Five Ways to Make the Competition Irrelevant
from Business Know-How
Is there an easy way to make the competition irrelevant? In an age with so much access to information, bombarded by advertisements and commercials, is it possible to keep the attention of your potential customers? What is the secret to help customers make an easy decision to buy? There is a secret formula that works for e-commerce, retail, bids and proposals. It is a simple formula that has worked since the days of bartering beads, beans and burrows. More

A Package Deal
from Internet Retailer
Styrofoam packing peanuts combined with dogs that devour everything in sight can be a recipe for disaster. And so, when Gordon Magee, Internet marketing and media manager for pet supplies e-retailer Drs. Foster and Smith, heard about a pet-friendly version of packing peanuts, he wanted to learn more. More

Lessons from the Fall of Giants
from Entrepreneur
The most important thing for any entrepreneur is learning from mistakes, and nobody says they have to be yours. Most small businesses can't afford errors. Luckily the recent recession provides many mistakes from which to learn; and at a current cost of $3 trillion, somebody should be getting something out of this. More

Fast Company's Most Innovative Marketing Expert Blogs
from Fast Company
Marketing has changed. We're in the age of one-to-one marketing, where the customer actually has a role in shaping the messaging for your brand. Social Media--blogs, Twitter, Facebook, wikis, user-generated tools--have given her all she needs to effect whether your products and services do well in the marketplace. Traversing these murky waters can be difficult. Scary even, especially without a plan or understanding of the playing field. You want and need insight, and these blogs have got it. More

Michigan Representative Wants Tax Deduction for Pet Care Expenses
from The Michigan Messenger
U.S. Rep. Thaddeus McCotter, has introduced legislation to create a tax deduction for pet owners’ expenses related to their pets. According to the pet industry trade magazine, Pet Product News, McCotter, a Livonia Republican, introduced the legislation July 31 in conjunction with a Pet Product News survey on the industry. More

Case Against Petland Dismissed
from The Chillicothe Gazette
A federal judge has dismissed a lawsuit against Petland and a Missouri corporation that claimed the companies conspired to sell unhealthy puppies in several states. U.S. District Judge David G. Campbell ruled Friday the plaintiffs had not given sufficient evidence to prove a "causal relationship" between the sick puppies and anything Petland did or didn't do. He also found allegations against the Hunte Corp., which supplied the puppies, hadn't been proven. More

Natura Introduced Recyclable Dog Food Bags
from Pet Product News
Natura Pet Products of Fremont, Neb., unveiled on Aug. 6 new 98 percent recyclable packaging for its Karma brand of organic dog food. Natura claims it is the first sustainable container produced for a major pet food company. More

Merck and Schering-Plough Shareholders Back Merger
from The New York Times
Shareholders of both Merck and Schering-Plough were nearly unanimous in voting on Friday to support a merger of the two drug makers. By acquiring the smaller Schering-Plough for $41.1 billion, Merck, the world’s eighth-biggest drug maker in terms of prescription medicine sales, will jump to No. 2 worldwide, just behind Pfizer. More