By Jen Hickey. This is Part II of our two-part series on green technology and the small business. Part I (click here to read), focuses on the return on investment for green products and technology. More and more people are greening their purchases when it makes sense to do so. The entrepreneur that can provide a green product or service that has clear benefits and can help consumers save money at the same time will find the market wide open. According to a 2007 Simmons study, the number...

by Reed Richardson. For those companies that are open only a few months during the year, all the normal obstacles to achieving small business success can be multiplied several times over. Yet a common misconception is that seasonal small business owners have it easier, spending half the year simply relaxing rather than working hard on their ventures. “People think I make money all winter long and then just go golfing all summer, but that’s a big myth,” explains Davey Pitcher, whose...

There is a lot of disagreement about what’s meant by the term “influence.”   In the old bricks-and-mortar world, influence referred to the ability to sway people’s beliefs or actions.  The people wielding the influence were usually recognizable names. Defining Influence Influence in the online world still has to do with impacting behavior, but influencers – now sometimes called “e-fluentials” – can be almost anybody.  Further, social influence doesn’t just affect buying habits, it can...