Monday, May 30, 2011

Risk Free Business Name Ideas

Business Name Ideas

Looking for business name ideas? Pickydomains.com is world’s first risk-free naming agency that opened its doors in 2007 and has come up with thousands of cool business and domain names, like GymGenius.com, Xutta.com, Geomium, Eyes On Fries Diets or GetMapped.Com since then.

The idea behind Pickydomains.com is brilliantly simple. If you need a business name that perfectly describes what you do and immediately stands out, you simply place your order. Right away you start getting dozens of suggestions from our contributors. If you find the name that fits you perfectly, you pay $50. If you don’t like any suggestions, you don’t pay anything. Hence, risk free naming service.

Currently, there are over 40,000 registered contributors, with several hundred being active on any given day. The system automatically tracks performance of each copywriter, by measuring how many submitted suggestions were liked or disliked by other clients. Based on that performance, each contributor is ranked 1 though 5. Higher ranked copyrighters receive better pay and can submit more suggestions. This way you don’t have to waste your time on sub par suggestions as the system automatically promotes best namers and pushes out the ones with little skills. We’ve also been told by several clients that they like our work better than that of branding agencies that charge anywhere between $10,000 and $100,000.

So if you are looking of business name ideas on a small budget, Pickydomains.com is the way to go. Hey, some folks even trust us to name their pets. And we named a strip club in Las Vegas too!

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Wednesday, May 25, 2011

We Go Look

Link of the day - If You Sell Links On Your Site, I Will Buy Them Off You


http://www.wegolook.com/

Have you ever wondered about an item for sale, with no way to verify its condition? Whenever someone buys a product on e-bay, for example, they are putting themselves at risk. However, there is now a unique service which will do the looking for you.

WeGoLook is a service that helps protect their clients from being scammed by looking into the things they hope to buy. Their service is available for nearly any high-priced item you would like to purchase but want to check on first, from animals to vehicles. They travel to the location, confirm its existence, fill out a personalized report, confirm specific details, provide 10 photos, and answer customer questions. At a time when dishonesty exists in online sales, their service provides the peace of mind many shoppers need.

I recently had the opportunity to ask the co-founder of WeGoLook, Robin Smith, a few questions about their unique service.

Tell us a little bit about WeGoLook.

WeGoLook.com is an online service which features a unique community of over 7,000 nationwide people “Lookers” who are dispatched in their local area to verify an eBay/craigslist item, auto, property, pinball machine, vacation home, exotic pet, job site construction progress, online dates and so so so much more! The Looker will complete an ONSITE personalized report which includes CURRENT photos, video, observation of a working demonstration, measurements, VIN/make/serial number check, odometer/hours reading, arranging transport of the item or delivering the item to a UPS or FedEx location for shipping, custom tasks and more!

WeGoLook.com uncovers the truth about the item our customers wish to purchase. Our customers have access to information which helps in negotiation plus avoid becoming victims of fraud or misrepresentation.

WeGoLook.com also assists business owners and property owners of second homes. Lookers can verify storm or tenant damage, collateral assets, rent roll, job site construction progress, take site photos/video and more.

Overall, WeGoLook helps our customers save time, travel expenses, money and avoid headaches caused by fraud/misrepresentation/disputes

How does your service work?

The WeGoLook service is very efficient and effective. Customers simply click on the services or order button on the WeGoLook website. Complete the order form with details of “What you want us to GoLook at” and the order is automatically sent to Lookers covering the zip code of item location. The Looker logs into their dashboard on our site, accepts the order and reviews the order details then travels to the site to make their observations and take photos/video/etc. The Looker uploads this information into their dashboard and the Customer Service Representatives at WeGoLook quickly review the completed order for quality control and it is pushed to the customer’s dashboard. The customer automatically receives an email notification and is able to review, print, share, save and email their report.

All WeGoLook reports include embedded coding in case the customer wishes to post the report on their listing (Sellers and Daters gain credibility).

How much does your service cost and what is included?

The basic WeGoLook report includes 10 current photos, verification of serial or VIN numbers, markings, observations of any visible damage and, depending on the item, specifics of hours/mileage/odometer readings, etc. The basic report is only $49. Customers may upgrade their report with video, working demonstrations, measurements and more by adding a la carte items listed under “additional services”.

What inspired it?

The initial inspiration for WeGoLook took place when Mark Caywood, co-founder, wanted to purchase an expensive projector on eBay but was not sure if the item actually existed or if the seller’s claims were valid. He thought it would be great if he could send a local reputable agent to inspect the item for him. We based the WeGoLook business model on verification of auction items, properties, autos and dates. Once we began brainstorming, we realized there is unlimited potential of what our Looker Community is capable of. The crowd sourcing and business-to-business applications are very beneficial to consumers and business owners alike.

When someone submits an auction/sale item for verification, approximately how long does it take for the report to be generated?

Once a customer places an order, our typical turn around time is 24-48 hours. However, if the customer needs us to expedite the “Look” within a few hours, we can accommodate them with a rush order charge.

What separates you from the competition?

There are four main strengths which makes WeGoLook stand out above the crowd.

1. Coverage. Our Looker community is over 7,000 strong and is comprised of mostly mobile notaries, process servers and field inspectors. Our Lookers sign a three-year non-compete agreement with us, are professionals in their field, have the tools and intelligence to complete the orders correctly, and are background check verified. There is no inspection or verification company with the nationwide coverage that we have.

2. Price. WeGoLook is committed to helping consumers mitigate risk. We have kept our costs as low as possible so that many online consumers can afford our $49 basic report. Try searching for any type of onsite inspection/verification and you will find prices starting elsewhere at $100 minimum.

3. Category Coverage. There is NO COMPANY offering onsite verification services for multiple categories. WeGoLook covers almost any item, property or person. Our Looks are unique: cell phone towers which are disguised as pine trees, warehouse lots of items, engines, vintage Fiesta Ware, to your typical real estate, auto or online date. Other companies offer specific inspection/verification of only one category such as boats or autos. WeGoLook covers it all!

4. Customer Experience. Our customers are now able to purchase items “sight unseen” with confidence. WeGoLook wants to make the experience of purchasing online even more positive by providing transport arrangement of large items and shipping services for smaller ones.

What are some goals you’d like to accomplish over the next year or so?

A few goals WeGoLook would like to reach over the next 12-18 months include:

1. Offering the WGL platform to larger companies such as craigslist, AutoTrader, Match.com, PayPal, etc. WeGoLook offers safety to buyers, sellers and daters plus helps customers avoid fraud, misrepresentation and lessen disputes. It is a no-brainer for companies of any size to offer our services to their customers.

2. Offer franchise opportunities in other countries. I would love for global consumers to order “Looks” not just in the US (as they can now) but anywhere in the world.

3. Become the automatic choice for: A. consumers of online products, real estate or dates, B. business owner or banks needing verification of assets or projects, and C. property owners of second homes needing visual confirmation of storm or tenant damage.

What are some lessons your business has taught you?

I have learned so many lessons from creating and implementing this company but several stand out.

1. When the site developer says, “It will be ready in two weeks”….this is dev language for “two months”. Personally, my largest lifelong fault has been lack of patience. While working on creating this site, redesigning it twice, creating a back-end management tool and recruiting our Lookers/WGL team, I have learned to almost become patient. Without drugs or alcohol. ha ha Jokes aside, this has been a wonderful personal journey.

2. I have learned that some CEOs of large companies really don’t care about their customer safety and fraud issues. WeGoLook is an automatic solution to prevent much of the online fraud and crime. This has been quite a revelation but also makes me even more determined to help consumers.

3. Throughout this learning experience I have also met many incredible people and CEOs who do care…. and I am “Looking” forward to meeting more.

Is there anything else you’d like to add?

To all of the skeptics who believe that a “most promising startup” can only originate from Silicon Valley or Austin, I would personally like to invite you to Oklahoma City, visit our office and catch a Thunder basketball game! You will not only have a new NBA team to cheer on, you will become a fan of WeGoLook!

Do you have any advice you’d like to offer fellow entrepreneurs who are just getting started?

1. Don’t give up. Even when you feel you are only “trudging along”….keep trudging. Don’t quit.

2. Don’t be intimidated by asking for what you want. The worse thing anyone can say is, “No” but at least you asked for it. When someone tells me “No” I just find another way to get to it…. my dad has said this for years about me but he rolls his eyes when he says it. ha ha

3. Spice it up! Think outside of the box….get creative….if something is not working for you….change it up a little and have some fun.

4. But most importantly, before you purchase sight unseen, Verify Before You Buy at www.WeGoLook.com!

For more unusual ways to make money, visit this site.

[Via - Business-Opportunities.Com]

The Million-Dollar Idea in Everyone: Easy New Ways to Make Money from Your Interests, Insights, and Inventions

IdeaSpotting: How to Find Your Next Great Idea

How to Make Millions with Your Ideas: An Entrepreneur's Guide by Dan S. Kennedy

101 Businesses You Can Start With Less Than One Thousand Dollars: For Stay-at-Home Moms & Dads

Make Your Ideas Mean Business

Link of the day - If You Sell Links On Your Site, I Will Buy Them Off You

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Wednesday, May 18, 2011

PickyDomains.com - New Version

We’ve finally upgraded PickyDomains.com to include more options and to make the whole process easier for both clients and contributors.

The biggest change is that PickyDomains.com is no longer about domains only. You can now use PickyDomains.com for names and slogans as well. The service remains risk-free and our principles have not changed. Our clients have requested this option on multiple occasions and we are happy to oblige.

E-mail notifications for both clients and contributors. Clients can now choose to be notified when their orders receive new suggestions. Likewise, contributors can be notified when a new order becomes available. Also, contributors can be notified when their suggestions change status (Liked, Disliked, Picked). You can access notification options by clicking your user name and then Edit tab.

There are now more feedback options for both clients and contributors. Clients can now ban contributors whose suggestions are too poor.

Ranking system for contributors. This is a major innovation, so the ranking system will be explained in details later on. Here is what you need to know. All contributors now receive a rank, 1 through 5, 1 being advanced, 5 being rookie. This is important, because we are moving away from a 50/50 split. Our best contributors will now receive 60% of the total order amount, while beginners will start at 40%. This is done intentionally, to encourage our best contributors to be more active. This activity will be rewarded with more money.

This is how your ranking system is calculated. If your suggestion is picked, you get a major boost. If client bans you, you get negative points. The system will also track now many suggestions you’ve submitted and know many of those are marked as liked or disliked. This is important. You’ll get BETTER ranking if you submit FEWER suggestions but of HIGHER quality. If you submit only 10 suggestion and 2 of those are liked, you’ll get more points than a person who submitted 100 suggestions with 2 likes. So think before you submit – does this suggestion have a good chance of being liked?

TOS and FAQ. We now have semi-formal TOS and FAQ sections. A couple of years ago somebody (most likely our competitors) has started spreading rumors that we are a scam. We get frequent e-mails from wannabe contributors who tell us, ‘I want to join, but I’ve read here that you are a scam’. Even worse, some contributors who submitted suggestions that did not get picked seem to interpret this as proof that we are a scam. This nonsense has to stop, so read TOS and FAQ, if you are concerned about this or other issues. We’ve been in business for 4 years, have 1000+ paying clients and hundreds of contributors who got paid. We are 100% legit.

Openness. We’ve been quite busy with this upgrade, so we had to limit communication options to support form only, because it takes time to respond to each comment, fight spam, etc. Now we can finally open comments, so you guys can tell us what you think about our new system, what works, what does not, which features you’d like to get implemented, ask us questions, etc. Feel free to do that.

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Tuesday, May 17, 2011

Car Sharing A Success

Link of the day - If You Sell Links On Your Site, I Will Buy Them Off You

http://www.business-opportunities.biz/GoCarShare.com

A YOUNG entrepreneur is on the road to success after his car sharing business clocked up 5,000 users.
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Drummond Gilbert came up with the idea for GoCarShare.com after seeing queues of cars each carrying just one person.

The 29-year-old, from East Hendred, near Wantage, launched his firm 18 months ago to reduce the number of car journeys on Britain’s road.

Now GoCarShare has linked up with Steventon’s Truck Festival, and its spin-off event, Wood, along with Glastonbury and the Hay Festival of Literature to get visitors sharing their vehicles.

Mr Drummond, a former accountant, said: “Things have really taken off and we have seen a big rise in the number of people who have signed up to the service. It was something I had wanted to do for a while and it’s great to see it becoming a reality.”

Last year the firm was shortlisted for a European best environmental start–up award.

Mr Drummond said the website, which is linked to social networking site Facebook, means people can get to know their co-travellers before setting off.

He said: “If I’m being honest, I would be very reluctant to get into a car with somebody I knew nothing about. That’s why we have incorp-orated Facebook.

“It means that, at the very least, people can see if they have anything in common with the people, or share the same friends, or maybe listen to the same music.

“That is what sets it apart from hitch-hiking.”

With more than 38 million empty car seats on Britain’s roads every day, car sharing can reduce the impact of vehicles on the environment.

And Mr Drummond said a lot of people are signing up because of the soaring cost of petrol.

He said: “Fuel costs went up 16 per cent last year and driving is becoming increasingly expensive.

“Obviously sharing a car makes commuting and travelling to one-off events a lot cheaper in the long run, which is appealing to a lot of people using the service.”

He added that it was “extremely exciting” to be partnering some of Britain’s biggest cultural festivals.

The former Radley School pupil, who runs the website from home, said: “It is a big move forward for us.

“It makes sense really – if you are driving to Glastonbury, then it is very likely that others from where you live will be doing the same. Why not travel down together?”

Truck Festival organiser Drew Brammer said using the service would help reduce the event’s overall carbon footprint.

He said: “I think using GoCarShare is a brilliant idea because it will bring down our environmental impact. Not only that, our festival-goers will get to meet other people on the way up and make new friends.

“I’ve done it before and always found it works fantastically well.”

For more unusual ways to make money, visit this site.

[Via - HeraldSeries]

The Million-Dollar Idea in Everyone: Easy New Ways to Make Money from Your Interests, Insights, and Inventions

IdeaSpotting: How to Find Your Next Great Idea

How to Make Millions with Your Ideas: An Entrepreneur's Guide by Dan S. Kennedy

101 Businesses You Can Start With Less Than One Thousand Dollars: For Stay-at-Home Moms & Dads

Make Your Ideas Mean Business

Link of the day - If You Sell Links On Your Site, I Will Buy Them Off You

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Sunday, May 08, 2011

5 Best Business Books For 2010

Link of the day - I will pay you $25, if you come up with a cool domain name for me.

1. Drive: The Surprising Truth About What Motivates Us

According to Pink (A Whole New Mind), everything we think we know about what motivates us is wrong. He pits the latest scientific discoveries about the mind against the outmoded wisdom that claims people can only be motivated by the hope of gain and the fear of loss. Pink cites a dizzying number of studies revealing that carrot and stick can actually significantly reduce the ability of workers to produce creative solutions to problems. What motivates us once our basic survival needs are met is the ability to grow and develop, to realize our fullest potential.

2. America, Welcome to the Poorhouse

When I first got this book I have to admit it was the picture and title on the cover that caught my original attention. I put it aside for about a month and the other day I had a flight with a small layover down to Houston, TX so I took this book along. The moment I started reading the introduction I got hooked -- and by the time I got to Houston about 3 hours later I had read all 190+ pages. Let me just say this -- by the time you get 5 pages in you will be angry; by the time you get all the way through the book you'll be mad as h-e-double hockey sticks! The author tells us the way things are and how we got here -- and let me tell you it isn't a pretty picture. She doesn't hold any punches back. This isn't an anti-Republican book, nor is it anti-Democrat. She puts the blame where it belongs. She traces the corruption of our political system that helped create the groundwork that let a lot of the financial mess happen in the first place. If you ever thought for one minute Senators care about your interests -- you got another think coming.

3. Made to Stick: Why Some Ideas Survive and Others Die

If you are going to write a guide to crafting sticky ideas, your book had better embody your principles. Authors Chip and Dan Heath succeed admirably. What I love about "Made to Stick" is that it is not merely entertaining (though it is), it provides practical, tangible strategies for creating sticky ideas. Once you understand these recommendations, you can boil them down to a set of touchstone points to evaluate your own work. This sets "Made to Stick" apart from the work of Malcolm Gladwell, whom the Heath brothers cite as an inspiration. I enjoyed Gladwell's books but could not necessarily apply his ideas to my own work.

4. This Time is Different: Eight Centuries of Financial Folly

The authors say it is "almost comical" that no governments reveal their true financial condition today, nor have they done so in the past. The lack of transparency and the shenanigans that go on behind the curtains contribute, of course, to the human suffering that ensues in crisis after crisis. One needs to find this book comical if one is not to slip into a permanent depression about the utter failure of national leaders to address shortcomings in national domestic and foreign economic policies in order to avoid systemic crises. No one has, from the 13th century onward, anywhere in the world.

5. Moneyball: The Art of Winning an Unfair Game

For a former baseball player Billy Beane is a rare bird as a baseball GM. He used real baseball statistics, the kind the sabermetricians use to make great trade and bring a strong team back to Oakland. He had a great advantage over other GMs because he took advantage of their ignorance and tendencies to rely on the somewhat biased eyes of basebll scouts. What Michael Lewis did with this book was to show the world of baseball how Billy Beane did it and now I am sure that other GMs like Brian Cashman at New York and Theo Epstein in Boston are catching on. I don't know how much Steve Phillips put into action when he was the Mets GM. His lack of great success there indicates that he [robably didn't follow it enough. But now as an ESPN commentator he definitely mentions it. This book si so good that the term moneyball now means the strategy that Billy Beane used. So the title of this book became a baseball term! This book is a must for managers, general managers and owners of professional baseball teams. It is also great for the fans and the fantasy baseball enthusiasts.

Link of the day - I will pay you $25, if you come up with a cool domain name for me.

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