I have a big bag of tricks I use to jumpstart my head when I’m in a writing drought. Reading the paper, making lists, pretending to stare out the window while I take a nap. . .
Sometimes it takes a while for something to float up at you, or sometimes, as with this cartoon, they jump out and hit you between the eyes.
combined with a bad sales graph pretty much writes itself. And I got to draw a cow! Win-win!
BOSTON — Eight Bristol County, Mass., municipal projects for drinking water or clean water infrastructure received loan offers from the state on Thursday.
To receive the state’s 2 percent loan, the Bristol County projects must get local funding authority by June 30, apply for the loans and receive approval from the Mass. Department of Environmental Protection. The eight projects total $86,944,000 in expected costs.
Massachusetts is offering these loans to 88 clean water and drinking water projects across the state.
Fall River was deemed eligible for state funding for two drinking water projects and one clean water project. All three are marked as projects targeted toward “environmental justice communities,” or areas where low-income communities are disproportionately impacted by environmental damage. Some of
E-commerce is the fastest growing segment of the retail industry. Online sales hit a record high of $165.4 billion in 2010, according to estimates released by the U.S. Commerce Department. The 14.8 percent increase from the previous year was one of the largest in the history of the growing market. Why are more Americans shopping online? There are many reasons.
To begin with, online sellers consistently offer lower prices. Because they do not need an actual storefront or a large staff (in most instances), they are able to cut overhead to the bone. They can then pass these savings along to their customers. Not surprisingly, many young entrepreneurs are opening e-stores rather than traditional retail establishments.
Accepting Payments
As you might expect, electronic businesses usually accept payments electronically.
You know the benefits of using Facebook and Twitter to help promote your business, but another social media site is making big waves for merchants everywhere called Foursquare.
Foursquare is a social media where members ‘check in’ when they arrive at certain destinations. It is meant to help users “find their friends and explore their world.” However, the juicy part for merchants is that you can entice your customers and their friends to check-in at your retail store to earn discounts and receive other rewards.
Major companies like Starbucks to even the Bay Area’s Rapid Transportation (BART) System have been early adopters of Foursquare, and the list keeps growing longer. When Coach launched its first men’s store, they gave away free cologne to the first 200 Foursquare checkins. During that weekend alone, 10% of the traffic had Foursquare checkins. Not a bad way to increase your foot traffic!
Claiming Your Venue
To get your business started on Foursquare, you simply claim your venue by searching for your location. Creating a merc
Yesterday, we posted a roundup on news about small business social media. It’s among the hottest topics in entrepreneurial circles these days and here at Small Business Trends too. But what might be more important are ideas about how you can improve your social media efforts to make your small business marketing stand out from the crowd. Here’s how to get started.
Give your Facebook fanpage a boost. By now, everyone knows the power of the Facebook fanpage to generate inceased traffic and interest for your brand and your small business Website. Here Steve Chou shares some data on the value of Facebook fanpages in your marketing efforts then provides information and a tutorial video on how to increase engagement with your Facebook presence especially applicable to e-commerce sites.
Make your blog the destination it should be. Before u
PROVIDENCE – Meg Wirth, founder of Providence-based Maternova, is one of 25 business leaders in the running to be one of “America’s Most Promising Social Entrepreneurs,” in a national contest by Bloomberg Businessweek.
Maternova, which describes itself as a Web-based global marketplace for life-saving innovations for mothers and newborns, made the short list from a pool of more than 200 private, for-profit social enterprises.
“We selected companies by examining their impact, innovation and business success. Some are multimillion-dollar enterprises; others are startups with big ideas, from affordable housing for senior citizens to apps to aid health care workers in the developing world,” Bloomberg said.
Readers can vote until July 12 and the Top Five will be announced on July 19.
Bloomberg notes that Maternova has received funding from the John D. and Catheri