Link-a-palooza for 1/28/11

Its gonna be an interesting few months as the economy, tax cuts, and economic development initiatives take center stage at the Statehouse and DC.  Let’s hope they keep some focus on small business!

·         National Geographic put together a stat filled tutorial on what 7 Billion of us on the planet looks like.  It took me about 30 seconds to type this, which means about 90 more people have been added to that 7 Billion.  Wow!

·         Grinnell College has launched a new social justice prize program giving away hundreds of thousands a year, yeah that’s right, hundreds of thousands a year - to young social justice innovators.  Deadline for submissions is coming up February 1^st if you are interested.

·         The Business Record had a nice interview with the incoming director of the Iowa Partnership of Economic Progress, Debi  Durham, and gave a little intro to what the new department will look like now that the Iowa Department of Economic Development is a goner.

·         Carol Tice has a checklist of the ‘Not To Do’s” in terms of blogging for your business.  Its got a few tips for your truly, so I better figure out how to get a few more pictures on here.

·         John Jantsch, over at Duct Tape Marketing, has a sweet little checklist for anyone looking to launch a podcast on the cheap and easy.

·         I’m a big fan of anything free, as long as it’s good.  Good and Free is sometimes hard to find.  Ice water at Wall Drug comes to mind.   Here are a few others, some free and some not for full disclosure.

·          If you are a drop shipper or e-commerce junkie –Alibaba is great, but Doba needs to be on your radar

·         Drew McClellan does a lot with customer-service type marketing tips.  He’s put that experience to good use with a nice review of how the Magic Kingdom has kept the magic for the last 200 years, or however long they have been open. 

·         Rhonda Abrams runs a nice start-up blog over at USA Today.  I try to read her stuff from time to time.  Her tips and tricks aren’t always so tech-focused, which I appreciate as a non-techy.  Her latest list – 11 key marketing tips – is a nice read on tried and true techniques that everyone knows, but may need a refresher on.

·         For those looking for a book idea or two to get through the rest of winter – when is it gonna be over? – here is a list with a few that I hadn’t thought of before

·         JPEC has announced their 2011 biz plan competition, so if you are light on cash, check it out

·         I know we seem to spend a ton of time on state rankings, who’s the best, who’s the worst, etc.  Well Iowa has done pretty well on these the last couple years (about the same time period that I have been back in Iowa – coincidence? – perhaps).  So to see us on this list, is maybe just a reminder to take all of this with a grain of salt, or a whole block of it.