Redsplur.com

For anyone making a donation and you don’t know how to or to what organization.  _Current has provided this list…please feel free to view their video online.

Red Cross – http://redcross.org
You can also text ‘HAITI’ to 90999 to donate $10 to the Red Cross via your phone bill.

UNICEF – http://unicef.org

Oxfam – http://oxfam.org

Doctors Without Borders – http://doctorswithoutborders.org

Mercy Corps – http://mercycorps.org

Internal Medical Corps – http://imcworldwide.org

Americares – http://americares.org

A recent survey shows that the majority of people that are currently employed are not satisfied.  This is no surprise to anyone out there…but in case you want to read the entire article…click the link below.

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/34691428/ns/business-careers

Ok…so you have a great new product and no way to get it out in the market place. Here are few helpful hints that might help generate some new BUZZ for your product.

• New Trends – Often times you will find that retailers like to be trendy.  It’s a higher risk to invest in a product that you know is trendy and that at any given time the fad can come to an immediate stop.  But the rewards or the ROI is extremely good and typically trendy products sell well during their phase.
• Extensions – Most new products really focus on servicing as an extension of the functionality of the original product they are trying to replace.  Usually products that try to replace the same existing product, tend to fail in marketing themselves…it’s better to try to enhance the functionality and use that to distinguish your products.
• Beauty is in the eye of the beholder – Actually just keeping your product in front of your target market is much better.  Remember to position your product in front of the pack…also make sure you have a creative packaging designed to be noticed when placed on a shelf. 
• The Pro’s have it – So you are trying to do everything yourself huh?  Ok…that might not be one of your best ideas…try seeking expert advice…especially from marketing specialist. 

Well I hope these little hints or bits of info help you find the right interest in your product.   Good Luck and success!

Still not convinced about Social Networking?  Wondering if there really could be any benefit to having a blog or is this just another media hype?  We have be wondering the same thing but our research showed that there are several key advantages to developing a blog and updating the world on your business.   Here are a few advantages I think you could find interesting….take a look.

• Creating a global business presence.  Thats correct…the Internet brings the world closer and closer to one another that you will find people in China reading about people in Mexico.   This intertwining connection gives small companies the same advantage that large companies have to market there products across the world.
• Collaboration.  Yes it’s true…through your blog, open forums, and discussions you can find experts in almost any subject matter.  (And just between us…we have been listening and asking and evolving through help from others)
• A Recruitment Tool.  Although this one is still relatively new…many HR professionals are using social blogs to discover and recruit unseen talent.  Thats right!  Tapping into new markets and talents to help create recruitment strategies.
• And the most important.  Cheap Marketing!  Yeah we said it.  Cheap marketing.  No longer do small and mid size companies have to empty bank accounts to afford marketing and advertising campaigns like the big boys.  In fact we are a prime example….we don’t have the heavy budgets like other social blogs…and guess what?  We are fine with that! 

Well we have given you 4 top reasons to change your method of doing business and to evolve with everyone else…but the final decision is yours. 

One of the biggest challenges that face companies today is implementation.  Correct…many companies have great employees with brilliant ideas but getting them to move forward from desktop to implementation is something else. 

Here are a few suggestions that could help you move faster…

1. Tracking – During one of those fabulous brainstorming sessions make sure that you are jotting the ideas down and then make sure you are tracking them.  Tracking them can help establish a flow and time frame of when an idea came from conception to implementation. 
2. Checkpoints – Make sure that when you track your innovative ideas and you begin to set a flow chart, that you begin to establish checkpoints.  This helps ensure that you stay true to your basic core concept and lets you identify key areas of improvement before they become overwhelmingly large. 
3. Deadlines – Try to establish a quick prototype date by creating effective and realistic deadlines.  This helps the concept move forward by continuously meeting on deadlines and checkpoints. 

We hope this tidbit of information was useful.  And as always we recommend that you research more on this material before embarking on large projects.