46 social media sites for Caribbean entrepreneurs
September 15, 2009
We found this list on venturebeat.com and added our Caribbean information to it for our global Caribbean audience.They had 25 social media sites. We added 21 Caribbean Social Media sites to make it more useful for us. If you’re a entrepreneur who has been seduced by social media tools such as Twitter, LinkedIn or Facebook, you may realize the benefits of using these basic tools to finding and staying in touch with business partners, employers and customers, along with learning new information. More
The Key to a Predictable, Profitable Business
August 31, 2009
This weekend I was enjoying some Margaritas with my friend Chris. He is one of the greatest entrepreneurs I know (and I know many, many entrepreneurs). You have never seen him in the news or on the front of a magazine, and that’s because he wants it that way.
Chris’s company throws off a 37.6% net profit, every month. And when I say net, I mean NET. This is the money left over AFTER all business expenses, all salaries (including his), after depreciation, after interest and after taxes. Oh yeah, and I forgot to mention his company does over $1M… every quarter. Just in case you haven’t had your coffee yet, that is $4M a year business, with a net profit of $1,400,000 every year. Like clockwork.
With enough Margarita’s Chris grabbed my arm, and with a slight slur (Margarita’s will do that to you), told me the “secret’ to his success: Recurring Monthly Fees.
Recurring monthly fees are the secret to predictable, profitable businesses. It works for Chris, and it works for me. Now, you need to do the same. more
8 Ways to Improve Your Web-Based Business
August 27, 2009
Do you have a web-based business? Well, if you don’t, you should consider starting one. If you do, what you’ll notice is that there is always more room for improvement.
Over the past few years I have started a handful of web-based businesses and consulted a 100 or so. No matter what size company I was working with I noticed that there are were always 8 things (if not more) you could do to improve it.
Hopefully you are already doing some of these 8 things, but if you aren’t, here they are: More
99 Free Online Classes on Business and Entrepreneurship
August 23, 2009
Are you looking to take business and entrepreneurship classes but are worried about the money and time availability? The courses below are all free and can be taken at your own leisure. They’re recommended to anyone starting an online business - I know I’ll be taking a few myself. Browse through courses from MIT and other reputable schools across six categories - Marketing and Sales, Management, Legal, Finance and Technology/Product. More
Free Press Release Submission Websites for the Caribbean
May 10, 2009
I’m in the middle of creating an online publicity campaign for a client and found three free Caribbean-focused press release submission websites - caribpr.com which was the first PR wire of the Caribbean which is based in New York, caribbeanpressreleases.com which is out of Barbados and then we have Jamaica-based jamaicapressrelease.com and a sweet list of 50 free press release submission websites.
Now not all press release submission websites are created equal. Most tends to simply allow you to upload the text and make your release available to the readers who come to the site. Other sites are what I call fully loaded- meaning you can submit a press release with live links back to a desired website; they allow photos,videos and audio; their site has rss feeds; is syndicated to mainstream journalists; has relationships with a network of influential bloggers;is regularly picked up by major search engines such as Google and Yahoo and more; and some are targeted to specific industries such as technology or business or travel. So it means seeking to find what matches your online publicity needs.
Tweet This: I’m now a believer and a twitterer, here’s why
March 4, 2009
I opened my first twitter account on September 4th, 2008. I figured, I’m a technology blogger, I test-drive lots of products, services and website, so why not this-since the buzz was getting hot and heavy. After I set it for my blog siliconcaribe.com, twitter.com/siliconcaribe, I twittered exactly twice there after and abandoned it. I just didn’t get it.
Yet, I was on Facebook, driving my 400 friends nuts with Facebook updates on the road from my Blackberry, at home chilling, when I’m up late working on client projects-whenever and where ever. I use those Facebook updates to do pretty much any and everything. I am using it to share how I’m feeling, what I’m doing, where I’m going, to sharing video links, article links, pointing people to my two blogs, this one and caribbeanstartupblog.com and many times the Facebook update would start a mini debate on a subject, with my friends in turn sharing opinions and other links to videos, articles and websites. Outside of regularly updating my Facebook status I am also a rabid text message sender, in fact most times I prefer to text than talk, my year old Blackberry is overworked and oh yeah my fingers too. (more…)
Jamenus.com - Jamaica’s Virtual Food Court Launches
February 3, 2009
Jamenus.com is a Jamaican startup that offers consumers the option of ordering their favourite food online islandwide and from the convenience of home and office. We spoke to the CEO and co-founder Oraine Godfrey to give us some more details.
SC: When did you launch jamenus.com?
OG: JAMENUS had its soft launch on Sunday January 11 2009. The soft launch is the BETA version of JAMENUS. The full launch of JAMENUS is set for March 1,2009.
SC: Explain the service that jamenus.com offers to both consumers and the restaurants you are serving?
OG: JAMENUS is an online network of restaurants that offers consumers the ability to view various restaurant menu’s available to them based on their location and then order live from that restaurant online. The BETA version allows consumers to view but not order. Restaurants on the other hand enjoy a great marketing and sales analysis tool with their own web-based administration. They also enjoy the fact that this system limits order confusion over the phone as JAMENUS breaks down orders to last detail with three levels of order confirmation. Overall, JAMENUS offers and easier way to order food of a greater variety. (more…)
Making Money Online with Zazzle.com
January 23, 2009
Online entrepreneurs are always looking for additional revenue streams and affiliate programs have always been a popular option but I feel that another source is seriously overlooked - sites like Zazzle.com (similar to CafePress but way better in my opinion).
Selling merchandise works for a number of different online ventures and for people seeking out new revenue streams. Zazzle features official merchandise from musicians such as Britney Spears, The Who and Maroon 5 yet basically nothing from Caribbean musicians. (more…)
Top 10 Facebook Marketing Resources for Caribbean brands
In September 2007 I could count on my right hand, the amount of Jamaican Facebook groups that existed. Fast forward to now, just over a year later and they are now numbering in the high hundreds and Caribbean people at home and abroad have been pouring online in tens of thousands, to make this an exciting development to watch.
It’s great to see that the Group makers and Fan Page launchers are pretty diverse. They range from the party promoters to political organisations, non-profits to beverage, food and event brands and also general website owners. And what are they doing? They are creating groups, launching fan pages, to a much lesser extent launching their own Facebook applications and spending money running Facebook ad campaigns. All have the same goals in mind: (more…)
21 Entrepreneurship Websites Worth Checking Out
January 19, 2009
The number of websites dedicated to helping entrepreneurs is incredible: there are always new sites, to the point that it can be hard to keep track of them. However, I have a few favorites. There are some tools I absolutely rely on for everything from marketing to billing, some blogs I read constantly and a few resource sites that I consult for all sorts of small business issues.
If you are an entrepreneur of any kind, it doesn’t particularly matter where you are in the process. Whether you’re just starting out freelancing in your spare time or you have a thriving business and you’re looking to expand, there are always new resources that can help you along in the entrepreneurial process. These sites are a great starting point: they’re all good resources and you may not have explored all of them. More