I was reading this article from Fortune on CNN.com and I thought of some things that weren’t addressed… what should you be asking your webmaster?  Sure, price and quality is very important, but what do you need to ask?

From my personal experience with working with clients and from working with my own sites, there are a few things that always get brought up:

• How easy is it to update the website?
• Can I update the website?
• How fast could you update it?
• Do you charge for editing separate from the monthly cost?
• What are some examples of other sites?
• Are you trained to maximize SEO?
• What hours are you available for technical support in case the site goes down?

It’s always good to plan ahead for websites.  If you are planning to transition your business online, be prepared.

Post from: EveryJoe

Questions to Ask Webmasters

NDA -  Non-Disclosure Agreement… according to Wikipedia:

is a legal contract between at least two parties that outlines confidential materials or knowledge the parties wish to share with one another for certain purposes, but wish to restrict from generalized use. In other words, it is a contract through which the parties agree not to disclose information covered by the agreement. An NDA creates a confidential relationship between the parties to protect any type of trade secret. As such, an NDA can protect non-public business information.

NDAs are commonly signed when two companies or individuals are considering doing business and need to understand the processes used in each others business solely for the purpose of evaluating the potential business relationship. NDAs can be “mutual”, meaning both parties are restricted in their use of the materials provided, or they can only restrict a single party.

Basically, you can’t use any of the information and you can’t disclose any of the information occurring to anyone.  Let’s say you reinvent the wheel – if you show your friend the wheel without a signed NDA, he can steal the idea since it isn’t an intellectual property.  If he signs it, you can show him every little detail – if it is replicated in any way, you have the rights to the property.

Fortune recently wrote an article on protecting ideas which outlines the importance of NDA’s.

You can protect yourself with a nondisclosure agreement. Ask the company you are approaching to sign it before talking to you.

“This is a relatively simple contract to protect the confidentiality of each side’s IP,” Stock says. “It states that you will not use any information you learn about the other party unless you are doing business together.”

Stock also suggests that when you do meet with the company, you present them with some of your technology as a first step, but not all of it: “Wanting it all at once can be a bad sign. The partner should understand that you want to establish a trust first.”

Don’t be dumb with your ideas…  secure them.

Post from: EveryJoe

Protect Your Ideas: Use NDA’s

This money has to go to somewhere… or someone!

The world of business will get to see what is on offer in the Web 2.0 world as vendors take the wraps off a raft of products, services and applications during this week’s conference in San Francisco.

Everything from the latest in cloud computing to blogging software and from mobile technology to rich media applications will be on show.

With around 7,000 people expected to attend, some bloggers have already nicknamed the conference a “five-day retreat to the Disneyland for grown-up web nerds”.

Also taking part is a Web Mission from the UK which consists of more than 20 entrepreneurs looking to forge useful business connections and showcase British internet companies.

The businesses, which were selected from over 100 applicants, were chosen because they have the potential to expand into the US.

Is this the start of a new bubble? Or should people jump on board ASAP?

I say do it cautiously. Make some money and invest it in something long-term. What do you think about this?

Post from: EveryJoe

Build Social Networking Tools

You’re about to get out of college and you have no idea what to do.  Well, art majors, have no fear!  You may actually be able to use a shred of what you learned in school.

So you worked hard to finish that last oil painting and all you got was some degree thing.  How can you turn your knowledge into a business?

Let’s assume you are a painter – I know art is a very vague term, but we will just use painting for the sake of the example.   How are you going to get your work to potential buyers?   We’ll rule out selling art on the side of the road (is that legal?).  So you have two host options: in the real world or online.

To open a store, you have to have money – so let’s rule that one out.  Renting costs money, too, and selling art is often a hit or miss product.  Selling out of the house is an option, but it doesn’t quite reach as large of an audience as you want.  What’s the step you should take? … Build a website.  Websites have the least overhead and have the potential to reach millions of people.

Buy a host, a domain, and sell your work.  What?  It’s not that easy?  Then how can you expand your business to maximize the potential reach of your product?  Links.

You have an entire website to play with.  If someone wants your art, you need a way to sell it to him/her.  Use other websites to do the selling – the people from other websites will see your products on that website AND your own.  Sellers such as Ebay are great if you plan on auctioning your art, which ultimately means you will have to consistently update your website.   Another site I dug up was ImageKind, which works with independent sellers by selling the actual hosting.  I have never used it, so I don’t know how simple it is to use… but it is an option.

My main point is that there are opportunities everywhere.  I just picked out the art major today because it was the first on my long list.

Cliff’s Notes (for the lazy):

• Store = major overhead
• Websites  = good
• Use third-party websites to expand potential audience
• Stay persistent

I would be interested in hearing from someone who has attempted to sell art.  What methods can be used?  How risky is it?

Post from: EveryJoe

Starting a Business With Your Major: Art

Image Source from portalgyn

The benefit of being young is that you grow up with new technology. I recently attended a seminar and it mostly explained personal finances. This got me thinking… what are experienced entrepreneurs thinking when they get their hands on new technology? Of course, they utilize it; but when do they say Damn, I wish I had THIS 10 years ago!

The image above shows Texas Instrument’s TI-89 calculator. There are far more advanced calculators now, but 5 or 6 years ago, it was amazing (I still don’t know how to use half of the functions). Throughout the years, I’ve shown countless people how to do functions simply in the calculator (functions that used to take hours).

VBA is another huge one for people in business. So many programs use VBA with Excel to help people easily organize, calculate, and complete tasks.

What are some items or programs you have found? It can be new, it can be old – all it has to be is an improvement.

Post from: EveryJoe

Something You Wish You Had

For instance, there is an article that discusses the process of turning potential into profit.

The key lesson is you need to have enough awareness of product alternatives that come from the technology, and of customer needs that come from pressures in the marketplace, to see where opportunity will emerge. What that means is that most MBA students should go to work in an area they think is going to be hot—and they’ve got to anticipate where it’s going to be hot—and then build up a deep knowledge of who the good engineers are, who the interesting customers are, what the right channels are, and who the essential business partners are. So, when they go out on their own, they bring a rich and relevant Rolodex along with them on the journey. Turning high-potential ventures into high-performance ventures is always an elegant combination of know what, know-how, and know who! – Joseph Lassiter

Post from: EveryJoe

Some Basics to Starting Your Business

ATTENTION ENTREPRENEURS

eBay pissed people off.  Buyers and sellers are now boycotting eBay because of the following major points:

• Increased rates for casual sellers
• No more negative/neutral feedback rating
• Limited search algorithm

You can find out more in this article posted by Fortune.  This is a business opportunity.  eBay wants to “test the elasticity” of their buyers and sellers – but how far can you push the envelope when you have a fading audience?  Anyone see where I am going with this?

 Over the past few years, eBay has lost its audience in a pretty big way, according to Alexa.  I think these new changes will not revitalize the website.  Instead, I think it will simply make it more difficult for the casual sellers.  Why would eBay want to appeal to the casual seller?  Simple – they represent new members.  You cannot experience growth if your site isn’t user-friendly.

eBay should have added more capabilities to attract a new audience instead of “refining.”  It’s a constantly changing market, and they are not doing enough to maintain the pace.

This is a perfect opportunity for YOU.  There is a lot of media attention surrounding eBay right now, so capitalize while there is interest in the auctioning market.   Steal the audience that has rejected eBay before they return because of a lack of alternatives.

Post from: EveryJoe

eBait

Image ruthlessly stolen from here.

After another great year, fashion week ends with many young entrepreneurs with new contracts. Having showcased new designs and models, fashion week is THE place for any young entrepreneurs looking to get ahead in the fashion industry. For more information about fashion week, go here.

Post from: EveryJoe

Fashion Week Ends

Springwise has posted the top 10 business ideas for every imaginable category. Check out 100+ business ideas posted on this site. Here are some of my favorites:

Beach barbecue on call: Appealing to a ‘not leaving the beach yet’ kind of spontaneity, Danish Sommergrill offers seaside barbecue on speed dial. Consumers can call or SMS Sommergrill from the beach, and the service will deliver a ready-to-go bbq set: marinated meat, salad, bread and dessert, plus a disposable barbeque, plates, napkins, etc. A set for two is priced at DKK 180 (USD 33 / EUR 24 / GBP 16).

Gyms for kids use gaming to keep them hooked: Earlier this year, we reported on NexGym—a youth fitness franchise that keeps youngsters moving through video game-inspired workouts. It turns out they’re not the only players capitalizing on kids’ fitness by incorporating video games. Canadian Bulldog Interactive Fitness and Colorado’s XRKade are getting in on exergaming, too.

Zero cents per minute: Blyk, the mobile virtual network operator we covered earlier this year, launched in the UK yesterday. The company, which bills itself as a pan-European free mobile operator for young people, offers 16 to 24-year-olds 217 texts and 43 minutes every month, for free. As can be expected, the free part is made possible by advertisers keen to reach the age group up close and personal on their cell phones. Advertisers (”brands you like”) can send the youthful eyeballs up to 6 messages a day.

Props to Springwise for coming up with so many ideas.

Post from: EveryJoe

Springwise Posts Top 10 Business Ideas

I have a mission for you aspiring entrepreneurs. This mission is critical and I want everyone to participate.

You are all going to be shopping this holiday season – don’t lie. While you are out, find one item in each store you visit and critique its design. Come up with a better way of accomplishing its task. Difficult? Yes. Mind-bending? Yes. Insane? Maybe. It could even be an item on a website. I don’t care – as long as you come up with an improvement. I guess I’ll go first.

My product critique is the Ninja Remote. I purchased this remote a few days ago and have had some fun with it – however, it isn’t up to my ridiculously high standards.

Alright, here’s how it works. You hold down the mute button on the remote and it changes frequencies until it matches the correct frequency on the target television. When you see the TV mute, you know you have the correct frequency. How can it be improved? Well, here’s what I think can be done:

• Add a small LED light to indicate when the remote is changing frequencies

A light would be the best addition to this remote because you would know when the remote runs out of batteries and when it is changing to a different frequency!

Now it’s your turn to pick out an item from a website or store to critique and improve!

Things to consider:

• Safety
• Ease of use
• Cost of production
• Efficiency
• Aesthetic

Have fun with it!

Post from: EveryJoe

Attention Young Entrepreneurs: Your Holiday Mission