When creating your business cards, here are some easy tips to follow:

• Keep it simple
• Contact information
• Clean appearance
• Don’t use cheap paper

Wow, that was easy! Okay, let’s break those down and discuss them a little more.

1. Keep it simple: Business cards don’t have to have every single piece of information about you. You don’t need to list 4 phone numbers, 3 email addresses along with your home and business address. Stick to the basics!

2. Contact Information: Use contact information that you’ll actually use. Don’t forget information that a client will find useful, like an address or an email. I’ve seen business cards that leave me scratching my head, because oops, forgot their phone number!

3. An overcrowded business card is a turn-off. Enough said!

4. Do it yourself business cards on cheap stock say you don’t put value or resource into your own company. That tells me you may try to cut corners on my account as well. Present yourself professionally, and people will see you professionally.

If you are self-employed or starting a business, all is fine and well if you are working under your name. What if you decide to create a business using a different name? I can be self-employed under my name “Deb” (with last name), or I can create a business name like “Blog World Mania and Emporium” or whatever it may be. If I want to use this fictitious name, then I need to keep some things in mind, and file properly.  If you are a corporation, you have different rules, so this is based only on sole proprietorship or in a partnership.

1. Register your name with your state, city or county, based on your states requirements. (Each state has different requirements!)

2. Remember the business name will be one that may or may not help attract future clients!

3. Remember you aren’t an Inc, unless you are incorporated, so leave that off!

Sony Television is planning in June to introduce an Internet-based service called the Minisode Network, initially offering the mini-shows for an exclusive run on MySpace. The network will consist of a lineup of tightly edited versions of shows lifted off the shelves of Sony’s television library. These are not clips of the shows, but actual episodes with beginnings, middles and ends, all told in under six minutes.

Quoted from NY Times

Sony is going to take our favorite shows from the past and condense them into mini-episodes. The stories will be full versions, but only with the best parts. How do you think this will work? Do you think that the minisodes will have an audience, or will people who loved the shows in the past only be interested in the full episodes. For someone like msyelf, who likes to see something quick, it’s ideal. I’d love to rewatch a few episodes of some of my favorite shows, but when I sit and try to re watch the full thing, it isn’t as cool as I remember it. Minisodes would be a great target for a consumer like myself.

I love the internet; there’s always something interesting going on. In fact, take a contest right now over at ThePiggyBanker.com, where you can win $50, just for following some simple instructions.  Here’s how you can win $50 from ThePiggyBanker. Simply write a post talking about the contest, including a link back to the contest, as well as a link to the main site with best CD rates as the anchor text. Do you want to know how easy this is? I just entered the contest while explaining it to you! It’s a snap, and you can be entered too.

*disclosure - sponsored

I was looking for something I had in my mind. I tried to explain it to my husband, but I couldn’t put it into words correctly. I wasn’t exactly sure what it was, or where to find it. I have a desk top computer, in fact I have two side-by-side. We have a laptop, mostly my husband’s, but I’m able to use it if I need to. I have a PDA, and a nice one in fact. They just weren’t what I was looking for.

I wanted something small for when I traveled, but something that was efficient as well. I didn’t want to lug a full-sized laptop around, and honestly, I was basically looking for more of a wordprocessor than anything else. I know about the Word/Office pack for PDA’s, and yes, I actually have it. I could have bought a full-size keyboard, but it wasn’t what I wanted.

Quite coincidentally, I was reading a magazine on PDA’s and smart phones, and came across EXACTLY what I had been looking for. It was a Jordana. I found out what my problem was…they had stopped making what I wanted!

I went through the magazine who also sells reconditioned units with a 2 year warranty, and got myself a new toy. It’s just what I wanted. I even got an extra battery pack, an extra charger, programs and a WiFi card. I can’t wait to start playing and feeling it out this week! It should run at about 9 hours on a charge. I moved back in technology this time, but this fits the perfect purpose I want it for!
Here are the pictures…

It came in a shipped in a Dell box! Ironically, it’s an HP! I found that funny….

I was impressed with the packaging. They took great care in the shipping of the unit. Each piece was individually packaged, and on top of it all was a lot of cushion, which I all ready removed in this picture.

Half the size, half the price, but exactly what I was looking for. This is one happy blogger today.

I’m not a big reader of the more famous tech blogs  like TechCrunch, Gizmodo, SlashDot or Engadget, though I’ll glance through them time to time. I do love LifeHacker, DoshDosh, John Chow and ProBlogger. Don’t care much for company blogs, though I read Google’s. What’s in your feed reader and why?

When it comes down to it, you’re reading things that target your interests. While I love reading about new technology, I tend to find things while doing searches, reading magazines, and reading about things on sites, or in news. I read some tech/geek blogs, but not the ones that dominate the field. Why? They aren’t targeted to me. I’m not a 18-25 year old techno geek where my world is based on the new toys or high end things. I’m a 30-40 year old woman who enjoys finding new tech toys and programs that make sense to me. I want programs or objects that will either make my life easier, offer something extra or different, and not cost me an arm and a leg.

Who are you targeting when you write a post on your blog? I love geek blogs like GeekySpeaky and UtterlyGeek. These are the tech blogs that speak to me, they speak in language that isn’t about proving they know big words. They find cool stuff and bring it to their postings. They tell me why they like the products or programs, and why I might like them too.
So who are you targeting your tech blog to? I’m not in it to win a popularity award. I’m blogging for people like me who like to see new products, fun programs, maybe someone who are thinking about business, what tips may help them get started, and want to understand what they read in simple digestible bites. It’s a mixed bag here, and that’s just fine by me!

Blogging from your phone just got easier. At Blogger Mobile, you can blog on the “GO” quite literally. Snap a picture with your phone, add some text, and text it GO@BLOGGER.COM, and your  information will be sent to a blogger account. You will get a token back after you’ve sent your picture or message, and the first time you do this, it will set up a blog for you.

If you all ready have a blog set up with them, you can make the switch once you’ve signed in, and your pictures or quips of text will be sent to your blog for you. Blog on the road, or just set up a photography blog, and snap some pictures on your cell phone. You may choose to claim your blog and personalize it, or you can just get the address and let friends or family know about it. It’s up to you how personalized you want it to be. Claiming it is optional.

Right now, most phone carries such as Verizon, Sprint, T-Mobile, AT&T are covered, and more will be added. Check with Blogger to see if your phone service is compatible.

Let’s re examine the steps to sending something to your blog through Blogger Mobile…text your message or picture through your phone to GO@BLOGGER.COM. That’s it! This one is so easy, there are no excuses for not giving it a try!

One place where a business can re look at what they are doing, is looking at how they are advertising specials. You can offer special values to clients and customers, without losing money. Rather than discounting goods or services, add value to a regularly priced item. This way you are not losing money.

I’m going to use a spa as an example, but this can apply to any business or service.

If you are running specials, rather than offering a discount, give your client something more, considered “perceived value”. If a client is coming in for a facial special, there are two schools of thought on where that value lies with the customer. You can deduct $5-10 dollars off the price of that service, so a client feels like they are getting a deal. The business savvy way to handle this is to give them more value. While it’s a percieved value to the client, it won’t cost you in the long run, and you don’t lose money. Add a free lip or eye treatment during the facial, without discounting it. Now instead of charging a lower price, you can charge the same or higher price, with the “added bonus”. It’s all in one’s perception of where value is.

If you are always lowering your prices to bring people in, something is missing from the equation. People will start waiting for those discounts, and your bottom line will feel the difference.

I just finished reading Blogger & Podcaster magazine. This is the first issue, and might I say a well done one! You can subscribe here for a free digital copy. If you’d like it in print, mailed to your house, it will cost you a steep $79. The podcast version is also available for no cost.

Larry Genkin is the founder and publisher of this new magazine that was created for this niche of online media. As there is explosive growth in both blogging and podcasting, Larry decided to target this market, and bring to you, and future subscribers the ins and outs of both blogging and podcasting.

The first issue of Blogger & Podcaster magazine ran a length of 48 pages, with plenty of ads mixed in. I didn’t have issue with the amount of ads, though there were 2 to 3 ads that you have to listen to. That was distracting. The length of these was favorable though, and didn’t go too long. It was like a small commercial break.

Robert Scoble was the first featured blogger, though the magazine also featured many other bloggers and podcasters who each brought something unique to the magazine with their voice or articles.

Overall, I think they did an excellent job with their first issue, and I’ll be looking forward to my next issue. My one concern is wondering if there will be enough material that can both speak to the beginner and advanced users, without losing interest.

Blogger & Podcaster also has a blog that you can find here.

Anne Saita of Blogger & Podcaster magazine was kind enough to join us for a chat on blogging. I’d like to send her a thank you for taking the time to join us and answer some questions. My friend Marcus has a chat room, and you can read the full transcript from the first chat session with Anne Saita as the featured guest. The chats on blogging will be held Tuesday Nights at 7pm EST. You can learn more about where to join and register through the link of the transcript.

Here are 6 free programs that can help you stay organized. There are a lot of programs out there, but these are 6 that I think are pretty cool.

1. BrainCast

2. Jott

BrainCast and Jott work similar to each other. You register for an account. You then can call in to a special number and leave a message. Those messages are then transcribed and can be sent to yourself or others.

3. Remember the Milk

4. Memo To Me

Remember the Milk and Memo to Me are similar in that you sign up for an account, create reminders, and then decide how often you want to be reminded. They email you the reminders.

5. ZuluPad

6. EverNote

Zulupad and EverNote both have a free version or a paid version. In the free versions, you can organize your notes, information and more. Both are worth your time. Zulupad creates a “wiki” of a notepad for you. EverNote has a scrollable unit that lets you easily find things.