The shiitake mushroom wasn’t grown in the U.S. until the late 1970′s. Before that they were imported as dehydrated mushrooms from China. But we found out some people in the Chippewa Valley are now making money, by growing their own shiitake mushrooms.

Deidra Barrickman has been growing the full flavored mushroom for 12 years on a small plot of land east of Eau Claire. She says what started out as a hobby — has grown into much more.

She says her patch has grown over the years, “This is probably around 800 or 900 logs we have now.”

The process starts in the winter when new logs used to grow the mushrooms are cut down. Then several dozen holes are drilled in the logs and shiitake spores are injected. She says, “As you can see, they’re kind of labor intensive.”

After that she says the logs have to stay well hydrated throughout the summer — creating a mini tropical forest. She says, “The shiitake is native to the jungles of Asia. So they do like heat and humidity — when we like being in the air conditioning — they’re growing fast.”

The more hot and humid it is — the more mushrooms Deidra can sell at the farmers market. She says last week she sold between 35 and 40 pounds at $10 per pound.

weau.com

What it takes to make money, growing mushrooms is a post from: Top Business Opportunities

by www.reliable-web-hostings.com

Anyone looking for work knows the job market is tough and likely to stay that way for a long time. To help retirement-age job seekers, RetirementJobs.com has put together what it says is a carefully developed list of attractive positions outside the home and for those seeking at-home jobs.

Here are the 15 best job opportunities for older people, plus the amounts of training or education required, names of leading senior-friendly employers, and pay ranges.

1. Nursing
2. Healthcare technician
3. Healthcare administration (nonmedical)
4. Tutor, teaching assistant and aide
5. Contract and temporary professional
6. Merchandise and grocery retailing
7. Specialty retail sales
8. Accounting and finance and tax preparers
9. Banking and lending
10. Driver (car, van, light truck, bus)
11. Customer service and call center
12. Medical services
13. Virtual assistant and concierge services
14. Personal care assistance
15. Writers and editors

usnews.com

15 Top Office and Home-Based Jobs for Seniors is a post from: Top Business Opportunities

It’s called the Global Business Plan Competition, and it’s co-sponsored by Draper Fisher Jurvetson. Sixteen teams of university students from throughout the world are competing for $250,000 in investment money for their inventions and creations.

For example, Stanford student Peter Frickman, who runs the start up Drip Tech, which is an inexpensive drip irrigation system for small farmers around the world.

One of the judges, venture capitalist Tim Draper points out that many successful companies are started in recessions.

”If you are a true entrepreneur this is the time to start a business,” said Draper. “You have to get creative because there isn’t always going to be money available.”

Other business plans include a more efficient way for companies to manage e-mail, and a way to convert rice husks into energy.

kcbs.com

Start Up Competition in Silicon Valley is a post from: Top Business Opportunities

He says, he’s so pleased with Apple, that he’s going to work exclusively with them, and will pass on the chance to work on other platforms, like Google’s Android.

“Do I want to be spending 6 months to write the game, and another 6 months making it compatible? If I had Trism available for Android, and there are 50 Android devices and every time one of them crashes (the users) contact me, do I want that?”

So if he’s not expanding to the other mobile platforms, what is Steve going to do with his newfound wealth? He says he’s actively looking to hire more people – engineers and artists specifically. While he started off on his own, he now has four more people working for him in San Francisco, working on 5 more iPhone games.

businessinsider.com

I Just Made $250K From App Store In Two Months is a post from: Top Business Opportunities

Taylor is a rare winner in a world of inventors bedeviled by losers. She recently earned a much-sought-after chance to strike it rich, thanks to a demonstration she gave for the right set of eyes.

During a long day at TeleBrands‘ headquarters in this suburban office park, the competition is intense. Each inventor has but a few moments in front of Khubani to land the sale of a lifetime. On the line: the potential to leap from inventor wannabe to serious player in the $170 billion direct-response industry. A nod from TeleBrands means a negotiated share of sales through royalties that can make an inventor wealthy.

Taylor coolly demonstrates — on an assistant and on several other women, including Khubani’s wife, Poonam, — how her Clever Clip works on hair of any length or thickness. As she drove back to Baltimore, several hours after her pitch, her cellphone rang with Khubani’s thumbs-up call.

TeleBrands has a knack for finding quirky $9.99 products you never knew you needed, selling them on TV, then getting them into retail outlets, where sales can really rocket. The company is one of the biggest players in an industry that spent $2.6 billion in advertising last year. TeleBrands spent $300 million of that, the most in the industry, to air its hard-sell 30-second- to two-minute ads, estimates direct-response tracker Infomercial Monitoring Service. While most direct-response companies are privately held and don’t report earnings, TeleBrands has one of the most consistent records of hits.

usatoday.com

Inventors seek pot of gold through TeleBrands is a post from: Top Business Opportunities

PropertyRoom.com is set up as a kind of eBay for police auctions. Items are sold in categories including jewelry, fine art, tools, bicycles, watches and “everything else.” The site was founded by former police officers, including Daryl Gates, former chief of the Los Angeles Police Department, according to its Web site.

Since many of the items were stolen but never reclaimed, PropertyRoom.com will return them to their owners provided they can prove ownership of an item shown online.

When the site started in 2001, it had contracts with 100 departments and profits of $3 million. Now, the company has contracts with nearly 2,000 departments, 25,000 new bidders each month, and last year reported a profit of $35 million, according to company spokeswoman Cher Murphy.

nwsource.com

Property Room: Where Cops Sell Stolen Goods is a post from: Top Business Opportunities

The concept is easy enough. You have some information, knowledge, or passion about a topic that others are interested in, as well. You set up an exclusive community and charge whatever fee you want to allow entry. Your members benefit from having access to, not only very specific information on the topic but also, a community of others who share their interest in that topic.

As an example, RestaurantOwner.com was started by Jim Laube. Jim had 20+ years in the restaurant industry and frankly was burnt out from the long hours.

He charges $99 to join and then under $20 a month to stay on as a member. Jim’s site has thousands of members.

With a normal business, regardless of how good last month was, on the first day of the new month you are basically starting from scratch with revenue. With a membership site, you know that if last month you pulled in say $15,000 for the month that this month is going to be very close to that number. Perhaps even more with a bit of marketing.

Some of the topics of the sites we have may come as a surprise you, including craft sites (embroidery, cross stitching), health, fitness, education, sports, dog enthusiasts, and how to get a cruise ship job.

One of the most consistently successful is the _____owner.com type sites. That is, choose a niche business and provide the tools for people in that industry. The previously mentioned restaurantowner.com is one example but that can be applied for almost any industry: hair salons, gas stations, CPA’s, handy man business, affiliate managers etc.

Everyone has knowledge or interests. Why not consider leveraging it in a very profitable way?

feedfront.com

A Look at the Membership Site Business is a post from: Top Business Opportunities

Mobile swimming pool is a post from: Top Business Opportunities

There are two reasons for this rapid growth. First, nanomaterials offer superior conductivity. They are often inherently more conductive than the equivalent non-nano formulations. Metallic nanoparticles are, for example, more conductive than simple metallic powders because of the higher surface area to volume ratio of nanoparticles. In other cases-carbon nanotubes are a good example here-the additional conductivity is due to the physical characteristics of the nanostructure. Note that this is something quite new in the development of conductive coatings. In the past, deviations from the use industry standard metallic coatings-to metallic compounds or conductive polymers, for example-have been prompted not by improved conductivity, but rather by reasons of cost, environmental suitability or other secondary physical characteristics such as ease of deposition.

Second, there is a growing list of applications for conductive coatings where this extra conductivity is more than just an advantage; it is actually a key market enabler (at least potentially) for the success of new products. While enhanced conductivity is presumably always a good thing to have in conductive coatings, conductive nanocoatings with commercial potential can actually prove to be an enabling technology. A case in point is in thin-film photovoltaic cells, where the primary measure of performance is energy conversion efficiency. It has been shown in the lab that the best performing cells, the champion cells, as they are called, depend heavily on the quality of their electrode materials. In some cases, certain kinds of photovoltaic materials may only be commercially useful in a given application if the conductive coatings used for electrodes are conductive enough to provide for adequate photovoltaic efficiencies. Some future breakthrough in conductive nanomaterials could, for example, enable organic photovoltaic cells to become useful in areas ruled out today by the current low efficiencies.

globalsmt.net

Opportunities for Nanomaterials as Conductive Coatings is a post from: Top Business Opportunities

eBay launched the eBay Sellers Challenge, a unique initiative with a simple goal: empower and inspire entrepreneurs to grow existing businesses – or start new ones – on eBay. The Sellers Challenge asks entrepreneurs to answer a simple question: “How would you use $25,000 to grow – or start – an eBay business?” Four winners will each receive a $25,000 business grant, along with marketing advice and assistance from eBay.

Entrants are encouraged to submit a business plan and an accompanying video in one of four categories:

1. Current or former members of the Unites States armed forces;
2. Individuals or small businesses who have not sold on eBay;
3. Part-time sellers who want to go full-time on eBay; and
4. Full-time eBay sellers who want to grow their business further.

Submissions will be evaluated by eBay and the Ewing Marion Kauffman Foundation, the world’s largest foundation devoted to entrepreneurship.

Each of the four challenge winners will receive a $25,000 business grant from eBay, as well as marketing services and support from eBay; runners-up will each receive a $5,000 grant.

Both established and aspiring entrepreneurs are encouraged to visit http://sellerschallenge.ebay.com, through July 7, 2009, to submit their business idea and review the Official Rules applicable to the contest. Winners will be announced on August 11. The eBay Sellers’ Challenge is open to registered members of eBay who are legal residents of the 50 United States and the District of Columbia and 18 years of age or older. Winners must use grant funds to start or grow a business on eBay.

eBay Inc.

Bay Sellers Challenge to Spark Entrepreneurial Spirit 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

Someone crazy enough, in a bad economy and with a newborn son, to start a free local magazine about barbershops. Someone driven enough to load 20,000 copies of Barbershop Digest each month into a Chevy truck his dad gave him and deliver them to 600 shops all over metro Atlanta.

He and his pages celebrate the barbershop as a sanctuary from the societal message that African-American men aren’t valued. For Egeston, this is where life became vivid and full of possibility.

In 2005, he hatched the idea for a magazine. “I went to my barbershop and was listening to some barbers talk trash about jumping rope. They issued a challenge to anyone who could jump rope for three minutes without stopping. Someone bet me $100 I couldn’t do it,” he recalled.

“Three minutes later, I was a barbershop legend. I never got the money but instantly saw the camaraderie and the spirit of barbershops in a different light. I wanted to take the barbershop experience home.”

Egeston persuaded his co-worker and neighbor Travis Hudgons to design the magazine. College friend Angus Wilson takes pictures when he’s not working at UPS.

The ads haven’t sold well, and by March, the third issue, Egeston asked his wife to dip into her retirement account. She never considered no.

“My hustle is laying in my lap as I write this message … without a care in the world and without a clue that his daddy won’t be sleeping the next few days. Not because he keeps me up with diaper changes and feedings. But because I share a common trait with the kats holding clippers and the dudes selling wares and the activists fighting for change. That trait is, we all found our reason to hustle.”

ajc.com

Trips to barbershop inspired entrepreneur 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

Using a PC, teachers can interact with students via Wi-Fi, beaming questions, visual aids, and other information to a special DS Classroom cartridge in the students’ handheld devices. The teacher can then receive responses from students in real time, and can even chart data and create graphical representations of responses. If a teacher asks a general question of the class, rather than one sharp pupil carrying the rest of the class toward enlightenment, the entire class can answer individually. The teacher instantly knows how many, and which, students answered correctly, making it easier to monitor progress and spot those falling behind. Students can answer free response questions using a stylus that beams a written answer to the teacher’s PC screen. Even testing is more efficient, as the computer can help grade as a test is happening, allowing students to see their performance immediately upon finishing a test.

The service will kick off next year in Japan, with 60 programs covering everything from civics to physics for elementary, junior high and high school students. Of course, bringing this kind of technology into the classroom raises concerns as well. Will the devices facilitate cheating? Can tech savvy students manipulate the programs? Will children ever go outside and play ever again? Japanese educators are willing to give DS Classroom a shot, and why shouldn’t they? Nintendo taught a generation the physics of bowling and golf, why not the physics of the cosmos as well?

fastcompany.com

Nintendo Goes to School: DS Classroom Turns Handheld Console Into Teaching Tool is a post from: Top Business Opportunities

Fish pedicures are creating something of a splash in the D.C. area, where a northern Virginia spa has been offering them for the past four months. John Ho, who runs the Yvonne Hair and Nails salon with his wife, Yvonne Le, said 5,000 people have taken the plunge so far.

“This is a good treatment for everyone who likes to have nice feet,” Ho said.

He said he wanted to come up with something unique while finding a replacement for pedicures that use razors to scrape off dead skin. The razors have fallen out of favor with state regulators because of concerns about whether they’re sanitary.

Ho was skeptical at first about the fish, which are called garra rufa but typically known as doctor fish. They were first used in Turkey and have become popular in some Asian countries.

But Ho doubted they would thrive in the warm water needed for a comfortable footbath. And he didn’t know if customers would like the idea.

“I know people were a little intimidated at first,” Ho said. “But I just said, ‘Let’s give it a shot.’ “

Customers were quickly hooked.

Tracy Roberts, 33, of Rockville, Md., heard about it on a local radio show. She said it was “the best pedicure I ever had” and has spread the word to friends and co-workers.

“I’d been an athlete all my life, so I’ve always had calluses on my feet. This was the first time somebody got rid of my calluses completely,” she said.

First time customer KaNin Reese, 32, of Washington, described the tingling sensation created by the toothless fish: “It kind of feels like your foot’s asleep,” she said.

The fish don’t do the job alone. After 15 to 30 minutes in the tank, customers get a standard pedicure, made easier by the soft skin the doctor fish leave behind.

Ho believes his is the only salon in the country to offer the treatment, which costs $35 for 15 minutes and $50 for 30 minutes. The spa has more than 1,000 fish, with about 100 in each individual pedicure tank at any given time.

In addition to offering pedicures, Ho hopes to establish a network of Doctor Fish Massage franchises and is evaluating a full-body fish treatment that, among other things, could treat psoriasis and other skin ailments.

Fish pedicures is a post from: Top Business Opportunities

Sam Houghton, of Buxton, Derbyshire, was just three when he came up with a double-headed broom to collect large debris and fine dust simultaneously.

Sam, who was inspired by animated inventors Wallace and Gromit and Archie the Inventor from TV series Balamory, said: “I saw my Daddy brushing up and made it. There are two brushes because one gets the big bits and one gets the little bits left behind.

“I don’t know if I want to be an inventor when I grow up but this was fun.”

Sam had been watching his father at work in the back yard, swapping between a large broom, for leaves and twigs, and a small one, for finer particles, when he came up with his idea.

BBC UK

Youngest inventor patents broom is a post from: Top Business Opportunities

It doesn’t sound like much: an elongated stainless steel frame, connected to an aviation cable with a batting practice ball bolted to the end. But with one person swinging the device in a circular motion, a little wrist action and the resulting centrifugal force can provide a whole lot of practice cuts for a batter in a short period of time.

In the summer of 2006, five years and some $70,000 in research and development later, Chambers and Kost, the engineer behind the bataround, finally put their invention on the market.

Lodi News-Sentinel

Inventors Hope “Bataround” Is A Big Hit 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

“A mug shot is a couple notches below your driver’s license picture,” said Devin James, 41, dressed casually in sweat pants, sneakers and a ball cap. “And everyone takes a messed up driver’s license picture.”

In JAIL, the stars are the readers’ neighbors, charged with everything from drug possession to prostitution to murder. Thousands of arrests each week in the paper’s three-county distribution area provide plenty of material, all obtained free from police and sheriff’s departments.

James carefully chooses the mug shots on the front page — issues with attractive women on the front move fastest.

“Sex sells,” James said.

James said he got the idea nearly a decade ago after a three-month stint in the Orange County Jail after he says he got into a loud fight with a girlfriend and the police sided with her. He denies hitting her.

Using $600 he earned moving furniture, James started the newspaper in December.

“The timing is right for this paper now,” he said. “America is in the midst of a crime wave.”

Associated Press

Entrepreneur Sells Mug Shots is a post from: Top Business Opportunities

But starting a business is a complicated, risky, all-consuming effort. Indeed, just two-thirds of new small businesses survive at least two years, and only 44 percent survive at least four years, according to a study by the U.S. Small Business Association.

1. Determine if you’re an entrepreneur or just a wannabe.
2. Pinpoint an opportunity.
3. Make sure there’s a market for your idea.
4. Write a business plan.
5. Determine your business structure.
6. Look for funding.

Fortune

6 Steps To Creating A Super Startup is a post from: Top Business Opportunities

Seven years later, the first Hey Buddy pet vending machine was established in Bark Park Central, an off-leash dog park in Dallas. Lennox, 36, stocked the machine with dog treats, tennis balls, dog shirts, dog glasses–basically everything a dog might need for a walk in the park. And with its shingled roof and slated facade, the doghouse-inspired vending machine was hard to miss–which meant pets and their owners weren’t the only ones begging Lennox for more.

I see my machines at the Plaza in New York City, maybe gold-plated, carrying Louis Vuitton dog collars and Chanel pearls and everything else a celebrity would want for their dog,” says Lennox. She also lists apartment complexes, RV parks and veterinary offices as just a few more places she hopes to have Hey Buddy Machines in the future. “That’s really what we’re all about,” she says. “We just want to make it convenient for the customers who are out there with their dogs.”

Unusual Business Ideas That Work

Dog Vending Machine is a post from: Top Business Opportunities

Thanks to the Internet and better call-routing technology, more companies are finding they can outsource their order-taking, sales and problem-solving calls to home-based workers, said LiveOps Chairman Bill Trenchard. LiveOps not only runs an outsource operation, Trenchard said, but it provides technology for companies that want to set up their own home-based call centers.

Home-based workers tend to be better educated and more loyal than their counterparts at traditional call centers, Trenchard said. Most of LiveOps’ workers have college degrees — Opara has a master’s — and turnover is low.

Call centers usually have no tolerance for audible distractions, so a crying baby, barking dog or ringing doorbell could get you fired. (Some companies require their workers have dedicated offices with doors to minimize potential distractions.) An operator also needs a dedicated phone line, a computer and high-speed Internet access.

Some call centers that say they are currently hiring include:

• Alpine Access
• LiveOps
• Arise
• West at Home

MSN Money

Call Center In Your Home is a post from: Top Business Opportunities

The company, based in Silver Spring, Md.,makes and sells Remodulin, a drug that treats pulmonary hypertension (PPH), abnormally high blood pressure in the arteries that supply the lungs. The rare, incurable, and often fatal ailment causes shortness of breath, fainting spells and fatigue. Most treatment options, ranging from daily pills to intravenous medicines, are fully reimbursable by insurance companies.

Rothblatt describes watching her daughter, Jenesis, battle PPH when she was diagnosed as a little girl. Jenesis survived on a mix of pills, but doctors warned that if her condition worsened, she would have to take Flolan, a GlaxoSmithKline (Charts) drug that stays in the bloodstream for only three minutes. It must be continually administered via a catheter threaded directly into the groin or neck. Unstable at room temperature, Flolan requires patients to carry an ice pack 24 hours a day to ensure that it stays cool.

“The treatment seemed worse than the disease,” recalls Rothblatt, stroking one of the three mohawked Labradoodles that roam her offices. “My vision became an inhaled version of the medicine.” Her first step was to develop a drug that lasted longer than Flolan.

FSB Magazine

A mother’s race for a cure is a post from: Top Business Opportunities

1. Schmoozing — this word makes networking seem so slimy and insincere. Networking is about teaching your contacts to believe in your character and competence so they want to work with you, send business your way or hire you
2. 30 Second Commercial — while you want to “sell yourself” you don’t want to appear as too much of a hard sell
3. Pick Your Brains — this expression makes the authors think of vultures coming in for the kill; and wish that people would instead say “I’d like to get your thoughts about something.”
4. Work a Room — this phrase sounds as if you intend to work people over and take all you can. Instead, focus on listening and showing others what they can count on you for and what kinds of opportunities to send your way.
5. Information Interview — You can make networking a way of life — at professional meetings, backyard barbeques and all kinds of professional and social venues.

All 10 expressions by Anne Baber and Lynne Waymon.

powerhomebiz.com

5 Turn-Offs About Networking is a post from: Top Business Opportunities

“My first job I took after college was as a financial analyst. I was living at home in New Rochelle, N.Y., at the time, and it was actually kind of boring. Then one day I heard my mom talking to some of her friends about how hard it was to get things done around the house without a man around, like hanging picture, fixing a leaky faucet, and tightening a doorknob. That’s when a lightbulb went on for me.

“I realized that women are tired of having to rely on men to help with home improvements. I thought women might like to deal with another woman instead. So I went to a local printer to have some business cards and fliers made up. Then I went to the mall and started talking to women about how I had just started a home-improvement business and asked whether there was anything I could help them with.

“After I lined up a job, like putting up Sheetrock, I would go to the phonebook, find the contractors that could do the work, and check out their references. I would then drive the contractor to the job and talk with the customer as he did the work. I made my money by charging the homeowner more than the contractor was charging me. My first year, I made $25,000.

Yahoo! Finance

Meet Ms. Fix-It is a post from: Top Business Opportunities

1. “Today’s”
2. “Modern”
3. “Classy”
4. “Savvy”
5. “Swanky”
6. “Lady”
7. “Tidy”
8. “Charming”
9. “N’ Things”
10. Anything with a “K” where a “C” belongs – If you own “Kountry Klutter Kakes”, I will Kut you.

BusyMom.net

Ten Things NOT to Name Your Business is a post from: Top Business Opportunities

While Skype charges ‘call providers’ more than Ether does—30% commission versus 15%—Skype’s obvious benefit is its existing global user base. Skype has over 171 million registered users, is available in 28 languages and is used in almost every country around the world. Which means a very large reach for minipreneurs who’d like to sell their services, whether they’re offering Spanish lessons, tax advice or something saucier. (Note that Skype’s guidelines state that call providers cannot offer any content or service that is adult, sexual, pornographic or paedophiliac.)

Other alternatives include BitWine and Wengo.

springwise.com

Sell What You Say is a post from: Top Business Opportunities

Scientists exposed study participants to one brand of soft drink then asked them to think of alternative brands. Alone, they came up with significantly more products than when they were grouped with two others.

The researchers speculate that when a group of people receives information, the inclination is to discuss it. The more times one option is said aloud, the harder it is for individuals to recall other options, explained Krishnan.

Another contributing factor is variation in learning and memory styles. People store and retrieve information in myriad ways, so in a group situation, the conversation could cause individuals to think about the cues differently than they would if they were alone.

Krishnan said individuals, whether students, executives or football fans, should take time to consider the facts on their own before coming to a consensus.

msnbc.com

Meetings Make Us Dumber is a post from: Top Business Opportunities

Real estate deals may be slowing in the real world, but in the three-dimensional online one of Second Life the market remains hot. Now Coldwell Banker, one of the nation’s largest real estate brokerage firms, is entering Second Life, aiming to help bring order to the chaotic world of virtual real estate.

Coldwell Banker will open a virtual sales office and start selling virtual land at 9 a.m. on Friday. The company released the information exclusively to Fortune.

It’s more evidence that the Second Life naysayers are on the defensive. Despite skepticism, software and system troubles, and extraordinary hype, the three-dimensional virtual world juggernaut continues.

Coldwell Banker has bought extensive tracts of property on the central “mainland” of Second Life. (Most companies own “islands” scattered all over.) It subdivided this digital land into 520 individual houses and living units, half of which it will sell and half it will rent.

Read more here.

Coldwell Banker’s Second Life is a post from: Top Business Opportunities

The first bottles of Coca-Cola Light (chilled 500 ml PET) with GLAM*IT mini-mag attached will be on the shelves in April 2007. Published by Sanoma, GLAM*IT is a Belgian fashion and beauty magazine targeted to a young, female audience. Which makes for a good fit with Light/Diet Coke buyers. As stated by Mie Van der Auwera, editor of GLAM*IT: “Adapting editorial content for another brand is only credible if brand values mutually match. In the case of Coca-Cola Light and GLAM*IT that was no problem. That’s why it results in a powerful communication tool for both brands.” The removable 24-page magazine is a ‘light’ version of GLAM*IT, featuring typical content for the mag, but reduced to fit the bottle.

springwise.com

Bottle Mag is a post from: Top Business Opportunities

Today Finch and his wife, Joanie, own and run Cliff Finch’s Topiary Zoo in Friant, Calif., just north of Fresno. Finch does the welding and, over the years, has created sculptures ranging from the seven-foot chess pieces seen here to increasingly popular tabletop arrangements. In the past few months Finch designed and produced race- car- and jazz-themed centerpieces for private parties.

Rather than increase production by adding staff, the Finches have kept their business small – they’re the only employees, apart from a smattering of part-time support staff – limiting their revenues to about $75,000 a year. But for Finch, who retired in search of a less dangerous occupation, the topiary business has its perks: “It’s enjoyable,” he says, “and people like the sculptures. It has worked out.”

CNN Money

A welder starts a well-hedged topiary business is a post from: Top Business Opportunities

He savored the speed. Engines blasting. Colors blurring. Cars rocketing past with a force he could feel in the bones of his teeth.

Tarran Pitschka, gripping steel railings for support, stood on the racetrack. Even as floating debris settled on his shoulders, the residue of seared tires from the cars burning past, he was thinking, “Cool! What can I do with this feeling?”

The answer was to create a line of cranked-up T-shirts and caps called Wicked Quick.

“It’s not satanic. It’s tough,” Pitschka said.

Harley-Davidson and other specialty shops picked up the line. Pitschka felt confident the appeal reached wider, so he took Wicked Quick to a trade show, hoping to capture the attention of menswear buyers. A stylist who claimed she was working on a movie set bought a few pieces for the actors. Pitschka was skeptical. But last week he received a DVD trailer for the July release of “1408″ based on a Stephen King novel about a haunted hotel room, and there is actor John Cusack wearing an early Wicked Quick T-shirt.

Nordstrom began testing the brand this month, with 1,200 pieces in 13 stores. Pitschka hopes to expand the Wicked Quick brand to include other designs, such as his Teflon-coated stretch nylon jacket and a leather duffel bag embossed with the distinctive graphics. Wicked Quick is available in the U.S., Canada and Germany, and Pitschka hopes soon to land accounts in South America and Australia to give the still small brand global reach.

For now, the company still consists of one person.

More on this, click here.

A Portlander’s line of graphic T-shirts and caps catches the thrill and rush of racing sports is a post from: Top Business Opportunities

Alan S. Becker in his book There’s Always Room at the Top: 8 Secrets of the Super Successful explores the secrets to success of some of the most well known people.

Becker breaks down the secrets to success as follows:

1. The two simple but necessary steps to success are: Set a goal and Do it.
2. Know Your Limitations.
3. Go With Your Gut.
4. Never Quit.
5. Keep Your Eye on the Doughnut.
6. There is Always Room at the Top.
7. Power Abhors a Vacuum.
8. The Paths of Life.

For more details on each secret, go here.

8 Secrets of the Super Successful is a post from: Top Business Opportunities

Sander DeVries, and his brothers Shane Pfannes and Tim Pfannes, launched an online business to help people remove their names from direct mailing lists.

Tim came up with the idea because he was tired of his kitchen counter overflowing with junk mail, DeVries said.

With help from Shane and Sander, he spent a year researching organizations that take people off mailing lists. He passed along the information to family and friends but soon found no one had time to make phone calls or send e-mails.

Then he turned his brainstorm into a business, charging clients for help and donating some of the proceeds to nonprofit groups.

They launched their web site 41pounds last July. The service’s name refers to the 41 pounds of junk mail a person receives each year.

The Oakland Press

Web Business Fights Junk Mail is a post from: Top Business Opportunities

Decorated with accoutrements like floral appliqués, leopard fabrics and satin ribbons, these protectors against pandemics strive to shed the shackles of postindustrial supply store.

But let’s face it: A fibrous oblong cover that obscures your nose, mouth, chin and cheekbones is pretty hard to make into anything beautiful. Still, it’s an attempt to say: Sick is bad enough, OK? We don’t have to look that way.

Paranoia levels vary among consumers, but choices are starting to appear that make taking control seem less about sacrifice, more about seamless integration.

coolbusinessideas.com

Fashion Flu Masks is a post from: Top Business Opportunities