How To Profit From Single People (No, It's Not About Dating)

http://www.socialdiva.com/

Singles are into anything that can make their lives easier, says Peg Samuel, founder of Social Diva, a New York City-based event marketing company. Samuel, 36, reports on the hottest trends for single women in Atlanta, Miami and New York City via her website, www.socialdiva.com, building her business to $550,000 in annual revenue. "I'm great at finding what the demographic likes because I am the demographic," says Samuel. "The challenge with so many opportunities is making sure you're catching them all."

More than 89 million unmarried adults in the U.S. are single and loving it. Most, according to experts, are not spending every minute looking for a mate, but enjoying life in the now. Census figures reveal that for the first time in history, more than half of women are single, says Thomas F. Coleman, director of Unmarried America, an informational resource for unmarried people. "You hear the word single and you think partygoers," says Coleman. "Most single people have a lot more on their minds than that."

Singles are thinking about work, family, home, leisure time, retirement--everything married folks do. Coleman cites market opportunities for homebuilders to cater to single home-buyers. Home improvement products could be a niche as well. Financial services and insurance products are also important to singles, notes Jennifer Ganshirt, senior vice president and director of strategic planning for Frank About Women, a marketing firm specializing in female consumers. "Older single women in particular have the means, so give them the opportunity to invest in luxury-type purchases," says Ganshirt. Industries such as travel and food hold other possible niches.

If you have a "weird business" or "weird website" you want profiled here and on other blogs, send your story in. Or do you need a link from this blog.

How to let your customers pay you to promote your business ? . . . IF you operate a restaurant, day spa, shoe store, flower shop, bookstore, amusement park, ski resort, sports bar, skating rink, tanning salon, tea shop, coffee shop, travel agency, car wash, community theatre, video store, deli, pet shop, oil change facility . . . or ANY retail business. See www.flatfeecard.com (What was this all about?)

Reflective Clothing As A Business Niche

What does it take to be a truly independent music artist? If you are looking for DIY PR ideas, new music to check out, or you're just curious about whether I'll really be able to quit my day job, check out my blog today! www.jeffcaylor.com (wow, dude, what was that all about?)

http://www.goodmood.ee/

It's a good thing Karoli Hindriks makes hats: She wears a lot of them. She's the country manager for MTV in Estonia, a student at the Estonian Business School, an elected city council member in her hometown of Pärnu—and she's been an entrepreneur for more than five years. While still in high school, Hindriks invented a soft reflector to be worn by pedestrians for safety at night. By the age of 19, she had expanded into making fashionable knitted hats and gloves out of reflective material. She initially sold them through a company that her father owns, but in 2002 went into business for herself.

Hindriks has patented her designs and even picked up an endorsement from the Estonian Road Administration, which encourages pedestrians to wear reflective clothing. Besides selling her accessories through retail outlets, she sells wholesale to companies and labor unions. Goodmood's revenues are still modest, less than $150,000 a year, but with growth averaging 35% annually, it may not stay small for long.

If you have a "weird business" or "weird website" you want profiled here and on other blogs, do let us know. If you need a link from this blog, here is how you get one

How To Make Six-Figure Income With Domain Names

How To Get Rich With Ultraviolet-Protective Clothing

http://cabanalife.com/

Cabana Life LLC, a maker of ultraviolet-protective clothing, is less than two years old, posted revenue of just $250,000 last year and is barely a blip on the New York fashion scene.

Yet the start-up has scored a notable partnership with a $13 billion chemical giant, Huntsman Corp., whose products are included in apparel made by the likes of Polo Ralph Lauren and Patagonia.

While the partnership is relatively informal, both companies are already receiving what they say is valuable aid from the other.

In addition to selling Cabana Life the additives to make its clothing sun-repellant, Huntsman is giving the tiny company help manufacturing in China and beginning in December will give Cabana Life exclusive one-year rights to sell clothes using a new brand of its technology for kids' apparel. Cabana Life expects sales to double to $500,000 this year and again in 2008, helped, in part, by the Huntsman alliance. And the firm says it expects being first to market with the new High IQ kids brand will give it an important edge in the marketplace.

The roots of Cabana Life's deal began in 2005 with the company's now 32-year-old founder, Melissa Papock, who battled skin cancer at age 26. In her quest to make a fashionable line of lightweight UV-protective clothing, Ms. Papock, a former merchandising editor for fashion, entertainment and lifestyle magazines including Vanity Fair, Self and Allure, scoured the Internet for companies that specialized in sun-repellant technology. "I didn't even know what the terminology was at that point," she says.

Ms. Papock eventually stumbled upon Ciba Specialty Chemicals Inc., a giant Swiss manufacturer of chemical effects for everything from color to moisture-control strength used in things like paper, automobiles and clothing. Several telephone calls to the company got her through to the company's textile effects division in High Point, N.C., where a representative explained how Ciba's "Tinofast Cel" additive could boost Ms. Papock's apparel to the 50+UV protection she wanted. (Ciba's textile effects business was acquired by Huntsman in July of 2006.)

What Ms. Papock didn't know is that Ciba was in the process of trying to rebrand its technology to make it more consumer-friendly. What she did know was that a big chemical company would have a hard time getting the time of day from a Vogue or Glamour magazine.

"These fashion editors aren't going to be talking about this 'textile effect,' because there's nothing very sexy about it," she says. "But when you add it to a stylish tunic, suddenly it has more legs."

Figuring she might have something to offer, Ms. Papock asked for a face-to-face meeting with Craig White, Ciba's marketing head of apparel. There she proposed a broader marketing partnership where Cabana Life would help drive awareness of Ciba's technology among consumers. In return, she hoped for help from the bigger player, be it with discounts on additives or other aid.

Says Mr. White, now with Huntsman: "Obviously your first reaction is that she has a lot of gumption. But quite honestly, we are not the best at advertising and media. What I saw in Melissa was an opportunity to give us exposure through what she was trying to do."

If you have a "weird business" or "weird website" you want profiled here and on other blogs, do let us know. If you need a link from this blog, here is how you get one

What website helps you research over 700 ways you could be your own boss?This free online tool will help you zero in on the best choice for you. And while you're there,read this article on the pros and cons of buying this type of business.

(You are probably wandering what was that all about?)

Sun Protection For Life: Your Guide To A Lifetime Of Healthy & Beautiful Skin

Quite Possibly, The Smartest Way To Advertise On The Web

Read read this ad and see if you can resist a temptation of clicking it

Ad Starts Here

Why did 1,683 Guitarists play 'Smoke on Water'? How did these 10 idiots became millionaires doing stupid things online? Would you like to know why it's cheaper to buy tomatoes in a supermarket than grow your own? Read MadConomist.Com.

Ad Ends

Now, if you clicked any of the links or typed in Madconomist in your browser, let me tell you a little secret. You can write an ad just like the one I just showed you for your site and have it displayed on NicheGeek.Com and Uncommon Business Blog at the bottom of the latest post. It's going to cost you 35 bucks and you can pay with PayPal, credit card, bank wire, check, etc.

Let me give you some numbers. Uncommon Business gets 800-1200 daily readers (weekends being the slowest), plus about 1000 RSS readers (I don't know the exact numbers, as I am too lazy to get a FeedBurner account). As of today, the Alexa rank is 64489, Google's Page Rank is 5 (used to be 6 before the latest Google dance). Uncommon Business is being automatically syndicated by about 200 other blogs and splogs and about once a month somebody "rich and famous" links to one of the post. Last month Seth Godin did.

NicheGeek has more visitors (1300-2000 daily uniques, depending on how good or bad my latest post is), but lower Page Rank (4). The Alexa rank is 34430. NicheGeek makes it to the top of Reddit and Digg two to three times a month (because I have a nifty Drupal plugin that adds vote buttons at the end of each post, I guess). When this happens traffic surges to 20,000-30,000 uniques for about a day or two. Then it gets back to normal. So, don't count on it (unless you are an active Digger).

If you were to order a review on NicheGeek or Uncommon Business through ReviewMe it would cost you 100 dollars and 80 dollars (a combined price of $180). That's because I hate writing. But if you write a short ad yourself (350 characters max), I have no problem charging you only 35 bucks, because all I have to do is to copy it and paste the ad at the end of the post on both blogs (I usually add one post a day to Uncommon Business and one to three posts a day to NicheGeek, the posts are usually different).

So basically I get $35 without doing any hard labor, you get your ad displayed on two popular sites, plus links and SEO benefits, plus clicks, plus eyeballs of other bloggers, plus your ads will get automatically reprinted by sploggers who take RSS feeds and republish content on their sites automatically, without reading it.

Send your ad text (350 characters max, five lines or less) to david AT deprice DOT com AFTER you paid $35 (because sometimes ShareIt takes extra time to verify personal information in order to avoid credit card fraud and can be very picky if you use free e-mail accounts, like Hotmail or Yahoo!Mail).

You can also use contact form on NicheGeek or contact me through my Blogger profile on Uncommon Business Blog.

The first person to take advantage of this offer will get to display their ad three times (or three different ads, if that's desirable).

Quite Possibly The Strangest Business Idea To Ever Make It To This Blog

http://www.flat-d.com/

Brian Conant stood alongside his fellow National Guardsmen during a training session about eight years ago in Hawaii. He was wearing a heavy chemical warfare suit lined with charcoal.

"Any time I expelled gas in the suit, I realized nobody could smell it," Conant, 48, says. "It was amazing."

According to the American College of Gastroenterology, 58 million Americans suffer from one or more medical disorders that cause excessive gas. To treat it, doctors usually recommend a change in diet. Sometimes they recommend medication, such as Gas-X or Bean-O, which alters the bacteria that may be causing the foul odor. But with Conant's invention, the Flatulence Deodorizer, also known as Flat-D, there is an alternative way to limit the embarrassment.

The long, narrow washable pad, lined thinly with charcoal, absorbs chemicals, including hydrogen sulfide, a byproduct of the bacteria that causes odorous gas. The pad, at $12.95, curves with the contour of the body, and one size fits most.

For those who fall outside the "most" category, Conant has developed the "overpad," partly due to the increasing number of phone calls from those who have just undergone gastric bypass surgery. "Can you guess our best month?" asks marketing director Frank Morosky. "January, because people have made New Year's resolutions to eat healthier. And, it turns out, healthy foods like broccoli, beans and whole grains cause gas."

If you have a "weird business" or "weird website" you want profiled here and on other blogs, do let us know. If you need a link from this blog, here is how you get one

More Weird Stuff

1,683 Guitarists Play 'Smoke on Water'

One really, REALLY weird PPC Ad

Tanning Salon Multimillionaire Success Story

http://www.thetanco.com/

Successful companies have an almost Zen-like quest for perfection. Motorola pioneered Six Sygma, the quality improvement process that strives for producing error-free products 99.9997 percent of the time. The Ritz-Carlton hotel chain is legendary for providing 120 hours of training per employee, per year, helping ensure its guests enjoy the experience of a lifetime.

Entrepreneur Todd Beckman is no different. He insists customers be greeted within three seconds of arrival. Employees are empowered to “own” customer concerns and see them through until resolution. Every customer experience is expected to exceed expectations, says the founder.

But Beckman is in an industry where you normally wouldn’t expect to find such an extraordinary commitment to excellence. That’s all right, because Beckman’s formula for combining world-class facilities, state-of-the-art equipment and outstanding training and customer service with a passion for perfection has positioned The Tan Company as one of the fastest-growing tanning salon franchises in the nation. Business is booming.

With 72 locations in 12 states, The Tan Company expects to grow to 100 locations by the end of 2007 and reach 500 salons within five years. Beckman is considered one of the industry’s pioneers since opening what was formerly called The St. Louis Tan Company in 1994. He is a visionary.

Beckman was one of the first to combine the superstore concept—dozens of tanning beds providing multiple levels of tanning—with an economical membership program that provided unlimited tanning to customers instead of paying per visit.

Along the way, Beckman has fostered The Tan Company brand—recognized for its “Five-Star” facilities, world-class skin-care products and cleanest tanning environment in the country—making it a premier investment opportunity for single- and multi-unit ownership and area development.

“I saw the unprofessionalism in the tanning industry,” Beckman said. “There was not a dominant brand with first-rate facilities and service. Most were run like mom-and-pop businesses. I felt we had a unique idea.”

Beckman got his first job bussing tables when he was 13. His parents, Ed and Gay Beckman, owned several hair salons in the St. Louis area. Todd opened his franchised hair salon in 1984 when he was only 18.

Two years later, Beckman put four tanning beds in the back of his salon. They were immensely popular. It convinced Beckman to buy a small tanning salon in suburban St. Louis in 1994 that had sales of $65,000 in its first year under previous ownership. Beckman’s St. Louis Tan Company—with its innovative membershipprogram—had sales of $57,000 in its first month alone.

Even with two locations, customers were sometimes waiting 90 minutes for a tanning bed. Nine months later, Beckman opened his first superstore in Maryland Heights, Mo., with 30 tanning beds providing multiple levels oftanning. “We’ve been building off it ever since,” Beckman said.

The St. Louis Tan Company grew to 15 locations by 2000. With growing demand for the superstore concept and ever-increasing customer traffic, Beckman decided to franchise his business model and expand outside the St. Louis area in 2001 as The Tan Company. Today, superstores with 20-plus beds and five levels of tanning account for 90 percent of The Tan Co. locations.

“It took someone with an entrepreneur’s attitude like Todd to see the potential in building a brand when there were so many others entering the industry who only wanted to open a small salon,” said Todd Layton, vice president of franchise operations. “Unless you were willing to make a commitment to be the best, as Todd did, it wasn’t going to work.”

Beckman’s business prowess has caught the attention of others, namely Dave “Lags” Lageschulte, who became the first franchisee of the popular Hooters restaurant chain in 1983. Along with his partners, Lageschulte developed Hooters restaurants throughout South Florida and became one of the chain’s most successful franchisees. He is co-owner of the world’s first Hooters Casino Hotel that opened in Las Vegas in February 2006.

In January 2006, Lageschulte purchased a 50 percent ownership stake in The Tan Co., as well as area development rights to Georgia, Virginia, Florida, North Carolina and South Carolina. His first location opened in Athens, Ga.

Lageschulte’s involvement not only gives The Tan Co. the financial backing that makes it one of the strongest companies in its industry, but also an expertise in franchising and branding that is invaluable to the company’sfuture growth.

The Tan Co.’s corporate team is literally hands-on when it imparts the importance of brand building to its franchisees. Four members of the corporate staff are involved as owners of 30 of The Tan Co.’s 72 locations.

The Tan Co. offers two salon models: a small store with 12 beds and the superstore featuring 20-plus beds. Both concepts offer five levels of tanning and Mystic Tan sunless tanning.

The initial investment is between $250,000 and $500,000 depending on the model. Small salons average 1,400 square feet in size while the superstores can reach 2,800 square feet. Beckman has commitments from area developers for more than 60 locations.

“In many ways, the tanning industry is still in the mom-and-pop stage,” Beckman said. “Becoming a Tan Co. franchisee means getting involved with a company that is going to be nationally known in the next five years. It’s similar to becoming a McDonald’s franchisee when it had only 70 restaurants.”

With more than two decades of industry experience, Beckman says it is fitting that The Tan Co. is on the fastest growth pace in the company’s history.

“Franchisees are investing in our system,” Beckman said. “Anybody can buy a tanning bed and put it in a store. But we have been perfecting this system for 20 years. It’s an impeccable system that works if you follow it. Now we want to take the best system in the industry and turn it into a nationally known brand.”

If you have a "weird business" or "weird website" you want profiled here and on other blogs, do let us know. If you need a link from this blog, here is how you get one

10,000 Dollar Fine For Bra-Stripping Contest

Beyond Beauty: Cosmetology Business Information and Resources

Free iPod For eBay Users

Just a quick post for those not aware of the latest promotion. Apparently, eBay is giving away iPods for their new clients. As far as I know the offer is exclusively available to US, Canada and UK. So if you are planning to buy anything on eBay any time soon, you'll appreciate this 'heads up'.

How A Student Made Three Million Dollars With A Free CliffNotes Website.

http://www.sparknotes.com/

Sam Yagan's first successful business idea came to him in the middle of an all-nighter during his senior year at Harvard. His paper on Hamlet was due the next day, and he was kicking himself for not buying the CliffsNotes version of the play before the bookstore closed. "Why can't a student get a study guide at midnight?" he asked himself, and SparkNotes was born.

The series of free online study guides acquired by Barnes & Noble in 2001 for $3.55 million. At Stanford Business School, a different question, "Why can't online dating be free?" led him to his latest project, OkCupid.

His advice for would-be entrepreneurs: Instead of spending a lot of time waiting for a great business idea to suddenly materialize, get out in the world and ask questions. "If you look at things with a quizzical approach, you're going to uncover a lot of opportunities. A lot of times the answers you come up with are going to be wrong, but if you keep asking questions, eventually you'll hit on the little thing that's not quite right, and go from there."

Man Scarfs More Than 59 Hot Dogs In 12 Minutes

Why You Should Get In Touch With Your "Inner Lazy Ass"

How To Make A Million Dollars From Accidental Invention

http://www.toddlercoddler.com/

ToddlerCoddler is a specially designed cushion that keeps toddlers' heads from slumping in their car seats. Initially developed for her own kids by Susan Dunk, a friend prodded her to develop the product for market. She and her husband left their first trade show in 2003 with orders for 119 units.

"My mother and I sewed," Susan recalls. "My father, father-in-law and husband stuffed them. My 3-year-old put the labels on. My son knew how to run a tape gun at 4 years old."

They were long days, but manageable. However, when independent retailers started showing interest, she realized she needed help and began looking for a manufacturer to take over production. Her company has now developed several different products and had close to $1 million in sales in 2006. If orders come in from retail giants such as Costco and Target, as expected, that number should jump considerably in 2007.

Duley knew he needed help from the start and sent out 35 bid proposals--15 in the U.S. and 20 overseas to facilities he found online in China, India and South America. While he initially wanted to work with a U.S. manufacturer, that proved to be more difficult than he anticipated. "Every single American company either didn't respond or backed out on the due date," Duley says. "Every international company provided quotes in a timely fashion and suggested ideas to make the manufacturing process more efficient."

Artist Unveils $98M Diamond Skull

How Midlife Crisis Helped Spark A New Business

How To Make A Living Picking Glass On Beaches

http://www.surroundings-rogersgallery.com/

It's Sunday morning, and Louise Rogers is in her usual weekend pose: eyes downcast, strolling meditatively along the beach. She paws at a ribbon of gravel near the low-tide mark and picks up a milky aqua-colored lump the size of a matchbook. She brushes off the sand and issues her verdict: "Coca-Cola bottle. Before 1970."

Rogers, 53, has been collecting sea glass since the age of 6. She logs several miles each Sunday beachcombing New England's coastline with her husband and business partner, Ben. They founded Rogers Gallery, a custom framing and fine art store in Mattapoisett, Mass., in 1978. Seven years ago they added Surroundings, an adjacent home-furnishings and interior-design center. The two (surroundings-rogersgallery.com) generated a combined $3 million in sales last year.

When Rogers spies a new shard on a beach, she guesses its age and origin by looking at surface wear and crack patterns. She often finds glass on beaches where town dumps existed centuries ago. Also fruitful are locations hit by violent storms, such as coastal areas flattened by the hurricane of 1938, which leveled Rogers's grandmother's Mattapoisett house. Any Depression glass or patterned china she finds in these areas were probably blown into the sea by that legendary storm.

Even after tossing back any chipped glass that isn't fully weathered, Rogers has amassed a collection of more than a million fragments, sorted by color and housed in dozens of bureau drawers throughout her living and dining rooms. She removes one drawer from a mahogany chest and sets it on the dining room table. It is home to her most prized oddities. In one corner are matching bits of worn Canton china (1785 to 1895), hand-decorated with a blue and white scene. (China and pottery from the sea are also desirable to collectors.) Next to them is one cobalt-blue sea glass swizzle stick, probably from a restaurant in New Bedford, Mass., the city where she found it. (She located a similar one intact at an antique store.)

Rogers picks up her oldest specimens, two intact bottlenecks made of black glass. One, a bottle collector has told her, is from a snout-nosed gin bottle dating to the late 1700s. "People walk past black glass. They think it's just a rock, but it's extremely rare," she says. Next, she rotates a cat's-eye marble between her fingertips. It's from the 1950s, judging by its surface, which is lopsided and etched from exposure to sand and saltwater.

Uncommon colors such as orange and red are her Holy Grail. She also favors glass embossed with identifiable patterns or labels, such as the word "Hood" from the Charlestown, Mass., dairy's milk bottles. All sea glass is becoming less common as more glass is recycled and plastic bottles become the norm.

While sea glass is widely available for purchase - a turquoise piece fetched more than $250 on eBay - Rogers prefers finding her own. Vacations to shoreline destinations feed her collection. Last year she traveled to Peaks Island in Maine's Casco Bay, where she found a china doll's arm. "My first body part!" she says.

She may have countless pounds of glass, but it's clear Rogers enjoys most the thrill of the hunt. "I love beach-combing for the same reason that I love finding new items for the stores," she says. "I love the surprise."

If you have a "weird business" or "weird website" you want profiled here and on other blogs, do let us know. If you need a link from this blog, here is how you get one

How To Make Six-Figure Income With Domain Names

LegalMatch.Com - How To Make Money Bringing Laywers And Clients Together

http://www.legalmatch.com

When Michael Gutman was tired of paying 25 thousand dollars each year for a full page Yellow Pages ad, he thought that there must be an easier way to generate clients.

However, the traditional lead-generation techniques didn't seem to work. People just did not want to call a 1 800 number and leave their contact information.

So he created a LegalMatch system. Anyone can present a case (by answering some simple questions about their legal situation) for free on the LegalMatch Web site without revealing their identity.

Immediately after you present your case, instant e-mail notifications are sent to lawyers in the specific practice area and geographic location you selected. Lawyers then review your case information and where you need legal help, but are not shown your identity until you select an attorney and agree to provide this information. When a match is made, LegalMatch charges an attorney, but the service is ablolutely free to clients.

The best part of LegalMatch system is its feedback mechanism. When presented with a list of available lawyers in the area, one can see how good or bad a particular lawyer is (or rather how happy or unhappy lawyer's past clients were with the service).

LegalMatch has grown into a multimillion dollar business just on this simple idea. And that's an excellent result, no matter how critical of a judge you are.

If you have a "weird business" or "weird website" you want profiled here and on other blogs, do let us know. If you need a link from this blog, here is how you get one

Man Arrested On His 28th DWI Charge ... Pleads NOT GUILTY.

Why You Should Get In Touch With Your "Inner Lazy Ass"

Lisa Saunders Story

http://www.shadeclothing.com/

Lisa Saunders had been a fan of Shade Clothing for about a year when she moved from Southern California to Calgary, Alberta. But in her new home, she had a difficult time finding Shade's line of shirts, which is designed to be both modest and stylish. In her search, however, she discovered a way to fill her own clothing needs and those of other women in Canada--by becoming a Shade Clothing personal shopper. "You need to feel strongly and passionately about what you're selling," she says. "I knew I loved Shade."

Shade Clothing began its personal shopper program in March 2006, but the program wasn't available in Canada. Saunders knew it could be successful there, so she contacted the corporate office and worked with them to get the program up and running, eventually becoming the first Canadian personal shopper in June 2006. She's also a hiring manager, in charge of recruiting and training new personal shoppers in her area.

For Saunders, 32, Shade Clothing provides the double benefit of giving her access to clothes she likes and letting her earn money while raising her two children at home. But her biggest challenge, she says, has been getting the word out about Shade. To target her main audience--women and girls--she posts fliers at preschools, elementary schools and women's gyms.

She also relies, of course, on word-of-mouth generated by her in-home parties, where women try on samples and ask her advice. These parties, called home showcases, are Saunders' main source of sales. Saunders can even host parties over the phone, allowing her to have customers in other locations and run her business while she travels. "You can sell to anyone, anywhere," she says. Though the parties are her main focus, Saunders can also make sales through open houses, internet sales and personal shopping appointments.

Saunders recognizes that her business is about more than just making a sale; getting repeat business and good word-of-mouth are vital to direct-selling success. "I want all customers to feel appreciated, whether they're placing a $30 order or a $300 order," she says. With that goal always in mind, Saunders projects 2007 sales will reach at least $60,000.

If you have a "weird business" or "weird website" you want profiled here and on other blogs, do let us know. If you need a link from this blog, here is how you get one.

Errant Computer Keystroke Leads To A Wrong Person Getting A $2.5 Million Dollar Check.

Dr Ken Evoy, A Physician Who's Dream Was To Become An Internet Marketer

Ken Evoy is a doctor and inventor who also became an Internet marketer in the late 90s. Both he and a number of his partners have written free ebooks on topics that range from affiliate marketing to web copywriting. I have found that his ebooks are very informative, and some of them are actually much better than information products I routinely pay money for.

Ken Evoy's company also provides a number of marketing and web development tools, the most notable one being Site Build It (SBI). SBI is a robust web management tool that assists the developer in all aspects of creating and marketing a site.

If you are just getting started out in a web business, and are not very familiar with how to put up a site, how to submit to search engines, and how to market your site, then a tool like SBI will get you off the ground quickly and efficiently. I only wish there was a tool like this available when I first started out. Unfortunately, there wasn't, so I ended up learning web design, programming, and web marketing all on my own. Over the years, I have used numerous Webmastering tools, and I must say that for the price, SBI offers an incredible number of features and functionalities.

SBI has helped many entrepreneurs develop their own profitable businesses. Amazingly, over half of the people who use SBI end up having sites that are in the top 6% in terms of popularity on the Internet.

Making A Profit With Supersized Sports Books

www.krakenopus.com

Karl Fowler isn't a traditional publisher. His books, which chronicle major sporting events and teams, can weigh more than 90 pounds and go for as much as $4,000. His latest bestseller - a Manchester United book.

Mr Fowler is a bright and determined man who has done his homework. Manchester United is an international brand, currently under American ownership, but with truly worldwide appeal. The audience of potential purchasers is not thus restricted to British fat cats but to high net worth individuals the world over.

A sister volume on the Super Bowl will have limited appeal outside the United States, but there are surely enough American millionaire gridiron fans for that to show a profit.

If you have a "weird business" or "weird website" you want profiled here and on other blogs, do let us know. If you need a link from this blog, here is how you get one.

How Not To Be One-Man Charity System For Webmasters, Designers And Programmers, When You Launch Your Startup On The Web.

How To Make 80K With Patriotic T-Shirts

http://www.takepride.com

Patrick Gray and John Betz, both 32, have designed a line of shirts that give a voice to troops in Afghanistan and Iraq.

Sold online at www.takepride.com, the shirts feature words and images that tell service members' stories without making political statements. They're also fashioned by up-and-coming designers, so they're nothing like typical military garb.

"Everything in the military tends not to be stylish, so this is different," says Gray, who started New York City-based TakePride in June 2006 with Betz, a third-generation Marine.

By February, they'd earned roughly $88,000, and they expect that number to grow as they expand into department stores this summer. They also donate 20 percent of their profits to military-related charities.

If you have a "weird business" or "weird website" you want profiled here and on other blogs, do let us know. If you need a link from this blog, here is how you get one.

Funeral Home Invests $100,000 In A Three-Wheeled Harley And Carriage-Style Hearse

10 Books You Should Read If You Want To Make A Crapload Of Money, Part II

6. Bootstrap: Lessons Learned Building a Successful Company from Scratch

I thoroughly enjoyed reading this book, for a multitude of reasons. Ken details the entrepreneur's issues when bootstrapping a company quite well (we bootstrapped our company also, and ran into many of the same problems). I enjoyed reading more about how Ken FELT while the company was growing. As an employee, you don't often know how the CEO feels about anything (Ken is good at controlling his emotions). Turns out he had similar feelings most entrepreneur's do when starting a company.

7. Little Red Book of Selling

If you’ve been a regular fan like I have of frenetic sales guru Jeffrey Gitomer’s columns in the Business Journal, you’ll want to grab his infamous power book on selling, The Little Red Book of Selling. Like all of his stuff, it’s a straight ahead, well traveled, often brilliant collection of practices on getting the advantage in selling, both over yourself and your competition. Like most of what Jeffrey writes, it holds application for both the individual sales pro and the entrepreneur. Let me briefly show you how this little book is big on take away value.

8. The 4-Hour Workweek: Escape 9-5, Live Anywhere, and Join the New Rich

I've read a lot of great books, but this one is the one is truly unique. The ideas found in this book are immeasurably valuable. In this book you will find the secrets you need to live the life you dream of living. Tim is a gift to this world because he has been so generous in writing a book that candidly explains in great detail how to work less and make more. I've never seen any other book with more practical wisdom on the art of success. I've dog-eared most of this books since it's so full of great ideas. If you're an entrepreneur or want your life back, you must buy this book.

9. Secrets of the Millionaire Mind

Eker's claim to fame is that he took a $2,000 credit card loan, opened "one of the first fitness stores in North America," turned it into a chain of 10 within two and a half years and sold it in 1987 for a cool (but now somewhat modest-seeming) $1.6 million.As you read through Eker's book, you realize that intuitively you might have "felt" some of these things all along but DIDn't follow through. I very much enjoyed this book. It's certainly one of the better books about building wealth and I think that everyone can benefit from it regardless of their current level of income.

10. Street Smart Internet Marketing

Justin Michie is a successful business entrepreneur who made the life-changing decision to become a full time internet marketer, after he found himself frustrated with the long hours, excessive stress and constant employee management of his offline businesses. So he sold his businesses, left the employees, long hours and stress behind, for the freedom afforded by online marketing. He now makes more money in fewer hours and enjoys much more free time with his family. But the book is really valuable because of street smart internet marketing techniques thata Justin shares in his book.

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How To Become A Full-Time Salsa Enterpreneur

http://hairoftheferret.com/

Ferret hair may not sound like it's meant for dipping. But it sure makes for some good salsa.

Ten years ago, Dan and Sally Homner created Hair of the Ferret Gourmet Salsa in their Crown Point basement, after 10 year of making batches of the condiment for friends and family.

No ferrets are harmed in the making of the salsa, and thankfully ferret hair isn't really one of the ingredients. It's just a catchy name for a product that's catching on with those who love a little heat. "I didn't even know what a ferret looked like," Dan Homner admits.

Now Homner's a full-time salsa entrepreneur, doing business with about 100 stores in Indiana and Illinois, and with online customers from as far away as California and New Jersey.

His first paying customers were at the Crown Point Farmers Market. A few small stores started carrying it. After the season ended, Homner received 200 calls from people wanting to buy his salsa.

"That's when my wife and I both looked at each other and said, 'Hey, maybe we've got something here,'" he said.

Over the next few years, Hair of the Ferret expanded into other stores and other farmers markets. Homner spent several 16 hour days a week making the stuff, struggling to keep up with the demand.

In 2000, Homner quit his job at a Griffith mill-supply company, and started making salsa full-time. In 2001, he outsourced production to a facility near Rockford, Ill.T he four main varieties, which range from Mild to Flaming Hot, feature roma tomatoes, white onions, and up to 12 types of peppers, which include the exotic japones and scotch bonnet peppers in the spiciest batches. Homner also started making a fruit salsa this year, Pineapple Mango Peach.

While Homner's not personally making the salsa anymore, his job keeps him busy. He is still the company's only full-time employee, and makes almost all of the deliveries.

If you have a "weird business" or "weird website" you want profiled here and on other blogs, do let us know. If you need a link from this blog, here is how you get one.

The Great Salsa Book

Using Classic Salsas To Enliven Our Favorite Dishes

10 Books You Should Read, If You Want To Make A Crapload Of Money, Part I

1. Buffettology: The Proven Techniques for Investing Successfully in Changing Markets That Have Made Warren Buffett the World's Most Famous Investor

I NEVER buy books on stock market. And neither should you. It's a waste of time. The only person you should listen to is Warren Buffett. After all, he is the riches investor in the world and the second richest man after Bill Gates. Warren Buffett once said that he doesn't care about the price. He cares about value. If you never read Buffetology before, it'll be a real eye opener for you.

2. Words that Sell

Words That Sell lists the words and phrases that stimulate sales, grouping them in a logical, easy-to-find manner. The three basic sections of a sales presentation are the grabber, the description, and the clincher, and these sections comprise the core of Words That Sell. Once you find out that you can REALLY make a ton of money merely from an ability to put words down on paper, you'll want to know WHAT to say and HOW to do it. This book does an awesome job teaching that.

3. The Art of the Start

Guy Kawasaki wrote the best book on startups. This book is about starting a business, or a new branch of business within an existing one. And about what it takes to get the funding and momentum you need to be successful. It's about putting aside the ridiculous corporate culture of "mission statements", vision statements, binders and all the rest. Guy Kawasaki helps you to think about the most important aspects of your business and your personal motivation for starting it. In short it's about why the world needs your product or service, why you need to sell it, and how to get there. Much of the content is focused on the mechanics (and pitfalls to avoid) of making formal pitches to venture capitalists, banks and the like. There is also some content dedicated to advertising, marketing and PR, and how *not* to do those things as well. If you're not smart about it, advertising and marketing your new business will financially sink you, with no real profit to show for it, so pay attention to the advice given here!

4. On Bullshit

This book is a fascinating journey into the meaning of truth, lies and BS. It was surprisingly thoughtful and like anything thoughtful it fertilized more thought. At least for me it did. I think it was worth the investment in money and time.

5. The Millionaire Next Door

The title might sound cheesy, but the book really does share insights on what affluent, and successful really mean. It gives a great lesson on status symbols, and the proper attitudes towards work, and money to build wealth. What appealed to me the most, is that this is by no means a "get rich quick" book, or even a "get rich" book. It does however outline character traits of those among us that have become successful, and shows the many traps that most people, including high earners commonly fall into.

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PetLane.Com - How To Make Money With Pet Parties

http://www.petlane.com/

Linda Franzblau began the party as she always did: by introducing herself to the guests; telling them about Petlane and its products for dogs, cats and birds; and talking about her own dog, Rocket, and her cats, Dot and Dash. Then she came to the point where every party differs--meeting the guests and learning about their needs. She asked each of them to introduce themselves and talk about their pets. A woman named Katy mentioned she had an older dog that she used to walk at night, but she couldn't anymore because the dog's eyesight was failing. Franzblau instantly knew how to help. As she handed out catalogs and order forms to customers, Franzblau took a moment to point Katy toward one of Petlane's newer products, the Pet Lamp, which attaches around a dog's neck and acts as a headlight. Katy's reaction? "She said, ‘It sounds wonderful; it looks wonderful. Sign me up,'" says Franzblau.

Her passion for helping pets like Katy's dog is the reason Franzblau, 53, decided to become a Petlane pet advisor in February 2006. She tries to help customers by not only finding products to fill each pet's needs, but also educating their owners on better pet care through the discussions and games at her parties. And Franzblau may be making money as the expert at her parties, but she's also receiving a valuable education. "Every day, I'm learning different things to make my pets' lives healthier," she says.

Meanwhile, Franzblau has discovered that Petlane allows her to help more than just pets. "I can give back to my community in so many ways," she says. The business makes it easy for her to help people in and around her Oconomowoc, Wisconsin, home by setting up fundraisers for local charities. She creates a website for each charity, and the charity earns a percentage of the sales made on the Petlane products sold through that website.

The Petlane business also allows Franzblau to mentor other entrepreneurs as she adds new pet advisors across the country to her sales team. She encourages and educates her team by having a group phone call each week and holding monthly training sessions online. Franzblau and her team also educate themselves through Petlane's annual conventions and its book clubs, in which they read a new book each month that's pertinent to their business.

While her Petlane business fulfills many of her passions, Franzblau also had practical motivations for getting started. She had just been laid off from her job in marketing and product development and needed a way to support herself and her daughter. Luckily, she has found that her passion and her pocketbook can go hand in hand, especially when that passion is part of a $38 billion pet industry in the U.S. She expects to easily make six figures in the next two years, all while doing what she loves.

If you have a "weird business" or "weird website" you want profiled here and on other blogs, do let us know. If you need a link from this blog, here is how you get one.

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UglyDolls.Com - How To Make Millions Selling Unattractive Toys.

http://www.uglydolls.com/


2006 sales $2.5 million

Uglydolls may not be the most attractive plush toys in the world--one has three eyes, another sports buckteeth--but they were born from two people's passion. David Horvath and Sun-Min Kim had both dreamed of making toys since childhood, and when they met at school in New York City 10 years ago, they found a kinship as unique as the dolls they imagined. "We both loved illustrating our own characters and coming up with stories," says Horvath. "Things sort of formed. There was this master plan--we just didn't know how or when."

In September 2001, Kim's student visa expired and she had to return to Korea. Horvath kept their vision alive through letters, always signing his with a drawing of Wage, a character they had created together. The following December, Kim brought Wage to life for the very first time with needle and thread and mailed it to Horvath as a surprise. When e-tailer and fellow entrepreneur Eric Nakamura saw the doll, he immediately ordered 20 to sell in his store, Giant Robot. They sold out in a day, and over the next 18 months, Kim hand-sewed 1,500 more.

Targeted to people of all ages, Uglydolls are sold globally in 2,500 retail stores such as FAO Schwarz and Newbury Comics, and distribution continues to grow--sales are expected to at least double in 2007. A line of journals, stationery and postcards launched in March, and guidebooks to the Uglydolls Universe will be released in spring 2008. Meanwhile, Uglydolls have attracted a cult following of fans drawn to the one-of-a-kind characters. Some think they do their name justice, but Horvath believes there's no such thing as ugly. "Those funny little bumps and twists and turns that kind of make us who we are--I think those are good," he says. "Who wants to look the same?"

If you have a "weird business" or "weird website" you want profiled here and on other blogs, do let us know. If you need a link from this blog, here is how you get one.


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Copeac.Com – How To Make Money With CPA Networks

This month, I’m going to break $3000 benchmark with Copeac.com (which I really started playing around with only two months ago), so I figured I’d share a few tips on making money on the internet with CPA networks, like Copeac.com. As you see, I’m linking to Copeac with my reflink. I’m going this for two reasons – first, any person who registers using this link will be able to get help from me (all you need to do is mention your Copeac ID) and I’ll tell you which campaigns make most money for me. Second (more important reason), you’ll get a 14% higher payouts right away, rather then having to make $1000 in commissions first.

OK, what’s a CPA network? CPA stands for “cost per action”. While most affiliate networks pay only for purchases and AdSense pays per clicks, CPA networks pay per “action”. An action may be a filled out form, an e-mail registration, a request for a brochure, a phone number, etc. My average pay out is anywhere between $1.45-$8.00 per such an action.

Here is a real example how Copeac works. Click this link http://affiliates.copeac.com/sw/9248/3291/
and you'll be taken to Shawn's Casey website. You probably remember me profiling him recently. Shawn is giving away free internet marketing software. All he wants in exchange is your name and e-mail. Every time a person fills out an e-mail from, I get $1.30. As simple as that.

It's important to not that you can not (under any conditions) artificially inflate the number of opt-ins, but it's not necessary. Every time I run an article about Shawn I get about 50 dollars. People are all too happy to exchange their e-mail addresses for free software. Especially since my blog caters to the right crowd.

Some offers pay as high as $20 per lead. For exmaple this one. The high-paying offers are usually very specific (this one deals with military personnel only) and geotargeted to US only (some offers are exclusive to UK or Canada). All international traffic in this instance is re-routed.

But the best thing about CPA networks is that you can make MUCH MORE money not from your webiste, but from AdWords ads. My current ROI on Copeac ads that I run on Google is anywhere between 300% and 800% (it means for every dollar I spend on AdWords I get 3-8 bucks from Copeac). If you are interested in knowing more about that side of the business, make sure you drop me a line after your register with Copeac - there are a lot of little tips and tricks I'd like to share.

Swarovski On A T-Shirt

http://www.sparkle-plenty.com/

If it's free, there's sure to be hype--but even the promotional products industry could use some pizzazz lately. Enter Andrew and Lee Sequeira, 41 and 44, respectively. Owners of an online spa and beauty boutique, this husband-and-wife team couldn't resist acquiring Sparkle Plenty Designs Inc., which specializes in Swarovski crystal-embellished T-shirts, in January 2006. Adding just enough "bling" helped them give an upscale look to the promotional tee industry.

By showing off their customized crystal designs at trade shows nationwide and launching a website, the Sequeiras' Philadelphia business has attracted a wide variety of clients, including the Dallas Cowboys Cheerleaders, NASA and The Ritz-Carlton. "An image in crystal is stunning," says Andrew, who sizes up 2007 sales at about $525,000. "It's allowing us to go to a higher plane with the things we're doing." Whatever the design, this company is sure to make any business sparkle.

If you have a "weird business" or "weird website" you want profiled here and on other blogs, do let us know. If you need a link from this blog, here is how you get one.

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How To Get Rich Selling ... Aprons

http://www.jessiesteele.com/

Aprons are generally considered more of a fashion faux pas than fashion-forward. They're hidden in the backs of drawers and thrown aside in the presence of company. Helena Steele knew it wasn't always this way. She could remember when her grandmother, Jessie, would bake treats while clad in finely constructed aprons with beautiful patterns on them.

So in 2002, Helena and her daughter, Claire, formed Jessie Steele, a line of aprons meant to go far beyond the kitchen drawer.

When the mother-daughter team created their line of vintage-inspired aprons, their unique backgrounds proved to be invaluable. Claire, a former model and marketing executive, used her knowledge of fashion and marketing to promote the business, while Helena, an accomplished seamstress and the founder of Golden Gate Kitchens, a successful kitchen design company, helped with the design. Their mission was to create an apron that bridged the culinary/fashion divide, an accessory that could be worn whether buyers were making meatloaf or strolling down Fifth Avenue.

"We definitely feel that they're functional fashion," says Claire, 29, who helped Helena, 54, update the vintage apron styles and textiles for modern wearers.

Claire and Helena unveiled the aprons to immediate success. The vintage styles are a hit among home chefs, as well as hip retailers and boutiques, which have seen a growing demand for retro styles, from '20s flapper gowns to bell-bottoms.

Today, the aprons are sold at stores such as Williams-Sonoma and Sur La Table, which appeal to gourmet cooks, and at small boutiques, which cater to more stylistically adventurous clients who love to wear the aprons as a fashion statement.

The company plans to start offering hospitality design and to expand the boutique line to contemporary, traditional and urban themes. Projected sales for 2007 are $3 million.

Even in the midst of their growing success, Claire and Helena take time to appreciate the foundations of their homegrown business. "One of the ideas of Jessie Steele is to celebrate your family, your friends and your home," says Claire, "and that's an important part of what we're doing."

If you have a "weird business" or "weird website" you want profiled here and on other blogs, do let us know. If you need a link from this blog, here is how you get one.
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How To Make Millions, Designing Theme Parks

http://thinkwelldesign.com/

We design attractions for theme parks, resorts, museums and retail developments. Since our founding six years ago, we've created everything from an indoor ski resort to an Ice Age-themed ride for a German amusement park to a Pussycat Dolls gaming area at Caesars Palace in Las Vegas.

Everything we do is based on a story. For instance, we created a 50,000-square-foot traveling educational attraction based on "Jurassic Park" that sends visitors on a fictional investor-relations tour, where the company behind "Jurassic Park" is trying to convince investors that it's ready to introduce newer, safer dinosaurs to the public.

In the end, of course, everything goes horribly wrong. In the last scene everybody's locked in a box and the power goes out and a T. Rex and spinosaurus come in and have a fight literally over the audience's head. It scares the hell out of everyone.

Before founding Thinkwell, we worked together at Universal Studios' Creative Recreation Group. In 2001, Universal decided to relocate the division from Los Angeles to Orlando, and we felt it was time to look at our options. We said, "We've got a great team together. This is an opportunity for us to diversify."

Last year we were profitable and our revenues rose 60 percent, to $8 million. Now we want to do more projects for ourselves that can become annuities. We developed, with Sesame Workshop, a Sesame Street exhibit that teaches kids how the body works and how to stay healthy.

Thousands of kids have experienced the exhibit in science museums across the country. We're looking for angel investors to help us fund more of these unique projects. We want to take control of our destiny.

If you have a "weird business" or "weird website" you want profiled here and on other blogs, do let us know. If you need a link from this blog, here is how you get one.

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KossDVD.Com - College Sophomore On Track To Become A Millionaire Selling DVDs On eBay

http://www.kossdvd.com

Corey Kossack, 23
Tempe, Arizona
eBay User ID: kossdvd
2006 Sales: $1 million
Projected 2007 Sales: $3 million
eBay Business: New DVDs, iPod accessories and video games

In 2004, Corey Kossack was a college sophomore doing some online shopping from his dorm room for a digital camera memory card. One of his stops was eBay to see if he could find a deal. Although he says he "always thought of eBay as a place for people to get rid of junk," he found someone selling hundreds of memory cards that day. This was clearly a businessperson, not an individual selling castoffs from their personal collection, and it changed Kossack's thinking about eBay. He saw a business opportunity and wanted in.

Recognizing the need to carve out his own niche, Kossack decided on DVDs. He reasoned that there are always new titles coming out, creating an ongoing demand for the product, and most DVDs are the same size and weight, which makes the process of packing and shipping them much simpler.

However, "finding suppliers was difficult," he says. By calling major distributors from the study room in his dorm, Kossack eventually got his foot in the door. But he says the sales terms at the outset "weren't very good," mainly because his sales volume was low.

That soon changed as Koss DVD's sales volume increased. In its first year in operation, the company sold $500,000 worth of DVDs. But what has kept the business on course has been Kossack's focus on profitability, not sales. "Sales volume isn't all that's important," he says. "What's really important is profit."

While most businesses focus on the top line--sales--Kossack has paid equal attention to keeping costs down. One change to the company's shipping process, replacing the bubble envelopes it had been using with a lightweight alternative, shaved 0.3 ounces off each package's total weight and saved the company $10,000 in its first year.

From the start, Kossack has tracked each order's profit margin carefully, taking note of all the factors affecting profitability to make constant improvements. But in 2006, recognizing how important such calculations could be for any eBay business, he paid another student to create software and used the new formulas to replace his manual calculations.

In addition to automating his profit tracking, Kossack has renegotiated deals with his suppliers based on his company's track record of growth and success. He's also expanded his product line, from 1,000 DVD titles to 10,000, and added video games and iPod accessories to his store. He says, "We're becoming more of a superstore."

Be sure to research your intended industry thoroughly to understand what margins are typical. You will be better armed to negotiate with suppliers, and you can confirm upfront that your business can be profitable. And this magic free software that eBay millionaires use can help you get started.

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How To Make Money Buying And Selling Ideas Online

http://www.ivnentionconcept.com/

George M. Davison had an idea about ideas. A lot of people have ideas. Some ideas are very good. So why not buy ideas from people and then resell them for a profit. Sounds impossible? Well, it's not.

George Davison started his first business in 6th grade. He would buy candy in bulk from a local merchant each morning and then sell it to the children at Shadyside Academy that day. Buying Charms lollipops for five cents and then selling them for 25 cents, he learned first hand how to buy and sell, as well as to create his first inventory system. As time passed, he found himself leading his fellow Kiskimenetas Spring School (prep) students as one of only a few students selected to run the dorms. He attended school six days a week in a coat and tie and held down his first major job managing his classmates.

When it came time for college, George Davison had two letters of nomination to the U.S. Naval Academy, one from Congressman Lyle Williams, and the other from Congressman Don Bailey. He decided to attend Allegheny College in 1982. On the first day of school, he met his wife, started a vending machine business, ran the commissary, and became house manager for The Phi Delta Allegheny Chapter. Davison graduated in 1986 with a Bachelor of Science in Economics and a minor in Computer Science.

Wanting to follow in his ancestors' footsteps, Davison realized that he too wanted to run his own business. He spent two years after graduation making a new product that killed toothbrush germs. Like most inventors, Davison felt the pain of someone beating him to market with an idea. Davison decided there must be an easier way to design, develop and present ideas to corporations. These obstacles are what prompted him to come up with a way for inventors to get their ideas designed and presented to corporations for possible licensing. Through this process, Davison came up with his greatest invention - Inventegration, which is the unique process that drives his company. Today, Davison's company employs over 285 people in Pittsburgh. This is how it works

Once a new idea is presentation ready, Davison focuses on presenting the product to corporations with the intent of securing a license agreement. But Simply having an invention does not guarantee that a product will make its way onto a store shelf. For a product to have a fighting chance, it requires skills and knowledge that come from experienced professionals. Davison's licensing efforts have placed products in Wal-Mart, Dick's Sporting Goods, Bed Bath & Beyond, and Target, just to name a few.

So if you have a worthwhile idea and want money for it, you may want to run it by George. He'll give a free estimate about how worthwhile your idea may be. And if you are lucky, you'll get a lot of money for it.

P.S. At this point Inventegration works only with US residents.

Fla. Lottery Says Man's $500,000 Scratch-Off Ticket Appears To Be Misprint Rather Than Winner

WonderPizza - Pizza Vending Machine

http://www.wonderpizzausa.com/

One of the world’s favorite fast-food options just got even more convenient with Wonderpizza—the world's first vending machine to serve up piping hot pizzas in less than two minutes. The Wonderpizza machine stands at about six feet high, six feet wide and three feet deep, and holds up to 102 pre-sliced 9-inch pizzas in separate and sealed trays. The pizzas are frozen using a special process. Once they’ve been thawed and placed in the machine, they have a shelf-life of 12 days. Standard varieties are Cheese, Vegetables and Ham, but other varieties can be produced on request (minimum order is 39,000 pizzas). Using a high-intensity toaster oven cooking process, Wonderpizzas are heated upon order and delivered fast and hot at a suggested retail price of USD 5–6.

Based on more than five years and six million dollars worth of research and development, Wonderpizza originated in Italy and is now beginning worldwide distribution, seeking regional and local distributors, dealers and agents. Entrepreneurs who are quick to jump in on the game and target the right locations can feast on a yummy slice of profit.

If you have a "weird business" or "weird website" you want profiled here and on other blogs, do let us know. If you need a link from this blog, here is how you get one.

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AdultFriendFinder.Com - How To Make Millions With 'Adult Dating' (As In Dating For Sex) Websites

Warning! NOT SAFE FOR WORK!

http://www.AdultFriendFinder.com

AdultFriendFinder.com is for those who wish to find some pals with whom to “play” and for those who choose to share tales of their adult exploits with appreciative new amigos. It’s kind of like joining an x-rated country club.

Founded in 1996 by Andrew Conru and privately owned, the FriendFinder Network operates with a staff of more than 200 from its corporate headquarters in Palo Alto, California. The FriendFinder Network is the leading global online relationship network, allowing over 20 million registered members to confidentially and anonymously meet people with similar interests and mindsets in a safe, exciting environment. Last year revenue is estimated to be around 87 million US Dollars, with most profit coming from AdultFriendFinder.Com

So what's behind the success of this adult dating website? What strikes you right away is how much access is available to everyone regardless of membership level. Without paying, services like accessing member personals are limited, but still available to you. All those thumbnails of tits, ass, or cock scrolling by in the search results will peak your interest and start your juices flowing for sure. Just a titillating taste and you’ll probably sign-up for full service anyway. In the meantime, anybody can send a wink to show interest. Adding a profile to your Hotlist sends an e-mail displaying your crush on the other member. As a bonus, the popularity of a profile can lead to privileged access even for a standard member. Paid subscribers for an extra fee can allow free access to anyone, increasing the number of responses they get.

If you'd like to know more about adult business from the business prospective (rather than sexual), check out The Down & Dirty Guide to Building Adult Web Sites

The Bra Strap Niche

http://www.glamorousbrastraps.co.uk/

Entrepreneur Dao Tran-Boyd is hoping never to be strapped for cash again after finding the holy grail of business: a niche product.

Bra straps sound like the kind of idea that could get laughed out of the Dragon's Den but as Mrs Tran-Boyd, founder of Glamorous Bra Straps said: "The simple things in life are the best".

That maxim holds true in business and 18 months after its launch the company has been shortlisted by the Gift Association for its Best Gift of the Year Award.

Mrs Tran-Boyd, from New Malden, said: "We are absolutely delighted to be shortlisted, especially as we have been trading for just less than a year, but have already achieved a retail and wholesale customer base across the UK, Ireland, Channel Island, Europe and even as far as Egypt and Nigeria.

"Until now bra straps have been a fashion nightmare, but not any more."

She started making the items at home selling them at school fairs. When interest grew, she took the plunge and invested money to approach a wholesaler in China.

The company is now taking enquires from agents in the USA and Canada and has over 150 hand-made straps in its collection.

Having a keen interest in community and charities, Mrs Tran-Boyd is happy the straps have been a hit with breast cancer sufferers and she now hopes to use the product to further good causes.

"Its simple, but it makes women feel sexy and glamorous," she said.

If you have a "weird business" or "weird website" you want profiled here and on other blogs, do let us know. If you need a link from this blog, here is how you get one.

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How To Make Money With Text Link Ads

http://www.text-link-ads.com/

Chances are, you've already heard of Text Links Ads (TLA). Several bloggers reported that TLA makes them more money than AdSense. For instance, last month John Chow has made $1352 from Text Link Ads from his blog, while AdSense income for the same website is 'only' a thousand dollars. I've tried TLA ten days ago and has made $200 so far. I've also recently added TLA to my discounted software shop DePrice.Com

TLA has one major advantage over all other traffic monetizing tools. It does not require clicks or purchases. You get paid simply for placing links on your website. Here is a very cool tool you should check out, it shows how much money you can make with TLA - TLA Link Calculator. Try plugging in http://uncommonbusiness.blogspot.com (I've actually added this blog to TLA database, but still haven't added the code yet because it requires some tech expertise I don't have).

A single link from this blog gets me $41 a month. You can put up to 12 links. Do the math. However, selling links from sites or blogs you currenly own, isn't the best tactics.

The best tactics is buying PR4-5-6 domains, websites and blogs and monetizing them from TLA. It's a perpetual money making machine. You can buy a PR5 domain for $150. You'll need to put up a pretty page to attract advertisers and to make sure that Page Rank is real and not pumped up artificially.

Because TLA pays via PayPal once a month, you can easily reinvest money in new websites or buy links for your projects to increase PR. The higher page rank, the better TLA will pay you. As simple as that.

Also, take note of the fact that TLA is running a promotion - $100 in FREE Links

How To Make One Million Dollars With A Site That Maps Cellphone Dead Spots Across US.

http://www.cellreception.com/

As a startup business, it's sometimes tough to know where you're going. But Allen Tsai and other online entrepreneurs who use new mapping technology make it their business.

Tsai, 27, is the founder of CellReception.com, a mapping website that locates cell reception, towers and dead spots across the country. "Cell phone reception was and still is widely variable," says Tsai, who launched the site in 2003.

Other websites mapped only bits and pieces of tower locations, and the FCC's tower registration database was just a "chart of coordinates," says Tsai. "It wasn't very useful unless mapped. So that's what I did."

CellReception.com links to Tsai's other website, Mobiledia.com, an educational resource on the cell phone marketplace. Tsai said he did this to increase traffic and boost visitor comments about cell reception, which add value to the coordinates Tsai maps. Today, CellReception.com gets more than 90,000 visitors a month, and the sites earned combined sales of more than $1 million in 2006.

If you have an interesting business or a website, we'd love to profile it. And here is how you get a link from this blog.

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Reunion.Com - the un-glamorous social network that makes money

http://www.reunion.com

Reunion is a social networking company that looks decidedly old-fashioned, compared to glitzy (or garish, some would say) sites like MySpace.

And yet its simplicity, like that of Facebook, is apparently part of its success. It now has 28 million registered users, and is adding one million users a month — and by that measure, it ranks among the top five social networks (Facebook, by contrast has slightly more than 19 million registered users). That’s why Reunion has just scored $25 million in venture capital from Oak Investment Partners, in what is the largest first round of venture capital any social network has received to date.

So why have you never heard of it?

Launched in 2002, Los Angeles-based Reunion is far more retro than Facebook. It shrugs aside the sexy “widget” doodads popularized by companies in Silicon Valley — and has slogged away through the years quietly, without marketing hype or verve. Reunion targets the 25 and older crowd. When you register, it provides you a straight-forward profile page, and then lets you add a range of information about yourself (bio info, favorite movies, character descriptions, etc). At its simplest, you can add your friends, and then stay in touch with them — as the name “reunion” would suggest. No video sharing or anything. Plain-vanilla stuff. See screenshot below. Many of its 28 million users registered years ago, and aren’t that active. However, it has about eight million unique users a month, which comfortably places it among the top ten networks.

Yet its new users — because they are older — are far more profitable than users at younger sites, such as MySpace, says chief executive Jeff Tinsley. Reunion brings in revenue of more than $30 million a year, though he wouldn’t be more specific. Cyworld, the raging popular Korean site, has said it makes $2.10 revenue per users, and Reunion makes much more than that on its recent users, Tinsley said. “It’s interesting, we don’t get covered nearly as much as these other guys,” Tinsley said.

One source of Reunion’s traffic is the “people search” technology it offers to other sites. It powers people search for AOL, Infospace, and Lycos, and will announce another big deal in two weeks, he said. People search is becoming more popular, and it will soon “bubble up” to become a staple feature at the top of most major sites, Tinsley said. Reunion powers 60 million people searches a month.

Reunion’s second largest outside investor is Richard Rosenblatt, former chief executive of Intermix, the parent company of Myspace. He joined the seed round, though invested less than Tinsley himself.

Reunion makes money from advertising. But it is more aggressive in pushing its premium services, charging between $3 and $5 a month to do things like contact people once you’ve located their profile pages, or to be able to see who is searching for you. You have to pay to see people’s full profiles, too.

We wonder how long it will be able to charge people for this sort of thing, given that sites like Spock (yet to launch, albeit), MySpace, Facebook and LinkedIn are increasingly giving you ways to reach people, and stay in touch with them, for free.

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How To Make Money Creating Custom Travel Guide Books

http://www.miss-info.net/

two years ago, Colleen Cavanaugh Anthony and Alexis Owens, who met in Los Angeles while working on film and fashion projects, came up with the idea of creating their own series of custom guides, tailored to the special interests and needs of travelers headed to a particular destination at a specific time. They envisioned a personalized guidebook that would travel well, containing information unavailable to most other tourists. "Aside from setting up shoots, we were always figuring out where to have a client dinner," says Owens.

The pair, already avid globe-trotters who had often put together listings of activities for clients arriving in town for a photo shoot, poured their experience into launching in 2005 a custom travel-publishing outfit, Miss Information. The company reaped $5,000 in sales that year and tripled sales its second year. It doesn't yet have a sales goal or a projection for 2007.

After plunking down a $300 investment at a do-it-yourself publishing operation, Cavanaugh Anthony and Owens were in business. To create a truly customized product, their process begins with an interview of the client to mine the essential details the guide should contain. Using a Macintosh publishing program called Pages for layout, the pair then print pocket-size guides with photos and text that run 50 to 60 pages and are hand-bound with an old Japanese binding technique.

For an added touch, an old-fashioned library pocket bearing the client's name is placed on the inside jacket. The covers—a map of the destination—are made from archival paper (a particularly durable acid-free paper) and coated for wear and tear. "They're meant to get banged around," says Owens. "You can toss them when done or keep them; they hold up well. You can even use them as a coaster."

Without employing any marketing or advertising, Miss Information has relied solely on word of mouth. Not surprisingly, the outfit's first clients were people the pair knew from the film and fashion industries. Corporate clients so far have included The Gap and Campbell Soup. Yet the company has expanded its range of customers and will even produce guidebooks for, say, out-of-town guests attending a wedding that include personal details, such as where the bride and groom had their first date and where they got engaged.

If you have a "weird business" or "weird website" you want profiled here and on other blogs, do let us know. If you need a link from this blog, here is how you get one.

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How To Make $100,000 A Year, Setting Up Murder Mystery Parties

http://www.host-a-murder.com/

David Wachtendonk makes over $100,000 a year with murder mystery parties. His company, Murder Mystery Maniacs (don't you love this name) sets up "murder parties" for families, corporations, teens and adults. Dave also sells scenarios for parties as well as creates custom murder mystery plots. A typical scenario is about 8 dollar per person involved in a party.

Here is a plot for "American Idol" murder mystery (one of the most popular choices)

We kill Simon Cowell. Do we need to say more! You’re at a prestigious Theatre in Hollywood shooting the hit television show "American Icon". The program pits participants against each other to see who can be the last singer voted off the show. Some of you are here as contestants, and some of you are here as the cast and crew. Simon Fowell is the mean judge, creator, and owner of the production company “Simon Works”. Approximately two weeks into shooting Simon demanded everyone involved in the project show up to a mandatory meeting. You heard from the other contestants, cast, and crew that Simon was going to reveal important news about the show.

A scream rang out. Simon Fowell was found dead in the middle of his ransacked dressing room and pronounced dead from a gun shot wound. One of you is the killer and the rest of you need to find out who it is. When you have found someone with a motive, a gun, and who was near his dressing room, then you may have discovered the true killer.

If you have a "weird business" or "weird website" you want profiled here and other blogs, do let us know.

Want to read more weird business stories? How about a lady who makes millions selling emu oil anti-wrinkle cosmetics (make sure you read the sales letter, it was written by Gary Halbert himself)?

Oh, and this is pretty funny as well:

Man Who Faked Retardation To Get Disability Checks Gets Prison, Has To Repay $59,226

Have a great weekend, folks.