State of Florida Sues Countrywide

MIAMI (Reuters) — Florida sued Countrywide Financial and its chief executive, Angelo R. Mozilo, on Monday, accusing it of engaging in unfair and deceptive trade practices in mortgage lending.

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EBay Ordered to Pay $61 Million in Sale of Counterfeit Goods

PARIS — EBay said it would appeal a French court’s order that it pay 38.6 million euros ($60.8 million) in damages to the French luxury goods company LVMH, the latest round in a long-running legal battle over the sale of counterfeit goods on the Internet.

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Midyear checkup can bring small businesses big savings

The end of June and beginning of July is an important time for savvy small-business owners, who'll be assessing their companies' finances and thinking about strategies for the second half of 2008. A midyear checkup is even more important than usual this year, given the uncertainty of the business climate.


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Small Businesses Coping with Hard times

NY Times Article on cutting costs, reducing the amount of time it takes to collect a receivable, and finding forgotten tax breaks.

Nationwide Contest Encourages Young Entrepreneurs

An 11th grader with a candle business takes home a $1,750 prize at a Los Angeles regional business-plan competition sponsored by the National Foundation for Teaching Entrepreneurship and the Merrill Lynch Foundation.

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Traveler Guitar Stays in Tune with Customers

Traveler Guitar expects sales to total as much as $1.8 million, a 44% increase over last year's $1.25 million. In 2004, sales were $450,000. CEO J. Corey Oliver says that providing superior customer service has helped improve their sales drastically.

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How Small Companies Build Big Brands

Interesting video on how small companies can build global brands.

Small Business Marketing: Creative Ideas From A Funeral Home

Elaine Fulps, a Texas woman, won an a $10,000 paid funeral at a minor league Texas AirHogs baseball game.

The prize won't expire until after Fulps does, said Ron Alexander, the sales manager at Oak Grove Memorial Gardens, which partnered with the team and Irving's Chapel of Roses Funeral Home to sponsor the event.

If a funeral home can find a way to tap into event marketing, any small business can.

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Senate Approves $101 million for Small Businesses

The Senate approved $101 million for federal small-business programs such as small business development centers, women's business centers, contracting assistance, veterans outreach programs, and technical assistance programs.

"We're working to create jobs and steer our economy out of this slowdown," Sen. John Kerry (D-Mass), the chairman of the Senate Committee on Small Business and Entrepreneurship, said in a statement. "The best way to do that is by investing in small businesses, which create more than two-thirds of all jobs and employ over half of our workforce," he said.

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Part-Time Online Businesses

Interested in starting a part-time online business? This Entrepreneur.com article discusses 5 part-time businesses you can start today.

• Information Marketing
• Ebay
• Affiliate Marketing
• Blogging
• Yahoo Stores

These part-time businesses require a little bit more upfront work in the beginnging but can be maintained with a little less input once they have been set up.