New York SBDC Research Network

ABC has another reality-TV program idea from the producers of American Inventor . Now inventors will have an opportunity to show their stuff on American Inventor , the new prime-time program set to premiere in early 2006. Contestants can show off their product and have it voted on by the American public, with hopes to win the million dollar prize for best concept. Auditions are being held through November and December for those of our clients who are less tight-lipped about their inventions. Host City is New York for December 7th. Time and place have yet to be set. “An embodiment of the ultimate American dream, the show will uncover the hottest new product and make some struggling inventor's dream come true. The show will celebrate the best in homespun American ingenuity and will turn one person's idea into the next big thing.” There are some products that are ineligible: Drugs Medical devices Plants Adult entertainment products Firearms and explosive devices Hazardous chemic

In anticipation of the SBIR conference taking place in Albany in a couple weeks, I urge you to familiarize yourself with the Small Business Innovation Research program by going here . You'll find an overview of the program. Click on the Announcements and Solicitations button on the left, and you'll be directed to the SBIR websites for the 10 participating agencies, which are: Department of Agriculture Department of Commerce Department of Defense Department of Education Department of Energy Department of Health and Human Services Department of Transportation Environmental Protection Agency National Aeronautics and Space Administration National Science Foundation There are three phases of the grant process: Phase I is the startup phase. Awards of up to $100,000 for approximately 6 months support exploration of the technical merit or feasibility of an idea or technology. Phase II awards of up to $750,000, for as many as 2 years, expand Phase I results. During this time, the R&am

The University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee has created a page that is a real time-saver. They've taken data that you can find from the Census Bureau - if you had LOTS of available time - and the built a useful Web site around it. The aim of the site is to provide data on a) consumer purchasing power and b) a workforce overview. Data can be found for specific ZIP codes, metro areas, or Census tracts. At this Web site http://www.uwm.edu/Dept/ETI/PurchasingPower/purchasing.htm , you'll find these options: Purchasing Power by Census Tracts for custom made printouts of purchasing power for 16 retail categories and data on the workforce population for any U.S. census tract. Purchasing Power by ZIP Code for data on retail expenditures for 16 consumer areas, retail and business establishments, and the available workforce for all residential zipcodes in the U.S. Purchasing Power Rankings for Top 100 Metro Areas for ZIP code rankings of each of the 16 retail expenditure categories for the 1

This week, after completing a question for a business advisor, I realized that I didn't have a mailing address for the new outreach office. (1) I quickly logged into the Internal web site but found no information. (2) Then, I called the main regional center and left a message. So, the package sat on my desk until the next day. I waited and waited, but still no call back. I couldn't call the business advisor himself because his original request was via e-mail and did not list the outreach office phone number. (3) Finally, in late afternoon of the second day, I called the main regional center again and was able to get the phone number and address, but not the ZIP code. I thought this was the last step, but I had to (4) call the outreach center to get the ZIP code. So, after 4 steps, I managed to get the package in the mail. The point of all of this is my plea for all of you to take a look at your center's information as well as your personal contact information in the Interna

Survey Says…Internet Pet Peeves: What Drives Consumers Away From Your E-Business Hostway Corporation Pet peeves about commercial websites or how to drive customers away. Top three: of course, pop-ups, required registration, and required installation of extra software “…more than 70 percent of consumers say they’re unlikely to purchase from, or even return to, a Web site after encountering these pet peeves..” All Merchants More of what not to do on your website including dead links, worn-out phrases and solid pages of text. A few points to consider when designing a web site while considering your audience.

For your clients in all lines of business, not just service and retail. For all except the first article, you will have to register with BNET, but the registration is free. BusinessWeek has a great interview/book review on the importance of details to customer service. Author Michael Levine says that operational details, such as limited hours and dirty bathrooms send a message to customers about the general quality of a business. These details have a more significant effect on customers than you might think: "The consumer mind has a logical and emotional part, and if you don't speak to both, you will lose them, especially when they're hungry, tired, angry, or lonely. "We're living in an age of anxiety. When people are not hungry, tired, angry, or lonely, the emotional side will win the debate with the logical part of the brain 80% of the time. When they're hungry, tired, angry, or lonely, emotion wins 100% of time. We are often hungry, tired, angry, or lonel

Over the summer, I heard from someone at the Brockport SBDC. She was helping in the creation of a center newsletter, to be distributed among past clients & other friends of the program. She was looking for any sources of royalty- or copyright-free articles on the Web. If you're in the same boat, you might want to check out what I found: * http://www.articlecity.com * http://goarticles.com Both of these sites break down their content by subject, and both have a heading for "business". So if (or shall I say, when) you're pressed for time, check out these sites for possible content ideas.