I use WordPress for almost every site that I build. If you are unfamiliar with this program, it is a content management system (CMS) that allows the business owner to edit and manage their own web site.

When I first started using WordPress to build web sites for companies, I had some push back from some of my clients.  Some said, “It’s a blogging software, I don’t want to blog.”

Others thought the system was too amateur to be used on their web site. If the site didn’t cost them $5000, then it wasn’t good enough for them.  How wrong they were!  Not only have I worked on web sites throughout the United States, I’ve created WordPress sites for companies doing business in Ceylon, the United Arab Emirates, and Dubai! It seems that larger corporations are also following suite.

Here is a list of Fortune 500 companies that use WordPress for their web sites, as well.

The Wall Street Journal, Pepsi, General Electric, UPS, Ford Motor Company, Samsung, Coca Cola, Xerox, CNN Money, American Express, PlayStation.com, The New York Times runs over 50 WordPress-powered sites, Fisher Price, Nokia, Intel, Nikon, Yahoo and Best Buy.

Jeff Samuels is The David L. Brennan Professor of Law, Director, Center for Intellectual Property Law and Technology at The University of Akron, School of Law, in Akron, Ohio.  His bar admissions include Ohio, District of Columbia, Virginia, New York, U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit and U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Virginia. Prior to joining the Akron Law faculty in 1998, Professor Samuels was an Adjunct Professor at George Washington University School of Law and George Mason University School of Law. He received his B.A. from Colgate University and J.D. from Albany Law School.

I recently had the opportunity to sit down with Professor Samuels and talk with him about his past and the study of International Intellectual Property at Akron University. He was brought to Akron twenty-two years ago to be the director of the Intellectual Program after teaching at George Washington University and serving as head of the trademark division of the USPTO. According to Samuels, he came to Akron, “…because the position was a good fit and I enjoyed the people at the law school.”

Since this time, Professor Samuels has helped to engineer Akron University’s influence across the world over both the Atlantic and the Pacific. This is part of Akron’s initiative to globalize their Intellectual Property law program.

The first location was France, where he has been a visiting professor at Schuman University in Paris and Strasbourg, France. For the past six years he has been giving lectures there on US Trademark Law. He has also been a featured speaker at the European Parliament talking about a unified EU patent system program. Through this association, students at Akron will be able to go to France and study European law.

His second major international success is with Peking University School of Law in China. Professor Samuels referred to this school as “The Harvard Law School of China”. With this program, Akron University will be collaborating with Peking University to have professors visit each of the schools to teach for seven weeks. This past year, professor Yang Ming came to Akron to instruct on Chinese Intellectual Property law. In 2013, Akron will be sending a professor to China to do the same. With this initiative, Akron students will be given first hand instruction in international policies in regards to intellectual property and trademark/patent laws.

While Professor Samuels isn’t spending his time building Akron University into a leader in Trademark and International Intellectual Property Law, he spends time with his wife, Linda, who is professor of Legal Studies at George-Mason University. The couple like to hike, travel and go to the theater.

Posted April 4, 2012

ORLANDO, FLA. (April 4, 7:30 a.m. ET) — The version of PolyOne Corp. that’s here at NPE2012 is a bit different from the company that was at the event three years ago.

Avon Lake, Ohio-based PolyOne has improved its product mix and performance since then, chairman, president and chief executive officer Stephen Newlin said at a press event at NPE 2012. The firm now generates half of its operating income from specialty products and has seen its adjusted earnings per-share soar from 13 cents to $1.02.

PolyOne also has made acquisitions in Russia and Brazil, as well as its landmark $486 million deal for liquid color and additives supplier ColorMatrix Inc. last year. The firm – which ranks as North America’s largest producer of compounds and concentrates and as one of the region’s largest resin distributors – also has hired 200 additional employees in research and development since 2009.

“We’re not growing globally to appease Wall Street,” Newlin said. “We’re doing it because our customers need us to expand globally.” He also described the R&D hirings as “a big, progressive step” for PolyOne.

PolyOne continues to seek out more acquisitions, but Newlin said future moves “have to be aligned with a specific strategy…but we might also be open to consolidation, even if that’s a type of deal we haven’t done before.”

“If we don’t ever buy another company, I’m happy with our company,” he added. “But if we can grow faster and help our company (by making acquisitions), we will.”

PolyOne also has an extensive new product initiative at NPE2012. These efforts include :

- reFlex 100, a fast-acting bio-based plasticizer. This new technology is produced from rapidly renewable plant-based feedstocks, and was developed in collaboration with Archer Daniels Midland Company (ADM). It’s one of the first bioplasticizers to be awarded recognition by the USDA BioPreferred program, which has granted reFlex 100 a 94% biobased label.

With its fast-acting (high solvating) performance, reFlex 100 can be an alternative to conventional plasticizers such as BBP, DBP, and benzoates, many of which have come under regulatory pressure. With reFlex 100, customers can improve productivity, reduce the amount of plasticizer and stabilizer required, and eliminate defects for greater operational efficiency and profitability.

Intensify Performance Solutions, a new service offering for customers seeking pre-colored specialty engineered material formulations. The Intensify technology team specializes in custom and innovative solutions to meet both aesthetic and performance requirements by collaborating with customers early in the design process. Intensify capabilities will extend over a full range of engineered thermoplastic materials including high-heat thermoplastics such as polyetheretherketone (PEEK) and polysulfone. PolyOne’s collaborative process speeds innovation and helps customers streamline their development cycle.

-  a new, unique, UL-certified extrusion grade of Geon-brand PVC compounds for electrical applications. The new grade grew out of PolyOne’s work with Walton Plastics, a custom sheet extruder, and their customer, Midwest Plastic Fabricators. Midwest was looking for rigid vinyl sheet that could replace steel in outdoor electrical boxes such as control cabinets, junction boxes, and radio frequency meters. Compared to steel, vinyl offers many advantages including lighter weight, paint-free aesthetics, no corrosion, and radio frequency signal transparency, officials said. Vinyl also is non-conductive, which in some situations can prevent electrical shock.

At the press event, marketing vice president Julie McAlindon cited examples of new material applications for PolyOne. The firm “harmonized colors” on the 2012 Range Rover Evoque vehicle. Doing so eliminated the need for multiple materials. PolyOne also removed painting from a Friedrich-brand air conditioning housing by replacing painted ABS with a Geon PVC compound, she said.

Chief commercial officer Michael Kahler also commented on the ColorMatrix deal, saying there “wasn’t as much overlap” in shared business between the two firms as PolyOne initially had expected. The deal also allowed PolyOne to have :a stronger additive technology team.”

PolyOne posted sales of almost $2.9 billion in 2011 – up more than 9 percent vs. 2010. The firm’s full-year profit also climbed more than 6 percent to almost $173 million.

Jimm Fowler
Owner, myWebSource1, LLC

http://mywebsource1.com

Question: Why is Pinterest growing so quickly?
Answer: Pinterest is the new social media site that has been taking the world by storm. Already, it has exceeded the growth rate of Facebook (but not the numbers) as people use it to share recipes, stories, and images. Is there a way to use Pinterest for your small business? Can you generate traffic by adding Pinterest to your web site or blog and get people interested in what you have to say? I’ve been using Pinterest for about six months now and I’ve found that not only does it generate traffic, it brings a whole new group of people to your web site.

Question: What tips to you have for inventors and businesses?
Answer: Here are five tips that I’ve learned about Pinterest that you can use for your web site.

1. Create a Page

So you want to join Pinterest?  Getting started is pretty easy.  First, get someone to send you an invitation to Pinterest or go to http://www.pinterest.com and request an invitation.  You are given a bulletin board to “pin” information to.  From here, you can upload, save, sort and manage images. You can connect and access Pinterest through Facebook or Twitter.  When you post or re-post a pin, you can also notify your followers from these other two social media sources.

2. Know Your Audience

The people who go to Pinterest have a variety of different interests.  As of January 2012, comScore reported that the site had 11.7 million unique U.S. visitors – hardly something that Facebook should worry about, but that the growth rate was upwards to 85% more new users per month.  Approximately 83% of the people in the United States on Pinterest are women between the ages of 35-44.  This is the group of people that you want to attract with your Pinterest business plan.

3. Watch Your Copyrights

You should always give credit to the places you get your pictures.  This way you can avoid copyright infringement.  This is doubly important if you are making money at your pins through your business.  People don’t want you stealing their images and you should respect that property.  (This is not legal advice).

4. Create more than one account

While most social networking sites should remain separate from your personal accounts, you can mix or match your accounts on Pinterest.  The only reason to avoid this would be if you post controversial information. If you decide to go with more than one account, Pinterest allows you to share boards so you can pin in more than one place at once.

5. Pinterest for Sales

If you would like to subscribe to my Pinterest board (and allow me the chance to follow you), you can reach me on this social network at this web address: http://pinterest.com/duqofurl/

James Fowler
Internet Marketing Specialist/Web Design
myWebSource1, LLC
Call Toll Free: 1-866-675-6560
www.MyWebSource1.com

Videographer Rick Elliott interviewed by Andrew Spriegel

March 28, 2012

Question: What does it take to make a product video (overview)?

To produce a product video, you need a means for making video (e.g., a camera) and a means for distributing the video (e.g., YouTube, DVD, Web site). That’s the simple overview, but there are several steps in between – planning, filming, editing, producing and distributing the final result. Let’s take a look at each of these.

Question: What type of planning is needed?

What do you want to say about your product? It’s appearance, features, usefulness, affordability? To produce an effective product video, you need to clearly decide what you want to say about the product – what will make people want to buy it?

When you have decided what to say about your product, you need to determine, in advance, what the shots will be and how you want to shoot them – close up, overhead, angle, demonstration. Where will you shoot the video? Location, lighting, sound are the main considerations. In your home, your place of business, some public location? You might need to get written permission to use certain locations. What about the lighting and audio quality in the location that you choose? The quality of lighting and audio can make or break the impact of the video, especially the audio. Do you have the equipment to do the shoot? (camera, sound recording, lighting). What is the preferred length for the video? Too short and the viewer might not be motivated to buy. Too long and the viewer will get bored and loose interest.

Question: How do you actually do the filming?

After careful planning, you take your filming equipment to the location (or locations), set up the product, light it correctly, and make a short test shot to evaluate the lighting and sound.  This includes actors who are involved in demonstrating or pitching the product.  View the test shot, make adjustments, then make several “takes” of the scene(s).

Shooting usually takes significantly more time than the actual running time of the final video.  For example, a 30 second TV commercial might take five to eight hours of shooting and another eight to twelve hours in editing and output.

Question: What is editing?

Editing is taking the raw footage from the shoot(s) into software on a computer and cleaning up the various scenes by deleting unneeded or unnecessary footage, and making adjustments for lighting and sound.  This is where you assemble the various scenes into the best order to show off your product, create transitions between scenes, do voice-over if needed, add background music or sound effects, and insert titles and text to supplement the video.  Editing is a lengthy and detail oriented process.

Question: What do you mean by producing and distributing?

Producing is the final outcome from the editing process – you have produced the final video.  When you have the finished video in your editing software, you need to export it in a format for distribution and possible use by another software program.  For example, flash for web distribution or .avi for viewing in a computer’s media player or by use in other software such as Adobe Encore which takes your finished video and combines it with menus and burns a DVD.

Don’t forget to create a compelling label for the DVD and an insert for the DVD jewel case.

Linda Corcoran
Write Now Freelance Services
4607 West 226th Street
Fairview Park, OH 44126
Ph/Fax: 440-734-6195
CorcL@sbcglobal.net

Andrew: Why did you become a professional writer?

Linda: I love language. Early in life I realized the persuasive power of the written word. In college I took Marketing classes that complemented my Creative Writing major. The combination of creativity and business acumen proved to be valuable, as it opened up a professional writing career – one that allowed me to pursue my passion, as well as make a living.

Andrew: What is goal when writing for clients?

Linda: My priority is to identify and communicate the vision of my clients. I take their passion, translate it and communicate it in the form of brochures, Web pages, white papers, magazine articles, speeches, or whatever channel is most advantageous for conveying the message.

Andrew: Are you specialized or do you write for a variety of clients?

Linda: I’ve been a professional writer for more than 25 years.  In that time, I’ve written for numerous clients, from retailers to scientists, as well as for non-profits, entrepreneurs and ad agencies. These varied experiences have sharpened my skills in research, proofreading, editing, and writing clear and concise copy.

Andrew: How do you familiarize yourself with the products that you are writing about?

Linda: I usually start the creative process by speaking with clients and listening to their goals. I ask questions about their product, their competitors, and really listen in order to understand their business process. A professional writer can bring a fresh approach to a project. They can help in developing ideas and in identifying missing pieces. Web research can augment what the client conveys and helps to fill in the blanks regarding the potential market. Key questions that I usually ask are: “What is the most important message that you want to communicate?” and “What is your product’s unique benefit?” From there I identify the target audience, and begin researching and writing with them in mind.

Andrew: Have you worked with inventors to introduce new products?

Linda: Yes. In fact, I just finished helping an entrepreneur launch a children’s nutritional product. He approached me with an idea and a confidentiality statement for me to sign. We began by talking about the big picture of childhood obesity and narrowed the focus to the role of his product – what problem was it solving? I collaborated with him in creating a consistent brand message, which in turn led to writing a promotional brochure, product Web site, packaging, instruction sheets, press releases and a promotional video script. Since the product release, we have met several times to brainstorm additional ideas for expanding product visibility.

Andrew: What mistakes do you see inventors make when they decide to do their own writing?

Linda: It is difficult for an individual to distance themselves from their own invention. Even inventors who are fairly good writers find it problematic in not being able to see the forest for the trees. Writers are trained to look for mistakes and identify gaps. An objective third party – a writer with trained analytical and critical thinking skills – can add value to the entirety of a project.

Andrew: What other value is there in hiring a professional writer?

Linda: A professional writer will dedicate time to your project and use their skill and knowledge to give you polished, professional communication. Writers are problem solvers, so they are also good at developing ideas.  They can connect with your audience, help you to reach your goals, build your business, and leverage what you do best. And, a good writer is familiar with all the media that is available for communicating your message.

Andrew: How does a professional writer charge for their work?

Linda: Most professional writers work on an hourly rate, which they have determined and will communicate with you upfront. Once the specs of the job have been determined, the writer will provide you with a written estimate and expected payment terms.

Andrew: Any closing thoughts?

Linda: Weak writing can cost an individual or business time and money. Hiring a professional writer allows you to focus on what you do best, and gives you a competitive edge.

Where do you spend your hard earned dollars?

“IF YOU BUILD IT THEY WILL COME”

“If you build it they will come”; It is sad, but most people believe this quote from the 1989 Kevin Costner film is the pathway to success with their business. By creating a quality product, setting up their business, and advertising in trade magazines, they hope to achieve success, but become disappointed when they fall short of their goals.  In today’s business world, confining yourself to traditional marketing methods can not only be costly, but the price could be your business.

Search Engine Optimization (SEO) is one marketing investment that builds on itself over time. When you advertise in the newspaper, a magazine, or on the radio your advertisement has a short life span. It runs for three days, or one week, or one month and that’s all you get out of it. Your business is in front of the consumer for a short amount of time and your costs can be extravagant with ad placement. When running an SEO campaign links are built, keyword rich text, and search engine indexing of your site which lasts much longer. This allows you to get continual and unique visitors to your website. When you run your campaign over time your web presence builds on itself, getting you more traffic and increasing links back to your website. When the campaign is complete, the traffic and awareness doesn’t disappear the way it does with print advertising campaigns. If you are truly looking to grow your internet presence and your brand awareness it is more cost effective to spend your money on something that grows over time, building on itself rather than the short life of a print ad.

TRACKING

The key to any good SEO campaign is using software like Google Analytics to track where your traffic originates, the pages that consumers are viewing, where visitors are physically located, and what parts of your site are most effective. The information obtainable by Google Analytics is more than you will ever need, but it helps you understand your target consumer and market specifically to them. This level of information is unobtainable through print or radio. This information can also help us create website architecture to direct the flow of traffic to specific areas on your site to help you capture leads or get more sales. SEO campaigns can be customized to achieve your specific company goals.

LET YOUR WEBSITE WORK FOR YOU

Your web site is the largest marketing tool you can have. Think of your website as your 24/7 salesman that you don’t have to pay every other week. The more customers you can put in front of that salesman the better chance you have to grow your sales. Save yourself some time and let your website work for you. By using an SEO campaign to identify and create traffic channels to push more visitors to your site you can take full advantage of your website.

So as you look at your current marketing strategy and look to grow your brand look online and research some SEO options that will help increase your traffic. As the traffic grows, monitor the layers of data and adjust accordingly. Market smarter and get the most out of your website.

WAYS WE BUILD TRAFFIC TO YOUR SITE

Blog posts – A blog post is a short piece of information that connects to people interested in your product.  You can use a blog post to inform, offer examples of how people are using your product, or to communicate ideas.  When people comment on a blog post, it is your opportunity to reach out and respond to their concerns and praises.

Social Media – Social Media is the place where customers go to visit.  There are so many of these sites out on the internet that they may be hard to understand.  Here is a simple example as to how people use social media.

•             Twitter: A quick message that you are able to connect with people using the #keyword.

•             Facebook: Allows people to like and comment on posts.

•             LinkedIn: Business site for people/corporations to connect.

•             Foursquare: Tells people where you are located.

•             YouTube: Video commercials

•             Pinterest: Posting of images and ideas.

•             StumbleUpon: Posting of blog posts and web pages you like.

Note: This is only a few of the social media sites.  There are, literally, thousands of sites available and focused on different niches.

THE BENEFITS OF SEO

One of the first things that you will notice about SEO is that it has long lasting effects on your customers.

For example: I wrote an article in 2003 about the benefits of proper footwear while running. Nine years later, I still get comments on that same article!

What other types of media offers that longevity?

One specific benefit of SEO is that you can see your ROI (return on investment).  When you place an ad, you have to devise some sort of a code in hopes that the customer will mention it to prove that your ad is working.  Even with an expensive brochure there is often no evidence that your advertising is working.  Through SEO, however, there are programs that are added to your web site to determine the number of people who come to your site and do what you want them to do.  With SEO, those people have the opportunity to find your web site and become aware that you exist.

SPECIFIC EXAMPLES OF DRIVING TRAFFIC:

A unique visitor is a person coming in through a single IP address. It would be like a customer walking in through your front door for the first time to inquire about your product.

Local Business:   (1 month range) New Web Site

February, 2012: 108 Unique Visitors

March, 2012: 174 Unique Visitors (Through March 21)

First month with an SEO plan, traffic has already starting to increase.

Law Firm:  (4 month range) 1 year old Web Site

November, 2011: 729 Unique Visitors

February, 2012:  1476 Unique Visitors

Website that is four months old and the traffic has more than doubled.

MyFiveBest.com: (12 month range) >3 years old Web Site

February, 2011: 28,219 Unique Visitors

February, 2012: 57,530 Unique Visitors

James Fowler

Internet Marketing Specialist/Web Design

myWebSource1, LLC

Call Toll Free: 1-866-675-6560

www.MyWebSource1.com

By Andrew R. Spriegel

Patented and Patent-Pending Inventions Portion PadL^tm and Portion PaL^tm featured in Speedway Commercial: Click Here to See Video

Click Here to See Video

Youngstown, OH:  Dave and Ginny Perkins, inventors and creators of EZ-DOH bread maker, announce the launch of their product to the national market. The EZ-DOH bread maker makes the bread-making process simpler, neater and faster than traditional manual methods, mixing bread dough in a fraction of the normal time. The Perkins, who are natives of Columbiana, Ohio, invented and developed the EZ-DOH in response to consumers’ desire to create delicious breads and sweet rolls without the conventional time and effort required to make bread dough. The hand-operated EZ-DOH allows the user to create ready-to-rise dough in three to five minutes due to the unique mixing mechanism.

The EZ-DOH motto, “bread made easy” speaks to its mission to preserve the tradition of delicious home-baked breads while adapting to the busy lifestyle. The product also aims to eliminate the mystery and the mess that are often associated with bread making.

The 100% American-made, BPA-free product can be used for most dough-based recipes such as pizza, breads and sweet rolls. The product sells for $34.95 and comes with one bread mix, recipes and instructions for use. The company also offers six varieties of bread mixes as well as various bread making tools and pans.

All EZ-DOH products can be purchased online at www.EZDOH.com.  Product inquiries can be made to dave@ezdoh.com or by calling 330-892-8448.

Dave and Ginny Perkins are clients of Spriegel & Associates, LLC (www.GotoPatentLawFirm.com) and we are very proud of their efforts and success.

Millions of these displaced workers are young and educated graduates. The unemployment rate for those holding a 4-year degree or higher passed and has held above the 4 percent mark during the recent Great Recession for the first time since records have been available from the Bureau of Labor Statistics. One of every four Americans has a bachelor’s degree or higher. The recessionary impact on this demographic has been both severe and revealing in that, during deep recessions, it has now become evident that a college degree is no longer the protection against enduring unemployment that it was in the past.

Many graduates are leaving school mired in debt. Long-term unemployment only increases their likelihood of defaulting on student loans, facing garnishment of wages and destruction of their credit worthiness.

“I remember the satisfaction I had when I paid off my last dime of student debt after spending 7 years in college getting several degrees,” says Arturo F. Munoz, editor of Starting Your Own Business.com, a family-based advisory service consisting of micro-business owners interested in showing graduates how not to risk their careers on 1 employer when 50 will hire them, by launching micro-businesses debt-free to keep them from underemployment.

“It was not necessarily schooling which made possible for me to pay off my debts or even to get a job,” Munoz said, “What made possible my success was knowing how to be enterprising in whichever market I found myself.” Mr. Munoz is owner and founder of Reach 4 Polaris, LLC, a business process management consulting firm focused on marketing automation and process optimization strategy. He has worked with large and small businesses to launch an assortment of marketing initiatives throughout his career. Starting Your Own Business Overnight.com is a recent project undertaken by Mr. Munoz’s company.

“I’ve had ample work experience ranging from small business operations in international trade, specialty foodstuffs, brush clearing and manufacturing to Fortune 500 operations in software development, business process analysis and project management. And my brother Frank is another entrepreneur and business owner, with over a decade of self-employment experience. He delivers marketing services to micro-entrepreneurs in the Spanish-speaking community. But he has also been involved in the imports trade, retail, graphic design and other small ventures in Costa Rica.”

When asked why he thinks entrepreneurship is the best option for smart, young and financially strapped graduates to organize themselves for a strong future, Mr. Munoz explains that his passion is rooted firmly in a tradition of family business.

“My father was an entrepreneur from the time he was 13. He was dirt poor and had no father to teach him the ropes. I benefited from my father’s experience until my parents broke up when I was in my early teens. At that time my brother and I were on our own. My dad grew up during the Great Depression and learned business the hard way. Many years later I grew up in the great depression of a broken home, in a foreign country, without the financial backing that I had been promised in childhood and which I thought I’d come to depend upon during adolescence. All I could see around me was loss and uncertainty and tears. But unlike my dad’s experience, I had something in me that he had planted by his example while I was growing up with him by my side. And this was his entrepreneurial drive, which saw me through terribly difficult times,” Mr. Munoz said.

“I chose to homeschool my children to build as strong a relationship with them as humanly possible. Both my son and daughter have started their careers as micro-entrepreneurs and support my operation as research assistants, because we believe that through family unity and enterprise many of today’s graduates will be able to overcome the economic challenges of the individual. This is why we created Starting Your Own Business Overnight.com, because unemployment is a family problem first, before being a financial problem,” Mr. Munoz concludes.

With many millions of unemployed though educated individuals losing patience with the current economic trend, and with stress levels rising that could lead to social unrest if no viable options become promptly in evidence, especially in concentrated urban areas, the Munoz believe that their proposed approach of entrepreneurship centered around the family will find avid listeners.

In their own words at their web site, a “micro-business is just the right size for a family who needs to pull together to make ends meet, when the head-of-household’s career hopes get dashed to pieces after long bouts with unemployment. It is also the right size of business to start for the recent graduate who can’t find work, owes years of student debt for a school certificate that does not guarantee a career future, yet yearns for a productive start in life. It is the right type of business for any young or retired person to venture into to develop new business skills or to keep them from going stale. It is the kind of business that can produce cash quick!”

In short, an enterprising micro-entrepreneur can end personal unemployment, by using techniques not meant for conventional small or large businesses and more geared to the individual contributor, who is confident about specific knowledge acquired during years of education or training but unclear about how to market personal services to a local need.

For more information about the Munoz or Starting Your Own Business Overnight.com visit http://www.startingyourownbusinessovernight.com or their Facebook fan page http://www.facebook.com/startingyourownbusiness