Are you a member of your Chamber of Commerce? I’m not. As we try to build a “Shop Local” movement in our town, I miss the CoC, or at least my fantasy version of the CoC.
When I was in Small Business 101 ( I actually did take that class before I started), I was told the CoC membership was essential. The networking, the connections, the opportunities. None of it helped me during my years of membership. It took me a long time to figure out that the CoC …

Without a doubt, our No. 1 selling item at YoYo Joe’s in 2009 has been yo-yos. And, it’s not even close.
I’ve been selling yo-yos for years, both back at my family’s retail store and now at my own. People always ask me, “How’s the yo-yo business?” and I answer “Oh, it has its ups and downs” (insert groan here). As of right now, we’re definitely in an ‘up’ period — what could be seen as the beginnings of the next big boom.
Yo-yo selling has, traditionally, been a cyclical toy. Sales …

Green is in.
We thought this was coming last year, but maybe everyone was waiting for the election before they jumped on the bandwagon.
Now our “green toys” seem to be following the career path of Al Gore, from silly hippy stuff to genuine “cool.”