Transformer Bunk Bed Sofa

Gotta love Resource Furniture, they really understand how to do space-saving in style. One of the latest items they’ve introduced has immediately caught my eye. DOC sofa by Bonbon is a clever transformer, capable of serving as a fully functional bunk bed …

Continued in BIZNESS! Newsletter Issue 135 >>>

- Hangover Treatment Bus
- iPavement
- Unrabble Skips The Resumes
- Drinklip Portable Cupholder
- Picle Shares

Continue reading these top stories in the BIZNESS! Newsletter >>>

- The Importance of Planning Before You Begin
- 3 Ways to Productively Work Positive
- 5 Tips For Starting an Online Business
- Business – How is Entrepreneurship Important With Regards to it?

Continue reading these top stories in the BIZNESS! Newsletter >>>

Can’t stand your demanding boss anymore? Start your own business! Before that, be sure to subscribe to our free informative newsletter. BIZNESS! is jointly published by CoolBusinessIdeas.com and GetEntrepreneurial.com What you get in BIZNESS! – the latest new business ideas, small business advice, business tips and info and entrepreneur resources. Everything you need for your brand new business!

Free 29-pages PDF ebook (worth $38) – “Awesome Business Ideas of 2011″ – included with your subscription. This is a special feature report on the smart and innovative business ideas that the world has seen last year. Learn more here.

We were in the coffee shop discussing a self-development book we had both read sometime over the last few years.

“It’s all about cause and effect,” she said. “Yes, not exactly rocket science, right?” I replied.

“It’s common sense really isn’t it,” she said. “Exactly, just common sense, so why does everyone make such a big fuss of the book?,” I asked. “Well, people don’t really get it do they?” She added. “So why is it called common sense,” I asked, “it doesn’t seem to be very common.” “Your right,” she said, “not common at all actually. So, how did you learn cause and effect, your common sense” she asked.

“At home”, I said, “at home during my childhood, from my mother and father”

We began talking about values and practices, raising kids and ethical work issues; all mixed up of course!

You were very lucky, she said, very fortunate that your parents taught you all that stuff.

And she’s right. My parents were always very sensible and they taught us common sense. Then they let us go and make major mistakes, again and again…just standing by to pick up the pieces.

Today is my mother’s 75th birthday, I’m so grateful that she taught me common sense.

It is such a crucial business skill. Don’t rely just on statistics and trends. Don’t trust anyone who tells you they understand your business (at least until you check them out). Use your common sense and if you don’t have any, find someone who does and ask them to teach you!

So, thanks Mum for teaching me common sense. It has helped me understand cause and effect – when I lose balance, my health and happiness suffer, when I eat unhealthy foods, I feel terribly, when I am grateful, I have all the more to be grateful for.

Thanks Mum for helping me believe that anything is possible.

Thanks for teaching me to value family and relationships above all.

Thanks Mum for telling me your stories.

Do you have common sense?

Who taught it to you?

Contributed by Katleen Richardson

As an entrepreneur, just like anyone else, you only have 24 hours in a day. This means that in order to get the most bang for your marketing buck, you need to have some idea of where you’re headed. It’s shocking how many startups and small businesses work on the assumption that more marketing of any kind will automatically be better, and they just use a time-consuming (and often expensive) shotgun approach to marketing, focusing on quantity rather than quality.

Aside from the fact that you just don’t have time to keep up that sort of everything-all-the-time marketing, it may not even be the best thing for your business. Have you ever unsubscribed from a company’s social media accounts simply because you kept hearing the same message several times over on every account, and it was too much like spam? Sending basically the same information out over many different channels is not good marketing – it’s just annoying, and it will result in a lot of wasted time and effort on your part.

It’s not just social media marketing that suffers from lack of planning, though. Any marketing you do without a plan can potentially end up being a waste of your time and resources. Are you aware of exactly what demographic your ads are reaching, or did you just go for the ad space that seemed to be the best value in terms of keeping initial costs down, allowing you to place more ads in more places?

If you feel like your marketing strategy is less of a marathon and more of a wild sprint in all directions, it may be time to take a step back and reassess. If you have yet to launch your business and are still in the organizational stages, then you can get started the right way before falling into the “more is more” trap.
Proper planning before you begin is essential if you, like most business owners, have limited time and resources at your disposal. Understanding who your audience is – and, more importantly, where they hang out – can be the key factor in having a successful marketing campaign. Your efforts would be better spent on narrowing your focus in the correct direction and then sending your message out in that direction, rather than just trying a lot of things at once and hoping for the best, or trying things one at a time in a random way.

Does this mean that you need to hire a marketing professional to help you? While that’s not strictly necessary in all cases, it may be worthwhile to spend at least some of your marketing budget making sure you get some sound advice. A lot depends on how much knowledge you have about how online marketing works, but either way, you’d be better off spending a small percentage of your available funds making sure things get planned correctly, than a much larger percentage randomly purchasing ad space that may not perform up to your expectations.

About the Author:

Katleen Richardson (http://www.marketing-advantedge.com) is an experienced leader who builds integrated strategies combining research, data analysis and creative thinking. She has delivered successful solutions for the publishing, financial and telecommunications industries, as well as for conference and training companies, and professional associations. Her approach is to design customer focused, cost-effective solutions based on cross functional collaboration and results-based metrics.

The truck in the next lane weaved toward me. I looked over. He was texting.

The car ahead of me at the now-green traffic light didn’t move. “She’s on Facebook on her phone,” my wife said.

The SUV zoomed ahead of me, and then slowed down. And again further down the interstate. Each time, the driver was on a call when I went around, and off the phone when he sped up.

And the thought popped in my head, “If these people are ‘always on’ when driving, how are they at work?”

Numerous studies indicate that our work productivity diminishes by at least 25% when we bounce from one task to another, allowing ourselves to be chronically interrupted. Technology breeds an expectation of instant responsiveness that we human beings just aren’t wired for.

Want to increase your work productivity and decrease your paralyzing overwhelm?

Slow down in these three ways to positively speed up your productivity:

Turn off email

Automatic email updates are an intrusion on your thought process.

Be honest now: you read email while on a phone call, right?

Think your caller doesn’t know

Think again. You’re failing to be 100% present. Too many “Umm’s” give you away.

Turn off the automatic email updates on your office computer, tablet, and phone. Whatever it is will wait until your prescribed time to download and answer email.

“Do not disturb”

Your desk and mobile phones have a “do not disturb” button, or “airplane mode” that blocks calls. Use them as you do problem-solving or creating. It takes your brain a little time to focus on a situation, consider a wide range of options, and discover the best one. Every time the phone rings, your mind chases the call whether you answer or not.

Give yourself a designated time to answer voice mail. Prioritize the calls and respond appropriately.

Limit social media

I’m convinced half of the bazillion Facebookers wake up posting a status while in the bathroom while the other half post with one eye closed, going to sleep. Talk about overwhelm…major corporations lose tons of bandwidth to social media daily.

Yes, have a presence on Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, and whatever else you want. Focus on content creation and hire someone else to manage it using incredible tools like TweetDeck or Hootsuite. Choose a specific time to be available online. Announce it and go live.

Otherwise, leave it alone.

Now what?

Slow down to speed up.

You’ve done it. You’ve increased your work productivity 25%.

Now what?

Positively become even more productive:

Walk outdoors in a green space. Sit on a park bench and listen to the birds. They’re not angry, and happy to sing for free.

Eat lunch with your spouse, your child in preschool, or a friend from Rotary Club or church. Just because…

Hand-write a thank you note to a teacher or college professor who changed your life. He probably works for next-to-nothing or she’s wondering if anybody noticed her sacrifices…especially at this time of year.

And remember—what goes around, comes around.

Slow down to speed up.

Productively Work Positive in this negative world.

About the Author:

Dr. Joey Faucette is the #1 Amazon best-selling author of Work Positive in a Negative World (Entrepreneur Press), coach, and speaker who help professionals discover success in the silver lining of their business and achieve their dreams. Discover more at www.ListentoLife.org/speaking.

When was the last time you heard a great story?

You know the kind…where you find yourself repeating it to someone else.

You may have heard it in passing. It may have been a friend or colleague that told you something that just kind of stuck. It was compelling, perhaps had an urgent message or simply inspired you. It struck a chord in you somewhere, you may not even know what it was… But you find yourself telling your partner or a friend.

Can you imagine what it would be like if every time you spoke, this happened?

Can you imagine how it would affect your life and your business if your story touched people in this way?

It’s not as difficult as you would imagine.  It’s down to 4 simple ingredients. They are: passion, conviction, clarity and presence.

If you are passionate about what you stand for and what you are saying…

If you believe in your mission entirely… If you have complete clarity as to what are the
benefits… If you are truly present…

How many people actually have this in their business? I imagine, not as many as we would think!

Last week I participate in a storytelling performance for a local festival.  As I stood on the stage, in the middle of the most enchanting forest you could imagine, those four magic ingredients showed up.

I was passionate about my stories.

I was completely committed to my role as
storyteller, peace maker and entertainer.

I was clear about how the audience would be thrilled by the experience of our performance, but also go away thinking about the big issues we were discussing.

And finally, I went through my physical, emotional, spiritual and intellectual preparations in order to be fully present.

So, the truth is, it’s much easier when you are ‘performing’…when you are on stage. But what about in life and in your business?

Can you imagine how your life and business would change if it were made up of these four ingredients all the time?

It’s mind-blowing! Seriously, you could change the world! And why not – why not go for it? Create this level of impact in everything you do.

Article Contributed by Paul Brooks

Starting an online business is easy. Starting one that is successful and wildly profitable is difficult. Yes there are those inspiring rags to riches stories about entrepreneurs who seem to hit it big over night but they are the exception, not the rule. Making money online is one of the most highly searched topics on the internet today and has been for years.

1. Designing Your Website and Communication Platform

After you have spent the necessary time and energy putting together your business plan and securing the necessary funding for your start up, you are going to need to build a website. (or have someone build it for you) Design the website as if you are the customer. Make the site user friendly with a simple navigation process that is easy to use, fun and unintimidating. Provide a positive online experience backed with excellent customer service. This will convert customers into long term fans and evangelists for you.

Use your site to capture information about past, future and potential customers. Your contact list will become an important and lucrative intellectual asset. One way to do this is to offer an opt-in newsletter. After you get established and have generated a significant list you will use it to generate an obscene amount of revenue from repeat business through ongoing email promotions.

2. Choosing a Web Hosting Company

Naturally you are going to need to engage a web hosting company to provide a server to store your web content. There are lots of multi-solution web hosting companies that provide storage space and even domain name registration, etc. The size and type of web hosting package you choose will be largely determined by the type of online business you are starting. Be sure to do your due diligence before choosing the vender you will use.

You may want to consider engaging the services of a local webhost since they may be able to get your web pages loaded faster than being routed from an international server. Be sure to get references and make sure they are a reliable web host. Verify that they have been providing dependable service for similar types of online businesses as the one you are starting.

3. Offering Online Payment Methods

Accepting payments on your website is the lifeblood of an online business. Consider offering as many payment options as you possibly can. Your shopping cart needs to be easy to use, hassle free and secure. Again, do your due diligence before choosing your payment processing provider. They need to be dependable and experienced in the kind of business you will be involved in. To enable payments to be made directly on your site, you will need to apply for your own merchant account with a merchant account services provider or you may opt to use a 3rd party payment services provider such as Paypal.

4. Preparing Your Backend System

If you are using a virtual store, it is crucial that you have a robust backend software system. It will be used to track all of the key information to aid you in making business decisions. These backend operations can include inventory management, reporting systems and credit card processing. There are numerous singular and all-in-one providers that have the ability to provide you with custom-made solutions depending on your needs. Be sure to acquire backend software that provides you with accurate and real-time information. A good solid and reliable backend system enables you to make informed decisions that will help you guide the business as it grows.

5. Marketing Your Online Store

Frankly, marketing is in some respects the most important aspect of your new venture. It will largely determine whether your venture is a success or not. Without effective marketing you don’t get sales. Without sales, nothing else matters. Many first time online marketers assume that if they have a great product or service and a great website, that they are going to sit back and generate sales. That just isn’t how it works.

• Optimize your website - Using your website to generate interest and to be a proactive part of your marketing campaign requires a high ranking on Google, Bing and other major search engines. That does not happen automatically. The ability to drive visitors to your site through organic search queries virtually always requires search engine optimization (SEO).

• Don’t just rely on search engines to drive sales – The second hard fact of online marketing is that your website will seldom be the main marketing vehicle that generates viewers through organic search. Unless your site is ranked high on the first page of Google and other search engines, you cannot count on your website as a major proactive method of marketing your services.

• Consider affiliate marketing – Affiliate programs can be extremely effective if they are a good fit for your business model and you have profit margins that can support them. An affiliate program pays other online marketers a commission for driving new customers to your website.

Hopefully this information has given you a little food for thought. An online business can be fun and exciting. It also takes some serious planning. Good luck in making your first online fortune.

About the Author

Paul Brooks is a representative of Phone.com, an internet-based company specializing in home and business phone services, virtual office, virtual number, and enterprise.

To succeed in today’s economic environment, check your ego at the door and embrace a new way of doing business that is about more than what you can control and manipulate.  That’s your ego talking.

The Ego Economy is dead.

Welcome to the We Economy.

This rising tide of the We Economy can lift all of our companies on thrilling waves of positive profits or capsize and drown us in red ink. We choose.

How do you navigate the change and positively succeed at work?

Here are three positive business conversation transformations to have today that say “good bye” to the Ego Economy and “hello” to the We Economy so you will positively profit.

“I did it” becomes “We did it.”

In the Ego Economy, you could afford to get by on what you alone could do. The We Economy requires the creation of partner relationships with your employees, customers/clients, vendors/suppliers and more to generate a profit built on what “We” can do.

How?

Ask your employees, “How would you build a better business?” They are on the front-line of interaction daily. Listen deeply and tap their wisdom. Act to implement.

Ask your customers/clients, “What can we do better?” They bring you their hard-earned money in exchange for your services and products. Listen deeply for themes and respond immediately.

Ask your vendors/suppliers, “What are some best practices you see out there?” Take notes about the one that makes sense for your business and ask your employees what they think and how they would implement it.

In the We Economy, we succeed as we create partner relationships with everyone who touches the business. We do it, not I.

“I already know that” becomes “Please show me how.”

In the Ego Economy, you stayed on top of the change-of-information trickle with little effort. “I already know that” was a reflection of the predictable growth of knowledge.

In today’s We Economy, the info flow is more like a fire hose than a trickle. You as a business owner or leader simply can’t drink from it alone. “Please show me how” replaces “I already know that” to generate more profits. Be teachable.

Your business is your tuition ticket to matriculate in Biz U. You hire people smarter than you in certain areas and learn from them. You cultivate an “always on the learn” environment in which results are shared, graded, and evaluated for next time and do-over’s.

Keep saying, “Please show me how” until it rolls with delight because you’re about to learn something that makes your company more profitable.

“I pulled myself up by my own bootstraps” becomes “We wear loafers.”

In the Ego Economy, we all wore boots and bragged about pulling ourselves up by our own bootstraps. As self-made men and women, we created it all.

In the We Economy, we wear loafers. In a boot-wearing market, loafers are innovative—more comfortable, easier to pull on and off, with no socks. In the We Economy, you’re comfortable in responding to the changing demands of your partners and learning as you go. You’re pulled onto and off of teams according to project needs, not siloed departments. And who needs socks?

Relating with all who interact with your business and creating new learning generates creative innovation which takes your company to greater profits and higher margins. In an economy of boot-wearing, ego-driven, know-it-all’s, innovators who are loafer-sporting, team-focused, and learning-as-you-do-it have more to say about success than anyone.

Avoid talking about “I” because the Ego Economy is dead.

Instead, start a positive work conversation about “us.”

Welcome to the “We” Economy.

(Wear your loafers.)

About the Author:

Dr. Joey Faucette is the #1 Amazon best-selling author of Work Positive in a Negative World (Entrepreneur Press), coach, and speaker who helps professionals discover success in the silver lining of their business and achieve their dreams. Discover more at www.ListentoLife.org/speaking.

IKEA Cardboard Camera

Earlier this week a photograph of a mysterious IKEA digital camera crafted out of cardboard took the web by storm. It will be called KNÄPPA, and was designed in collaboration with Stockholm’s Teenage Engineering. Billed as “the world’s cheapest digital camera”, the KNÄPPA …

Continued in BIZNESS! Newsletter Issue 134 >>>

- Gold Coated Luxury Glasses
- Lazy Football Chair
- Bedroom in a Box
- Triposo Offline Travel App
- Furniture Tasting

Continue reading these top stories in the BIZNESS! Newsletter >>>

- The 9 Best Business Lessons From the Godfather
- The Customers is Always Right (Especially When You Think They Aren’t!)
- 3 Web Practices More Important Than Advertising
- Facing The Facts of Self-Employment

Continue reading these top stories in the BIZNESS! Newsletter >>>

Can’t stand your demanding boss anymore? Start your own business! Before that, be sure to subscribe to our free informative newsletter. BIZNESS! is jointly published by CoolBusinessIdeas.com and GetEntrepreneurial.com What you get in BIZNESS! – the latest new business ideas, small business advice, business tips and info and entrepreneur resources. Everything you need for your brand new business!

Free 29-pages PDF ebook (worth $38) – “Awesome Business Ideas of 2011″ – included with your subscription. This is a special feature report on the smart and innovative business ideas that the world has seen last year. Learn more here.

Article Contributed by Kavin Matthews

The essence of entrepreneurship is the ability of individuals to take risks of trying something new. Now, if it is with regards to business entrepreneurship, it will have to be those individuals who are trying to establish a new business with some new ideas. Though entrepreneurship is related mainly with business, there is a major difference in being a businessman and an entrepreneur. Usually, an entrepreneur is more of an innovative person who manages a business much better than a businessman.

Importance of entrepreneurship in business

In order to succeed as a business, having entrepreneurship skills is extremely important. So, who actually is an entrepreneur and what are the basic skills that are required of him/her?

Entrepreneurs are bold and more project oriented and believes in innovation. An entrepreneur creates a business out of his own idea unlike the businessmen who in general inherit a business. In case of the entrepreneur, it is the business that works for him.

Entrepreneurship is not only important for the development of a business but is also a vital part of the economy as a whole. They and their work are vital to the growth of the economy and helps in constant up gradation of our living standards. Thus, it is quite obvious that the entrepreneurs help in bettering the business in the process.

Thus, the main idea is that entrepreneurs provide the needed new beginning to the new industries. It helps in development of fresh and new sectors. There are three main roles of entrepreneurs with regards to businesses and these are:

• Planning the business development - Planning the business includes the main architecture of the business. An entrepreneur is that person who envisions and externalizes the structure of the business – the planning. He/she is the one who writes up the whole business plan. The entrepreneur sets the goal the plans that are designed during the start up of a business and this is an extremely crucial point for any business. This also includes the right option through which the business should be financed.

• Researching business prospective and capturing the mass - Entrepreneurs are required to constantly research on how the business is going to evolve and what are the steps associated with it. Just like a sales man, in order to establish the business in the right way and to bring in profits, the entrepreneur is constantly required to research on anything and everything required for the business. These can include recruitment of new employees with high working abilities and skills, raising funds for the developments in the business and so on. The entrepreneurs may choose to hire those individuals who are technically more important for bringing in the development in the business. The entrepreneurs shape and design the business and the marketing strategies in such a way so as to capture the mass.

• Executing what is needed for the business development - The entrepreneurs are not only required to plan and research on the business development. They are also required to execute certain tasks. So, the entrepreneurs are also required to bring in a set of rules and principles so that the functions with regards to the business are carried out in the right way.

So, these are the three main things that an entrepreneur does and this help in development of a proper and successful business. The entrepreneurs fill up the gap between the wants and the needs of the business and also the customers at the same time. Setting up a new business is not at all an easy task. Considering this fact, it can be said that the entrepreneurs are the ones who makes all of these possible.

About the Author

Kavin Matthews is a finance based writer associated with the Debt Consolidation care Community. He has written numerous articles for different finance based websites like on debt, credit, business and debt and so on. For more details you can refer to http://www.debtconsolidationcare.com/.