Archive for December, 2009

09.12 2009

President Obama Turns to Main Street, Small Business for Job Creation Ideas

With concerns over unemployment continuing despite last Friday’s rosier-than-expected numbers from the Labor Department, last Thursday President Obama held a “jobs summit” for 130 business leaders, union leaders and economists at the White House. The forum’s goal was to discuss ideas that could help create jobs.

The Washington Post reports Obama addressed a list of proposals including small-business incentives, easing regulatory restrictions for exporters, and providing tax credits for employers. Obama s

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Tags: Job, President Obama

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08.12 2009

Lobbying Against Reform

The K Street crowd has a vested interest in avoiding change.

We are now in the midst of a very important national debate. This is not the breathless hype of 24-hour cable news–it’s for real. Nothing less than the future of our financial system is at stake. Will we be beset by frequent crises, like the one experienced last year that paralyzed the financial system? Or will we address the underlying flaws in a thoughtful way that mitigates the possibility of future meltdowns?

If the lobbyists and the financial institutions that employ them have their way, we will come out of these debates doing business as usual. They have a vested interest in avoiding change. By the time the next crisis is upon us, they will have retired from the field of battle, leaving taxpayers and policymakers to ponder yet another attempt to solve the problem.

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08.12 2009

Gold’s luster continues to fade

NEW YORK (CNNMoney.com) — Gold prices fell for the third day in a row on Tuesday as the U.S. dollar continued to strengthen.

February gold fell $32 to settle at $1,131.40 an ounce. Gold prices have tumbled 7% since hitting an all-time high of $1,218.30 on Thursday.

The retreat came as the U.S. dollar regained ground against rival currencies, undermining demand for gold as an alternative investment.

“The dollar is strong today, and gold has been trading against the dollar,” said Joe Foster, portfolio manager for the Van Eck Global International Investors Gold Fund. He said prices could continue to decline for the next few weeks before climbing anew next year.

The dollar gained 0.9% versus the euro to trade at $1.4693, its highest in over a month.

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07.12 2009

Small Business Tips for Managing Remote Workers

Small businesses that rely on remote workers need to tailor their management style accordingly by using technology to manage project details, enforcing communication standards, and hiring the right people necessary for the specific job or project. Inc. Magazine’s, “How To Manage Telecommuters” points out that:

“Being a virtual manager requires more structure and planning,” . . .’People need more clarity.’ says Trina Hoefling, founder of the Denver-based consultancy GroupONE Solutions.”

Small business owners can add more structure and clarity in their work environment by using technology that is either free or low-cost:

“Inexpensive Web-based software — such as Basecamp, Zoho Projects, LiquidPlanner, 5pm, and Wrike — lets you assign tasks and deadlines and receive updates when milestones are reached.”

Productive workplaces utilize good communication skills whether they are on location or in a remote location. Expectations for good c

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Tags: Remote Workers, Small Business, Workers

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06.12 2009

Dollar rises to 5-week high

NEW YORK (Reuters) — The dollar hit its highest level against the euro in more than a month Monday, though it gave up some of those gains after Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke warned that the U.S. recovery remains fragile.

Data on Friday showing the U.S. economy lost far fewer jobs than expected in November pushed the dollar higher and had markets betting U.S. interest rates could rise by mid-2010.

That momentum carried over into Monday, but Bernanke doused some of the optimism when he said the Fed still expected low rates for an extended period as the economy recovers slowly and endures a persistently high jobless rate. Bernanke spoke to a group of economists on Monday.

“Bernanke is emphasizing the weakness and the downside to the U.S.

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Tags: High

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05.12 2009

The Latest in Small Business Trends

As we near the end of the year, what small business trends were dominant in 2009? Faced with the challenge of tough economic times, new and innovative ideas, business planning, and finding ways to use the Internet to promote your business were just a few small business trends in 2009.

Profitable Business Trends

The year 2009 was a challenging year for most small business owners, but some found new ways to capitalize or use unique marketing skills to improve business success.

Going Green – With the debate on global warming and the election of a new President focused on finding alternative energy sources, it became almost a must for the small business owner to invest, use, create or offer some sort of green policies, product or service. M Read more…

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Tags: Business Trends, Small Business, Small Business Trends, Trends

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04.12 2009

How to Build and Run a Quality Blog Network

Running and owning a blog network have always been my interest in webpreneurship. Here is how to build and run a quality blog network and have advertisers come to you, naturally.

I always dream about running a blog empire that consists of dozens – if not hundreds – of blogs. B5media is always the model I am after, but I seem not to have enough firepower. So I guess I have to start slow (unless someone out there is interested in funding my blog network project… anyone?)

I also do notice that some webpreneurs are running blog networks which consist of hundreds of blogs in a network. A spoiler: Their business model is actually similar and pretty simple – Here is what they are basically doing:

Establish blogs on free blog network, such as Blogger.com, OR self-host blogs with cheap domain name registration, such as dot-info domain name (.info). Hire pe Read more…

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Tags: Blog Network, Network, Quality Blog, Quality Blog Network

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