Father’s Day still is a few weeks away; it falls on Sunday, June 16 this year. Already I’ve run across a couple of amusing promotions and products if you’re taking a retail approach to the observance, so figured I’d pass them along a bit early. Here’s a history of Father’s Day from the Old Farmer’s [...]
If you’re casting about for a fresh take on jobs and the employment scene, pull up a seat for my annual suggestions for mining the temporary and contract markets. As well as being fertile ground for a variety of stories, from career and personal finance how-tos, to colorful features on quirky and unique job niches, to [...]
It’s hard to believe we’re only a week away from the start of Memorial Day weekend. As summer activities kick into gear, so do the businesses that serve them, so no matter your beat you’ve got a bonanza of holiday-related story ideas from which to choose. Traditionally, it’s a time for business writers to look [...]
Wedding season is arriving in many locales. It’s a nice opportunity to get some picturesque small business profiles, personal finance and hospitality stories onto the business pages. And with weddings being among the biggest-ticket items most families spend on, you might find among nuptial trends some interesting economic indicators and other cues to your region’s [...]
If patriotism is the last refuge of a scoundrel, small-business coverage is the last refuge of cowardly, mediocre newspapers. Did I just write that? Oh, well. My Management Tourette Syndrome, suddenly blurting out the truth in meetings, was why I was repeatedly warned that I would never make admiral of the Cox, Hearst, Scripps-Howard, Gannett [...]
May is one of those months bursting with seasonal topics that make for interesting and informative local business stories, especially small business and entrepreneur profiles. Taking it from the top: Cinco de Mayo. Time is tight but if you are feeling energetic today, it’s an increasingly celebrated festival not only in Hispanic neighborhoods but at [...]
Catchy story ideas are piling up so rapidly this week I’m afraid some good news pegs will get lost on the cutting-room floor, so without further ado here’s a new addition of Quicktips: Baring biceps: The American Society of Plastic Surgeons is just out with its annual report on in-demand cosmetic procedures. The 2012 Plastic [...]
In our final Finance Friday, an April round-up of tips and resources for personal finance angles in honor of National Financial Literacy Month, I wanted to offer some additional ideas for writing about children and financial skills. Many money missteps by adults might be averted if kids and teens had more exposure to personal finance lessons. [...]
The Senate was expected to vote Monday on the Marketplace Fairness Act, or MFA, a bill that would require online sellers to collect state and local sales taxes just like their brick-and-mortar counterparts do. For the past decade or so, traditional merchants have opined that e-commerce sites like Amazon.com have a pricing advantage because (at [...]
