Dr. Dre, Ludacris, and the HD Headphone Market

Billions of people worldwide listen to music every single day, and as of the past 5 years, many are listening through their iPods or other MP3 players. This has created an entirely new mainstream market of high-quality headphones. Previously, such headphones were only sold and marketed to people who worked and recorded in studios. Now, they are being marketed to anyone who loves music - specifically hip-hop music.

Several companies have emerged to take advantage of this lucrative market, and are selling high definition, high performance, studio quality headphones. A few have even paid big bucks to get major celebrities to endorse and co-brand them.

Just How Big Is Amazon.com?

According to Forbes.com, on November 29th alone, customers on Amazon.com ordered more than 13.7 million items, at a rate of 158 items per second. That was just one day of sales!

That leads us to two conclusions: 1) Amazon.com is a much bigger player in the online retail industry than we all thought, and 2) if you aren't using your web site as a sales tool - now, more than ever, is the time to starting doing so.

Why You Need Two Facebook Accounts

500 million people around the globe have a Facebook account, and it is easily one of the most popular social networks of all time - much bigger than Myspace, Friendster, and any others you can think of. Because of this, my strong advice to entrepreneurs and business owners is to create two Facebook profiles - a business one and a personal one.

Why?

Why Google Voice Is Good For Your Business

Google Voice is a unique telecommunications service provided by Google that offers free PC-to-PC and PC-to-Phone calls in the United States. Users can also make calls to international phone numbers, but a small per-minute fee applies.

After registering, users can choose a virtual phone number in any area code. That number can, not only be used to make and receive phone calls, but also to send and receive text messages and record voicemails. In addition to this basic functionality, there are also some really cool and innovative features.

Video Game Makes $360 Million In One Day

How bad is the economy when a video game can generate $360 million in sales in just one day? That may sound far-fetched, but it literally just happened when Activision released their highly anticipated "Call of Duty: Black Ops" game for the Xbox, Wii, Playstation, and PC.

According to the company, they sold 5.6 million copies of the game in just one day. By doing this, they broke last year's record of selling 4.7 million copies of "Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2" in one day - which generated $310 million in sales. They easily hold the title of having the two "biggest entertainment launches in history".

Facebook Investor Giving Away Small Business Grants To Teenage Entrepreneurs

Peter Thiel, an early investor in Facebook, has launched the Thiel Fellowship to foster the next generation of tech visionaries. The new program will support 20 teenage entrepreneurs under 20 years old with grants of up to $100,000. The cash grants will be used to further their innovative scientific and technical ideas.

In addition, over a two year period, Thiel's network of tech entrepreneurs and philanthropists—drawn from PayPal, Facebook, Palantir Technologies, Founders Fund, the Singularity Institute, and others—will teach the recipients about creating disruptive technologies and offer mentorship, employment opportunities, support, and training.

Is Paypal Enough?

This question will generate many different responses. Some business owners claim that their customers are happy to pay with Paypal, but others find that their customers hate using Paypal.

In my opinion, it's good to accept Paypal payments - but it's definitely not enough.

Here's why:

1) Some people have had bad experiences with Paypal, and refuse to use it again. If this is the only method of payment that your web site allows, you could be unknowingly losing potential customers. Many will just leave your web site without saying anything.

Should You Have A Facebook Fan Page?

Facebook, the largest social network on the planet, allows you to create a fan page. Different from a typical profile page, a fan page is more customizable and is specifically designed to allow users to interact with your brand.

It's perfect for authors, speakers, actors, musicians, organizations, and companies, because by simply clicking "like", any Facebook user can easily and automatically join your fan club and become subscribed to your feed or wall updates.

So I've Changed My Mind About Facebook...

Up until recently, I hated to use Facebook for business purposes. I preferred to limit it to just personal use only - strictly to share photos and content with friends and family. So, whenever my colleagues and clients would attempt to "friend" me, I would ignore their request if I didn't have a personal relationship with them. My hopes were that they would connect with me on LinkedIn instead.

But I've changed my mind recently. People are not as active on LinkedIn, and Facebook has stolen the show in the world of social media. Even more, I realized that I can use it effectively for both personal and business connections by creating two accounts - a professional one and a friends/family one.

The truth is that Facebook is not a phase. People are making it a part of their daily routines, and it only makes sense to utilize it as a tool to strengthen your business. What I like most about it, from a business point of view, is that it's an extremely easy way to stay in contact with potential and existing customers.

So, if you previous attempted to connect with me in the past - try again, and I'll accept.

www.Facebook.com/DanteLee

Wal-Mart Selling iPhone 3GS For $97

If you haven't switched from the Blackberry to the iPhone yet, now is your chance.

Wal-Mart stores are now selling the 16GB version of the iPhone for just $97 with a two-year AT&T contract. The deal is available only in stores, not online.

The iPhone has been the best-selling mobile device for at least two years because of it's simplicity and it's game-changing innovation.

Technology experts say that this is a sign that a newer iPhone model is on the way, but the 3GS model is still a very good model to have. Not only does it work on a 3G network, but you have access to thousands of useful apps that can turn your cell phone into a mini-laptop.

I've always recommended the iPhone for entrepreneurs versus the Blackberry or Droid. It's definitely the best of the three as far as functionality.

At the same time, however, I understand why many haven't made the switch. AT&T's 3G network can be very slow with low coverage and dropped calls in many areas. I've personally had trouble in cities such as New York, Columbus, and remote areas of Los Angeles.

But if you can get past that or if you happen to live in an area with a strong AT&T signal, the iPhone is an extremely useful tool to have in your possession.

Should Your Web Site Use Flash?

Owned by Adobe Systems, the same company that produces Photoshop and Dreamweaver, Flash is a software application that allows you to add animation and interactivity to your web site.

Flash is commonly used to display interactive pull-down menus, interactive advertisements, interactive videos, and even interactive video games.

Despite it's useful and creative functionality, using Flash is a controversial topic amongst many web designers and developers. As for me, I highly recommend that small business owners don't use it.

Here are three reasons why:

1) Slow Loading Time
Using Flash can slow down the loading time of your web pages. If your web site is designed entirely using Flash, people may have to wait up to 30 seconds or more until the loading completes. In my opinion, a visitor is very likely to leave your web site and find another one - opposed to waiting around for it to load.

Even if your web site moderately uses Flash, it can still cause a loading delay.

2) Not Search Engine Friendly
Using Flash can make your web site look and feel more interactive, but it can also make your web site invisible to search engines. This is because search engine algorithms are written to crawl images and text, not flash applications. If you conduct a search with any keyword of your choice on Google or Yahoo, I'm willing to bet that the top ten listings will be web sites that do not use Flash.

3) Not Mobile Friendly
More and more people are using their cell phones to access the web, and guess what? Web sites built using Flash will not display correctly when accessed from a mobile device. If your entire web site was built using Flash, it will not display at all.

Apple, who has the fastest-growing marketshare for mobile devices, has purposely excluded support for Flash web sites from the iPhone and their soon-to-be-released iPad. In fact, they are endorsing an up-and-coming competitor called HTML5 instead of Flash.

In conclusion, I think Flash has its place for web sites that allow users to watch videos and play video games. I also think it's okay for major corporations who aren't very dependent on search engine traffic. But for most small businesses, I would suggest to steer clear from using it on your web site.

Using A Free Email Address Is Bad For Business

If you are a company, an organization, or just an individual brand, you should not be using free email address accounts as your primary form of communication.

What is a free email address account? Any email address that ends in @Hotmail.com, @Yahoo.com, @Gmail.com, @AOL.com, etc.

If your name is Grace and the name of your business is Grace Publishing, it makes you look unprofessional and "small" if your primary email address is gracepublishing@yahoo.com.

Instead, your primary email address should be grace@gracepublishing.com or even info@gracepublishing.com - hosted on your own domain name.

This simple implementation will make your company (and you) sound and look a lot more legit. Even more, it looks better on your business cards and on your promo material.

Setting up and managing email addresses on your own domain is very easy to do. It's called business email hosting.

There are several affordable services that can help you with this.

I recommend Everyone.net, Gmail Business, or RackSpace.com. Of the three, I like Gmail Business the best because they only charge you $50 a year per email, and their functionality is very impressive.

Making the change will only take you a few minutes, and the configuration will be completed in just one day.

Your email address may not be free anymore, but the small cost is well worth it!

Apple Introduces The iPad

Apple has struck gold again as they prepare to release the iPad - a very innovative touch-screen "Tablet" that looks like a super-sized iPod Touch.

I have to admit; It looks very, very impressive. I'm a big fan of the iPod and the iPhone, and the iPad seems to be bigger and better.

Not only will it include a dedicated keyboard dock, which holds the iPad upright while providing a full-size (but no-keypad) Apple aluminum keyboard, but the iPad will also work with standard Bluetooth keyboards.

With AT&T as the wireless provider, the iPad will support iPhone apps and, of course, will play music from your iPod.

Along with iPad, Apple will be releasing iWork - software that allows you to create, edit, and present presentations; work on spreadsheets and word-processing documents; and create newsletters and other basic page-layout documents.

Even more, the iPad will compete with Amazon's Kindle and Sony's eReader as it will fully support the iBook e-reading app - enabling users to store and read entire books.

Depending on how much memory you want, the iPad will retail within the very reasonable price range of $499 and $829 - the typical cost of a laptop.

I am truly impressed, and plan to get one as soon as they are released.

2010 Blogging While Brown Conference In Washington, DC

This unique conference for African American bloggers is scheduled for June 18-19, 2010 in Washington, D.C at the historic Henley Park Hotel.

Blogging While Brown promotes intellectual, social, and cultural development of the blogging community by bringing bloggers of color together in one location. The purpose of the conference is to facilitate conversations that lead to collaboration and innovation among bloggers of color.

Last year's conference was held in Chicago and was attended by activists, entrepreneurs, journalists and others interested in expanding digital media content creation and distribution among people of color.

This year is expected to be bigger and better. There will be intensive workshops for beginners and experts.

Early registration is only $99.

For more details, visit:
www.bloggingwhilebrown.com

Automatically Backup Your Computer With Carbonite

I'm always surprised when I hear entrepreneurs say that their computer crashed, and they lost everything. Put simple, you have to back up your computer regularly. If not, you could lose everything - and there may not be anything you can do about it.

I personally use a service called Carbonite that automatically backs up your files and stores them online. If you're like me and hate manually backing up to a CD, flash drive, or hard drive - this service is perfect.

What I like best is that you can access your files remotely, and their cost is super low. For only $54.95 per year, you can back up your entire computer - no matter how much stuff you have. If you create a new file or edit an existing file, it too will automatically get backed up.

Plus, they have a free iPhone app that allows you to see, open, and share your files right from your cell phone.

Even more, it's super simple to install. You don't have to be a network administrator, and you don't need technical skills. It's very easy!

I usually don't endorse products like this, but honestly - I couldn't resist. I highly recommend you use it!

For more details, visit:
www.carbonite.com

"Add This" To Your Web Site

There's a new free tool that you should add to your web site.

It's called "Add This", and it helps website publishers and bloggers spread their content across the web by allowing visitors to bookmark and share content to their favorite social destinations.

In other words, visitors to your web site can easily share your content to their friends and/or followers on Facebook, Twitter, Myspace and other popular social media sites. They can also easily share it via email.

Not only is it easy to install, but it offers sophisticated analytics to help you understand how and where your content is being shared.

For more details, visit:
www.addthis.com

My Favorite iPhone Apps For Business Travel

The iPhone is a great phone and a very useful tool for business. The capabilities are great, and the apps available can sometimes be overwhelming. I specifically find the iPhone to be very useful for planning and managing travel.

Here are a few apps that I use and highly recommend:

1) Kayak - This app, modeled after the popular web site Kayak.com, allows you to search many airlines and travel sites all at once. Right from your cell phone, you can easily determine the lowest airfare, hotels rates, and rental car rates. Cost: Free

2) Negotiator - This app, released by Priceline.com, also allows you to search multiple sites for the lowest airfare, hotel rates, and rental car rates. In addition, right from your cell phone, you can negotiate for the rate that you want - often resulting in savings of up to 80%i. Cost: Free

3) Southwest - This app, from Southwest Airlines, is the only app that allows you to book and manage Southwest flights. You can also manage your points if you're a Rapid Rewards member. Cost: Free

4) Flight Track Pro - This app helps you manage and organize your upcoming flights. It stores your confirmation numbers, allows you to view live flight maps, and will notify you in advance (via push notification) if your flight is delayed or canceled. Cost: $9.99

5) Trip It - This app, from TripIt.com, is similar to Flight Track Pro, but also allows you to manage and organize your hotel and rental car reservations. It also stores confirmation numbers, and allows you to easily share your itinerary with friends and family. Cost: Free

Leading Resource For Business Grants and Funding Expands Reach

The National Institute of Small Business Grants (NISBG) has recently expanded their efforts to educate entrepreneurs about real and legit grant opportunities. They are now taking advantage of several technological avenues to reach more people. In addition to their resourceful web site, they have launched a daily blog, a YouTube channel, and a Twitter account.

The blog (blog.businessgrants.org) publishes daily news, commentary, and tips pertaining to business grants. Readers can subscribe free via email and RSS to receive daily content that will help them better understand the grant-making process. Users have the ability can leave comments, questions, etc.

The YouTube channel (www.youtube.com/businessgrants) features the latest online videos on how to obtain business funding. The unique collection of video content offers hands-on training on how to obtain business grants, loans, and venture capital. There are also interviews with various finance experts, and news coverage of relevant happenings in the White House.

The Twitter account (@BizGrants) features daily tweets and re-tweets of recent articles and press releases that are related to business finance and funding. Users can also use this to be updated about upcoming events, and to ask questions or leave comments.

For more details, visit:
www.BusinessGrants.org

Skype For Business

Skype is a popular online tool that allows people to hold video conferences with anyone in the world for free - right from their personal computer. It's very unique, and it actually works extremely well.

The company, which is owned by Ebay, generates revenue by charging for other features such as call forwarding, text messaging, and Skype-to-Landline calls.

Although commonly used for personal socialization, the company just recently released a version of the software that's just for businesses. Essentially, it has the same features as the standard version; however, it also includes Windows Installer (commonly known as MSI) which makes it easy to install Skype to multiple computers in your company. It also gives more control to IT administrators.

I've been using Skype for years now, but never really had a need to use it for business. Despite this, I highly recommend it for your company if you need to do video conferencing.

For more details, visit:
www.skype.com/business

Top 10 Twitter Accounts For Minority Entrepreneurs To Follow

Twitter is a great way to connect with people and share valuable information. Those who actively tweet have found great benefits, especially since you can do so through most mobile devices.

Like anything, Twitter can either be a complete time waster or a very valuable tool. To make it the latter, I recommend that all minority entrepreneurs follow these top 10 accounts:

1) @BlackEnterprise - the official account for Black Enterprise Magazine; the largest publication for African American professionals and entrepreneurs.

2) @BizGrants - the official account for the National Institute of Business Grants, a leading resource for business funding opportunities.

3) @MBNUSA - the official account for Minority Business News USA (MBN USA), an award-winning magazine authority on supplier and workforce diversity.

4) @MiBizNet - the official account for the Minority Business Network, an organization that actively promotes the competitiveness and growth of businesses.

5) @NASEtweets - the official account for the National Association of the Self Employed (NASE), a nonprofit, nonpartisan organization that provides resources to entrepreneurs and micro-businesses.

6) @EntMagazine - the official account for Entrepreneur Magazine, the premier magazine of the small-business community.

7) @WSJ - the official account for Wall Street Journal, the world's leading resource for daily financial news and data.

8) @ExecTweets - an account powered by Microsoft that helps you find and follow the top business executives on Twitter.

9) @SmallBusinessAd - the official account for the U.S. Small Business Administration (SBA), offering the latest news and tips to help your business succeed.

10) @SmallBusiness - the official account for SmallBusiness.com, an online resource for news and advice pertaining to small businesses.