New law Cans Spam.

As expected, President Bush has signed into law the CAN-SPAM Act of 2003, creating the first federal restrictions on unsolicited commercial e-mail. Later this year, the Federal Trade Commission will set regulations implementing the law and defining commercial electronic mail message.

Based on conversations with key staff from the committees of jurisdiction on Capitol Hill, ASAE believes that e-mails between nonprofit ...

lawyers ...

Public Speaking can change any circumstance ...

This discussion on public speaking is very astute and relevant to any corporate and even personal scenario. I run an Advertising Agency and have had to set it up in a new market (foreign country to where I grew up). The bulk of the clients that we have been able to rope in have been sold on us through an ability that I have to speak. One secret, which helps me to improve as time keeps going is the desire to ensure that when I speak, even to a hundred people, each person must feel that I am talking to them. Its not easy but striving for it helps you to be innovative in creating rapport with the audience.

Great discussion!!

Your Tips Need a Real Test ...

Lynette,
Your tips are generally good but lack a real test of the business idea. There is no way around market testing a business idea. The aspiring entrepreneurs should talk to potential customers to receive feedback on the business idea. They should get a sense of the patterns of feedback and whether their idea resonates with the customer. When the customer says the business idea will solve their problem, then they can move on to the preparation you describe. Hopefully Part 2 of this post can incorporate some of this.

Additional Considerations in Selecting Your Mark ...

Our clients often ask us for suggestions in selecting a Trademark for their products or services. Our response is always the same ? it depends...

On one hand, do they want to create a completely coined name (i.e., something no one has ever heard of like eBay or Google) or use an arbitrary mark (i.e., a term we have heard of but that?s use is arbitrary in connection with the goods or services provided such as AMAZON for online retail store services or APPLE for computers).

On the other, do they want a mark that creates instant interest in the product or service because it is suggestive or describes of trait thereof (e.g., ORANGE CRUSH for orange-flavored soft drinks or COPPERTONE for suntan oil).

No matter what they decide a great name should be catchy and memorable, should create interest in the product or service, and most importantly be registerable as a trademark - that is capable of registration on the principal register maintained by the United States Patent and Trademark Office ("USPTO").

A common problem in selecting a trademark that would create instant interest is the temptation to use descriptive or generic terms - marks that directly convey characteristics of the goods (e.g., RED SHOES for shoes that are red).

Unfortunately, descriptive terms are not registerable as trademarks, absent proof of a secondary meaning (i.e., you have been using it for five years or you have spent millions in advertising of the mark).

So what is the best way to select a trademark for your products or services?

Coin or use arbitrary terms if you intend on building the brand from scratch. Note, this will take more effort and resources as consumers will need to be educated via advertising and otherwise as to your product or services provided in connection with that mark.

In the alternative, if you want that instant buzz which comes with suggestive marks, be cautious and avoid generic, descriptive, and non- inherently distinctive marks as they will not be registerable before the USPTO nor protected from infringement by others. Make sure that the terms you use in your trademark do not merely describe an ingredient, quality, characteristic, function, feature, purpose or use of your products or services. Rather, select a trademark that requires some bit of imagination, thought or perception to reach a conclusion as to the nature of your products.

www.TheTrademarkCompany.com ...

Good writing.

The key sentence I took out of this article was that a business must be about either saving the client money or time. In business, time is the most valuable resource, thus it can be used interchangeably with money as time is money. If you can truly save money and/or time for a business, then you should be able to have as close to as perfect a business as possible,--MJ Gottlieb www.thelemonaideguide.com ...