Business Opportunities Weblog

Happy Independence Day
Solar Business for Everyone
Protect Your Business From Identity Theft
What Angel Investors Wont Tell You
Must Have Social Media Tools
Friday Fun Poll: Twitter Apps
Landing That Perfect Start-Up Dream Job
Work These Biz Books Into Your Summer
Turning Down Special Requests
Go Ask Alice….
Learn To Travel Cheaper
Turn The Recession Into Revenue
Start Leaning On Your Financial Advisors More
Biz Poll Results: Where Do You Get Your News?

Posted: 04 Jul 2009 04:00 AM PDT

photo credit: mugley

As entrepreneurs, Independence Day, the 4th of July, means more to us than just fireworks and barbecues. It is the freedom to try out new ideas and opportunities. It means freedom to succeed because of our own ingenuity and resourcefulness; to find a need and fill it! This Independence Day, it is more important than ever to be independent, of jobs and preconceived notions about how to earn a living.

I wish you the best, and Happy Independence Day!

From Business Opportunities Weblog.

Solar Business for Everyone

Posted: 03 Jul 2009 02:36 PM PDT

photo credit: Jesse Wagstaff

Want to get into the solar business but don’t know anything about electricty? No problem, says the NY Times, neither do these guys:

Technology advances and falling prices for solar technology have opened the gates for solar installations by businesses with no background in electricity generation.

Energy generation “is not our primary business, but it’s in our best interest,” said Mike Defferding, executive vice president of Forest City Military Communities, a developer. “There’s an economic incentive to make the jump to become an energy company.”

Forest City has installed more than 100 kilowatts of solar-generating capacity at housing it manages on a marine base in Hawaii, Defferding said. And it is planning to build a 3.6-megawatt solar farm on Hawaii’s Big Island to power affordable housing the company manages there.

From Business Opportunities Weblog.

Protect Your Business From Identity Theft

Posted: 03 Jul 2009 01:30 PM PDT

photo credit: lovelypetal

It is so important these days to worry about identity theft not only in your personal life but especially in your business, maybe even more so in your business. Think about it, all the credit and charge cards your business contains, set up lines of credit for your business, hackers obtain a lot more money when stealing the identity of a business.

As such, identity theft has a “multiplier effect” on small businesses, he added. “You’re not only affecting the individual — you’re affecting the business so inexorably linked to that individual.”

Anti spyware is a must have for most businesses. These programs regularly monitor the content coming and going from your computer enabling it to alert you of any unusual behavior as well as block out many different hackers and spy’s.

Rather than using your own social security number (which is just a bad idea all the way around) get a EIN (employment identification number) for your business. Another great way to help secure your identity is to freeze your credit report, this means that a bank can’t even get their hands on it without you unfreezing it, so it definitely will stop a hacker from getting a hold of it.

Visit Small Business Blog for many other ways to secure your identity.

From Business Opportunities Weblog.

What Angel Investors Wont Tell You

Posted: 03 Jul 2009 12:30 PM PDT

photo credit: e³°°°

In recent light of credit crunching down so much and the economy going down the toilet rapidly, we have all seen several articles posted on where to find additional help and financing such as with Angel Investors. However, as with any area of finance even Angel Investors have their bad points about them. Look below for some key phrases that you’ll never hear an Angel Investor actually say even though they are thinking it, recently read about at OnStartups.com.

I only want to support the entrepreneurs who are actually going to make me a lot of money.
However the market did last week is impacting my decision this week.
I never actually put your check in the mail when i said i did, i was out shopping and forgot to.
I’m in this mainly to have fun, if i wanted to actually work then i would have my own start-up.

I don't understand what half the things in the funding agreement mean either, but I'm betting that most of them are to protect me, not you.

From Business Opportunities Weblog.

Must Have Social Media Tools

Posted: 03 Jul 2009 11:30 AM PDT

photo credit: geishaboy500

While today yes there are so many different web tools to choose from and you don’t need every single one, there are also many that a business definitely can benefit from and should have for their business. Below are a select few of the web tools for social media that I think a business should definitely obtain if they haven’t already.

Ping.fm. Write once, publish many. Ping allows you to publish to as many as 60 social networks in less than 10 seconds (NOTE: be careful. Understand how your message is being sent and where it is going so you are not Spamming anyone.)
Tynt is another great social media tool. Do you ever wonder what people are taking off of your website? Well with Tynt you can track what users are copying from your site.
Google Docs. With this tool you can customize your forms for surveys and downloads in under 10 minutes, that is a huge time saver for businesses.
Slideshare. This tool allows you to step up the value of your slide decks even beyond that of a conference presentation, as suggested on Blog.Junta42.

From Business Opportunities Weblog.

Friday Fun Poll: Twitter Apps

Posted: 03 Jul 2009 11:11 AM PDT

There are hundreds of third-party apps available for Twitter. Below are five apps.

Which is NOT really a Twitter app? (At least not yet.)

The answer will be revealed Monday. Have a safe and wonderful holiday weekend.

Photo by whothetweet.com.

From Business Opportunities Weblog.

Landing That Perfect Start-Up Dream Job

Posted: 03 Jul 2009 10:30 AM PDT

photo credit: Deon Maritz

In today’s economy people are wondering what extra steps they should be taking in order to land that dream job of theirs, or even just to land A job in general. There are so many candidates going for the same job that many people feel they should practically be able to perform nuclear fusion in order to secure the job above everyone else. Below are some helpful tips for landing yourself that perfect dream job, recently posted at OnStartups.com.

Match the culture: Remember that advice about dressing one level above the job you're hiring into? Or the "it's better to be over-dressed" advice? Forget that. Dress so that you'll fit in. Dress as if you're already on the team.

Read up on the start-up of the company, know all there is to know about them and where they have been in their start-up so far. That way when being interviewed you will be able to show that you did your homework and are truly interested in their purpose.

The team for hiring a start-up employee wants to know that they are taking on someone who can “get things done” effectively and timely. They are in a position at the moment where they need focused and fast paced working employees, so show them and emphasize to them with given examples that you are just that person to “get things done”.

From Business Opportunities Weblog.

Work These Biz Books Into Your Summer

Posted: 03 Jul 2009 10:10 AM PDT

Advertising Age:

Tom Martin over at Advertising Age shares some of his biz book favorites for summer reading.

Enjoy the summer and the books. If you don’t see your favorite here, add it to the comments.

How Customers Think: Essential Insights into the Mind of the Market by Gerald Zaltman.
I read this book a few years ago and it totally changed how I think about marketing to consumers. Zaltman has developed a technique he calls “metaphor elicitation,” which is patented, to mine the unconscious. Truly one of the most interesting and impactful books I’ve ever read.

Margaret Mark’s The Hero and the Outlaw: Building Extraordinary Brands Through the Power of Archetypes, which draws on Jung’s concept of archetypes. In the book, you are introduced to such archetypes as the hero, outlaw, lover, sage, magician, creator and innocent, and told that these archetypes cross lifestyle and cultural boundaries. I once used this book to help sell a truly great ad campaign by helping the client see how the work we created really spoke to a deeper need in his customers’ lives. So if you want get your inner account-planner geek on, read this one. You can thank me later.

Perfect Pitch: The Art of Selling Ideas and Winning New Business by Jon Steel.
As someone who has been in charge of biz dev at more than one agency and had my own gig for a while, I can tell you that Jon’s book taught me more than a few lessons on how to create and then sell ideas.

Photo by Auroqueiro.

From Business Opportunities Weblog.

Turning Down Special Requests

Posted: 03 Jul 2009 09:30 AM PDT

photo credit: smlp.co.uk

I recently came across a blog posted on Seths Blog where he takes the point of view that you should never turn down special requests. That you need to treat all customers differently because they are not all the same. While i agree with his point of view on yes, customers are different and do have different needs. I do not agree with treating them differently.

If someone comes in with a special request during your most busy time of year and you do not accommodate them by putting their request before others who were already in line, my opinion on that is they should not have waited until the last minute for one, and for two they should expect to hear the word “no” to their request knowing it’s your busy time.

Yes, if you turn them down they may go somewhere else, but think about if you put them first and make the other 5 customers who technically came before them wait even longer because you accommodated one, they may also go somewhere else. So which would you prefer, loosing one customer or loosing 5 customers? If it were me i’d be able to swallow loosing one customer rather than five of them.

There are two really good reasons to turn down special requests:

1. because you’re marketing yourself as extremely busy and perfectly willing to turn down good work.

2. because you want to market yourself as someone who is a rigid artist, a stick in the mud or a crotchety perfectionist. This works great for pizza places.

From Business Opportunities Weblog.

Go Ask Alice….

Posted: 03 Jul 2009 09:09 AM PDT

Inc.:

Brian Wiegand is no stranger to start-ups. His first business, BizFilings, launched in 1996 from his basement and later sold for $15 million to a public company.

He and business partner Mark McGuire went on to start two others. The most recent was Jellyfish.com, which caught the purchasing eye of Microsoft only 18 months after its inception.

The two could have stayed after the sale, but decided corporate life wasn’t for them.

Now the duo has launched their fourth online company, Alice.com, an online service in the consumer packaged goods industry. The site connects manufacturers directly to consumers, bypassing large retailers such as Wal-Mart and Target.

Q: What made you want to delve into the tough consumer packaged goods industry?

Wiegand: We sat and thought about what else we could do, and we really looked at the consumer packaged goods space. When you really look at this, you find no one’s buying these goods online. Why? Everything else is going crazy; Amazon.com sells all kinds of things. These other online categories are growing, so why isn’t the household supplies market? The No. 1 reason is shipping. It actually costs more to ship a tube of toothpaste than it does for the actual product. Online prices are 30 and 40 percent higher than some of the mass retailers, plus you have to pay for shipping. We’ve created a model where we always offer free shipping with prices similar to the existing prices of, let’s say, a Target or a Wal-Mart.

Q: How do you make this shipping model cost effective on your end?

McGuire: All of this is centralized in one warehouse, and we pick, pack and ship everything. It's not like Amazon’s model that ships bulk of these products to the consumer who gets a different box from each different manufacturer. Our model packs everything in one box.

Q: Other than jumping into a previously undeveloped online market, what else sets Alice.com apart from other e-commerce sites?

Wiegand: The “secret sauce” is that we’ve created a planning subscription service here. The use of [these products] is a repetitive type of pattern, so we’ve created more of a Netflix-style service. When you add paper towels to your virtual shelf, you’re actually adding a reminder and can set the re-order frequency. The site gets smarter as you order, and it knows what you use. This reminder set of tools is all drag-and-drop. We’ve created a price comparison, so if you click “check prices,” it shows you the prices at Walgreens, CVS, Target and Amazon. Then when you add a product, it goes into your personal shelf. When you want to check out, you just drag them into your cart. We’ve entered a number of Quicken-like tools to show you on a month-by-month basis how much you’re spending. We’ve taken all the coupons in the entire country and uploaded them here–they’re automatically applied–so you never have to get the scissors out. It’s very green.

Continue Reading: “Go Ask Alice…”

Photo by Alice.com.

From Business Opportunities Weblog.

Learn To Travel Cheaper

Posted: 03 Jul 2009 08:30 AM PDT

photo credit: lrargerich

If you travel a great deal for your business or even just a few times a year then you now how expensive this can be, after you put together all the air fair, food, gas if you drive, renting a car, taxi cab fees, dry cleaning services, tips and more it adds up to be one huge bill. OpenForum recently posted some suggestions on how you can travel cheaper this year.

Make lodging reservations directly with the branch you're staying at. Use web sites to identify places to stay, but before reserving a room, call the hotel directly before using the online reservation system and don't hesitate to ask for a reduced rate while on the phone.

Think about using the buddy system where there are co-workers who will going to the same location as you. You can share hotel rates, cab fair costs, food and more. Always remember to pack at least one day’s worth of essentials in your carry on luggage. All too often people’s luggage gets lost and then they end up having to buy all new items to make it through the next day.

Never ever spend any money in the airport. Don’t stop for a snack, souvenir, bottle of water or can of pop. Why, because the airport has such a huge market up on their prices. Go outside of the airport for these needs and wants, you will find that they are far cheaper.

From Business Opportunities Weblog.

Turn The Recession Into Revenue

Posted: 03 Jul 2009 08:09 AM PDT

The District Chronicles:

Several tips for turning the recession into revenue:

1. Take it small scale at first. We’re not talking comprehensive business plans and venture capital commitments. Step one would be to get yourself online. Creating a Web site for your business or to tout your skills is neither difficult nor expensive, and it’s a great way to get started. Let’s face it, everyone searches online first when they are looking for a service or product.

2. Proactively network. Connect with new people on social and professional networking sites such as Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn, Plaxo and Xing. And don’t forget to network offline too. Attend industry, chamber of commerce and community events - and always have a business card with you. Some of your best marketing can occur through your own face-to-face and offline communities.

3. Work with partners. Don’t be afraid to ask for help from those who have an expertise you don’t. You can also consider bartering your skills for theirs to keep your costs down.

4. In this market, flexibility and adaptability are key essentials to finding a new job. Consider new categories and positions that you otherwise might not pursue.

5. Believe in the power of the collective. Offer to help others when you can - whether it’s passing along a job tip, article or helpful contact.

Photo by tatanas.

From Business Opportunities Weblog.

Start Leaning On Your Financial Advisors More

Posted: 03 Jul 2009 07:30 AM PDT

photo credit: Andre Charland

If you have a financial advisors, then you should already be listening to their advice, taking it into consideration, if you aren’t then you need to start. After all what else did you hire this person for if not to take advice from them on your businesses financial matters?

Entrepreneur.com suggests that many people end up making a rather large and wrong decision without sufficient advice from a financial advisor. This proves to be quite detrimental to the companies finances and well being.

Learn to recognize when you are facing a decision that you feel insufficiently informed to make, then find and contact advisors. There are experts in practically every field. Make your decision only after you feel confident in your grasp of the information.

Taking advice from more than one financial advisor can prove to be confusing when they may differ on their opinions, the thing to remember here is they all have certain limitations, certain areas of expertise. So remember to take all of that into account when making your final decision.

Listen to what each advisor is telling you, listen to their reasoning behind their advice, maybe even take notes so you can look back later and re-read what was suggested. Decide for yourself which advice from whomever makes more sense for your company.

From Business Opportunities Weblog.

Biz Poll Results: Where Do You Get Your News?

Posted: 03 Jul 2009 07:07 AM PDT

On Monday, we started a poll that asked readers where they got their news.

Six percent said they got their news from newspapers, four percent from radio, 13 percent from TV and a whopping 77 percent from the Internet.

This was demonstrated this past weekend with the sudden death of Michael Jackson. The Internet was designed to survive a nuclear attack, but barely survived the singer’s death.

A series of web sites fell like dominoes as Boomers and GenXers raced to verify the truth of the Jackson death rumors. Twitter, Wikipedia, tmz.com, latimes.com, and Google News all reported outages, according to CNN — which had problems itself.

Photo by loonapix.

From Business Opportunities Weblog.