Part 1: Sue Berk of Sue Berk Designs

Sue Berk Designs, founded in 2002, makes painted ceramic crosses, frames, and baby blankets. Sue Berk had no formal art training, but always had a love for it. Her background includes a Bachelor’s degree from the University of Texas, working in high tech marketing and product management, renovating houses, and making her own tiles for home renovations.

I think the most important thing that Sue Berk did was make the jump from a service-based business (where she was hand-making all her own ceramics for customers) to product-based business (where she could replicate her product in mass quantities). Service-based businesses limit your income because you can only make as much money as you have hours in your day. Sue could only paint so many items in a single day, and the more she painted, the less time she had to live the life she wanted. Switching to a product-based business allowed Sue’s income to take off while still allowing her to enjoy the rewards of seeing her designs in customers’ hands.

Website: Sue Berk Designs

Read the whole article at How to Make Six Figures

Part 2: Mike Koenigs of Traffic Geyser

Mike Koenigs got started at an early age, teaching himself how to program at the age of 14. His first company, Digital Café, a multimedia agency that produced games, movie websites, and other interactive experiences. He’s created over 300 web sites and more than 30 products, and has a quite impressive list of clients under his belt. Mike is also credited for inventing the "Internet Infomercial" for marketing and selling products or services with video on the web.

Mike Koenigs does two things that I really like:

1. He solved a problem in his own life, and then went to help other people like him solve the same problem. For every niche entrepreneur out there, there are many others who are in the same boat and have the same struggles you do. Being a DIYer who solves a problem for yourself puts you in an excellent position to solve that problem for others in your situation. Also, by serving people similar to you for your product, you already have an excellent understanding of your target market.
2. He takes a lot of notes. Whether you use a notebook or a mind-mapping program, I have found that jotting things down serves a record of my ideas and helps me process or refine an idea. Sometimes I see my notebook as a business colleague that I am bouncing ideas off — the ideas are inside me and I have the power to bring them to market, but I need a sounding board to help me refine and clarify them.

Website: Traffic Geyser

Read the whole article at How to Make Six Figures, Part 2

Part 3: Matt and Emily Griffin of Bakers Edge

Matt Griffin came up for the idea for his specialty brownie pan in 1998, but didn’t launch the company with his wife until 2002, and didn’t get the pan to market until 2005. They followed a very unconventional path, from winning an ideas competition (and $25,000 in cash from VISA and MSN), to being picked as one of Oprah’s Favorite Things.

I think Matt and Emily Griffin are an excellent study in perseverance — their product took 5 years of thought and processing to come to the market, but they still did it. Many people think they have to be first to the market to have any success, but a solid idea with a strong plan will make it whether it takes 1 month or 10 years.

Website: Bakers Edge

Read the whole article at How to Make Six Figures, Part 3

Part 4: Steven Woolley of ooTunes

ooTunes doesn’t have an exciting website or celebrity endorsements, but it is the #2 iPhone app of 2010 on CNET and one of Tech Digest’s Top 10 apps for 2009. Steven Wooley’s one-man software development team created an app with an average of 4 stars on 798 ratings with raves on both the app’s functionality and on Steven’s customer service in adding new features and addressing problems.

Steven Woolley is proof that you don’t need heavy funding to launch a serious business — he got started with nothing but a laptop and iPod, both of which had been given to him as gifts! You also don’t need many products to keep your business running strong, as Steven only really makes money from one. The important part is that he works hard on the one product to make it the best it can be, so that his customers keep giving him rave reviews and the sales of his app continue.

Website: ooTunes

Read the whole article at How to Make Six Figures, Part 4

Part 5: Rob Walling of Software by Rob

Rob Walling has been building web applications professionally for 10 years, working as as a consultant, a freelance developer, the development manager for the City of Pasadena, and a team lead for the world’s largest prepaid credit card company. His current "internet portfolio" includes sites like Dot Net Invoice, Wedding Toolbox, and Apprentice Lineman Jobs.

The thing that stands out about Rob is DIVERSITY. He doesn’t rely on any one income stream to meet his monthly numbers, which softens the blow to his finances if one of his sites doesn’t do well in a given month. I think Rob should also be applauded as being one of those small business owners that keeps the economy strong, as he not only pays himself income, but also employs virtual assistants (VAs) to help him run his day to day operations.

Website: Software by Rob

Read the whole article at How to Make Six Figures, Part 5

Part 6: David Wood, author of Get Paid for Who You Are™

David Wood is fast becoming one of the foremost voices in online marketing and lifestyle design, having built a rewarding hobby into a million-dollar online empire that allows him to work and play from anywhere in the world. His book and website helps entrepreneurs turn their passions into rewarding careers by building internet businesses. He breaks his launch plan into five simple steps, and incorporates giving back into the overall vision of building a business.

I think David is spot on when he describes his only limit as being himself now. When you work for yourself, as I do, I have the choice of launching my idea today or one year from now. All I have to do is decide to "feel the fear and do it anyway" (as David says), push through it, and get it done.

I also like that David had so many coaches assist him along the way. So many solopreneurs think they have to do everything on their own, but that isn’t true. It is important to build your own tribe (colleagues, friends, coaches, or financial advisers — whoever it may be!) to see you through your business. Just find the key people who you need to succeed in your business and surround yourself with them.

Website: Get Paid for Who You Are

Read the whole article at How to Make Six Figures, Part 6

Courtesy of ContactMe.com

1. Will my logo be made at a high resolution?

All graphics can be downsized. That its, if you make a logo that is print resolution (generally a large file), it can be downsized for screen resolution and web site use. The problem is when a logo is given to the client at web resolution (72 dpi) and the client wants to print business card, make a banner, or even just have the logo on the site in a larger size. Upsizing images leaves them looking pixelated and jaggy, where as downsizing keeps a graphic file crisp and clean.

The logo on the left was downsized from a larger file,
while the logo on the right was upsized from a smaller file.

Summary: Make sure your logo is designed at 300-600 dpi minimum — higher if you will be making signs or banners.

2. What file format will my logo be in?

If the logo designer gives you a file that is already compressed (for example, in JPG or GIF format), you will not be able to make modifications to the file, change colors, resize it, or remove the background. Where I see this problem the most is with clients who have a JPG logo on a white background and want to put the logo on a colored background — the background has to be removed by hand, bit by bit, which is time-consuming and expensive.

This is the result of changing the background color from white to black without the original source file.

Summary: Ask for your logo to be in EPS/vector format, AI (Adobe Illustrator) format, or PSD (Adobe Photoshop) format with all objects ungrouped or in their own layer.

3. Do I own the rights to the original files?

This is the most disheartening issue that I see crop up: Business owners who have a compressed/web version of their logo that are told they don’t own the rights to the original files when they go back to ask for a new version. You will always need several versions of your logo, so you will need the original files to make those versions down the road. For example, I have been working with the Rockstar Wedding Planer LIVE Grace & Luxury team to get their e-zine out to there subscribers, and as part of that I had to send them their logo in four different sizes, both on a white background and on a transparent background. Making clean, crisp versions of all those would have not been possible if the logo designer hadn’t provided the full Adobe Illustrator files.

If you want crisp logos in a variety of sizes, you'll need your original source files.

Summary: When you make a contract to hire someone for a logo, make sure they will be providing you with all the information and files at the end — including your logo in EPS/AI/PSD format, the fonts used for the logo, and the colors on the logo in both print (CMYK) and web (RGB).

Starting a Small Business

• How to Write a Great Business Plan
  Sure, you might be able to start a simple business without a business plan if you are not looking for funding, but writing out a business plan is an important step to help you clarify your offerings and goals with your business. I have seen many businesses fail from a lack of focus and direction.
• How to Choose the Right Colors for Your Brand
  From your website to your business cards, the colors you choose shape the opinions people will form about your business. Even if you are hiring someone else to create your branding, you should read this article to know what to watch out for.
• 10 Things to Do Before You Start Your Start-Up
  Planning is an essential part of starting a new business, so do your research before you start your business to save you from a lot of costly mistakes down the road.
• How to Write a Marketing Plan
  Even the most innovative products on the market can die a slow and painful death from a lack of sales. The difference? People who meet their sales goals have a clear marketing plan, which enables them to make the right move at the right time.

Your Home Office

• The Basics of Home Office Design
  Some people can just grab a laptop and go, but I find that I am more productive when I use a space that is designed for working. Mine happens to be in half my bedroom, which would kill some people but it is a good location for me. The goal is to design a space that works for you and meets the needs of your business.
• How to Set Up a Home Office
  This one goes into detail about tax deductions for home offices, which is an important consideration for those who work at home.
• Deducting Your Home Office Expenses
  Knowing what you can and can’t deduct off your taxes before you set up your home office will empower you to make more financially sound decisions for your business setup.

Running a Small Business

• How to Run a One-Person Business
  If you’re looking to run a one-man (or one-woman) show, you’re going to need a variety of skills to get the job done.
• 25 Ways to Jump-Start Your Business
  Has your business become stagnant? Get it going again — fast! — with these hints and techniques.

Sales and Marketing

• How to Improve Your Cold-Calling Skills
  I know that I generally do well on a sales call, but I only make warm calls (and I dread those anyway). The ability to turn a call into a sale without seeming like a pushy salesperson is a valuable business skill that everyone should have.
• How to Manage a One-Person Sales Force
  An efficient system is vitally important to a successful solopreneur business. This article will show you how to get there.
• How to Make Money on Etsy
  Are you a crafty person? You can make a great living on Etsy, selling your handmade goods, if you start with some sound business principles and some marketing know-how.
• How to Use Social Networking Sites to Drive Business
  The key to successfully using social media is to drive sales for your business is creating an efficient system so that you are not wasting all of your valuable time online.
• 7 Common Sales Mistakes, and How to Avoid Them
  By learning from others’ mistakes in sales, you can set your business up to be more successful from the start.

Your Web Site

• 7 Deadly Website Sins
  Before you spend money (or hours of your own time) on a web site for your business, read this article to educate yourself on the issues you should avoid.
• How to Design a Great “About Us” Page on Your Website
  This article is a great read for two reasons: 1) The About page is an important piece of your web site; and 2) The process of writing the About page will get you thinking about your marketing messaging, business goals, and how you will sell yourself both on- and offline.
• 10 Vital Items You Should Give Your Web Designer
  I’m not a big fan of the term "web designer" being used here, but gathering this type of information and handing it over to your designer/developer/marketing lead will save you from having to redo the site a day after you finished the first version.

Small Business Inspiration

• And the Money Comes Rolling InMarkus Frind started Plenty of Fish out of his home, in his spare time, and now his site serves up over 1 billion of pages a month and he pays himself $5mil USD a year.
• How Would You Like to Make $6 Million Sitting on Your Couch?
  Paul Mann runs Fetch! Pet Care, a service with thousands of employees all across the nation that brings in over $6mil in revenue yearly — and he does it all from his home.
• How to Make a Million in Your Pajamas
  If you think you can’t make "real money" working from home, think again — not only are entrepreneurs making sustainable income from their homes, they are increasing their profits by saving on overhead for their business.

I came across the article Guidelines for Going Self-Employed on workawesome this morning, and it feels like they are leaving something out. Sure there are disadvantages to being self-employed, but they are not as bad as the article makes it seem. Here’s the reality of self-employment from my own perspective:

Salary

A guaranteed paycheck is just not guaranteed anymore. I started out my working life in the days of the dot-bombs in Silicon Valley, and I was out of a job every 4 months or so. Today’s economic environment is equally volatile, but it is more widespread across all industries. The problem with working for someone else right now is that you are relying on their decisions at a time when only the fittest are surviving. Is it really "job security" if you are relying on someone above you to make the decisions that are best for you and your family?

I also think it is a myth that you need several years to turn a profit. If you are a smart entrepreneur, bootstrapping your own business, you can turn a profit right away. I made a profit my first month in business because my business model has very low overhead, and I kept my investments smart. There are ways of testing the water and earning income without having to dump large amounts of money into a business that you won’t get back for several years.

Benefits

Benefits for group plan insurance are no longer cheap, nor fully paid for in most companies, so a "regular job" is not a guarantee of benefits. Small businesses also have new offerings in insurance because insurance companies finally got smart and pooled smaller businesses together to look like one large group plan. To get around this problem entirely, just get married to someone with a regular 9 to 5. It has worked well for me for about 7 years now.

Vacation

The article makes it seem like taking a vacation is impossible, but I don’t think that is true at all. I manage to go on daytrips and longer vacations with my family throughout the year, and I’m the only employee in my business. In fact, I don’t know one self-employed person that doesn’t go on vacations. Being self-employed makes vacations easy because I don’t have to ask for time off in advance or get permission to take a trip from anyone. If you are self-employed and finding you can’t take a vacation, try some of these strategies:

• Find another you.
  I’ve made a lot of friends in the business over the years, so I have someone I can call if I need some help with a client while I am gone.
• Take mini-vacations.
  Instead of spending a month away from home, break it up into several trips throughout the year.
• Go wireless.
  Handheld devices are getting smaller and more powerful, and wifi networks are widely available. With tablet PCs, smartphones, iPads, laptops, and other wireless devices, there’s no reason why you can’t check in with work from the road or respond to an emergency if you need to.

Freedom of Schedule

I can’t really just take off half a day whenever I want, as the author made it seem, but I do have the option of picking my kid up from school, taking a park day, and doing most of my work from 9 am to 1 pm and 9 pm to 1 am. That flexibility is what made me decide to work for myself in the first place, so that I can have the family life I wanted and be there for my kids.

In Conclusion

While working for myself is not always a walk in the park, it is really not as scary as the author made it seem. I love it and have been doing it for over six years now. It really has been the best choice for me and my family. I wouldn’t want it any other way!

Flickr photo by ShashiBellamkonda.

I learned a painful (and expensive) lesson recently, courtesy of Google Checkout. If you are a small business providing services to your clients, please read the rest of this story to decide for yourself whether or not you will risk offering Google Checkout to your clients as a payment method.

For most of my projects, I take two payments — a 50% deposit at the start, and the rest around 30 days later (or at the site launch if that comes first). This method seemed like a good compromise with my clients, decreasing the financial risk for both client and developer. The deposit is generally non-refundable under most circumstances because it pays for my time helping the client determine the course for their site, and I put a lot of time and effort into site planning.

Last spring, I started a project under these terms and accept a deposit through Google Checkout. Due to communication issues, the project progress stopped. (I won’t go into details here because this article is not about placing blame.) The client wanted 100% refund on his deposit, but I explained that I had already spent time on the project and could not offer him that. He opened a dispute through Google Checkout, in which we went back and forth for a while. I offered to give him all my notes, plans, and theme files for the project so that he could take them to another developer to complete the project. He refused, saying those files do him no good and that he wanted a website. I relented, offering to finish the site if he would close the dispute. He did not close the dispute — he wanted either 100% refund or a site. Not being able to trust him with an open dispute, I let the project go.

Months later, the client decided he still wanted his money back and he disputed the charge with his credit card company. I got a notice about the pending action and wrote up a lengthy response to the matter, sending in my earlier offer, my refund policy, and all of the ongoing conversations with the client as evidence. Google sent me a response a few weeks later, telling me that I had lost the dispute and that they were withdrawing the amount from my account in addition to a $10 fee for losing the dispute. Their reasoning was basically that their payment protection did not apply to service-based transactions. Regardless of the case I argued, I would have lost. He got his files and my time for free, and I was left with a -$10 balance in my Google Checkout account.

But the pain didn’t stop there. I had recently switched around my accounts after my bank increased fees on accounts, so the account Google tried to take the money from was no longer valid. Google then sent me a letter stating that if I did not repay the amount within 10 days, they would shut off all my Google services. As I use Google for Analytics, Gmail (Google Apps for Business), Feedburner, etc., I had no choice but to immediately pay up the amount plus the fee.

If you have a service-based business, I strongly suggest that you use PayPal if you want an easy credit card processing system. As a solo entrepreneur, I don’t do enough credit card volume to warrant having a merchant account solution, so I rely on 3rd party credit card processing. PayPal does a good job with seller protection and their dispute process, so I will be continuing on with them.

I have already removed all Google Checkout links from my site, and I will no longer be using my account there. Their fees are the same as PayPal anyway — I only started with them to offer my clients a choice and because Google automatically deposits the money into your account within a few business days. (With PayPal, you have to manually transfer it after receiving money.)

There is just no excuse for letting a buyer get a full refund on their purchase months after they made it. Google Checkout’s system would allow someone who purchased a site 6 months ago to get a full refund on it if, say, their business wasn’t working out or their traffic didn’t build the way they wanted it to (both of which have nothing to do with the developer who made the site). Clients shouldn’t be allowed to get automatic refunds just by disputing the charge with their credit card company.

For your protection, don’t do business with Google Checkout if you are a service-based business.

Flickr photo by Patrick Hoesly.

I switched to Mail, the e-mail program that comes with Mac OS X. The program itself works fine, but that’s not the point of this post. While I was cleaning up my mailboxes and transferring them, I realized how much e-mail I had just sitting around, not being deleted, that were completely unnecessary. The problem, I decided, was my use of filters—I had nearly 50 filters to sort e-mail into various boxes. What this meant is that I could just push aside e-mails instead of actually dealing with them.

Nikole’s Inbox, Unfiltered

Before you start laughing about my inbox problem, you have to realize that I have domain ownership or webmaster control over many domains, including my own and those of my clients. This means I get a few hundred legitimate e-mails a day. So what I did to deal with these e-mails in a more efficient way was to create a set of rules for myself to deal with my e-mail:

• Turn off all filters
  In my case, I just didn’t import them. What this did was to make all e-mails go directly into my inbox, every time.
• Implement spam filtering.
  Before switching all of my e-mail accounts to Google Apps for Small Businesses, I used to have to sort through thousands of spam messages every day. Google now catches about 95% of the spam. The flip side of this is that it also catches maybe 2% of legitimate emails, so I go through my spam folder on the Google Apps website once a week to read headlines so that I can send through any non-spam e-mails.
• Answer e-mails as they come in.
  I invoked a bit of Charles Green’s rules for e-mail on this one: As each e-mail comes in, deal with it. This doesn’t mean I have to do the work immediately. It means that I respond with an answer, whether it’s an immediate answer or just a "I’ll do this at such and such time".
• Create actions.
  If I can answer an e-mail immediately and there is no reason to keep the e-mail, I delete it! I know this is a no-brainer, but you’d be surprised how many e-mails I found cluttering my box that I should have just deleted. If the e-mail contains important information for the project, I put it in a box for that project. (Alternatively, you can just put the information in your project management software or contact management software.) If the e-mail requires work to be done on my part, I add it to my task list.
• Archive e-mail.
  When a project finishes, I put the entire project inbox into an archive folder. This way, if I need it 6 months from now, I can find it—but it’s not cluttering my e-mail program on a daily basis.

So how is this going? I started out with an inbox of about 2,500 e-mails. I’ve now been able to maintain it under 100 for over a month, so I think I’m doing pretty well!

Reader Question

What do you do to keep your inbox under control? Do you delegate like Tim Ferriss? Respond to everything like Charles Green? (For a review on the difference, see here.) Or do you have your own set of rules for your e-mail?

This week’s Carnival of the Capitalists for January 29, 2008 is up at Bizosphere. This week’s host is cehwiedel from One Man Band. Of note in this week’s CotC:

Sharing the Wealth

Top Experts Dish with their Best Kept Marketing Secrets

The article some great insider tricks from 25 top marketing experts. As a bonus, you can also read and share your own secrets in the comments. I think the most important take-home lesson is the inferred secret, though: let 25 top people talk about themselves and they will link back to you! (I actually saw this piece the first time on Guy Kawasaki’s twitter feed, before seeing it here.)

Worms in my Apple

Apple’s Achilles Heel

I shared a lot of the author’s thoughts while I was listening to Steve Jobs’ keynote speech this year. As a long-time Apple user (I’m writing this on my MacBook right now), I have often thought "HUH?!?" when hearing some of the things Apple has announced. I mean, come on, Apple TV? I’m still upset that Apple blocked the development of instant-view movies by us Mac-based Netflix subscribers to pave the way for their own movie download service. I curse Steve Jobs every time I see the error message telling me to visit from a Windows machine in the Netflix instant viewing section.

In the end, it had nothing to do with the aesthetics or the influence, but with clarity. I simply felt the ads were distracting me from my true, internal reasons for having this site, and I couldn’t let that happen. The ads were removed, my purpose for this site has been reaffirmed, and all order has been restored.

Which brings me back to my continued goal of Less for 2008: Less Noise. By taking the time to reflect on my true goals and eliminate outside influences in my decision, I came up with the right decision for me—and that is what "less noise" is all about.

What is noise? Noise is the activities going on around you, the distractions hiding your message, the things keeping you from your focus, clarity, and true self.

Reducing Actual Noise

I don’t know how anyone works from a coffee shop. I suppose if I had some sort of writer’s block, I might head to one to energize myself to get going again—but for the most part, that amount of action and sound is completely distracting to someone trying to work. Instead, I work from home, where I can have the house as quiet as I want and not have to worry about my silence being invaded. If controlling your environment is not possible, try these ideas:

• Don’t listen to music.
  I know someone is going to come on here and tell me how their music makes them work better, but for the most part, it does not. (The one exception might be music without lyrics, played softly, but even that is not always effective.) What happens in reality is that your brain is going into overload trying to stay on task while also processing the words to the song and whatever else is going on. This kind of mutiltasking actually makes you slower and more prone to mistakes. So turn that music off and learn how to enjoy the silence.
• Wear earplugs.
  If you have no choice but to work in an office or a noisy location, bring some earplugs with you. Of course, don’t use them in any situation that might be dangerous, such as while riding a bike or driving a car, but feel free to use them when your yackity cube mate just won’t shut up.
• Soundproof your home office.
  Even if you don’t live near an airport or a busy freeway, reducing the noise in your environment can help you concentrate better and reduce your stress levels. There’s strong evidence to support the idea of noise inhibiting learning and causing stress, such as this study on children and noise done by my alma mater, Cornell University.

Quieting the Noise in your Head

External noise isn’t the only thing distracting you. For many entrepreneurs, the constant swirl of ideas and passions makes concentration nearly impossible. To clear your head so that you can concentrate more, try these new habits:

• Use a notebook system.
  It doesn’t matter if it’s an actual notebook with a pen, 20 notebooks, bits of scrap paper, or a file on your computer: writing things down will get them out of your head and make room for you to process the things you are currently working on. Think of it as a mental filing system—by putting your thoughts on paper, you allow your mind to free itself of the burden of trying to remember them. Many people love the Getting Things Done system for this.
• Find a quiet place.
  Some people go for walks, meditate, or practice yoga; I do all my best thinking in the shower. The purpose of this is to find a space in which you are free of noise and distractions in order to internalize your thoughts and solve your current challenges. When I am under the greatest work stress, I have gotten a great deal of clarity out of hot shower or a extra-long run.
• Listen to yourself.
  Many times, a struggling business owner will seek out the answers to get through the next dip by hiring consultants, callings colleagues, or spending hours on Google. These activities often add to the noise and stress, not reduce it. Instead, try internalizing your search and reflecting on your current progress and goals. You may find that you have more of the answers than you think! This process also allows you to adapt your business to current challenges while avoiding any "me too" behaviors or opinions that will draw you away from the core of your business.

Taming the Electronic Noise

All of the electronic devices we depend on can add to the noise in our lives that is keeping us from greater productivity. To tame that beast, turn it off! You can live for an hour or 2 without checking e-mail, IM, Twitter, or your phone messages. There are very few times in life where picking up the phone on the first ring is actually important.

Eliminating Behavioral Noise

In my next post in this series, I will go more into the nuts and bolts of eliminating unnecessary activities and actions from your daily life. For now, focus on time management and wasting less time as a way of eliminating behavioral noise—by removing unnecessary actions from your daily life, you will help eliminate the noise from your business as well.

Filling the Noise Void

What happens when the noise is gone from your life? Your signal to noise ratio increases, making the message and path of action more clear for you. That is the goal—to help your brain eliminate or reduce the noise in your life in order for the true message to come through clearly. The entire process of eliminating noise from your life will help you to achieve clarity and confidence in your business strategy and execution.

A Note About This Series

In case you missed it, this series started with Less, Part 1: Time.

Photo by BarelyFitz.

Recession? What Recession?

Selling In A Recession – Why Some People Are Going To Crash And Others Are Going To Fly

This one started out a bit weak in the "keeping my interest" department, but finished with 5 solid sales tips.

That StubHub Clashes with your New StumbleUpon

Complete List of 2007 Web / Technology Acquisitions

2007 certainly was a big year for buyouts! I was surprised to see some of the items on this very extensive list.

How to Lose a Few Extra Pounds this Year

How to Manage a Deadbeat Employee

This article was great on motivating people, but I probably would have fired a person who exhibited the kind of behavior described in the article long before I tried to develop them as a person.

Not the Mention You Thought it Would Be

The Most And Least Profitable Businesses To Start

The top 10 and bottom 10 lists cracked me up. When I think, "I’d really like to start up a business", I don’t think of a doctor’s office or chiropractic center. What was the point in including so many results that were simply professions that required an advanced degree? No one goes to school to be a doctor, lawyer, dentist or accountant to open up a Subway sandwich shop. Most of the listed "businesses" were simply extensions of the schooling these people already obtained before opening their own business.

Future CotC

Remember, future carnivals will now stay exclusively at Bizosphere, although the format will continue to change as it evolves.