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Tuesday, November 16, 2010

Making Money Cash

1:24 p.m. | Updated Correcting number of restaurants in partnership with GrubHub.

GrubHub.com, a search engine for restaurants that deliver food, has raised $11 million to expand to more cities.

The company is hoping to use the new round of venture capital – its third in six years – to reach more users who want meals delivered to their doorstep, but without the trouble having to sift through a pile of take-out menus and making a phone call.

Benchmark Capital led the latest round of funding. Previous investors also participated including Origin Ventures, Leo Capital and Amicus Capital. Over the years, GrubHub has raised a total of $14.1 million.

The company, based in Chicago, faces a long list of competitors in an industry that has yet to reach much of the country. Most services cover only a limited number of cities and even less of the suburbs. Some charges delivery fees. Challengers to GrubHub include SeamlessWeb, Delivery.com, Eat24hours.com and CityMint. Waiters on Wheels offers a variation in which it handles the delivery instead of the restaurant.

GrubHub works like this: Users enter their address to find restaurants nearby that deliver. They can also search by cuisine like Chinese or pizza. Users look at the menus online and then place an order. The restaurant takes care of the delivery and payment.

GrubHub is free for consumers. The company makes its money by charging restaurants a commission on orders and in return, the restaurants that pay appear higher in the search results. “Restaurants are doing well cooking food but they need some help in the technology space,” said Matt Maloney, GrubHub’s chief executive.

Around 4,500 restaurants have teamed with GrubHub so far. An additional 8,500 restaurants appear on the site, but users must call them rather than ordering online.

Mr. Maloney said that GrubHub would double the number of cities it serves by the end of next year to 26. The company is available bigger cities like New York, Los Angeles and San Francisco.

Orders placed through GrubHub are expected to rise from $70 million this year to $150 million in 2011, Mr. Maloney said.

Bill Gurley, a venture capitalist with Benchmark, and who led its investment in GrubHub, said that the sales figures might seem small now, but that he expected the restaurant industry to increasingly move online in the coming years. He cited the example of companies in other industries like Southwest Airlines, Ticketmaster and OpenTable, the restaurant reservation service that Benchmark also invested in.

“All of these industries have gone from zero percent to 100 percent,” Mr. Gurley said before pointing to restaurant delivery. “This one is starting to move, and we see no reason why it won’t follow the same pattern in maybe 20 to 30 years out.”

Several factors have contributed to this year’s gusher, including a U.S. Supreme Court ruling in January that now allows unlimited campaign spending by corporations and unions. In August, a low-profile Federal Election Commission decision opened the door for donors to pool their money and give anonymously, which produced a bumper crop of ads from nonprofit political groups and committees trying to influence voters.

“The biggest factor driving the spending is the competitive landscape,” said Evan Tracey, president of Kantar Media’s Campaign Media Analysis Group. “Incumbents across the country are worried about losing, and they are not holding on to their money. And many of these statewide races are in states with expensive media markets like New York, Texas and California.”

Political spending this year should reach record levels, Tracey predicted.

Wells Fargo's Ryvicker estimates that TV stations will collect $2 billion in political money this year. Cable television systems will generate at least $150 million; radio stations will garner $250 million; direct mail efforts should consume $650 million; and billboards will receive $55 million. Ryvicker estimated that newspapers would take in $95 million in political money.

Coming in last, according to Ryvicker and Tracey, will be Internet sites. Their collective haul should be about $50 million -- less than 2% of the total.

Companies that own TV stations in the LA market include CBS Corp., NBC Universal, Univision Communications, News Corp., Walt Disney Co. and Tribune Co., which owns KTLA-TV Channel 5 and the Los Angeles Times.

For the full story in the Los Angeles Times, click here.

-- Meg James

eric seiger

The Allmusic Blog » News Roundup: 11/10/2010

The blog site of allmusic.com. Music news, reviews of new songs, information about upcoming releases and tours, highlighting forgotten treasures, rediscoveries, and all manners of interesting music culled from the AMG archive.

Google News Blog: Credit where credit is due

News publishers and readers both benefit when journalists get proper credit for their work. That can be difficult, with news spreading so quickly and many websites syndicating articles to others. That's why we're experimenting with two ...

First Solar News, Rumors: CIGS, Mercury, Tellurium : Greentech Media

First the news... Apollo Solar Energy (OTC: ASOE), a vertically integrated miner, refiner and producer of high purity tellurium (Te), announced a five-year purchase contract between Apollo Solar Energy and a major worldwide solar panel ...

eric seiger

1:24 p.m. | Updated Correcting number of restaurants in partnership with GrubHub.

GrubHub.com, a search engine for restaurants that deliver food, has raised $11 million to expand to more cities.

Around 4,500 restaurants have teamed with GrubHub so far. An additional 8,500 restaurants appear on the site, but users must call them rather than ordering online.

Mr. Maloney said that GrubHub would double the number of cities it serves by the end of next year to 26. The company is available bigger cities like New York, Los Angeles and San Francisco.

Orders placed through GrubHub are expected to rise from $70 million this year to $150 million in 2011, Mr. Maloney said.

Political spending this year should reach record levels, Tracey predicted.

Coming in last, according to Ryvicker and Tracey, will be Internet sites. Their collective haul should be about $50 million -- less than 2% of the total.

For the full story in the Los Angeles Times, click here.

-- Meg James

eric seiger

The Allmusic Blog » News Roundup: 11/10/2010

Google News Blog: Credit where credit is due

First Solar News, Rumors: CIGS, Mercury, Tellurium : Greentech Media

eric seiger

eric seiger

eric seiger

The Allmusic Blog » News Roundup: 11/10/2010

Google News Blog: Credit where credit is due

First Solar News, Rumors: CIGS, Mercury, Tellurium : Greentech Media

eric seiger

1:24 p.m. | Updated Correcting number of restaurants in partnership with GrubHub.

GrubHub.com, a search engine for restaurants that deliver food, has raised $11 million to expand to more cities.

Around 4,500 restaurants have teamed with GrubHub so far. An additional 8,500 restaurants appear on the site, but users must call them rather than ordering online.

Mr. Maloney said that GrubHub would double the number of cities it serves by the end of next year to 26. The company is available bigger cities like New York, Los Angeles and San Francisco.

Orders placed through GrubHub are expected to rise from $70 million this year to $150 million in 2011, Mr. Maloney said.

Political spending this year should reach record levels, Tracey predicted.

Coming in last, according to Ryvicker and Tracey, will be Internet sites. Their collective haul should be about $50 million -- less than 2% of the total.

For the full story in the Los Angeles Times, click here.

-- Meg James

eric seiger

The Allmusic Blog » News Roundup: 11/10/2010

Google News Blog: Credit where credit is due

First Solar News, Rumors: CIGS, Mercury, Tellurium : Greentech Media

eric seiger

The Allmusic Blog » News Roundup: 11/10/2010

Google News Blog: Credit where credit is due

First Solar News, Rumors: CIGS, Mercury, Tellurium : Greentech Media

eric seiger

The Allmusic Blog » News Roundup: 11/10/2010

Google News Blog: Credit where credit is due

First Solar News, Rumors: CIGS, Mercury, Tellurium : Greentech Media

eric seiger

The Allmusic Blog » News Roundup: 11/10/2010

Google News Blog: Credit where credit is due

First Solar News, Rumors: CIGS, Mercury, Tellurium : Greentech Media

eric seiger eric seiger
eric seiger

eric seiger
eric seiger

The Allmusic Blog » News Roundup: 11/10/2010

Google News Blog: Credit where credit is due

First Solar News, Rumors: CIGS, Mercury, Tellurium : Greentech Media

eric seiger

The Allmusic Blog » News Roundup: 11/10/2010

Google News Blog: Credit where credit is due

First Solar News, Rumors: CIGS, Mercury, Tellurium : Greentech Media

eric seiger

The Allmusic Blog » News Roundup: 11/10/2010

Google News Blog: Credit where credit is due

First Solar News, Rumors: CIGS, Mercury, Tellurium : Greentech Media

eric seiger

Monday, November 15, 2010

how to manage personal finances

This guest post is by Kiesha of WeBlogBetter.

Have you ever wondered how some bloggers never seem to run out of post ideas? They always manage to escape the dreaded writer’s block unscathed; they’re always full of inspiration. Ideas overflow and pour onto the page as they type feverishly. They’ve tapped into a mystical stream of never-ending stories.

What if I told you that you could tap into the same power?

Everything you’ve already learned and experienced can be used to create infinite and original ideas for your blog. If you can turn on the analytical and creative juices in your brain, you’ll never run out of ideas.

Almost anything you’ve learned in school, on the job—even life’s lessons in general—can be turned into useful analogies or comparisons. Music, television shows, movies, or videos can also be used as fuel for unique and engaging blog posts.

There are almost no limits to this technique. In fact, the more unlikely and unusual the comparisons you make, the better.

Using my personal experience to blog better

Whenever something evokes an “Aha!” moment for me, I immediately think about how I can use that principle for blogging.

For example, late one night, I was watching The Karate Kid. At the point when young Dre finally realizes that all those days and weeks spent picking up his jacket had really been preparing and strengthening him, my mind immediately connected that experience to blogging.

When Mr. Han said, “Kung Fu lives in everything we do … Everything is Kung Fu”, I jumped up like a hot coal had landed in my lap. I grabbed a pen and wrote:

“Blogging lives in everything we do … Everything is blogging! Every experience is potential blogging material!”

My husband thought I was going mad as I frantically scribbled this on an already over-filled piece of paper. It was a major “Aha!” moment!

Yes, everything in my life — even those experiences that I thought were useless wastes of time — had been preparing me for blogging.

You might not be able to see the similarities between blogging and manicuring nails, but what I learned years ago as a nail technician helps me blog better today. I was known for my creative airbrush designs and 3D nail art. I had more customers than I had time. It sounds like I should be rich by now, right?

Here’s the problem: I loved the design/art part of the process, but I hated the chemical aspects of the job. I also hate feet, which wasn’t the best of news for customers who wanted their toes to match their fingers. I suffer from the exact opposite of a “foot fetish.” Would that be a foot phobia? What I learned is that no amount of money justifies doing (or smelling) things you hate.

How does that translate to blogging?

Nothing, not even money, should be the reason for blogging about something you’re not passionate about.

I can see many parallels between applying acrylic nails and blogging.

They both require preparation

When applying acrylic nails, the surface must be adequately prepared. Skimping on this step creates the prime condition for the growth of fungus or other harmful pathogens that, if left untreated, could create medical problems for the customer.

With blogging, if you don’t take adequate time to prepare with research and fact checking, you could potentially steer a reader in the wrong direction. They may not be physically harmed, but advice you offer on your blog could harm a person’s business or their blogging efforts—and maybe even adversely impact their finances.

They Both Require Good Design

If I tried to put a beautiful design on a malformed nail, it only made the malformation more apparent. On the other hand, a well-formed nail with an ugly or bland design would be a waste of sculpting efforts. In other words, the nail had to be both well formed and display a beautiful design.

The same is true for a blog. You can have the most beautiful blog design, but if your site lacks valuable content, no one’s going to want to return. You need both good design and great content.

So you see, yes there is much to learn about blogging from doing nails. There is much to learn about blogging from everything—from all of your experiences.

Over to you

Have you ever thought about how your own abundance of personal experiences relates to your own niche? And how you can use that to create a blog unlike any other?

Start by listing some of the most vivid experiences you’ve had, or lessons you’ve learned over the years.

Then instead of thinking about how different they are from blogging, think about how similar they are.

Use those points of intersection to highlight those similarities.

Then mesh those ideas together to create something new.

What you’ll get is something totally unpredictable and extremely insightful.

Which pieces of your personal experience and life lessons could you use to create an interesting analogy or comparison in a blog post? Which could you use to help you improve your blogging in general?

Kiesha blogs at WeBlogBetter, offering blogging tips and tricks. She’s a technical writer, writing instructor, and blog consultant for small business owners. Connect with her on Twitter @weblogbetter.

For those of you new to Free Money Finance, I post on The Bible and Money every Sunday. Here's why.

Here's an interesting verse from Proverbs 13:20:

He who walks with the wise grows wise, but a companion of fools suffers harm.

Let me put a personal finance spin on this:

He who associates with and listens to those who are doing well financially becomes wealthy. But someone who follows the advice of those who can't handle their money is destined for the poor house.

Ok, so I'm not a wordsmith (but you already knew that, didn't you?), but you get the idea. If you hang around people who follow the solid financial principles that can make you wealthy, then it's likely those principles will rub off on you and you'll do well too. But if you associate with people who continually make bad money mistakes, you'll probably do the same -- and thus kill your finances.

I'm not talking about having only friends who have it all together financially. But I am saying that it's wise to have friends, on average, who are doing fairly well or at least making good financial choices. And I'm not saying the friends have to be experts on everything. But I learn something from almost all of my friends -- how to save money from one, how to manage retirement from another, how to network for another, and so on.

If I spent most of my time with people who shopped for enjoyment, I'd probably want to do the same. If my friends spent every penny they had on "stuff" to fill up their houses, I'd probably follow suit. And if my friends all had boats and cottages, it probably wouldn't be long before I needed one (or both) too.
Let's face it, you're influenced by who you hang out with. So who do you want influencing you?

I once heard a speaker say that the person you'll be in five years will be determined by the people you know and the books you read. So choose your friends (and your books) wisely!!!

Tuesday, November 16, 2010

Monday, November 15, 2010

Using my personal experience to blog better

They both require preparation

They Both Require Good Design

Over to you

Using my personal experience to blog better

They both require preparation

They Both Require Good Design

Over to you

Thursday, November 11, 2010