Archive | December, 2007

Shirley George Frazier, Strategic Marketer

By on December 17, 2007 in Business

Have you heard of Shirley Frazier? If not, you really should get to know her business better. I came across this very fascinating blogger the other day who had visited my MyBlogLog account. While clicking thru the latest visitors’ own blog sites the multiple number of sites she authors caught my eye.

I’m always impressed by bloggers who can handle more than two sites. Shirley has four! And she is yet another inspiration doing a combination of things that I like, online entrepreneurship and public speaking.

The site that captured my interest first is her Solo Business Marketing blog. I love the tagline, “Where Entrepreneurs and Business Connect”. Is that an actionist line or what? And notice the Amazon widget in the middle column stategically featuring her own book? Yeah this lady knows her stuff. Shirley has other good features sprinkled around the site to share her expertise including video clips and contact info if you’d like her to speak at your function.

Her blogger.com blog is evidence of her growth as a blogger as she uses her own domain names now that she’s branched out into other types of operations. The blogger.com site has been relegated to the bench for more relevant and practical sites. The Solo Business Marketing Blog mentioned above covers lots of general business principles. A more specific blog is her Gift Basket Business which is an obvious passion.

If you’ve considered this business in particular or any home based or holiday related venture you definitely ought to save and fave this one. You get particular genre related tips here.

Another site, Ask the Gift Basket Expert is where she shares ideas on the business and operations side of this particular industry. So, you can hit Shirley up on any angle that suits you. No doubt she can be a helpful resource.

If you just want to cut to the chase and get straight to the personal service then invite her to talk to your favorite group. As mentioned before she’s a professional speaker and Shirley Speaks is how you retain her services in person.

I suspect Shirley’s star is on the rise and I wouldn’t be surprised to start hearing more from her in a big way. If you want to improve your business sense be sure to keep Shirley George Frazier as a virtual reference.

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Save a Buck at the Office Supply Store

By on December 17, 2007 in Business

Office DEPOT realized some time back that they were losing money trading free reams of paper for used ink cartridges. That was my favorite trade in and apparently everyone else’s too so they’ve changed gears.

Now you get a $3.00/unit discount coupon on future purchases. The good thing is that you can combine three of your coupons for a combined $9.00 savings the next time you’re in the store. Helps you save a nice chunk on new cartridge purchases if you don’t trust the quality of the recycled types in your printer or don’t want to risk your printer warranty with a recycled one.

Check with your other favorite local computer and office supply stores are to see what their used cartridge turn in policy is. Every buck counts for your household or business office supply expenses.

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Another Eagle Scout Takes Flight

By on December 14, 2007 in General Interest

Last Sunday was a great day. Our Boy Scout Unit inducted its second Eagle Scout in the last two years. Eagle is the highest rank in the Boy Scouts of America and it’s a lifetime honor that follows each of them all of their days in a number of practical ways. A piece read during the Eagle Scout Court of Honor ceremony called “One Hundred Scouts” epitomizes the true nature of this rank. I don’t who the author is but I’d like to share it with you today.

One Hundred Scouts

Of any one hundred boys who become Scouts, it must be confessed that thirty will drop out the first year. Perhaps this may be regarded as a failure, but later in life all will remember that they had been Scouts and will speak well of the program.

Of the one hundred Scouts, rarely will one appear before a juvenile court judge. Twelve of the one hundred will be from families that do no belong to a church. Through Scouting, these twelve and many of their families will be brought in contact with a church and will continue to be active all their lives. Six of the one hundred will become pastors.

Each of the one hundred will learn something significant from Scouting. Almost all will develop hobbies and will add other interests throughout their lives. Approximately one half will serve in the military and in varying degrees profit from their Scout training. At least one will use his Scouting skills to save another person’s life, and many will credit Scouting with saving their own life.

Two of the one hundred will reach the rank of Eagle, and at least one will later say that he values his Eagle badge above his college degree. Many will find their future vocation through merit badge work and Scouting contacts. Seventeen of the one hundred will later become Scout leaders and will give leadership to thousands of additional boys.

Only one in four boys in America will become Scouts, but it is interesting to note that of the leaders of our nation, in business, religion, and government, three out of four were Scouts.

This story has no end. Like the “Golden Pebble” of service dropped in the human sea, it will continue to radiate in ever widening circles, influencing others down through time to come.

On behalf of the leaders and Scouts of our troop I want to say that a ripple of service has begun to radiate and we extend deep appreciation to our Eagle Scout recipient for achieving the highest honor in Scouting, the Eagle Scout Award.

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Are You Ready to Internationalize?

By on December 8, 2007 in Business

In case you didn’t know it already, the world is flat. That’s author Thomas Friedman’s way of saying the world is getting smaller, more interactive and more interdependent, among other things. It’s also a reference to flattened business processes and networks. Kind of sounds like blogging doesn’t it?

I think this flattening process will prove to be more relevant to we bloggers in the proceeding months and years. I’m going to start posting on my personal insights into the book the World Is Flat because the realities of the modern day business world and how people are applying them are absolutely germaine to what we do in the virtual world. It’s directly appicable to monetizing blogs.

Today I want to turn you on to Alibaba.com which, as Friedman describes, is an English Language web site that helps small to medium sized businesses to make deals with manufacturers, traders and sellers around the globe.

The story goes that a young business man found someone in a country to design his product and someone in a different country to produce it. Then he used Amazon.com to serve his logistical, merchandising and fulfillment needs.

Is the Alibaba/Amazon combination the next advance for your company? Look at both of them and learn more about the inner workings of each. See if you can’t make your small operation suddenly global in scale.

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