Like Scibd and SlideShare, PDFMeNot is an online PDF to Flash converter that will instantly convert any Adobe PDF document into a Macromedia Flash (SWF) movie while preserving the original layout, image graphics and formatting.

To create a PDF into flash, go to www.pdfmenot.com and either feed the PDF’s URL or upload the file itself to the PDF-to-Flash engine. Once the conversion is finished, you will get a link to view the Flash equivalent of the PDF.

And if you want to download the Flash file, go here for instructions.

A Flash PDF Viewer for Reading PDF Files without Acrobat is a post from: Top Business Opportunities

by reliable-web-hostings.com

Last week, Microsoft unleashed its brand new search engine onto the market. It’s called Bing and, contrary to what the name suggests, you do have to take it seriously. Even if you’re not planning to give up your Google search habit, you’ll still want to familiarize yourself with Bing to understand how you can help your site rank in their local search index.

To list your local business in Bing, head to the Bing Local Listing Center. From there, you’ll be able to check to see if you already have a local listing set up. If you do, you can modify it. If not, now’s the perfect time to create one.

smallbiztrends.com

Grab Your Local Listing in Bing is a post from: Top Business Opportunities

by www.reliable-web-hostings.com

1. Make people look good
2. Keeps promises
3. Creates an experience
4. Educates, instead of selling
5. Adds value beyond price
6. Does something talkable
7. Exceeds expectations

Focus on even one of the internal mindsets and practices above and watch how much more referable you become.

ducttapemarketing.com

What Really Generates Referrals is a post from: Top Business Opportunities

Perhaps most interesting of all, there will be preferred parking spaces for hybrid and fuel-efficient vehicles, along with ChargePoint stations offering free electricity for plug-in cars. Two such stations will be available at the restaurant’s launch, according to The News & Observer.

It’s not entirely clear whether a 30-minute meal offers enough time to charge a vehicle adequately, as HybridCars points out. Nevertheless, plans are afoot to install charging stations at McDonald’s locations in Sweden as well, the publication reported, and there seems little doubt that as adoption of electric vehicles increases, there will be demand for charging stations in convenient spots around the globe. Embrace such technology early, and you boost your eco-credentials; offer it as a free perk, and you could win eco-minded consumers’ hearts, minds and dollars!

springwise.com

Free car charging at new, green(er) McDonald’s is a post from: Top Business Opportunities

The glamorous 84-year-old next month celebrates four decades since her first line of towelling turbans for Brighton’s “ladies who lunch” blossomed into a brand of leisure wear for women aged 40 and older.

“I made clothes for over-40s because that’s how old I was,” she says. Hamilton used towelling, velour and later jersey and silks because they skimmed rather than clung, and “slenderised” the figure.

She elasticised waistbands, cut to a bigger block with generous sleeves, lowered bustlines and kinked waistlines. She perfected techniques to flatter the mature figure that could be compared to those a skilled tailor uses to flatter the softening physique of a middle-aged man.

It was never the hippest market niche and younger fashion brands were more than happy to leave her to it. But they might not be so snobby soon. Hamilton’s niche market is filling up and going gangbusters despite the slumped economy. She opened her 12th shop in Bondi recently and another will open in August.

Older women increasingly complain they have money to spend but few places to spend it where they are not scorned by frosty young sales staff and racks of unsuitable clothes. “They want elegance, these women,” says Hamilton. “They want comfort and a big range, very good quality and very good service.”

Hamilton is still involved in her company, now run primarily by her son and daughter, David and Ann Hamilton, but pulled back from daily operations three years ago. She says the formula now being replicated by her rivals evolved in regular visits to her shops. She talked to women, she says, and acted on their comments. Astonishing brand loyalty was the result.

According to the 2007 census, the proportion of Australia’s population aged 50 to 59 has increased from 10 per cent to 13 per cent since 1996.

theage.com.au

Leisure with an elegance suits you, ma’am is a post from: Top Business Opportunities

Co-branding also enables one brand to benefit from the “halo of affection” that belongs to another. That was the rationale behind Nike’s (NKE) original 1984 alliance with Michael Jordan, and the effort has done wonders for both.

Co-branding is not just for giant national or international brands. While a small business may have difficulty linking up with Nike or Procter & Gamble, there are an increasing number of off the shelf co-branding opportunities of which many businesses can avail themselves. Programs have been developed by credit-card companies such as Visa and MasterCard, retailers including Starbucks and Barnes & Noble, and even shipping companies—the U.S. Postal Service offers a service by which you can add your company logo to its priority mail packaging.

Beyond these, there are bound to be dozens of custom co-branding partners for just about any type of small business, whether you serve a local geographical area or a national vertical market. The key is to think creatively about products or services that complement yours in some way and that will enhance the appeal or credibility of your offering.

Develop your own guidelines
Be careful, however—co-branding is not without its risks. First, it tends to have a dilutive effect, since it spreads the credit for a positive experience across two brands where normally there’s only one. And if the experience isn’t positive—even if it’s the other brand’s fault—it may reflect negatively on you. Further, while in a well-conceived co-branding program the whole should be greater than the sum of the parts, you can’t get away from the fact that you are to some extent relying on another brand’s equity. That can, in some cases, make your brand look weak or secondary.

It’s important, therefore, to carefully consider your own co-branding principles before you enter the fray. Develop guidelines that are right for your business that will enable you to objectively assess opportunities that arise.

Create a proposal and reach out
Your criteria may differ based on what’s most appropriate for your situation, but “fit” should be a prime consideration. While many brands share similar characteristics, no two are exactly alike. Co-branding ice cream and root beer is a natural; co-branding sports cars and computers less so (though that didn’t prevent Ferrari from linking up with Acer). Ecco Shoes co-branding with the World Wide Fund for Nature makes intuitive sense; Chanel and Hello Kitty is a bit more of a head-scratcher. Look for brand fit not only from the perspective of attributes and benefits but also with respect to core values and corporate philosophies.

businessweek.com

The Pros and Cons of Co-Branding is a post from: Top Business Opportunities

But your installed base—like the pretty girl at the dance—knows it’s in demand and is playing the field appropriately. So simply doing more of the same marketing programs isn’t going to work with these customers. You need a new way to gain their attention, to keep them engaged with and loyal to you, and ultimately, to induce them to buy your products and services.

1to1media.com

Grow Wallet Share From Your Existing Customer Base is a post from: Top Business Opportunities

Quality – Value – Service – Caring
The above four words all fail for essentially the same reasons. Not only are they overused, they’re based on variables that will be different for everyone. There’s a quality/value/service/caring continuum in each person’s mind for every purchase occasion, and it is a continually moving target.

Integrity
A company either has integrity or it doesn’t. It’s either honest or it isn’t. And most people give companies the benefit of the doubt in believing that they operate with integrity. When a company talks about integrity in its advertising it’s for one of two reasons, neither one of them good: They’re either trying to cover up some lack of integrity (which never works) or they’re implying they live by a higher standard than their competition. That’s impolite, to say the least. Every company needs to have integrity. No company needs to advertise it.

businessweek.com

Five Words to Never Use in an Ad is a post from: Top Business Opportunities

Coolhaus sells handmade ice cream sandwiches from a pink and chrome converted postal jeep. Featuring local and organic ingredients whenever possible, Coolhaus sandwiches are 2-by-2-inch confections, about 1 inch deep, assembled to order using two cookies and a scoop of ice cream. Five architecture-inspired, “prefab” flavours are currently available from Coolhaus’s two-woman team (for example: the Frank Behry, made from sugar cookies and strawberry ice cream; the Mies Vanilla Rohe features chocolate chip cookies and vanilla ice cream), but customization is also possible, they say. The sandwiches are also available with an edible, rice-paper wrapping that can feature a brand, name or logo in edible ink. Pricing is about USD 3 per sandwich, or USD 3.50 with the edible wrapper, according to LAist.

In addition to broadcasting information about its whereabouts via Twitter (@coolhaus), Coolhaus actually partners with Kogi in Venice on Saturdays, LAist reported; coming soon from its truck are edible spoons and popsicles shaped like famous buildings.

springwise.com

Twitter-powered truck sells ice-cream sandwiches is a post from: Top Business Opportunities

Photography: Make sure that you have a great selection of visuals available, should your press release capture a reporter’s eye. This includes projects, screenshots, shots of the spokesperson and anything else that is relevant.

Make sure you have high-quality content. Many journalists use digital images, so make sure these are available — with a resolution of at least 300 dots per inch (300 dpi).

Pitch: Capturing attention with your press release is just the start of the process. You need to have your pitch ready for when the media begins calling.

Profile: Your corporate profile should always be up-to-date. Never assume the reporter is familiar with your company. Many reporters file several stories per day and sometimes details get lost in the process.

Press pack: A good way to communicate that profile is via a press pack. This should contain additional background information to help journalists prepare a story or an interview.

The four Ps take a little more time, but if you make the investment, you’re likely to see a much greater return on your press release.

venturebeat.com

Four keys to a great PR campaign is a post from: Top Business Opportunities

All too often the only statistics a site’s owner has on hand is a basic set of website logs from their web hosting company – logs which they rarely have analyzed or looked at in depth. Further, they often have few processes (if any) set up to track activity across the web.

That’s a critical mistake. Analytics are a window into the demographics and habits of both your customers and potential customers. Setting up analytics processes should be one of the first things you do as you launch your business.

Fortunately, this isn’t as hard as it might seem. There are several good website analytics packages available, including Google Analytics (formerly Urchin) and the Quantcast.

Initially there are two main analytics goals you should set:

1. First, you’ll want to establish a baseline of the traffic to your site. You’ll also want to be able to detect new traffic and observe how people use your site and applications.
2. Your second goal – learning how people use your site or service – could be the most valuable information you collect. Once you have traffic and users, start building up statistics on which links they follow (and which they don’t). What features of your application are they using? Where in the process of registering do they give up?

Whether the results are positive or negative is irrelevant. Either way, you’re better able to learn about your customers, their habits and what changes impact their behavior.

venturebeat.com

Harnessing the power of analytics is a post from: Top Business Opportunities

Simply create and enter up to 5 messages (up to 120 characters in length each) using the included remote control. Then select from 3 different scroll speeds. The super-bright red LEDs ensure that your message is seen day or night. You can announce to everyone on the road that you’re a fan of your sports team, advertise your business… the possibilities are endless!

What would your message say? Leave a comment.

Simply connect 2 wires (power and ground) to your vehicle’s electrical system and you are ready to go! You can either wire the Flash Frame so it is on whenever the ignition is on, or only comes on when you hit your brakes.

Please check your local ordinances for restrictions. We don’t want you out there breaking the law!

perpetualkid.com

License plate flash frame is a post from: Top Business Opportunities

1. Be wary of “high income” opportunities as well as those touting instant or quick earnings.
2. Look for and verify company contact information. Test e-mail addresses and phone numbers for a response within 24 hours. Always be able to speak to someone on the phone rather than relying strictly on e-mail communication.
3. Watch out for outlandish claims (often in big, bold headlines) and don’t put much stock in income testimonials.
4. Check online forums on a particular business opportunity.
5. Confirm the reliability of companies with the BBB.

Frequent scammers

The BBB also warns consumers about the increase in fraud among door-to-door students selling magazine subscriptions. The scam occurs when the peddlers – typically with a hard-luck story or earning money for charity – take orders and then the magazines never arrive.

Because sales representatives are typically high school or college-age, victims easily believe the fictitious sales pitch and often pay too much money. The BBB has received more than 1,000 complaints in the last year from 46 states.

In some cases the students also have been victims. They were hired by a company to sell magazines door-to-door and then never paid promised commissions.

The Federal Trade Commission Cooling Off Rule requires that you must be offered a cancellation form any time you spend more than $25 from door-to-door salesman. You also are allowed three days to cancel the order.

If you are not offered a cancellation form, don’t buy – plain and simple.

hattiesburgamerican.com

Learn how to spot a home business scam is a post from: Top Business Opportunities

The following 9 headline formulas are some of the easiest to write and the most powerful. When it comes time to write a headline, try one of these first. At the very least, this can give you a creative jumping off point to write a headline that works.

1. Say it simply and directly.
2. State the big benefit.
3. Announce exciting news.
4. Appeal to the “how-to” instinct.
5. Pose a provocative question.
6. Bark a command.
7. Offer useful information.
8. Relay an honest, enthusiastic testimonial.
9. Authenticate your proposition with a little something extra.

There are many, many other ways to write a headline. Whatever strategy you choose, don’t make a decision too quickly. Take time to brainstorm. Write dozens or even hundreds of headlines. You never know exactly what you want to say before you say it, so giving yourself plenty of choices is the surest way to arrive at the best, most powerful headline.

copyblogger.com

9 Proven Headline FormulasThat Sell Like Crazy is a post from: Top Business Opportunities

A Business Directory Scam starts with a phone call. A con artist calls an office, asking the person answering the phone to “confirm” the company’s address, telephone number, or other information. They claim it’s for a listing in the yellow pages or similar business directory. The scammer then asks a series of questions and may record them on tape for verification.

Next, the con artist sends urgent “invoices” for $500 or more. They include a copy of the directory mentioned during the phone call. Often, the “directories” are just websites with business listings. Without realizing the company never agreed to pay, the person paying the bills may cut a check.

If the company or business refuses to pay, the scammers may become aggressive. They use threats of legal action to collect payment in attempt to damage the company’s credit ratings. They may use the name of the person who answered the phone as “proof” that the company owes them money. They will play the verification tape that has been doctored in a way no one could have understood.

If companies stand firm in refusing to pay, the scammer may try to offer a phony discount. They also may let the company return the directory at the company’s own cost. Some companies may pay just to stop the hounding, but they are likely to receive more bogus invoices, resulting in large money losses.

BBB offers the following tips to protecting your business:

1. Train your staff to spot this scam – Educate your employees about the scam. Talk to everyone who may pick up the phone.
2. Inspect your invoices – Designate a small group of employees to approve purchases and pay the bills. Inform all other employees to send any inquiries to them. Don’t pay for products or services that aren’t authorized. Do not be mislead by a logo or name attached with the invoice, they may not be protected by any federal trademark registration. Remember it is illegal to mail a bill, invoice or statement of account that is really a solicitation, unless is states “this is not a bill.”
3. Develop a “show me” attitude – Encourage the accounting department or bill-payers to find proof when it comes to unexpected invoices from companies they are not familiar with. Organize a list of all companies you use for recurring expenses.
4. Find businesses you can trust at www.bbb.org – Check the reliability of any company with BBB. Please file a complaint right away if you have already become a victim.

nebraska.tv

Advertising Scams Hit Businesses is a post from: Top Business Opportunities

And on Sunday, their one day off, they drive together to the nearest house of worship of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.

The salesmen are mostly former Mormon missionaries from Utah who cut their teeth — and learned their people-skill chops — cold-calling for their faith. In Chicago and in its suburbs where their employer, Pinnacle Security of Orem, Utah, has shipped them for the summer sales season, they are doing much the same thing, but as a job.

nytimes.com

Need door-to-door salemen? Hire a Mormon. is a post from: Top Business Opportunities

1. Tweetr – This applications allows you to share files up to 10MB via Twitter. Tweetr will upload your file and covert it to a short URL. One other feature of Tweetr is that you can use your webcam to share images with your followers.
2. Twellow – In short, a yellow pages for Twitter users. This directory service enables you to easily search, find and follow people that interest you most. Registration is free.
3. Twitalyzer – Use this application to evaluate your impact and success of your Twitter activity. This tool measures your clout, generosity, influence, velocity and signal to noise ratios.
4. Twitter Job Search – Looking for work? This app searches and sorts available job positions discussed on Twitter. You can browse the jobs by category or use their helpful map of jobs tweeted within the last 72 hours.
5. Tweetmeme – This site tracks the most popular links found on Twitter. Search the business category for the most recent news and trends for your industry.

smbceo.com

Twitter Apps Your Business Should Explore is a post from: Top Business Opportunities

With nearly $18 million in annual revenue and 31 employees, ShoppersChoice.com, a Baton Rouge company that operates a handful of e-commerce sites, is substantial — but it’s no Wal-Mart. Yet for just $2,500 to $3,500 a week, commercials for BBQGuys.com, its online store for grills, run alongside ads for Wal-Mart on the Food Network and a few other channels.

Mike Hackley, founder and CEO of ShoppersChoice.com, launched his low-budget campaign using Google TV Ads, which lets businesses buy advertising time on national cable channels and the satellite service Dish Network. Google TV Ads essentially works like AdWords, except that instead of bidding on search terms, you bid on airtime.

After hiring a local production company to produce a 30-second spot for $2,500, Hackley began planning his TV strategy. Internal research had shown that most BBQGuys.com customers are 35 to 65 years old and make more than $80,000 a year.

Then Hackley bid on his choices using Google’s auction system. Advertisers set a daily budget and a maximum price they will pay for their ads to be viewed 1,000 times (also known as a cost-per-thousand impressions, or CPM). Google then auctions the time slots, so the winners pay an amount equal to or less than their bids. For a program with a weekly audience of 30,000, a $7 CPM would cost roughly $210. Hackley found he was able to reach 1.5 million to 2 million viewers for about $3,000 a week.

Google also tracks how many seconds viewers watch before changing the channel or hitting Fast Forward on their DVRs.

The experience is in stark contrast to what happened nine years ago — the last time Hackley ran some commercials on a local television station. At the time, he paid almost $10,000 for about 20 spots to run over the course of a month. The contracts were signed weeks in advance, and Hackley had little say over when the spots would run. “We could only do it once or twice a year, because it was way too expensive,” says Hackley.

inc.com

Run Cheap TV Commercials with Google TV Ads is a post from: Top Business Opportunities

The Office Depot Adopt a Small Business contest will recognize 500 of the “best and smartest small businesses in the country” and award the winners a total of $1 million. To enter, send in a two-minute video of what you are doing to be smart in this economy. Entries are accepted through July 31.

And even if you aren’t selected, the winning videos will be posted online, so you pick up some additional strategies that may work for you

entrepreneur.com

Office Depot Launches ‘Self-Bailout’ Plan for Entrepreneurs is a post from: Top Business Opportunities

Lower-quality leads are attractive because you don’t have to spend a lot on the “front side” to generate the leads. However, you end up having to spend more on the “back side” trying to convert these lower-quality leads into clients. The “back side” is the marketing you deliver to the leads once generated. This would include special reports, sales letters, and more.

In my business, I rank the quality of leads as follows: (Ranking is from Highest Quality to Lowest Quality)

1. Referral
2. Joint Venture Endorsement
3. Leads registering to attend a special class
4. Leads responding to an advertorial advertisement
5. Leads responding to a “solo” e-mail or “pay-per-click”
6. Leads responding to a classified or home buyer magazine advertisement
7. Leads responding to a Craigslist (or similar) advertisement

The problem is that most agents are now focusing on Craigslist or classified advertisements which attract the lowest-quality leads. They then struggle to convert these leads into appointments and/or home sales.

To be successful, your marketing campaign must include leads from each source listed above. In fact, I might even suggest that you invest more resources on the top four or five strategies for higher-quality leads. The amount invested to generate the lead will be higher, but the amount invested to sign a new client or sell a home will ultimately be lower.

If you follow this advice, you’ll soon notice that you have less competition. This is because the majority of your competitors will be focusing on inexpensive advertisements that attract lower-quality leads. How many agents in your area are consistently setting up joint venture marketing campaigns? How many agents in your area are running advertorial advertisements? I’ll bet there aren’t too many.

How to rank the quality of your leads is a post from: Top Business Opportunities

The invitation-only community, ConnectedInvestors.com was founded in 2005 by real estate investor, entrepreneur, and author Ross Hamilton. Hamilton says he started the real estate investor focused social network to help other investors create a community to support each other as well as to serve as an online way to track deal flow and utilize all of the best-of-breed available web marketing tools like automated customer list building, automatic customer follow up, and audio/video compatibility.

Hamilton, author of “Real Estate Investing in Your 20s,” also indicated that part of his motivation was to build a personal network because, “it was a little lonely working as a full-time real estate investor in my 20s. I didn’t have many peers my age, so I just focused on networking with other investors.” His efforts appear to be paying off as website popularity tracking company Alexa.com reports that his site has experienced 400% growth in the past three months.

Invitation-Only Social Network for Real Estate is a post from: Top Business Opportunities

1. First, keep sex, politics, religion, and family out of your online life to the extent that you can.
2. Second, tell the truth.
3. Third, if you are one of the unfortunate ones who are presently between jobs, make LinkedIn and other sites part of a daily ritual.
4. Fourth, decide on what your “friending” policy is going to be and be consistent, at least for inside each social site that you frequent.
5. Finally, spend some time thinking about how you acquired your existing professional friends: do you like to meet and greet at industry conferences?

Remember that most of us are still pretty new at MyBook and Friendspace and that even Oprah did her first Tweet in ALL CAPS. Do experiment and try different strategies, and feel free to share what works for you if that is appropriate. Just don’t send me any links to those toga party pix.

smallbiztechnology.com

Five tips to being more professional on social networks is a post from: Top Business Opportunities

If your target market comprises this vast group of women with children under 18 at home, then the newest information and trends on their shopping and purchasing decisions are critical to your success. Nielsen’s Moms Annual Media Survey shows that these busy, time-strapped consumers use TV and e-mail the most on a day-to-day basis, followed closely by websites. And when these moms are online, the M2Moms Coalition survey confirms, their most frequent activities include paying bills, reading the news, researching products and shopping.

The key to marketing to moms is providing the right message, and employing tactics that factor in the economy and their shopping characteristics. Here are five smart ways to do this:

1. Help moms find you.
2. Provide deeper content.
3. Get active in social media.
4. Enlist influential ambassadors.
5. Make buying fun.

entrepreneur.com

Target Moms’ Buying Power is a post from: Top Business Opportunities

(Fortune Small Business) — A year ago Kris Drey couldn’t care less about Twitter. With 13 years of Web site experience, Drey is no technophobe. He serves as vice president of product marketing at Fliqz, an online video-hosting service with 20 employees in Emeryville, Calif. But when he first skimmed Twitter, the popular micromessaging service launched in 2007, Drey saw a lot of mindless chatter and very little that seemed useful to a video business.

Still, with the economy taking a dive, Drey persisted. He was looking for ways to spread the word about Fliqz without spending any more of his maxed-out $15,000 marketing budget. Not only was Twitter the fastest-growing social media service around — its user base grew by a whopping 1,841% in 2008, to 14 million — but it also wouldn’t cost him a dime.

“The only overhead is your time,” says Drey, 40. “You need to pay attention.”

He did just that. Drey started posting three or four updates a day as @Fliqz (all Twitter IDs start with “@”) and subscribed to (or “followed”) the 140-character updates (or “tweets”) of anyone he could find who seemed interested in the online video industry, even if the person was just posting links to stories on blogs. One Saturday afternoon Drey spotted a Twitter post from a Fliqz customer who was having trouble encoding video. After exchanging a couple of tweets with him, Drey called the customer on the phone, figured out that the guy had a corrupted file and fixed the problem. The customer posted a tweet of happy surprise.

Tweeting for profit is a post from: Top Business Opportunities

However, that Twitter habit has given a boost to her online children’s clothing business Tinytotswithstyle.com, Shafranek said.

She went from four people following her “tweets” to nearly 1,000 in no time, and since then, more and more people go to her Web site to check out what she’s selling.

“It’s growing my business, and that’s a big thing,” Shafranek said, who attended the Loveland Chamber of Commerce’s NoCO Social Media Social on Tuesday night at the La Quinta Inn & Suites in Loveland.

The event, organized by the chamber’s Web 2.0 Committee, aimed to educate people on how social media sites such as Twitter, Facebook and LinkedIn can help promote businesses if used correctly.

“This is a demonstration in itself on how powerful social media can be,” Loveland author and Internet entrepreneur Joel Comm said to the group of around 75 people.

Comm spoke briefly and focused on how Twitter is becoming one of the premier ways to market businesses online, which is the subject of his latest book.

“Twitter is the water cooler for the 21st century,” Comm said.

People go there to talk about anything, and savvy businesses owners can take advantage, he said.

Twitter users log onto the site to write and read short messages within a community of “followers.” Comm compared them to the band Grateful Dead’s deadhead following of people who “just get it.”

There’s a way not to get it, as well, he admitted.

Business owners who sign up for a Twitter account add followers and then start blasting information about their business will likely find few people listening.

Business-minded Tweeters have to play the game, provide information people want to see, and weave in the business opportunities.

Comm’s catch phrase on this is: Like me; know me; trust me; pay me.

It sounded like basic business tactics, said Randall Evans, who owns a marketing and sales company, The Solution Group of Northern Colorado.

Evans said he has not tried using social media because he’s not very computer savvy, and he came to the event Tuesday to learn more about it.

“It’s about building relationships,” Evans said. “That’s what’s so funny about it. A lot of people like myself can get over inundated with it, but it’s still about connecting, networking and creating relationships.”

Evans said he’ll likely sign up for a Twitter account and see how it works.

coloradoan.com

Using Twitter to grow business is a post from: Top Business Opportunities

Users will only be permitted to select one username for their profiles, as well as for any Pages they administer. The name must total at least five characters and can only include alphanumeric characters, a period or full stop. Non-Romanized characters are not currently supported.

Once it’s been selected, you won’t be able to change or transfer it.

Facebook pages with vanity URLs are especially valuable to businesses, many of whom would likely be willing to pay significant chunks of money for the rights to a good vanity URL.

Be sure to check out this FAQ for answers to common questions, and if you’re an administrator of Facebook Pages, get more details here. If you want to ensure you keep the rights for a trademark or other protected name, contact Facebook here.

Why isn’t Facebook trying to sell or auction off vanity URLs before letting common users

Facebook Vanity URLs Coming This Weekend is a post from: Top Business Opportunities

1. Unless you really have made a breakthrough such as cold fusion or a flying car, avoid claiming you have made an important “breakthrough!” Spam filters love that.
2. Do not talk too much about cash on the barrel head. Excessive discussion of money is like manna from heaven to many filters. If your topic is money, well, you have to talk about it but try to be discreet and not directly mention money too much. You know what the “get rich quick scheme” emails look like. Avoid the “get rich quick” look and feel at all cost.
3. Sorry Mortgage brokers but if the email looks like a mortgage pitch, the filters are likely to latch onto it. There are many legitimate mortgage broker marketers out there, of course, but the ones who abused email in the past have hurt your current opportunity to get into the Inbox. Make your pitch in more subtle ways, when possible.
4. Urgent! Well, if the sky is not falling do not claim urgency. All hucksters claim urgency, hence the filters are suspicious when an email marketer does this.
5. A “money back guarantee” is sort of like the “check is in the mail.” Nobody believes it in any context including email and the filters don’t believe it either.
6. If you ask someone “why pay more!” you are likely to be asking only cyberspace this question because the junk folder is where your email is likely to end up.
7. Too much hype. We all know excessive hype when we see it. It often includes exclamation marks!!! and ALL CAPITAL LETTERS. Ideally, you would avoid all caps and exclamation marks in the subject line and the content or use in moderation.
8. Avoid spammy sounding phrases that are too good to be true. Yes, there really are “once in a life time opportunities” but, let me tell you, they never arrive in your Inbox.
9. Try to avoid sloppy HTML in your emails and never send an email out that is basically one giant image. The filters often assume spammers are sloppy with their HTML and legitimate email marketers are likely to be more careful. Second, a legitimate email marketer is very unlikely to send an email that is one giant image.
10. I think all of us have seen an email all in red type, fancy flashing objects, etc. If the email is hard on your eyes, it is probably hard on the eyes of your subscribers. Well, if your subscribers ever get to see the email as the filters have first crack at it.

smartbiz.com

10 Tips For Getting Your Email Marketing Emails Past the Spam Filters is a post from: Top Business Opportunities

Who will walk down the aisle with Yahoo? Microsoft? Google? Time Warner’s AOL? Even News Corp. is getting into the act, considering a plan to team up with Microsoft in its bid for Yahoo.

The Bachelor, aka Yahoo, has a lot of hot, crazy babes to choose from. If you’re a small business that wants to place ads on search engines to get people to click over to your Web site, you just may want to tune in.

Each potential merger scenario could affect the future of your Internet ad dollars.

Most analysts believe Microsoft will prevail in its bid for Yahoo, and while that may seem on the surface to mean higher prices for ads because there will be less competition, think again.

“Heaven would be if Microsoft purchased Yahoo, kept Yahoo intact under the Yahoo brand, and used Yahoo search and Yahoo Search Marketing to power Microsoft Live,” she says.

MSNBC YourBiz

Yahoo merger holds peril for small biz is a post from: Top Business Opportunities

Holly Suttmann, a former schoolteacher, started the Black & Light Candle company. Holly really understands word of mouth. She’s proof that every business can master these inexpensive techniques.

Lessons from Holly:

1. Cultivate key talkers. She’s sent me two personal notes and really built a relationship with me.
2. Use samples. People can’t talk about a product they haven’t seen.
3. Make it easy to spread the word. Holly sent me a stack of postcards to forward to friends.
4. Make your talkers look good. She gave me a discount code to share.
5. Add remarkable features. Sometimes you need a reason to talk that is more than the product itself.
6. Create a fantastic product.

The lesson: High-touch, high-quality word of mouth is effective and inexpensive. Are you spending more on cold sales letters and glossy flyers than it would take to get real word of mouth?

Simple Steps For Word Of Mouth is a post from: Top Business Opportunities

Every business can find a way to extend some form of gift certificate to clients and prospects. Think about the marketing factors at play with this tool. You allow others to pass your marketing message or gain some additional benefit from the relationship they have with your firm – service and product businesses alike can benefit from that way of thinking.

No matter what your firm offers, you can create gift certificates, with real value, and offer them to your clients to buy and use as gifts.

What about as a referral tool?

Two or three times a year send a mailing to your clients and strategic partners and enclose several gift certificates for your products or services (don’t call them coupons, coupons are for yogurt.) Ask the recipients to pass these along to anyone they know who might want to take advantage of the value they offer. And, tell your client that for each one of these that comes back in the door, they will receive some amount off of their next purchase. There is a little tracking involved in this tactic, but the instant rush of new business will make it worth setting up a simple process to accomplish this.

This tool stimulates thinking about your brand and makes you easier to refer – both good marketing things.

ducttapemarketing.com

Does Your Firm Offer Referral Gift Certificates? is a post from: Top Business Opportunities

As the economy slows, this is a good time to take a closer look at the federal government, the largest buyer of goods and services in the world. The advantages are clear. The budget is set; the government typically lets vendors know where they stand throughout the bidding process; and, best of all, bills are paid on time, typically within 30 days.

Witcher says he has become a government convert. After hiring a consultant to learn how to navigate the complicated process of bidding for federal work, he shifted his inventory control officer to the full-time task of researching potential contracts and has amassed a database that tracks all the bids the company has submitted – won and lost – to learn from its history.

“The federal government is my No. 1 customer now when it comes to parts,” Witcher says. “It has been continually on a growth pattern for us.”

The government buys virtually everything the private sector does, from condoms to coffeemakers to the services of publicists, pest control experts to entertainers. Yet for some, the idea of doing business with the government raises images of can’t win backroom deals. That’s just not the case with contracts in the small business arena, says Malcolm Parvey, a marketing consultant who has coached Witcher’s company and others on how to win federal bids.

Most of the work is awarded electronically, he notes, through a rigorous procurement process that takes time to master. There’s a high level of transparency, too. The government even lets bidders see who their competitors were and how they priced once the job is awarded.

“I know that small businesses have a great interest in this market; they just don’t have the time and they don’t have the expertise to go after it,” says Parvey, co-author of a new book, “Winning Government Contracts,” due out in February from Career Press.

The book is the latest attempt to simplify what can look like an insiders’ game. There are many guides on how to get federal work, including the government’s own tutorials at the Web sites of agencies such as the U.S. Small Business Administration and the U.S. General Services Administration as well as popular sites for searching federal procurement such as FedBizOpps.

“With the Internet what used to take 10 days now takes 10 minutes,” he says. “There are more and more agencies that are allowing competitive bidding to be done over the Internet.”

reuters.com

Small Biz Cracking Code For Federal Contracts is a post from: Top Business Opportunities

The most important thing you can do before attending a trade show is to make sure you choose the right one. Be sure to make your choice based on the potential returns.

To choose appropriate trade shows, consider the following:

• Ask your best customers (or target customers) which trade shows they attend.
• Consider cost.
• Examine the nature of the attendees.

To find potential trade shows in your industry, visit tsnn.com, where you can search by industry, show name, date or state. You should also visit the website of the industry association related to your product; most sponsor trade shows for members and buyers to come together.

msnbc.com

Taking Your Invention to a Trade Show is a post from: Top Business Opportunities

Adam’s truck reminds adults of their childhood – but with a twist. Ice Cream trucks have pretty much disappeared from the suburban landscape. What Adam has done is taken a good idea that’s expired – and reinvented the concept for a different time.

How does this relate to your business? You’re probably looking at something within your environment that you take for granted. That blends into the background. That has long been forgotten, or no longer useful. Examine your business – your marketplace, and your environment, and ask, what could we reinvent? What could we do differently than anyone else in our business?

Being different allows you to capture the interest of potential customers, retain the love of your evangelists, and stand out in your marketplace. And sometimes it’s as simple as reinventing the ordinary things right in front of you.

Smart Biz Blog

How a Funky Ice Cream Truck Can Change Your Business is a post from: Top Business Opportunities

Each year, his company chops 1 million pounds of fresh ginger, enough to fill 28 big-rig trailers. In addition to sugared ginger candies and ice creams, he produces six ginger brews: Spiced Apple, Raspberry Ginger, Cherry Ginger, Original Ginger, Premium Ginger and Extra Ginger, the last of which packs 26 grams’ worth of the stuff.

In a business dominated by Coke and Pepsi, healthful soda sounds like a contradiction. But unusual beverage companies such as Reed’s are etching out a niche within the carbonated beverage industry, which sells about $28 billion worth of drinks annually to U.S. consumers, according to ACNielsen.

Natural sodas saw 36.5% sales growth in conventional food stores and 12.4% in natural food stores during the last year.

LA Times

Filling A Natural Niche is a post from: Top Business Opportunities

Monthly sales through the web for the Total Blender is currently running at more than 5 times our previous “record” month. This number continues to grow each month.

George Wright
www.blendtec.com

Will It Blend? Smart Online Marketing is a post from: Top Business Opportunities