Ego Blogging and the Money Idol.

Report: Retiring Baby Boomers Expected to Hurt U.S. Companies

Something about the blogosphere lately has been bugging me. It’s hard to put my finger on exactly what it is because it’s not a black and white problem and I’m an active participant and proponent of at least part of what I see as the issue.

Blogging as we know it today evolved from online journal writing, a very reflective and personal thing to do centered around one individual’s life. Back then it was expected that a “weblog” would focus mostly on the person writing it and consequently, unless the person led a very interesting life or had a gift for writing, only a small handful of people would read it - perhaps friends, family and coworkers.

Today blogs have become much more than journals, yet many of the blogs we idolize are very ego-centric. Often popular blogs are driven by the personality of the author. While most blogs are not necessarily talking about a person’s personal life, often “life” is the muse for topics, even if they are skewed for relevancy to a certain group of people, a target market.

For example, my blog here is about Internet business and blogging and many of the posts I publish draw on my own experience in these areas. This article you are reading right now is exactly that - I’m writing this as a result of my recent experience reading other blogs.

The blogosphere is personality driven, so it’s natural to expect that the people with the biggest personalities, the most interesting stories, unique talents and/or some form of celebrity, are at the top of the A-List of blogs. There’s nothing wrong with that on the surface, but what I do see as a potential problem is what we value and what concepts we raise to ideals to emulate.

Money As Motivation

I remember the first time Darren Rowse published how much he was earning from his blogs and the subsequent buzz that spread online about the potential for income from blogging. Since then many bloggers have revealed their earnings and continue to do so. I did exactly that for my March 2007 blog earnings.

With the obvious interest in the topic “making money online” many bloggers have launched blogs focused on it, some make money, some chronicle their journey of making money and may not make any yet. The focus is squarely on how to earn more and how to get more traffic so you can earn more. Again, there is nothing wrong with that per se, the problem as I see it, is how much energy we give to the topic and how we idolize certain people who have achieved something we want to achieve.

Will Money Make You Happy?

There’s a very old question that most people feel they know the answer to - Will money make you happy?

I don’t think money specifically can make you happy, but certainly it can buy freedoms that contribute to happiness.

The problem I believe is better defined in the reverse - does a lack of money make you unhappy?

I think for many people that last statement is true and we thus wake up each day with money as a key motivator, not the only motivator of course, but certainly a major one given society’s current structure.

If you have read my previous article - The Key To Happiness - you know that my belief is that happiness is simply a choice, but for the sake of this article I’ll assume that you may conceptually understand that, but have difficulty putting it into practice 100% of the time, which sums up my experience too.

Where’s The Value?

If you presently read blogs that talk about making money, or any blog where the author spends a lot of time focused on their own life, make sure you stop and ask yourself whether reading the blog contributes to a goal you currently have and whether you leave that blog having gained an insight or something you can actually action and benefit from.

What it is you admire about the blog and blogger and why have you have decided to offer them a portion of your life - a fraction of the time you have available in a given lifetime? That’s a hefty price to pay so you better be clear on why you are there and what you want from the relationship.

Many blogs offer very little value beyond entertainment, essentially a distraction from what you really need to get done. Entertainment is great, but often times entertainment is procrastination. This is an especially important point for all you workers out there surfing the web in an attempt to get through yet another “boring day”. Something needs to change.

At some point you have to consider how long you are prepared to read about how successful someone else is, how much money they make or the ramblings of X number of mini-me bloggers also attempting to replicate the success of A-List profit bloggers. What exactly is in it for you or are you there to simply help that blogger make more money by being yet one more visitor adding to their traffic count?

Focus On What’s In It For You

Watching others achieve what you want to achieve will not help you unless you actually take away a lesson and apply it. If you currently read bloggers that spend most of their time rambling on about how good they are, or how much money they make or what they last had for dinner, or how amazing their traffic growth rate is, and you walk away feeling feeling depressed because you can’t seem to make any money or you are simply “passing the time” you are not moving forward.

As you are about to finish reading this article you can ask yourself - What did I learn? How can I change my behaviors for the better as a result of this article from Yaro?

My hope is that you will start to make better use of your time and challenge every blogger you read to benefit YOUR life.

I may end up losing some readers as a result of this article as they realize that Entrepreneurs-Journey.com doesn’t specifically offer them any value given their current situation and goals. That’s fine, what’s important is that you read this article, have an insight and take a step that leads to enhancing your life and making you happier.

Remember, money as a purpose in life is a false idol, as is worshiping people who are fixated on making money. Monitor your feelings and gravitate towards what works for you and what feels right. There’s nothing wrong with making money and being motivated by it, just remember that it’s not the only reason to do something, there should be a deeper motivation and purpose - a reason why that makes sense to you, a way it can help you and a way you can use it to help others.

[Via - Yaro Starak]

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Building Residual Income With A Website

Earn Residual Income Through Different Payment Methods

Residual income just does not happen. A person has to build it. One of the best ways to build residual income is through a website. A website gives a person many opportunities for residual income. Websites are also a great platform because they create many advantages for the website owner. Building residual income with a website is something anyone can do, all it takes is the drive to do it.

Websites are a great tool to use in building residual income. They operate 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. They are always available for customers and they do not need constant managing to work. They are the ideal employee. The website can have a shopping cart to take and process orders and payment. It can have a catalogue of merchandise, too. It is both an employee and store in one.

Besides taking orders there are ways to optimize a website to help a business earn even more money. One idea is having a subscription site. The main part of the site with the catalogue and shopping cart is public, but a business owner can make part of the site for subscription only. This part of the site must offer something a person would be willing to pay for and something that a lot of people would be interested in. People pay a fee to become a member and have access to the members only part of the website. Another option is offering an affiliate program. This is a residual income in itself, but tied in with a website and a person can really skyrocket their business. on the other hand a business owner could join some affiliate programs and advertise them on their website. This would create two streams of residual income and provide a sense of stability of income.

To get started a person has to build their website. There are many places a person can find help to do this. There are templates that make it super simple to build a professional website. It is important, though, that the website look professional and is easy for the customer to use. Professional website building services are actually reasonable priced and may be the best bet for the more technically challenged person. That way they can make sure that everything is set up on the website to optimize it for making money.

The internet and websites have really changed the face of business, especially small business. They take a lot of the costs away and make it affordable for almost anyone to build their own residual income based business. The potential for success is amazing and all a person has to do is build their website to get started.

By: Diep Tran

Article Directory: http://www.articledashboard.com

Diep Tran is Internet marketer, owns a Plug-In Profits Site and webmaster of Internet Home Business Opportunities. For An Internet Home Business Opportunity To Make Money Online, Visit: www.internet-wealth.biz

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dane cook

An eBay for Parking Spots

To People Who Want Your Own Business – But Don’t Know Where To Start

If you've ever spent a frustratingly long time looking for a parking space, a new service is sure to perk up your ears. You'll soon be able to find a spot without even having to drive around.

Since you can search online to check the weather before going outside, why not find a parking spot, too? That's what 32-year-old Andrew Rollert was thinking when he started spotscout.com out of Cambridge, Mass. "I am hoping this will kill off the expression 'looking for parking,' altogether," he says.

You'll be able to look for a spot before you even get in your car, by computer or any cell phone with Internet access.

Read more on abcnews.go.com.

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Around the House

AdSense Tips for Blogger.

Home-office tips

Add a little flair to your home-office organization with these ideas from Better Homes and Gardens' January issue:

Place a vintage muffin tin or a deeper popover pan in your desk's top drawer to contain small supplies.

Use self-adhesive hook-and-loop fastener dots to mount mismatched forks on the wall, tine end down. The forks can serve as clips to hold business cards and reminders.

Raid the china cabinet for containers. Teacups, small bowls, mugs and tumblers can hold small supplies such as pens and paper clips. Positioning them on a picture ledge mounted on the wall keeps them within reach without cluttering the desk top.

Use a napkin ring to corral coupons.

Hang old drawer pulls on the wall to hold reading glasses, keys and other small items. Hang curtain clip rings from the handles to hold small papers.

Toxins in our homes

We've probably all worried from time to time about the potential harmfulness of stuff in our homes — the slimy black mold in the shower, the asbestos in the ceiling tiles, the mercury in the fish we're cooking for dinner.

"What's Toxic, What's Not" helps readers determine whether those concerns are well-founded.

The authors, Dr. Gary Ginsberg, a toxicologist with the Connecticut Department of Public Health, and Brian Toal, supervisor of the department's Occupational Health Assessment Program, examine toxic substances that are common in homes and workplaces, such as air pollutants, pesticides and mold. They then assess those substances in terms of toxicity, the likelihood of exposure and the severity of the health risk.

The book helps readers separate myths from real threats and lets them base decisions on facts rather than fear. It is priced at $15 in paperback.

Better windowsills

Wood windowsills can be a maintenance nightmare when they are subjected to moisture, mildew and mold, but the new composite-wood sills by Sill-Rite help eliminate some of that concern. The sills, prefabricated and finished, can be used in new construction or existing homes. The white sills, which attractively wrap around the sides of the windows instead of being butt cut, can be painted to match your interior trim. They come in two profiles for a traditional look or streamline for contemporary needs, and are available in two depths — 5 and 6 inches. Available at www.sill-rite.com or call toll free 1-800-503-2334.

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The 10 Commandments of a Great Business Name

George lopez Latin kings of comedy

What's in a business name? Everything and nothing. The right business name will help distinguish you from a sea of bland competitors, provide your customers with a reason to hire you, and aid in the branding of your company. A business name won't make up for serious deficiency in your business operations or help you avoid selling. Apply these 10 commandments when choosing a name for your business.

1. Take Naming Seriously: Naming your business or products is a serious matter. The name you choose can play an integral part in the marketing of your company. Your name projects your image, brand, and position in the marketplace.

2. Avoid Word Play Dangers: Taking the word play strategy will add to the difficulty in having customers remember and find you. Being cute can backfire.

Funnynames.com lists the following actual "businesses to avoid:"

Ear-Resistible Designs Plus

Dirty Ernies Paragon Hotel

Fireball Oven Co

Mess Graphics Inc

Ralph Rotten's Nut Pound

X-Ray Sweaters

3. Don't be an IBM: It's tempting to abbreviate your business name to make communications and correspondence easier. However, as a small business owner you don't have the resources and marketing muscle to educate your market on what your acronym means.

4. Be Focused: Forget tagging your business name with the moniker such as global or enterprise. Any start-up founder has big visions for their company. You might one day envision marketing to diverse markets and having a wide range of products. Successful start-ups have limited time and money; it's more likely your success in the world of commerce will come from being highly focused in one narrow area. A small company is a specialist; it's why your customer wants you.

5. Stay Out of Court: Don't use, borrow, or modify an existing famous brand name. In Elizabethtown, Kentucky, Victor Moseley used the name Victor's Secret when he opened his adult gift and lingerie shop. Victor's Secret did not remain secret when the legal department of Victoria's Secret sent a letter to Moseley claiming trademark infringement. In haste, the name was changed to Victor's Little Secret, but the change was not enough for Victoria's Secret who then filed a lawsuit.

6. Think Beyond Local: The bulk of small businesses operate in local markets. This doesn't mean your name should be geographically based. If you are marketing to customers in a local market, they'll know you operate locally. Adding your town name to your business name just ensures you will be stuck in a long directory list of other local companies with similar names. If you want a local name, add it to your marketing such as "Exclusively Serving the (town) Area."

7. Avoid ME Inc: It's a common tendency for a business to be named after the original founder. If you are planning to one day sell your company, a company owner named business is less attractive to a perspective buyer's than a brand built on a company.

8. Ask Others to Spell it: When I started one of my companies and named it Insightica, it was unique enough but it drove me crazy the number of times I was asked to spell it. The word could be spelled with site or sight. Put your business name through the spelling test and ask others to spell it. Yourdictionary.com lists experience, intelligence, jewelry, millennium, and personnel as a few of the top 100 most misspelled words.

9. Be Web Friendly: Consumers are bombarded with business names and advertising on a daily basis. Your job as a successful small business is to make customers remember you. Your website web address should be the same as your business name. Avoid the hyphenated web address names. It's hard enough to remember a web site address without the hyphens.

10. Check Availability: When you have developed a great business name, spend the time to determine if another business isn't using it. You can use a similar name for your business if another company uses it in an unrelated market or industry. Once you have your name, protect it by registering the business name with your county or State office.

Your business name should be easy to remember and memorable. Apply the 10 commandments when naming your business and in the end you'll avoid a marketing disaster.

Go to source.

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Lauren Merkin Story

http://www.laurenmerkin.com/

It was Friday afternoon, two days before the Oscars, and Lauren Merkin, a little-known New York handbag designer, waited inside her room at the swank Peninsula Beverly Hills hotel, hoping that the $31,000 she had invested in producing a collection of 65 one-of-a-kind "Red Carpet" bags for Hollywood's biggest evening was about to pay off.

Her dream: that a big-name star or her stylist would breeze through the hotel room and select a bag to carry for the Academy Awards.
Bagging a celebrity endorsement is a marketing coup for any business, but a small shop like Ms. Merkin's can be catapulted to the major leagues if a star is photographed wearing the merchandise. In the frenzy of Oscar week, however, dozens of hopefuls -- from tiny shops to designers who are celebrities in their own right -- jostle each other for attention in hopes that a star will deign to wear one of their creations to one of the parties and events.

Breaking into this world costs money: Of the $31,000 Ms. Merkin spent, $13,500 included a fee to have her handbags at a "freebie" gift lounge for celebrities at the Independent Spirit Awards the day before the Oscars. An additional $9,000 went to production of the Red Carpet clutches -- she decided to make a special line of unique bags just for this event; Ms. Merkin's travel and hotel expenses ate up $3,500 and a publicist's travel expenses cost $5,000.

For a small company with roughly $1.4 million in revenue and a staff of four, this was no small investment -- and one that was a gamble. Even if a celebrity or her stylist took one of Ms. Merkin's bags, there was no guarantee she would actually end up toting it Oscar weekend as stars are notorious for being fickle. And even if someone did carry one, they might inadvertently tuck it behind their back or hand it to a publicist to hold while cameras were snapping.

Ms. Merkin was aware of the risks. "If they have your item and are photographed in conjunction with the Oscars, you can't even put a price on that," she said before the awards. And if not? "I'm trying not to think about it."

At 31 years old, Ms. Merkin, who earned an M.B.A. from Columbia University in New York, already has achieved some success with her basic $165 to $575 bags in silk, lambskin, snakeskin and calf hair. The bags are sold on Neimanmarcus.com and at Bergdorf Goodman, and in some 200 smaller boutiques such as Searle.

She got one of her first tastes of how powerful the celebrity connection can be after singer Jessica Simpson was photographed in August carrying one of her leather totes and the image appeared on a fashion Web site crediting Ms. Merkin. The photo was a surprise to Ms. Merkin -- her company hadn't given the bag to Ms. Simpson. Afterward, "we were getting emails from women around the country wanting to know how to get the bag," Ms. Merkin says. "It puts you on the map in a different way."

The business of courting celebrities has grown to the point where some vendors now pay stars to endorse an item -- a luxury Ms. Merkin says is "out of the realm" of what she can afford as a small business. Yet rather than simply doling out her regular bags, she did opt to create a cadre of unique Oscar handbags with fabrics such as organza and antique hand-beaded lace that she hand-picked in Manhattan's garment district.

Having unique bags was a bid to satisfy celebrities' desire to stand out -- and something that bigger designers do as well. This season, for example, Dockers created customized khakis for each presenter at the 2006 Independent Spirit Awards, the edgier sister show to the Oscars that occurs the day before. Shoe designer Stuart Weitzman, meantime, designed footwear adorned with jewels owned by Rita Hayworth for Kathleen York, a best song nominee for "Crash."

Producing a special collection was "a super smart move on Lauren's part," says stylist Robert Verdi, who, among other stars, dresses Eva Longoria of "Desperate Housewives" and who knows Ms. Merkin's work. "When you get the best things for nothing, the next thing you want is an original great thing for nothing."
Ms. Merkin isn't completely new to Hollywood. Mr. Verdi gave one of her bags to Ms. Longoria to wear at the recent Golden Globes awards. Despite the exposure, Ms. Merkin decided the Oscars would be an even greater promotional stage.

The special-edition clutches were the angle Ms. Merkin's publicity firm, Keri Levitt Communications, pushed in the weeks before the Oscars with stylists who guided, or outright decided, what outfits their clients wore that weekend. Ms. Merkin's main publicist, Jill Snowden, sent one of her regular bags to 15 of the top stylists, along with a personal note letting them know about her Oscar collection and hotel room in Los Angeles.

Just picking the right hotel is critical as celebrities and stylists have limited time to canvas all the designers' suites and gift lounges set up around town. At the last minute, Ms. Merkin's team switched to the Peninsula after learning there would be a plethora of stars staying there as well as a "Luxury Lounge" suite offering high-end goods and spa services to celebs, even though her bags weren't included in this particular lounge.

It was a calculated decision that paid off. Soon after arriving at the hotel on Thursday, Ms. Snowden and Ms. Merkin visited Luxury Lounge to chat up representatives from luxury-goods makers who were giving free products to celebrities. One of these representatives offered to direct any celebrities needing a handbag up to Ms. Merkin's suite.

The next day, the two women were talking with a stylist when an unexpected visitor directed from the Luxury Lounge walked in: it was "Desperate Housewives" star Nicollette Sheridan who plays the hit TV show's serial divorcee vixen, Edie Britt. The star, clad in an all-white pantsuit with her young stylist in tow, described her Oscar weekend attire -- a red dress with silver shoes and white gold cuff bracelet, which she planned to wear, among other places, to Elton John's popular party Sunday night.

After a few moments of mulling the creations sprawled across Ms. Merkin's bed, she took one of the designer's favorite, and most expensive, bags in grey/taupe lace. "It's beautiful and antique and chic and different," Ms. Sheridan pronounced.

Even as Ms. Merkin hurriedly packaged the handbag, the anxious stylist was already at the door. "Come on, my sweet," he sang to Ms. Sheridan. "Your broomstick is double-parked." The whole exchange took less thaan 10 minutes but Ms. Merkin and Ms. Snowden were optimistic: landing this "Housewife" would be huge even though they had no guarantee Ms. Sheridan would actually use the bag.

By day's end, four major stylists had visited Ms. Merkin's room and 31 bags had been doled out -- a good start. The most promising Oscar contender: Amy Adams, nominated for best supporting actress in "Junebug," whose stylist stopped by and picked up several bags, though made no promises. While many stylists will borrow and return bags, if a top celebrity wants to keep theirs, the matter of price will be forgotten -- and deducted as a marketing expense.

Saturday morning, the designer and her publicist headed to the Independent Spirit Awards in Santa Monica, where Ms. Merkin's regular handbags, and few Red Carpet ones, were offered free to celebrity award presenters.

The event was a boon for Ms. Merkin, who managed to get her bags into the hands of numerous celebrities, including Naomi Watts, Lisa Kudrow, Rosie Perez and Sienna Miller, as well as several men. Willem Dafoe and Billy Baldwin each snagged one for their wives; Terrence Howard, nominee for best actor in "Hustle & Flow," picked up one for his young daughter.

Every chance she got, Ms. Snowden ensured a photo was snapped, knowing the images could later be sent to the media or posted on the designer's Web site. The biggest coup came when the Independent Spirit Awards' host, comedian Sarah Silverman, was photographed with one of the "Red Carpet" bags.

On Sunday morning, Ms. Merkin and Ms. Snowden flew back to New York to watch the Oscars -- and wait. They were disappointed that Ms. Adams of "Junebug" didn't carry Ms. Merkin's bag. But not long after, Ms. Merkin found an image online of Ms. Sheridan carrying the grey/taupe tote at the Elton John party. Actress Gabrielle Union also was photographed carrying a Merkin bag to the Vanity Fair party.

Total Academy Awards tally: three big names photographed at Oscar-related events with the bags and some 30 other stars given free bags at the Independent Spirit Awards.
Ms. Merkin has no plans to sell the leftover Red Carpet bags, although at retail, they would go for $600 to $1,100. Instead, she will use them as a marketing tool, showing them to retailers to interest them in possibly ordering up a new special collection.

The next step is parlaying the Oscar weekend work into real business. Ms. Merkin will use the celebrity photos to court new retailers. Her public relations firm, meantime, will phone and email their contacts at magazines such as Entertainment Weekly to make them aware of the Oscar images and encourage citations in any post-Oscar packages. The images will also go up on Ms. Merkin's Web site.

"Giving away so much seemed a little out of hand at first," she says. But based on the exposure to celebrities and stylists, "I definitely got my money's worth."
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Online Business Survival: 3 Ways to Boost Your Internet Startup Profits

Pablo Francisco - Jackie Chan/Jet Li (Stand-up Comedy)

With business opportunity abound on the Internet, more and more people are looking to start an online home based business of their own. Lured by the ease and low cost of doing online business, they hope to either supplement or totally replace their offline incomes. Unfortunately, many Internet startups fail within 5 years as they cannot generate sufficient profits to sustain their operations. These virtual business owners have neither the profit generating skills nor knowledge to do so. In this article I'll will explore 3 strategies you as an online startup owner can adopt to increase the profits of your virtual business and thus boost its chance of survival.

Out of the many ways to generate income, developing and hosting a virtual community requires minimum content input from the business owner. Look for example at MySpace or YouTube. The contents of these sites are all provided by the communities. You instead concentrate on the supporting frameworks and structures to facilitate the interaction amongst the members. With a massive community, you can then improve your profits by selling advertising space or earning pay-per-click income and so on. Another good way to profit from the captive audience is to encourage them to subscribe to your online newsletter.

Offering your prospects and customers a free subscription to your newsletter will help you achieve higher volumes of sales. A prospect normally needs to be contacted 5-7 times regularly before making the first purchase. The email newsletter serves as a convenient and low cost solution to keeping in touch with the prospects. It is also an avenue to remind existing customers to replenish their supplies of regular purchases or to promote new products to them. You should not communicate solely through newsletter though and should explore other means as well.

Your customers are sophisticated and comfortable with handling and receiving information from a wide variety of channels. Email is the easiest and the most wide reaching means as everyone online has at least one email account, with many having two or three or even more. Blogs and RSS feeds are two other common communication channels to reach the buyers. Rising in popularity are audio and visual communication as evidenced by the many podcast and video blogging everywhere. Different buyers prefer to acquire product information through different communication means. Presenting the same information in different formats also enhances the product experience of the buyers. It makes sense, therefore, to use as many of the communication channels as you can to reach existing customers and gain some new ones.

This is by no means an exhaustive list of strategies to raise the profits of your online business for its survival. Nonetheless, adopting these straightforward ideas of hosting a community, starting a newsletter, and communicating in various channels, either together or individually, will help improve the bottom line of your Internet startup. After you become familiar with these strategies, you can explore other ways to expand and increase your online business profits. Eventually, you will succeed in living off entirely from your online incomes.

KokPang Yeo, an Internet marketing junkie, strongly believes in the future of online business. He runs a membership site that provides step-by-step marketing instructions, free traffic generating reports, and discounted resell rights products. Check it out at http://www.eMoney-Wants-You.com to take advantage of these cool stuff and more.
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VOIP a Good Idea for Small Business?

Top 10 Home Business Opportunities for 2007

I'm sure you probably get as much mail as I do trying to get you to convert your small business phone service to VoIP. This is an action you don't want to take lightly. Make sure you consider the options and the risks before you move your lifeline to your livelihood to VoIP service.

• RESILIENCY & RELIABILITY. VoIP is dependent on your electrical power service. If you lose electricity, you also lose VoIP services. Landline services, on the other hand, can run for days without external power because they are independently and redundantly powered. Small businesses literally cannot afford to lose telephone access. Every minute that the VoIP lines are down is a minute that the customers can and will go elsewhere.
  
  
• COMPATIBILITY. Many security alarm monitoring services don?t work with VoIP. VoIP lines may also present problems working with some fax machines that need to use a phone line.
  
  
• QUALITY. VoIP services still lack the same level of consistently high quality as landline service. The Internet is not as stable as landline service. VoIP users sometimes experience echoes and "over-talk" (the inability of one party to hear what the other is saying if both talk simultaneously), and dropped calls, among other problems.
  
  
• SAFETY. Some small business owners are hesitant to go "VoIP only" because of uncertainty about 911 response. Enhanced, E911 service mitigates many of these concerns, but E911 service is not yet available everywhere. Prospective VoIP customers should ask their providers about E911.
  
  
• SECURITY. Because it runs on the Internet, VoIP traffic is subject to the same security risks as Internet traffic.
  <\ul>
  Take a good long look before you make the plunge. Make sure you've checked the pros and the cons. Thanks to Verizon for these helpful hints.

Go to source.
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