Start-Up Guide

Looking to Incorporate? FilingsMadeEasy Launches

2009-08-27T18:30:41-04:00

FilingsMadeEasy.com recently launched. They provide one of the easiest platforms I have ever seen for forming your LLC or Incorporation online. They also offer other services (DBA, FEIN, Resident Agent Services, etc.) at affordable prices. They also have a great resource center.

Long Overdue Update

2008-12-29T17:03:10-05:00

This post has been long overdue but with the start of the new year I plan to begin blogging once again.

Quick update (with more to come) - I am now the Manager of Entrepreneur Development at Babson College. I am responsible for supporting & developing Babson's entrepreneurs (students & alumni) through an array of programs and services. My store (Easthampton Dollar), is chugging along just fine and I am excited for our one year anniversary in February. I also still remain active in the SEO, SEM, Web 2.0, and affiliate marketing space as a consultant, writer, and performance marketer.

Moving forward, I plan to use this blog to primarily share my personal endeavors in entrepreneurship and lessons learned, particularly in the dollar store business and online marketing. I will have a new blog up very soon at Babson to write about entrepreneurship in general and to highlight the entrepreneurship activities at Babson.

ShopFirstDate is Live

2008-12-29T16:56:10-05:00

My good friend, entrepreneur, and Babson alumnus Keri Barrett has a new e-commerce site up for her company, FirstDate Boutique. Check out ShopFirstDate.

Firefox Search Bar Add-Ins

2008-07-14T17:11:08-04:00

I just saw this article on Sphinn about '20+ Must-Have FireFox Search Plugins for SEOs' by Ann Smarty over at Search Engine Journal. This is a pretty comprehensive list of search engine plugins to add to the toolbar.

I am going to be adding a few from this list, particularly:
1. Whois Look-Up
2. Google unpersonalized search
3. Del.icio.us
4. Smart Page Rank
5. Quantcast
6. TinyURL

Easthampton Dollar

2008-04-11T10:53:14-04:00

Easthampton Dollar has been open for a month and a half so far and things seem to be going great. If you have some free time check out the website and photo gallery. I plan to post more in depth soon about the different lessons learned and resources used to open the store.

VistaPrint Coupons

2008-03-26T09:17:06-04:00

Looking for discounts and coupons on VistaPrint products? Check out VistaPrint Coupons

Published in DMNews!

2007-12-22T08:26:56-05:00

I recently wrote about leveraging the news for SEM returns in DMNews. You can find the article online here.

Review: Lexmark Z1420

2007-11-26T21:55:14-05:00

I recently received a Lexmark Z1420 wireless printer and it is a great printer. I have purchased numerous Lexmark printers in the past and I am always happy with their performance and quality. However, this was my first wireless printer. The set up was incredibly easy and the CD that came with it worked flawlessly on all the laptops in the house (Apple, IBM, and Dell) across windows, linux, and osx. We set the printer up in the corner of our picture window in our living room. We all work in various areas of the house (living room, dining room table, bedrooms, etc.) so having the printer in a centralized area without having to connect wires constantly to print documents is amazing. You can also get this printer for under $100 on many internet retailers. A quick search on Google for "lexmark z1420" will show you some affordable ads from ecommerce sites.

Catching Up

2007-10-25T10:00:05-04:00

I'm planning on spending more time blogging now and focusing mostly on areas where I can provide the most valuable knowledge, mostly internet marketing. In particular, pay per click (PPC) and search engine optimization (SEO) as well as a few other aspects of internet marketing. I am also working on a traditional retail venture so I will probably be posting from time to time on lessons learned while opening a retail store.

In the meantime, here are some special coupon codes feel free to share them or post on your own blogs, forums, etc.
Get 10 Free - Holiday Cards or Christmas Cards - use coupon code 'FreeHoliday' at checkout
One Free Custom Personalized Pen - use coupon code 'FreePen07' at checkout
One Free Photo Printed Wall Calendar - use coupon code 'FreeCalendar07' at checkout

Holiday Season is starting...

2007-10-03T13:46:30-04:00

The holidays are right around the corner, which is always a fun and exciting time but also incredibly stressful. However, this is also an exciting time for anyone that works with selling products to consumers (online, offline, affiliate, pay per click, etc.) as purchases begin to ramp up across almost all consumer good categories.

A good thing for companies or individuals is to create custom Christmas cards. Greeting cards are a great way to connect with customers and be sure to design your holiday cards in a way that is relevant and on message, not just salesmanship. For friends and family (and maybe even sometimes for businesses) photo cards are becoming increasingly more popular as well.