"Before, people in China couldn't imagine being an entrepreneur. They only tried to build large state-owned companies," Ms. Sun says. "But now, it's getting better, as people see that even Bill Gates is an entrepreneur."

"...I'd say that of the world's economies, there's more that believe in intellectual property today than ever. There are fewer communists in the world today than there were. There are some new modern-day sort of communists who want to get rid of the incentive for musicians and moviemakers and software makers under various guises. They don't think that those incentives should exist.

And this debate will always be there. I'd be the first to say that the patent system can always be tuned -- including the US patent system. There are some goals to cap some reform elements. But the idea that the United States has led in creating companies, creating jobs, because we've had the best intellectual-property system -- there's no doubt about that in my mind, and when people say they want to be the most competitive economy, they've got to have the incentive system. Intellectual property is the incentive system for the products of the future."

"The key to success in any business blogging endeavor is to be helpful to the audience you serve. If you can make their life easier or help them find the resources they need in less time than it would normally take, you can develop a faithful following. Be consistent in communicating with your audience. Gaps in communication can be a sure way to lose that following. I like to prepare ahead with all of my blogs. I search around for useful information I can share and make sure I have enough in my holding queue to keep my blog going for at least two weeks, a month is even better. I use Google Alerts to keep me abreast of what's going on in my topic areas. I'm always on the lookout for day-to-day life experiences that can add value to my blog.

Affiliate programs and advertising will work in a blog if they follow along with the same concept of helping the audience you are serving. Everyone's been through at least one frustrating episode of searching for what you need on the Internet. If all of that can be found in one place, whether it's free, via an ad or affiliate program, it will be a useful resource to readers."

• The ability of PR professionals to control a company's message and public perception is waning. Power is shifting to the individual, especially individual bloggers. Many more people will be writing about companies and their products, and even more people will be reading those messages. Those messages are not coming from the communications professionals who work for your company, but average citizens over whom you have no control.



• Press releases as a method of getting out a company's message are on the decline. However, PR flaks are not dead. Their role is simply changing. Rather than creating canned communications, a larger proportion of their time needs to be spent on monitoring blog messages about their companies and clients. Viral marketing campaigns will take a bigger chunk out of marketing budgets. Marketing communications and PR professionals need to know how to use news feeds and feed readers in order to track what is being said about their companies. He says you need to be aware of the top 8 blogs in your industry, you need to read them, and you need to engage and make comments on them.



• PR professionals also need to find more authentic ways to relate to customers, such as creating official corporate blogs and helping corporate executives communicate with the public in their own voices. He says some CEO bloggers have writing coaches who correct their typos and help with style (you suspected that, right?). Andy warns that companies need to watch out to make sure these blogs are authentic voices -- authenticity matters.



• He seemed to suggest that 100% transparency when writing a blog is not always realistic or desirable. If you are too open and reveal too much you can lose your competitive advantage. He also noted that in publicly-traded companies, how open you can be depends on the position of the person writing a blog. For instance, a Robert Scoble can be more transparent because he is not a legally-designated "insider" official who is bound by strict SEC laws. However, the vice Chairman of General Motors can't afford to be as open in his Fastlane blog, because he makes all sorts of decisions that if casually revealed could sway the stock price and have serious legal ramifications for him, the company, and its shareholders.

• Updated: It's a BlogFest! by Michael Podboy, who happens to be seated next to me today. (I'm at the laptop table -- you have to have a computer to sit here -- er, not really but it seems that way.)



• Top Reasons PR People Should Blog by Spinfluencer.



• How to Pitch Bloggers: Quick Notes from the New Communication Forum by Tom Foremski of Silicon Valley Watcher.

• To identify the blogs which are influential in your target space, check services such as Technorati and Bloglines to discover which blogs are discussing your clients or your company, and its products and markets. Then visit those blogs and check their blogrolls and post links to find other related-topic blogs.



• The time to develop relationships with influential bloggers is before you need to make a specific pitch. Spend some time commenting on blogs that are key to your client's or company's markets, so that you are not unknown when a need to make a pitch arises.



• Personalize your message to the blogger. Phrase your email something like this: "I read your post about such-and-such, and it reminded me of this point...."

• The person who owns the blog can choose the topics that are discussed and direct the discussion, more so than on a message board.



• You'll find it easier to link to an individual topic or post on a blog, because each post has a "permalink." Whereas, depending on the particular forum technology being used, it can be hard to link to a particular thread.



• Forums tend to be heavily moderated by the owners, leading to a lack of perceived trust. Blogs on the other hand, tend to be high-trust animals.



• Blogs can be more user-friendly for the reader, because they are written as conversations with the items appearing front and center on the site. Forums tend to require more drilling down to read them.

"Look for Boomers to continue to flood the entrepreneurial ranks. If you want to keep them (and demographic trends suggest you will need to) then be prepared to offer them the right mix of flexibility, challenge and rewards. All-or-nothing approaches to employment particularly for those nearing retirement age simply won't cut it. Many older workers want to continue to work, indeed many will have to, but continuing in high pressure, all consuming roles is not an option they care to pursue. They want to do something fresh and new that allows them to draw on their deep knowledge about their work, their field of expertise, their industry and their company and its culture. New roles need to be created that keep older workers involved meaningfully but which also offer significant flexibility and choice in when and how much they work. Mentoring, consulting, and project-based assignments appeal to older workers burned out by the grind of full-time work but not ready for retirement."

The first observation is that it is young people between 25 and 34 years of age who are the most active entrepreneurial group of the population regardless of the wealth of the country from which they come. After the age of 35, all populations show a steady decline in entrepreneurial activity. While some minor differences can be observed between individual countries, the pattern has remained unchanged since GEM's inception in 1999.

Editor's note: Could it possibly be the forty-ninth in our regular weekly series of PowerBlog Reviews of business weblogs already? Yes, it is!


Phosita is an intellectual property blog and part of that special genre known as the law blog, or "blawg." It is the blog of the Oklahoma and Washington based law firm of Dunlap, Codding & Rogers. Douglas Sorocco, along with Melody Wirz, Neal Rogers and Julianna Deligans, are the bloggers.

Phosita has one of the most intriguing "about" sections of any blog out there, because it is a little lesson about the law:

"PHOSITA is everyone and no one in particular. PHOSITA is an intellectual property blawg or patent blog. In patent law, PHOSITA is a mythical person of ordinary skill in the art. Why is PHOSITA important? In order to be patentable, an invention must not be obvious to PHOSITA. This blawg (legal blog) aims to provide intellectual property information, explantion and advice that is of interest to the PHOSITA in all of us."

It's Friday (TGIF) and I must admit, I am part of a cult. I am a Moleskine'ista. There isn't much I can do about it. These little notebooks have been with me all over the world and back. *** I have waived it at irate cabbies, hidden behind it while lounging over coffee, and used it to make a point during a speech. I once waived it so furiously during a seminar that the participants started giggling and offered up a resounding Hallelujah -- I guess I looked like some type of southern preacher with my bible in hand.

"To really answer it, I think you have to expand the question to include all forms of audio over the Internet.

Last year around this time I saw a prediction that Internet radio would be hot. I was skeptical (actually I laughed). Well, it turns out that 2004 saw a mini-explosion in all things audio-related.

The thing is, varying terminology and related technologies are being used to describe similar end results (i.e., an audio file). When you expand the question in this way, you realize that audio is really hot right now -- but it might be called podcasting, Internet radio, conversations, audio blogging, recorded interviews, MP3 downloads, or other terms. But they are referring to more or less the same end result: an audio file that can be downloaded and listened to."

• Most entrepreneurs (65%) are opportunity-driven, versus 35% who start a business out of necessity due to lack of jobs. Opportunity-driven entrepreneurs are more prevalent in high-income countries like the United States, Canada, Australia, United Kingdom, Ireland, etc.



• Venture capital funding for new businesses is quite rare, with 99.9% of nascent businesses never receiving VC money or angel funding. We've talked about this topic many times before here on Small Business Trends. This year's report contains more detail than ever on the sources of funding. It further substantiates this important point: hunting for venture capital is a waste of time.

• The average capital needed to start a business is US$53,673. At first glance this number seemed high to me, but then this money would not be distributed all at once. Instead the money is likely to be doled out over time. Viewed in that light it seems realistic.



• Many entrepreneurs are already employed as they develop their businesses. My friend Annie, who is from Shanghai, tells me the Chinese have a name for this: "riding in the big boat while carrying the little boat on your back." Apparently this kind of new-business subsidy goes on far more than I would have guessed, with 91% of those in middle-income countries having jobs. In high-income countries the figure is 81% and in low-income countries it is 77%.

Editor's note: Welcome to the forty-eighth in our regular weekly series of PowerBlog Reviews of business weblogs.


I've watched with great interest the growth in English-language Romanian blogs, especially business blogs. Business Romania is an excellent example of this small but growing number. The blog has been on the air since August of 2004.

Business Romania "writes about the Romanian business landscape, doing business in Romania, investing in Romania business and debating on business issues in Romania." Obviously, the blog is written partly for Romanians who want to keep up on the latest business news and developments, and partly for English-speaking countries that might want to learn more about the country for business purposes.

The blog is a team effort. Mihai Botea founded it and gets contributions by Iulia Stoicescu, Mihai Seceleanu, Cristi Francu, Tudor Montescu and Mircea Boistean.

The founder works for a software and Web design company in Bucharest, the capital of Romania. He says Internet access in Romania today is poor making blogging a bit hard to do. Despite these challenges, blogging in Romania is also fun, he says.

I asked him why there are Romanian business blogs in English, but I can't seem to find a single Polish, Slovenian or Hungarian business blog in English. He says Romanians are early adopters of technology, noting that nearly one third of the population has mobile phones. The Internet is also used extensively in Romania for email, both business and personal.

Romania is in a state of transition. The communist regime ended in 1989 and Romanians are looking forward to entering the European Union in 2007. Some of us in the U.S. and other non-European countries might not appreciate the significance of entering the European Union. For the countries involved, it is a BIG deal. It's the debutante ball of business. It means the opening of markets and lowering of trade barriers, not to mention being an event of enormous symbolism.

One of the best features about this blog is the way it often scoops the Romanian mainstream media. In the U.S., all too many blogs consist primarily of cites to news items already covered by big media with no original commentary -- but not at Business Romania. Mihai says:

"Even though there are business newspapers in Romania, the press cannot always publish all the news. Our blog has been the first one to announce some business movements in Romania that the press could not announce (as they were seen as unofficial rumors at that time) and I think this helped the business community in Romania."

Anti-Trending and Other Trends for 2005
Entrepreneur's Top Trends for 2005
Small Business is Itself a Trend
Top Technology Trends for 2005
Top Global Consumer Trends
Inc.'s Trends for Entrepreneurs in 2005
Top Travel Trends for 2005
More Top Trends for 2005
The Small Business Advocate's 2005 Predictions
Top 2005 eBusiness Trends
Entrepreneurship Trends for 2005
Health and Family Trends for 2005
Powersports Industry Trends for 2005

• V-Twins
  
  Harley-Davidson has dominated the V-Twin market for decades. The custom manufacturers have entered the field with high-quality, reliable, eye catching bikes, albeit at high prices, ranging from about $30,000 to over $100,000. The two big makers of such bikes, Big Dog Motorcycles and American IronHorse, are sold out for just about all of 2005. I expect to see this market continue to grow.



• Watercraft
  
  This market has been trending downward for some time. The cause? Mostly caused by the way users abused the environment, thereby triggering adverse legislation. I expect to see some stability as the warm weather approaches. It will take more aggressive dealer input to convince customers to obey both the laws and the social obligations to allow others to enjoy the water too.



• Scooters
  
  The "echo" generation (children of the Baby Boomer generation) appears to love scooters. Once they were made and sold primarily in Europe. The narrow roads and limited parking there made scooters practical. In the U.S. scooters have been selling in college towns and high-density urban areas. Now the Japanese companies have raised the bar by producing large displacement (up to 650cc) scooters that can cruise at well over the Interstate speed limit all day. They made these units capable of carrying a large quantity of "stuff" in well-designed storage areas.



• ATV
  
  Once again the Feds are getting anxious. The news reports of children getting hurt or killed is the first wave indicating that there will be hearings followed by legislation. Once again the dealers who sell these units must do more to educate their buyers. If the Feds keep up the pressure I expect to see this market flatten out after having grown dramatically for the past decade.



• Performance Bikes
  
  "Mine's faster than yours." "Mine can take corners better than yours." These are the buying paradigms of the young, testosterone-driven wannabe racers. The manufacturers have complied. Of the 40 fastest production vehicles in the world, 38 are motorcycles. Insurance companies are well aware of this and are setting the premiums accordingly. These over 1,000cc bikes will continue to sell but I don't see any growth in this market, only a shift in market share based on who has the fastest for that particular period of time.



• Dirt Bikes
  
  The dirt bike products are better than ever. More power, better handling, better suspension, superior brakes. The problem? Land closures. That means fewer places to ride. While private land is still available in many parts of the country, events like the enduro, which require miles of terrain, are becoming less available. The other problems are noise and restricted trail use.
  
  The European makers continue to produce "race ready" off-road bikes. The Japanese and now the Chinese supply most of the units purchased by the hobby or casual rider.
  
  What will the future hold for this segment? I expect a small decline over the next few years.



• Touring Bikes
  
  The race to see who can produce the largest displacement engine is about over. The rider has come to the conclusion that size does matter but that size and associated weight matter in a negative way. Fuel injection, electronic gadgets, cushy adjustable ride have been available for several years. Older riders who are in no hurry to get anywhere ride these bikes.
  
  The biggest displacement bikes will continue to be relatively steady while the smaller displacement (600cc to 750cc) will gain in sales. They are just as fast and easier to handle in heavy traffic.



• Mid-sized Bikes
  
  It seems little manufacturer attention to this segment has been a factor in the rather uninspiring offerings in this market. While popular in other parts of the world, the American market seems to prefer performance or touring bikes. The better performing scooters may be encroaching on this segment too. I don't expect to see much in the way of movement in this small segment.



• Dual Sport
  
  This segment of bikes ranging from 250cc up to 1,000cc continues to grow. The bikes either favor road or off-road, depending on the manufacturer's focus. They don't excel in either category. However, the riders have a tendency to be more casual and not as strongly competitive. The western United States with hundreds of miles of dirt roads are ideal territory for dual sport bike riders. Expect continued small increases in sales of this niche.



• Pocketbikes/Pit Bikes
  
  This niche has great potential. Professional racers, RV owners and children alike seek it. The price range is as wide as the appeal. Although some are sold outside the usual powersports dealerships those inside the industry have a better chance of survival. These bikes are prone to being abused meaning they require more service. Big boxes and auto parts outlets are ill-equipped to handle after the sale service.



• Utility Vehicles
  
  These 4-wheel, side-by-side seating vehicles are in demand by farmers, ranchers, hunters and other enthusiasts. Demand continues to outstrip supply. Yamaha's Rhino has raised the bar with their offering. Kawasaki, John Deer, Polaris and others are beginning to hone in on the demand for creature comforts and performance demanded by the buyers. I expect this market to continue to grow as the supply of product grows.



• Conclusion
  
  The year 2005 and 2006 should show continued but small growth overall. The exchange rate, which favors American exports, is an inhibitor. The prices of all imported niche bikes can be expected to increase beyond the inflation rate. That's just my opinion. But as Dennis Miller says: "I could be wrong."

Like this article? Read more by John Wyckoff:

How Harley Davidson Lost its "Cool"

Motorcycle Industry Learns Women Rule


UPDATE February 8, 2005: For those of you reading this article who sell motorcycles and other powersports units, please note that John's new book just came out: Mind Your Own Business, 2nd Edition: The Complete Guide to Profitable Powersports Dealerships.

"In this session, a panel of experienced bloggers shares their secrets for how businesses get real results -- with measurable ROI -- using blogs as part of their marketing strategies. Includes discussions about using blogs to market products, advertising on blogs, using RSS (news feeds), repurposing blog content for email newsletters, using blogs to obtain high search engine rankings, and using blogs for business networking among your target audience. You'll also receive a map of the network of Northeast Ohio blogs -- who links to whom -- and how the network can be used as a marketing vehicle."

• Grain of Truth
  
  OK, it's not exactly a low-carb diet, but whole grains are less fattening and more nutritious than refined white flour. Whole grains lower cravings for carbs -- and keep the weight off -- as a result.



• Express Workouts
  
  Express circuit workouts, like those offered at Curves, the fast-growing women's gym chain, are hot. They combine strength training with fast-paced stations like jumping rope so you get a total-body workout that includes the cardiovascular exercise.



• Pet Adoption
  
  We all know that pets can be therapeutic, right? Pet adoption options are a growing trend. More people are choosing to adopt pets from shelters, meaning fewer healthy dogs and cats are being euthanized. Web sites like Petfinder.com are making it easier for people to adopt pets and find rescue dogs.



• Baby Name Trends
  
  Biblical names and classic names continue to be popular for babies. For boys it is Michael, Joshua and Matthew. For girls it is Emma, Elizabeth and Hannah.



• See the USA
  
  Family vacations that involve staying close to home are very popular. Camping is the most popular outdoor activity. Small towns, beaches and historical sites are also hot.



• Specialty Pet Food
  
  Take a walk through the pet food aisle at the supermarket, and it's likely to boggle your mind. There is pet food for overweight cats and aging dogs. In 2005 organic pet foods will grow in popularity as well as natural pet foods designed for pets with allergies.



• Crafting Goes High Tech
  
  The Internet is now being used by crafters to trade embroidery designs. Sewing machines now have more computing power than the Apollo spacecraft! Computerized embroidery machines can create incredibly complex patterns. Who would have thought something as low tech as crafting would end up growing in popularity due to technology?



• Wireless is All the Rage
  
  Wireless networks are popping up in commercial spaces everywhere -- coffee shops, restaurants and airports. Even city-wide wireless clouds are in the works.



• Pharmaceutical Drugs Come Under Fire
  
  It started when the widely-prescribed arthritis medicine Vioxx was taken off the market. Rumors that other FDA-approved drugs may be questioned are cause for concern.



• Trans-Fats Under Fire
  
  When hydrogen is added to vegetable oil, it stabilizes the shelf life -- and clogs our arteries. Expect everything under the sun to be trans-fat free by 2006.

Anti-Trending and Other Trends for 2005
Entrepreneur's Top Trends for 2005
Small Business is Itself a Trend
Top Technology Trends for 2005
Top Global Consumer Trends
Inc.'s Trends for Entrepreneurs in 2005
Top Travel Trends for 2005
More Top Trends for 2005
The Small Business Advocate's 2005 Predictions
Top 2005 eBusiness Trends
Entrepreneurship Trends for 2005

Editor's note: we are very pleased to present the forty-seventh in our regular weekly series of PowerBlog Reviews of other weblogs.

Just when you think there can't possibly be a different approach to a marketing blog, one comes along to prove you wrong. MaxBlumberg's Positioning Game takes a different angle to blogging.

Oh, this blog certainly writes about marketing topics, and it's all very interesting. But what's unique about it is the "Positioning Game."

Max Blumberg walks selected small and midsize business owners and managers through a strategic exercise to assist them in properly positioning their business. So how this is different from what any marketing consultant worth his or her salt would do? Well, rarely is the positioning process carried out on a website and open to all to see. That's an unusual, but highly interesting, use of a weblog.

Readers get to watch the positioning exercise. We get to watch as Max asks questions to understand the situation and as his advice unfolds.

As of this writing, Max is in the middle of a positioning exercise for a corporate events business. The summary of the output so far from that exercise (it's not completed yet) is here.

Only on a blog or blog-like site could the Positioning Game take place. You need two-way conversations with readers, chronological format, and ability to easily update the site. Without these features the Positioning Game would be simply too cumbersome.

The Positioning Game originally started out here on Ecademy, the business networking site.

Max says he blogs as a way for readers and prospective clients to decide whether they like the way he thinks and his approach to marketing strategy. And as he says "The benefit to readers is that they can get professional opinions on global business news that are normally available only from the large investment banks and expensive research houses."

Few blogs offer the kind of strategic commentary on marketing issues for big business, that Max also provides on this blog.

One of the questions I've started asking of PowerBlog Reviewees, is the value they get out of blogging. Max replied by pointing to this exchange with well-known ad copywriter, Bob Bly, in which they chat about the benefits of blogging, and Max concludes that blogs are primarily a means of PR.

Max himself has a varied, intriguing background. He has been a professional musician, an Accenture consultant, and an entrepreneur who started and sold a large technology distribution business. Currently he is working on his PhD.

The Power: The Power of the MaxBlumberg.com blog is in its use of the unique attributes of the blog format (two-way conversations with readers, chronological format, easy updating) to solve a strategic marketing challenge for a real live business. It's interesting and instructive all at once.

• Economic Development Becomes More Entrepreneurial - Economic developers are beginning to realize that spurring entrepreneurial activity should be a key part of their programs. "Many states are unveiling new programs, and the federal government is also offering its support."



• Equity Capital will be More Plentiful - "...the supply of equity capital appears to be growing. Angel investing is on the rise, and established venture capital (VC) firms are doing well. The VC business has stabilized, the initial public offering (IPO) market has rebounded, and firms are aggressively searching for new investment opportunities. Many industry watchers have predicted that early stage investing will likely grow. As always, VC investing will focus heavily on new technology sectors, with software (especially security and storage), and life sciences (especially health care services) garnering much attention."



• Health Care and Other Benefits Drag on Small Businesses - The cost of providing employee benefits is a growing burden on small business. Aging baby boomers will require retirement benefits and flexible working arrangements.

Anti-Trending and Other Trends for 2005
Entrepreneur's Top Trends for 2005
Small Business is Itself a Trend
Top Technology Trends for 2005
Top Global Consumer Trends
Inc.'s Trends for Entrepreneurs in 2005
Top Travel Trends for 2005
More Top Trends for 2005
The Small Business Advocate's 2005 Predictions
Top 2005 eBusiness Trends

• Alternative Advertising: Major brand owners are concerned about TV commercials losing eyeballs, and so they will be spending more of their advertising budgets in different arenas. The big winners will be online, including rich media and overall online ad spending. Also, marketers are figuring out how to incorporate the Internet into word-of-mouth marketing. (And many word of mouth campaigns will involve blogs.)



• RSS: Not only will usage of RSS newsfeeds grow, but marketers will attempt to leverage them for advertising.



• AOL Changes: AOL has lost 4 million subscribers in two years and will have to change its business. It will begin to make a larger percentage of revenues from online advertising. (Of course, we all know its ISP service is a bit of a dinosaur in these days of cheap, pervasive broadband and great Web browers.)



• On-Demand TV: Time-shifted viewing and ad-skipping, together with video on demand, are changing the television landscape.



• Wireless Broadband: We will start to see more video on our cellphones.



• Radio Frequency Identification (RFID): Big-box retailers like Wal-Mart are mandating that vendors implement RFID inventory tracking. (If you want to know more, please visit my other blog, the RFID Weblog.)



• Voice-over Internet Protocol (VoIP): Businesses and consumers are finally becoming aware of voice calls over the Internet, in growing numbers.



• Linux: Linux adoption in the enterprise continues, especially as companies upgrade servers.



• Cross-Channel Retail: Expect increasing integration of retailer efforts across all platforms: Web, catalog and stores.



• IT Security: You've heard it before, but the message is the same this year again: security will be a top spending priority among CIOs.

Anti-Trending and Other Trends for 2005
Entrepreneur's Top Trends for 2005
Small Business is Itself a Trend
Top Technology Trends for 2005
Top Global Consumer Trends
Inc.'s Trends for Entrepreneurs in 2005
Top Travel Trends for 2005
More Top Trends for 2005
The Small Business Advocate's 2005 Predictions

• 2005 Prediction: China will resist pressure from the U.S. to allow its currency, the yuan, to float, instead of being pegged to the dollar. Due to its poorly operated credit sector, China considers its growing economy too fragile for the yuan to float.



• 2005 Prediction: The European Union's economic growth rate will be less than 2.2%. Saddled with systemic socialistic business practices, the EU is struggling to be competitive in the 21st century's global marketplace.



• 2005 Prediction: The U.S. economy will grow at an annual rate of over 4%.



• 2005 Prediction: The annual unemployment rate will end the year below 5%.



• 2005 Prediction: The United States will continue to lead the world in promoting entrepreneurship, but also watch the new entries into the European Union, like Poland, plus India, and yes, China.

Anti-Trending and Other Trends for 2005
Entrepreneur's Top Trends for 2005
Small Business is Itself a Trend
Top Technology Trends for 2005
Top Global Consumer Trends
Inc.'s Trends for Entrepreneurs in 2005
Top Travel Trends for 2005
More Top Trends for 2005