From jazz musicians to painters, a growing number of artists are choosing to become entrepreneurs. Artists do this so they can pursue their artistic passion and pay the bills. And while making a living as an artist continues to be difficult, 3 broad trends are combining to create new opportunities for artist entrepreneurs: Read entire article.

Posted in Planning & Strategy, Sales & Marketing

David Eraker started a company called Mindsite to help people who are searching for answers about mental health. I found out that the DSM-IV is the go-to guide for diagnosing mental health issues, and Mindsite is the first company to publish this resource online for consumers to read directly. I know lots of people who are searching for mental health information–they’re called “disgruntled employees,” so I asked David to help me help you figure out if your boss is crazy. Here are the main personality disorders from the DSM-IV as they relate to your boss.

Narcissistic

If your boss shows arrogant behaviors or attitudes, has a grandiose sense of self-importance, and takes advantage of others to achieve his or her own ends, then your boss may be a narcissist. This is the loudmouthed CEO with a Porsche parked out front and a Rolex who is always claiming that he’s doing “the next big thing.” He frequently needs an entourage of yes-people who suck up to him. Support groups for the employees of narcissists are some of the most active online. Continued interaction with them can be downright toxic though because they can turn you into a spineless puppy dog or a powder keg of anger. (For more information about the narcissistic personality disorder, go here.)

Read entire article.

Posted in Leadership, productivity

I am of the Baby Boomer generation and I’ve been using technology for 25+ years.

So I have to laugh when I read articles suggesting Baby Boomers are a bunch of old, tech illiterate dinosaurs.

OK, maybe the calendar doesn’t lie and we are getting up there in years.

But what’s with this tech illiterate stereotype, already???

What prompted me to write this is a recent blog post I read about entrepreneurs and technology. The post basically made the point that you should dumb-down technology for Boomer entrepreneurs. It was written by a 20-something tech blogger. (Said blogger shall remain nameless to protect the guilty.)

Here’s a news flash for Gen Xers, Gen Yers and Millennials: Read entire article.

Posted in Technology

Recently, President Bush signed what was dubbed by the New York Times as a “huge package of housing legislation” that is supposed to help thousands of homeowners who may be in danger of foreclosure.

There are other things in the bill, of course. As a matter of fact, there’s a little something here targeting the self-employed, something I bet nobody on Capitol Hill is going to claim credit for including.

Those vociferously fiscally-responsible Congressional Democrats, who want to pay for what they do but know they can’t raise taxes under this President, have spent the last couple of years lusting after a way to narrow the tax gap. The tax gap, in case you were wondering, is the difference between what the Treasury Department estimates it should receive in tax revenues and the amount it actually does receive. Read entire article.

Posted in Money Management