Category Archive

In honor of my new iPhone, which will be arriving within a few days, this week’s version of GoSee is dedicated to the iPhone, and it’s uses (yes, you can be my friend and tell people you know me, and yes, I got the 16G model)

1.  Check out this application you can download to your iPhone.  It reminds you where you parked the stupid car (we are in Donald Duck 25…) - GoSee 

2.  I’m sure you’ve heard by now that Apple botched the whole iPhone activation thing.  They weren’t anticipating everyone who would want one (huh?) so their website was overloaded and couldn’t get everyone activated timely (people were saying mean stuff)  - GoSee

3.  Finally, wikipedia’s listing of the iPhone - GoSee

Thanks, Jason M. Blumer

1.  Microsoft pulled the plug on our beloved Windows XP OS.  Whaaaa.  It really was a great OS (definitely compared to Vista).  Don’t worry, you can still buy Windows XP online… - GoSee

2.  I probably need to do a more detailed post on this, but the zero capital gains tax rate can really bring some wealth to a lot of taxpayers (when sold in 2008, 2009 or 2010).  You can sell some capital property you’ve held long term (over one year, that is) and pay no taxes (rules may not apply to you so check with your tax adviser).  Forbes has a great article on this - GoSee

3.  I’ve been trying out the Jott service, which transforms voice into text.  This could be in the form of e-mails, blogs, tweets, etc.  Basically, you call the service (after you’ve signed up) and tell it whom you want to Jott, and it sends an email to that person (and text message to their cell phone if you so chose).  You can Jott yourself as reminders, or even Jott groups (like the Accounting Department, which is very near and dear to my heart) - GoSee

Thanks, Jason M. Blumer

1.  LPs are coming back.  “What’s that?,” asks my wife.  “It’s what you scratch on a turntable,” so I say (she doesn’t appreciate Run DMC).  Anyway, according to the article, the come back of LPs is due in large part to the iPod.  Huh?  As reported, ”Everything got so sterile with digital that people were not spending time with the physical manifestation of their music.” Huh? - GoSee

2.  The IRS split a year again where you’ll be tracking mileage at 50.5 cents/mile for the first half of the year, and as of July 1, 2008, you’ll be tracking the deductible mileage rate at 58.5 cents/mile.  Now when we do tax returns for our clients, we’ll have to ask for the mileage for the first half of the year, and the mileage for the second half of the year.  Here’s a good blog about this change - GoSee

3.  Did you know that the minimum wage is going up again on July 24, 2008?  It will be $6.55/hour on that date.  Then, changes to the law will kick it up another 11% on July 24, 2009 to $7.25/hour.  What joy - we have a government helping us know what to pay our employees.  I’m so glad they’ve researched our small businesses, our costs, our labor burdens and have made a blanket generalized statement about what we should be paying our employees (that last part was sarcastic, if you couldn’t tell).  In honor of this change, here’s a beautiful and poignant history of the minimum wage - GoSee

Thanks, Jason M. Blumer

1.  Our firm always focuses on the “price vs. value” that our clients deliver to their customers.  Seth’s blog always has a good word, and this one is awesome, short but sweet - GoSee

2.  In “Opportunity Knocks - Selling Our Services to the World,” a report from The Dallas Federal Reserve Bank, we find that our nation is exporting a lot more services outside the US.  There has been a steady increase from almost 20% in 1980 to almost 30% in 2007.  The report is a pretty good skim although a little lengthy (maybe because it was written by a lot of smart economists, most of whom are bald), but very informative nonetheless - GoSee

3.  Major computing changes on the horizon: openness, data portability and cloud computing, Papadopoulos makes a prediction - GoSee

Thanks, Jason M. Blumer

1.  Wil Schroter’s blog at Go Big Network has one of the best posts yet on evaluating your latest startup idea (believe me, you need some freakin’ help).  It had some eye-opening stuff put in some plain English even I could understand - GoSee

2.  The SBA (Small Business Administration) has some pretty good info on the recent Economic Stimulus Package, which allows some new sexy rules on depreciation and the like.  You’ve got to play with the depreciation calculator in Excel - pretty cool tool, fun, fun, fun! (seen on Startup Spark) - GoSee

3.  This link is to a March article, but the info is very good and relevant.  It speaks to Four Mistakes Entrepreneurs Make in a Recession - GoSee 

Thanks, Jason M. Blumer

1.  I love my 12 foot wall of glass in my office.  I had it professionally installed by a glass company, and I use it as a freakin’ huge whiteboard.  But if you want to make a cheaper one, check this post on how to do it - GoSee

2.  The changing world of work, which is so near and dear to my heart, has advanced just a little bit farther with Adobe’s help (as seen on Scobleizer).  They are challenging Microsoft Office and Google Docs online with their new ”inventions” - GoSee

3.  Check out the new 3GB Apple iPhone, supposedly “the best phone for business. Ever.” (cheaper, bigger memory, twice as fast, a new GPS) - GoSee

Thanks, Jason M. Blumer

1.  Cool.  Microsoft’s next operating system (Windows 7) may include a touch screen (and eliminate the mouse?) - GoSee

2.  The National Federation of Independent Business (NFIB) is the voice for small businesses and has created a great searchable database containing over 2,000 facts about American small businesses.  It’s called 411 Small Business Facts.  Questions on record keeping requirements?, or Proper business structure?, or Legal liability issues?, or Coping with the regulations of Worker’s Comp insurance?, or The value of your web site?, or A small business poll on Innovation?  Now you have a place to go look - GoSee 

3.  Speaking of wonderful and useful facts, the “Chuck Norris Facts” are very useful (I almost wet myself reading them) - GoSee

Thanks, Jason M. Blumer

1.  Get two free books from SCORE, “Counselors to America’s Small Business”.  SCORE is giving away How to Really Start Your Business and How to Really Structure Your Business to anyone signing up on their site - GoSee. (Thanks to Duct Tape Marketing blog for the tip).

2.  Interesting tax returns - George W’s (and Laura’s) 2007 tax return can be seen here.  But they didn’t make as much as Dick Cheney and his wife (see here if you don’t believe me).  Obama’s 2007 return can be seen here.  Check out the estimate of the Clinton’s 2007 income  (not too shabby at over $20 million).  Where did I get all of this juicy stuff from? - GoSee

3.  A weak dollar helps some US-based companies (those exporting outside of the US).  More and more there seems to be a trend toward US-based manufacturing companies exporting to more demanding emerging countries (like China and India).  Emerging countries are starting to drive more demand than they used to.  Maybe the US will stop hording everything and start sharing with the other parts of the world (as shared with us from the Small Biz Labs blog) - GoSee

Thanks, Jason M. Blumer

1.  Stomper.net is such an awesome site. The videos on the site are so cool and you can tell they spend a lot of time creating these videos. The videos center around placing your website on the web in such a strategic and awesome way, you’ll want to check it out if you are trying to be discovered on the web.  Dan Thies and the team at StomperNet have a new free product called “Somtper Site Seer” and it will tell you how your webpage or blog is ranking on the web.  Its very well done and very informative - GoSee

2.  Investments from Venture Capital firms was down some 8.5% this first quarter (when compared to the fourth quarter of 2007).  However, as reported by the National Venture Capital Association,  

“VCs have weathered numerous economic cycles and will continue to fund companies with innovative ideas and solid business models while they also stand behind their portfolio companies for the long-term.”  -  GoSee

3.  Here is a great post (from The Entrepreneurial Mind blog) on entrepreneurial activity as it relates to the public policy of taxation of state governments - GoSee

Thanks, Jason M. Blumer

1.  What is Web 2.0? - GoSee

2.  The Kauffman Index of Entrepreneurial Activity, 1996-2007, recently reported some interesting tidbits about entrepreneurial activities in our country.  Of note, immigrant entrepreneurial activities are sharply on the rise, matching Intuit’s Institute for the Future research project (check out the fact sheet) on the future of small business - GoSee    (The Journal Blog brought this to light)

3.  StartupNation has a list of 10 businesses to start on a tight budget (although, I’m not so sure I agree with most of them) - GoSee    (they do, however, have a great searchable franchise database if that’s your flavor)

Thanks, Jason M. Blumer

1.  Here is a good marketing reminder (from John Jantsch of the Duct Tape Marketing site) for small businesses during a “recession” - GoSee

2.   ”Companies today aren’t managing their knowledge workers’ careers. Rather, we must each be our own chief executive officer,” this from a Harvard Business Review article I saw on BNET.  The article speaks to the art of managing yourself - GoSee 

3.  I’ve been reading a lot about this study lately, and I know it to be personally true.  The study conducted by the University of Utah purports that the use of larger monitors or dual monitors at work can increase productivity.  My productivity definitely went up when I added the second - I won’t ever go back! - GoSee

Thanks, Jason M. Blumer  

1.  Time to take the microbusiness survey to determine what is most important to the small business (which is most of our clients).  This is brought to you by Dawn Baker’s Microbusiness Research Institute - GoSee

2.  Having trouble funding your new venture?  How about “crowd funding”?  We saw this new concept on the Small Biz Labs blog and it blew our minds!  You need to check out this new wave of funding your latest venture - GoSee

3.  Try to avoid these Six Mistakes That Look Dumb In E-mail (from the great Productivity blog) - GoSee

Thanks, Jason M. Blumer

1.  I stink at this awesome game, which I saw on Brant Hansen’s blog.  The game is very mind-numbing and fun, but I’m still terrible at it.  According to the game, my travel IQ is 88 - GoSee

2.  Word up… I love it when the government hands out money (my money!).  You can expect your check sometime this Spring, assuming the bill passes - GoSee

3.  How would you like to know the 10 most and least profitable businesses to start?  Now you can (and my business is at the top!  Boo yaw!).  Check it out… - GoSee

Thanks, Jason M. Blumer

I’m a little late on getting this week’s edition out of Thriveal’s Three on Thursday, but here is what I’ve found lately through my feeds:

1.  The MacBook Air is soooooooo cool - GoSee

2.  These are the coolest shoes I’ve ever seen.  They fit the way gloves fit your hands - GoSee

3.  If you need to remember something, put your shoes in the toilet (…or something like that) - GoSee 

Thanks, Jason M. Blumer

1.  The Firm Administrator of our firm just told me that we need to develop a better Employee Review Form for our growing practice.  Our current one is vague and not very specific.  Maybe this link will help us (and you…) - GoSee

2.  Awesome article from The New York Times on blogging as a low-cost high-return marketing tool (passed along to us from Business and Blogging).  The article says that only 5% of small businesses with fewer than 100 employees have blogs.  The ladies at Business and Blogging expanded on that article a bit and quoted some official U.S. Census numbers stuff to calculate that out to be about 1.25 million blogs.  Interesting.  I’m only one in 1.25 million - I don’t feel so special…  - GoSee

3.  Great post on tempering entrepreneurial endeavors from The Entrepreneurial Mind blog - GoSee

Thanks, Jason M. Blumer

1.  There are a lot of lists floating around the blogosphere about this time of the New Year.  Here is Time’s Top List of Lists - GoSee

2.  The government will be helping you switch to digital TV in 2009.  Did you know that TV viewing as we know it is changing on February 18, 2009? - GoSee

3.  This is a cool “Did You Know?” video posted at mine and my wife’s friend’s blog (some of the numbers and technology will trip you out!) - GoSee

Thanks, Jason M. Blumer

1.  I keep seeing this more and more on some of my RSS feeds (like from Techdirt) - bands, record labels and the music industry are starting an interesting trend of giving awaytheir music and CDs.  Will this trend end up in more concert and paraphernalia sales?  Interesting economics ( and marketing) - GoSee

 2.  Here it is again - Free.  The new way to market, and the new way to price.  Chris Anderson, popular author of The Long Tail  points out the theory of free (passed along to us by Guy Kawasaki’s blog) - GoSee

3.  Heard of cloud computing yet?  It’s the next supercomputer, and it seems Google (in association with IBM) has the best - GoSee

Thanks, Jason M. Blumer

1.  Looking for a new Mac?  Can’t afford new?  Check out the used Apple stuff at DV Warehouse (passed on to us here at Thriveal by the super blogging blog) - GoSee

2.  I’m really interested in upgrading my Microsoft Office to the 2007 version.  I need information on the upgrade before I do it… here’s some info you can download on the new ribbon interface - GoSee 

3.  Marketing using the web, social media and Web 2.0?  Here is some info from Marketing Sherpa on a specific case study for HubSpot - GoSee

 Thanks, Jason M. Blumer

1.  It’s an old post, but The Entrepreneurial Mind blog has three great questions to ask yourself on determing when and if you should jump into a new business endeavor - GoSee

2.  One of the core basics to our Thriveal Theory is a view toward the future and how that impacts businesses now.  I really enjoyed the recent release by Nokia stating that 25% of entertainment by 2012 will be created and consumed within our own peer communities.  Very interesting aspects to consider on how traditional media will change in the next few decades - GoSee  (this was passed along to us here at Thriveal by the great Small Biz Labs blog)

3.  I love articles on the importance of cash flow (because some of the rules behind cash flow are not that obvious) - GoSee

 Thanks, Jason M. Blumer

1.  Anita Campbell of the Small Business Trends blog has a post on one of the coolest voicemail and phone system setups I’ve seen in a while.   The world truly is flat - GoSee

2.  This article at bnet gets to the heart of one of my favorite pricing issues - “Relate Price to Positioning,” something I call value added pricing or billing - GoSee

3.  I had actually already thought about creating this idea of finding things you’ve lost, but I guess I was too late (it probably wouldn’t have been as good anyway) - GoSee

 Thanks, Jason M. Blumer

1.  Check out seven business you can start tomorrow - GoSee

2. Something we’re passionate about at Blumer & Associates, CPAs, PC, this video talks about branding yourself from WITHIN the organization (passing on the vision of who you are to your employees) - GoSee

3. I’ve been hearing talk lately about your website’s landing page.  Normally discussed in web topics such as SEO and analytics, the landing page is simply the portion of your web infrastructure that your potential customers hit when linking from various outside advertising you are participating in.  This is a good “quick and dirty” on the subject - GoSee

Thanks, Jason

1. I’ve been looking for a good definition of “Marketing” and “Branding”.  From the Duct Tape Marketing blog.  Here they are! - GoSee

2. November is Adoption month, and my wife is highlighting some adoption stories on her blog (it’s near and dear to our hearts since we adopted Betsie from China in 2006) - GoSee

3. A blog I read (Jeff Cornwall from Belmont University) posted this on his site - I thought you might be interested in the top 100 at-home businesses - GoSee

Thanks, Jason

1. Cool, you can put your Outlook calendar (including, inbox, contacts, tasks, etc.) on your desktop - GoSee 

2. Worried about inflation?  If you are a small business, you should be, according to Jeff Cornwall of Belmont University (and included are some ways you can turn the tide of inflation and protect yourself). - GoSee

3. With a new Identity Theft bill pending in the Senate, seeking “criminal restitution” from the identity thief may be an option - GoSee

 Thanks, Jason

1. How to get your first business loan - GoSee

2. American Express is ready to help your business grow through coaching (I’m wary of AMEX helping my business grow; grow debt maybe, he he) - GoSee

3. And the world’s worst product? - GoSee

Thanks, Jason

My dad’s blog mentioned a transfer of power at our firm recently.  Check it out.

Thanks, Jason