New York SBDC Research Network

In honor of OSCAR season. The movie Titanic, released December 19, 1997, had a production budget of $200 million, and had a domestic total gross of $600,788,188. But what if I wanted to know its gross for every single one of its 287 days in release? The foreign gross for the film was $1,242,091,767. But when was it released in Bulgaria, and how did it do? For all things involved with movie box office, I go to Box Office Mojo . "There are currently over 9,000 movies listed and more are on the way." BTW, Titanic was released in Bulgaria on March 27, 1998 and raked in $1,024,062. Other useful movie sites: Wisconsin Center for Film and Theatre Research Motion Picture Association of America Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences Screen Actors Guild

An effective, creative, and well-designed website for your small business is a critical marketing and sales tool that is essential in the Internet age. There are some consumers who do everything online, from watching TV to communicating with loved ones to purchasing services and commodities. Below are some tips to make the most of your online presence. Business Unusual : Take One Website, Add Stroke of Genius (Entrepreneur) For More Sales, Create a Landing Page (Entrepreneur) 35+ Usability Resources for Web Designers (DESIGNM.AG)

It's a new year and although I am not a psychic or business expert, I am predicting a prosperous and successful year for small businesses. Of course, not everyone agrees with me but I like my predictions more. The articles below will give you information on what business opportunities the real "experts" are saying will be hot for the coming year. 10 Hot Business Opportunities for 2010 - Anything "Green" is hot right now. Also pay attention to health, seniors, and education. Franchise Trends : The leading franchise categories poised for growth in the coming year. - The franchise trends follow the business trends above, with "Green" being one of the fastest growing franchise categories. 2010 Trends : 10 (and 1/2) trends to watch. - Further reiteration of the power of "Green" in the new year. And for a little leisurely reading... How to Be Happier in 2010 - It's easy to do. Just give away more money, be happy with less, and indulge occa

This week's New Yorker features an article by Malcolm Gladwell (author of The Tipping Point , What the Dog Saw , and other really interesting reads) called "The Sure Thing". I've always liked Gladwell's writing - not just for its clarity, but the way his iconoclastic approach never sounds contrarian just for the sake of being different. This article is more of this style. Its premise is that entrepreneurs don't succeed because they fit the romantic image of the reckless daredevil who doubles as a business savant, but rather from their innovative insights into an opportunity, combined with an aversion to risk and a predatory approach to getting the big deal done. The article cites numerous examples to back up this belief, and spends quite a bit of time detailing the exploits of John Paulson (a hedge-fund manager who made a huge fortune on short-selling credit default swaps just ahead of the housing collapse), and Ted Turner (to whom the myth of the populist bu

I thought this was an interesting article - a brief list of tips for the traveler: October 13, 2009 28 things I wish I'd known before I started traveling Posted: 09:38 PM ET Chris Guillebeau, AC360° Contributor I found a few things on this list that surprised me. For anyone traveling internationally, it is a good reminder of what to watch out for to ensure you are not taken advantage, you insult no-one and you stay out of trouble.

Marketing, sales and customer service don’t share information, according to Economist Intelligence Unit surveys . A series of surveys across six industries— financial services, technology, telecommunications, utilities, consumer goods and retail —reveals that most companies still fall short when trying to deliver value consistently in all the functions that interact with customers. In other words, cautionary tales.

It's been go-go-go here at the Research Network since the beginning of October. As a result, I've not had much chance to look at the usage statistics since then (nor has there been much in the way of blog posts lately, either . . . sorry about that). However, with the dawn of the new year, things have calmed down just enough for me to take a peek. Whoa. We've been running this library since October 1991. Among other things, I've a spreadsheet that breaks down requests from you for every month since then. From what I'm seeing, we just finished the busiest December in our history. And the busiest November. And the busiest October. I appreciate your ongoing trust in asking for our help with your clients. Discovering this is just the motivation I need during the cold, cold doldrums of early January. (And the average turnaround for each request has been just under 7 calendar days, a pace that also helps keep us warm up here.) (And sorry, again, for the lack of posts. Ha