What the really successful independent stores do is combine consumer friendliness in terms of design, space, and amenities with the kind of knowledgeable and dedicated staff that's traditionally thought of as characteristic of independents. I think there's a plausible argument that independent stores underestimated initially how important the experience of shopping was to customers.

***

These stores are also taking advantage of a genuine market opportunity by being active intermediaries between their customers and book publishers. (Amazon does it via collaborative filtering, while brick-and-mortar rely on staff members.) The real challenge for readers today is figuring out which of the tens of thousands (or more) of books published every year is worth their time.

Editor's note: We're excited to present the twenty-eighth in our popular weekly series of PowerBlog Reviews of other weblogs...


The Ego blog is a Swedish blog written entirely in English by Martin Lindeskog. Martin blogs from Sweden's industrial port city of Gothenburg.

As its title suggests, the writings in the Ego blog are based on the philosophies of "Reason - Egoism - LaissezFaire Capitalism." This is a blog very much about Ayn Rand Objectivism and capitalism in its purest sense. The following quote of Ayn Rand sums up the philosophy and gives a clue as to how Martin got the name for his blog:

"My philosophy, in essence, is the concept of man as a heroic being, with his own happiness as the moral purpose of his life, with productive achievement as his noblest activity, and reason as his only absolute." - Ayn Rand

FORKUM: The initial idea for the logo was a graphic solution using the word "ego" to form a person's face, but the results didn't really connote egoism strongly enough. I knew John could illustrate a heroic, proud man so that is the tack we took. ***

COX: Heroic was what I was shooting for. There was power in his stance that I think captured a sense of joy and determination.

• Companies selling to small businesses will be dealing with Hispanic-owned and operated businesses more frequently, even in relatively remote areas of the Midwest and Northeast. Successfully reaching these businesses may require more nuanced sales and marketing approaches than the seller is used to in such locales.



• Multicultural employees are an advantage. Hiring practices should -- and will -- evolve in a landscape that increasingly includes Hispanic-owned businesses and Latino consumers.



• Small and midsize businesses that sell to consumers may find that their local market demographics are shifting faster than they realize. Companies that are used to advertising on the local country music station might want to try the fledgling Spanish-language station, too. Don't have a Spanish-language radio station in your part of America? You will soon.

1. Travel time will be reduced as people access nearby airports.

2. Economic development will be spurred in smaller communities.

3. Air congestion around large cities will be reduced.

4. Safety will be improved.

AOL's second annual instant-messaging trend survey shows that business use of IM is increasing. Approximately 27% of IM users now say they use it at work, compared with 16% in 2003. That means 24 million people in the U.S. use IM at work, mainly to:

• Communicate internally with colleagues (70%)



• Get answers and make business decisions (63%)



• Interact with clients and customers (34%)



• Avoid potentially difficult in-person conversations (11%)



• Touch base with children from the office for peace-of-mind (22%)

Editor's note: We're extremely pleased to present the twenty-seventh in our popular weekly series of PowerBlog Reviews of other weblogs...


Small Business CEO is an excellent blogging resource designed specifically for CEOs of small businesses. As the title says, the site assists CEOs "in growing their business by providing focused information, resources, services and advice."

The site is run by Steve Rucinski. Steve is a consultant who assists small businesses in developing and implementing growth strategies.

He created the site as a resource for CEOs of the client companies he consults for, and, really, any CEO of a small business.

Not only is the site a service for clients in its own right, but it has an added benefit: it requires Steve and his associates to stay current on issues that clients are likely to face.

As Steve told me, blogging forces Steve and his associates to work harder to find and share resources, advice and information to help their clients. They then take their enhanced understanding and integrate it into their in-person work with CEOs.

Steve says he is still learning how to use blogs effectively as a business tool. But he also believes that his consulting company will only get better at serving clients the longer they blog.

What I like best about this blog is how easily and quickly you can scan it for useful information. A busy CEO with limited time can go to the site, quickly scroll down, and instantly see what is of interest since the last visit.

• Perhaps one-half of the posts highlight other website resources. Steve presents each of these posts as a simple screenshot of the site along with the URL and a brief description. Nothing could be easier for the eye to scan.



• The rest of the posts are substantive articles. These focus on the special pressures and issues that CEOs face. As they say, it is lonely at the top, and Steve aims to speak directly to a CEO's special concerns.

• Private equity firms and venture capital firms raised funds several years ago with capital deployment time limits that are about to run out. They need investments before the time limits expire.



• The Internet has made it easier to find businesses for sale, even by foreign nationals. Buyers from outside the U.S. are actively seeking American businesses to buy. They find potential acquisition candidates through the Internet, and visit the U.S. to check them out. If the deal works out, they apply for Visas.



• More out-of-a-job executives are looking for businesses to buy.

The consensus in the business community is that litigation is "too much, too time-consuming, and too expensive." To defend a claim through the entire arc of litigation could take years and thousands of dollars in attorneys' fees and expenses, which you are unlikely to recoup, win or lose. Even when lawsuits are settled out of court, which happens much more often than not, settlements usually occurs only as the trial date approaches and after most of the costs have been incurred.

Although not without its shortcomings, ADR generally promises reduced legal fees, litigation expenses, and diversion of resources. In most cases it also offers speedier resolution; more creative, business-driven solutions that are based on parties' real interests rather than on attorneys' legal posturing; and greater privacy and confidentiality.

My work day starts when I wake up and ends when I convince myself to go to bed. Much less of my communication is face to face compared to back then. There's the phone, e-mail, messenger, and so on. But there's a lot of non-work stuff that gets injected in there too. Life and work blend together far more this way. And I see nothing wrong with that except that the burden is on me to keep things in check. But with that burden comes the freedom of more flexible hours, locations, and so on. Few of my meetings are repeating, regularly scheduled affairs. That, of course, helps a bit too.

If someone actually asked me "how many hours a week do you work?" I'd have no idea how to answer.

Welcome to the virtual workplace and, in some ways, the virtual job/life mix.

Editor's note: This is the twenty-fifth in our popular weekly series of PowerBlog Reviews of other weblogs...


We can't help but marvel at the number of business blogs that have sprung up in the past 6 months. Savvy entrepreneurs and business people are catching on to blogs' promise and potential.

What's interesting to watch is how each of the blogs in this space is carving out its own particular niche, or unique approach. We appreciate each blog for what it brings to the table.

The Small Biz Advisor weblog is one of the blogs that is carving out its own space. It bills itself as a free online resource for small business owners. Its mission is "to teach our members how to start, grow, and manage their small businesses better." It brings its readers news and editorial updates.

The blog is run by Joseph R. Jones of Seattle, Washington, USA.

It offers original articles, especially advice and "how-tos."

For instance, a recent series of articles appearing on the site were written by the author's wife. The articles are notable because they are written from the perspective of the spouse of a small business owner. They're written in an easy style. The articles capture the essence of how a small business impacts the owner's entire family. She writes:

You've finally made the decision to start a small business. You're checking off all the boxes: business licenses, logos and letterheads, accountants and attorneys. But there's one glaring omission from your "to do" list - your spouse. Yes, you and your spouse discussed the small business idea. Yes, together you weighed the risks versus the rewards. You both agreed to go for it. Now, you need to discuss what "going for it" means to your lives and your marriage, because your spouse will quickly discover that you just brought the office home with you permanently.

Thanks to the knife-edge balance in the Electoral College, the only voters who really matter are in places like Wisconsin, Ohio and Florida.

And it's the rural voters in those states who will likely decide which way the race goes.

Many small and medium-sized growers aren't big enough to sell wholesale to Wal-Mart or Kroger. But they also don't want to be tied to selling only at a roadside stand.

Produce auctions are the middle ground. Here, wholesale buyers are usually local groceries, restaurants, city farm markets, and even temporary roadside stands...."

For the $700 million North American fair industry, the new smorgasbord is partly a response to healthier diets and evolving tastes. But it also reflects shifting demographics. The number of Asian and Pacific Islanders in Iowa, for example, has grown by 28% since 1990, primarily driven by an increase in Vietnamese residents. The Ohio State Fair's new "Fiesta Ohio," a celebration of Mexican heritage, is an effort to reach that state's fastest-growing minority group.

..."soft" factors, such as the desire to stay closer to family, avoid the stress of the office, and cut back on commuting time, coupled with the need to extend the work day (due in part to downsizing), have translated to increased interest in telecommuting among employees -- as well as businesses.

...living standards in the delta region were now comparable to Hong Kong's in the 1980s. "At that time, so many of us in Hong Kong would like to travel, to buy vehicles and so on. Isn't this being repeated in the delta region?" Yeh said.

...is leading a push to bring more people of color and women into the organization's volunteer ranks. The reason? He wants the volunteers to reflect the demographics of those budding business owners SCORE assists.

"Right now, we are an older white male organization. We want to change the face of SCORE," says Yancey of the 40-year old Washington, D.C.-based volunteer group.

Barry is a very funny and smart entrepreneur and writer. As his bio says, "Barry J. Moltz has been running small businesses with a great deal of success and failure for 15 years." He's even been dubbed the Bill Cosby of entrepreneurship, because of his humor. Of course, I like the description on his business card best of all: "passion, courage and a streak of craziness."

So, with that introduction, we are very fortunate to have Barry provide his trend insights today here at Small Business Trends.

We asked Barry to give us some pithy takes on key trends he sees among entrepreneurs and small businesses in the new millennium. Here are the trends Barry Moltz identified:

• Our 1990's hangover is almost over
  
  We are finally back to realizing it is better to get customers than money if you are an entrepreneur serious about building a business. We realize we won't get money for our business by writing our ideas on the back of a napkin. We need to dig into our bank accounts and invest our own money first to get real paying customers that are not our relatives. Thick business plans and excellent products don't always mean a financially successful business. Think marketing. Think sales and distribution. Just because you build it, does not mean people will come! If you solve a real problem, people will pay you for it. But beware, consumer paradigm shifts take forever.



• We are downsizing our dreams
  
  More of us are lowering the personal financial expectations of our businesses. We realize that we do not need to build and run publicly traded companies. Few of us should be Michael Dell or Bill Gates and that is fine with them. We know there is nothing wrong with choosing a lifestyle business that generates several million dollars in sales. We have stopped trying to keep up with the Joneses or whoever it is we are meeting on the chat boards these days. We just want to build something we are proud of. The key question we face is "Can we merge our personal and business goals into one fulfilling life?"

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Editor's note: This is the twenty-fourth in our popular weekly series of PowerBlog Reviews of other weblogs...


One of the most interesting trends in the blogging world today is the explosive growth in business blogs. What's even more interesting is the specialization and niche focus many of the business blogs have adopted.

The Business Opportunities Weblog is a great example of niche specialization. And it is a very creative use of the blog format, as well.

The Business Opportunities Weblog is a "moderated list of legitimate business opportunities for entrepreneurs." This site is no shill for fly-by-night web operators. Rather, the site says it will "only list quality businesses opportunities and will not knowingly promote junk bizops, and will actively take a stand against them."

The Business Opportunities weblog is published by Dane Carlson, from Central California, USA.

The format of the site is simple: business opportunities are highlighted in chronological blog entries. In addition to business opportunities, there are occasional news links and other topics of interest to small business owners and entrepreneurs.

This is a very large site. It has over 2200 articles, going back to 2001.

One of the things I like best about this blog is the way it is regularly updated with good, useful, interesting content that is not covered anywhere else in other business blogs. For instance, one recent post noted the perfect businesses for stay-at-home Moms, acknowledging in the process the large number of stay-at-home Moms there are. Another post reviews a franchise opportunity called 1-800-DRYCARPET.

All the business opportunities that Dane covers are presented as straightforward and factually as possible. No hype. No sales pitches. Just information.

A while back I asked Dane if he receives compensation for reviewing individual business opportunities, and he says he does not. Given the fact that we are all bombarded with marketing at most of the Internet sites we visit, Dane's low-key informational approach is refreshing.

The Power: The Power of the Business Opportunities weblog is in its use of the blog format to highlight small business opportunities -- and in its straightforward, factual coverage of specific opportunities.