Internet Entrepreneur and Weekend Hacker

Entries from August 2009

Smart Business Moves

August 24, 2009 · Leave a Comment

In this tough economy you need to come up with some slick ideas on how to keep business going.  We were having dinner the other night and it appears that a local family style Italian restaurant in going to close soon because a Rotellis is nearby and is a few dollars cheaper.  Now when this restaurant opened, it was packed as it is in a good location, well trafficked and by a number of large apartment complexes.  But they are a few dollars more expensive so they are empty now that people are watching their wallets.  I want to go in a grab the owner tell him to lower prices (how much does pasta really cost), coupons, discounts … free glass of wine.  Come up with a promotional plan.  You can’t just give up and wait for “something to happen” because it isn’t going to.  The stores, restaurants and services that stay in business during the downturn, prosper when the economy turns.  Do not worry about making profits right now, just stay in business.  This guy may be a good cook but not much of a marketer or business person.

Some pretty cool ideas of late …

Cash For Clunkers – skipping the political components of this, it is a genius idea.  It turns out over 650,000 cars were sold and a cost of $2.6B to the government (you and me).  This is smart for two reasons, the average new car is is going to get 9 MPG more that then clunker and whether you like the Obama Administrations Plans, we all accept that this is a good start.  Secondly, this program likely generated almost $13B in sales (650,000 x $19,500) and thus trickling down through the various local economies and then the auto industry as a whole.   Great idea to spur on the economy.

JetBlue’s All You Can Jet Pass allows users to fly as much as they want for $599 for a month.  Results of the revenue generated to JetBlue has not been released yet but this is purely filling empty seats at the last minute.  JetBlue knows that once that empty seat takes off, that is lost revenue so offering travelers a unique  program like this not only fills those seats but also generates good will for the airline.

A local South Florida Law Firm which advertises a lot of TV has come up with their No Fee Guarantee.  So if  they sue someone on your behalf and do not collect anything, then it will not cost you a penny.  Well that sounds innovative … but that is the way litigators generally work anyway.  They get paid if you win the lawsuit and only if you win.  So they have simply put down on paper (or TV) a statement that has always been the way they work.  My guess is, that this is getting people to come out of the woodwork with lawsuits that they were too scared to file earlier because of the costs.  I am not so fond of lawyers but this is a great marketing idea on their part.

Think out of the box.  What you did when the economy was good has no relationship to what you need to do now.  Just stay alive and let the other guy go out of business.  Because every competitor that goes under, is a little more business that you will get and the stronger you will be when the economy  turns.

Categories: Business
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Political Opinion of Mine

August 23, 2009 · Leave a Comment

US citizens vary greatly on their interest in politics and in the involvement in politics.  The interest goes up greatly when the economy or a war or a specific issue that effects them directly is raised.  Obviously with the economy effecting everyone, the level of interest has gone up greatly.  With the increased interest in politics, there is increased partisianship and an increasing distrust for government officials who do not represent us the say we want t be represented.

I believe that 2% of this country is heavily involved in politics, local or national, and these people are extremely partisian and their partisianship may go beyond their own beliefs on many issues.  From their, I believe that another 20% of people, a group that I  think I fall into, are interested in politics and maintain and ongoing interest in current affairs regardless of the state of the economy.  Another 30% are active when in comes to election time and in general, presidential elections.  The remaining 48% of the citizens, have little to no interest in politics unless it directly effects them and they do not believe that their opinion counts (I guess they never saw Swing Vote).

The problem is that 2% of the country fight over the direction of this country and do not adequately represent the masses.  That 2% is extremely partisian while the remaining 98% have (or don’t have) opinions on issues and while they may align themselves with a party, they do not agree 100% with that party.

I am a registered Republican and have voted as such all my life except for Clintons 2nd term.  But I do not completely agree with the republican party on the  Right to Life issue.   On a personal basis I am against abortion but that said,  I do not believe that I have the right to tell someone else how they should deal with this topic.  So I am in support of Roe v. Wade as are approximately 2/3’s of US Citizens as shown by any number of polls.  So I am a Republican who is not Pro Life as a law.

But if you are a registered Republican running for office, you better be Pro Life of you lose your party support.  I am for a strong military, small government and lower taxes but on this issue, and a few others, I am not reciting the party line.  But then again, I am not running for office.

I think that there is a much larger group of people who are for a mix of the two party lines.  In the political Tags on this blog, I will discuss my opinions and ideas for a better, stronger and more unified government.

Categories: Politics
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Why Start Another Business

August 22, 2009 · Leave a Comment

I had a pretty good run when I sold PCSecurityShield last year to iS3.  Th deal was a good deal for me and hopefully them but I am 44 years old and with way to much energy and ideas to just pack in it and golf.  Especially since I am not that good at golf even though I am just 6 years away from the Seniors Tour …

The last 7 months I have been knocking around with real estate and a few leftover websites but in the past month or  two I have started to turn it back into high gear.  I am again back in the office at 7AM and today it  is  Sat, and I am in the office again and I am thinking long term about building the new business.  I am back and it feels good.

Yesterday I was out at lunch having a meeting with some potential vendors and the VP was telling me about the owner of his company.  How he built his initial business and then sold it for X and  how hugely successful this guy is and that now that he has started a new business he is back in the office at 7AM and is the last one out.  The guy has a plenty of money and doesn’t “need this” but regardless, he is  back at the grind.

It hit me right there as I  heard this guy basically describing me.  Why would we go about doing this again?

Because I want to prove I wasn’t just  lucky the first time.

Categories: Business
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PCSecurityShield Sold

August 22, 2009 · Leave a Comment

Although the new owners of PCSecurityShield have decided not to make any public announcements at this time, the deal for the sale of PCSecurityShield.com was completed at the end of 2008.    I launched PCSecurityShield on Dec 31, 2003 and the site was an Internet Retailer Top 500 website.  The sale comes exactly 5 years to the day after its launch.

I have been asked numerous times whether I regret selling the company and while I miss running PCSecurityShield and the excitement of growing the business, I  say no to that.  I read with interest the blog post regarding the former owner of Delicious.  Of course, like any entrepreneur, you feel that you can do better, but the sale of PCSecurityShield was a great moment for me personally and professionally.

Categories: Business
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Events and Where I Was

August 14, 2009 · Leave a Comment

I was thinking about the moon landing in 1969, it was the  40th anniversary a few weeks ago, and where I was at that time (Hershey, PA) and what I  was doing.  The landing was late at night and we were on a family vacation and since I was young, I went to bed with the promise that my parents would wake me for the landing.  Well, my family learned a lessons that night, once Arthur is asleep, he stays asleep. Even at the age of 4 there was no waking me.  Well it got me thinking about events in my life and where I was. This is in no order of significance or time.

1.  Challenger Disaster – I was in college at the U of Maryland and was walking back to the fraternity house.  As I went downstairs to get something to eat,  Jay Greenstein told me what had happened.  Odd, I haven’t about him in years, but I remember he is the one who told me that.

2.  Barack Obama Winning The 2008 election – I was at my friends (Mario and Wendy) apartment in NYC.  We were on the 16th floor and you could hear the partying on the street.

3.  9/11 – I was in my apartment in Delray Beach, FL working and watching CNBC when Mark Haynes broke in and asked “is that the World Trade Center”.  It was, and the rest of  the  day was a blur of calls and breaking news.

4. Moon landing – Hershey, PA

5. Bill Buckner missing Mookie Wilsons ground ball – I was at the Vous (The Rendzevous Inn) at the U of Maryland.

6.  George Bushes speech announcing we were going to attack Iraq – We were at Outback and no one was  really paying attention.  I  went to the bar  TV and watched his speech with a handful  of others.

7. OJ Simpson Not Guilty – at my office in Manhattan.  We were on 20th between 5th and 6th and our 4th floor office windows opened to 19th street.  At that time there was a coffee shop (not starbucks) on the corner and when they made the announcement, we heard the roar coming from the street like we were at the courthouse.

8. First WTC bombing – I worked at an office across from Grand Central and they had a tiny conference room with a TV.  We sat in there and watched the news and remember not knowing of Mario got out until late that night when I called his mother.

9. Stock Market Crash 1987 – I was an intern at a brokerage house and that was my first day of work.  I had taken the metro into DC from College Park … they sent me home.

10. Hurricane Wilma – most of the country was  still focused on Katrina at that time, but I was in the back room of my apartment in Delray Beach, FL, with a radio, cell phone and two cats and a Gin and Tonic.  The eye passed right over us, do for about 25 minutes in the middle of the storm, everyone from the complex was outside.

Odd how certain details of these events stick  with me when  I can’t remember what I had for dinner last night.

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