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Business Opportunities Weblog

2009-07-05T05:29:00.001-07:00

Business Opportunities Weblog

Posted: 04 Jul 2009 02:10 PM PDT

Rhonda Abrams over at USA TODAY has this to say about today:

I love the Fourth of July. Friends, barbecue, fireworks. Many years I celebrate the holiday with my family in Ashland, Oregon where I watch a small town parade. Afterwords, the community gathers in the downtown park for a music festival.

Before the music begins, they do something that is always a highlight for me: an actor from the Oregon Shakespeare Festival reads the Declaration of Independence.

The crowd goes wild – cheering America’s independence, denouncing tyranny. The Declaration of Independence once again becomes a living, meaningful document instead of a school assignment.

I love it. It reminds me of the best that America stands for – freedom, independence, equality, opportunity. It’s also a terrific reminder of what makes America a wonderful place for entrepreneurs – we nurture freedom and respect and value differences.

As entrepreneurs, we need freedom to flourish. And we need it not only for ourselves, but for society as a whole. A society that allows – even encourages – diversity and difference is a society that is most likely to be inventive, resourceful and entrepreneurial.

America will stay strong and free as long as we continue to welcome everyone’s ideas and differences. That’s what makes it a wonderful place to be an entrepreneur.

Enjoy your independence and your Independence Day.

Photo by fccss.com.

From Business Opportunities Weblog.

Business Opportunities Weblog

2009-07-04T05:07:00.001-07:00

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?

Happy Independence Day

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.

Car Insurance Articles and Auto Insurance RSS Feeds

2009-07-03T17:36:00.001-07:00

Car Insurance Articles and Auto Insurance RSS Feeds

Car Insurance for Michigan Drivers

Posted: 03 Jul 2009 02:08 PM PDT

Finding great auto insurance at a low price in Michigan is easy to do when you use the resources found on our site. We can show you ways to not only find cheap rates but also show you the importance of having insurance for your vehicle and how to know what insurance you will need in the state of Michigan.

Michigan operates under a no-fault law for car insurance, which generally means no matter who caused the accident, both parties will be held responsible to repair their own vehicles and pay for those costs. In MI, however, the law is slightly more defined than this simple explanation. The no-fault law was originally designed to lower the number of drivers suing one another for damages, and due to the law there are very limited cases which allow a driver to sue another. In some situations where you do not have much insurance and are found to be less than 50% responsible for the accident, you can collect up to $500 under the state's mini-tort law.

The tort law, which is observed by other states, is one where the driver at fault for the accident is financially responsible for the medical bills and property repairs of both parties. Michigan's mini-tort law is based on the percentage of fault for both drivers. The driver who had little to no fault in the accident is given some help under this mini-tort law and won't be completely responsible for someone else's mistake. The mini-tort maximum claim amount is currently $500 but it could possibly rise to $1,000 in the future.

Driving without auto insurance in Michigan is a crime. To be more specific, anyone who has not claimed financial responsibility should not be operating a vehicle in any state. The penalties in Michigan for driving without insurance begin with fines of $200 to $500 with a possible suspension of the driver's license and vehicle registration. The driver will need to show proof of insurance within a month to get their license and registration reinstated. (If you fall into this category we can help you get proof of insurance now.) Repeated offenses of not having insurance will lead to heavier fines and jail time.

Michigan drivers are required to have a minimum amount of insurance to legally operate a vehicle on public roads. Those requirements are listed below with a more detailed explanation:

• Bodily Injury Liability
• Property Damage Liability
• Property Protection Insurance
• Personal Injury Protection Medical
• Personal Injury Protection Work Loss

Bodily Injury Liability: This coverage must be purchased at a minimum price of $20,000 per person and $40,000 per accident. It does not pay for the medical expenses of the policyholder or members, but rather it covers those medical expenses of the other party but only up to the purchased amount. So, if the other party's medical costs are over $40,000 combined, the policyholder is responsible to pay the remaining cost.

Property Damage Liability: This liability is where the mini-tort comes into play. This coverage pays for the damages that are done to the property as a result of the accident. In Michigan, drivers must have a minimum of $10,000 in property damage liability, which means the insurance carrier will cover up to this amount. Any remaining costs that exceed this amount will be the responsibility of either the policyholder or the other driver, depending on who is found to be most at fault for the accident.

Property Protection Insurance: This coverage obliges the insurance company to pay up to $1,000,000 for the damage your vehicle does to any fixed property, including buildings, fences, lampposts, and parked cars. It generally does not cover any other vehicle, such as moving vehicles at the time of the accident, only fixed or stationary objects.

Personal Injury Protection Medical: Personal injury protection (PIP) will help cover the medical expenses of you, members of your policy and/or passengers in your vehicle at the time of the crash. Depending on the insurer, the premium should not increase due to a PIP claim.

Personal Injury Protection Work Loss: PIP will also cover lost wages due to the accident up to a specified purchased amount. Depending on the state and insurer, this could also be limited to a certain time period.

PIP in other states will cover additional costs, so be sure to know what your carrier will provide to you in addition to medical and work loss. Some of these additions are funeral expenses of the insured, replacement services, and pedestrians that are struck by your vehicle.

Michigan car insurance rates are determined by using specific information about the driver(s) and vehicle(s) on the policy. This information includes the driver's age, gender, how many speeding tickets and accidents they've been involved in or have caused, and their residential location. Then information regarding the vehicle needs to be given, such as make, model and year, its safety features, VIN number, how often it is driven and where it's driven. All of these factors combine to make a level of risk, which is determined by the insurance company. This risk level is estimating the likelihood the applicant will need to file a claim and have repairs made. The level of risk corresponds to the price of the premium; the higher the level of risk assigned, the higher the premium will be.

If you want your rates to be cheap in Michigan, you should try out the following suggestions:

Keep your driving record free from accidents and tickets
Look for discounts offered by your insurer and qualify for as many as possible
Drive an "insurance friendly" vehicle that won't be too expensive to insure
Take the bus or a cab as much as possible to limit your miles on the road

Of course, there are most ways than these to get lower rates, but start here for the quickest results.

Michigan is a beautiful state with plenty of reasons to get out and drive. Just make sure you are complying with the law by driving with at least the minimum amount of insurance required by the state. Great auto insurance in MI is not hard to find, especially when you take advantage of our site's resources and capabilities to better your insurance situation.

Business Opportunities Weblog

2009-07-03T05:18:00.001-07:00

Business Opportunities Weblog

Overstock Kills Affiliate Programs In 4 States
Chickens Are Hot in a Recession
Writing A Business Plan
Who To Hire And Who Not To Hire
SchoolOfMusic.com
Obtain New Clients With All Your Old Work
Babyglow: Life-Saving Invention
Do Small Business Communities Benefit With Twitter?
The Power Of In-Between Technology
Make Recycling More Accessible By Charging for It
Online Shop Brings ‘Hope’ To Eco-Friendly Soapmakers
Why Your Business Needs A Blog
Enlist A Global Work Force Of Freelancers
Where To Find Your Content Inspiration
Niche Biz: Stargazing Cabins

Overstock Kills Affiliate Programs In 4 States

Posted: 02 Jul 2009 05:40 PM PDT

The Wall Street Journal:

Overstock.com Inc. informed its marketing affiliates in four states — California, Hawaii, North Carolina and Rhode Island — that it is ending its business with them to avoid collecting sales tax.

Lawmakers in the states have passed or are preparing to pass legislation that would require companies to collect sales tax if they have marketing affiliates in the state. Affiliate marketers run blogs or Web sites and get a sales commission by featuring links to outside e-commerce sites.

Rival Amazon.com Inc. has taken similar steps in the past few days, ending ties with affiliates in three of the same states and warning about California.

The decision highlights mounting tensions between online retailers and cash-strapped states. Other states are considering similar laws that would use affiliates as a way to force companies to collect sales taxes for online purchases.

Chief Executive Patrick Byrne said Overstock plans to sever its affiliate relationships in each state that appears close to passage of similar laws, but will reinstate its businesses if the laws are found unconstitutional, vetoed or repealed.

Forcing e-commerce sites to collect tax upfront would strip a key advantage they have over traditional retailers, though consumers are technically supposed to pay a so-called use tax for online purchases on their own.

Photo by Overstock.

From Business Opportunities Weblog.

Chickens Are Hot in a Recession

Posted: 02 Jul 2009 01:32 PM PDT

photo credit: Faye Pini

BendBulletin:

Back in the early '80s, when the nation was gripped by recession, Duane Schiedler and his wife, Julie, retooled their cabinet shop to churn out geodesic-dome greenhouses.

Fast forward more than two decades and the Schiedlers are at it again, only this time they've expanded. In addition to compact greenhouses (they've ditched the dome design), the couple also are building and selling compost bins, raised planting bed systems and custom chicken coops they like to refer to as "victory coops," a play on the victory gardens promoted during World War II to ease food rationing.

What started as a sideline business last fall has since become a full-fledged business.

From Business Opportunities Weblog.

Writing A Business Plan

Posted: 02 Jul 2009 12:30 PM PDT

photo credit: wannes deprez / ony one

Is having a business plan important, yes it is very important, but is it so important that you have to stress yourself out to the point of needing a sedative, not it’s not. Many are intimidated by having to write a business plan, this should not be the case, it’s not rocket science and no one is expecting nuclear fusion to come out of your business plan.

When you're compiling a business plan, leave out the hype. Do not use any colorful language or preconceived notions. People who will be looking at your business plan will want to see hard, solid facts, backed up by very reasonable assumptions. Milestones must be set, tasks established and sound logic applied to your reasoning.

Always be sure to recognize the fact that your business is not the only one of it’s kind, there are others that are considered to be your competition, so include information in your plan on how you estimate that you will rate against your competitors.

Don’t focus on just one awesome idea, you have to have more than one successful option in mind, other wise you are “putting all your eggs in one basket” as stated on Young Entrepreneur, which could prove to be very doom and gloom for you.

From Business Opportunities Weblog.

Who To Hire And Who Not To Hire

Posted: 02 Jul 2009 11:30 AM PDT

photo credit: Lee Jordan

We have all seen the high increase in un-employment and the high increase in people fighting for the same job. You place an ad in the paper or even online and the next thing you know you have about 30-60 applicants for ONE position. So how do you choose? Just Tell Me How posted an article with some helpful tips on this matter.

Use screening questions. A short list of questions that quickly and effectively screens out candidates who just won't make the cut. And screens in those who deserve the big interview. But the 'don'ts' come first.

Come up with some questions to ask the interviewer that will challenge their ability to respond quickly but yet effectively and their ability to demonstrate their true core skills for that job position. Make the list of questions should be relatively easy for you to do. Just come up with say 3 things that truly demonstrate a great work performance for the job, and then that should pretty much hand you your basic list of questions.

Set aside a certain block of time in your day to do your screening interviews, take notes during these interviews and really listen and pay attention. If need be in order for you to truly focus on what is being said, arrange for someone else to take the notes for you.

From Business Opportunities Weblog.

SchoolOfMusic.com

Posted: 02 Jul 2009 10:37 AM PDT

SchoolOfMusic.com recruits and qualifies music teachers and then provides music lessons in students’ homes, teachers’ home studios, after school programs, and community facilities. They are the largest private employer of music teachers in Indiana, and now they’re expanding their program across the United States and Canada. They are looking for local licensees to help with their proven business model.

photo credit: J. Weissmahr

This turnkey opportunity offers two income streams:

One is largely passive and consists of promoting SchoolOfMusic.com online locally. For that, you’ll receive e 10% of the lesson revenue generated by teachers in your city with only about 15 minutes of work a day by providing local support and posting information about SchoolOfMusic.com in your community. They will customize, host, and maintain the websites for your city.
The other involves actively promoting school programs and programs in community facilities.

For SchoolofMusic to grow, they need a local presence in every single community. Their ability to expand is limited by advertising restrictions on Google Maps, Craigslist, Yahoo Local, Local.com, Bing, Yellowpages.com, and other websites that require a local addresses before posting. As a local affiliate, you will be able to advertise for free on these and other local websites while they provide the services necessary for your success.

The opportunity requires an annual investment of $350. They are so confident of your success that they guarantee a refund at the end of the first year if you follow their guidelines and are dissatisfied with the results.

The bottom line is, SchoolOfMusic.com provides you with the opportunity to derive income with a minimal investment of time and money.

photo credit: *L*u*z*a*

Income opportunities for the local licensee include:

Music Lessons. You will receive 10% of lesson income generated in your city. Most music students take lessons for a few years so the residual income would be continuous.
Retail. They will include Google Adsense, affiliate programs, and/or advertising for local businesses in your section of the SchoolOfMusic.com website. In addition to a mall page for your city, ads will be placed on most of the other pages for your city. We expect you to easily earn your annual fee, and more, with advertising.
Instrument rentals. They currently offer rental instruments through a third party vendor. You will receive the full commission for instruments rented through the local website.

You will:

provide a local address for SchoolOfMusic.com
place ads consistently in your local community and on online sites
promote programs to local schools (optional)
arrange programs in community facilities (optional)
arranging local recitals (optional, income opportunity)
other local networking (optional)

SchoolOfMusic.com provides:

criminal background checks for all teachers
reference checks for all teachers
multiple websites for use by the local affiliate
teacher interviews by a qualified music education placement director
workmen’s compensation (required in all states for employees and subcontractors)
a $1,000,000 liability policy (required by most school and community facilities)
brochures
a placement director and student services director available by phone or email six days a week
billing and collection of tuition fees
payroll for teachers (twice monthly)
ongoing advice for existing students and their parents
toll free numbers

If you like children and music, or just want to start a small business that doesn’t require a large time commitment, SchoolOfMusic.com might be just what you’re looking for. Visit their website, call 800-270-0512 or email info@schoolofmusic.com more information.

photo credit: wakalani

From Business Opportunities Weblog.

Obtain New Clients With All Your Old Work

Posted: 02 Jul 2009 10:30 AM PDT

photo credit: kevindooley

Imagine getting new clients all the time using old work you've done in the past. How easy would that be? Wouldn't it be nice? You can do just that – by having a great portfolio, located on Men With Pens.

In business it is true that you need to show off in order to obtain new clients. This is where you show off your credentials, your past work, references on past jobs you have done, past places you have worked with a outstanding track record, and more.

Notice the main word above, “past”. That’s right, all of your old work, jobs and references put into one very nice looking and well written portfolio and you have yourself some new impressed clients with all of your older work. It’s the same thing as a resume when you go on a job interview. Your showing the employer examples of all older jobs, older references and work you have done.

In your portfolio, always remember to keep it short and sweet. You don’t want to overload them with a 30 page portfolio with every single little small detail there is to know about you. The main points that you do cover and main statements that you make in your portfolio, make sure you have following information to back them up.

From Business Opportunities Weblog.

Babyglow: Life-Saving Invention

Posted: 02 Jul 2009 10:10 AM PDT

Suffolk Free Press:

A landlord from Long Melford is cracking open the bubbly after signing a multi-million pound contract for his “lifesaving” invention.

Chris Ebejer, 42, who runs the Melford Inn, said he had a eureka moment six years ago when he woke up on the couch one morning and saw a documentary about babies not being able to regulate their body temperature.

In a flash of inspiration the father of one decided he would design a baby suit that changed colour when the baby’s temperature went up.

And now the pint pulling part-time scientist will soon see his ‘Babyglow’ invention flying out of production plants around the world at more than a million a month

“It’s incredible, off the scale. I don’t quite know what has hit me at this stage. I’m getting calls from every TV station in the world and this is just the beginning,” he said.

The suit will change colour at the first sign of meningitis and it could have a huge impact on cot death numbers and a number of other baby related illnesses.

The suit works by responding to the slightest changes in body temperature which then react with molecules in the cotton.

Photo by Suffolk Free Press.

From Business Opportunities Weblog.

Do Small Business Communities Benefit With Twitter?

Posted: 02 Jul 2009 09:30 AM PDT

photo credit: eyesplash Mikul

Some small business owners, especially those that live in relatively small towns as well wonder if they would even benefit at all from using Twitter. Given it is such a huge and well known program on the Internet today, they wonder if their small business would even pick up on its radar.

Businesses of all sizes are sharing impressive results. Dell announced it has made $3 million worth of sales through its Twitter efforts. Even small businesses in big cities have started benefiting. Small bakeries can now buy an oven-gadget that automatically announces when fresh baked goods are available.

Even in small towns, people do have Internet or access somewhere to the Internet, and with the Internet becoming bigger everyday they all are beginning to use it for searching, shopping and more. You already have some fans for your business in your town, make your business more available to them in more ways by signing up with Twitter.

Also, don’t forget about the people who may live just outside of your town but still within a reasonable driving distance and may not realize you exist until they see you on the Internet. And don’t forget about the out of towners that travel all over and usually do research on the town they will be staying in, recently stated in a post on Small Biz Survival.

From Business Opportunities Weblog.

The Power Of In-Between Technology

Posted: 02 Jul 2009 09:09 AM PDT

Fast Company:

Why Redbox is the biggest movie-rental company you’ve never heard of? Its secret: the power of in-between technology.

Redbox — founded in 2002 as a division of McDonald’s and purchased by Coinstar this year — runs 15,000 machines in stores across the country and plans to have about 20,000 in place by the end of the year. Reed Hastings, founder of Netflix, the innovative darling of the movie-rental business, has called Redbox one of his most challenging rivals. “It’s really scary,” Hastings told The Hollywood Reporter in March.

Redbox is convenient and it’s cheap, but the company’s fortunes also rest on a more sophisticated calculation about the marketplace. Ask any entertainment bigwig where the movie-rental business is going and you’ll hear one thing: digital streaming. Amazon, Apple, Netflix, the cable companies, and many startups are gearing up to send every movie to your home on demand.

But Hollywood’s byzantine licensing structure precludes that from happening anytime soon. Redbox has positioned itself as the perfect in-between technology — the next best thing to on demand. It’s winning by being in more places than Blockbuster and faster than Netflix.

What’s surprising, though, is how much wizardry goes into making Redbox work. Each machine is connected to the Internet via DSL or a 3G cellular modem. This lets customers browse and reserve movies at their local Redbox through the Web, and return movies they rent from one Redbox to any other.

Each machine packs a sophisticated inventory-management system that determines how many copies of different new titles to order based on past performance of similar movies at that location. The kiosks send their inventory orders up to the mother ship every week, and Redbox’s technicians fan out to each kiosk to stock it with new DVDs.

“That’s the most interesting part — where technology meets old-fashioned field distribution,” Lowe says.

Continue Reading: “The Power Of In-Between Technology”

Photo by Redbox.

From Business Opportunities Weblog.

Make Recycling More Accessible By Charging for It

Posted: 02 Jul 2009 09:05 AM PDT

My guest post is up on Cisco Webex’s Ideas in Motion blog. It’s about starting a nationwide for-profit recycling business. Here’s a snippet:

This is not just an eco-friendly possibility but would also be a profitable business, because unlike most municipal recycling programs, the business would charge consumers to pickup and remove their recyclables. As more and more people become eco-conscious, they are trying to do the right thing but don’t always know where to start. Paying a small fee to have your recyclables removed would be a great way to make a small contribution to the environment.

A service like this could make the business owner money and save the consumer from having to find and travel to the appropriate recycling facility in their area. People place more value on something that they pay for than what they get for free, so it is likely that people would develop friendly competitions with their neighbors to see who could have the most recyclable material at their curbside. There’d be status in being a recycler.

Read the rest.

From Business Opportunities Weblog.

Online Shop Brings ‘Hope’ To Eco-Friendly Soapmakers

Posted: 02 Jul 2009 08:40 AM PDT

Did you know that everything you put on your skin is absorbed into your body? That means the shampoo you use, the ink from the pen you used to jot a note on your hand, and your skincare products all find their way into your body. For some that might not be a problem, for others there are all natural alternatives.

Soap Hope brings together the makers of all natural and eco-friendly soap and body wash into one online shop. From Zum Soap to Hugo, they offer a wide variety of soaps that are likely to please everyone’s skin.

Tell us a little about Soap Hope.

Based in Dallas, TX, Soap Hope is a leading online retailer of all-natural, high-quality and affordable body care products. In addition to serving customers, Soap Hope uses its business as a platform to provide leadership and resources for green living, environmentally sustainable business practices, and social responsibility through women's economic empowerment worldwide.

The mission of Soap Hope is to be the most trustworthy and reliable source for body care products for health-conscious people; to carry only products that are 100% all natural and of exceptionally high quality; to be the best value anywhere for the products we carry; to use business practices that create as little impact on the environment as possible; to provide our customers with the kind of service that creates lifelong customer relationships; and to give back to our world community.

What is good for the environment can also be good for business and customers. Soap Hope uses reclaimed (not recycled) packaging materials to create our now-famous "Ugly Box." We re-use clean scrap cardboard from local retailers to create our own boxes, which has an even lower resource footprint than recycling. This practice also enables us to offer the lowest shipping costs in our industry, saving money for our customers and keeping operating costs low for our business.

Many of our suppliers and customers are women, so when we founded Soap Hope we decided to utilize our company's resources to help women entrepreneurs locally, nationally, and internationally with a microloan program. Each year, we invest 100% of the profits of our company for a period of one year into funds that provide microloans, and only then do we distribute profits to our shareholders.

Our store is on the web at www.SoapHope.com. We carry both national and local specialty brands. Our current most popular products are made by Indigo Wild (known for its Zum Soap brand), A Wild Soap Bar, Hugo Naturals, Fraiche and Pangea Organics. Our products include bar soap, liquid soap, shower gel, shampoo, conditioner, and lotion. We select the highest quality products. We look for products that look, smell and feel great, that nourish skin and hair, and that give our customers a luxury bath experience while remaining affordable and accessible.

We also serve as an educational resource for customers and community. Our blog, The Soap Hope Learning Center, contains articles to help consumers learn about all-natural body care products, health benefits of specific natural elements, and how companies can be good citizens that conserve resources and help people in need. We are also speaking at nonprofit conferences, groups focused on women's issues, and microfinance forums. Our leadership team also publishes articles talking about the way we use our business for good causes, in the hopes of encouraging other businesses to join us.

What was the inspiration for the business?

We previously started, built, and sold a successful startup. It was a technology business and its focus was on customers, employees, and growth – but it really didn't have much awareness of the greater community. We decided that all our future business endeavors should give back to our local and global communities. What better way to start than by working with companies that create natural, handcrafted products, and to use our business as a platform for helping others in need. That's how Soap Hope was born. We continually check to make sure our business, our values, and our actions meet the original inspiration behind our name.

How do you find the soap you sell?

We carefully select every brand and product we provide to our customers. We do detailed research on every product line that we carry to make sure it meets our stringent criteria: truly all-natural, high quality, cruelty-free, from a dependable and trustworthy maker. We look for companies that have a proven track record in at least their local market, and who a will benefit from our online distribution. Many soap manufacturers approach us at Soap Hope to sell their products. Our customers count on us to do the research on companies for them. They know that anything they buy from Soap Hope will be high quality from a maker they can trust, and that they will be getting a great price.

How might a soapmaker get their own soap products listed in your shop?

We love to meet new makers of all-natural body care products. We have an application process that new makers go through that allows us to test their products and, if selected, to publish all the important information about their products on our site. The manufacturers we represent get a big boost when we start carrying their products, because we send information to all our customers and we give new makers the opportunity to comarket their products at women's events and nonprofit venues. Any maker who would like to learn about our boarding process can contact us at at: (888) 893-SOAP or e-mail at apply@soaphope.com.

What are your requirements?

We partner with manufacturers, large and small, who share our passion for all-natural and high-quality goods. We evaluate their products based on ingredients, quality, consistency, marketability and value.

We won't carry products that include artificial colors scents, or preservatives; synthetic chemicals; products tested on animals; or products that have excessively wasteful non-biodegradable packaging.

Because adding a brand to our product line is a substantial investment of time and energy on our part, we look for manufacturers who want to participate with us in our marketing of their products by providing samples for our customers and giveaway items for charity events and summits where we speak. We love to brag about our featured makers everywhere we go!

What has the consumer reaction been like?

Our customer response has been overwhelmingly positive. Soap Hope was launched in December 2008, and we have experienced double-digit growth every month.

Our customers frequently tell us that they prefer to buy products from a company that is environmentally and socially responsible. They choose to do business with Soap Hope because we go beyond just selling all-natural products. Of course they appreciate our low-cost and expedited shipping process (we ship orders within one business day), but also I can't tell you how many e-mails and letters we have received thanking us for our Ugly Box and our microloan program. Exceptional products, reasonable prices, great customer service and giving back to the community; it's the whole package and that's why customers keep coming back and what attracts new customers.

What has Soap Hope taught you?

Soap Hope has proven to us that it is possible to be both financially successful while being socially and environmentally responsible. These characteristics are not mutually exclusive, but rather they enhance one other to benefit the company, the customers and the community.

We've learned that customers really care about healthy living and environmental sustainability and want to interact with businesses that share those values. Consumers are using the Internet to more easily find, research, and purchase from companies like ours. As a web-based retailer, the Internet lets customers connect with us anywhere, anytime.

Would you mind telling us a little about your microloan program?

We announced in April of this year that Soap Hope will invest 100 percent of its annual profits each year, for a period of one year, in funds that provide critical lending and education for women entrepreneurs in poverty all around the globe. Soap Hope's suppliers and customers are about 80 percent female, so we decided to use our resources to help women entrepreneurs around the world. Even a small oan can provide a family or even an entire community with life-long sustainability. For us, it's about giving back to our world community and being socially responsible.

Soap Hope is not a charity or a nonprofit organization. Our microloan program isn't a donation - it's an investment. We earn a small (one to two percent) return on the funds we invest for one year. But the program creates huge opportunities for both our business and for microloan recipients. Our goal is to create even greater leverage for the funds we invest in by educating our customers and business partners about these funds, in the hopes that they will also invest in them.

How might someone go about applying for a microloan?

We invest in professionally managed microloan funds. By working with existing microfinance institutions, we can support and strengthen well-established organizations rather than reinventing the wheel. Individuals and small businesses can learn about microfinance by visiting our website and through other online research.

We believe micro lending is most successful when the lending institution also provides a component of education and empowerment beyond lending money; the recipients need practical business and trade education pertinent to their industries and countries. The funds we choose incorporate these elements into their lending programs.

At home, we are working to raise the awareness of customers, suppliers and the general public about the benefits and processes of micro lending. In our efforts to educate, we provide materials and information through our online blog, in inclusions in the packages we send to customers, , and to individuals and corporations who might also be interested in micro lending.

From Business Opportunities Weblog.

Why Your Business Needs A Blog

Posted: 02 Jul 2009 08:30 AM PDT

photo credit: annnna.

Many business owners wonder if their business truly needs a blog or if it is just a waste of their time. Below are some reasons stated recently on Startup Nation that pinpoint why you should have a blog for your business today.

With a blog you can listen and learn. Remember when you were younger and your parents and teachers always said “you can never have too much knowledge”, it’s the same in business, you can never have too much.
This is a great way to test some of your ideas that you are not quite sure about. If they do well on your blog, then you can pretty much assume they will do well in other areas.

Uncover New Opportunities. The more you blog, the more opportunities will present themselves to you. For example, I was contacted by a PR firm earlier this year to create a series of blog posts for the launch of a new website.

If your blogs that you post do well, it is possible for them to rank very high in most search engines that people use everyday, which ultimately means a lot more traffic to your website and thus, more business for you.

From Business Opportunities Weblog.

Enlist A Global Work Force Of Freelancers

Posted: 02 Jul 2009 08:08 AM PDT

The New York Times:

Small businesses increasingly are tapping a new talent pool: the world.

A new generation of online service marketplaces is giving small companies more opportunities than ever to find specialized expertise and affordable labor.

Main Street businesses can shop a virtual international bazaar of freelancers to recruit computer programmers in Russia, graphic designers in San Francisco or data analysts in India.

These online marketplaces are fueled by several trends. The recession and recent wave of downsizing have forced many corporations to eliminate in-house services and use independent contractors instead. Buyouts and layoffs have pushed many skilled professionals into the freelance marketplace.

Meanwhile, technological advances make remote work and virtual teams more feasible. Business processes are allowing companies to mix and match services with more ease than ever. An array of freelance marketplaces are making services tradable online, much as eBay and Craigslist made goods tradable a decade ago.

These sites include general freelance marketplaces (Guru, Elance, oDesk) and others offering specialties like software (Rent A Coder), personal assistants (virtualassistants.com), graphics (99designs), or creative services (CrowdSpring).

Photo by biewoef.

From Business Opportunities Weblog.

Where To Find Your Content Inspiration

Posted: 02 Jul 2009 07:30 AM PDT

photo credit: svensonsan

I can't tell you how often I've uncovered the seed of an idea from something totally unrelated to marketing that I could twist to apply it in a totally new and relevant way.

Duct Tape Marketing recently did an article on several different and some what unusual places where you can go to find your inspiration that you need for content on your site. These are several places that are great sources that many I’m sure have never even thought to go to.

Sign up for a few different magazines such as business week, entrepreneur, and maybe even Good House Keeping for the women entrepreneurs. Go through this pile and see what you can find to write about. Customer feedback is another great source for content. You can always use their questions and discussions as a blog.

SmartBriefs is one of several sites related to many different business related topics, use these sites to see what a lot of highly talented editors are discussing. Use your Twitter account to set up a small group of very interesting Twitter followers that will alert you every week of all the interesting and new topics they are talking about.

From Business Opportunities Weblog.

Niche Biz: Stargazing Cabins

Posted: 02 Jul 2009 07:07 AM PDT

Springwise:

French tourism company Bocages has created a pop-up cabin for four that features a transparent dome in the roof, a telescope and a sky observation kit.

Carré d’étoiles are portable and reversible cube-shaped structures crafted with recyclable wood. Included in each parquet-floored cabin are a double cabin bed, a sofa bed for two, a kitchenette with refrigerator and hot plates, shower, toilet, wardrobe, electric heating, a bio-ethanol fireplace and cast-iron garden furniture for outside.

In addition to modern conveniences like flat-screen TV and connections for MP3, phone and internet, Carré d’étoiles cabins also come equipped with bedding and towels, and extra services such as cleaning and breakfast can be added. Black-out blinds, meanwhile, facilitate use of the telescope and stargazing kit.

Just launched this year, Carré d’étoiles have now been installed in several holiday spots in France. Pricing is EUR 25,000 per unit, according to a report on Forum Eco; structures are delivered fully equipped and ready to use, with an ROI ranging from at least 10 percent in the first year of operation to 30 percent or more in following years, Bocages says.

Photo by Bocages.

From Business Opportunities Weblog.

Car Insurance Articles and Auto Insurance RSS Feeds

2009-07-02T18:02:00.001-07:00

Car Insurance Articles and Auto Insurance RSS Feeds

The Best Car Insurance Companies?

Posted: 02 Jul 2009 11:59 AM PDT

It's no joke that most drivers have at one point or another been in search of finding the best car insurance company. Expectations stay high while drivers seek the company that will give out the cheapest rates while providing top quality services and coverage. But when you line up and compare the findings of a group of drivers who have located "the best" insurer, you'll notice there isn't just one company listed but a few. Each of these companies are offering the policyholder what they need, and because we all have different needs and expectations according to our different situations, most drivers will deem different companies as being the best.

The truth is there isn't just one excellent carrier out there. Many companies offer a variety of great services that are appealing to a number of drivers. Knowing that, it becomes easier to find what you're looking for simply by charting a list of things you find to be important and want your insurance carrier to offer. There are a few specific factors that professionals use to qualify an insurance company as being the best. See if any of their recommendations match your requirements.

"The Best" Is Competitively Priced
It's been said before, but it holds and remains true: no one wants to pay more for a product than necessary. If another company offers the same product, or in this case an auto insurance policy, for a cheaper price, the majority of customers will go to the company with the cheaper price. A competitive price is one that is about the same as what is being offered by other companies with the same product.

In auto insurance, it must be remembered that just because your neighbor is paying a certain low price for their insurance, there is no guarantee you will be given the same price if you switch to that company. Do you drive the same vehicle(s) and have the same driving history? Probably not. Premium costs are determined by a number of factors, including the driver's age, gender and driving record. Also playing a part is the make, model and year of the car, as well as how often it's driven and where it is locked and kept at night.

Another feature of the best auto insurance company relating to price is the number and type of discounts they offer to their customers. Not everyone will be able to qualify for all of the discounts, but most drivers should be eligible for at least one discount opportunity. These range from senior citizen discounts to student discounts and last for a certain period of time and require documentations to qualify.

"The Best" Offers The Coverage You Need
Do you know the type of coverage you need for your policy? The best auto insurance companies offer a wide variety of options that are available to all of their customers. Turning back to your individual list of insurance needs, what coverage do you prefer? Deciding on full coverage with comprehensive and collision coverage is an easy choice unless you have budget restrictions, which might limit the amount of coverage you purchase. Is medical coverage offered by your car insurance carrier? What depth is that coverage and how does it compare to what other companies are offering? Will the insurer replace your totaled or stolen vehicle? Also, if you have a young or new driver on your policy, you may need to purchase a higher amount of coverage to better protect your assets. These are some points to contemplate when comparing different coverage options that are offered by an insurer. While most companies tend to offer the same coverage by identifying it with the same name, check the terms or "fine print" to see where the differences are, if any.

"The Best" Has Great Customer Service
Customers tend to prefer a company more and refer them to others when they've had an enjoyable experience working with them. When representatives of the company are pleasant, polite and knowledgeable, customers will return. While it's important to get these results when talking to the company about a question or something else that is minor, it becomes even more important that the reps stay pleasant, polite and knowledgeable when the time comes to handle a claim. No driver, or customer of any company for that matter, wants to deal with a staff member who has no respect or sympathy during a time of crisis. It would also be sad and add more stress if the rep had no idea what the claims process was or didn't know how to work with the policyholder.

"The Best" Can Pay Their Own Bills
This should be a no brainer, but not many policyholders check out the financial status of a car insurance company before they sign up and purchase a policy. It's essential that an insurer can pay their own expenses and be able to pay for the claims that are made. In order for the company to make a profit, they must have more money coming in (collecting premiums) than going out (expenses and claims). When companies experience a lull in profits, they will increase everyone's premiums to see more money coming in and add to their profit margin. Imagine the situation of making a claim only to be told the company was going bankrupt and wouldn't be able to pay for the damages even though you've been making your premium payments on time.

"The Best" Is Recognized By The State
State Motor Departments have a list of car insurance carriers within the state that they approve of. This list shows those companies that are legit and approved by the State, therefore they are probably safe to go with and use for your insurance needs. Usually on this list are also reports on the company, including past complaints by former customers. You can check out this list in most states throughout the country to get a better idea of who you would want to use.

As noted earlier, "the best" car insurance carrier is the one that will fit the specific needs of the policyholder. If you're not sure of your exact needs, list them along with ways your needs will be met.You can start by using our comparison tool located below or above to find the best auto insurance quotes near you.

Autos Craze - Autos Blog

2009-07-02T09:01:00.001-07:00

Autos Craze - Autos Blog

Toyota on Top this Year

Posted: 02 Jul 2009 12:38 AM PDT

Toyota tops American made cars this year according to the American-Made index released by cars.com. Even in the troubled economy Toyota sales have sky rocketed and people have embraced its presence in their lives. Toyota cars go a long way in providing you domestic utility solutions as well as practical support. They are tough and trendy and come of great help to anybody. The Toyota has really been on the top rank of movers and shakers of the main cars of the year. This brand has topped all sales records with certain models and extended a huge US based market.

The Ford F150 lost its top rank as compared to 2006. The new number one is Toyota Camry. The parts of this model got assembled in Georgetown, KY as well as Lafayette, In. the Camry's domestic part contents helped it reach this top position though it really edged out F150 by a long shot. There have been dramatic high as well as low sales with the Ford F-150 while Toyota made rather spectacular and steady sales of the Camry, Sienna, Tundra and Venza. Venza was in fact released this year only.

GM placed the Chevrolet Malibu, Silverado and GMC Sierra with the Ford F-150. Ford Taurus too enjoys high domestic part contents that being about 90% with it. Al Odyssey, the Lincoln and one Honda went to the top ten ranking with 80% domestic parts with them. The comprehensive list of ranking includes:

1. Toyota Camry – Georgetown, Ky.; Lafayette, Ind.

2. Ford F-150 – Dearborn, Mich.; Claycomo, Mo.

3. Chevrolet Malibu – Kansas City, Kan.

4. Honda Odyssey – Lincoln, Ala.

5. Chevrolet Silverado 1500 – Fort Wayne, Ind.

6. Toyota Sienna – Princeton, Ind.

7. Toyota Tundra – San Antonio, TX

8. GMC Sierra 1500 – Fort Wayne, Ind.

9. Ford Taurus – Chicago.

10. Toyota Venza – Georgetown, Ky.

Business Opportunities Weblog

2009-07-02T05:08:00.001-07:00

Business Opportunities Weblog

Preserving Cash For Your Business
Inventors Seek Pot Of Gold
Tips For Restaurant Owners To Follow
When Someone Googles Your Name, What Do You Want to Happen?
Is Self-Employment Falling?
Where Underpants Come From
Don’t Do’s For All Entrepreneurs
Want Free Business Advice? Listen to Your Customers!
High Acheivers And How They Do It
U.S. Personal Bizs Grew By Almost 1 Million In 2007

Preserving Cash For Your Business

Posted: 01 Jul 2009 01:30 PM PDT

photo credit: AMagill

If you're running a small business today and aren't thinking about how to tighten your belt, you are surely in rarefied company. But if you're like the rest of us, you're scrambling to cover expenses, pay bills and make payroll.

Take a look at all of your expenses going out in such things as insurance and yearly contracts. Instead of just simply renewing these contracts assuming they are still valid, take a look and see where there can be a change made that will save you some money.

You may have several service contracts that you don’t really need anymore. Your insurance policy may not reflect the current years prices and should be changed accordingly. Invite your insurance agent to visit your business once a year to re-evaluate your policy.

OpenForum suggests reviewing your current medical insurance plan and see where a few changes could be made that will definitely save you some money. There may be some medical add ins that you can trim off.

From Business Opportunities Weblog.

Inventors Seek Pot Of Gold

Posted: 01 Jul 2009 11:11 AM PDT

USA TODAY:

You’ve probably never heard of Rachel Taylor. But it won’t be long before you can turn on the TV and hear hard-sell pitches — again and again — to buy the one-size-fits-all hair clip she invented.

Taylor is a rare winner in a world of inventors bedeviled by losers. She recently earned a much sought after chance to strike it rich, thanks to a demonstration she gave for the right set of eyes.

At a recent Friday for direct-response kingpin TeleBrands’ monthly inventor’s casting call, Taylor was one of some 50 inventors who sweated, squirmed and stuttered their way through product pitches they hoped would dazzle CEO A.J. Khubani.

During a long day at TeleBrands’ headquarters in this suburban office park, the competition is intense. Each inventor has but a few moments in front of Khubani to land the sale of a lifetime. On the line: the potential to leap from inventor wannabe to serious player in the $170 billion direct-response industry. A nod from TeleBrands means a negotiated share of sales through royalties that can make an inventor wealthy.

Taylor, dressed in bright pink, coolly demonstrates — on an assistant and on several other women, including Khubani’s wife, Poonam, — how her Clever Clip works on hair of any length or thickness. As she drove back to Baltimore, several hours after her pitch, her cellphone rang with Khubani’s thumbs-up call.

Photo by Clever Clip.

From Business Opportunities Weblog.

Tips For Restaurant Owners To Follow

Posted: 01 Jul 2009 10:30 AM PDT

photo credit: d e r r i d a !

I recently ran across what I think are some very wise and helpful tips for restaurant owners on Inc.com, because lets face it in today’s economy we could all use a little help no matter what our business is.

Make sure you buy wisely.

As chefs discovered savings, they began to add more supplies to the group-buying bucket. "Saving 2 percent here and 3 percent there adds up to a lot, especially in a business with razor-thin margins,” Meyer says. “And it has preserved our culture of bottom-up leadership."

Stay close to all of your staff. Have you ever heard that expression “only one woman per kitchen” ? It’s basically the same rule of thumb, if there is more than one “chef” toes could get stepped on from time to time. So stay close and know when there is a problem arising so that you can allow them to hash it out and move on.

Make sure there is room for expanding within your business. You may increase your customer volume and find yourself needing to expand the kitchen, the stock purchases, employees, insurance and so on, so always make sure you save room for growth.

From Business Opportunities Weblog.

When Someone Googles Your Name, What Do You Want to Happen?

Posted: 01 Jul 2009 10:10 AM PDT

BusinessKnowHow:

In my humble opinion, I want four (types of) things to happen:

1. SEARCH RESULTS. First and foremost. The instant barometer of your brand. Because if you don't exist on Google, you don't exist.

2. SILENT DIALOGUES. This comes second. This is the stuff people think when they see your name.

3. IMMEDIATE ACTION. That's what you want to happen next. People impelled to click and explore you and your business further.

4. CONTACT. Here's the final step. After people have Googled you, reacted and taken initial action, this is the crucial component. It's when you compound attraction with outreach. Because ideally, you'd like people to email, call or reach out to you in SOME way.

Photo by Google.

From Business Opportunities Weblog.

Is Self-Employment Falling?

Posted: 01 Jul 2009 09:30 AM PDT

photo credit: JustinLowery.com

A recent study was posted on Small Business Labs pertaining to the fact that Entrepreneurship may be decreasing. However, I would have to disagree with this study given the fact that there have been so many reports recently on new franchises, now being the best time to start a business, many people being laid off and deciding to become entrepreneurs and so on.

While self-employment as a percentage of the U.S. workforce has been relatively stable, we believe over the next decade the percentage of self-employed Americans will increase.

There are several different ways that these studies are conducted, and many variables on what they consider to be self-employment and what they don’t. So where we very well may consider our selves to be self-employed, the person conducting these studies may not, which would make the study inconclusive.

From Business Opportunities Weblog.

Where Underpants Come From

Posted: 01 Jul 2009 09:09 AM PDT

800CEORead:

When Joe Bennett bought a six-pack of underwear in his local supermarket for five dollars, he wondered who on earth could be making any money, let alone profit, from the exchange.

How many processes and middlemen are involved? Where and how is the underwear made? And who decides on the absorbent qualities of the gusset?

Joe embarks on an odyssey to the new factory of the world, China, to trace his underwear back to their source. Along the way he discovers the extraordinarily balanced and intricate web of contacts and exchanges that makes global trade possible-and is rapidly elevating China to the status of world economic superpower.

He also grapples with chopsticks, challenges his own prejudices, and marvels at the contrasts in one of the world’s oldest but fastest changing societies.

Funny, wise, and insightful, “Where Underpants Come From” is a wonderful and timely picture of the developed world’s dependence on China to make all the bits and pieces of our lives-everything from toothbrushes to overhead projectors and artificial kidneys.

Photo by Simon & Schuster.

From Business Opportunities Weblog.

Don’t Do’s For All Entrepreneurs

Posted: 01 Jul 2009 08:30 AM PDT

photo credit: jonfeinstein

We spend a lot of time going over all of the correct decisions and moves that entrepreneurs should make, but I think we should spend a little time on the things that entrepreneurs shouldn’t do, I believe those are just as important.

OpenForum recently suggested that you shouldn’t worry about your product being perfect. This is never going to happen as perfectionism does not exist. When you feel your product is “good” but maybe not perfect, ship it anyway and see what results you get from it.

Don't ask people to do something you wouldn't do. This is the Golden Rule of business. If you wouldn't fill out ten fields of information and provide a credit card number for a free password, don't expect your customers too.

Don’t ever hire a family member expecting it to be the best choice you ever made. The likelihood of that situation working out for either of your benefits is around 0%. Stop worrying about the valuation. Your company will either flop or it will make you money. No matter if you have 10% or 40%, it doesn’t really matter either way, because if you’ve made 0$ than 10% of that is still 0$, so in the end take whatever money you have brought in and try to turn it into more.

From Business Opportunities Weblog.

Want Free Business Advice? Listen to Your Customers!

Posted: 01 Jul 2009 08:08 AM PDT

SmallBizBee:

How well do you listen to what your customers have to say? Richard Branson points out in this short interview segment with Seth Godin, listening to all customer feedback should be part of your business strategy.

From Business Opportunities Weblog.

High Acheivers And How They Do It

Posted: 01 Jul 2009 07:30 AM PDT

photo credit: wili_hybrid

Many people look at the high achievers in their company and think to themselves “how does he do that?” We wonder what drives them, is it a high level of energy, a person in the background coaching them on or do they drink way too much coffee? Finally here are some answers, some suggestions on how to become one of those high achievers.

Paradox alert! Work through the tedium. Much of what you need to do to become a superstar is repetitive–it will be boring. But there are those things you have to do in order to do what you want to do.

You have to be able to say when enough is enough, admit when you can’t take on anymore. Some people are known for overloading their plates beyond their means, but a high achiever is one who can recognize when they have taken on all they can handle.

Stay after hours a little longer. When the clock strikes 5 for closing time, rather than packing up and saving your unfinished work for the morning, stay even just 15 minute’s longer to finish up. This will also give you a sense of completion and save you time first thing the next morning from completing your unfinished work, as suggested on Entrepreneur.com.

From Business Opportunities Weblog.

U.S. Personal Bizs Grew By Almost 1 Million In 2007

Posted: 01 Jul 2009 07:07 AM PDT

Small Business Labs:

According to new data released by the U.S. Census, the number of personal businesses - whicy are single person businesses with no employees - increased by close to 1 million in 2007 reaching 21.7 million. This is an increase of 4.5% over 20.8 million personal businesses recorded in 2006.

This increases the total number of U.S. small businesses (defined as less than 500 employees) to roughly 28 million.

The personal business category includes freelancers, independent contractors and other forms of self-employment. The Census derives this data from tax returns. This number includes full time and part-time personal businesses. The Census calls this group “nonemployer businessess.”

Personal business total receipts (roughly equivalent to revenue) grew 2.2% to $992 billion. This means personal businesses generated about 7.5% of America’s economic activity in 2007. The average personal business had about $46,000 in receipts in 2007.

Photo by Egahen.

From Business Opportunities Weblog.

Car Insurance Articles and Auto Insurance RSS Feeds

2009-07-01T17:59:00.001-07:00

Car Insurance Articles and Auto Insurance RSS Feeds

Do You Need Proof of Auto Insurance?

Posted: 01 Jul 2009 10:49 AM PDT

Drivers who need instant proof of insurance are those drivers who were found driving without coverage and need it to reinstate their driver's license or vehicle registration. There is also a law stating that all drivers need some kind of proof of financial responsibility when they drive. This financial responsibility is often in the form of auto insurance and the "proof card" needs to be in the car at all times so it is available upon request of any traffic officer.

Because all states require financial responsibility and car insurance is the most popular form of it, it's important to know the type of liability that is essential for all drivers to carry, as dictated by state law. Bodily injury liability and property damage liability are the two that are required in every state. They take care of the other driver's injuries and repair costs, up to the amount purchased. In some states, more insurance is required such as uninsured motorist and personal injury protection coverage. Uninsured motorist liability protects the policyholder and members by enforcing their insurance carrier to pay for damages inflicted upon them and/or their property by the motorist without insurance. Personal injury protection is a type of medical coverage offered by most auto insurers, which will pay for a list of things including lost wages, accident-related injuries, and pedestrians struck. State legislation believes it to be in the best interest of each driver to have this law in effect.

When a driver finds themselves in a situation involving a traffic stop or accident, the officer in attendance will usually request proof of insurance in addition to the driver's license and vehicle registration. If the driver does not have this proof of insurance, consequences will follow. They may not be quite so stern if the driver can prove they have current auto insurance and simply forgot their card, but the penalties will definitely be severe when the officer knows the driver was operating the vehicle without insurance.

Another situation where this proof of insurance card may be needed is when you purchase a new vehicle with a loan. The bank loaning the money for your new purchase will require that the new car you purchase be covered with "full coverage" or comprehensive and collision coverage in addition to the state minimum requirements. These additional coverage options are in place to protect the car's cash value if something should happen to it. The bank wants to be sure that in the event the car is totaled or damaged it will be replaced or repaired in a manner that will guarantee the bank doesn't lose money on the car. Before the bank will agree to loan out the money, the driver purchasing the car needs to show them there is already an auto insurance policy in place to protect the vehicle as soon as it is purchased. The proof of insurance card will have the necessary information the bank will need to show such insurance.

Penalties
Because each state has different requirements regarding auto coverage law, each state will also carry different penalties. Some of these penalties include fines and the suspension of the driver's license and/or suspension of the vehicle registration. Another factor is how often a driver is found guilty of breaking this law. Subsequent offenses will lead to more fines and jail time.

In some states, insurance companies and State Departments of Motor Vehicles communicate with each other. Insurers notify Motor Departments when policies are canceled and not renewed. In some cases, it is justifiable because the former policyholder has moved out of state. If the policyholder can prove this, no action will be taken. In other cases, when the policyholder failed to renew the policy and didn't start a new policy by choice, the law will come looking for the reason why there is not a new policy in place and will most likely give fines.

SR-22
An SR-22 is another form of proof of insurance, but this is specifically assigned to drivers who are considered very high risk, have been involved in a large number of accidents, or have been convicted of driving while under the influence of drugs or alcohol. Sometimes, people who have been caught driving without car insurance are mandated to also have an SR-22 in addition to a new insurance policy. It is not additional insurance for your vehicle, but a form that is filled out by your insurer and then sent to the State Motor Department where it is kept as part of your driving record. It is not to replace a policy, but to be used as an additional way to ensure this driver has insurance now. It is also a type of "tag" with the SR-22 to let anyone who views his record know that s/he has not been 100% compliant with the laws.

Need Proof Now?
For any driver who needs proof of insurance right now and does not have the time to search individual car insurance companies, make a purchase and wait for a company to mail the proof, you should check out our comparison tool feature to receive free quotes from a list of local insurance companies. You can compare the rates and the companies who provide them and make your decision to purchase the policy right there on the site. In many instances, you will be granted with the ability to print off your own proof of insurance card from your printer. You could also have it faxed to you from our offices if you don't have access to a printer or would prefer this method. There is also a choice to download the policy and proof card to your computer to print the proof of insurance card later. All of these methods can be used in court to reinstate your driver's license or vehicle registration, and if you don't need it right away, you can go "traditional" and request the card to be sent my mail.

All drivers need to have a proof of auto insurance form or card in their vehicle at all times. If you do not have insurance at this time, use our comparison tool to find a policy that will work for you and give you the means to have this card in your possession.

Business Opportunities Weblog

2009-07-01T05:38:00.001-07:00

Business Opportunities Weblog

What Partners Not To Choose For Your Start-Up
Working For Yourself Means Freedom — But It Doesn’t Come Free
Making Your Website Mobile Friendly
Niche Biz: Ficklets
Managing Customer Reviews
Assetize: Buy & Sell Online Accounts
Why We Do What We Do
Cisco Says Telecommuting Saves Money and the World
Hiring The Right Person
Recession Generation?

What Partners Not To Choose For Your Start-Up

Posted: 30 Jun 2009 01:30 PM PDT

photo credit: kunalmehta

When making the decision to take on a partner for your start-up, one needs to remember to choose wisely. This person should be considered as your right hand man, someone that you will be involved with for the long hall. I recently read an article on Entrepreneur.com that gives some examples of the people to stay away from when choosing your partner that i couldn’t agree with more.

Mr. College buddy is never a good choice for several reasons. Remember his behavior in college? Unless he’s made a drastic transformation i wouldn’t suggest choosing him. He also is the one who is most likely going to forward you his new expensive address so you can mail his 50% to him every month.

Mr. Spender can't possibly survive without a six-figure salary, lavish office and an in-house cigar roller. Price is no object when it comes to entertaining a client or flying first class.

Mr. Vacation is another one pretty similar to Mr. College buddy, they are NEVER around especially when you need them the most. Mr. Personal issues, this is the guy who has a personal reason and or excuse for everything in the book. He has a built in way out of everything that you need him to do for the company.

From Business Opportunities Weblog.

Working For Yourself Means Freedom — But It Doesn’t Come Free

Posted: 30 Jun 2009 11:11 AM PDT

The Wall Street Journal:

Perhaps the greatest advantage of hanging out your own shingle or making that consulting business full-time is the independence that comes with being your own boss. But higher expenses and other costs come along with your newfound liberty. You may not be able to sock away as much pretax for retirement, and you may have trouble refinancing your mortgage. Your higher tax bills may shock you, too.

All in all, if you go out on your own, you may need to bring in up to 20% more than before just to break even, especially if you can’t piggyback on your spouse’s health insurance, says David Strege, a financial planner in West Des Moines, Iowa.

That doesn’t mean you shouldn’t try. There are few more gratifying accomplishments than making it on your own. But here’s what you should keep in mind as you figure out what to charge for your work and how to budget for your future.

As an employee, you will pay 6.2% of your earnings (up to $106,800 this year) for Social Security and 1.45% of your income (with no limits) for Medicare, while your employer will pay an equal amount. But when you say goodbye to the Man, you will pay the whole 15.3%.

The good news is that the taxes apply only after you deduct your expenses, and your “employer” half is deductible from your federal taxes. But if your expenses aren’t especially high, your total tax costs will go up.

Continue Reading: “Working For Yourself Means Freedom — But It Doesn’t Come Free”

Photo by cvukom.

From Business Opportunities Weblog.

Making Your Website Mobile Friendly

Posted: 30 Jun 2009 10:30 AM PDT

photo credit: William Hook

In the day and age where people are constantly on the go, it’s no wonder that technology is making it possible for people to do so many things from a cell phone, as that is generally the device people are using most often. Is your site mobile friendly though? Look below for some ways to ensure your site is mobile friendly for your clients, recently published on SmallBizTechnology.

Review your competition. Take a look at what your competitor's sites look like on various devices. This may be an opportunity for you to create a competitive edge!

When setting your site up for mobile users, think about how they will be using their device to look around your site, this should help you design it in such a way that it makes things easier for them. Test your site before completing the final steps. There are many sites that allow you to see exactly what it will look like from a mobile device.

Most mobile devices will not see flashes very well, so when designing your website make sure you do not include a lot of these flash programs.

From Business Opportunities Weblog.

Niche Biz: Ficklets

Posted: 30 Jun 2009 10:10 AM PDT

For most kids, wearing eyeglasses for the first time can be a traumatic and unpleasant experience.

Further adding to their anxiety is the limited selection of frames available for today’s youngsters in the marketplace; the frames are basic, standard, uninteresting, bland and lack personality, and leave very little to the imagination.

As any stylish mom knows, plain and ordinary is just not an option, and for kids and ‘tweens, the “cool” factor is a must in any accessory.

Introducing Ficklets. No more boring, cookie cutter frames. Ficklets offers a more customized, versatile and unique look, fusing function and fashion.

More importantly, Ficklets can help make the transition for the novice eyeglass wearer a more positive and enjoyable experience.

Ficklets are interchangeable eyewear charms, easy to attach and remove, giving you "eye-popping" options to mix-and-match depending on your interest, outfit or mood.

Ficklets was founded and created by Ros Guerrero, a mother and an entrepenuer. Ros is the mother of a 13-year old beautiful "special needs" little girl and decided to start Ficklets as a way to add color, fun, and personality to her daughter's eyewear. She also wanted to find an inexpensive way to update the look of her daughter's glasses without having to change the actual eyeglass frames often.

Photo by Ficklets.

From Business Opportunities Weblog.

Managing Customer Reviews

Posted: 30 Jun 2009 09:30 AM PDT

photo credit: Mindsay Mohan

In business one of the things that needs some attention often is that of customer reviews. While this may not be every one’s favorite part of their job, it is a part of their job that will always be there. I recently found some helpful tips on managing your companies reviews located on Small Business Trends.

First things first, you have to know where the customers are leaving their reviews about your company. Try looking for the reviews in search engines such as Yelp, Google, City search and Yahoo local search. Write a few thank yous to the people leaving you exceptional reviews, this will encourage more feedback for you in the future.

If you happen to receive a bad review, take a step back, breathe deep and calm down. Every company is going to get a bad review once in a while, it is not avoidable, you can’t please EVERYONE.

Address the complaint. Calmly: Apologize for their bad experience, invite them back for another go and restate your commitment to making things right. It will very often appease the angry reviewer, but more than that, it shows anyone else who stumbles upon that review that you care.

In the end, always make sure that you take the high road when dealing with a bad review. Never respond in a negative manner, this only worsens the situation and potentially makes it a bigger deal than it needs to be.

From Business Opportunities Weblog.

Assetize: Buy & Sell Online Accounts

Posted: 30 Jun 2009 09:09 AM PDT

MakeUseOf.com:

As millions of people join services like Facebook, Twitter, FriendFeed, Gmail… etc, good account names are becoming a rare commodity, and it certainly true that the right name on account can attract more followers and add value to online presence.

Some people are already buying and selling their online accounts just like domain names, and Assetize helps them with that. It acts as online marketplace where users can buy and sell online accounts.

The site currently allows to buy and sell online accounts of following services: Blogger, Facebook, Friendfeed, Gmail, Google Groups, Ning, Twitter, Wordpress and Yahoo.

The process is similar to many other online auctions, users register and then list to sell items or browse listings of others to buy them. Buying and listing online accounts is free, the seller pays a certain fee only when the account is sold.

Photo by Assetize.

From Business Opportunities Weblog.

Why We Do What We Do

Posted: 30 Jun 2009 08:30 AM PDT

photo credit: e-magic

Throughout our adult life many of us wonder why we do certain things that we do whether it be in our personal lives or our business life. We rack our brains trying to figure out our own behavior and decisions we make. I read an article this morning on OpenForum giving some hints on why we do what we do that i found to make a lot of sense.

It starts at an early age when we are kids. From the first day of school we begin training for life’s situations. Look at the times you studied for week’s for a test knowing that a week later you would receive a grade for those efforts you made. It’s the same principal in work, you work for three week’s knowing you will receive your salary check on the fourth week.

All that we do appears to be governed by reward systems, and the most powerful reward systems are short-term. Short-term rewards are meant to sustain, to preserve the status quo.

Lets face it, it all boils down to the reward we will receive for the job that we did. The only problem with this is that many of us do a task or job expecting to get our reward in the near future, when we may need to wait it out for a while before seeing the rewards.

From Business Opportunities Weblog.

Cisco Says Telecommuting Saves Money and the World

Posted: 30 Jun 2009 08:08 AM PDT

Fast Company:

Good news for homebodies: A Cisco survey of 2,000 people worldwide has revealed that employees who telecommute experience higher rates of productivity, work-life flexibility, and overall satisfaction. As if that isn’t enough, the survey also showed that telecommuting saves the company money and drastically reduces carbon dioxide emissions.

According to Rob Rolfsen, Cisco’s director of process, governance and sustainability, the survey was inspired by a British study that claimed working from home was worse from an environmental perspective than going into the office. “They made the untrue assumption that you turn everything off in the house when you leave,” Rolfson said. So Cisco decided to find out the truth about teleworking.

Cisco’s workforce telecommutes an average of two dates a week, but many workers surveyed said they would prefer to work from home three days a week. That’s not surprising when you look at other results from the survey–75% of respondents said their work was more timely when telecommuting, 83% said their ability to communicate with co-workers was the same or better than in the office, and 67% claimed that the overall quality of their work improved. The vast majority of respondents (91%) said telecommuting was important to their overall job satisfaction.

But telecommuting doesn’t just help employees. It also helps the company’s bottom line, saving Cisco approximately $277 million each year in time and productivity costs. And then, of course, are the obvious environmental benefits of not driving or taking public transportation to work. In 2007 alone, Cisco employees stopped 47,320 metric tons of greenhouse gases from being released. Workers also saved $10.3 million in fuel costs each year from telecommuting.

Photo by clix.

From Business Opportunities Weblog.

Hiring The Right Person

Posted: 30 Jun 2009 07:30 AM PDT

photo credit: yummiec00kies

Many managers and business owners today find hiring new people to be more of a hassle than they have time for. With so many out of work people at the moment, one ad in the paper brings in a ton of people wanting that ONE job for themselves. So to help out the managers and owners, below are a few tips on hiring new people that i read about recently on Entrepreneur.com.

Always make sure to define your requirements as carefully and clear as you can. If your too broad and general than you could end up having to interview several non qualified people. Weed through the applicants and find the ones who have a long standing track record within whatever company or companies they worked for.

It's still about the passive seekers. I personally recently hired a VP of Marketing for my company, but when I first came across him, he was already installed at another company. I courted him for months, persuaded him and eventually he came to work for me.

In the end always make sure that you are not settling in order to have the hassle be over with. It may be a challenging task in hiring someone new, but stick it out and make sure you find your company the absolute best out of everyone that applies for the job.

From Business Opportunities Weblog.

Recession Generation?

Posted: 30 Jun 2009 07:07 AM PDT

USA TODAY:

At age 26, Angela Trilli doesn’t think she’s one of those so-called materialistic Millennials she has heard about — young people who are absorbed with themselves and their consumption.

She says she’s a saver, not a spender, but unlike many of her peers who didn’t have much to lose in this struggling economy, she says she lost $15,000 — about half of the savings she built up since childhood.

“It’s a very insecure world out there,” says Trilli, of Kendall Park, N.J., who works in marketing for a non-profit. “It was a little shocking to the system. You think things are going in a certain way, but you can’t expect that things are always going to be the same.”

The Millennial generation, or Gen Y, ranges from people in their 20s to those still in grade school. But what they all have in common is the knowledge that the recession has in some way shattered the world they thought they knew.

And, depending upon how long the downturn lasts, historians, economists and psychologists say it could shape Millennials’ values and attitudes in much the same way the Depression shaped the attitudes of those growing up in the 1930s.

“I call it the end of Disney World,” says Michael Bradley, an adolescent psychologist in suburban Philadelphia. But now, young people are reordering their values.

Continue Reading: “Recession Generation?”

Photo by USA TODAY.

From Business Opportunities Weblog.

Car Insurance Articles and Auto Insurance RSS Feeds

2009-06-30T17:05:00.001-07:00

Car Insurance Articles and Auto Insurance RSS Feeds

How to Get Your Online Car Insurance Policy

Posted: 30 Jun 2009 03:02 PM PDT

More and more drivers are turning to the Internet to find and purchase their auto insurance policy online. Traditionally, drivers would compare insurance quotes from a number of companies by repeatedly asking the same questions and driving around town collecting the information. Then they would make their comparisons and contact the company of their choice. After waiting a lengthy number of business days, the huge packet of paper (your policy) and proof of insurance card would arrive via snail-mail.

Now the option is given to every driver to take advantage of the ease of using the Internet and purchase car insurance policies online. Whether you are looking to insure a teenager, a classic or modified vehicle, or find insurance for someone with a spotted driving record, you will be able to find a provider on the Web. It's even easier when you use our comparison tool, which is available to everyone with no obligations or fees. (You can begin the process by entering in your zip code in the appropriate box on the Web page.) Some drivers are granted the privilege of receiving proof of insurance instantly by printing it out on their computer.

Save Your Time
To anyone who has not searched for an insurance policy online, we understand it can be an intimidating process when you don't know what to expect or know the benefits of it. There's really no more to comparing and purchasing insurance policies over the Internet than doing it by contacting each carrier. There's actually less work to be done when you choose to go online. Instead of asking the same questions to each insurer individually and having them ask you the same questions over and over again, we have only one list of questions that you need to answer and then we will provide you with a list of insurers who match what you want. It's really that easy.

What You'll Need
The information you will need to provide for this list of questions to get your free quotes is your name, age, address, and vehicle information. We do not ask for information such as your social security number or your driver's license number as many people feel this can compromise your safety on the Internet. Identity theft is a big issue and we do not sell any of your information to other parties for their benefit. When you go to purchase the policy of one of the given quotes, you will then be asked for this personal information as a means to verify your own identity.

Going Green
Many people have an eye on the environment and wanting to go green. Paperless insurance policies are a benefit to people as they decrease the amount of clutter found in the home office, and they help the environment with less trash added to the landfills. Filling out the insurance policy online is easy while also eliminating more paper waste. You can do an electronic signature on the forms that will be acceptable to the insurer.

What An Online Policy Looks Like
An online car insurance policy looks similar to a paper policy. It also depends on the type of coverage one desires to purchase that is reflected in the policy. The declarations page will show the liability amounts purchased and additional types of coverage purchased. Also shown are the vehicle(s) insured and the driver's information, such as their address and phone number.

It also acts like a paper policy, where adding another vehicle to the policy or receiving traffic violations will increase the premium. Many of the same rules apply to online policies; in fact, the only thing that is different is how convenient an online policy is.

How Do I Pay For It?
Paying for your online policy is easy. You only need your credit card to make the purchase. To renew your policy, you can pay online again if your insurer offers a Website with the ability to pay the bill. If for some reason you are not happy with your policy and wish to purchase one from someone else, you can re-do your search on our site and purchase a different policy from another company. Your goal is to find the best insurance carrier and policy and it may take a few tries and some patience to get it right.

What Coverage Options Do I Have?
The coverage options on a policy bought online are the same as a traditional paper policy. You have liability options for bodily injury and property damage, as well as expanded options like comprehensive and collision. Medical payment and personal injury protection are available to help with medical costs, and there are others offered too. All coverage options are decided on by the insurance company you choose.

What Policy Is Best?
The best auto insurance policy – be it online or in paper form – can only be decided by the policyholder. All drivers have different needs; some need to insure multiple drivers on their policy, others have multiple cars to insure. Drivers who need lots of medical coverage have different needs than those drivers who have impeccable health insurance and don't need the additional medical coverage in their auto insurance policy. Assess your needs with what is being offered in your policy, and you will know which policy is best for your situation. Keep in mind that the more coverage you need in your policy, the higher the price will be.

Can I Get Discounts On My Online Policy?
Of course you can get discounts. Again, an online policy works just like a paper policy. Anything the auto insurance carrier offers is available by Internet and paper. Discounts for attending safety classes and students who earn good grades are a couple discounts offered by most insurers.

Not everyone is satisfied with their current car insurance company or their policy and need to see some changes to either lower their bill or have a better customer service experience. Comparing quotes and purchasing a new policy online will help drivers see what else is available and help make their auto insurance situation better.

Autos Craze - Autos Blog

2009-06-30T09:07:00.001-07:00

Autos Craze - Autos Blog

Enhanced commercial appeal of 2010 Subaru Legacy

Posted: 30 Jun 2009 03:50 AM PDT

Many think that if they dig deeper for information about Subaru history, they find that this Japanese carmaker is Swedish in actual. If one is willing to rifling through the dusty archives of the company, one finds that the company was born in Scandinavia at first, but ended to turn up as Japanese automaker.

There are many things that serve as hallmarks in the vehicles developed by Swedish carmakers. You can better understand this by looking at its quirky styling, left-field drivetrains adherence, emphasis on honest utility and different clientele base. All these things indicate towards Swedish influence on that side.

Subaru seems to thrive quite awesomely and the thing that seems to create a real big difference in this automaker and other members of its family is enhanced commercial appeal that is expected to prove quite effective for the automaker to make more and more money in the coming days.

The company is also getting bigger share in the auto market right at the moment and it is mainly because of its enhanced commercial appeal for this and the coming year. Even in these days of worldwide economic slowdown, the company just saw 1.8% drop in its sales.

Source: autoblog

The first impression of Mitsubishi

Posted: 29 Jun 2009 08:49 PM PDT

The Mitsubishi Lancer will be introducing in Paris with a fantastic opening. Lot of expectations is there about the car, and performance of the car. They give guarantee for the style and look of the car.

Only few cars giving a pleasant effect like the Mitsubishi cars. This model cars will introduced in 2010 or before the summer of 2010. They planned to attract the customer in the summer itself because lot of customer likes to buy the car in summer only.

The Mitsubishi lancer Ralliat Sportback is similar to an old one with few alterations in the features. Even though the feature is limited the importance for the shape of the car is increased from the people side.

It is very much similar to the previous MR model cars. Lot of features is introduced in this new car, like Evo-first moonroof. Mitsubishi always on top in the pricing of the car, they fixed cost of the car be $40000.

[Show as slideshow]

Source: autoblog

Business Opportunities Weblog

2009-06-30T05:24:00.000-07:00

Business Opportunities Weblog

Fleece and Flannel Mean Comfort and Security
Getting Blogs To Cover Your Business
Avoid Selling Your Soul
Unleashing Your Employees Creativity
Teens Are Building Their Own Job Engine
Words That Dont Work In Ads
Sewing Bizs Finding Niche In Midst Of Recession
Bill On The Table For Home Offices
Entrepreneur Aspires To Sell 1 Million T-Shirts
Charge Card Or Credit Card?
Michael Jackson: King Of…Patents?
Simple Steps Towards Good PR
Biz Poll: Breaking News!

Fleece and Flannel Mean Comfort and Security

Posted: 29 Jun 2009 03:45 PM PDT

Fortune Small Business:

When consumers get cold feet, what’s an entrepreneur to do? Sell them footed pajamas: a grown-up version of Dr. Denton’s kiddie sleepwear.

Four years ago Valerie Johnson started Big Feet Pajama Co. from the basement of her Las Vegas home. The former stockbroker, who says she can’t even sew a straight seam, sold $360,000 worth of pajamas in 2005; revenues hit $2 million in 2008. Despite the recession, she expects to top $2.5 million this year, thanks to strong advance orders for next winter’s holiday season.

“Fleece and flannel mean comfort and security,” she says. “My pajamas are a small, practical indulgence when all the fun has been squeezed out of the family budget.”

From Business Opportunities Weblog.

Getting Blogs To Cover Your Business

Posted: 29 Jun 2009 01:30 PM PDT

photo credit: jmerelo

For those seeking coverage, blogs have developed into an ecosystem where there are hundreds of thousands of specialized media outlets, creating unprecedented opportunity to get your business' story in front of the right people.

In order to obtain coverage from blogs on your business, first things first is you will have to establish yourself in that community. Introduce yourself, say hello, maybe make a few comments on blogs already posted and possibly give some good advice.

There are thousands and thousands of blogs out there to choose from, so don’t just go with the first one you see, shop around online a little and read a few before making your final decision, recently suggested on OpenForum.

Make sure you don’t beat around the bush when your pitching your business to a blog to cover. Tell them flat out why your business is worth them writing a post about, add some information in attachments that helps support the statement that your business is worth the post.

From Business Opportunities Weblog.

Avoid Selling Your Soul

Posted: 29 Jun 2009 12:30 PM PDT

photo credit: h.koppdelaney

When we think of selling a product or service, sometimes it almost seems as though we have to damn near sell our own soul in order to make a sale. This does not have to be the case! Here are some selling tips for you that should make your sale going smoother without giving away your soul in the process.

BPlans recently suggested to make sure you really listen to the other person and actually absorb everything they are saying to you.

A customer loves nothing more than a sales person who empathizes with them. Put yourself in their shoes even for just a moment to get a glimpse of what they are feeling, when you can show them you REALLY do understand how they feel, it makes the sale much easier.

Grow thick skin. Yes, I know, it's somewhat contradictory to include empathy and thick skin in the same post. If you really empathized with the people who ignore messages, you might not persist in calling back. But business and life is full of paradox.

From Business Opportunities Weblog.

Unleashing Your Employees Creativity

Posted: 29 Jun 2009 11:30 AM PDT

photo credit: EraPhernalia Vintage (somewhat busy)

As managers and owners of companies, we all look for new way’s and inspiring ways to help our employees unleash their creativity side within boundaries of course, which can be difficult at times. Below are some tips on how to help unleash your employees creativity sides located on Inc.com.

Try making brainstorming a mandatory thing. It is up to you to encourage the brainstorming that goes on within your company, which can be accomplished by holding weekly or monthly meetings that require everyone’s participates.

Make the creativity fun for them. Set up some sort of a little contest with very few and simple rules that includes a prize to go to the most creative person at the end of a set time frame. Remind everyone this is a fun exercise for everyone and by no means a fight to the death competition.

At the culmination of a company brainstorming session, you are bound to have a number of ideas, some good and some bad. Feedback is essential in order to build a culture of employee creativity that lasts beyond this one meeting.

From Business Opportunities Weblog.

Teens Are Building Their Own Job Engine

Posted: 29 Jun 2009 11:11 AM PDT

The New York Times:

Periods of high unemployment tend to be particularly hard on teenagers, who wind up competing for jobs with more experienced, laid-off adults.

When Faith Borden, 16, of Metuchen, N.J., applied for a job in March to be a counselor at a summer day camp, she looked around and saw "all these 30- and 40-year-olds," she said. "Usually it's just teenagers."

She also applied at pizza restaurants, drugstores and most of the stores at her local mall, and even attended a job fair in Edison, N.J., but didn't receive one offer. So she decided to work for herself, selling Avon products.

Also facing a competitive job market, Max O'Dell, 14, of Cary, N.C., started Smiley Inc., a custom T-shirt design business. He paints shirts in his driveway and hangs them in the garage to dry; revenue so far has been $170.

"Business is very steady, and I would much rather work for myself than at a fast-food place or something like that," he said. "It feels really good to be my own boss."

Unemployment for 16- to 19-year-olds is at its highest rate since 1992 — at 22.7 percent in May, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics. That is causing some teenagers to rethink their notion of work and to embrace entrepreneurship.

Laura Durst, 18, a recent high school graduate in Woodstock, Conn., in the state's northeast corner, said that there were so few jobs for teenagers there that two years ago she began setting up a Web-based business, WorkInMyRoom.com. It provides teenagers with information and online resources to find jobs that can be done from home.

Durst's revenue comes from advertising. She uses Google Ad Sense — which displays relevant Google ads on her site — and earns money when users click on them. She says she is making about $250 a month.

Teenagers start a wide range of businesses, from selling art, jewelry or collectibles online to Web site creation and design.

They also do non-Web-based things like yard work, house cleaning, dog walking, pool care, tutoring and party planning.

Photo by WorkInMyRoom.com.

From Business Opportunities Weblog.

Words That Dont Work In Ads

Posted: 29 Jun 2009 10:30 AM PDT

photo credit: Pink Sherbet Photography

Very good reminder here about the way words get diluted, and then useless. In my early days in the PC industry all software was supposedly "user friendly." And that phrase ended up mocking, humorous, a caricature of hype.

I read a recent post by Tim Berry that listed five words that just don’t work in ads anymore today that i had to agree with fully. Quality, Value, Service and Caring are the first four words that were mentioned as dead words to use. When you think about it, it makes a lot of sense on how these words wouldn’t work.

Everyone has their own idea in their heads of value, quality, service and caring, so what you may think fits these four words someone else may not agree with you.

The final word mentioned is Integrity, and with a point blank reason, either you have integrity or you don’t. Either your business is well known as a trusted company or it isn’t. There’s no in between with this word, and advertising in an ad that you have this even when you don’t will not make it come true.

From Business Opportunities Weblog.

Sewing Bizs Finding Niche In Midst Of Recession

Posted: 29 Jun 2009 10:10 AM PDT

Loveland Reporter-Herald:

Instead of a seam ripper, Bonnie McLeod uses a razor blade to rip out the outer seam from her old red jeans. She plans to add a strip of material down the leg to jazz them up into an original.

McLeod, a seamstress by trade, trims, cuts and tucks old clothes into a better fit at the Rip Club Sewing Center, which she opened last month in Loveland.

"I call it Rip Club, because you just rip it," McLeod said. "In times of economic hardship, people don't want to buy new clothes. It's cheaper to repair what they have."

McLeod and others in the sewing business are finding that altering and restoring old clothes is a profitable business in the recession.

Photo by Loveland Reporter-Herald.

From Business Opportunities Weblog.

Bill On The Table For Home Offices

Posted: 29 Jun 2009 09:30 AM PDT

photo credit: Travis Isaacs

Home based businesses are one of the most rapid growing in our nation today. Many people all over the nation are switching to working from home, and over time are adding employees to their home based office providing jobs to those who are out of work.

U.S. rep Charles Gonzalez is supporting a new bill that is on the table that will simplify the tax deductions for home based businesses and offices at the end of the year, recently stated in a post on Business Journals.

Under current law, qualified individuals can file for a home office tax deduction if they use a portion of their home as a principal place of business or a place to meet with clients. However, although studies indicate that 53 percent of American small businesses are home-based, few take advantage of this tax deduction.

From Business Opportunities Weblog.

Entrepreneur Aspires To Sell 1 Million T-Shirts

Posted: 29 Jun 2009 09:09 AM PDT

Everyday Christian:

In his business and his faith walk Rob Gettemy has felt blessed by the circumstances around him. His business—producing and selling T-shirts—is hardly uncommon. How he got to the point he is now and what his shirts represent is.

Gettemy is the co-founder of 1M4JC, shorthand for "One Million for Jesus Christ." His goal is to sell one million shirts with the acronym wrapped through by an Ichthus fish. The twist is each shirt sold has a serial number printed on the sleeve to show where within the prospective one-million Christ followers the buyer falls.

"The idea with the numbers on the sleeve is to represent that we are all made in God's image and that we all have unique characteristics. It parallels our lives," he said.

Since launching his Web-based venture in April 2008, Gettemy has sold just over 4,000 shirts. Acknowledging there is a still a long way to go, the Marion, Iowa, entrepreneur has been energized by the reception and business he has drawn through social networking, particularly Facebook.

"The effect of using Facebook has been amazing," he said. "It's helped sales, but even more so are the relationships you build. People all over the country and the world have connected with us through Facebook and shared pictures with us in their shirts from all over. Things may not have developed as fast I envisioned, but it has been an amazing ride with the interconnectedness that has been created.

Photo by 1M4JC.

From Business Opportunities Weblog.

Charge Card Or Credit Card?

Posted: 29 Jun 2009 08:30 AM PDT

photo credit: Andres Rueda

Business owners often times think of charge cards and credit cards as being the same thing, just using a different name to refer to them. However, they are actually two totally different things and should be completely understood before you choose either one of them.

With a credit card you are allowed to make minimum payments on your total balance until it is paid off. Where as with a charge card you are required to pay off the total balance accumulated each and every month.

Charge cards often times have much higher limits on what you can spend than a credit card does. Which is a trade off, you can spend more if you need to, but remember the above mentioned where you have to pay it all off every month.

A charge card does have more benefits in terms of their rewards programs being quite a bit more generous than the rewards programs a credit card offers you, as stated on OpenForum.

While a charge card won't make you a better person, some people do get a certain satisfaction out of flashing an American Express charge card, as it may suggest a certain credit level, business authenticity, or other nebulous grandiosity that potentially could impress someone, Credit cards, not so much. Winner: charge cards.

From Business Opportunities Weblog.

Michael Jackson: King Of…Patents?

Posted: 29 Jun 2009 08:08 AM PDT

MediaBistro:

As the world mourns the death of Michael Jackson, we remember his patented anti-gravity footwear.

That’s right, intellectual property fans, Jackson is listed as the first of three inventors on United States Patent 5,255,452, granted in 1993 for a “method and means for creating anti-gravity illusion.”

Translation: special loafers fitted with heels that can slot into the stage floor to allow the wearer to lean forward, Smooth Criminal style, at gravity-defying angles.

Jackson co-developed the technique as an improvement upon a previous method in which he and his dancers were rigged up with harnesses and cables.

This worked fine for videos, notes the patent in the required “description of the prior art,” but not in front of a live audience. The shoe-based system has the added advantage of “permitting an entertainer to freely move about a stage.”

Photo by MediaBistro.

From Business Opportunities Weblog.

Simple Steps Towards Good PR

Posted: 29 Jun 2009 07:30 AM PDT

photo credit: visualpanic

We often think of obtaining good PR as being difficult in business, with so many different avenues to take and choices to make. Below are some simple steps towards obtaining good PR that are sure to work for everyone in business.

Obviously the first step is making sure you are aware of your market. It doesn’t do any good obtaining good PR if you don’t know who to target it towards.
Make sure your product or service stands out, it’s unique and grabs peoples attention and eye as something that will better their daily life.
Do research within your media market and use the media for PR that serves your immediate targeted market. This will simplify things a great deal for you, recently stated on Entrepreneur.com.

Follow up. Call your contact when you said you would to confirm whether or not they received the information you sent and offer to provide more information if necessary.

From Business Opportunities Weblog.

Biz Poll: Breaking News!

Posted: 29 Jun 2009 07:07 AM PDT

Where Do You Get Your News?

Photo by loonapix.

From Business Opportunities Weblog.

Car Insurance Articles and Auto Insurance RSS Feeds

2009-06-29T17:27:00.001-07:00

Car Insurance Articles and Auto Insurance RSS Feeds

Getting Great Rates for your Teen Driver

Posted: 29 Jun 2009 01:22 PM PDT

Most parents aren't very excited about taking the "hit" for the increased expense of insuring a teen driver, but they are always ready to find opportunities that will help them save on their premium costs. We can provide you with information that will help save you money on auto insurance for teenagers.

Before beginning the search for great rates, everyone should know that a teenaged driver will not pay the same rates as an experienced driver. When anyone – including teenagers – begins driving, they are placed in the category known as high risk drivers. While it's true that there are some responsible new drivers out there, the fact remains that they have no prior experience of driving on the road for a long period of time. As the driver continues to demonstrate safe driving, over time their cost of insurance will decrease. Their rates start high because the insurance company is quite sure they will make an error that will lead to a claim, and statistically, they are correct.

Most new drivers aren't always aware of their surroundings or they don't know how to maneuver the vehicle in a manner to avoid a collision. Sometimes they don't see a stop sign or they think they can make the yellow light. When an insurer sees these statistics, they prevent their own losses by instantly charging those new drivers a very high premium to offset the possible claim that will need to be paid out.

Sure, it may not be fair that you are required to pay such a high price even though you are positive that your kid won't be involved in any traffic incident, but that's how life goes. Instead of throwing your own tantrum, find ways that you can get cheaper insurance rates for teens by reading on.

Limit Vehicle Usage
When you've applied for car insurance in the past, have you noticed you tell the insurer how many miles you drive each year? Insurers use this number as an estimation to predict how often the car is on the road, and the less often it's out there, the smaller the chance of it being involved in an accident. Drivers who drive less will pay less for their insurance.

Set home rules about the mileage, when they can drive, and where they can drive. Giving the teen a weekly mileage limit may help them budget their use of the car better and eliminate unnecessary time behind the wheel. Some parents may find it useful to only allow a teen driver to drive the car from sun up to sun down. Night driving is more dangerous anyway, and it will give the new driver time to gain experience before they are allowed to drive at night. Combining these rules may also help the driver limit where they go, too. Traveling to work and school are necessary, but perhaps the weekend drive into the city isn't necessary and poses a threat to their fresh driving record.

Keep an Unspotted Record
Explain over and over again that this is the time to learn of the importance of avoiding traffic violations. It is always detrimental to one's record to receive a ticket or be involved in an accident, but it is even more so when the driver is new and young. Policyholders will be shocked (and probably furious) when they see the drastic increase in the already high premium price if this occurs. As mentioned above, limiting the driver's usage of the car will help decrease the chance of a traffic incident, but it's also important to avoid these situations altogether.

On average, tickets and accidents remain on driving histories for years. There is always a probation period after involvement of one of these where obtaining another incident will only make things worse. A ticket can usually be "erased" or not even placed on the record if the driver attends traffic school. If traffic school isn't attended or is not an option, points will be assigned to the driver's record according to the seriousness of the violation. It's better for the insurance premium to avoid these points since they as a whole show a lack in safe driving and will only negatively affect your relationship with your insurer.

Be a Good Student
Young drivers need to get good grades not only for future scholarships, but also so they can be eligible for a popular car insurance discount often referred to as the good student discount. Students can qualify for this discount when they show their most recent report card as earning a "B" average or better. Each insurer may have different grade point average requirements, so check with the individual carrier to do what's necessary to earn this discount. Also, the term "student" may either be applied to high school students or college students, or both depending on your insurer.

Why would good grades give a discount? Interestingly enough, insurers have found that students who perform well in stressful situations, such as taking tests in school, also perform well on the road and demonstrate a better ability to drive safely while avoiding traffic incidents. Not all good students are good drivers, but as a collective group they are.

Shop Around
Another great way to find cheap car insurance for teens is by shopping around and comparing the rates each company provides. Assuming the current carrier is the best and cheapest isn't always the best route to take. In using our comparison tool, you can get a number of quotes from reputable insurers by filling out only one questionnaire. Compare your findings to your current insurer and see which one would benefit you more. It may be worth a few minutes of your time, especially as you add another driver to your policy.

Getting great rates for your teen isn't complicated as long as you work with him/her to help them understand how important it is to be a safe and smart driver. Their safety and intelligence will be reflected in the cost of their insurance for years to come.

Autos Craze - Autos Blog

2009-06-29T09:02:00.001-07:00

Autos Craze - Autos Blog

Pontiac Solstice GXP Coupe – A quick review

Posted: 28 Jun 2009 11:27 PM PDT

Pontiac Solstice Coupe is indeed the car of this generation and driving this small beast gives you the feeling of familiarity as though you have been driving this for years. It gives a good driving comfort and makes driving a cool experience. This drop-top variant is small but impresses with its style and performance.

The car feels like a true offspring of C4 Corvette Coupe and a Dodge Viper. Though the car is not anyway near in size or in power as these two American giants, all the features and merits of these two cars is present in this little coupe and this makes it unique in its cadre.

This car was spanned during the Bob Luz era at the GM. Bob is a true leader and one who values others creativity and innovation. He always wanted some new ideas from his designers and the first task he assigned to his designers when he joined GM in 2001 was to create a new concept or idea for the Detroit Auto Show. This has resulted in this grand coupe, Solstice.

Now with the company struck hard by the recession, Lutz is winding down his time at the company and as a result Solstice and the entire Pontiac are also fading slowly. Solstice is undoubtedly a true symbol of what went right and what went wrong with GM and Pontiac.

The original designs of this coupe were made by Franz Von Holzhausen, a newbie in the General Motor's design studio at that time. From then on, Von Holzhausen has had tenure at Mazda and currently he leads a design team at Tesla Motors which works on the Model S.electric sedan. The designs were created by Von in the early 2002 for Detroit and Chicago auto shows and it was only in 2008 New York Auto show the coupe went to its production version.

The interiors of the coupe are tightly fit but are comfortable enough to provide the right amount of space. The center tunnel in the coupe is tall and wide to accommodate the transmission and the drive shaft. Unlike other sports cars, the coupe lacks dozens of buttons on its dashboard controlling its features. The seating position and the comfort are not up to the mark and the gaps between the dashboard and the doors are also uneven.

There is also an issue of visibility in this solstice coupe. With the roof panel, looking out of the low windshield requires you to lean ahead to see the traffic lights. It is indeed a difficult thing to do when you ought to concentrate more on road and drive.

The side glasses placed also do not encourage much as the side view is also not quite clear. Though there where initial doubts about the poor top mechanism employed for this coupe, the Pontiac now comes with a fold-up soft top that can be packed and kept inside. But this does not come with the base price as it is an $1100 option.

Business Opportunities Weblog

2009-06-28T05:03:00.000-07:00

Business Opportunities Weblog

Pirate Hunting Cruises

Posted: 27 Jun 2009 07:03 AM PDT

photo credit: Olivier Bruchez

I don’t know if this is real or not, because no companies are mentioned by name:

Luxury ocean liners in Russia are offering pirate hunting cruises aboard armed private yachts off the Somali coast.

Wealthy punters pay £3,500 per day to patrol the most dangerous waters in the world hoping to be attacked by raiders.

When attacked, they retaliate with grenade launchers, machine guns and rocket launchers, reports Austrian business paper Wirtschaftsblatt.

From Business Opportunities Weblog.

Is it the End of Amazon’s Affiliate Program?

Posted: 27 Jun 2009 06:51 AM PDT

If you make any money from Amazon’s affiliate program and you live in North Carolina or Hawaii, I have some really bad news for you.

Amazon.com Inc. closed accounts with its affiliates in North Carolina to avoid paying a proposed sales tax, according to media reports Friday. In an email, Amazon reportedly told marketing affiliates in the state that the move was a direct result of North Carolina’s push to levy a tax on purchases made through Amazon affiliates.

Similar legislation is pending in California, and Amazon has threatened to drop the program there. If this passes in California, I might have to move my business out of the state.

From Business Opportunities Weblog.

Business Opportunities Weblog

2009-06-27T05:11:00.001-07:00

Business Opportunities Weblog

Why Didn’t I Think Of That?
Online Branding for Small Business
Problem Or Opportunity?
Twitter For Your Car
Niche Service Helps Pet Owners Say Goodbye
Biz Poll Results: Free Software or Web Applications
National Handshake Day

Why Didn’t I Think Of That?

Posted: 26 Jun 2009 11:11 AM PDT

Unique products to inspire and amuse.

Bacon Gumballs. No time for breakfast? That’s okay, chew some of these on your way to work.

Pizza Boss. For the power tool guy in your life.

Cap Sac. When you like to carry stuff on your head.

Beanzawave, the world’s smallest microwave. When you only want to pop a handful of popcorn.

Photo by thinkgeek/perpetualkid/cap-sac/seriouseats.

From Business Opportunities Weblog.

Online Branding for Small Business

Posted: 26 Jun 2009 10:45 AM PDT

My guest post on MerchantCircle’s weblog is now live. Here’s a snippet:

As you develop an online presence, don’t try to make your business appear larger or more “professional” than it really is. Don’t try to create an intangible brand to replace you the owner as your business’s image. In your community there are probably a hundred businesses that do basically what you do; but, they don’t have you. That’s what makes your business special. Highlight that.

From Business Opportunities Weblog.

Problem Or Opportunity?

Posted: 26 Jun 2009 10:10 AM PDT

I read today that according to the Environmental Protection Agency, American homeowners spill 17 million gallons of gasoline annually in their uncoordinated attempts to fuel lawn and garden equipment.

17 million. That’s a lot of gas!

There is also an opportunity here.

My guess is that the spillage occurs by overfilling the gas tank. So inventors out there, come up with a funnel that attaches quickly to lawn movers, weed whackers, etc. that has a float ball inside that cuts off the flow of fuel when the tank is full.

This is definitely a million dollar opportunity!

Photo by murray-lawn-mower.

From Business Opportunities Weblog.

Twitter For Your Car

Posted: 26 Jun 2009 09:09 AM PDT

PerpetualKid.com:

Here’s a low cost way to advertise your business or web site. Scrolling License Plate Flash Frames (USD 39.99) allow you to express yourself while on the road or stuck in traffic.

Simply create and enter up to 5 messages (up to 120 characters in length each) using the included remote control. Then select from 3 different scroll speeds. The super-bright red LEDs ensure that your message is seen day or night.

Simply connect 2 wires to your vehicle’s electrical system and you are ready to go! You can either wire the Flash Frame so it is on whenever the ignition is on, or only comes on when you hit your brakes.

Please check your local ordinances for restrictions. We don’t want you out there breaking the law!

Photo by PerpetualKid.

From Business Opportunities Weblog.

Niche Service Helps Pet Owners Say Goodbye

Posted: 26 Jun 2009 08:08 AM PDT

The Coloradoan:

When Merlin, a Labrador/Doberman mix, was nearing the end of his life last summer, the family that had loved him for 14 years resolved that he would draw his final breath at home.

When the time came, Marie Commiskey’s son and two daughters, who had grown up with Merlin, gathered at her Littleton home - one flew in from Seattle- to bid farewell.

They went on a picnic (Merlin got to have hot dogs, his favorite). Then they returned home, lit candles, settled next to the old dog, and Merlin went peacefully, surrounded by love.

“This, for us, was the only way to do it,” says Commiskey, a portrait photographer.

The at-home euthanasia was performed by veterinarian Ann Brandenburg-Schroeder, whose Denver-area practice, Beside Still Water, is devoted exclusively to providing that service.

Brandenburg-Schroeder, who started the practice in 2000, was among the first of a new type of veterinarian specialists - home euthanasia vets - that in recent years has begun taking root in different areas of the country.

They travel to the pet’s home at whatever time they’re asked and administer the injection according to preferences stated by the owner - sometimes with friends and family gathered around, sometimes under a favorite tree, sometimes alone with the pet because the owner doesn’t want to be in the room during the final seconds.

Photo by BeverlyLR.

From Business Opportunities Weblog.

Biz Poll Results: Free Software or Web Applications

Posted: 26 Jun 2009 07:07 AM PDT

Monday, we started a biz poll asking, “Do you use free software or applications to run your business?”

Of those that responded, 82 percent said YES, and 18 percent said NO.

Of that 18 percent, I think a lot don’t realize the free software/applications they are already are using. If you are reading this blog in the FireFox browser or through the Google Feed Reader, you are using free software.

So far today, I have used Firefox, Google, Photofiltre (free image editor), EditPad Lite (free basic word processor), Google Reader, stock.xchng (free photo service) and imgur (free image host).

In 2009 and 2010 all Windows and Microsoft users must be prepared to invest heavily in upgrades or new license purchases. In a time when cutting costs is vital to maintaining profitability (or even staying in business) exploring non-Microsoft products might be in order.

Cost savings is what brings most into the Open Source fold — typical savings range from $700 to $2,000 per user. But business owners can benefit in several ways by using non-commercial applications including, but not limited to, cost.

A few more reasons to consider making the switch:

No Viruses: There are few viruses for Linux. Not only does this result in better overall system performance, but also saves money on antivirus software.

Peer Support: Just about every Open Source product has a vibrant support community. This ensures you get answers to known problems.

Periodic Updates: An active community also results in periodic software updates. For example, Ubuntu releases a new version every six months. Enterprise (commercial) releases are typically every 12 to 24 months.

Photo by flaivoloka.

From Business Opportunities Weblog.

National Handshake Day

Posted: 25 Jun 2009 02:01 PM PDT

Today is National Handshake Day. Did you know that a kiss spreads less germs than a handshake?

From Business Opportunities Weblog.

Car Insurance Articles and Auto Insurance RSS Feeds

2009-06-26T17:30:00.001-07:00

Car Insurance Articles and Auto Insurance RSS Feeds

How Much Coverage for Auto Insurance?

Posted: 26 Jun 2009 02:27 PM PDT

How do you know which auto insurance coverage you really need? You have to wonder when agents contact you saying you need more if it's because you do, in fact, need more coverage to protect your assets, or if they're contacting you because they need to make more commission off of you. Having this thought hanging over your head can make it confusing to really know what you need and what options can be omitted. We'll go through the popular recommended auto coverage given from every company and explain situations where it would benefit the policyholder.

Property Damage and Bodily Injury Liability
These coverage options aren't really optional; they're required by law in most states. Each state requires a minimum amount to be carried in each of these, so be sure to check with your state to know how much you should have. Both of these options are in place to provide a way for you to pay for any physical damage you do to a person or their property. This pays for their medical bills up to the purchased amount for an individual, and then it also pays those bills up to the amount purchased for injuries of the entire accident combined. Another amount that you purchased, for property damage, will pay for the damage that you or any member of your policy causes to anyone's property. This could be a traffic light, someone's fence, or their car. It does not cover your own body and property damage. This coverage is ideal for anyone who is in a minor accident and winds up not damaging their own car or causing major damage to the other property.

Comprehensive and Collision
This protection will cover damages done to your insured vehicle, unlike the above mentioned property damage coverage, regardless of who was at fault for causing it. Damages done to your vehicle from a baseball, the wind, or even vandalism will be paid for by the insurer when you have this as part of your policy. Your vehicle will also be replaced if it is stolen or totaled, up to the its cash value amount. As a side note, anyone who is upside down on their auto loan will want to look into GAP insurance as it will cover the difference between the amount owed and the cash value of the vehicle if it needs to be replaced by the insurer.

Comprehensive and collision are not required by any state, but they are required if you have an auto loan or are leasing your vehicle. The loan and lease owners demand that you have these coverage plans on your policy so the vehicle will be taken care of properly. The auto loan will not be approved if you refuse to carry them on your policy.

The time think about not carrying comprehensive and collision is when your vehicle no longer has a worthy cash value. It may end up that you pay more to carry these insurances than what you would get back.

Uninsured/Underinsured Liability
Some states require one of these coverage types, so be sure you know if your state demands it or not. Uninsured/underinsured liability is just as it sounds; it gives you protection from uninsured drivers or drivers who don't carry enough car insurance. If you happen to be involved in an accident and the other driver, who is found to be at-fault of the accident, does not have adequate or any insurance to pay for the damages they've caused, your insurance policy will go into affect and pay for your medical bills and property repair, but only after your deductible has been met.

Personal Injury Protection (PIP)
PIP is required in states that follow a no-fault law (everyone pays for their own accident-related damages, regardless of who was at fault). This coverage is similar to health insurance coverage. It will pay for your medical bills, including the bills of your passengers, up to the amount you have purchased. Drivers hosting a carpool on a regular basis will want to consider purchasing this option as it will help the passengers if involved in an accident and decrease the chances of them suing you for damages. PIP can be used in conjunction with a health insurance plan or on its own at most healthcare facilities. Pip also pays for lost wages while you are recuperating and healing from the accident wounds. Also, it will cover any pedestrians you hit and cover funeral expenses, up to the purchased amount.

Medical Payment
Medical payment is similar to PIP, but only covers the medical bills and not lost wages, pedestrians you hit, or any of the other list we mentioned. It is also similar to a formal health insurance policy and can be used in place of or in addition to one. It can be used to pay co-pays at healthcare facilities as well.

How to Combine Them for the Best Results
The best way to figure out what your needs are would be to imagine yourself or a family/policy member going through the experience of both a minor and major accident. As devastating as this may feel, it's important to know for sure that you've got the best coverage possible. You wouldn't want to discover some form of coverage is missing right when you needed it, which is too late to purchase it.

Accidents sometimes involve only damaging another person's property, and sometimes it includes damage done to both parties. They can also inflict minor injuries to both parties, or one driver could walk away from the accident without a scratch while the other driver is taken to the hospital with multiple bumps, bruises, and breaks. Take these scenarios into consideration when deciding whether or not to carry certain coverages. Also, how much money do you have sitting aside for emergencies such as these? If you don't have a lot, purchasing more insurance may be wise for you to help offset your out-of-pocket expenses.

During this traumatic time, wouldn't it be helpful to know that your auto insurance company is going to help with the bills? Planning for the unknown by purchasing recommended car insurance coverage will help alleviate worrying in the future.