Should We Nationalize Banks? Sorry, already happened…

The big debate right now is whether or not we should “nationalize” banks…but, in my opinion it has already happened.  A quick look at bailout numbers over the past 7 or 8 months courtesy of New York Times running tally:

These numbers do not even include the $500B+ in note guarantees to keep US banks solvent. There truly is a lot of money on the line and without it, our banking system would have collapsed already. The fact that the government had to step in and invest money in non-performing assets to to keep them solvent pretty much defines “nationalization” to me. I am not making a judgment on whether this is the right or wrong decision, because I am not an economist, but I do believe we should label things as they are.

Instead of calling what has been done up to this point in time “nationalization”, it is called something different by the US Government (credit Barry Ritholtz):

…why don’t we call it by a more accurate, precise, and less scary name: FDIC mandated, pre-packaged Chapter 11, government funded reorganization.

That is an accurate description of what occurred with Washington Mutual (WAMU) now part of JPM Chase, and Wachovia, now part of Wells Fargo. The Feds step in, seamlessly transfer control of the assets to a new owner, while simultaneously wiping out the debt, the shareholders, and giving a huge haircut to the bondholders.

Let’s look at each of these in turn:

• FDIC mandated: What does that mean? Well, by law, the FDIC is required to handle the liquidation or reorgs of insolvent banking institutions. We have prevented that normal process thru the application of trillions of dollars in bailout monies;

• pre-packaged The entire process is mapped out in advance so as to make it fast and seamless. WAMU depositors did not notice a single change over the weekend their FDIC mandated, pre-packaged Chapter 11 workout, government funded reorganizatio occured. The only observable difference was that WAMU customers were no longer charged an ATM fee when they went to Chase ATMs, as it was now the same company;

• Chapter 11 The full bankruptcy protection applies — meaning employees still get paid, secured creditors do not suffer, and debtor in possession financing (DiP) is available to the bank;

• government funded The source of the DiP funding;

• reorganization Just what it sounds like — new board of directors, management transitions out to a new team, recaptalized, bad debt taken off of the books, toxic assets spun out.

What emerges is a clean bank, no debt, well capitalized, and free of deadly toxic assets. You can see why so many people would find this state of affairs utterly objectionable.

In all seriousness, I understand the objection by shareholders — already down 90% — who would be wiped out by this. I fail to see the merit in the save-the-banks-at-any-cost arguments so many are proferring and preferring.

————————–
Sources:
http://projects.nytimes.com/creditcrisis/recipients/table
http://www.ritholtz.com/blog/2009/02/nationalization-the-new-n-word/

Read Full Post »

Incorporating a Virtual Company in Vermont

This is definitely something to keep in mind as we move along with our virtual businesses.  What is great about Vermont’s idea of incorporation is:

• No requirement of physical presence
• No restriction on location
• Income tax only required on in-state sales
• $275/yr for registration fees

This is a helluva deal if it is as good as it sounds…  Supposedly this was passed into law in summer of 2008.

The state of Vermont is set to become the first in the nation to offer a legal framework for virtual companies. In May, the state’s legislature voted to pass a law, which is expected to be signed this summer by Governor Jim Douglas, that would allow any private company to register in Vermont without opening a physical office, holding an in-person meeting, or filing a single sheet of paper. Companies could meet these requirements — which are mandated by most states in order to legally register or open a bank account — by using e-mail, instant messaging, or other software programs.

Vermont plans to charge fees of up to $275 a year for each virtual company registered, with state income taxes applying only to income generated in Vermont itself. The hope is to mimic the success of Delaware, which collects some $700 million a year in incorporation taxes and fees by offering low taxes, few regulations, and a business-friendly judicial system.

“This is a grand experiment,” says Robert Litan, vice president of research and policy at the Kauffman Foundation in Kansas City, Missouri. Litan says the Vermont law will allow entrepreneurs all over the world to take advantage of the relative legal certainty of the Green Mountain State. An entrepreneur in Africa, for instance, could register a company in Vermont without hiring a lawyer or even traveling to the U.S. “This is going to allow for ways of doing business that we can’t even imagine yet,” Litan says.

—————–
Sources:
http://www.inc.com/magazine/20080701/a-haven-for-virtual-companies.html

Read Full Post »

Resources for creating a Muse

Latest Update: New Muse Example

This is a running list of resources that we can reference as we develop a muse.  Feel free to add to this list.

Forums

• http://fourhourworkweek.com/vBulletin/

Trade Magazines

• http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_United_States_magazines

SEO Tools

• https://adwords.google.com/select/KeywordToolExternal?defaultView=2
• http://tools.seobook.com/keyword-tools/seobook/
• http://www.seomoz.org/blog/rewriting-the-beginners-guide-the-outline
• http://www.lotusjump.com/

Creating a Sales Website

• http://business.blinkweb.com/
• http://www.getmuseo.com/preview/ also see http://fourhourworkweek.com/vBulletin/showthread.php?t=2468
• http://fourhourworkweek.com/vBulletin/showthread.php?t=2093

Online Marketing Video Blog

• http://www.gurumastermindvideoblog.com/

Guides to Sales Copywriting

• http://www.michelfortin.com/

Outsourcing & Freelancing

• http://www.elance.com/
• http://www.guru.com/
• http://www.rentacoder.com/
• http://www.freelancefree.com/
• http://www.craigslist.com/

WordPress Muse Template Examples from IMWB

• http://internetmarketingwithblogs.com/
• http://blogdesignr.com/salespagethemes/?page_id=15
• http://blogdesignr.com/salespagethemes/?page_id=16
• http://blogdesignr.com/salespagethemes/?page_id=17

Real Muse Examples

• http://www.audiomixologist.net/
• http://www.gamebrain.us/
• http://www.replacemyself.com/
• http://www.blogmastermind.com/
• http://www.fastfoodcopywriting.com/
• http://mypodcastingtutor.com/
• http://www.fatlossrevealed.com/

Read Full Post »

7 Recommended Virtual Collaboration Tools

I found this list of use.  With several project hopefully starting up real soon, we will need to begin to form a virtual work environment that is collaboration-friendly.  Here are 7 Tools that the guys at Duct-Tape Marketing use daily.

Dropbox – online file storage and sharing. This is simply a high powered FTP site, but the interface and workflow is so great. I use a desktop application from dropbox and simply drag files there and they are stored online automatically. I can share folders with anyone and when they upload files they show up on my desktop. I can even set-up public folders so anyone can send large files without clogging email.

Basecamp – this is an online project management tool that allows you to set-up projects with collaborators and customers and manage all manner of communication, file and document sharing, and chat. I use this with the Duct Tape Marketing Coach network as a form of Intranet.

iLinc – virtual collaboration is great, but sometimes you need to work in real time, face to face (sort of) iLinc is web and video conferencing tool that really shines when it comes to online collaboration. You can work on documents together via the web, video chat, access files and programs off each others desktops and visit web sites together with a live browser – so you can take someone to a page and walk them through a real demo or sign-up process. Disclosure: iLinc sponsors my podcast.

SimpleEvent – this is a free conference call service, but it has a ridiculous amount of features. I love to put together meetings on the fly and have multiple folks join. I also use it to host my large web meetings for the audio portion. I can have up to 96 full talk to talk and 1000 talk to listen on at once. There’s no scheduling, it’s always on and always live.

GMail – this is just big, fat, free, email service, but I love the way it works and takes advantage of being fully online. You can run your own domain through GMail (I use it to send as I don’t have to worry about my local ISP quirks when I travel) and create multiple profiles for all your various rolls in life. I use Google Talk for IM and it’s built right into GMail.

Jott – Jott allows you to record voice memos that get turned into email text. You can set-up boxes for anyone you collaborate with and send notes as you wiz down the freeway. You can create groups for distribution, post appointments to Google Calendar, and even update your twitter feed all with voice messages.

Google Calendar – Another Google tool, I know, but I like setting up calendars and sharing them with collaborators and also tapping the fact that these calendars produce RSS feeds so I can publish them in cool ways to websites and have anyone I give access produce content for those sites. Also sync with desktop and phone calendars over the air.

——————-
Sources:
http://www.ducttapemarketing.com/blog/2008/12/19/7-virtual-collaboration-tools-i-use-daily/

Read Full Post »

PC World guide to bootstrapping an Online Business

Some of the info in this article was very basic, but there were some good links and resources in it as well.  I have highlighted what I found to me the most relevant our needs.

Find an affordable Web host

Most hosting plans for small companies offer similar features: basically unlimited storage space, support for common databases and publishing systems, and anywhere from a few gigabytes to 2 terabytes of data transfer per month. Expect to pay between $5 and $15 a month for the service, with a one- or two-year upfront contract.  (My notes: ideaFLiTE is currently using GoDaddy)

Get logos and design work

Numerous Web sites, such as Logo Ease and LogoMaker, will design a free logo for you based on options you set via a Web interface. The quality varies, but generally you can get the logo for free for online use. The services make money if you want to download the logo in EPS format, which is more suitable for printing on T-shirts and coffee mugs. A Web search for “free logo” will turn up dozens of additional alternatives.

Another, possibly better, approach is to seek out an independent designer to work on your logo. If you don’t need anything fancy, you can find someone to do the job for $50 or less through a simple Craigslist ad. The advantage is that you get to work with a live person (with genuine artistic skills) to create something unique for you rather than a cold, computer-generated logo.

(Logo is important, and needs to look good.  It can be updated later, but the original logo should still be very solid)

Build an e-commerce site on the cheap

Yahoo’s popular Merchant Solutions start at $40 a month. E-commerce sites at Netfirms start at a mere $15 a month. You can customize both extensively to match your desired look and feel. (Yahoo Merchant Solutions is what Full Contact Outlet uses)  You can sell just about anything that Amazon stocks by registering as a merchant, finding the product page for the item you’re selling and clicking Sell yours here. Merchants must pay $40 a month, plus a sliding scale of closing fees (6 to 20 percent). Individual sellers can sign up to sell with no monthly fees but must pay an extra 99 cent closing fee.

(Full Contact Outlet uses Yahoo’s Merchant Solutions.  Does a pretty good job and simplifies a lot of the ecommerce process for beginning stages)

Think SEO, all the time

Don’t underestimate the value of optimizing your Web site for Google. But you don’t need to pay an expert thousands of dollars to optimize your site for you: Check out the expert advice from SEOmoz and other search engine optimization writers to learn the basics of SEO, and instill your site with good SEO habits from day one.  (Very, very important.  This is something I need to spend even more time learning about, as this alone will be the single most important factor in marketing to begin with)

Set up a switchboard

You can have a live answering service (similar to the one your doctor uses) for $20 a month — or less, if you have minimal incoming calls. Another option is to do it virtually: For about $10 a month, you can get an 800-number-based system such as RingCentral that answers calls with an automated greeting, routing calls to you (or other employees or contractors) or to voice mail depending on button presses.  (FCO uses Grand Central for a dedicated phone number and voice mail, also full forwarding capabilities.  I utilize Skype now with Spearhead Technologies)

For a little more: Offload fulfillment and shipping

Selling physical goods online often means long hours spent in your garage packing up orders to ship to buyers, and then standing in long lines at the post office to mail it all off. Another option exists, thanks to the wonders of e-fulfillment: You pay someone else to do all the inventory handling and order shipping for you. Fees can be pricey unless you have the volume to mandate it: Efulfillment Service costs $70 a month flat, along with $1.85 per order processed and 25 cents per cubic foot per month for inventory stored, plus actual shipping fees.  (Order fulfillment will be a very important step.  During beginning stages, it is cheaper to do it all yourself, later it can be outsourced.  4HWW has some good recommendations for this)

This is a good resource list to keep in mind as we get things going.  The hardest part of the whole process is not in setting this stuff up, but in finding or creating a good product to base all these thing around.

————————-
Sources:
http://tech.msn.com/howto/articlepcw.aspx?cp-documentid=13679511

Read Full Post »

PC World guide to bootstrapping an Online Business

Some of the info in this article was very basic, but there were some good links and resources in it as well.  I have highlighted what I found to me the most relevant our needs.

Find an affordable Web host

Most hosting plans for small companies offer similar features: basically unlimited storage space, support for common databases and publishing systems, and anywhere from a few gigabytes to 2 terabytes of data transfer per month. Expect to pay between $5 and $15 a month for the service, with a one- or two-year upfront contract.  (My notes: ideaFLiTE is currently using GoDaddy)

Get logos and design work

Numerous Web sites, such as Logo Ease and LogoMaker, will design a free logo for you based on options you set via a Web interface. The quality varies, but generally you can get the logo for free for online use. The services make money if you want to download the logo in EPS format, which is more suitable for printing on T-shirts and coffee mugs. A Web search for “free logo” will turn up dozens of additional alternatives.

Another, possibly better, approach is to seek out an independent designer to work on your logo. If you don’t need anything fancy, you can find someone to do the job for $50 or less through a simple Craigslist ad. The advantage is that you get to work with a live person (with genuine artistic skills) to create something unique for you rather than a cold, computer-generated logo.

(Logo is important, and needs to look good.  It can be updated later, but the original logo should still be very solid)

Build an e-commerce site on the cheap

Yahoo’s popular Merchant Solutions start at $40 a month. E-commerce sites at Netfirms start at a mere $15 a month. You can customize both extensively to match your desired look and feel. (Yahoo Merchant Solutions is what Full Contact Outlet uses)  You can sell just about anything that Amazon stocks by registering as a merchant, finding the product page for the item you’re selling and clicking Sell yours here. Merchants must pay $40 a month, plus a sliding scale of closing fees (6 to 20 percent). Individual sellers can sign up to sell with no monthly fees but must pay an extra 99 cent closing fee.

(Full Contact Outlet uses Yahoo’s Merchant Solutions.  Does a pretty good job and simplifies a lot of the ecommerce process for beginning stages)

Think SEO, all the time

Don’t underestimate the value of optimizing your Web site for Google. But you don’t need to pay an expert thousands of dollars to optimize your site for you: Check out the expert advice from SEOmoz and other search engine optimization writers to learn the basics of SEO, and instill your site with good SEO habits from day one.  (Very, very important.  This is something I need to spend even more time learning about, as this alone will be the single most important factor in marketing to begin with)

Set up a switchboard

You can have a live answering service (similar to the one your doctor uses) for $20 a month — or less, if you have minimal incoming calls. Another option is to do it virtually: For about $10 a month, you can get an 800-number-based system such as RingCentral that answers calls with an automated greeting, routing calls to you (or other employees or contractors) or to voice mail depending on button presses.  (FCO uses Grand Central for a dedicated phone number and voice mail, also full forwarding capabilities.  I utilize Skype now with Spearhead Technologies)

For a little more: Offload fulfillment and shipping

Selling physical goods online often means long hours spent in your garage packing up orders to ship to buyers, and then standing in long lines at the post office to mail it all off. Another option exists, thanks to the wonders of e-fulfillment: You pay someone else to do all the inventory handling and order shipping for you. Fees can be pricey unless you have the volume to mandate it: Efulfillment Service costs $70 a month flat, along with $1.85 per order processed and 25 cents per cubic foot per month for inventory stored, plus actual shipping fees.  (Order fulfillment will be a very important step.  During beginning stages, it is cheaper to do it all yourself, later it can be outsourced.  4HWW has some good recommendations for this)

This is a good resource list to keep in mind as we get things going.  The hardest part of the whole process is not in setting this stuff up, but in finding or creating a good product to base all these thing around.

————————-
Sources:
http://tech.msn.com/howto/articlepcw.aspx?cp-documentid=13679511

Read Full Post »

More Entrepreneur Audio & Video Files

I found on Hacker News a list of several of the best websites with videos and interviews of entrepreneurs and business related topics.  The list did include the one that you found, intruders.tv.  Here is a list of the webites for future reference:

• Entrepreneurial Thought Leaders
  • Successful business people giving talks on all aspects of business
• Startup School
  • Entrepreneurs giving talks on how to create and sustain a startup
• Intruders.tv
  • Great interviews with tech entrepreneurs
• TalkingHeadTV
  • Videos on how to improve various aspects of life in general
• TED
  • Intelligent, intellectual talks on various topics

Read Full Post »

The Art of Creating Business Ideas

So, I have been a bit frustrated at my brainstorming sessions lately, and a bit discouraged that it feels like any ideas I come up with have already been done.  I think it is time to go back to the basics and we should focus on a more controlled, disciplined method of brainstorming.  We should take some time to identify our strengths and weaknesses, areas of expertise and areas of primary interest.  We should take this information and create a more methodical approach to our idea creation process.  I will try to work on this concept more and see if I can come up with a game plan.  If you have any thoughts on how we can become more productive in this area, let me know.  In the mean time, I looked up several articles an creating business ideas to assist in this area.

eHow: How to Create a Business Idea

A great business idea combines your skills with imagination and market demand. A business opportunity or idea often comes from everyday problems that someone solves. Successful businesses find a need and fill it by providing a service or product. Entrepreneurs who look at ways to make an existing product or service better can be as successful as those who create or invent products.

1. Write a short list, not more than 20, of things that people use or need every day. This includes food, houses, cars, electricity, telephones and clothing.
2. Think about ways to make it easier or more convenient to use one or more of these things. List some ways to make them cheaper, faster or smaller. Keep all your ideas no matter how silly them seem.
3. Look at some things on your list to see if combining them would make someone’s life more convenient. Combining cars and food gave us the fast food drive-ins. Cars and money gave us drive-through banking. Perhaps, some people would prefer to rent videos and games at a drive-through video store.
4. Make a list of businesses and products that didn’t exist 50 years ago, 25 years ago or 10 years ago. Visit the Trendwatching website to see examples of new ideas. Note if the successful businesses made tasks or experiences more convenient, faster, cheaper, safer or better in some other way.
5. Look at your own skills and experiences. Write a list of things that you can do well. Write a list of things that you would like to learn to do. Make a list of chores or tasks that you hate and avoid. One of these may lead to a great business idea or opportunity.
6. SCombine some items from your products and services lists with your skills and write down your new business ideas. Discover business trends and niches by looking at the titles of popular books and websites. Read magazine articles and blogs for inspiration for a business opportunity.
7. Research your idea to find out if it might fill a market gap or provide an opportunity to meet a need that many people have. Learn how to research your potential market by taking free online courses from the Small Business Administration.

wikiHow: How to Come Up With a Business Idea

1. Get your creative juices flowing. There are many different ways to accomplish this task. Play a game, read a book, paint a picture, play a sport, etc. The point is, do something that gets you thinking and then focus that energy into creating an idea/concept/product. Do not try to force an idea to occur because this will usually result in bad ideas! Take your time, focus your thought, and create the right product for you.
2. Know your limits. Determining these factors will help you focus your thought process. For example, if you are interested in computers, but have no education or experience with computers outside of internet surfing or word processing, it will be difficult to create a marketable idea for computer software components. Keep your thought process reasonable. In other words, do not let your imagination run wild. When you become good at creating ideas, then you can let your imagination do some work, but not at first.
3. Seize upon any inspiration. Sometimes, ideas will pop up at the oddest times. Get a small notebook to carry around with you and write ideas in. This way you can look at your notebook and later begin to develop your idea.
4. Identify a problem. For example, if you are interested in cooking, maybe you have a problem with the way an oven can dry out a chicken when cooking. Now that you have identified a problem, brainstorm and think of as many solutions as possible. It does not matter how crazy the solution is, just think about them and write them down. After you have written down every possible solution, no matter how crazy, go through the list and find the solution that you feel you can best accomplish. Surprise! You have probably come up with an original idea. This does not mean that you should pitch this idea tomorrow. All this means is that you should develop your idea, mold your idea, and perfect your idea into something you think people would buy if in the market. Also, this way of thinking will get your creative juices flowing. You may find yourself traveling a different path from your original field of interest. If this occurs, follow the thought until completion. You may be surprised where it leads!

Tips

• Do not force your ideas, take a break if you need one, and be patient!
• Do not expect miracles the first time. Go through the process and everything should work out.
• Write down ideas when they hit or sit down, focus on your thought, find a problem, think of a solution, and develop your original idea.

Warnings

• Make sure to develop your idea before you attempt to write a business plan around it.

————————————

Sources:

http://www.ehow.com/how_2058146_create-business-idea.html

http://www.wikihow.com/Come-Up-With-a-Business-Idea

http://www.manifestyourpotential.com/en/work/tensteps/2choosework/business/businessidea.htm

Read Full Post »

A few to study (like idea flite)

http://www.startupnation.com/

http://www.youngentrepreneur.com/forum/

http://www.startupjunkies.org/index.html

http://www.veteranscorp.org/

http://www.softwareceo.com/default.aspx

Just a few to look through. They are not really what we are thinking, but perhaps a good quick study.  We will also need to look at the new additional features that Linkdn is adding and see if there is a way to partner/leverage that.  Hell, maybe we become the source for startups and get bought out as a subsidiary of them!

Read Full Post »

iCharts

Of all the presentations that I have seen and read through from this years TechCrunch 50, this is the one that I would invest in if I was a VC.  It addresses a very common problem that I have faced multiple times, and creates a simple solution that is very verstile in application.  This is an easy way to create an interactive, taggable, portable chart that can be shared in blogs, PDFs, presentations, etc.  This product will appeal not only to techies, but to business people and students as well.  TechCrunch description:

iCharts makes interactive charting simple. http://www.icharts.net is the portal where everyone can search and share charts. Integrated into the portal is iCharts Studio which allows anyone to create high quality, interactive charts (iCharts) within minutes for private use or for publishing. Every iChart comes with a host of interactive features such as audio comments, data value pop-ups, zoom in/out and show/hide data series. iCharts can be embedded into any web-site where they can be updated by simply uploading new data to icharts.net. As a path breaking feature, iCharts can be embedded offline into PDF documents while retaining their full interactivity. iCharts contain rich tags making them highly searchable through existing search engines in an unprecedented way. iCharts is for publishing houses and market researchers, for academia, scientists, for business professionals and for every individual working with charts. iCharts is built on a combination of Adobe Flex and search-engine friendly JSP/HTML.

Although they haven’t completely solidified their business model, there are multiple ways to monetize this idea.  In my opinion, the 2 biggest will be:

• Advertising – When enough traffic is drawn, which I believe will be very likely by the coveted financial and business analyst community if marketed properly, then advertising reveues will steadily grow.
• Licensing – This will be the cash cow.  With proper marketing, plenty of businesses (including web-based) will have a great use for interactive and easy to create charting tools.  This was Mark Cuban’s advice to them, what a great idea.

Here is their demo at the 2008 TechCrunch 50:

 

———————-
Sources:
http://www.icharts.net/
http://www.techcrunch50.com/2008/conference/presenter.php?presenter=69#video

Read Full Post »