Ruby Tuesday Pick of the Week: UsedCardboardBoxes.com
Why It’s a Gem: If at first you don’t succeed, try a leaner, greener business model.

When Marty Metro’s first business model to sell used cardboard boxes failed, it didn’t get him down. His passion for his idea kept him retinkering until he got it right. Today, UsedCardboardBoxes.com is a financial – and environmental – success story. (more…)

You’ve been doing steady business. But how to make it grow? A solo entrepreneur gets some advice on improving her line of personalized products. (more…)

Ruby Tuesday Pick of the Week: Ai Media
Why It’s a Gem: Three simple letters can make or break a business.

Just because you’re an old-fashioned, brick-and-mortar business doesn’t mean that you can do without a website. How 1995! It’s not just that everyone’s doing it, it’s that everyone’s doing it because it works. A website is one of the least expensive marketing methods, and yet it has one of the highest ROIs.

In this week’s Ruby Tuesday, Sergio Alvarez of Ai Media Group explains why SEO and SEM are so important to the success of today’s businesses. (more…)

You’ve worked hard and uncovered the rubies in your orchard. Business is booming. How great! But now all your free time is being siphoned away by clients, and you’re not sure how to help your business take the next step in growing up. In this week’s Ask Lynda, a prospering entrepreneur gets some next-step tips on graduating her fledgling company by working smarter.

(more…)

Ruby Tuesday Pick of the Week: WomenOnCall.org
Why It’s a Gem: The Chicago-based organization makes it a snap for non-profits and volunteers to find each other.

In this week’s Ruby Tuesday, we’re deviating from our regular focus to highlight a not-for-profit organization rather than a for-profit business. With the economy in a perpetual swan dive, non-profit organizations are just as likely as for-profits to be floundering — or worse. (more…)

In this week’s Ask Lynda, a successful non-profit wonders about its future as the economy falters. Lynda’s advice? Don’t make website visitors work to make a donation, reorganize your boards so that people receive recognition but also contribute to their full potential, and, above all, tap into the sources already at your disposal: your current donors.

(more…)

I’m proud to announce that last week in New York City at the annual Public Relations Week Awards, the Roll PR team was awarded “Best In-House PR Team of the Year,” beating out other semi-finalists McDonald’s, American Red Cross and Deloitte. More than 100 companies submitted entries for this award category, the most prestigious in the industry. (more…)

Logo of Zilok.com, the online rental marketplace

Ruby Tuesday Pick of the Week: Zilok.com
Why It’s a Gem: A super-lean business model provides a green way for customers to both save and make money.

With the success of such super-sites as eBay and Craigslist, you might think there wasn’t room in cyberspace for another customer-to-customer website. But Zilok, which came on the market just two years ago and already has sites in five countries, has carved a green niche for itself by providing an alternative to buying and bartering: renting.

Not only does this idea come at a time when our sagging economy is making us rethink our long-standing belief that we “need” to own as much possible, but it’s also an environmentally friendly solution to what to do with all that clutter we have stuffed into our closets and garages. (more…)

As part of her mission to save small businesses, Lynda Resnick, author of the national best-seller Rubies in the Orchard, fields questions from entrepreneurs and non-profits and shares her business and marketing know-how.

In the first of her new series of Ask Lynda columns, Resnick responds to a letter from Ellen Parcell, who runs the non-profit Heart to Heart, a non-profit organization that supports homeless and abused women and children. (more…)

Ruby Tuesday Pick of the Week: Fetch! Pet Care
Why It’s a Gem: Along with liquor, the pet industry is one of the few that has proven to be recession proof.

Ruby Tuesday: Fetch! Pet Care, Paul Mann (MP3)

With all the evangelical pessimism being spread by the media, I want to bring you some good news: There are industries that have been relatively untouched by the recession. Some, in fact, are thriving.

This week’s Ruby Tuesday spotlights a company whose franchises are multiplying faster than rabbits — and they’re helping to create more jobs and franchise opportunities in the process. How’s that for news to get your tail wagging? (more…)