Wednesday, July 2, 2008
Tuesday, July 1, 2008
Thursday, June 5, 2008
Wednesday, June 4, 2008
PerfectBusiness LIVE! Event - June 21st
PerfectBusiness LIVE! Web Marketing Workshop – An Educational Event that Gives Back.
Come join some of Los Angeles’ most creative minds as they unveil the secrets to successful, inexpensive internet marketing and public relations strategies. This event is a must-attend for those looking to optimize their online presence.
In addition to working with you, we are honored to announce that PerfectBusiness has teamed up with an amazing organization and cause, Hats for Charity—a division of Matell Children’s Hospital. Determined to make a difference, PerfectBusiness will donate $10.00 to Hats for Charity for every single attendee. For more information or to help a child directly, please visit Hats for Charity at http://www.hatsforcharity.com/. No amount is too little.
In addition, each attendee will receive a DVD that includes an overview of keys to web marketing success as told by some of our prestigious experts.
This event is available only to premium members of PerfectBusiness.com.Premium members have a gold star next to their profile and are granted access to all of our resources—including PB LIVE! Events. To enjoy all the benefits our site has to offer and attend our Web Marketing Workshop on June 7th, http://www.perfectbusiness.com/events/liveEvents.cfm You’re only $20 away from a life-changing experience.
We have another round of high-profile experts that will guide you through the following topics:
-PR on a Shoestring
-Benefits of the Blog
-Brand your Online Identity
-Search Engine Optimization- Finally learn what it is and how to do it!
-Learn how affiliate programs work
-Optimize your Business’ Online Presence
-Enhance your Site’s Aesthetics
RSVP as seating will be extremely limited.
Thursday, May 22, 2008
Friday, May 9, 2008
Thursday, May 8, 2008
Tuesday, May 6, 2008
UCLA'S PRICE CENTER FOR ENTREPRENEURSHIP
The Financial Times ranked UCLA’s Entrepreneurship Program as the #1 program in the world four times in the past six years.
Professor Robert Foster is the Director of the Global Access Program (GAP) at the school's Price Center for Entrepreneurship. It’s the international field study and MBA thesis requirement for Anderson's Fully-Employed MBA students. He also teaches High Technology Management, Business Plan Development and management consulting Field Study.
Robert Foster actually got his MBA from UCLA’s Anderson School of Management in 1965.
He is also a member of the Tech Coast Angels and the Pasadena Angeles. (They are angel investing organizations.)
When I interviewed him, there was one comment in particular that really hit home for me. He said that when approaching investors, you have to show that there is a need for your product. Don’t just do market research, but actually talk to people, take a poll and prove that you have customers ready to buy or use your product or service right out of the gate. You don’t have a business until you have your first customer (Steven Mednick, Professor at USC’s Entrepreneur Program told me those wise words). So when you present your business to investors; family, friends, Angels or VCs, be brief, be specific, and prove that there is a need you can fill and a demand you can meet.
Watch the Video
Monday, May 5, 2008
POTENTIAL MERGERS!
Here are some potential mergers someone told me about for 2008 ;)
- Hale Business Systems, Mary Kay Cosmetics, Fuller Brush, and W. R. Grace Co. Will merge and become: Hale, Mary, Fuller, Grace.
- PolyGram Records, Warner Bros., and Zesta Crackers join forces and become: Poly, Warner Cracker.
- 3M will merge with Goodyear and become: MMMGood.
- Zippo Manufacturing, Audi Motors, Dofasco, and Dakota Mining will merge and become: ZipAudiDoDa .
- FedEx is expected to join its competitor, UPS, and become: FedUP.
- Fairchild Electronics and Honeywell Computers will become: Fairwell Honeychild.
- Grey Poupon and Docker Pants are expected to become: PouponPants.
- Knotts Berry Farm and the National Organization of Women will become: Knott NOW!
Happy Monday everyone.
Friday, May 2, 2008
"HOW I MADE IT" - MARK VERGE IN THE LA TIMES!
The co-founder of PerfectBusiness & Westside Rentals was featured in the LA Times today! Check it out - 
By Andrea Chang, Los Angeles Times Staff Writer May 2, 2008
The gig: Founder and owner of Westside Rentals, a listings service for Southern California renters and landlords. Based in Santa Monica, Westside Rentals employs 80 people and lists about 20,000 apartments, houses and rooms for rent.Education: Associate's degree from Santa Monica College; bachelor's in history from UCLA.Personal: Married his high school sweetheart, Lani. They live in Pacific Palisades and have a daughter, 7, and a son, 4. First job: A beach lifeguard when he was 18. "I was definitely not the definition of a lifeguard," he says. "I was a pale, skinny guy. They'd call me the Ghost."Got the idea: Verge, 40, says he was put off by listings services that would post rental ads without the landlords' permission. "All they would do was copy the newspaper," he says. "The business had a really bad name to it." Figuring he could do better, he sold the coin store he owned and started Westside Rentals in 1996.Along the path: Verge rented office space in Santa Monica and attended trade conventions and apartment association meetings, where he would talk to owners and distribute Westside Rentals magnets and key chains. "It was honestly begging owners," he says. "We'd do whatever it took to get that listing."How it works: Owners and landlords get to list their properties free. Renters pay a membership fee of $60 for 60 days of access to the listings, which they can check out online, over the phone or in one of Westside Rentals' seven local offices.First big purchase: Bought a racehorse, named Hide From the Bride, for $50,000.Newest venture: In March, Verge launched a networking website for entrepreneurs called PerfectBusiness.com. He also wrote a book on how to maintain a happy marriage and hopes to get it published. Oddest marketing tool: Rental Man, the firm's mascot and human billboard. He can be found dancing outside Westside Rentals' offices or at sporting events, dressed in a red cape and jester hat and waving a Westside Rentals sign.Daydream jobs: Creating a reality TV show featuring Rental Man, or working as a horse trainer -- "except I'm scared of horses and I don't like waking up early."Advice: "Meet everyone and treat them all the same. Learn from everybody."
Thursday, May 1, 2008
Wednesday, April 30, 2008
DONALD TRUMP'S APPRENTICE, TAMMY TRENTA
Monday, April 28, 2008
NBC - isee
KNBC has partnered with Veeker to create 'isee'. You can take pictures with your cell phone and sumbit them to KNBC via isee@knbc.com and they will post it on NBC's website and possibly use it on-air as well. It's a free service provided through Veeker. It will be interesting to see how this new relationship develops...
Friday, April 25, 2008
Thursday, April 24, 2008
MR. TRADER JOE
Trader Joe was one of the most interesting interviews I have had the privilege to do. "Trader Joe's" actual name is Joe Coulombe and he still lives near the very first Trader Joe's in Pasadena, California. He originally ran a chain of Pronto Markets, selling primarily dairy-based consumer products. But when 7-Eleven bought out his dairy provider, Joe Coulombe had to find a new angle and that was the birth of the Trader Joe's grocery store chain. He sold the chain to a German family in 1988 and now serves on the board for World Maket Cost Plus and for True Religion Apparel. We interviewed Joe Coulombe at his house in Pasadena. He has taken up painting and his fantastic art was all over the house, including the painting behind him in the interview...
Watch the Video
Wednesday, April 23, 2008
LADIES WHO LAUNCH
Watch The Video
Monday, April 21, 2008
PERFECTBUSINESS LIVE!
PerfectBusiness had its first LIVE! event this Saturday, April 19th in Los Angeles. It was a wonderful event where entrepreneurs sat down with experts and had their questions answered and had help with issues they were having with their businesses.
Our experts at the event were:
- Mark Verge and Dan Bliss, the PerfectBusiness co-founders. (Mark Verge also founded WestsideRentals.com.)
- Amy Swift, Editor-In-Chief of Ladies Who Launch.
- Viviana Rueda, an image consultant and CEO of Vivendi Fashionista.
- Kevin Trosian, a finance and investment consultant and CEO of Tower 12 Consulting.
- Carl Bressler, the founder of Montana Artists Agency and a member of WPO.
Our next event is scheduled for June and there should be many more to come. To find out when and where the next PerfectBusiness LIVE! event will be, just check out the Events Page.
Friday, April 18, 2008
PERFECTBUSINESS ON ABC!
This is a story on PerfectBusiness' initiative to remove the 9's and 5's on work clocks...
Wednesday, April 16, 2008
A PATCH OF BLUE
In addition to journalism, I am also a playwright, theatre producer and actor. I suppose my first experience as an 'entrepreneur' was when I started my own theatre company in London, Lost Luggage Productions. Running a theatre company and producing is like running any business - you become the last man, or woman, standing. Whenever anything goes wrong or anyone has a question, it always comes back to you and it took me some time to get comfortable with that pressure. The play that stands out the most for me from my time in London is one I wrote, produced and acted in called A Patch of Blue.
A Patch of Blue had its World Stage Premiere at the King’s Head Theatre in London. The play was Time Out’s Critics Choice for two weeks running and there are now talks of the play having its U.S. Premiere in Los Angeles.
It is the story of two strangers who meet and fall in love among the most unlikely of circumstances. Selina is a blind girl who knows nothing of the world except the impoverished life she shares with an abusive mother and a drunken grandfather. Gordon is a black man trying to make his way in a world of prejudice and racism in 1960 America. But together they discover love and the desire for freedom.
The play is based on Elizabeth Kata’s 1961 novel Be Ready with Bells And Drums. British director Guy Green adapted the book for the screen in 1965 and re-titled it A Patch of Blue. The new title came from a sailor expression - 'a patch of blue' was sign of safety in stormy skies. The film starred Sidney Poitier and Shelly Winters and garnered six Golden Globe nominations including a win for Best Actress and five Oscar nominations, including a win for Best Supporting Actress.
I was awarded exclusive rights to write the play adaptation of Elizabeth Kata’s novel. The biggest challenge I faced when writing the play was figuring out what I wanted to say and what I wanted to bring to the story. I loved the book so much it was hard to allow myself to bring my voice and my interpretation into the story. But once I let go of these mental limitations, it was an amazing experience writing about these fierce and rich characters. A Patch of Blue is a thought provoking play that exposes the deep-seated reality that we see in today’s headlines of racism and prejudice that can lead to political and social explosion.
THE TIMES REVIEW
THE EVENING STANDARD REVIEW
MUSIC OMH REVIEW
