For the second time in three years, American consumers and businesses have been subjected to crude oil prices at record or near-record levels and gasoline prices at over $4 per gallon. Since petroleum in general, and gasoline in particular, are both so connected to everyday American life, economists consider this kind of relatively sudden inflation in the price of a universally used commodity to be tantamount to the government imposing an abrupt and unbudgeted tax.
Since this price increase is indeed imposed on all of us, we wanted to know what you thought, so we asked this question in our recent poll on our website and Newsletter: Who is responsible for the near-record $4 a gallon price for gas? Here is what you told us.
The small respondent groups laid it off on OPEC and “C’est la vie.” Only 7% said, “OPEC – they’re gouging us,” but just 2% said, “No one is to blame – these things just happen.” Wall Street and Washington didn’t fare so well. “Greedy Wall Stre
Read all post…
Over the last month or two, I’ve been writing an occasional series of posts offering different ways/places that you can find inspiration for new blog posts. In this, the final post of the series, let’s talk about the absolute easiest way to get new ideas: Just ask!
You’re writing for your readers’ benefit, right? So doesn’t it make sense to ask them once in a while what you should be writing about?
It does.
Think of it like a radio DJ taking listener requests — it’s smart business to give the people what they want.
There’s one caveat to this: If your blog is new and/or you don’t have a ton of readers, you’ll probably strike out if you start asking a non-existent audience what they want to read.
No one needs a “5 Ways To Ask Your Readers for Blog Content Ideas,” right? You just do it. But let
Read all post…
Tags: Blog, Blog Content
If you find yourselves suddenly requiring a large amount of cash and do not know where they can raise the money from, you could perhaps find yourselves in a difficult situation. You could make a number of inquiries with different lending institutions and also be told that they could offer you an unsecured loan without any difficulty. You may even be tempted to obtain the finances, given the kind of anxiety that you would be facing. However, you must remember that an unsecured loan will come at a higher cost that will be quite unaffordable. Therefore, you should be looking out for lending institutions that are willing to give you a secured loan.
How can you access such a facility where you will not only get access to the money required, but will also be required to pay a lower rate of interest?
Read all post…
Tags: Get Money, Money
Many ambitious entrepreneurs looking for out-of-the-box financing are starting to look into the popularity of crowdfunding—offering investment opportunities (mostly online) to anyone and everyone who might take an interest in their companies. The draw for investors is that the investment doesn’t have to be large at all. In
Read all post…
Call it fraud, profiteering or theft. No matter what it´s called, some people on the payroll are robbing companies across America each and every day. Employee theft now costs American businesses at least $40 billion a year, according to the latest estimates from the U.S. Department of Commerce.
I see news reports every week about some small business being ripped off by an employee. Are they robbing your small business?
Mari Reidy, executive-in-charge of Crowe Chizek and Company´s Forensic Services and Investigations (FSI) practice, said businesses could save millions of dollars if they followed certain business practices, took fraud more seriously and responded to instances of fraud swiftly and aggressively.
You should take key steps to prevent fraud in your business. H
Read all post…
Tags: Business
Thursday June 9th
How to Build a Successful Business – A Growth Strategy
Register here
Tuesday June 14th
Branding Basics – Making Your Business Stand Out
Register here
Thursday June 16th
9 Steps to Building a Successful Website for Small Business
Register here
Tags: Business, Business Online