Going Public? Here
They say on Wall Street that the best way to get rich is to buy a dollar for 50 cents, over and over again. That’s the general idea behind initial public offerings – the financial...
Discipline and Firing
The cost of keeping unproductive employees on the payroll too long can mean more than financial losses for a business. Take it from Don Milley; with seven years of experience buying and selling companies, he...
Buying Groups and Co-ops: The More the Merrier (and Cheaper)
A group of San Diegans, tired of paying high grocery prices to area food sellers, gathered around a picnic table at Ocean Beach one day in 1971, and decided they were going to pool their...
Internet Phones
You’ve decided to ditch your company’s land-lines because this new thing, VoIP, is supposed to save a ton of money. James Gaskin thinks you’re a smart cookie. “Eighty percent who don’t examine it are just...
RSS – How to Make Really Simple Syndication Really Simple
Even if you’re reasonably Web savvy, you may know RSS only as the cryptic monogram on a tiny button you’ve never bothered to click when it shows up on sites you visit. Too bad. RSS...
Taking Talent to Market: Party Planning is Former Teacher
Carolyn Hefner was one of those mothers. She could handle raising two young boys and still manage to make the coolest treats and trimmings for any school occasion. While others shopped for store-bought cookies, Hefner...
‘TeaEO’ At the Helm: Striving for Social Responsibility – Business Goal Setting Series
Seth Goldman was thirsty. A distance runner, Goldman was also frustrated. He could never find a drink that was refreshing, tasted good and wasn’t loaded with sweeteners. So he set a simple goal: Make one....
Creating Financially Fit Adults: Make It Child
Joline Godfrey knows that kids are targets. Every day, whatever the hour, they’re the focus of intense consumer come-ons, sales pitches, pressure-tactics to spend – and always want more. In 1992, Godfrey set out to...
Stirring Things Up: Billy Downs Finds a Win-Win in Everything – Business Goal Setting Series
When Billy Downs opened his first BD’s Mongolian Barbeque in suburban Detroit almost 15 years ago, his goal was simply to see his restaurant succeed. But in the back of his mind, there was also...
Is One Web Site Enough? Yes…and No
Most small business owners know that a Web site is an important marketing tool. So it might seem to follow that if it’s smart to have one site, two – or three, or more –...
5 Essentials of Website Usability
I'm busy. You're busy. We all know that drill. And if you're like me, you probably have a shortlist of things that annoy the heck out of you when they slow you down. For me,...
Knowing It's Time to Hire an Employee
You’re a sole proprietor and business is booming. In fact, you’re doing so well, you’re thinking you might need another pair of hands to help you out. Making that first hire for your small business...
Steve Darden: When It’s Time to Quit Your Day Job
Ten years ago, Steve Darden headed a great organization in Gallup, N.M., that fights substance abuse in Steve’s native Navajo nation. His wife, Rose Darden, was staying at home with their three sons and also...
Time to Quit Your Day Job : The Story of Tawnya Sutherland
Tawnya Sutherland moved 5,000 miles across Canada to Vancouver, British Columbia. A year later, she separated from her husband and found herself with three kids to feed, no contacts and no support in a city...
4 Types of Print Advertising for your Startup
Despite all the hoopla about internet advertising, old-fashioned print ads can still produce solid results, as long as you understand how to use them effectively. That requires a familiarity with their advantages and disadvantages, and...
4 Tips to Help Your Startup Business Manage Shipping
Shipping is the final stage of e-commerce fulfillment, and it’s an important one: Your customer is far more likely to remember whether your startup business got your product to her quickly, and in one piece,...
Affiliate Marketing 101: Understanding the Basics
Imagine a marketing program that can increase sales 10 percent to 25 percent--and you don’t pay a dime unless you get results. Sound too good to be true? That’s pretty much how affiliate marketing works. ...
Knowing it
If you’re asking yourself, “How will I know when it’s safe to quit my day job and become a full-time entrepreneur?”, it might be time to look to others who’ve made the leap for inspiration...
3 Tips to Financially Prepare for Entrepreneurship
If anxiety about losing your steady paycheck and benefits is keeping you from starting up your dream business, then believe me, you’re not alone. You may worry that you have too much debt to become...
5 Tips for Differentiating your eBay Business
It’s so easy to start selling on eBay.com that it’s becoming increasingly difficult to do it right. eBay is open to just about anybody with something to sell, so the challenge for sellers is to...