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Automate your Marketing: Develop a Corporate Marketing Kit

How many times do you pass up free opportunities to market your business? You know what I’m talking about, someone contacts you and wants to spotlight your business but needs a bio. Or maybe you donated to a group and they will publish your ad, but you need to send it to them. Do you always have a hand out when you go to a networking meeting? Does every place that your company is listed have complete and accurate information as well as an enticing description? If not, it’s most likely because it takes time or you’re not sure what

The Home Business of Welcoming New Neighbors

A couple of days ago, we posted in our Small Business News section a press release from Liz Folger of Bizymoms.com about a potential home business for moms — a welcome service for new neighbors. From how I understand it, you sign up as an associate, and your task is to assemble a kit of coupons, freebies or marketing materials that you solicit from businesses in your area. You will then give this packet for free to your new neighbors. Your income will come from the fee that businesses will give you in order to be in the packet. This

Patents: The Dollar Side of Mothering an Invention

The January 2006 issue of Kiplinger’s magazine contain some interesting data on patents derived from the International Journal of Entrepreneurship and Innovation. Here are some of the data: $500 – the cost of filing a utility-patent application including filing, search and examination fees %700 – amount you pay when the patent is issued 30 – average number of months it takes for a patent to be granted after an application is filed 53% – percentage of investors who generated sales from inventins they marketed 57% – percentage of investors who sold their invention for a profit

Key to Success: Goal-Free Living?

An interesting new book is coming out in January 2006 by Stephen Shapiro entitled “Goal-Free Living: How to Have the Life You Want NOW! The book is a departure from age-old import placed on setting your goals. The book demonstrates how goal-setting can be counter-productive to personal and professional success. Read the summary of the book Goal-Free Living

Leaving a Startup Company and Non-Compete Agreements

Managing Employees, Q & A

I recently chose to withdraw from a startup company prior to its incorporation. Approximately 2 weeks after this they incorporated and then sent me a release form that includes a non compete agreement. What are my options?

Entrepreneur Success Stories

We have launched a new blog called “Entrepreneur Success Stories” in our Women Home Business website. This new blog will focus on stories of small and home-based entrepreneurs who made it big, as well as tips from big business leaders on how to make a business work. The goal is to find some answers to the questions: “What makes a successful entrepreneur?” and “How do you turn a business into a success?” Not easy questions, but something that we’d all like to know. Please visit our new Entrepreneur Success Stories blog.

Is Your Business Location Safe? America’s Top 10 Safest Cities

Hurricane Katrina has demonstrated that a single natural disaster can put a business out of commission, if not wiping it out completely. Not only hurricanes, but snow storms, earthquakes and other catastrophic events can bring a business down to its knees. Risk and Insurance magazine, together with the catastrophe-modeling firm AIR Worldwide Corporation, released their 2005 list of Top 10 Safest Cities in the United States, and these are: Sacramento, Calif. Phoenix, Ariz. Rochester, N.Y. Columbus, Ohio Buffalo, N.Y. Cincinnati, Ohio Grand Rapids, MICH. San Diego, CALIF. Pittsburgh, Pa. Hartford, Conn. But of course, the probability of natural disasters is

New Super Consumer: Moms and Kids

A new book out in January 2006 should be of interest to all marketers. Entitled “Marketing to the New Super Consumer: Mom & Kid (Hardcover)”, the book written by Timothy Coffey, David Siegel, Gregory Livingston opines that there is a whole new market today formed by the new relationship between moms and kids. Gone are the days when moms make the sole purchasing decision and simply dictates to their kids what to buy and what not to buy. Today, both moms and kids jointly make purchasing decisions – where the Moms ask the kids for information, and kids tell Moms

How to Incorporate With Same Company Name in Another State

Intellectual Property, Q & A

Can I get to incorporate or form a corporation using my company name in another state if someone else in that state has the same company name?

Starting a Shoe Retail Store

I just got a copy of Focus on Shoes, a trade magazine for shoe, apparel and fashion accessories store. Their November issue featured on the cover our article “Starting a Shoe Retail Store” written by Jenny Fulbright. Another important article for every entrepreneur looking to start a shoe store is their “10 Most Important Shoe Shows.” We always get questions from our visitors asking us where they can buy inventories to sell for their shoe stores, and one good source of information as well as networking contacts is trade shows. The article says that the following shows are a must

Money Saving Tip: Shipping Supplies

We at PowerHomeBiz.com regularly buy boxes of bubble cushioned mailers for the books that we give away, CD-ROMs that we sell, and for our e-commerce ventures. We purchase the mailers from other sellers at eBay, which we thought to be quite a steal compared to buying retail from Staples or Office Depot. One of my recent purchase was a box (100 pieces) of Jiffy® Padded Mailers #2 Self Sealing (8.5″ X 12″) for $25.99, with shipping costing $11.65 for a total of $37.64. Then today, I noticed that Overstock.com now has a section called Bulk Buys and Office Supplies. The

How to Write a Winning Business Plan

Starting a Business

The book "The ABC's of Writing Winning Business Plans" teaches you how to write a compelling business plan that will entice investors to put money in your business. This book review gives some of the lessons that the book offers.