject it into the device while completely eliminating the need to insert another needle into their body.
Not only is KK an inspiring mompreneur, she is a woman who has been able to take on the world of medicine and create a product that has been able to make the life of a diabetic as normal as possible.
Last spring, in a new spin on the office suggestion box, Starbucks launched the Web site mystarbucksidea.com, an interactive user forum for discussion about the chain’s goods and services, including a prompt for ideas and feedback from its customers.
Mystarbucksidea.com, one of a new generation of so-called social media sites employed by market-hungry firms, represents outsourcing at its cheekiest, a voluntary repository of brainstorming that cleverly cuts out the middle man and fosters the feel-good theory that the customer knows best, and thus is happy to suggest product improvement and innovation, free for the asking.
Suggestions have included coffee ice cubes, flavoured foam, a punch card system, dark chocolate mocha, complimentary Wi-Fi, birthday brew (a free drink on your birthday), condiment centres, automated ordering and coffee education classes.
And the Splash Stick.
This little gadget, an idea posted on the Web site and introduced to outlets last May, is a green plastic reusable stir stick, with a little stopper on top (detailed with the chain’s mermaid logo) that perfectly fits the sip hole in coffee cup lids, thereby eliminating splashes of cream, foam and related coffee crud that stains your clothes, slops on your feet and builds up on your car’s console.
So, who’s the wise guy, or gal, who came up with the Splash Stick? Love to tell you that, but Starbucks isn’t talking.
Turns out, according to the rules and regulations on the site, the company has no obligation to provide monetary compensation for customer ideas it implements.
Perfecting the commode, an unusual invention. A Florida inventor made a new toilet designed to take that stench out of the “John.”
“I decided to go wash up, walked into a bathroom and somebody literally annihilated the bathroom.” That’s how Robert Smith from Tampa decided he’d invent the VIP odorless toilet.
Here’s how it works.
Before going to the bathroom, you lift up, on the handle that activates a small fan. The fan begins to suck the stink directly into the sewer line through several holes in the bowl. The fan shuts off when the user flushes.
The VIP Odorless Toilet just hit the market, so right now, you can only buy it from the inventor.
The Internet is littered with offers for home-based business opportunities that promise big profits for easy work.
But many of these offers, which range from envelope stuffing to medical billing, are really scams that prey on people’s aspirations to work for themselves.
Business opportunities share three characteristics: a solicitation to the buyer, a mandatory payment to the seller, and a promise to help the buyer find locations or leads that will bring profits.
Do you really need to spend upwards of $80,000 in tuition and take two years off to become senior management material?
The supporters of an alternative method, the Personal MBA (PMBA), say no, and it’s an idea that’s developing some traction.
According to the advocates of the Personal MBA, all you have to do to measure up to the pricey MBAs turned out by B-schools is to keep gaining work experience, read a series of books at your leisure, and talk about them with an online community. The organized B-school community, of course, maintains it’s not so simple.
The PMBA, essentially an online list of reading material and accompanying message boards, is part book club and part online community, where participants tackle the reading list one book at a time, then exchange thoughts and insights on the Web site personalmba.com.
There is no diploma, dean, faculty — or cost, other than whatever you pay for the books or a library card.
Though still in its infancy, the grassroots PMBA is gaining a following — and might be yet another ding in the armor of traditional MBA programs.
Sonny Reese admits that despite his Southern upbringing, he is not interested in barbecue — not for his business anyway.
The owner of Sonny Salt, Reese’s own brand of seasoning salt, believes his product fills a creative niche in an oversized market.
“We don’t want to be a barbecue seasoning, we want to be a seasoning salt,” said Reese, 62, of Memphis, recalling how business associates encouraged him to get into barbecue when he first decided to market Sonny Salt.
“Most barbecue seasoning has sugar in it and MSG or other products like that, and that makes it bad for you.”
Sonny Salt is a combination of sea salt, onion, garlic, red pepper, cumin, mustard, thyme, sage, black pepper, white pepper, paprika and, Reese says, “a pinch of Sonny.”
He created Sonny Salt to complement any food that uses regular salt and pepper and recommends it for foods such as asparagus, potatoes, salads, eggs, fish and kosher recipes.
“We bottle about half a ton a month, and we’re shooting for doing a ton a month,” Reese said.
Having followed his instincts in designing his product, Reese also took the road less traveled in his marketing, and that, he says, has kept his product in the market’s fore.
Reese visits grocery stores each week to demonstrate various recipes, laying on his grandfatherly charisma thicker than the Sonny Salt on his grilled portobellos.
He said the personal touch makes customers appreciate his product, which is essential since his main competition comes from nationally marketed spices like McCormick.
“It’s easy to sell the product once people taste it,” he added. “Then I’ve got them.”
Like to shop, but can’t get to the stores until after hours? Love the mall, but can’t stand the traffic?
Louisville Web entrepreneur Mark Stein says he has a solution: Let your digital persona do the walking in a 3-D virtual mall.
Stein, a longtime professional mediator in Louisville, found online success in 2002 when he launched OurDivorceAgreement.com, a do-it-yourself system for working through the complex issues of breaking up. Today that site has customers throughout North America, Australia and Great Britain, he said.
Now he hopes to strike gold with VirtualEShopping.com, which takes users into a three-dimensional environment like those they might see in games such as World of Warcraft or Half-Life. But in Stein’s online world, participants hunt for bargains, not monsters, as they meet, mingle and chat with other virtual shoppers.
The digital mall will be a place “they’ll be familiar with and comfortable with.” There are already dozens of active VirtualEShopping sites, such as VirtualeLouisville.com and VirtualeLexingtonKy.com, with more being rolled out each week. There will be at least 275 individual malls, including some specialty sites targeted to men, women, teenagers or other groups, he said.
The malls are free to shoppers. VirtualEShopping will make its money by a pay-per-click fee that advertisers will pay whenever a shopper clicks on their displays, and on commissions paid when shoppers enter a store site and make a purchase.
If you’ve ever wished for the chance to write for a living, maybe even create your own magazine, then you might find some interest in OurTown.com and their local editor opportunity. Although they are still currently in Beta, it won’t be much longer before they get out of that stage and start advertising globally.
OurTown.com is a network of Local Editors which publish their local news to their own page. It is news related to you and your community, and it’s written in your view. As an editor you will have a license to your own ourtown site which you should treat as a business. You’ll be able to sell advertising to local businesses in your area and offer quality content that will motivate people to come back for more.
The control is in your hands for how you handle your page. From the feel of it to the content written on it. They will provide the necessary tools to get started and a template that is user-friendly.
What is offered to the visitors of your page goes beyond the news. There is also a community calendar where you can easily list any local events and a community forum that is set up for you. All you really need is the interest in your community and knowledge of the things going on around your area.
If you were to think about what business is one of the biggest money-makers out there, what would come to your mind? Out of all the options available, travel is bound to be one of the top things you’d think of. There are people all over interested in traveling to one place or another. There is plenty of money to be made, as long as the opportunity is legit.
At MyTripCost.com, Joe Carpenter has opened up a way for entrepreneurs to take a step into this business with the help of a team and a business that offers a successful background. There is no need to worry about the cost of gas or a demanding boss. The only boss you’ll need to worry about is your personal determination.
What is MyTripCost.com?
MyTripCost.com is an exciting home based business opportunity for those
looking to create a full or secondary income on a part-time basis. MyTripCost.com consists of a team of successful home business entrepreneurs who help others achieve success at home in the exciting and ever-growing travel industry.
How long have you been offering this business opportunity to others?
I have been working in home based business specifically for six years now but I have been working specifically in the travel segment since January 2008. Having worked in other home business segments, I was particularly excited about the travel industry opportunity and the amazing potential for growth and success it has.
Aromas of cinnamon, carob and honey fill the tiny kitchen in Corrie Hanton’s Lakewood apartment.
After pulling a large apple cinnamon muffin in a bone-shaped cake pan from the oven, she explains that the healthy treat is designed for a special occasion — like a doggie birthday party.
The muffins are among a range of pet food created by Hanton, who extends her holistic approach to nutrition to her four ferrets: Joey, Hobbes, Haley and Jools, who regularly enjoy home-cooked meals.
In January, she decided to do the same for other animals. She founded Pet Pastries, a home-based business that sells freshly made pet food with specialty ingredients. That includes using herbal remedies in custom treats for pets with specific health issues.
For example, she puts the dietary supplements glucosamine, chondroitin and MSM — which some humans take for joint health — in some of her snacks for animals with malformed hips or arthritis.
Hanton believes that a healthy diet and lifestyle can reduce trips to the vet and prolong pets’ lives.
To address the lifestyle aspect, she plans to open a holistic wellness center for pets.
“This is somewhat new territory,” Hanton said. “But I think if it was available it would catch on.”
Even if you’re the most wired business marketer — flashy Web site, search marketing, huge number of contacts on LinkedIn — sooner or later, you’re still going to need something on paper. You’ll want marketing collateral — or printed pieces that support your marketing efforts.
Going on a sales call? Better bring a brochure, business card, and catalog. Speaking at a community event? You’ll make a bigger impact if you have flyers to hand out. Is your product complicated? Help explain it to customers with product sales sheets.
Additionally, print materials are easy to carry with you and relatively inexpensive to give away. And it’s always good to have something to give prospects when you meet with them — that’s why a casual term used for a printed marketing piece is a “leave-behind.”
The most essential print marketing pieces are:
• Business cards
• Brochures
• Catalogs — with a full listing of your product offerings
• Sales Sheets — detailed information about one product and specifications
At a time when banks are reining in loans to small businesses, it’s not surprising that there has been an explosion of contests promising seed money for budding entrepreneurs.
There’s an endless stream of entrepreneur contests available out there run by an array of organizations, some fly by night, others established financial institutions or universities.
But can any of these contests or competitions lead to entrepreneurial gold?
Two such contests that have received some media attention include Ideablob.com, which is run by credit card company Advanta, and American Express Open’s “Micro to Millions” program, which is part of the company’s larger “Make Mine a Million $ Business” initiative.
Basically, credit card companies are trying to tap into the lucrative small business market, and what better way to do that than host entrepreneur contests?
Ideablob spokeswoman, Jennifer Sherlock says,”We have five winners who started new businesses, and we have five winners who used the money for their existing businesses.”
And Danny Urquia, a spokesman for American Express, says, “We’ve got 40 women in Micro to Millions right now. The goal is to get them to $250,000 in 18-24 months, and since we only started in March of ‘07 we don’t have any numbers on success yet.
In comparison, we have awarded [funds to] 140 women through the Make Mine Million $ Business program and one-third have already crossed the million-dollar revenue barrier. The entire program’s ultimate goal is to have one million women declare their intent to build million-dollar enterprises by 2010.”
Most people know what brainstorming means, but few are ever taught how to do it effectively.
Matt Bowen, president and chief executive of Aloft Group Inc., a 28-employee marketing firm in Newburyport, Mass., devotes much time to teaching his employees the ropes of effective brainstorming.
Q: Why are creative thinking and brainstorming technique so important to a small company like yours?
A: We found that most companies, and certainly some of our clients, tend to be very tactically driven. So what makes us attractive to our clients is that we offer the creativity that they don’t feel they have.
Q: Does this affect how you hire?
A: Yes. It’s very important that the candidate understand that innovation is a key component of the job and that they’ll be expected to think forward. Some people will naturally weave themselves out of that process while others will embrace it.
Q: Once you hire the right people, how do you get them to use that creativity in a productive way?
A: Everyone in the company is trained in how to properly brainstorm. We put together our own little guide on brainstorming, and in every room we have house rules posted. You can’t walk around without seeing these rules about creative thinking and how not to squelch other people’s ideas.
The only way you can learn brainstorming, though, is by doing it. We rotate who the facilitator is, so that each employee gets the chance to lead and learn.
Q: Our current Web site, fusedsolutions.com, does an okay job of portraying the appropriate information to those that get there, but unfortunately not many get there.
Can you please give us a few tips on how to get our site to the top of search lists and build substantial traffic?
A: The first problem is in the title tag for your homepage. Unless Internet users are actually searching specifically for Fused Solutions, they’re not going to care that it is the title of the page; they could even be confused by it.
The top of the page should be dedicated to terms that people will search for, so that they know right away that they’ve landed at the right place. Consider using terms that define what you offer, such as “service software,” “service outsourcing” or “customer service representatives.”
Elsewhere on your homepage, the language on the page has a Gunning fog index of 17. The Gunning fog index is determined by a mathematical formula that takes into account word complexity and sentence length. English that caters to a wide audience should stay under 12.
“You are using words that your customer would never use,” Rich Schefren of Strategic Profits says. “The reader has to stop and think about what he just read. That’s not going to keep people on the page.”
Business owners too often fall into the trap of treating a Web site like a brochure. But the user experience is different online: You have to get across who you are and what you do very quickly, as the average Web surfer spends just seconds on a page.
In addition to keeping phrases short and the terminology simple, you’ll need to focus on common keywords that will bring traffic your way. Small changes can have outsize results: “There are less than 3,000 searches a month for ‘help desk technology,’ but over 90,000 searches a month for ‘help desk software,’” Schefren says. “If I am doing a search for help-desk software, I want to land on a page where there is no doubt in my mind that focus is on help-desk software. Here, people won’t be too sure and will click the back button.
One way to keep visitors on your site is to address them directly.
“All the information and tabs are about the company. Everything is ‘we, we, we.’ Stop talking about yourselves and instead insert content that is geared towards the consumer,” Schefren says. “Make the links and tabs talk to the visitor, such as ‘How to increase your customer satisfaction rates’ and ‘How to eliminate customer support headaches.’ The site should not be about the company so much as what benefits the company can offer the client.”
If no one in Beijing was happier — or busier — than Michael Phelps this past week, his agent Peter Carlisle had to be a close second.
A new race is now on for Mr. Phelps: the rush to transform the swimmer’s Olympic feat into a marketing juggernaut, akin to Michael Jordan or Tiger Woods. But the window for marketing Olympians — even those with the rising stature of Mr. Phelps — can close fast. Many of the new legions of so-called Phelps Phans likely will not see his muscled torso in a pool again until 2012, an eternity for advertisers.
The Waboba ball, which is about the size of a golf ball, has taken off around the world after videos were posted on YouTube.
Made of a combination of plastics with a lycra coating, it is described as having the consistency of a breast implant.
The ball is about the same density as water and floats when at rest, but bounces high and true when thrown. It continues to bounce until it is caught or runs out of steam.
The ball took Swedish inventor Jan von Heland several years to perfect, but it is now being sold around the world after first taking off on the beaches of Australia.
“I first got the idea when I was throwing a frisbee upside down on the water trying to get it to bounce,” he said.
“I thought it would be good to get something that used the water to bounce off and began to experiment.”
One of the keys to happiness — as well as productivity and effectiveness at work — is finding work you love, that you’re passionate about. Work you want to do, instead of just have to do.
1. It won’t find you — you have to seek it. Doing the same ol’ thing everyday isn’t the way to find the work you love. Sometimes, you get extremely lucky and it just lands in your lap. Most people, however, aren’t that lucky — you’ve got to take action, and you’ve got to seek it.
2. You can’t stop looking until you find it. As Steve Jobs said, never settle. If you find something that’s just a bit better than your current job, that’s better … but don’t stop there. Keep looking. Don’t give up the search.
3. You’ll have to look in lots of funny places. Really explore. Try new hobbies. Talk to new people. Read articles on different blogs, in different magazines and books. Inspiration might come from someplace you never imagined.
4. You might not love it completely until you get good at it. Most likely you’ll know that you love something once you find it … but at that point, you’ve got to work at getting better at it, with all your might. Once you get good, it’ll be something you can’t stop doing, because you’ll get a thrill at doing something great.
5. Once you find it, you have to pour yourself into it. If you find the work you love, you’ve been given a gift. Don’t spoil it — truly pour yourself into that work. That doesn’t mean you should ignore the other loves in your life, including family and friends, but when you’re working, you should devote yourself completely to that work.
If you’ve ever opened the gym bag of someone who does a lot of sports, you are probably familiar with the smell that comes out. From all the use the gear piled in there gets, it’s very important to make sure everything gets cleaned and sanitized as that gear needs to be.
For less than $14,000 a potential entrepreneur can take on the opportunity to start up their own Fresh Gear business in their local area. Depending on the amount of sports associations and schools are in your area, the potential for your business can be huge.
With the purchase of the Fresh Gear C40 you will also receive just about everything you could possibly need to get started with your own business. There are 3 categories it falls under. They are:
For Allied POWs during World War II, Monopoly® games came equipped with real-life “get out of jail free” cards.
During World War II, the British secret service hatched a master plan to smuggle escape gear to captured Allied soldiers inside Germany.
Their secret weapon? Monopoly boxes.
In 1941, the British Secret Service approached John Waddington Ltd. with its master plan, and before long, production of a “special edition” Monopoly set was underway.
For the top-secret mission, the factory set aside a small, secure room — unknown to the rest of its employees — where skilled craftsmen sat and painstakingly carved small niches and openings into the games’ cardboard boxes.
Along with the standard thimble, car, and Scotty dog, the POW version included additional “playing” pieces, such as a metal file, a magnetic compass, and of course, a regional silk escape map, complete with marked safe-houses along the way — all neatly concealed in the game’s box.
Even better, some of the Monopoly money was real. Actual German, Italian, and French currency was placed underneath the play money for escapees to use for bribes.
Also, because of its collaboration with the International Red Cross, Waddington could track which sets would be delivered to which camps, meaning escape maps specific to the area could be hidden in each game set.
Allied soldiers and pilots headed to the front lines were told to look for the special edition game if they were captured. The identifying mark to check for? A red dot in the corner of the Free Parking space.
If you can’t lounge around the well-known, award-winning Google HQ offices as an employee, there are other ways to make money off the big G.
1. Blogger - Whether you’re running ads, selling products, promoting affiliates, or using this blog platform as a way to promote your business or services, this Google service can aid you in making money online.
2. AdSense - This is one common way to monetise blogs and websites. Also see: How Adsense Publishers Can Make More Money.
3. AdWords - You can advertise your business, products, or services using AdWords. This is, of course, in conjunction with the Adsense programme.
4. Google Image Labeler - Just a roundabout way of making money by tagging photos online.
5. Google Checkout - Use this online payment system to help you process your web business transactions.
Over the past several months, Congress has been discussing numerous changes to existing patent law.
While certain elements of the legislation will bring the U.S. patent system in line with much of the rest of the world by potentially simplifying the process of filing, granting and disputing patents, my concern is that the direction and consequences of this new legislative effort will unfairly impact smaller inventors, who may face increased financial and administrative burdens throughout the patenting process.
There are six major changes proposed by the House bill that could negatively impact the small inventor:
1. A switch from a first-to-invent system to a first-to-file system.
2. Substantial changes to patent infringement damages.
3. Introduction of a post-grant review/objection period.
4. Permission granted to third parties to submit art directly to examiners, providing them the ability to impact patent prosecution.
5. Substantial limitations on the selection of courts for patent litigation.
6. Early appeals in litigation matters.
If these potential legislative changes concern you, contact your own members of Congress (house.gov, senate.gov) and ask them to look out for the interests of independent inventors.
Entrepreneur.com announces the launch of Entrepreneur Connect, a highly anticipated online social networking site for the small business community at http://econnect.entrepreneur.com. The new online destination, presented by Sprint, is a business-to-business marketplace designed specifically for entrepreneurs.
While other social networking sites feature an atmosphere of play, Entrepreneur Connect was created by the online authority in entrepreneurial business to facilitate company growth. The network is presented by Sprint to allow businesses to exchange ideas and network with small business owners across the country, providing them with more tools to help them get work done and build their companies.
“While social networking has opened up a world of possibility, we saw no online space dedicated to helping business owners accomplish their goals. With Entrepreneur Connect, all that has changed.”
Anyone interested in finding people who can help them start, build and manage a business can set up a profile on Entrepreneur Connect now at http://econnect.entrepreneur.com.
When a fire happens it can cost quite a bit of money to fix and replace everything that has been damaged. No-Burn offers something that can help prevent that from happening in the first place! By building your home with a fire retardant that can protect the wood used to build your home, treat your furniture, carpets and curtains as well; if a fire occurs it would cause much less damage and will be able to become controlled much sooner than an untreated home.
If you feel passionate enough about the product, you might also enjoy their No-Burn Dealer opportunity. Unlike franchises, there is no franchisee fee to pay nor are there any royalty payments. As a dealer you can take on your own business opportunity dreams without someone telling you what to do. There is, however, a license fee. There are no additional payments after that, beyond the minimum purchases needed.
No-Burn separates areas into territories in a way that allows dealers to be able to sell without competition from other dealers in your area.
