How to Create Letterhead Templates in Word

Do you have letterhead for your new fab company? If not, use this article as a guide, save some money AND time, and do it yourself!

(via LifeHacker.com)

What it Takes to be Rich

Here's an interesting roundup from Money Magazine on "What it Takes to be Rich." The reporter actually did something pretty novel: he randomly rang the doorbells at over 200 beautiful homes to try to find out how the people living there actually got there in the first place. Many did not want to talk, and he was even chased by a guard dog at one point, but he did manage to get some pretty interesting stories.

We're Goin' to the Hamptons!

Watch out Kelly Ripa, we're Hamptons-bound this weekend.

Paper Mama will be participating in this upcoming event this Friday. Joining me will be my fabulously talented cousin Meri who recently launched her own fantastic line of kid-friendly t-shirts: VeryMeri. My brother and cousin Mike run a wildly successful security tag business, which means that each of the four oldest grandkids in our family are kickin' it entrepreneur style. It's definitely in our blood--our Grandpa Harry was one hell of a business man. He opened a sporting goods store/RV dealership on Long Island over 50 years ago that remains in business even today.

Unusual Business Ideas That Worked

I've talked about this blog before, but its really worth mentioning again as its one of my favorites: Unusual Business Ideas That Worked.

I have no idea who writes this blog as the author's profile is blank, but whoever you are mystery man/woman, you continue to provide me with daily inspiration. There is no particular one kind of company or business mentioned; instead they feature a variety of simple, really good ideas that average joes and janes like you and me have pursued with sucess. Some of the ideas, in fact, are mind blowing...and sometimes I'm left feeling like "hey how on earth can they be making six figures plus when I'm not!?," but mostly I just get re-inspired and re-motivated about my own business after reading about all these other successful peeps.

Def worth adding to your Bloglines feeds.

Paper Love

Our wedding invitations arrived yesterday, and I couldn't resist posting a pic because they are really just to die for.

A huge, gargantuan shout out to Rachelle of Wiley Valentine who was endlessly patient, super quick to repsond to all of my annoying questions and requests and insanely talented to boot.

For some reason I couldn't get a great pic, so let me tell you whey our invites are so fab in case you can't see:
*They each have 3 perfect, adorable little pink crystals on the main invitation
*Foregoing calligraphy, we have totally chic labels on our invite envelopes
*As I'm not a wedding bird girl, we designed coordinating stamps for both the invite envelope and the reply card envelope.
*the pink and creme is so chic...palm desert..and pretty much perfectly matches my dress
*my new last initial ("R") gets some prominent play :)

I was so excited, I marched straight over to the post office and had em all hand canceled and sent on their way!

What's in a Name?

Here's an interesting article about the importance of finding the right url for your company. For those that think that a snappy url address isn't important...think again. They also include some good tips on purchasing domain names that are already taken (did you know there was such a thing as domain name brokers!?).

To Do's for Me-n-You

Though I've been slacking lately, I previously have used Ta Da Lists to keep track of my "to do's" online. Ta Da is an easy, unfussy way to keep track of what's goin on, but I'm really intrigued by an even bigger and badder "to do" listkeeper called HiveMinder.

Hive Minder takes things one step further by allowing you to "tag" your todo items, set due dates and, again, share with others. You can even create group hives, so if you have an ongoing project or a business partner, you can set up shared todo lists with task reminders and due dates! Yowza.

I definitely need a hive for our leftover wedding planning tasks, one for Paper Bride, one for Paper Mama, one for our new apartment in Brooklyn (to keep track of leftover needed items for our mortgage)...man, I might need a hive to keep track of future hives that I need.

(via LifeHacker.com)

Have I mentioned that I love interns?

After day three with my fantastic, fantabulous, super spectacular intern I'm happy to report that we have easily completed a task that had been hanging over my head for the past 3 months (getting out sample packs to 14 reps). I'm quite certain that I've, luckily, stumbled upon the valedictorian of all interns but I don't want to go on and on about her too much for fear that one of you will try to steal her away from me. Suffice it to say, she rocks!

Plus she's Icelandic, and since my fiance is obsessed with all things Iceland, even he's in love with her and he hasn't even met her yet.

Yay for interns!

CraftMemo.com

This isn't necessarily as well suited for a stationery biz, but for all of you crafty chicas, CraftMemo.com is a pretty nifty idea.

From their site:
CraftMemo Helps You:
* Organize & keep track of all your craft goodies, projects & suppliers.
* Generate detailed lists of your inventory, out of stock items, what you need for a project and where to purchase them from.
* Plan what supplies you need & calculate the cost for your upcoming projects.

This seems particularly well suited for those with jewelry lines, but I can see many biz owners really benefitting from this.

And, yep...it's free.

(via lifehacker.com)

X vs. XP

Ha! An "objective" "truthful" look at which operating system is best: Mac OS X or Windows XP.

Guess which one won?? I love you, Steve Jobs.

Rent-A-Coder

I'm very intrigued by this post on slackermanager.com about the site rent-a-coder. Basically, you can post any coding jobs/projects that you need some help with and have coders all over the world bid on your project (generally for a LOT less money than you would pay here). I have never tried the service, but it seems like it is set up rather safely (payment for projects go into an escrow account and administrative issues are handled entirely by the website). Seems like an interesting option...especially if you just need some quick fixes on a site.

Reinvent Your Blog

Wanna reinvent your blog? I do...at least the design of it. At this point it kinda makes me want to puke.

Have a great weekend, everyone!

Ready for QVC?

For anyone out there with a product that they feel might be appropriate for QVC, they are on the hunt for some fresh meat. Even if you only kinda, sorta feel like your product would work, with an audience of 89 million, you may just want to give it a shot.

From their website:

What does QVC look for in a product?
Generally, QVC looks for products that:
*demonstrate well
*solve a common problem
*make life easier
*appeal to a broad audience
*have unique features and benefits

Your product should also be priced $15 or higher.

They are conducting a Product Search Event in NYC on October 24, 2006 (DAMN, will be on my Honeymoon!) They are accepting event registrations online beginning Tuesday, September 5, so check back with their site then if you would like to throw your hat into the ring!

Screw You Mel Gibson

Off topic for a moment here, Mel Gibson's recent episode in which he was captured (on tape!), after being arrested for driving under the influence, spewing hate-filled anti-semitic epithets seriously made my stomach churn. I'm sorry this guy has a problem with alcohol and wish him well in his recovery, but I've instituted a full on personal Gibson ban in my life and do not, for one hot minute, believe his BS apology about how it was "just the booze talking."

I've never gotten drunk before and went off on a rant about how much I hate Flamenco Dancers...because I don't hate Flamenco Dancers. I've never had a thought in my head that I hate Flamenco Dancers, discussed with others how I hate Flamenco Dancers or been associated with any other Flamenco Dance-hating peeps. This was clearly *not* the booze talking.

Recycling For Charities

Recycling for Charities is
a national environmental program where you can donate any type of old, unwanted used cell phone, pager, PDA, Palm Pilot, Handspring or digital camera to be properly recycled with proceeds benifiting the non-profit charity of your choice.

Pretty neat (and the website makes it super easy for you to recycle your stuff and donate to the charity of your choice)

Recycling For Charities

(via LifeHacker.com)

PR Web...Beyond the Press Release

Not sure if you guys have ever gone explorin', but there are actually some cool features on PRweb.com that go beyond submitting press releases.

There is an entire (fairly comprehensive) list of PR firms to sort through for those who might be thinking about taking the leap and hiring an agency.

There are industry category newsfeeds that you can subscribe to. This can get a bit overwhelming, but for those who are really committed to staying on top of news in your own category (or looking for samples of other press releases that similar businesses have written), this is a great resource.

Even if you have never submitted a press release before, I would definitely recommend signing up and getting yourself one of their free accounts. This allows you access to free seminars and webinars on various PR topics (currently there are some on SEO and a new user orientation).

PRweb.com even lets you submit Podcasts for distribution now (something I'd really like to get into).

Look around a bit...there's quite a bit to see.