Home-Based Businesses

orchestraRecently the Philadelphia Orchestra, an institution in the City of Brotherly Love, announced that it was declaring bankruptcy. According to Newsworks.com, orchestra president Allison Vulgamore said, “We actually have not marketed our concerts very well, and not spent sufficient funds on marketing.” The article continued to say that “Insufficient marketing is one of many elements causing the orchestra to come up short” and that “…organizations such as the orchestra tend to focus their marketing dollars on subscription sales because it's more efficient, but they will have to change with consumer patterns.”
29 April, 2011 /
moneygiftThere’s a trend these days in corporate charitable giving, and it’s being led by the biggest of the big guys. Take Pepsi, Starbucks and Disney. Pepsi’s Refresh Project is a social media/philanthropy hybrid that funds important initiatives from improving schools to building parks and playgrounds, and supporting new business ideas. In fact, in 2010, Pepsi gave up its Super Bowl ad and allowed small budding companies to advertise in its place. Pepsi defines the Refresh Project as “The New Pepsi Challenge.” In the process of helping causes through millions of dollars of donations, they attract millions of fans to their social media sites to vote on which projects get funded. Everyone wins.
01 April, 2011 /
springwiseWe are religious readers of Springwise, which defines itself as “one of the world’s leading sources of new business ideas.”  Every week, they automatically send us blurbs about new business trends that have been identified by over 8,000 “spotters” worldwide. Recently, Springwise summed up its “Top 20 business ideas and opportunities for 2011.” There were some interesting findings.
07 March, 2011 /
Many times when we’re prompted by an ad, article, or email to contact a business, we are unable to find adequate contact information for that company. That’s so frustrating, especially when we want to patron that business! In this busy world, people are so used to getting information quickly that they do not want to take the time or added effort to look up a phone number or manually enter in all the information to get the driving directions to a location.  Helping customers contact or get to you fast and easy is critical to making a sale and creating a favorable feeling about your company. Here are a few tips to assist customers in contacting you with ease:
03 February, 2010 /
hot-chocolateOk, so we've blogged about Twitter and its benefits a few times before.  But as we Tweet more and more, it's amazing to see how Twitter has opened up a whole new meaning to communication, connectivity, and customer service. First of all, Twitter gives you a one-degree separation between you and the people and businesses on Twitter. Move out of the way, Kevin Bacon, Twitter's got you beat!  It's so easy to Tweet your favorite celebrity, reporter, business, and so on. Of course you'll need to do a little investigating (quick Google search) to make sure the user you're tweeting is the "real" person or business you're looking for (versus imposters). And, many times, they will reply back to you. We've tweeted to and received replies from Al Roker, KGMB9 News, Starbucks, Zippy's, and Andy Bumatai, to name a few. So cool! We know it's cheesy to be star struck, but we don't care...we LOVE it!  As a frequent Starbucks drinker, I was thrilled and very impressed with the prompt response I got when I tweeted @Starbucks a question one day. In terms of brand loyalty, can you imagine how my original warm-and-fuzzy feelings for my favorite coffee stop got even warmer and fuzzier (and led to more visits and purchases)?
02 July, 2009 /
As a company, we used to stress over gift-giving, wondering what gifts of appreciation we could give to our allies, friends, and family that would be well received and communicate how much we value them. As with many things, the answer came when we looked inward.
28 April, 2009 /