• Cookie Dough Fundraisers. Photo by Brian Richardson. License: CC BY 2.0
    Finance

    5 Things to Expect with Cookie Dough Fundraisers

    One of the most popular forms of fundraising for school organizations, Girl Scout troupes, and even sports teams is selling cookies. Everyone likes cookies, and cookie dough is easy to bake because it is pre-mixed and molder, ready for the oven. However, like any other fundraising, there are some expectations which can be eye openers. Understanding how to raise funds through selling cookies is one way to ensure success. Here are five things to expect with cookie dough fundraisers: Not all cookies are created equal. People like cookies, but different people like different cookies. In the same way, not all chocolate chip cookies are the same. Finding good cookie dough…

  • Office Furniture. Photo by bfi Business Furniture Inc. License: CC BY-SA 2.0.
    Logistics,  Management

    How to Furnish an Office When You’re Starting from Scratch

    When you first launch a startup you’re unlikely to have your own office. Some people may be lucky enough to gain enough funding that they can have an office straight away. But more often than not founders of small companies begin working at home or using co-working spaces. When it’s time to move into your own space, you’re tasked with furnishing and decorating your office so that it’s both functional and good looking. Eventually, you’ll want your office to reflect your brand and work ethos, but to begin with you probably just want to focus on its functionality. Before Buying Before you buy any office furniture there are some things…

  • Women Shopping
    Management

    5 Must-Dos to Increase Retail Shopper Conversions

    Despite the Internet, brick and mortar retail store still serve the marketplace. The Bureau of Labor Statistics expects the employment of retail salespersons to grow approximately 17 percent from 2010 to 2020. Customers still enjoy the experience of shopping in a physical store or boutique, whether shopping for new clothes or books. Yet, to compete with e-commerce, brick and mortar store owners face the ongoing challenge of converting leads into buying, even loyal, customers. Unlike the Internet and e-commerce sites, stores create personal shopping experiences. To capitalize on this advantage, retailers can note the following techniques to boost those sales. 1. Create an Experience Start by making your store an…

  • Mailbox
    Business Tools,  Logistics,  Marketing

    Address Validation Tools Can Save Your Business Serious Cash

    You’ve captured the addresses of customers and prospects the same way for years, and you don’t really want to switch over to another system that requires re-training your employees. The learning curve and training time are nothing, however, compared to the costs your business incurs because of dirty data in your system. A whopping 94 percent of companies suspect their databases suffer from major inaccuracies, a QAS.com report on data quality notes. Even if you don’t think data cleaning is worth the time and effort, there are indirect and direct costs associated with data quality issues that all businesses need to be aware of. Direct Costs The postage you spend…

  • Mobile Phone Social Media
    Business Tools,  Logistics,  Marketing,  Online Business

    Outsource your Social Media Monitoring

    Savvy consumers are turning to social media to find products and research solutions more often every day. Businesses wishing to capitalize on the rapidly growing digital and social media trend are turning to professional call centers to monitor and respond to social media trends and inquiries. Technology is evolving at an ever increasing rate and with that rapid evolution of business processes comes changing landscape of marketing and advertising. For most of the last century advertising and marketing were dominated by the big three, print, radio and most recently television. Any business that wanted to grow and gain new customers turned to one flavor or another of one of these…

  • Watching TV
    Logistics

    Reasons Netflix Will Merge with Amazon

    The recent announcement from Netflix of splitting its streaming services and mail order DVD service is seen with anger and a mockery act by many. The experts and customers are seen saying in chorus that the company is just on the verge of its collapse and is pitted with huge amount of losses in terms of money and subscribers.