Kids-in-Biz.com is an excellent resource for entrepreneurial teenagers and for parents of entrepreneurial children. Editor Teresa Smolinski knows first hand how to start and run a successful family business. She and her two daughters have been selling a hot product in the kids’ sports market for several years.

I’m proud to have guest authored an article for Kid-in-Biz: Is a Direct Sales Party Plan Business a Good Choice for a Teen?. Other recent topics include how to sell crafts, helping small businesses with technology, and fundraising.

In addition to providing invaluable skill development, helping kids start a small business is a great way to stay connected.

Are your children interested in running their own business or have they started their own business? Are you a teen in business? Please leave a comment and share your story.
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Kids’ Business Ideas –
How young entrepreneurs can make money.

Yesterday my friend Roy Montero, The SEO & Twitter Guy, asked me why I was limiting myself. In response to something he said, I had replied that I don’t want 100,000 people following me. He seemed surprised to hear it.

Of course I have goals and I would like to expand my business, but I just don’t see myself providing services to that many people. It’s just not my style. I understand the theory of “thinking big” and setting lofty goals, but I’m in the process of restructuring my businesses to offer more personal, more one-to-one direction. I can’t provide that to 100,000 people.

I guess I’d rather be the “little shop on the corner” where customers come to chat and exchange information over a cup of coffee. I don’t want to be the big chain that serves countless customers that I never get to know.

Maybe Roy and I are really more on the same wavelength than we thought we were. I wouldn’t mind influencing 100,000 people. I’d just rather do it by teaching a few thousand who then go out and share that information with the rest of the crowd.

What about you? Do you think big enough? Or are you limiting yourself by setting your sights too low?

Image courtesy of rpongsaj.

The other day I came across a free ebook of interest and when I went to download it I was asked for my email address. It’s not an unusual request, in fact, I expected it. But I decided not to provide my email address and I didn’t get the ebook. Why?

Because I couldn’t find the company’s privacy policy.

In many cases, all it takes for me to be willing to supply my email address is a simple statement to the effect that provided email addresses are not shared with anyone else. Other times, I look for longer policies to find out how my email will be handled and protected.

But if a company isn’t willing to tell me what they plan on doing with my email address, I won’t give it to them.

How important are privacy policies to you? Do you have a one readily available on your site and opt-in forms? Do you look for a privacy policy when you sign up on other sites?

Use AutoWebLaw Pro for personalized privacy policies, website terms of use, and other legal forms.