[nookyt2]

I just joined this site, and the first article I see is very to the point, concise and right among other things. Innovation is what makes being an entrepreneur so fun, taking an idea and seeing it to fruition must be great ,I'm still trying to get that feeling. When you see something truly innovative it gives you a good feeling, because anyone can do it, if you just put your mind to it. Innovation the true entrepreneurial spirit

[Marketeer]

Is there anyone here with a business with an actual storefront, and not just a virtual storefront? Just curious.

I'm headed to look at some office space today for my marketing company (branding, strategizing and assisting smaller businesses in their marketing efforts), and it's beginning to get a little scary, but very exciting.

Any tips on virtual vs physical storefront, etc.?

[Will]

I think a physical storefront will look more professional and get more respect from the start. It shows you are serious about what you plan to do and have put decent money into the venture.

However, I am not saying that virtual business looks unprofessional or lacks respect. There are a huge number of great online businesses, ofcourse, but in the early stages people are not as likely to put trust in them as in a physical storefront where you can talk face to face.

[Marketeer]

Good advice, Will. That makes me even more confident in my decision to set up an office outside my house.

Plus, I'm a huge advocate of face time with clients, or potential clients, or vendors, for that matter.

[darkman]

yep, I completely agree with entrepreneur! starting a site that is saturated with cheap, tacky ads is no way innovative, there are too many people who try to get rich quick and jump on the bandwagon only to fall flat on their a$$.

I find this type of business (if you can call it that) doesn't adhere to the spirit of what being an entrepreneur is about! Innovation is what makes someone an entrepreneur, they don't necessarily have to create a 'unique' product, it's about thinking 'outside the box', perhaps take an existing product and improve it.

[philv]

that is why i am taking a chance with what i plan on doing....thinking outside the box is better than just chillin in it

[moneymonkey]

Beautiful. The very question I was thinking in my head entrepreneur86.

Though my thoughts went along the lines of "Where tf are the internet entrepreneurs?"

"What is the Google-backed leader-of-our-pack Yaro Starak talking about? making money from blogs? conferences? ehh? all of little substance."

Kudos to everyone starting up interesting websites like clixconnect and ugmediaonline. I hope to get to know you guys more in the coming months.

A little about what I'm up to.

I've recently launched findREMOVEtoddlergroups.co.uk. (You need to remove the REMOVE. I don't want this post to be indexed by Google as it'll infringe on the brand identity.) It is written in Ruby on Rails, scraped public domain data and is freely available.

The site is going well in Google. Once it hits 100visit/day, I will begin putting up ads through the well-reputed openads system.

I am currently writing an pay per click automation tool. It will eventually link websites offering affiliate schemes to Google, Yahoo and MSN. If it works out as planned, it'll be a big money earner.

Oh, Hi Forum.

[philv]

let me know how that goes

[ToadTrip]

While I would agree that innovation is important for a variety of factors, not the least of which is attracting more customers and the kudos for producing something innovative.

However, walking the beaten path has it's advantages: being able to solve the short-term cash flow problem. There are no guarantees of course, but that income will give you room to breathe.

[ToadTrip]

And also: I think it's good experience for a lot people here. They need to get their feet wet and gain confidence in producing income that is -not- from a FT/PT/Traditional employment. I guess I think of it partly as a confidence building exercise.

[rejoice]

innovation is just creativity... i must admit i skipped half the thread
as i'm lazy at times and that's just the way it is... did i mention i'm
eating cake and listening to gomez... that's my monday afternoon
innovation to feel like a fat man on holidays in peru

and i would be innovative if I came up with this: http://www.leekspin.com/

[wully00]

Not even so much innovation as something thats not based upon pure traffic. I think thats the challenge... but both are challenging. I personally like e-commerce based businesses.