Cold sweats and heart palpitations tend to follow receipt of any letter from the IRS, more so when the said letter announces an audit of your tax return.
Your natural response might be to panic. Don’t. Jail time for tax evasion is a looong way off from that first letter announcing an audit. It’s likely that you haven’t done anything wrong and the IRS probably just wants clarification of some entry on the tax return. If you’ve been thorough and forthcoming with your return there’s nothing to worry about. But if you actually have been evading taxes, that’s a whole other story.
There are iPhone apps, and then there are iPhone ‘crapps’. What differentiates the two is subject to individual opinion, but if it were up to some iPhone application developers, users would be downloading more apps than there is memory on their handset to store them; even if the said apps are really “crapps” camouflaged by pretty graphics and a name preceded by an ‘i’.
Thankfully there’s someone on the consumer’s side to help identify the ‘crapps’, and instead recommend cool and useful applications for your iPhone that may actually make life easier in some way. Enter stage left, Mike Vallez, or CrazyMike as he likes to be called who shared with Capitalizer the innards of his iPhone app review website CrazyMikesApps.com.
[Q] How did your love for smart phones evolve into an app review website?
[A] Oddly enough a friend told me I should blog, I thought it was stupid and thought Twitter was even dumber. Now I have a strong website, written an e-book, and have a robust social media following.
[Q] What drove Mike to a state of insanity? (What makes Mike crazy?)
[A] I am a retired cop (Tampa, Florida PD), I have 3 teenage daughters & wife, I work on CrazyMikesapps 6 to 8 hours a day and I work for USIS for 8 hours a day as a Social Media Strategist. Mind you I earned my current position due to CrazyMikesapps.com. Oh yea, I am the webmaster, content provider (written, video, and podcast) for CrazyMikesaps.com, almost a 1 man show.
[Q] How does CrazyMike’sApps make money?
[A] Currently we run an advertising revenue model, with paid app reviews (editorial rights still in effect, I don’t do positive reviews for money), banner ads, and social media exposure (package deal) reasonably priced.
[Q] Describe your marketing strategy (seo, ppc, social media etc)
[A] SEO, I have implemented and am implementing new SEO techniques daily as I learn for my real employer. I use social media, Twitter, FB, Hootsuite, Tweetdeck, (Twitter clients), Linkedin, GovLoop, YouTube, TubeMogul, and I have a CrazyMikesapps iTunes podcast channel that is rocking. I have been syndicated by Libsyn for my iTunes podcast. (currently averaging 1000 downloads a day)
[Q] A developer launches a new app that piques your interest. Describe the review process?
[A] I get some apps myself, some come from clients, and a large deal come from promo codes. I try to provide a range of review content, not just games, not just entertainment and apps that I feel consumers will be interested in and want to avoid. I release about 5 to 7 reviews a day a combination of written, video, and podcast. Basically, this process is in my Crazy Head.
[Q] Have you ever been contacted by an angry developer whose app you gave a scathing review. How did that exchange go?
[A] Yes and no, never overly angry, but maybe a little uptight. We review based on the experience, we have or some of my review staff has missed the mark a time or two. I feel we have to be respondent to the reviewer, find out what is not working and explain that in the review from an objective manner. I have updated reviews and feel the developer deserves a fair shake. But, and a big but, some developers put some trash out there and that is their intent in the first place. I do not have much mercy on those guys and encourage folks to stay away, you don’t hear from those developers.
[Q] If your iPhone only had enough space to accommodate one application [aside from those that are pre-installed]. Which would you install?
[A] Currently I probably use TweetDeck the most, I have 3 Twitter accounts and can keep track of them and update them all at the same time.
[Q] If you had an unlimited budget to create ANY app your mind could conceive. Describe what it would be?
[A] I would create the ultimate productivity app. One that would include Google Docs (view/edit), Google calendar, Basecamp, Backpack, Skype, Evernote, Goodreader, and the best news feed all in one, and oh yea share functions to all social networking sites.
[Q] Your team members seem to be pretty interesting folks. How did you find them?
[A] Most are co-workers and a couple I met on Twitter. Good, but they have lives and I don’t, I live, eat, and breathe CrazyMikesapps.com
[Q] How do you envision CrazyMikesApps 10 years from now?
[A] Hopefully, we will have branched into all mobile app stores that are relevant at the time. I envision the mobile market to have an explosion of growth over the next 2 to 5 years. I hope to be reviewing apps for all prominent app stores, but I am sure iTunes will still be the leader. Oh yea, I have signed up for an iPad email early notification so I can purchase mine. I will be doing iPad app reviews, very, very soon.
Movies can be a useful source of entrepreneurial insight and inspiration. For example, if you’re planning a hostile takeover, watch Con Air! Then again, Con Air didn’t end so well for the antagonists so scratch that reference. But you get my point; there is a lot you can learn about operating a business by watching certain films.
Entrepreneurs can learn from a tale like Slumdog Millionaire as it shows how boundless optimism and openness can turn luck in your favor. While ‘Up in the Air’ starring George Clooney teaches techniques in firing employees.
A study on entrepreneurship education in 31 countries, including the U.S., found that the state of entrepreneurship education and training in American schools has declined sharply. It went from crappy in 2005 to crappier in 2008, as revealed in a 2008 survey of experts who rate it barely half as good as it was in 2005.
The study was part of an annual report by a project called the Global Entrepreneurship Monitor GEM), which has been producing these special reports since 2000. The experts rate conditions such as whether the education system “encourages creativity, self-sufficiency and personal initiative,” and whether it provides “adequate instruction in market economic principles.” And apparently the conditions aren’t impressive.
Innovation is arguably the most effective catalyst for business success. If growth, profit and market dominance is what you seek, then innovate! Apple did it, and captured the mp3 playback device market, Google did it, and now dominates online text link advertising, even James Cameron did it, and now his latest movie project Avatar, is the highest grossing film of all time. That would prove innovation to be the real secret to success, so why isn’t everyone doing it?
Three words: negativism, defeatism and over-complexity.
Negativity is to innovation what the appearance of a parent is to two horny teenagers – a kill joy. And adopting a defeatist attitude will guarantee your failure since you will give up at even the hint of an obstacle. Drowning your ideas in complexity is a sure way to stir up frustration, and frustration is no friend of innovation.
People carry their young’uns to work for various reasons: sometimes they can’t get a sitter to watch the child, so they just take them along to the office, and sometimes they just want to show off how cute their kid is. Quite frankly, Junior could be as cute as the Gerber baby, he/she has no place in the office. None!
If you work in a nuclear power plant, the inappropriateness is quite obvious, but even in a comfortable corporate office where a stapler is the most hazardous item within reach, the office is not a safe place for children. For one, they are at risk for being clobbered by an annoyed coworker who’s had it with the child rummaging through his files. Though that’s an extreme case, the general idea is that children in the office is inappropriate at all levels. It is a recipe for distraction and mistakes, not only for the parent in question, but also for the unfortunate coworkers who are forced to endure kiddie interaction.
These days record numbers of well-qualified young graduates are out of work and hungry for relevant on-the-job experience. This presents a fantastic opportunity for small businesses to access energized, youthful staff and inject new life into their operations. In turn, the intern gets pertinent work experience, and sometimes the opportunity to convert their internship to a permanent job.
One big reason companies should take on interns rather than hire a full-time employee is the savings in labor costs. Interns don’t get the expensive employment benefits that permanent employees attract, plus they usually receive minimal remuneration.
They won’t make you run faster, jump higher or stay awake long hours, but Reebok’s newest sneaker ZigTech looks so sleek and cool, one feels compelled to buy. These design guys I tell you, they know just how to coerce the money out of your pockets and into their hands.
According to Reebok, ZigTech footwear is “designed to conserve and return energy to the athlete for a soft and springy stride”. The sole features an innovative, lightweight foam that is engineered into an attractive, geometric, zig-zag shape. Reebok dubs it “energy drink for your feet” because “the unique zig-zag sole absorbs the impact of heel strike and sends a wave of energy along the length of the shoe to help propel the athlete forward with each step”. So basically, ZigTechs are just another pair of running shoes, only sexier, and with a more creative copywriter selling it.
When you think of Los Angeles, what comes to mind? Botoxed actresses, beachside trysts, Hollywood blockbusters and earthquakes maybe. Internet startups likely never made your list, but they should have.
Some of the most successful online companies to date call L.A. home, including eHarmony, Overture (acquired by Yahoo for $2 billion in 2003) and MySpace, which famously sold to Rupert Murdoch for $580 million in 2005. So there must be something about Lalaland that makes it a great place for startups.
For one, Los Angeles is the second largest designated market area (DMA) in the country, so “you’re starting with a natural talent pool of very interesting people, and also, a market from which to sell your goods and services into”, explains Laura Rich of Fast Company.
Just when we were figuring out Google Wave, Google debuted yet another social media platform for us to decipher: Google Buzz.
Google Buzz is a mash-up of the features of Facebook and Twitter, with added elements that existing social media platforms don’t offer. It is integrated into Gmail, so it has a probable user-base of tens of millions of people who you could be communicating with about your business.
For one, Google Buzz could prove useful in gathering customer feedback. Just like Twitter you can post messages to your “followers”. However, your messages can be more than 140 characters, and replies are grouped under the original message, making it easier to monitor feedback.
Cold sweats and heart palpitations tend to follow receipt of any letter from the IRS, more so when the said letter announces an audit of your tax return.
Movies can be a useful source of entrepreneurial insight and inspiration. For example, if you’re planning a hostile takeover, watch Con Air! Then again, Con Air didn’t end so well for the antagonists so scratch that reference. But you get my point; there is a lot you can learn about operating a business by watching certain films.
A study on entrepreneurship education in 31 countries, including the U.S., found that the state of entrepreneurship education and training in American schools has declined sharply. It went from crappy in 2005 to crappier in 2008, as revealed in a 2008 survey of experts who rate it barely half as good as it was in 2005.
Innovation is arguably the most effective catalyst for business success. If growth, profit and market dominance is what you seek, then innovate! Apple did it, and captured the mp3 playback device market, Google did it, and now dominates online text link advertising, even James Cameron did it, and now his latest movie project Avatar, is the highest grossing film of all time. That would prove innovation to be the real secret to success, so why isn’t everyone doing it?
People carry their young’uns to work for various reasons: sometimes they can’t get a sitter to watch the child, so they just take them along to the office, and sometimes they just want to show off how cute their kid is. Quite frankly, Junior could be as cute as the Gerber baby, he/she has no place in the office. None!
These days record numbers of well-qualified young graduates are out of work and hungry for relevant on-the-job experience. This presents a fantastic opportunity for small businesses to access energized, youthful staff and inject new life into their operations. In turn, the intern gets pertinent work experience, and sometimes the opportunity to convert their internship to a permanent job.
They won’t make you run faster, jump higher or stay awake long hours, but Reebok’s newest sneaker ZigTech looks so sleek and cool, one feels compelled to buy. These design guys I tell you, they know just how to coerce the money out of your pockets and into their hands.
When you think of Los Angeles, what comes to mind? Botoxed actresses, beachside trysts, Hollywood blockbusters and earthquakes maybe. Internet startups likely never made your list, but they should have.
Just when we were figuring out Google Wave, Google debuted yet another social media platform for us to decipher: