I can't read German but this is cool

This one heck of a camper. Talk about bringing all the comforts of home and more. Like I said I cannot read the website but its cool to look at the pictures.
NOTE: By the way does anyone know if this is German?

You might not be an inventor but you can sell to them!

Here is a product that enables you to make a prototype on your desktop. The laser printer sized machine makes prototypes within 5"x5"x5". This may be small in comparison to some inventions but think of all those people who have an idea and just want something to look at to improve, sell, or bring to a manufacturer. The machine is less than $5k, and works off of a regular computer. By uploading a STL file (along with other types of files), and hit "print".
This is just another type of business that doesn't require you to be innovative in a sense. All you have market your services to the right people and give great service.

WHAT DO YOU THINK OF A FORUM?

I am not really sure how many people are really reading this site? Besides the counter at the bottom of the site I have no way of telling. Anyways if you think a forum would be a good idea then leave a comment on this post. I am looking at different forums that I might be able to attach to this site. And maybe one day I will have a stand alone URL.
But the major goal of this site is to have interaction with all. So I would like to hear your input that way I know what people want.
NOTE: After I posted this I started a discussion forum out of a Google Group. Above is where you can sign up. The way it is set up is that no one unless members can see your e-mail.
LET ME KNOW WHAT YOU THINK
JOKER

Are you A+ or O- ?

As you can figure out I am not talking about blood types. I am more talking about your networking and personal interaction. A recent event of mine came to me when thinking about this post and it goes as follows:
I was dispatched to a car/deer accident on the interstate. The accident was out of my area but due to lack of people on I took it. I arrived on scene in the cold rainy weather. It was late, I was tired, and I didn't really want to do a crash report because I was listening to a PODCAST and wanted to hear it all the way through. But nevertheless it's my job. So I got out of my car and greeted the man driving. I looked at the damage to the vehicle and asked him for his license. After getting his license I realized that I had Flight Ground School with him in Fort Wayne about 4 years prior. Just so happen that after talking he had a different path than he expected after the training, as I did also. We both did different things but he continued his training to be a pilot along with started a company (IT). We began to talk and his passenger stated "oh there's my mom" (they called her for a ride since the car was not drivable). As the car pulled in front of his a lady got out. Oh my she happened to be a family friend that has known my parents since about the time I was born. And to our surprise I grew up with the passenger. We had gone to the same church when we were children.
I guess what I am trying to express here is the fact that an A+ person is that whom is a positively Affectionate person. They treat everyone as if they are going to see them again in life. Now if I were to have gotten out of my car mad, unruly, and not willing to help. Then the story might have been different. We all have our days as O- people. Those who are Negatively Objective to the situation. By doing so you are not helping yourself or others. But if we treat people as if we are going to see them again you never know how that might help us out in the long run. Now it might not make you money, get you a job, or help you out monetarily. But it just might help you emotionally. All I wanted to do at 2am was call my mom and tell her about who I had seen that night.
We all have these reminders in our life. Maybe next time we meet, interact, or just brush up against at a shopping mall we will remind ourselves that the above is a possibility.

Why not fix cars

Heres an idea: Take wrecked cars w/ clean titles and put them together in order to sell them. If you dont think it will make money then check this site out. For example you buy this car, and this car and put them together. If you notice the one has a clean title so that is your car the other is merely a donor. Now this may take a knowledged paint,body, and mechanic technition. But when cant you find one of those. And if cars aren't the thing in your area then go onto boats, motorcycles the list just goes on.

A speech to remember

I was looking at various topics to write about and found a name that I had heard so many times, Guy Kawasaki. I have read his name, read articles by him, but I had never heard him speak. There are some podcast out there with him speaking about various topics. But the best of all was his speech to Palo Alto High School. The link is to a .PDF file that is the transcript to the speech. I recomend all to read it, print it, and pass it on. This is great speech that all students and parents alike should read. He displays a knowledge of what a normal student in high school wants and why they should not do it. I wish I would have done what he recomended. But hey we all make decisions and we live with them. Me I would NEVER go back and do anything different. But we can mold the young ones today!

Timing is everything so write it all down!

When building a business, stock portfolio, or a passion. Time is the most important. According to Jerry Kaplan timing is key. He talks about many companies that you see today have evolved and many people have had the same idea. Not only that but other companies have been created prior to, to do the same thing. But the company that survives and is the key market player is the one with the best timing. Many times people aren't ready for the technology.
So how do we as entreprenuers use this to our advantage. I believe documentation is best. I have a small book that I write every idea in. All of the number one inventors came up with their ideas by two different ways. The first is a mistake. I had heard that post it notes were a mistake. Someone created a glue that would stick but you were able to remove it without residue. Or they have an idea book. One person I either read about or heard say was he had a book that sat beside his bed on his night stand. When he would have an idea in the middle of the night he would write it down. And every night before bed he would read through it. This was because the mind works it's best at night according to him.
So I have a similar process but I will write it down as the day passes and acasionaly I will look back and maybe build upon ideas. This book doesn't just contain ideas but quotes, figures, and odd facts. By doing so I am able to look at all my ideas and see which I am more passionate about. Try it some time you might be interested in the areas that you actually have ideas.
But when you do this figure out when these ideas are going to work best. Is it something that we all need now or is this something that is going to be needed twenty years from now. When trying to figure this out talk it out with some close friends or business partners. The best person I have found was my wife. She usually has a level head. Many times we are so content on a way something must be created or made that it takes a third party to assist to get us out of the paradigm.

Why are we reactive instead of active?

When training in the military I have been told so many times that it is better to be active instead of reactive. Allowing you the upper hand in any situation. Whether the situation a confrontation, fire fight, or just plain personnel interaction. This is offering a surprise element to the other end allowing you to make decisions of the known and having the opposite end to first figure out what is going on.

But if you take this concept to that of the Oil prices. Why are we now doing something about it. I listened to a wonderful PODCAST about solar energy. Did you know that solar energy has been around for close to 50 years. So why are we starting to put money into it? Why are we reacting with new standards and tax breaks. Are we being reactive to the situation or are we being active to change it. In the PODCAST Larry Bawden explains that Germany along with many other countries are putting this on the top of the list of priorities for their respective country.

I am by no means a "tree hugger", but at what point do you look at whats around you and see the facts. Oil prices are rising and the quantity that is available is not getting any bigger. I understand there are times that oils are going to be needed. But this problem should be on the top for all entrepreneurs and business people alike. Working towards a goal of Oil free production is not only going to save the environment but it will save you money.

How will it save you money? Look at it this way. If I sold you a solar panel and you placed it atop your business, and for example purposes it will cover all of your electrical bill. By doing so you now know how much the unit cost, how much maintenance is going to cost, and how long its going to last (Oh by the way solar panels are tested to last for 20 years). So if you do the math you are going to save money. How? You now know how much you bill is going to be by day, week, even hour. Because of this you are able to make business decisions and not have to factor in the cost of energy to do so.

So I guess what I am trying to say here is maybe look at your current business, or look at your business plan and try to figure out what you can do to eliminate the what ifs in the future.

As if the Stock Market isn't hard enough

Reading through the magazine TRADER monthly, I came over an article about an individual Richard Dennis. Many of you who grew up in the '80s might recognize the name. Richard was a icon in the commodities trading arena. Recently he was inducted into the Trader Monthly Hall of Fame (nineteenth member). Starting with only a couple hundred dollars Mr. Dennis reached a portfolio towering a couple hundred million. Using only numbers to trade he had very little emotion involved. He is quoted saying "It's a lot easier to trade when the decision making is predetermined."
His story is amazing we can all agree on that. But who really knows what commodities are and how they are traded. Well as you can figure out I did some research on this matter and came to the Chicago Board of Trade (CBOT). CBOT is the trading "platform" for all commodities (Corn, Soybeans, Wheat, Rough Rice, Oats, Soybean Oil, Soybean Meal). CBOT has many publications on introduction of trading futures/commodities. I have recently acquired them and am starting to read them. I will update you on my status of knowledge. But as anything this new, we can all agree it's not going to be easy. But with a topic this interesting you would have to be crazy not learn about it. Well we might agree it could be the other way around but o'well.

Golf Club - Weed Wacker Combo

The Big Daddy Driver looks like a massive golf club, but is actually a weed wacker.Meant to be more as a novelty item, it actually is a working weed wacker. But it's size lends itself to fit inside a golf bag. So should your ball land in the rough, you could theoretically pull this baby out, clear away the weeds, and give yourself a better shot.The product's website doesn't mention replacement string, though I get the sense they don't expect this thing to be utilized often.Visit Big Daddy Driver online...http://www.bigdaddydriver.com/

NOTE: Article was written by Steve on http://www.strangenewproducts.com/

The true self believer

I have talked a couple times about the effects of fear and focus on an entrepreneur. Now the topic I would like to address is the psychological effects of their own brain. Meaning the times when you hear someone say "oh that just cant be done", or "boy aren't you dreaming". Well YES! I am dreaming! How many people out there doubted what now are the giants of our society. Many of which grew just by the mere fact that people just wanted to see if they would work. It astounds me that people can really talk themselves out of anything. There is a story about believing and non believing:

An officer gets a call to a residence in reference to a domestic dispute.As the officer (oh by the way he is a rookie) gets to the front door his backup arrives. They move into the open front door yelling "police, police"with no answer. They proceed further into the house. At this time they are greeted. By a man with a gun. He shoots them both and they fall to the ground.Separated by a room they are not able to communicate with each other.The gunman runs and is later caught. But when the medics arrive to the house therookie is dead. But why he only was shot in the arm? So they move further in the house only to find the veteran officer laying on the ground.To the medics disbelief the officer is alive, with blood everywhere the don't understand.As they began to work on the officer the can hear him whispering something they move in closer and hear the following:

"I will not die, I will not die, I will not die"

As you can see your mind can do more than we challenge it to do. As we have all heard you can do anything if you put your mind to it. Next time you hear that remember this story and live! Don't let any of your ideas die just because your mind (or surroundings) didn't want to allow them.

NOTE: The picture attatched is called the thin blue line. Please remember all Police, Fire, Military and EMS in your prayers daily, THANKS.

Do Good to get rid of your Debt

Doing good to get rid of your debt. That's the concept of dogood4debt. The company is headed up by Ian Wallace. The concept is explained in the following quote from his MySpace page:

"Do Good 4 Debt is an exciting new project founded by Ian Wallace. He was a student that had combined debts of £14,000. He desperately wanted to take a gap year before trying to get a job in his chosen field which he had worked for at University, Law. After doing a number of factory jobs with the entire wage going on monthly debt payments he decided this was not how he wanted life to be after working so hard at his studies. One lunchtime in the factory diner, Ian heard the factory owner on an adjacent table moaning that he doesn't donate any money from the business to charity because he never see's what good it does, "you just donate and that's it, any cat or mouse could have the money". So Ian hit upon an idea and how he could ensure companies donating to charity could clearly see the difference they are making, while getting rid of his debt. He wrote to a number of companies in his town and told them about his debt and that they could sponsor him to go and work with a charity for a period of 8 months, with the money going to pay his debts off."

I think this concept could work anywhere. Let me know what you think?

Advertising on Shopping Carts

Yeah you heard it correctly, Modstream has developed a way to advertise to shopping cart users throughout the country. Allowing you to target a specific market, location, or time frame that you would like your ads to run.

Is it going to work? Are people going to really use it? I don't know the answer to either of these questions. I do know depending on the price I think its a great opportunity for you to get your name out. Many of these types of advertising are referred as "top of the mind", so when someone thinks of your type of service or business they think of your business.

To understand it better, what do you think of when I say carpet cleaning? Many of you immediately thought of Stanley Steemer. That's what I am talking about.

Let me know if you see Modstream in your local grocery store.

The INFINITY PROJECT

I was watching PBS the other night and observed this man creating things that were absolutily beautiful out of glass. I wrote his name down so later I can look his work up. I found his website and awwed at his work. Amazingly the peices are not too expensive in the realm of art. But I found one subject on his site that I liked more than anything. It's title is the INFINITY PROJECT. The Infinity Project is described here more in depth. But what it all comes down to is the fact that this man noticed that not many knew what his work was and the purpose of it. He became engrossed in the fact that well educated people would find things and try to figure out what their purpose was. In many instances they are wrong. So what he has set out to do is hide many of these glass spheres throughout the world for educated or non-educated people to find. Only to wonder where it came from and why it is there. I encourage you to look at the website and if you have a unique place for one of these apply and let me know what you hear back.

Bail Bondsman

Yeah, I know its kinda weird for a cop to be looking up such a business but hey, its out there. Here is some information on becoming a Bail Bondsman.
Requirements
Application
Indiana Bail Laws
Literature
Let me just tell you, this business is only going to grow and you will NEVER run out of clients!
(All license information is for Indiana)

Magazines and Business Trends

I saw in an article about business trends and how to find them. The author stated that a way to find a trend was to look at the local magazine rack. Those magazines that are the fatest are those whom are growing the fastest.

I think this is a good way to see what areas are growing but one fault that I see with it are the types of magazines out there. One way to verify this trend/business is to get a subscription and see what type of articles and events keep reoccuring. Such as in Entreprenuer magazine you saw a couple ads regarding servers hosting websites. Now you see alot more of these hosts in the magazine. Now is that a trend of a growing server market or is it a trend of more businesses publishing their business on a website? I dont know the answer to this question but I find that this tool added with others could be part of the equation to success.

TESLA MOTORS

I listened to the following Mp3 and found Martin Eberhard the Co-Founder of Tesla Motors to be a very brilliant man. We have talked about in other posts, focus, this man is the epitome of focus. Listen to him and check out his company (Link below on the right hand side).

The Comment

I have pondered the comment made by DSSPURGE8 for the last day or so. Thinking about what he said about college, I also found this to be true for so many business owners. But what troubled me was how did they know how to run their business. Not so much the management but aspects of Accounting, Taxes, and other areas that many people spend their whole careers of educationa and working to master.

I found the common denominator to be the fact that these people surround themselves with others who have the same goal and determination for sucess. But their area of expertise might comment that of the visionary.

So when you look at yourself and think how do I go ahead with this vision. Make sure you are surrounding yourself with like people who have a vision and education that might benefit you and them at the same time.

Good luck to all, I am rooting for you!

I HEARD SOMETHING TODAY....

I heard something interesting today, the acronym of RUD (Rapid Unscheduled Disassembly). Yes it is an explosion. I just thought it to be pretty funny when trying to explain your product or service. If this applies to you maybe you can use it make yourself look smarter.

The Ipod Maintenance Man

Many of you might have seen the specials on 60 minutes, 20/20, or maybe on your local news about these new companies that are specializing in the repair of Apple products. You all know the products that I am talking about the Ipods. As many as 11 million people and growing own an Ipod or other Mp3 player according to News.com. So these businesses are only on the upward turn. Providing services like screen repair, battery replacement, and allowing to trade in your old one for cash or for an upgrade. They not only do this but they will come to where you are to do it. The only thing you need to start is knowledge of electronics and some will power. Since Apple will not do any type of work on their product except for warranty issues you have a market that is either going to spend to repair or replace. Try to take your own apart before you start this but you never know, I don't think they are going to stop producing these things.

VENDING PIZZA

While searching for a business that I could start that did not require me to stand around and run it day to day I found this interesting site. This company sells a pizza vending machine of which you can buy pizzas at any time. The only thing you need to do is collect the money and make sure all your pizzas are restocked and not out of date. And currently make sure that they dont have salamila in them. I think something like this would work great in an airport, mall, or somewhere that people are required, or want to be, and would like something to eat in a hurry. I note without human contact. So I would look into placing these into DMVs. Yah another joke I know I should've stopped at the first one but oh well. Take a look at them I think they would work great! Who thought that renting DVDs from a vending machine would work....oh wait I looked into that about two years ago.

Focus Pokus

I find it so interesting that so many people when talked about business either will have a business idea for placing a business in a certain area, or will have a new idea that they would like to pursue. When talking with these people (oh by the way I am not excused from either group) they more or less talk about what could happen and never do anything about it in their life.

The reason that I believe this to be true is that when interviewed many of the billlionares and self made millionares say the best attribute that one could have when wanting to pursue a business or invention is focus.

How do we defeat that demon of focus? That is a question and obstical that I deal with everyday. There are so many opportunities and areas that need improvment how do you just pick one. In order to do so I believe that your goal needs to be defined. Meaning if you want to save lives then that would be your goal. If you want to make somthing better then do so. Dont just say that you want to create this product or place a fanchise here or there. By doing so you dont have a benchmark to test or rate yourself to.

I know I have a hard time with focus and will always I believe. But I think with the right mindset and determination all can overcome the demon.

Evaluating a Start-Up

The following website has a good article on how a Venture Capitalist will evaluate a Start-Up that is pitch to him/her. I was more interested that PR played a part in it. I guess you always have this image of what your company will provide to others but using that to help sell the idea to a potential investor is great idea.

THE TITLE COUNTS!

How many times have you found yourself looking through the paper or clicking through web pages looking for something to read. I was just doing so and found myself looking more into the title than what the article actually said. Now does this corrilate with the words that you use to search a search engine.
I believe it does. And there are two different type of people that I have ran across when looking on the internet. There are those who type the exact item that they are looking for into their prospective search engine. And there are those who try to figure out other items that maybe that website would have on it to find what they are looking for. But to answer the above question I think so.
If you look at people in the book store, they aren't all pulling to books out to read the first few pages. They are looking at the binding and reading the title or who the author is. Some might look into the ones that they think might be interested in.
But think to yourself how many articles have you not read, or how many books have you not bought, or finally how many times have you searched for something on the internet and not found something. Only because you were looking at titles and not looking at the inside content.

Whats your definition of success?

The aritcle below was published by John Jantsch, with a title of above. I found it quite interesting. Check it out:

Every once in a while I think it’s important to step out of the trees and re-ask yourself the really big questions.

This week I had the pleasure of moderating a panel discussion made up of successful entrepreneurs. While we covered the tactical stuff, the planning, correcting, hindsight, marketing and money, I asked them each this two-part question.
What’s your definition of success and how has it changed?

Entrepreneurs are an odd bunch really. When I ask them to talk about their businesses, they glow with excitement and get all nerdy about the granular aspects of what makes their very successful widget go, but ask them about personal success and most go “ah shucks” on you.
Here’s my thought on this. Entrepreneurs have a really tough time defining success because most entrepreneurs are never satisfied with where they are today. They already have the picture of what could be if they just got the rest of the pieces in place.

Now I’m not saying this is an altogether unhealthy state of mind, but it can sure ruin some dinner conversation with your spouse. I do think it’s something worth noting and working on.
I believe that you can and should celebrate the personal wins all along the way while still holding a glimpse of the eventual destination. Anyone who has done any climbing knows that false peaks are both a gift and a bummer. They drive you on because you feel like you’re almost there and they ground you because your realize you’ve still got a ways to go.

Every business owner should develop a personal definition of success and use it as a filter for all the stuff that goes on in the tornado. I have a personal definition of success and it’s different than yours. How do I know that, because it has to be. No one can authentically share the same specific measure of success, but they may die trying.

So back to my original thought. What’s your definition of success and how has it changed?
For me, it’s very important to think of success in milestones. Sometimes those are tangible - 1 million page views a month, sometimes they are intangible - stuff seems to be falling at my feet lately. But, most importantly, I define success as a way to feel completely jazzed about what’s happening today while holding a picture of what I know can happen tomorrow. (Kind of corny I suppose, but without that view I get the life sucked out of from time to time.)
How has it changed? All I can say is that the more inward I look, the more I surround myself with passionate people, the more I share, the better it gets. (Thanks for stomaching that one.)
So, what’s your definition of success and how has it changed?

Make money by bidding on contracts/Jobs

WWW.ELANCE.COM is a place where people can make money by doing whatever they want to do. If you go there you have to sign up and pay a fee to be a provider. But after doing so there are jobs from Accounting and doing books to Building a website.
I find it interesting that someone saw this as an opportunity. They took the concept of eBay and made a service based auction site. For those who specialize in a certain area of expertise then its great. There are alot of jobs that consist of web content. More or less you are the behind the scenes of a website.

COMING SOON TO THE MALL

HairPODs are transportable, free-standing styling booths that look like futuristic space capsules. Featuring extendable floor and side panels, they can be closed up and locked for the night, then unlocked and opened up again the next day. The compact design features tucked-away storage space for supplies, and a suction unit at the base of the pod even makes hair clippings disappear. Best of all, they can be strategically placed in locations such as airports or downtown crossings—and relocated, if necessary—without the high rents most salons must pay. HairPODs take 3 to 4 hours to put together, and require just an electricity supply--no shop fitting or site alteration are necessary.
The first HairPOD launched in August at Heathrow Airport, which isn't surprising given that that's where founder and CEO Martin Warren came up with the idea. Warren was waiting for a flight to present a business pitch at the time, and had had too many things to do beforehand to make time for a haircut. “It’s one of those things you wish you had time for, because feeling smart really increases your confidence, but it usually takes a back seat due to time constraints,” he explains.
Much like Japan's QB (“Quick Barber”) House, which has hundreds of stores operating under the slogan, “1,000 yen for 10 minutes,” HairPOD offers quick, stylish haircuts in convenient locations where consumers are likely to have a small window of time. The company is currently looking for franchise partners to help expand the business, and will likely also sell its HairPODs for about GBP 20,000 each. Warren has already received inquiries from entrepreneurs interested in using HairPODs for nails instead; what other services could be offered up in a pod?
Website: http://www.hairpod.net/ Contact: info@HairPOD.co.uk

Reported By: Springwise.com

ENTERTAINMENT MAGAZINE

I LOVE THAT SHOW!!

Teusch's Favorite Website

MUSTACHES

GREAT PODCASTS

Below is a list of places that I believe have great PODCASTS. I have listened to alot of them recently and found them to be very informative.

STANFORD SCHOOL OF BUSINESS

RICH DAD POOR DAD (ROBERT KIYOSAKI)

HARVARD BUSINESS ONLINE

WHARTON SCHOOL OF FINANCE

TRUMP UNIVERSITY

I will add more later when I find some good ones.

WELL HERE IT IS

I guess I am going to take a try at this and see what I can talk about on here. I am most likely going to place on here some of the goofy things that I normally would e-mail out. Let me know if there are any subjects that you would like to learn about. As many people know I like to research items and then save multiple pages of information just for the mere knowledge of it. Come back and check things out later to see what I have.