(Written by guest contributor Joel Ownby) Accepting payment online for your products and services sounds like a pretty simple endeavor, and at a low level it is. Understanding what is happening behind the scenes is an entirely different proposition. Understanding the nuts and bolts of payment processing will grant you the ability to provide better customer service, generate more accurate cash flow and projection data, help you to better understand technical issues involving payment processing... Continue Reading

(Written by guest contributor Joseph A. Michelli, Ph.D.) Recently, I had a very candid conversation with an entrepreneur whom I've known for a long time but who has never shown much interest in elevating service at his business. During that conversation he said something like, "Joseph I know you believe service is an important value proposition and intuitively it makes sense, BUT I can't monetize the value of service." Continue Reading

(Written by guest contributor Joseph A. Michelli, Ph.D.) Recently, I had a very candid conversation with an entrepreneur whom I've known for a long time but who has never shown much interest in elevating service at his business. During that conversation he said something like, "Joseph I know you believe service is an important value proposition and intuitively it makes sense, BUT I can't monetize the value of service." Continue Reading

(Written by guest contributor Kevin E. Houchin Esq.) Let me get right to the point. The reason our economy is in the tank today is that too many people are focused on creating money instead of creating real products and services. To correct this problem, we need to get back to the basics of creating products and services that people need or want, and let the money come as a result. That's the business of... Continue Reading

(Written by guest contributor Joseph A Michelli Ph.D.) Last week we talked about the importance of having a customer-centric business approach. But how exactly do you go about becoming a business like The Ritz-Carlton Hotel Company that adds value though service excellence and desired experience? I take my clients through a very systematic process with delivery of that process adapted to the needs of their business. Typically this journey begins with an honest assessment of... Continue Reading

(Written by guest contributor Joel Ownby) Advertisers and business owners are starting to understand the value in direct response mobile marketing because the response rates are too high to ignore. TextCastLive is a new service that has taken the rules taught to us by direct marketing mediums like e-mail autoresponder systems and direct mail and applied them to SMS text message marketing to provide a robust, platform-independent, scalable, enterprise-class mobile marketing solution. At the highest... Continue Reading

(Written by guest contributor Tim Golen) Over and over again I hear people say, "Oh, you can just outsource that." They make it sound easy, like all you have to do is search Google for outsourced development, click on a button or two, and all your problems are solved. I'm here to tell you that it's not that easy, and in some cases, not even appropriate to outsource. I am going to talk about when... Continue Reading

(Written by guest contributor Joel Ownby) If you are serious about starting an online business, then you should realize that just like a traditional brick-and-mortar company, an investment of time and money is almost always required. We aren't talking about going to the bank and taking out loans here, but we are talking about a lot of sweat and small monetary investments over time. The strategy discussed in this article is one avenue that you... Continue Reading

There is nothing that undermines a company's image and recognition faster than the distorted or inconsistent use of an identity. Whether you are part of an established business or launching a new enterprise, defining your company's graphic image now will save you both time and money in the future. Continue Reading

A couple of years ago in 2007, Google, IBM, and others set out on a large-scale cloud computing project. By mid-2008, Gartner, from Gartner.com, saw an opportunity for cloud computing to "shape the relationship among consumers of IT services, those who use IT services, and those who sell them," and observed that "organizations are switching from company-owned hardware and software assets to per-use, service-based models" so that the "projected shift to cloud computing... Continue Reading

"All aboard!" shouts the conductor, alerting the passengers that the train is getting ready to pull out of the station. If you don't have your ticket and know where you are going, you'd better get it sorted out fast. After all, there are many tracks that lead out from the station. And while you might travel miles and miles down one track, you could end up finding out that you've traveled miles and miles... Continue Reading

Let me get right to the point. The reason our economy is in the tank today is that too many people are focused on creating money instead of creating real products and services. To correct this problem, we need to get back to the basics of creating products and services that people need or want, and let the money come as a result. That's the business of creativity, and it's going to be the... Continue Reading

iPhone apps are all the rage right now, but having a great idea and developing a successful iPhone application are completely different things altogether. The mobile application development process is quite a bit different from a normal software development process and many of these differing factors must be considered as early as the conceptual phases of development. The objective of this article is to provide the reader a process for taking an application from... Continue Reading

I've been an Amazon.com Associate since the beginning. I'm not sure when they started their program, but it's been over ten years that I've promoted Amazon's products and services. Imagine my surprise when I received an email from Andrea, an Associates Account Specialist (is that for people who can't get jobs with the post office? I'm kidding.. relax...), that informed me my account was being closed. First of all, let me say this. I am... Continue Reading