My town is called a ‘bedroom community’.  That means that a lot of people live here and commute to other larger cities. It’s twenty minutes to Lansing, fifty minutes to Grand Rapids, ninety minutes to Detroit…
I can’t imagine commuting such distances for work.   It’s not that I hate driving, it’s more that I resent the [...]

We are entrepreneurs and that means we have ideas. Lots and lots of ideas.
Coming up with ideas is great, but not all ideas are all that they seem cracked up to be.
Some business ideas are Good.
They involve a specific target market and a much needed product, service or resouce that the market is willing [...]

Last week I got scammed on Craigslist.
You have no idea how shamed and humbled I feel about that.
I haven’t fallen for a scam since I was 20 years old. I actually sent $18 and a self addressed stamped envelope to get info on stuffing envelopes for pay.  That was pre-internet of course… but the lesson [...]

When the economy is down and your target market seems to be holding their dollars tighter than usual, what can solopreneurs do to keep business flowing?
Status Check Your Marketing Funnel.
Make sure that you’re doing all that you can to reach as much of your target market as possible.  I’ve actually seen some entreprenuers pulling back [...]

Yesterday we asked Sparkplugging Readers:
“What’s your impression of the economy as it has been affecting your business over the last months?”
This is what you told us:

14% – I’m rockin’ it – no worries here.
26% – I’m seeing distinct signs of improvement.
23% – I’m still feeling it but it’s not as bad as it used to [...]

Just a quicky poll for you…
(The survey is over)
We’ll publish results tomorrow

The NFIB Virtual Summit is an exciting, informal online conference we are hosting on September 15, 2009.  No travel arrangements are necessary – you can attend from the convenience of your home or office!    In case you are not familiar with NFIB – we are the nation’s leading small business association, with offices in Washington, [...]