Here's an interesting article from Entrepreneur.com. It's interesting for two reasons. First, there is cautious optimism that the dotcom world may be making a comeback. Second, the diversity of the people bringing it back. Case in point, Cameron Johnson, the 19 year-old CEO of CertificateSwap.com. Ah, but don't let me give away the plot. Check out the article.

Got this info from MarketingSherpa's Newsletter. . .

Google's public launch of its Gmail program wasn't expected until August. Turns out Gmail's already slowly launching beyond beta. It appears that anyone who's had a Gmail beta account for about 30-days is invited to allow three friends to have accounts too. And then after 30 days these folks can ask three friends, etc. etc.

You have to admire their marketing savvy. Get the most influential folks in the email universe to rush out and ask three friends to join. And then after a bit more hype builds, allow those newbies to spread influence too.

So, are you one of the chosen? If so, and can't think of three friends you'd like to invite. . .PICK ME! PICK ME!!

I gave my new friend Donna Pfledderer (still can't say her last name) a shameless plug a few weeks ago, but was messing around on Debbie Weil's blog tonight and noticed that she referenced Donna's name several times regarding an upcoming seminar. I laughed when I saw the line "Just Ask Donna. . ."

Donna runs the Virtual Business Connection, and she has been a real godsend to me. She is somebody who can do many things Internet-related, and will try to help in any way she can!

If you need somebody to be your "virtual assistant," you ought to contact Donna.

If you have a small business, and can't afford or don't need a full-time office assistant, let me recommend to you Donna Pfledderer, owner of Virtual Business Connection.

Donna provides a variety of office-related and marketing services including: desktop publishing, proofreading, newsletter publishing, email broadcasting, forms creation, document conversion, website editing and content management, research, and events/conference planning.

In other words, if you need it, Donna can get it done. And even though I can't pronounce her last name, I've talked her into working with me on a web design project for a client.

Donna's services are reasonably priced, too!

I am an unabashed fan of Seth Godin's book Purple Cow. If you're in business and you've not read it, I urge to to order a copy now. It's that good!

Due to my blatant fanaticism, I've come up with a couple of ideas worth considering. . .

Click to read more ...

I just added another client today, which brings the total to three!

I meet with my first client evening, a local pharmacist and his wife, who runs a gift shop along with the pharmacy. They are interested in developing two sites to compliment their two brick-and-mortar businesses, an online pharmacy and an online gift shop. I guess that means RMG is officially in business!

Quicken.com has a section dedicated to small business. Here is a good article I found about how to gain and keep good customers.

I've got a meeting Monday with my first prospective client, a local family-owned pharmacy, that wants to establish an online presence. They are a well-established brick-and-mortar business. The owner told me they've experienced a few of the "learning the web" landmines, and want to turn their project over to someone who knows the lay of the land. So, ready or not, here goes.

Came across this site the other day. Besides the fact that I love the name, Duct Tape Marketing, it is replete with great marketing ideas for small business owners. Check it out! Just remember, you saw it here first.