Ideas in Action Business Consulting

02/14/2013

A good question!

The "Global 300" (the largest co-ops) have revenues equalling the tenth largest economy in the world.

02/14/2013

Shopping local vs. Non-local... Nothing like a good visual to sum it up.

Ever wonder about the economic impacts of supporting local vs. non-locally owned businesses?

02/06/2013

Buy local programs work! Check out this study.

ILSR’s annual survey has found that independent businesses experienced solid revenue growth in 2012, buoyed in part by “buy local first” initiatives. But the survey also documented challenges facing independent businesses, most notably an increase in “showrooming” and competition from online retaile...

02/03/2013

Considering going to their national summit event in Minneapolis May 19th-22nd. Anyone else interested in going?

The Social Enterprise Alliance (SEA) is the leading membership organization in the United States for social enterprises, service providers, nonprofit organizations, corporations, and venture capitalists that is actively building the field of social enterprise through networking opportunities, educat...

01/24/2013

Are you interested in socially responsible investing? Here's a list of websites to help.

01/19/2013

Just watched this webinar yesterday: Financial Permaculture -
Creating Local Economic Resiliency. It was awesome. The general thrust of the talk was to build businesses like ecosystems... closed loop, no waste, as diverse as possible, and working within a larger system (applying permaculture principles to business). One of the hosts was involved in the green business incubator Venture Greenhouse: http://venturegreenhouse.org/

The Venture Greenhouse is a business accelerator and incubator for social and environmental entrepreneurs and a community resource for innovators and new ventures.

12/21/2012

A Guide to Starting A Worker Cooperative - http://ow.ly/f0Vxn

Worker Cooperatives work! A grassroots DVD tool for learning how to create a democracy-based workplaces, explained by coop members themselves.

12/19/2012

The future of business is in open source... open source software, hardware, information (wikipedia), finance (crowdfunding). The future is one of collaboration!

Reverting to traditional handicrafts is one way to sabotage the throwaway society. In this article, we discuss another possibility: the design of modular consumer products, whose parts and components could be re-used for the design of other products.

12/18/2012

How to start a online business with no budget in 4 steps! - http://ow.ly/f0Vxl

I often have people coming to me asking the question of how to start a business online and if it's possible with no budget. My reply to them is...

12/17/2012

Your Social Media Marketing Plan in 5 Easy Steps - http://ow.ly/f0Vxi

This solid, measurable plan (along with a commitment to developing consistent and valuable content) will help you drive online brand awareness,...

12/14/2012

12 Timeless Link Building Tips for Business Blogs - http://ow.ly/f0Vxg

As a key component of a hub and spoke online marketing strategy, blogs can be very effective for social media network engagement, online PR, customer

12/11/2012

Working with a Web designer - http://ow.ly/f0Vxo

Collaborint Web Management Services Article: 8 Tips for Working with a Graphic Designer