By: Co-Editor, Bobby B:
The economy continues to recover from the recession, however, people are still saving more than ever and trying to cut their bills as much as possible. For sometime, a website called CouponMom.com has been helping shoppers save money. Founded in 2001 by Stephanie Nelson, CouponMom.com features online and printable coupons, and is free to register. The site had over 1.6 million subscribers as of April 2009 and claims to currently have over 2 million members.
Now the Coupon Mom is releasing a new book on how to save money on your grocery bill. The Coupon Mom’s Guide to Cutting Your Grocery Bills in Half by Stephanie Nelson will be out on January 1, 2010.
The guide is a book that pays for itself. In the book, Ms. Nelson shares her strategic money-saving techniques for saving big while living well.
Stephanie Nelson is a household name to knowledgeable shoppers. With appearances ranging from The Oprah Winfrey Show to The Today Show and Good Morning America , Stephanie Nelson has shown countless women and men how to save thousands of dollars by becoming savvy coupon clippers-without sacrificing nutrition or quality.
In The Coupon Mom’s Guide to Cutting Your Grocery Bills in Half, Nelson demonstrates all of the tricks of the trade-beyond coupons and tailor-made for a variety of shopper lifestyles.
Read more
By: Co-Editor, Bobby B:
There are many businesses that offer help in using eBay. These includes websites, software and other services that help sellers create better presentations to sell their wares on eBay.
PageMage.com appears to be a notch above many of these offerings. PageMage.com was launched on August 12, 2009, is based in Redwood City, California and is currently in beta.
Page Mage is an approved eBay listing solution. It utilizes a Flash-based platform that allowing eBay sellers to create customized, interactive listings, complete with rich-media features like video, embeddable image galleries, and animated text.
In addition to a tool that creates customized, rich-media listings, Page Mage users can also take advantage of social media features that allow them to post entire eBay listings into blogs and social networking sites. Armed with the capability of embedding a published listing on various sites, eBay sellers can drive more traffic, which obviously can translate into more bids.
While there are a few third-party eBay approved listing tools on the market, Page Mage is the first to integrate social media capabilities. With this tool at their disposal, eBay sellers can embed fully interactive listings in social networks such as Facebook, Myspace, Blogger and thereby expanding the seller’s reach. These listings retain all the features as if the visitor was still on eBay.
Read more
From: The Editors and Employees of GreatStartups.com
We wanted to take a day off from research and writing to be with our family and friends, therefore, no new companies or news today.
However, we want to wish all of you a Happy Holiday and Thanksgiving. We thank you for your continued support and appreciated every one of our loyal readers. We aim to continue to be advocates for Entrepreneurs and bring you interesting and exciting business venture.
By: Co-Editor, Bobby B:
Searching the Internet can sometimes be a real pain. Imprecise search engines and incessant registering can be a real hassle. We know there are other options than just google.com that exist.
NeedCube.com, a Budapest based start-up that was launched on October 30, 2009 seeks to revolutionize the way people find information on the web.
NeedCube is a unified place where people can submit their needs, no matter what the category of the need is. They only have to answer 5 questions: what, when, where, how many, for how much. NeedCube’s search engine will do its job by indexing and tagging all the relevant keywords to make it easy to search amongst the needs. For the sellers it can be a targeted place to see who needs their stuff.
There are obviously thousands of sites, where you can advertise your needs about a new car, new job, house, finding a date, etc. However, in order to fulfill all your so-called Internet needs, you would have to register at each of these sites, keep your data up to date. You must do this over and over again. In order to fully use the Internet to fulfill needs, we all spend many many hours looking around and registering for various sites.
NeedCube makes the Internet customized for your needs. It means you can create an online identity with all your dreams, needs, desires, wishes and requests, and people will come and fulfill your needs. The management of NeedCube believes that they can provide a very different experience than currently exists on the web. NeedCube believes that once people grasp the concept they will use NeedCube to surf the web for everything they need.
By: Co-Editor, Bobby B:
Projjix.com is an Irvine, California based startup, launched in beta on November 2, 2009, which bills itself as “The Consulting Marketplace”.
Projjix’s mission is to create a new paradigm shift in how Fortune 500/1000 companies find and engage consultants. Projjix helps companies realize significant cost savings by giving them direct access to experienced consultants via a low-cost and efficient online marketplace. Consultants can also benefit from lower pay rate markups, which translate into greater earnings potential.
Currently, a high percentage of consultants’ billings through Big 4 and other similar consulting firms helps pay for high overhead, including sales and management salaries, expensive office space and other perks.
According to a U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics’ study on Contingent and Alternative Employment Arrangements, 8 percent of the workforce is already listed as either Independent Contractors or as Contractors provided by a contract firm. This percentage is expected to continue to grow. The same study found that 82 percent of these variable workers preferred their work arrangement to a traditional job and this percentage is expected to grow as well.
“We all acknowledge that the world has changed and that companies are struggling to adapt. Traditional employment models are proving too rigid to keep up with the accelerating pace of change. In addition, highly skilled and experienced workers are leaving traditional jobs in record numbers to become independent consultants,” said Jim Hazboun, CEO and founder of Projjix. “The data is compelling. We believe that economic conditions are accelerating this trend and that Projjix is uniquely positioned to capitalize on this monumental shift as demand for consultants and project workers continues to increase now and well beyond the economic recovery.”
Read more
By: Co-Editor, Bobby B:
If you keep vital documents in files, boxes or file cabinets, you might consider a safer way to store such documents. If you would lose all your important document in a fire or if you had to quickly evacuate your home, you may also want to consider a new way to store your documents and information.
Launched on August 30, 2009 by the Los Angeles based Life Link International, LLC, “The SAFE” is a highly-secured data protection system designed to alleviate catastrophic loss of important information and eliminate the time-consuming drudgery of putting one’s life affairs in order. This state-of-the-art 2.0 USB flash drive is unique to the market.
The SAFE comes with a proprietary preloaded software application that helps users easily organize and store all personal information, household records, irreplaceable photographs and vital documents into one safe place. The SAFE is a personal assistant, available 24/7 and at your fingertips whenever necessary.
Read more
By: Co-Editor, Bobby B:
Yesterday in Newaygo County, Michigan, a deer hunter located the body of 75-year old Robert Davis. Davis had last been seen Thursday, October 29, 2009 before leaving his residence to visit a neighbor; he never made it to his destination. Robert Davis was suffering from Alzheimer’s Disease.
A cursory web search reveals dozen and dozens of such cases throughout the United States. It only takes a second for someone suffering from a debilitating mental disease to wander away. According to statistics, sixty percent of those with dementia will wander away at some point. Fifty percent of those not located within 24 hours will die.
It impossible for many of these people to be watched every second of the day. The quicker the police, hospitals, family, friends, and neighbors are alerted to the situation, the better, the more likely one will see a positive result.
MissingPatient.com a website launched in January of 2008 out of Westerly, Rhode Island aims to provided more happy endings to these tragic stories. Enrollment in MissingPatient.com Alert and ID allows police and emergency hospital access to a loved one’s information in the event they wander away or are found without identification. The information is then transmitted digitally (via cell phone text, email and/or fax) to a contact list, other police departments, hospitals, and/or the media.
Read more
By: Co-Editor, Bobby B:
Bollywood is an informal and sometimes misleading term. It correctly refers to the Hindi language film industry based in Mumbai, India. However, it is often used to refer to the Indian film industry as a whole.
Now comes a one of a kind initiative to blend the two largest cinema cultures in the world-TheScreenplayWriters.com. TheScreenplayWriters.com was launched in July 31, 2009 and is based in New York and Kolkata.
Whether you need a screenplay writer for a Hollywood or Bollywood project, TheScreenplayWriters.com has the talent you need to complete your next screenplay or treatment. TheScreenplayWriters.com is a bridge between the American and Indian film industries.
As part of their team they have screenplay writers for director John McTiernan (Die Hard, Predator), indie award-winners (including Best Screenplay at Telluride Indiefest) and hit Bollywood movie screenplay writers (Phir Hera Pheri, Mujhse Shaadi Karogi, No Entry and Pyaar To Hona Hi Tha). Past clients of their writers include TriStar Productions, HBO, Turner, BBC and the National Geographic Channel.
They provide screenplay writers to handle a variety of budgets. Utilizing resources from both places, they provide a cost-effective solution for a Hollywood writer or Bollywood writer. We also provide script consultant services for screenplay writers looking to cater to either or both markets.
TheScreenplayWriters.com brings together the best and brightest talents from around the world, specializing in Indian and American cinemas. Co-founders Pinaki Ghosh (author, screenwriter and CEO of Writer4me.com, a top-ranked ghostwriting service) and Nick Blake (writer, traveler, screenwriter and anthropologist) developed the idea after months of brainstorming following the success of “Slumdog Millionaire.” Both partners recognized the need for an internationally-minded screenplay writer’s marketplace to inform the growth of globally-marketed cinema.
So if you have an idea for a movie or an unfinished screenplay contact TheScreenplayWriters.com.
By: Co-Editor, Bobby B:
Getting ready for college prep exams such as the SATs can be one of the most frightening experiences for the high school students. Parents spend thousands of dollars each year on prep courses and tutors. A new site offers an iconoclastic approach to SAT perp, especially as compared to the rather staid approach of prep courses like the Princeton Review and Kaplan.
HigherScoreInsight.com offers an entirely new take to online SAT preparation assistance. Launched on October 1, 2009t, it marks the realization of entrepreneur John Shoffner’s new approach to SAT study and preparation. He paints SAT prep courses with a broad brush stating unequivocally “They all SUCK.”
Shoffner’s approach is to update the traditional method of SAT preparation and combine Sesame Street’s insights about keeping kids attention with the academic communities growing understanding of neuroplasticity. Neuroplasticity refers to the brain’s ability to reorganize itself by forming new neural connections throughout life.
HigherScoreInsight.com is a multimedia platform that combines music, film, characters, visual marks, community, an easy user interface, multi-perspective contributors, and more in order to make education stick in a “suck-free” way, as summarized on the site. Videos replete with bleeped out dialogue, pies in the face, and suggestive sock puppets make for a unique and entertaining learning experience. See video below.
“We offer a specific, educational experience that treats the SAT not as a unique phenomenon, but as a mere occasion to practice the skills one needs to overcome challenges,” explains Shoffner. Shoffner also feels that to offer the highest quality educational experience, you have to focus on the one thing that matters most—the student. “Higher Score Insight is designed to encourage the average American high school student to apply intense focus to the SAT content without the encouraging boredom,” says Shoffner.
Higher Score Insight is also offering the content at no cost, which therefore allows the site to appeal to the student without the concern of attracting their parents for the purpose of payment. “It is every parents’ wish to encourage hours of studying for this important test, and with our educational and entertaining content, the student has every tool needed as well as a few laughs here and there to make the process enjoyable,” Shoffner concludes.
By: Co-Editor, Bobby B:
There has been the “Grapefruit Diet” , the Atkins Diet, the Popcorn Diet, the Caveman or Paleolithic Diet and the Cabbage Soup Diet.
Now comes (drum roll please) the Cookie Diet. The Cookie Diet is the currently the best selling weight loss product in the country. It’s the #1 selling product at GNC last month and the product is also sold in WalMart, Walgreens, Costco and Target.com.
Dr. Sanford Siegel, the founder of the diet, originally created the diet in 1975. However, it was only available to patients in his Miami medical practice and at other doctors’ practices that he supplied with cookies.
In 2006, Dr. Siegel created CookieDiet.com. He began selling his cookies at Walgreens and GNC, and opened his first Cookie Diet store in Beverly Hills, California, which is frequented by Hollywood trendsetters. According to a recent New York Times article, he expects 2009 revenues to be $18 million, up from $12 million in 2008, thanks in part to endorsements from celebrities like Kim Kardashian, Jennifer Hudson and Kelly Clarkson.
Only Dr. Siegal and his wife know the key ingredient in Dr. Siegal’s cookies —special amino acids, which supposedly curb appetite —.
“It’s the particular mixture of proteins that does the job,” Dr. Siegal told the NY Times. “All foods do not handle hunger the same way, and high protein foods curb hunger.” The cookies, he said, contain protein derived from meat, eggs, milk and other sources. They also contain microcrystalline cellulose — a plant fiber that acts as a bulking agent, emulsifier and thickener — and are sweetened with sugar.
According to Dr. Siegel, over 500,000 people have lost weight on the diet. A bad of cookies costs $64.99 for a bag of cookies which lasts over 1 week (recession friendly). Moreover, Dr. Siegel does not come off as a quack (like many diet gurus do), he comes across as very reasonable, learned, and caring.
The site and the web are filled with testimonials trumpeting the diet including a woman even lost 250 lbs and was featured on the cover of People Magazine and Entertainment Tonight.
I have always been skeptical of fad diets, but you can’t argue with the success many people are having with Dr. Siegel’s plan.
