Business Credit Cards

It isn’t any surprise that coworkers often find themselves attracted to one another. After all, you’re working in close proximity, seeing each other regularly, and usually dressed more attractively than you would be in a more casual situation. Yet work romances can create a troubling dilemma. Many businesses  have strict rules about what is acceptable when pursuing a romance with a coworker, and for a good reason. Often, there is a fine line between what is harmless flirting and sexual harassment, and underestimating it can cost you your career. So if you want to ask out that cute girl from marketing, follow these tips to avoid landing yourself in hot water.

1. Ask her to lunch. Lunch is a relatively harmless request, as business associates often get together for lunch to discuss work related issues. If you’re nervous or want to be extra careful, invite along a few other coworkers.
2. Send her emails. Sometimes emails can be a low-pressure way to ask out the object of your affection at work, and she won’t feel like she has to give you an immediate response. Just be careful what you write–emails are often monitored, and any inappropriate emails will likely be saved for your dismissal interview.
3. Include other coworkers. If you’re afraid to risk it all and ask her out one-on-one, try inviting her out with a group of coworkers. You’ll still get to spend some time with her away from work, but there will be other people around to ease any potential awkwardness.
4. Only ask once. If you’ve asked her out and she said no, don’t press the issue. Repeated attempts at getting her to go out with you will make her uncomfortable and definitely cross the line to harassment.
5. Give non-threatening compliments. One way to show your interest in a female coworker is to pay her compliments. You just have to be careful about what you say, as there are many things that could be taken in the wrong way and could sound inappropriate. One way to do this is by giving a compliment accompanied by a question such as "That’s a nice University of Whatever scarf. Did you go to school there?" That way, she won’t feel pressured to respond to your compliment, and you’ll get to know a little more about her.
6. Walk with her to meetings or out of the building. Make the most of your travel time through the building to spend time with the woman you’re interested in asking out. It’s an easy way to approach her and it’s unlikely to make her feel uncomfortable because your walk has a terminal point.
7. Arrange outside of work outings. You won’t seem like a creep if you ask her to come along on company outings outside of work, and in fact, if she’s new you might even score some points with her for making her feel included in the group.
8. Keep your distance. While you might get away with getting touchy feely when approaching a woman at a bar, at work you should keep your distance. Don’t invade her personal space. Instead, express your interest through your face and body language.
9. Tell her jokes. Jokes can be a great way to get her to let down her guard and think of you as a person, not just her coworker. Just be careful to keep the jokes clean to avoid upsetting her or any other coworkers within earshot.
10. Bring her coffee. Provided she likes coffee, this will be seen as a sweet, non-aggressive gesture. If you’re lucky, you could turn a one time gesture into a daily coffee date.
11. Only approach those who are not your subordinates. It doesn’t matter how attractive your subordinates might be, they should be off limits if you want to avoid future trouble. Even if you spark a long-term relationship, if it goes sour you could become subject to complaints that you used your status as leverage.
12. Make excuses to stop by her desk. Walking by her desk every once in awhile or bringing some papers over to her can be a good way to break the ice and give you an opportunity to ask her out.
13. Keep it casual. If you do ask her to go out, make sure it’s something that isn’t too intimidating. Try asking her to get coffee or dinner before asking her out to come over to watch a movie.
14. Be her friend first. Before you take the leap to asking out a coworker, get to know her first. You may find out that while you thought she was cute, you two don’t really have much to talk about. Of course, if you do, you’ll have a much easier time asking out someone you’re already friendly with.
15. Send her a meeting invitation. Why not get cute about it and send her a meeting invitation through her email? You can keep things casual with a simple catch-up lunch meeting if you want to see how interested she is.
16. Ask for her help on a project. You can often approach a coworker you don’t know particularly well by asking for her help on a project. You’ll get her help and a chance to talk with her that you might not have otherwise had.
17. Take breaks together. Invite her along on your afternoon snack run or trip to the water cooler. If she says yes, who knows, she might say yes to dinner and movie.
18. Use work as a conversation starter. An easy way to break the ice with a coworker is to joke around or talk about work. You can share a laugh about how sweaty your boss was at the meeting or how awful the coffee is in the break room. You’ll be bonding, but in a way that’s appropriate for the office.
19. Leave her outs. If you want to ask out someone from work but you aren’t sure of her interest in you, make sure you leave her an out when you invite her on a date so that she doesn’t feel trapped or made uncomfortable by your request.
20. Get her opinion. If you work closely with the coworker you’re interested in, try asking her opinion on something you’re working on. It’ll let her know you value what she thinks and later on, you can ask her opinion on more personal matters as well.
21. Gauge her interest. Whether you ask around the office to see if she might be interested or just read her signals, don’t pursue a woman that doesn’t seem to be into you. While this is a good rule to follow in general, it’s especially true for the office.
22. Save her a seat. One way you can show interest in a woman at work without being too pushy about it is to save her a seat at your next meeting or conference. It’s a nice gesture and you’ll get to sit by her the whole time.
23. Ask her questions. You’re unlikely to face any lawsuits for trying to get to know a coworker better, unless of course you start quizzing her about her personal life or dress sizes, so take the opportunity to ask her questions and get to know what makes her tick. It will make it easier to ask her out later.
24. Maintain eye contact. This is a good approach to dealing with women at work, as it shows that you are interested in what they are saying. It also makes it clear that your eyes aren’t wandering to places that are inappropriate.
25. Just ask. Sometimes the best way to approach a woman at work is to just do it. That way, you’ll know right off the bat if she’s interested or not, and you won’t be tempted to say or do things that she might find harassing if she’s not interested.

Remember that none of these tips are foolproof–every person has their own comfort threshold and some might take offense at things of which others would think nothing. Stay smart, and who knows? Your office romance might blossom into something more.

If you’ve decided to start an online publishing business, you have many choices, including static niche-focused sites, subscription content, and blogs, all of which we’ve discussed here. Another option is to build an online magazine, preferably one related to your startup market.

The problem is that, until recently, the type of CMS (Content Management System) needed to produce an impressive online magazine would set you back at least $100,000, if not literally a million. And then you have to factor in “seat licenses” for every person who would be using the software. That’s way too much for most online publishers, aspiring or otherwise.

Enter WordPress (aka WP), reputedly the most used platform blogs. Despite that, WordPress is nearly as powerful as most of the high-end CMSes that I assessed in the late 90s for large companies. And it’s free, Open Source software. (At least for the present.) It’s also quite capable of present a magazine-like website, as the sudden explosion of magazine-like WP themes will attest to.

If you do have designs on an online magazine, you need a good layout to match. There are actually quite a number to choose from, and some of them are discussed briefly below, with snapshots. Please note that some of these themes require WP 2.3+ versions, which to me is a huge disappointment due to serious changes in the database schema that are incompatible with earlier versions of WordPress.

The Shortlist
Being included here is not an endorsement of any particular theme and not a snub of others. I’m including those that I’ve either tried, read about a fair bit, or simply caught my eye.

1. Revolution. The original Revolution theme is one of my early favorites and I had no trouble shelling out a few dollars for a licensed copy that I could install multiple times – and tweak to my heart’s content. The theme is by Brian Gardner, whose free WP themes you can find at Performancing.

The main Revolution site has a wealth of tutorials on how to use the theme and customize it. It’s robust enough to show several variations. Check out Hot Togs and Curry Elvis for a couple of examples. As with most of the themes in this list, you can take Revolution and make it yours by tweaking.

There are a number of different licensing options, so check out what’s most appropriate for your needs.

2. Revolution News, Magazine, Sports. Shortly after the success of Revolution, Brian released his Revolution News, Magazine and Sports themes, which are essentially variations on the same idea, but do have distinct layouts. While I purchased a copy of the Magazine theme, I haven’t yet implemented it. These are much more magazine-y than the original Revolution, and the Magazine variation has a space set out for a “featured video”.

The licensing options for these three themes are different than for the original theme. If you want any of these for multiple use, it’ll cost you more.

The only drawback I’ve found with the four Revolution themes is that the default mode uses their logos, which you will not want for your sites. Most of the other themes here instead use the name of your WordPress blog automatically.

3. TMA – The Morning After. TMA , by Arun Kale, is another of my favorite WP magazine themes, which you can see implemented with slight layout variations at CallStyle and PopSofa. Details on customizing this free theme are available on the main page. Besides the general layout, it has a very “online magazine” feel to it, with well-integrated layout components.

What I really like about it is the Feature and Asides components. It’s also relatively easy to move the chunks around, if you are familiar enough with the PHP coding used by WordPress. I’ve also taken the Asides code from here and implemented it in another magazine theme, Mimbo, discussed below. The only thing I don’t like about this is how blockquotes appear out of the box. However, of all the free themes, it’s my favorite.

4. Mimbo. I really love Mimbo, by Darren Hoyt, for sites with lots of images. But there are a few kinks I found while customizing an implementation, including category archive pages showing as the home page instead. (But in all fairness, they work on the demo site; just not for me.)

Note that the name Mimbo means “male bimbo”, and that this theme is ideal for a fashion mag or something in the entertainment or pop culture vein. On the other hand, a very attractive implementation can be found at Cycling Challenge (which I have nothing to do with). I have taken the “Asides” section of TMA (above) and replicated it – something I intend to do with on some Revolution installs.

5. Your Revolution. Adii (Adriian Pienaar) released three magazine-style themes, though I’m not sure if Your Revolution is first or second. This one has a slight resemblance to Brian Gardner’s Revolution News theme in terms of layout, but uses a completely different color theme out of the box.

The list price is $79, but since I don’t own a copy, I can’t say how easy it is to customize. It’s not one of my favorites, though color themes are always a personal choice. I’ll take a guess that

6. Blockmag. The Blockmag theme is also by Adii, and I prefer this one over his Your Revolution, especially in terms of layout. Both are available for sale, along with a number of other themes by Adii.

Maybe it’s the demo and the demo colors, but I find that this theme might be more suitable to something in the art vein – possibly for selling art online, if  you have an arts magazine to go with it.

7. Premium News Theme. The Premium News Theme is the third of Adii’s magazine themes. I find this one to be the most attractive of the three, very professional, and ideal for sites with lots of photos and videos. In fact, there’s a built-in video player.

It’s very sexy and crisp, and the homepage layout makes me think of a print magazine masthead, with large snippets of photos. I might just have to shell out the $99 for it – but that only covers a single use. Like some of the other paid themes, if you want to use it on multiple sites, there’s an extra flat cost.

8. Grid Focus. Grid Focus is very minimalist, with a strong black and white, 3-column theme, tempered with a bit of gray. It leaves a fair bit of room for customization.

What’s interesting is that the navigation bar is duplicated at the bottom of the page. Given the demo layout, this theme is probably ideal for a text-heavy site. However, it’s likely that it wouldn’t be too much work to incorporate images. And color.

9. Futurosity. Futurosity takes a vertical approach to the magazine theme, in a minimalist sense. The demo page suggests a theme ideal for text-heavy sites, though i’m sure you could add images. (It’s not evident from the snapshot at right.)

The individual post page template is very clean, with tons of white space, and space for large images (scroll to bottom of page). Overall, this a simple but bold theme, and potentially has a lot of uses.

10. Jello Wala Mello. Designer Small Potato has released what he calls a “free premium” magazine theme called Jello Wala Mello. I’m not big on yellow (my least fave color in the spectrum), but I do like the general layout.

It’s influenced by CNN and Kineda layouts, which Small Potato mentions. He also goes through the influences and the process he used, including previously hiring someone to come up with what is now an earlier incarnation of this theme. (Which is less yellow and laid out differently.)

Other magazine themes.
Theme Playground also reviews several other magazine-style themes that I didnt’ know about and thus haven’t explored yet. Design Adapations also talks about creating a magazine style theme by example, reviewing some of themes listed here. (Note: Theme Playground uses the TMA theme.)

Summary
Few of these themes “work” out of the box. After you install and activate one of them in your WordPress control panel, you likely do have to do some work, adding one or more sizes of images for the home page, and what WordPress calls custom fields. In fact, unless you don’t care about homepage images, you also have to do some photo editing work each time you post a new article.

If you want something original, an area of site design that you might be interested in is grid-based design, which makes up the core of these magazine themes. The Blueprint framework is a good place to start, for producing grid-based layouts from scratch.

It’s true that not all of the themes above are ideal for a professional online magazine, though many of them show a great deal of promise, and some of the licenses allow tweaking and/or reuse.

If you’re a busy entrepreneur, chances are you barely have time to brush your teeth, let alone brush up on all of the blogs, business news, and books out there. If you’re too busy to read, podcasts are a great alternative. Try listening to these podcasts for entrepreneurs while you’re on the go.

Startups

Hear about strategies for up and comers in these podcasts.

1. FlyingStartups: Get monthly updates of interviews with well known startup entrepreneurs on FlyingStartups.
2. Startup Nation Radio: The Sloan Brothers take you on their adventure of starting a dream business.
3. Loic Le Meur: This serial startup entrepreneur creates podcasts with interviews, news and more.
4. Andrew Allgaier: Andrew Allgaier’s on the brink of launching his business.
5. Cubicle Divas: Leesa Barnes shares secrets on how women can start a new business on a shoestring.
6. StartupBizCast: Steve Mullen’s Startup BizCast has loads of business advice and tips for startups.

Finance

Keep your mind on your money by checking out these podcasts that center on finance and investment.

7. Business With Cents: This podcast is all about starting a successful business without a lot of cash.
8. Best Accounting Practices: Listen to Best Accounting Practices for insight from CPA Jack Boyer.
9. Venture Voice: These podcasts offer infomation on venture capital, entrepreneurship, and other topics in business.
10. Entrepreneur Magazine Radio-Money/Jobs and Economy: This podcast covers news and interviews in money and economy.
11. Kiplinger Personal Finance: Entrepreneurs need to keep a close eye on their personal finances. Learn how to do that with Kiplinger’s podcast.
12. Entrepreneur and Investor Corner: This podcast is designed to help entrepreneurs get their feet wet in finance and investing.
13. Joseph Associates: This podcast from Joseph Associates covers the merger and acquisition marketplace.
14. QuickBooks Small Business Podcast: Get small business seminars in this podcast from QuickBooks.
15. TaxQuips: If you’ve got a small business tax question, tune in to TaxQuips.
16. Accounting Best Practices: Steve Bragg discusses a number of accounting topics in this podcast.

Inspiration

Use these podcasts to spark ideas and inspiration for your business.

17. 60 Second Ideas: Get inspiration from these quick idea podcasts.
18. Daily Thoughts for Business: These inspirational thoughts will brighten any entrepreneur’s day.
19. Teen Biz: On this podcast, you’ll find business ideas for teens and young adults.
20. Biz Op Radio: Chris Murch stays on top of business opportunities in this podcast.
21. HBR Ideacast: This ideacast from Harvard Business Review offers loads of management ideas and commentary.
22. Entrepreneur Cast: Learn how to take your inspiration beyond the concept with Entrepreneur Cast.
23. Tweak!: Tweak! teaches entrepreneurs to make small changes in their business.
24. Escape From Cubicle Nation: Pamela Slim’s podcast is all about getting out of the cubicle and into a life you can enjoy.
25. iinnovate: Learn about innovation and entrepreneurship with this podcast.
26. Killer Innovations: Phil McKinney shares his knowledge about creativity and innovation.

Productivity

Listen to these podcasts for strategies and help for staying on top of everything.

27. Gain Control of Your Day: Use these tools and techniques to stay on top of your productivity.
28. A Motivated Entrepreneur: Get motivated with this podcast.
29. Smarter By The Minute: Work smarter and live happier by checking out Smarter By The Minute.

Marketing

These podcasts provide loads of ideas for getting the word out about your business.

30. Aggressive Marketing & Entrepreneurship Podcast: Tune into Michael Cage’s podcast to learn about strategies and news for marketing your business.
31. The Cold Calling Podcast: Listen to the Cold Calling Podcast for tips, insight, and tricks on telephone prospecting and lead generation.
32. Guerilla Marketing: Find out what people want online and how to be an exceptional guerilla marketer with this podcast.
33. Recognized Expert Marketing: Listen in to this podcast to learn how becoming a recognized expert can help you with marketing.
34. Biz III: Listen to this small business podcast for loads of tech-savvy marketing tips.
35. Personal Brand Marketing: Check out Vikarm Rajan’s podcast for marketing tips you can use.
36. Duct Tape Marketing: John Jantsch’s Duct Tape Marketing podcast delivers loads of marketing tips and offers lots of big-name guests.
37. Marketing Edge: Check out Marketing Edge for insight on public relations, marketing, and more.
38. Marketing Voices: Listen to Marketing Voices for perspectives on social media marketing.

Business Building

Build your business with these podcasts.

39. Build a Private Practice: Learn how to build a private practice from therapists and experts who have been there before.
40. Struggling Entrepreneur: Find out what this entrepreneur has learned along the way.
    
41. Building a Home Business That Doesn’t Suck: Listen to this podcast to learn how to build a real home-based business.

Foreign

Check out these podcasts for business outside of the US.

42. Business Coach Podcast-Canadian Small Business: This business coach has lots of advice for Canadian entrepreneurs.
43. The China Business Show: Find out how business leaders do business in China.
44. I’m Boss TV: Get small business information from Australians here.
45. The Engaging Brand: Anna Farmery’s The Engaging Brand is all about a consultancy in the UK.
46. China Business Podcast: Find out about growth and opportunities in China by listening to this podcast.
47. Entrepreneur’s Journey: Check out Yaro Starak’s podcast to hear about the Australian’s journey as an entrepreneur.
48. Small Biz Pod: Check out this podcast for UK entrepreneurs.
49. InsidePR Podcast: This weekly Canadian podcast is all about public relations.

Interviews

In these podcasts, you’ll hear interviews with lots of successful entrepreneurs.

50. Jenerous: Listen to the stories of entrepreneurs and marketers on Jenerous.
51. Leader Network: On The Leader Network, you’ll listen to interviews on known and unknown leaders.
52. Like Nobody’s Business: Lalita Amos’ podcast includes interviews and challenges to traditional business thinking.
53. Startup Studio: With Startup Studio, you’ll enjoy interviews of entrepreneurs and learn how they did it.
54. Biz Link Radio: On Biz Link Radio, you’ll get weekly interviews with entrepreneurs and executives.
55. Entrepreneur Exclusive: Listen to exclusive interviews with entrepreneurs.
56. Small Business Netcast: The panelists on this podcast discuss creating, developing, and managing small businesses.
57. Round One: Listen to interviews of prominent entrepreneurs on Round One.
58. Beermat Business Radio Show: Mike Southon, "Beermat Entrepreneur," interviews successful entrepreneurs, CEOs, and leaders.
59. Meet The CEO: Listen to interviews of big-name CEOs on this podcast.
60. DSM Buzz: This podcast interviews successful entrepreneurs and encourages consumers to buy local.
61. Small Business Podcast: Listen to the Small Business Podcast for interviews with loads of business experts, entrepreneurs, and more.

Leadership

Learn how to be a good manager and leader using these podcasts.

62. Change Maker Minute: Get motivational messages for leaders from this podcast.
63. The Good Manager Podcasts: Learn how to be a good manager in these podcasts.
64. Fireside Chat with Lisa Haneberg: Learn about business management with these podcasts from Lisa Haneberg.
65. Entrepreneurial Thought Leaders: Check out these lectures from Stanford for thoughts from entrepreneurial leaders.
66. Small Biz Survival: Becky McCray’s podcasts focus on business leadership and management advice.
67. Manager Tools: Use Manager Tools to become a more effective manager and leader.

Technology

Get the latest in entrepreneurial tech news with these podcasts.

68. eBiz Show: Learn about successful ebusinesses on this podcast.
69. eCommerce RSS Radio Show: Listen in to this show for information about tracking topics online.
70. The Podcast Brothers: Check out the Podcast Brothers for weekly infomation on the business side of audio and video new media.
71. Managing The Gray: C.C. Chapman’s podcast discusses how entrepreneurs can use social media to their advantage.
72. Internet Business Mastery: Listen to Sterling and Jay’s podcast for information on the art of internet marketing and online business.
73. Calcanis: This CEO of Mahalo.com always has lots of special guests on his podcasts.
74. The SBS Show: Manage your IT operations better by listening to the SBS Show.
75. JoomlaJabber: Kathy and Tom discuss the Joomla open source content management service on this podcast.
76. Podcasting for Business: This podcast will help you develop and create a podcast for your entrepreneurial venture.
77. Midwest Business: Hear about business technology news that affects the midwest on this podcast.
78. The Podcast Sisters: The Podcast Sisters is focused on small business and using the Internet to your advantage.
79. CIO Podcast: Stay on top of the IT industry and learn how you can benefit from events.

Sales

For budding businesses, it’s all about focusing on sales. These podcasts do just that.

80. Sales Roundup: Learn how to hire the right salespeople, keep communication with clients open, and more on Sales Roundup.
81. Product Sourcing Podcast: Find out how you can find products to sell on this podcast.
82. Copy That Sells Podcast: Learn how to write better copy with this podcast.

News

Get business news and commentary from these podcasts.

83. New York Times: Stay on top of the latest news from all over the world with podcasts from The New York Times.
84. On The Record: Listen to reporters from mainstream media discuss the future of the industry as well as marketing and business.
85. Daily Review: Get an up to the minute briefing on daily news stories with this podcast.

General

For content that’s applicable to nearly every entrepreneur, check out these podcasts.

86. Entrepreneur.com: Subscribe to Entrepreneur.com’s podcasts, and you’ll get access to loads of different topics for entrepreneurs.
87. Mind Your Own Business Podcast: Listen to Mind Your Own Business for "the antidote to business advice."
88. I’m There For You Baby: This "entrepreneur’s guide to the galaxy" covers a number of different topics for entrepreneurs.
89. Business Week: On Business Week, you’ll hear about popular weekly features from Business Week magazine.
90. SBA Podcast: Get access to loads of resources and help from the Small Business Administration with these podcasts.
91. Small Business Radio: This podcast discusses recruiting, marketing, and more.
92. Business Humor Podcast: See the humor in entrepreneurship with this podcast of Hesh Reinfeld’s columns.
93. Microbusiness News Briefs: Dawn Rivers Baker covers everything of interest to microbusinesses and their entrepreneurs.
94. The Trend Junkie: This junkie is addicted to both trends and entrepreneurship.
95. Learn Small Business: Learn how to operate a solopreneur venture through this podcast.

Other

For even more thought-provoking content, listen to these podcasts.

96. Entrepreneur Mum: This mom runs a business and a family.
97. GopherHaul Lawn Care Podcast: Listen to this show to learn how you can create and maintain a successful lawn care business.
98. Ask the Guru: Check in with real estate guru Larry King on this podcast.
99. MBA Working Girl: Learn about both business school theory and real-world business practices from MBA Working Girl.
100. Business Intelligence Network Solution Spotlights: Get business industry insights from experts in this podcast.

While my feed reader is stuffed full of business, entrepreneurship, marketing and related sites, there are a bunch that I turn to daily. I’ve picked out some of my favorite posts of the past week on a selection of blogs.

1. Ben Yoskovitz at Instigator Blog has a humorous and helpful guide to startup funding. Your choices: bootstrapping, “love money”, angel financing, Series A financing.

2. College Startup has a bit of a different take. If you’re still in college and looking for capital for your startup, you could take on some jobs, sell stuff or borrow (see “love money”, above).
3. However, before you consider starting a business, take the entrepreneurship quiz that Shannon Cherry has at Startup Spark.
4. If you decide to go the bootstrap entrepreneurship route, be aware of the five stages, as Shawn Hessinger of BootstrapMe points out.
5. If you seek your fortune on the Internet, Adnan at Blogtrepreneur suggests that you plan before you jump into any online business.
6. Chris Garrett, on the other hand, has a multi-part series about making real money online.
7. Maki at Dosh Dosh recommends strategic blogging to produce content that will help you generate income online.

If you blog as part of your business, you might have heard that Google hit a lot of websites hard on their PR (PageRank) for yet undisclosed reasons. The net result is that a number of formerly high-PR sites now are in jeopardy of losing money from revenues of selling text links in their navigation bars.

However, despite being caught up in it myself, I’ve always believed that anyone who only blogs and hopes to make money from ads is deceiving themselves. Few people will earn a living purely from running their own blog, but might do so from freelancing. And there are the alternatives to monetizing your site, if you do not have a traditional business – as Chris Garrett points out at Blog Herald. This includes, of course, selling your services online and/or selling affiliate products.

If you have skills that can be taught, or are generally a subject matter expert, you should seriously consider building a paid-membership subscription site. You offer the free material on your blog, but offer very targeted lessons (articles, ebooks, audio, video/ screencasts) to paid members only.

As Brian Clark of Copyblogger points out in his free report at Teaching Sells, “information wants to be valuable.” Believe me, not everyone appreciates free content, and if you are releasing your best for free, you are diluting its value by not limiting its exclusivity.

What’s more, you do not need to convert thousands of paying members to make the effort worth your while. One hundred loyal members at $50/mth is $5K/mth, or 200@$30 is $6K/mth. And when you want to expand, if you offer a commission to existing members to promote your service, everyone wins. On top the regular monthly offering, you can produce other content in various formats, which members can choose to pay for.

If you offer targeted content to the people who actually want it, you might very likely build a profitable business out of it – well beyond five or six thousand dollars in revenue per month.

Subscription content formats to consider:

1. E-newsletters with both summaries of articles and fresh content. Though this newsletter would be aimed at non-paying subscribers, in order to entice them.
2. Articles.
3. Ebooks.
4. Audio/ podcasts.
5. Live video and screencasts.

In addition to all this, you can offer paid consulting, to be conducted through VoIP software such as Skype. Since Skype and PayPal are owned by eBay, they’ve made it easy for someone to pay from PayPal within Skype.

John Crickett over at Business Opportunities and Ideas has put together his Top 100 Business Blogs list. Bootstrapper made it in at #33. While I haven’t done any for a while, I know how much work these lists are to produce. So thanks, John, for the nod.

They are not all business blogs in the traditional sense, but do have components of business topics – online or otherwise. (At the end of the article, John provides his definition of what constitutes a “business” blog.) Overall, it’s a great list, with a very useful sampling of both loosely- and closely-related niches:

• advertising,
• business and business finance,
• career,
• entrepreneurship/ bootstrapping,
• freelancing,
• marketing and branding,
• productivity/ getting things done (GTD),
• selling,
• venture capital
• web analytics,
• web working,
• working from home, and more.

I regularly read or scan at least 80% of the blogs listed, maybe more, and many are in the top 30 in their own sub-niches.