By: Co-Editor, Bobby B:

If you are expecting a child and are on a tight budget (with a new kid coming that may go without saying), the expense of maternity clothes can be a somewhat annoying in the that they only have utility for a short period. For the first part of pregnancy most woman can wear regular clothes and once the child is born the clothes have no use, unless another baby is planned (or unplanned) in the near future. As such, getting folks to donate maternity clothes seems like it should be a no-brainer, and getting those clothes cheaply to mother’s in need seems like a win/win. Add in the fact that some of the money generated goes to charity, and you have a feel good business model.

A new company aims to employ this model in what they consider a better approach to selling used maternity clothes.

RebornMaternity.com is a Massachusetts based that launched earlier this month. The company acknowledges that there are other companies operating in this space, including DiscountMaternityStuff.com, and eMommie.com. However, RebornMaternity.com’s model is slightly different.

The company, in addition to selling brand name used maternity clothes at very affordable prices, allows people to donate their clothes to them and they make a charitable donation to the charity of the donator’s choice. The contribution not only helps a charity in need, but also helps pregnant women find clothing in one spot at reasonable prices. The founders believe their low prices, quality of clothing and mission will set them apart from competitors.
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By: Co-Editor, Bobby B:

Many new companies (and old) have a web presence or a website or are strictly a web-based business model. However, in many cases they are not fully exploiting all the web has to offer.

Software solution for Referral marketing, Buzz Marketing, Reward Systems, Viral Marketing, and more. Effective Internet Marketing Solutions to Build Customer Loyalty and a neat Word of Mouth Campaign. NextBee Media provides unique software solutions for the most influential section of the consumer chunk. NextBee is an effort to provide automation for the most effective marketing techniques.

NextBee.com offers what they call the “Premier Software Platform for Word of Mouth Marketing. The software solution provides for referral marketing, buzz marketing, reward systems, and viral marketing.

NextBee’s word of mouth marketing platform is built by analyzing tools and interface components needed for successful word of mouth marketing campaigns. The founding team spent years marketing both enterprise and consumer products, and most recently had the good fortune to work in the trenches of Web 2.0 world when they marketed their last venture, GetVendors (acquired by MatchPoint – a division of Connexus Corp).
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By: Co-Editor, Bobby B:

There are many sites such as LegalZoom.com that seek to “replace” attorneys and their fees by providing legal documents such as wills, trademark documents, and corporate documents at low cost without attorney’s fees. The legal profession and many other professionals will tell you however that there is no substitute for one on one interaction with knowledgeable counsel. However, finding the right lawyer is probably the most difficult step in procuring representation.

A new Milwaukee, Wisconsin based company, LawBidding.com, LLC launched LawBidding.com in May of 2009. LawBidding.com allows individuals and businesses to confidentially post their legal issues for free, and then allows attorneys to search through the cases and place bids on that work, also for free. The client can then select their attorney based on the bids. The Wall Street Journal legal blog dubs it “Kind of Like Match.com, for Lawyers and Clients”.

This site could be of great interest to our readers. As pointed out on the LawBidding.com website, entrepreneurs and small businesses often need legal help on many issues and often do not know where to start in their search for an attorney. Unfortunately, in addition to the time it takes to find the right attorney, many time entrepreneurs are working with tight budgets and thus often feel they cannot afford an attorney. LawBidding.com aims to remedy these problems by making it more efficient and more affordable to find the right attorney.
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By: Co-Editor:

In today’s digital world, the advertising industry is in the midst of a major transformation. As consumers turn to the Internet and social media for everything from health advice to restaurant reviews, the advertising industry has begun to follow suit.

The ability to access an abundance of information online, coupled with a shift in consumer behavior, has forced traditional advertisers to rethink their current businesses and brainstorm responses to the online phenomenon. Leading the way in that regard is Hydra.

Hydra, headquartered in Los Angeles, is the largest and fastest growing affiliate advertising network.  Hydra distributes results-based campaigns through online banners, social media, email, and search marketing – boasting a CPA (cost per action) model, where advertisers only pay for verified sales, leads, or other customer-creating actions.

Hydra delivers customers for advertisers including well-known household brands, online service providers, and hundreds of consumer product and service companies. Hydra’s thousands of publishers range from the largest portals and social network sites to a broad network of highly engaged vertical affiliates.

CEO and founder Zac Brandenberg, who utilized his hands-on experience in developing online-based ventures to found Hydra, spearheaded this unique and innovative concept. Hydra has earned profits of greater than $100 million by zoning in on the growing opportunities within the online advertising space.

Prior to founding Hydra, Brandenberg founded patriotic products online retailer GreatUSAflags where he launched the official “Iraqi Most Wanted” playing cards.  Grossing $10 million in just six weeks, it remains one of the largest e-commerce launches in history, and earned Brandenberg widespread media coverage and a reputation as an online marketing pioneer.
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By: Co-Editor, Bobby B:

Today I will veer off the normal path we usually take here at GreatStartups.com. I want to talk about an established company-Flatrate Moving whose services are of great interest to our readers. In addition, the company provides a primer on how to run a successful service business.

Founded in 1991 on the foundation of enacting a unique, flat-rate pricing method, FlatRate has catapulted itself to the forefront of the moving industry. FlatRate provides customers with a single all-inclusive price for any and every type of move, which eliminates the questionable pricing methods that are inherent in the nature of other moving companies. After coming to personally look at all that they would be moving, FlatRate calculates a set cost that will not change during any point during the moving process.

Building upon its success as New York’s largest moving company, FlatRate also offers its hassle-free, customer focused services to the New Jersey, Washington D.C., Miami, San Francisco and Los Angeles areas. The company is committed to integrity and to earning the goodwill of its customers by being able to meet the needs of any move, from residential to commercial, and from local to cross-country or even overseas moves.

FlatRate has revolutionized the moving industry by creating careers for their employees. Amenities for movers include marble bathrooms, health benefits and immaculate working facilities. Not exactly the typical workplace environment for so-called movers.

The company also has recently launched an elite service – much like a 1st class flight – ensuring every last detail is taken care of for the customer. There are no boxes to pack or unpack, fine wine and art moved under climate control, and electronics, computers and TVs connected upon one’s arrival home.
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By: Co-Editor, Bobby B:

Outright.com recently announced that Xpenser.com, the online service that tracks expenses via mobile devices—e-mail, SMS, Twitter, IM, or voice, will integrate with Outright.com. The new feature went live October 8, 2009.

This announcement follows Outright’s newest integrations with PayPal, Expensify and eBay, which were announced the previous week and is the latest development in Outright’s desire to serve small businesses. Their goal is to make financial management simpler and faster so sole proprietors can spend more time growing their business and less time on their back office.

Xspenser.com lets you record expenses via whatever means are available to you for free. They can be sent in via Email, SMS, Twitter, IM or voice. For example, from your blackberry you could email “Lunch 80.00 with ABC client”. Then you use the Web interface to edit and finalize expenses or export them to your financial management software.

This integration is one of the many ways that Outright’s open API can sync up with other third parties to streamline the financial record keeping process for business owners.
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By: Co-Editor, Bobby B:

In this country, we devour celebrity culture. More people could name Brad Pitt’s and Angelina Jolie’s kids’ names than could name the vice presidential candidates during last year’s election. Websites and television shows devoted to such things as the latest shenanigans of Lindsay Lohan are everywhere. So it would appear that the technology offered by Junkflash.com would be attractive to the multitudes that follow celebrities like I follow the stock market.

Junkflash is a new way to access celebrity news. The Junkflash browser add-in recognizes and tags up celebrities you come across while browsing. When you point at a celebrity name a sidebar appears showing the latest published headlines about that person. These are aggregated from the feeds of 50 top celebrity news sites.

Junkflash users do not have to search sites or clear out feeds to find gossip for which they have an interested. Junkflash brings relevant celebrity news to the context of your browsing. When you shop online for movies or music, or watch clips on YouTube or read a movie review and a celebrity is mentioned, Junkflash shows you the latest gossip about that person right there and then.

Another neat feature is that when you are already at a celebrity news site, Junkflash lets you see other sites angle on a story, or more recent developments.

Junkflash is a privately funded startup developed and run by a small team in Stockholm, Sweden. Open beta of the Junkflash Internet Explorer add-in was released October 2009.
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By: Co-Editor, Bobby B:

Are you a fashion junkie? Are you an eShopaholic? Are you interested in the style leanings of Little J on Gossip Girl? (Apparently her hair is longer and her eyeliner is a little lighter) Would you like to know about the benefits of seaweed extract? If so, Stylecaster.com is for you.

Stylecaster.com bills itself as the world’s first personal discovery style platform. It made its online debut just four months ago and its already boasting 650k unique visitors per month. The site aims to take a 360-degree approach to providing visitors with the ingredients to discover new styles and profile their own. Based on the amount of content on the site, they appear to be doing just that.

The content is provided by former magazine fashion editors such as Chief Content Officer, Meg Cuna, formerly at Lucky Magazine and Carol Han who was previously at Elle. The site’s includes expert written content, short videos, original photography and patented 360- degree outfit inspirations. Stylecaster also gives stylists, models and other in-the-know individuals an opportunity to generate content and gain exposure to vast audiences. The site also provides a well-edited feed of the expansive fashion news on the web.

Stylecaster.com has also launched an iPhone app that tells you what you should be wearing based on the weather. The free iPhone app pulls in a weather feed and will give you the recommendations of styled “looks” based on your current location and weather conditions.
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By: Co-Editor, Bobby B:

Best Buy Co., Inc. has enjoyed a remarkable decade. Best Buy was named “Company of the Year” by Forbes magazine in 2004,  “Specialty Retailer of the Decade” by Discount Store News in 2001.  It was ranked in the Top 10 of “America’s Most Generous Corporations” by Forbes magazine and made Fortune Magazine’s List of Most Admired Companies in 2006.

Now Best Buy can add a “Rockin’ the Future Award” to its trophy case.

Best Buy was honored at the RockStars@Work Conference in Minneapolis on October 20. The event was billed as the nation’s first generation-themed business conference teaching leaders to better relate to the next generation of workers and address the approaching talent gap in America’s workforce. The RockStars@Work Conference drew hundreds of business and non-profit leaders from all over the country focused on learning how to bridge the talent gap, obtain tools for succession planning, and learn about the workforce trends preferred by younger generations.

The Rockin’ the Future Award is  an exclusive award recognizing the company’s dedication to the development of young talent within its organization. Best Buy was honored for the company’s exceptional efforts at bridging the talent gap.

To be eligible for the honor, Best Buy had to meet specific criteria, including the placement of young professionals (under 40) in key leadership or decision-making roles; active training programs to aid young professionals in reaching their career goals; and an outreach effort targeting college-aged students or younger.
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By: Co-Editor, Bobby B:

Continuing our theme this week of youthful entrepreneurship, I have come across a Stanton, California company called KJE Inc.

KJE Inc. has recently launched Business-In-A-Bucket . Business-In-A-Bucket provides everything necessary to start a self-run auto detailing business, including a book entitled The Owner’s Guide to Auto Detailing an instructional guide written by the owner of KJE, Inc. Kevin Jones.

One of the reasons Jones started Business-In-A-Bucket to help young people gain a sense of responsibility and entrepreneurship. KJE Inc.’ Business-In-A-Bucket has made it easy for young people or anyone looking to make money with the tools to launch of an auto detailing business. The Business-In-A-Bucket products aim to help those suffering from unemployment and to help young people find the money for college.

In its press release, the company through Mr. Jones states ties the utility of Business-In-A-Bucket to the recession. “As we embark upon the worst economy ever, it is imperative that we think fast and think outside the box. Let’s face it, we are drowning. There is a giant leak in America’s economic boat. Do we wait for someone to patch the hole, or do we jump off and swim to shore,” asks Jones. “If you stay in the boat and do nothing, it’s a sure thing that you will drown. If you get out of the sinking boat and try to save yourself, your chances of surviving are greater. Business-In-A-Bucket is designed to help teenagers, anyone, earn income and learn entrepreneurial skills necessary for business success.”
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