For women marketers, female entrepreneurs, and moms in business who trade office space for home, kids, daycare, and laptops, the time's never been riper than now to dive in the "Diapers to Dollars" phenomenon. The great recession was really bad, but if it could speak it would gladly take credit for creating more WAHMs than ever. WAHM is a term you can't miss if you frequent social networks, trendy blogs, and specialty chat forums. It means Work at Home Moms. Priya, Erookie's resident WAHM took time to dissect and explain the trend on a personal and business level in her latest book "Diapers to Dollars: Work at Home Mom Success Guide".

You have something new. Something no one else has. You’ve been working on it in your spare time for long months. Now it’s time to take your invention to the next level. To do that, you need capital. You need investors.

Name the most notoriously bad TV bosses. Scheming Mr Burns from The Simpsons perhaps, or maybe cheapo Mr Krabs from the Spongebob cartoon. Are you the walking dictionary of a rotten B.O.S.S? The one who's cutthroatness and spitefullness you can smell from the moon. I'm a boss as one of the founding members of EDGE (Early Development of Global Education). I hire and work with interns, but I make sure they leave both me and my company with a great lasting impression. No one I know wants to work for a bad boss.

If your leadership tactics create dread, fear, and stomach churning episodes in your shop then you might be a B.O.S.S. of the torrid kind. Let me explain the bad B.O.S.S. acronym - Big Overbearing Selfish Stiff. What are the signs you're the dreaded startup boss?  Would you even admit to being one if singled out? Let's hope so, but if you're grossly denying your rotten-bossness on your mother's grave, here are a few signs to give you a wakeup call.


You might be a bad B.O.S.S. if:

You keep egging on subordinates to do borderline illegal work activities against their will. No boss is squeaky clean, but forcing an employee to dable in suspect activities both online on off for your business benefit is just inconsiderate and wrong. Single-handedly put your own neck on the line and not theirs.



You're a Blame Deflector

Living in South Florida I see amazing displays of nature from animals with sharp keen senses right near my own backyard. One such animal is the majestic american bald eagle. Like a cunning hunter or genius business person, this animal fully maximize all natural given tools at it's disposal. One in particular stand out however, Its keen sense of vision. I had the rare chance to witness live how the eagle spots a meal prey from afar, then strategically manuever itself above for a successful aerial ambush on an unsuspecting seagull prey. The video below basically illustrates what I witnessed one day, starting at the 50 second mark.


Always be mentally alert for opportunities laying in wait

Social media is ripe with what I call superbombers. They're people you just met through  Twitter follow, Google Plus circle, Facebook friendship, Linkedin connection, blogs, and forums but imediately they're cluster bombing you with "buy my product," "click this link," and "donate some money now!!!!" Last year I spoke about how not to get lured to the dark side of aggressive marketing. Today I'm revealing the irritating dark lords who can lure you there.

Bridge financing is not for the faint of heart. In fact, most start-ups won’t need it and oftentimes can’t afford it. They’re better off putting together a business plan and a well-refined pitch to secure seed money from angel investors or venture capital firms.

However, there are legitimate situations in which bridge financing is not only helpful, but necessary. For example:

If you own a small business, you probably have a lot on your plate. Running a company is a challenging task, especially these days. It seems that every week it costs more to keep your business competitive. If you frequently send items to your local clients, you know how quickly shipping costs can mount. That’s why a courier service is so valuable. It can save you time and money. Once you find a reliable courier, you’ll wonder how you got by without one.

Branding involves advertising while putting a lot of emphasis on the company's name, logo, color scheme and even a slogan. Have you been wondering how branding can help you promote your business? Well, to the consumer, it is not just about what they see. They build a deeper relationship with your brand which they directly relate to your business. The emotional connection leads to customer loyalty whereby your products and services are trusted and recognized for high quality. Even in the face of competition, consumers are likely to stick to your brand.

So, you’ve launched your startup, business is growing, and now you’re ready to bring on a few employees. Hiring for a startup is different from hiring for a corporate position—employees must be ready for the challenges and triumphs that go along with entrepreneurship.

You know how they say don't mix business with pleasure? Well they're right, it gets way too personal and messy when the two meet. However there's one recurring exception where you should roll out the welcome mat and KISS in business.