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Archive for December, 2009

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Awesome New Baby Book iPhone Application From Emmbook

Saturday, December 12th, 2009

Parents love sharing every detail of their baby’s growth and development. Picking up your fancy new 3g internet enabled cell phone allows anyone to quickly snap a picture or shoot a short video of their baby mugging for the camera or doing something super-cute. Within seconds this special moment is disseminated to friends and family across a plethora of media platforms utilizing a variety of delivery services, such as, email, SMS or post the picture or video to their Facebook page or YouTube. It has never been easier to create your own videos, manage photos and share information with friends and family. Technology and Steve Jobs has made it happen, but it’s also become more time consuming and confusing than ever.

In my family anyone under the age of 10 already has a full command of how to quickly work and leverage all of the technological advances to their advantage. What about the grandparents or the parents who didn’t grow up with social networking or upgrading to the coolest cell phone every six months? My 10 year old nephew can easily embarrass me with his knowledge of how all of these different entertainment and communication apparatuses interact along with how to effectively leverage them.

Now there’s a user friendly wonderfully simple solution called Emmbook. Emmbook is a new iPhone and iPod app that will let you capture every single memory related to your baby and save it for posterity. In a certain sense, it is not that inaccurate to call it a mobile baby book.

Using such an app you will be able to set down just everything, from the time your little one was first introduced to relatives to his first steps. The way this is done is very intuitive, as each and every picture of you baby that you take is added to the Photo Book and you can then tap the screen to display the different images that you have added so far.

In addition to that, the app comes with some features such as a diary of feeding and sleeping and a tracker of “thank you” notes for the gifts your baby has received. That is interesting for sure, and it raises the VFM appeal of the whole package considerably.

When all is said and done, this is quite a fitting way to save your baby’s best moments without going overboard. Emmbook can be downloaded from the App Store at a price which is specified on the site. Watch the introductory video below to learn more or visit www.Emmbook.com to check it out.

This start-up is HOT and gaining traction.

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Posted in business, business start-up, entrepreneurism, entrepreneurs | 3 Comments »

Before You Launch Your Start-Up Stop And Think

Wednesday, December 9th, 2009

Prior to starting a business, it is important to take some time and understand the cost of the project, your cost of living, and where you have some wiggle room. Staying in shape (financially) when you start a business is not just important; it might actually the determining factor in the success or failure of your business.

The following tips have been collected from a number of our clients. Their experiences are helpful as you try your hand in being an entrepreneur. Read on, learn from their mistakes, and imitate their success stories.

Do what you love
Ahhh, this is the most important advice that you can get. As you are going to devote a lot of time and energy to starting a business and building it, it is really important that you truly, deeply enjoy what you do. I have a friend who loves drinking. Guess what he got into? Right! Well, he made use of his passion for the lager to build a very successful beer joint for all the beer guzzling people in his town.

Start your business while you are still employed
This is a sound advice for anyone who is contemplating on starting a business. As money is very important, you should ask yourself how long you can survive without money because it might be a long time before you actually realize some profit.

Do not do it alone
Use those color business cards and start networking. You absolutely need a support system if you are starting a business. It is a good idea to have a buddy, preferably someone you trust very well, to partner with. Family members are not recommended though because of issues that might be difficult to resolve on a personal level. However, a close friend, a college buddy, or somebody who enjoys the same passion might be a good partner. Even better – find a mentor; if you qualify, apply for a business start-up program. Experience is the best support system you can ever get.

Do not wait until you have officially started your business to line these up because your business cannot survive with them. Apart from those listed above, start networking with potential clients. Immediately place an online business card printing to get you started. Make the contacts. Sell or even give away samples of your products or services. As a piece of advice, you cannot start marketing too soon!

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Posted in business coaching, business start-up, entrepreneurism, entrepreneurs, mentoring, tips and tricks | 1 Comment »

How To Protect Your Brilliant Idea

Tuesday, December 1st, 2009

You want to spread the word about your business. But you also want to keep your innovative product or clever brand name safe from rivals, counterfeiters or rip-off artists.

What to do? Safeguarding your company’s intellectual property through patents, trademarks or copyrights will allow you to seek damages, a big deterrent to imitators. Here’s a brief overview of all three types of protection.

Patents. Issued by the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO), a patent is easily the most expensive— and most valuable— protection for an entrepreneur with a innovative product or business method. A patent essentially gives you a mini-monopoly for twenty years. The application process can be a bit complicated, so it’s wise to use the services of a patent attorney. Costs generally range from $2,000 to $10,000, depending on complexity.

Trademarks. A word, symbol, logo or image that identifies a product or service can be trademarked, as can a scent, sound or color (such as Tiffany Blue). There are more than forty classes of goods and services, and you can register a trademark (for a fee) in more than one category. A pastry shop ower, for instance, could register a trademark in both the food class (in the goods category) and the restaurant class (in the services category). You can conduct a free search to see if a mark is already registered on the USPTO’s Web site using the Trademark Electronic Search System. The filing fee is $375 if done by paper and $275 to $325 if done electronically.

Copyright. A copyright protects original works, such as poetry, novels, movies, songs, computer software and architectural designs. A business, for instance, might want a copyright to protect its training manual. Original works on a website (such as writings, artwork or photos) may be copyrighted. Copyright law does not protect domain names; instead, the nonprofit Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers handles domain name system management. The fee for a basic copyright registration is $45 when you submit a paper application, or you can lower that fee by filing through the U.S. Copyright Office’s online system for $35.

Keep in mind that if you plan on selling or distributing your products abroad, you should consider filing with those countries’ intellectual property protection authorities in addition to those in the United States.

By Colleen DeBaise

Adapted from the upcoming book THE WALL STREET JOURNAL COMPLETE SMALL BUSINESS GUIDEBOOK (Three Rivers Press, Dec. 29, 2009).

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Posted in patents, trademarks | 1 Comment »

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