Category: Business

Minimal shipping option for Amazon

Business / Customer Service / Technology / Websites

I love Amazon.com (as many do), but I’ve been bothered for several years at the incredible waste from their shipping packaging. Now, I’m no tree-hugger, but I am a business person and it’s easy to deduce that there’s a significant cost to the boxes and packing paper and air-bags that get put in almost every box. Not to mention the cost of shipping a larger item. Every year Amazon ships tens of millions of packages – some big, some small… this idea is focused on the small items …

No NFC support at Best Buy?

Business / Customer Service / Hardware / Phones / Technology

I recently got my Google Nexus 4 phone which supports NFC (Near Field Communications – a wireless technology that allows you to hold your phone up to other devices and pass information back and forth.) One of the features I’ve been looking forward to using in the past year is the ability to pay for purchases using an NFC phone. Basically, that means you don’t have to swipe your credit card, you just pass your phone over a credit card terminal and your credit card gets charged. Apparently …

Pressure based brake lights

Automotive / Business / Technology

Driving on the freeway the other day, at a safe distance for 65mph, I looked at the traffic on the other side for a moment and was startled when I looked back and the driver in front of me had jammed on the brakes and stopped MUCH faster than I anticipated. Again, I was far enough behind that I could still safely stop, but I was hoping that the car behind ME was paying attention and not driving too closely. That’s when I thought – why don’t brake …

Freeway overpass advertising

Automotive / Business / Marketing

Many years ago, I was driving on the freeway and suddenly pictured a simple way for States to make money – without raising taxes! Selling ad space on overpasses. In today’s economic climate, governments need to stop taxing and start cutting – but if they MUST make more money, I don’t see any good reason why they can’t use some of the space that we all pay for as taxpayers, to help reduce the tax burden. There’s a huge number of “blank” freeway overpasses that are perfect canvases …

Mobile phone apps and security

Business / Distribution / Email / Microsoft / Phones / Software / Technology

People love their smartphones these days… and with good reason. They can be amazing tools for business and fun distractions from the mundane parts of life – like standing in line at the post office or waiting to be picked up from the airport. There’s a problem though. Those fun and handy apps can be setting you up for embarrassment, failure or good ol’ fashioned identity theft. If you saw the movie “Live Free or Die Hard”, you’ll recall the premise that one bad guy who sold software …

Social marketing and the small business…

Blogging / Business / Customer Service / Distribution / Email / Marketing / Technology / Websites

It’s been a good five years since “social marketing” really took off in a big way. Big, no HUGE corporations use it in one way or another. It likely doesn’t help their bottom line, but Coca-Cola, Microsoft, NASA, General Electric and even Yahoo and Google use Facebook. So WHY don’t small businesses who actually NEED the help? The simple answer is: knowledge. Most (not all) small business owners are intelligent go-getters who want to succeed in their chosen area of commerce. Those in the retail sector should be …

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