Archive for May, 2010

YouTern – An Online Community for Internship Seeking Students

Tuesday, May 18th, 2010

All undergraduates know how important those internships are, especially when you do not have a lot of real-world work experience.  The norm has been that many finance, economic, and business majors would seek internships from the major corporations, like Morgan Stanley, Merrill Lynch, and other huge companies, but what about the students who are interested in start-ups and the young companies breaking onto the scene?

The answer: YouTern.  YouTern is a start-up company in California that is working to hook college students up with internships at start-ups, rather than huge corporations.  This is a great service for students who may want to take a more creative approach to their internship experiences and for students who have already decided that they do not want to work for a large corporation and will find more value in working with a young company.

With summer approaching, college students are going to be thinking about more than just backyard games and parties, they will start to look toward their future and summer is a great time to start making plans for the upcoming school year.

Especially with the downturn in the economy, it may be that more and more college students are realizing that that pathway to success is not always the corporate route.  The rules are changing for college students and they are learning to adapt and YouTern is a perfect set-up to help student find creative ways to achieve success – one internship at a time.

Google & Small Businesses

Saturday, May 15th, 2010

Google has long been pursuing small businesses and reaching out for ways to help small businesses get online and create an online presence.  According to this article, it appears that Google is now partnering with the Small Business Administration in creating tools to help small businesses drum up more business by utilizing what Google knows best: the internet.

They are offering videos for small business owners that cover things like: establishing an online presence, engaging with customers, using free online marketing tools, and other items.  While it is great that Google is honing in on helping small businesses build an online presence, I think it may be a little difficult because some small business rely heavily on word-of-mouth or the target customers for a small business may not be online savvy — so a lot of time and investment may eventually be wasted.

But you got to love Google for reaching out to the small businesses who do see potential in creating an online presence.  Of course, it could not hurt if every business did have a very basic website, even a website without the bells and whistles that Google may be trying to promote.  I know it drives me crazy when a little shop I know exists but can’t remember where does not have a website or any type of web presence to help potential customers find them.

So the courtship between Google and Small Businesses continues, a courtship that I hope will end in a love story that will be profitable for all.

Product Package – Creative Solutions to Reduce Cost and Waste

Saturday, May 8th, 2010

Product packaging has always been a thorn in the side of those who want to reduce their carbon footprint and for companies who want to reduce their costs.  Packaging for a lot of consumer products are a waste because, while is is necessary to maintain the integrity of the product, it is often thrown away just after the product is purchased.

Knowing that this is a huge problem, some creative designers have come up with ideas, check out this Rethink Packaging article.  One of the great ideas was to create a shoe box that doubles as a shopping bag.  Puma, the shoe company, jumped on the design bandwagon and can now boast about their packaging design that uses 65% less cardboard and reduces the need for shoe stores to place the shoe box into a shopping bag, because the box itself is the shopping bag, too!  Puma is going to roll out with these innovative designs in 2011.

With more consumers becoming aware of the large footprint that they are leaving on this planet, they will begin looking for companies who are also trying to reduce their footprint – so Puma has the right idea!

What ways can your company attract those consumers who are more conscious of their waste?  Is there a creative solution that your company can develop that will reduce waste in packaging?