September 30, 2004
Small businesses can run into troubles with ownership and liabilities if they don't incorporate their businesses. Lock down your business now.

Incorporating your small business is a big decision. Protection of personal assets is the main reason why most small business owners decide to incorporate, but there are also other compelling incentives. If you hope to expand your business or garner venture financing, for instance, incorporating your business can help. And finally, incorporating can often ease the strain at tax time. more on US Incorporations

September 29, 2004
RSS Specifications - a comprehensive rss reference detailing everything you need to know about RSS. RSS is an acronym for Really Simple Syndication and Rich Site Summary. RSS is an XML-based format for content distribution. Webmasters create an RSS file containing headlines and descriptions of specific information. While the majority of RSS feeds currently contain news headlines or breaking information the long term uses of RSS are broad.

RSS files are formed as XML files and are designed to provide content summaries of news, blogs, forums or website content. Learn more about RSS Specifications

September 28, 2004
Affiliate programs are commonly misunderstood, in order to understand affiliate programs lets start with terminology. For clarification purposes, an affiliate is defined as any "referrer" or website that promotes a product in an effort to earn revenue. A merchant is defined as someone who owns a product and is sharing revenues with an affiliate based on the affiliate's performance. Affiliate programs can drive targeted traffic to your website. Learn more about Affiliate Programs

September 27, 2004
SEO Glossary - Ever wondered what acronyms such as SEO, SEM or SEP stood for? Or what the difference between pay for inclusion and pay per click is? Well look no further, we have compiled an A-Z glossary of terms commonly used on SEO and internet marketing forums.

Free SEO tools to help with your online SEO efforts.

September 25, 2004
WhoisSC is a Very cool little resource, domain name search lookup that allows a wildcard search of all current/deleted/expired whois domains. The search allows users to search the Whois database by partial word(s).

September 23, 2004
Does your Web Site collect information? Does your Web Site post a privacy policy? If not, post one today. Consumers are looking at Web Sites to determine how well business protects consumer privacy. The first thing they look for is a prominently posted and clearly written privacy policy. If you need help drafting your organization's privacy policy, use these free online privacy policy generators. These Web-based tools will walk you through step-by-step the key elements that need to be in your privacy policy and will produce one based on your responses.

September 21, 2004
States Aiming for 2005 Launch of Streamlined Sales Tax System. The effort to achieve a Streamlined Sales Tax system advanced significantly during 2003. Five more states, including California and New York, joined the effort by enacting legislation authorizing their states to sign on to a multi-state agreement, bringing the total to 39 states and the District of Columbia. Moreover, 20 states took the additional step of actually enacting legislation to conform their laws, at least in part, to the requirements of that agreement. Since a voluntary collection system could be up and running in 2005, legislation was introduced in both houses of Congress to make the system mandatory.

September 20, 2004
I discovered a very easy to use tool to create pdfs. PDF995 is actually a software print driver that allows users to convert any document to a PDF. PDF documents have seen a popularity surge as users have become leary of word documents due to the spread of macro word viruses. The software is incredibly easy to use and install, best of all if you like the software the fee is only $ 9.95.

September 19, 2004
Cool searchable database on The Direct Marketing Association's website allows for users to locate marketing and related business conferences and seminars. The database can be searched by topic or industry segment.

September 17-18, 2004
As the 108th Congress scrambles in its final days to address homeland security issues, U.S. Reps. Mac Thornberry (R-Texas) and Zoe Lofgren (D-Calif.) are focusing on the state of U.S. cybersecurity.

The bill would broaden the definition of cybersecurity to include not only computers and computer networks but also "wire communication." The expanded definition would grant authority to the new assistant secretary over protecting not just networks but also telecommunications.

September 15, 2004
Google has a great search tool for PR people that will find references to your company and products on the Web -- that includes Web pages, newspapers and even blogs. Best yet, it is free. To start it up, go to www.google.comand click on "news." On the news page, look for "news alerts."

September 14, 2004
What would you do? You are driving down the road in your car on a wild, stormy night, when you pass by a bus stop and you see three people waiting for the bus:
1. An old lady who looks as if she is about to die.
2. An old friend who once saved your life.
3. The perfect partner you have been dreaming about.

Which one would you choose to offer a ride to, knowing that there could only be one passenger in your car? Think before you continue reading. This is a moral/ethical dilemma that was once actually used as part of a job application. You could pick up the old lady, because she is going to die, and thus you would save her first. Or you could take the old friend because he once saved your life, and this would be the perfect chance to pay him back.

However, you may never be able to find your perfect mate again. The candidate who was hired (out of 200 applicants) had no trouble coming up with his answer.

He simply answered: "I would give the car keys to my old friend and let him take the lady to the hospital. I would stay behind and wait for the bus with the partner of my dreams." Sometimes, we gain more if we are able to give up our stubborn thought limitations.

September 13, 2004
Relationship networking is simply the art of meeting people and benefiting from those relationships. Often the benefit of these relationship is to obtain information and leads to further grow your business. Any successful relationship, whether a personal or a business relationship, is unique to every pair of individuals, and it evolves over time. Effective relationship networking is all about building those relationships and maintaining long lasting connections with other professionals. more on Relationship Marketing

September 11, 2004
Consider registering your business with One Day's Pay an organization setup to honor the giving that resulted on September 11, 2001. Encourage employees to get involved, giving time, blood or funds to help others in need.

Pledge to make your best efforts to encourage employees, on their own or through company sponsored activities, to set aside time on or around September 11, 2004 supporting causes they care about. As a business make the pledge with the understanding that you will not be contacted by any charity, and that the information you provide will be kept confidential.

September 10, 2004
All the talk recently has been about RSS or really simple syndication. RSS provides businesses another way to get there message out. Whether announcing sales or specials, product announcements, or usage tips, RSS provides a quick easy way to get headlines out to prospective customers. When asked, most businesses have not implemented RSS feeds simply because they don't know how. Take a look at the technology preview for FeedForAll, an rss feed creation tool. It makes rss creation very simple! Take advantage of technology and a leg up on the competition by providing RSS feeds!

September 9, 2004
Years ago developers saw they could monetize freeware that was becoming expensive to host. Developers began working with Ad Networks such as the former Aureate and Conducent, who imbedded advertisements in the software. The software in many cases phoned home retrieving ads. In other cases adverts were imbedded directly into the download only being removed when the software was registered. Many well known software companies, including Netscape distributed ad supported versions, which allowed users to use the software for free. Developers were compensated either by install or the number of ads served. Advertisers welcomed new revenue streams to reach potential customers. More on Are Downloads Safe?

September 8, 2004
Insurance giant Geico can sue Google and Overture, for allegedly selling advertisements linked to their trademarks. All eyes will be on the outcome of the pending suit, as small companies have been struggling with trademark infringements and ad-sales for more than a year. Forcing Google and Overture to respect trademarks will change the landscape for pay-per-click advertising.

September 7, 2004
With the recent events of Belarus, Russia on many minds, and the anniversary of September 11th approaching consider sponsoring a corporate blood drive. Convenience, for many people, turns out to be the deciding factor whether they give blood or not. The American Red Cross works closely with companies, community groups, military bases, churches and synagogues, colleges, universities and high schools to organize blood drives at places most convenient for donors — the places where they live, work, worship, and play. In fact, 80% of blood donations made through the Red Cross are made at blood drives rather than fixed donor centers.

Blood drives need sponsors — an organization that can provide the appropriate physical space and a coordinator from the organization to educate, motivate, and recruit donors and work with the local Red Cross.

September 4, 2004
Philadelphia city officials officials believe they can turn all 135 square miles of Philadelphia into the world's largest wireless Internet hot spot. The ambitious plan, now in the works, would involve placing hundreds, or maybe thousands of small transmitters around the city -- probably atop lampposts. Each would be capable of communicating with the wireless networking cards that now come standard with many computers. Once complete, the network would deliver broadband Internet almost anywhere radio waves can travel -- including poor neighborhoods where high-speed Internet access is now rare. Wireless technology has improved by leaps and bounds in recent years and become drastically less expensive.

September 3, 2004
Microsoft has announced that they will release Longhorn, their new operating system, without WinFS. This means that Microsoft's new OS will arrive without a desktop search utility. Longhorn isn't expected until 2006, at the earliest. Although, according to Troy Wolverton of The Street, if Longhorn is indeed released in 06, it will be missing their new filing system (WinFS), which is imperative to the success of their desired search application.

September 2, 2004
What is all this buzz about RSS? It is clear that 2004 is the year for RSS. As a result we've created a new portal that tells everything you need to know about RSS! Understanding RSS and how you can use it to gain a competitive advantage could mean something to small businesses! RSS Specifications

September 1, 2004
If your business is based in the US consider contacting the small business administration for business assistance. The SBA's mission is to maintain and strengthen the nation's economy by aiding, counseling, assisting and protecting the interests of small businesses and by helping families and businesses recover from national disasters. There are a number of opportunities available to small businesses.