Rural America is the New Inner City

The Wall Street Journal shows that by many key measures of socioeconomic well-being, rural America is much worse off than the inner cities.

For more than a century, rural towns sustained themselves, and often thrived, through a mix of agriculture and light manufacturing. Until recently, programs funded by counties and townships, combined with the charitable efforts of churches and community groups, provided a viable social safety net in lean times.

Unfortunately, not anymore.

Today's Business Ideas in the News

Here's an archive of all the Today's Business Ideas in the News I published.

I Sold My Blog

It's always strange to have big news to announce at the beginning of April. You can't do it April 1st, because everyone will think it's an April Fool's Day prank. But, you also can't do it March 31st or April 2nd, because there's also the possibility that everyone will assume you're too early, or too late, with your joke.

I can't reveal my news tomorrow, because April 3rd is the anniversary of the start of first successful Pony Express run from Saint Joseph, Missouri, to Sacramento, California.

Saturday doesn't work either, because April 4th is the anniversary of the death of my favorite president, William Henry Harrison. He gave the longest inauguration speech on record, without a coat or a hat, and died of pneumonia 30 days, 12 hours, and 30 minutes later.

Sunday, is, well, Easter.

Monday's no good, because everyone will be celebrating the anniversary of the designated hitter rule in American League baseball.

Tuesday is, of course, the Internet's birthday. (Technically, it's its conception day, but you'll be partying just as hard.)

Everyone who hasn't finished their taxes yet will be too busy looking for hidden deductions in "Pollock v. Farmers' Loan & Trust Co." on Wednesday. That's the case whereby the Supreme Court declared the unapportioned income tax to be unconstitutional. Don't bother, there aren't any there. I already looked.

Thursday the 9th's definitely a no-go. It is the anniversary of Georgian independence. No, not the peach state, the country of the Five-Cross Flag.

Friday, April the 10th is the anniversary of House of Wax (1953), the first 3-D film from a major American studio. You can rent it from iTunes ($2.99) or buy it from Amazon ($5.99). Just make sure you don't get the 2005 version; I hear that Vincent Price isn't in it. He died in 1993.

Saturday, I'll be too busy moving dirt, I'm sure.

Sunday the 11th, will be Sunday.

Monday also won't work because April 13th is Eudora Welty's birthday. Although the author of Southern American fiction died in 2001, you'll no doubt remember her, because the very early email app "Eudora" was named after her in honor of her short story "Why I Live at the P.O."

Which brings us to next Tuesday: April 14th. On that day, the first run of the Pony Express finished ten days after it began. It was the beginning of an era. But like all great adventures, it too ended. Eighteen months later, two days after the completion of the transcontinental telegraph, the Pony Express announced its closure.

Completions. And that's really what this entire essay has been about, completions.

The great business adventure of my life, the one that began on November 13th, 2001, and lasted more than ten times as long as the Pony Express (and unlike that romantic mailman on horseback, actually made money), has come to a profitable end. I'm very happy to report that I sold my Business Opportunities blog earlier this week.

Fourteen and a half years as a professional blogger is a long time. For fourteen of those years, no one knew what I did. I'm sure it'll be another decade and a half before you'll understand what I'm going to do now. But, that's a conversation for another day.

Authenticity and Authority: Today in Content Marketing

Authenticity and authority: what they look like today.

Awesome read: GE Reports’ Tomas Kellner reveals how he built the world’s best brand mag.

Awesome tips: Facebook’s VP of Growth gives you tips on growing your product.

Good news all around: New rules governing drone journalism are on the way.

Hashtags: How they work on Twitter, Instagram, Google Plus, Pinterest, Facebook, Tumblr, and Flickr.

How to: How to speak to CEOs when you're not one.

How to: how to tie your content marketing to revenue.

Hungry? Why do stories matter? That’s like asking why you should eat.

Infographic of the day: video marketing trends for 2015.

Interesting read: how a nonprofit became a content phenomenon.

Interview: how Bernadette Jiwa writes.

Seth Godin says, and we should listen: ‘you need editors, not brand managers' marketing legend seth godin on the future of branded content.

So true: What ad buyers still don’t get about sponsored content.

The value of story: we don't buy things the story of telling.

Single-Focus News Sites: Today in Content Marketing

Email is awesome, and getting better: why brands need to conquer their fears and use email to distribute content.

How to: crowdfunding journalism in 2015.

Always good to know: how to use LinkedIn to drive sales.

Oops: With no trademark, Sriracha name is showing up everywhere.

Transparency is a real moneymaker.

Interesting read: how to make single-focus nonprofit news sites work.

Mark Cuban Doesn't Get It: Today in Content Marketing

This infographic is full of advertising predictions for 2015. Will they come true? Only time will tell.

Goodbye salesmen: Time Inc. is now selling print ads programmatically.

One man (or woman) can do more: how to increase content creation without hiring more people.

You don't say: Mark Cuban doesn’t get content marketing. Good content marketing lowers your conversion rate.

I've been doing it for fourteen years, but these tips would have been great earlier: how to curate data into great content.

Case study: How Quirky created a truly original content operation.

Is there a science to online B2B Marketing? Yes, there is.

Good advice: ditching social media automation.

Optimize, optimize, optimize: How BuzzFeed, R29, and other top publishers optimize their headlines and images.

Marketing is about building pillars.

Your biggest content marketing problem: you don't create enough content.

How to: 3 steps to building buyer personas.

Rethinking the Homepage: Today in Content Marketing

Comedian John Cleese to headline the 2015 Content Marketing World conference.

7 Myths Uncovered: there are right ways, wrong ways, innovative ways and copycat ways of doing everything- and with this, various myths and half-truths are born.

Sorry, John Oliver: Native ads aren’t going anywhere: Marketers are expected to spend $4.3 billion on this form of integrated branded content in 2015—an increase of 34 percent over 2014. 

Will brands grow or buy the pineapple? Farming is hard work, especially when you're growing content.

SEO is on the decline: organic search is the #2 referrer.

Look out: the tweets are coming to Google.

Most interesting thing I've read all day: 64 new ways to think about a news homepage.

Fodder Business Opportunities

Let's get started today!

If you've been keeping up with this site for any period of time, you probably know that when I'm not blogging, I'm farming.

What you may not know is that I'm also an agricultural entrepreneur. I've been experimenting with barley fodder for the last few years and have developed a simple, cheap and automatic system to grow as much of it as I need in a very small space.

Barley Fodder 1

Barley fodder is grown by hydroponically sprouting a tray barley seeds, and allowing them to grow a thick root mass and 8-10 inches of green grass all in seven days.

Fodder 2

The process is very simple, I soak and drain about 2 lbs of barley seed and then place it in my system where it is automatically watered multiple times per day. Seven days later, I have about 12.5 pounds of barley fodder. All of this growth takes place completely without soil and without any inputs other than plain old water. I personally don't use organic grain, but you easily could, and then all of your livestock feed would be organic.

Barley Fodder Machine

According to scientists who study such things, barley grass is much more digestible than corn and has almost as many vitamins and nutrients. (All I know is that my chickens love it and are thriving on it.)

Locally, I have to pay $23 a bale for alfalfa and $25 dollars a bag for chicken feed.

Barley on the other hand, sells for $14 a 50 lbs bag. My daily supply of 12.5 lbs of fodder will feed 60 chickens, 5 goats or 1 large (500 lbs) animal per day, all on what was originally on 2.5 lbs of barley seed!

All of this is probably interesting, but you most likely don't have 60 chickens to feed.

But here's what you do have: neighbors!

Fodder Chickens

Backyard chickens are incredibly popular. Tons of people are "preppers", homesteaders or just people who care passionately about what they put into their bodies.

I haven't found barley fodder to make financial sense for large scale operations, but for the person with a flock of backyard chickens, some goats, pigs or whatever, who wants to be as self-sufficient as possible, barley fodder is an awesome way to go.

Fodder day 1 7

I've been selling my systems that generate 12.5 lbs of fodder per day for $200, 25 lbs per day systems for $300 and very small systems that produce 2 lbs a day for $100. They've been selling like hotcakes, locally.

But now I'm starting to get inquiries from all over the United States, and it's not really possible for me to profitably ship the systems.

Are you looking for some extra money? Can you follow simple instructions and own a drill and a saw? If so, I'd love to make you my partner in your local area. My cost per unit is about $100 for the $200 system and $125 for $300 system.

These things sell themselves. There is competition, of course, but I think it drives sales rather than steals them, because most of other comparable systems are in the two thousand dollar range.

Let's get started today!

Let's Talk About Making Money With DNA Testing

If you've been reading my site, or receiving my daily email for very long, you know that enjoy writing about a wide variety of businesses and business ideas. Unlike some sites on the internet, I'm not particularly enamored with online-only businesses, and instead generally prefer to highlight interesting things that people are doing in the real world. 'Real businesses, for real people in the real world' is my unofficial motto and guiding principle.

Earlier this year, I turned something I do on my little farm into a business opportunity. I keep chickens, pigs and goats, and have discovered a way to feed them all for practically nothing with sprouted barley seed (barley fodder). Since I'm lazy and can't be bothered even to jump through the small number of hoops required to grow the stuff manually, I created my own, automatic barley fodder growth system. I'd been using it for, at most, three days, when one of my neighbors asked me if I'd be interested in building them one, too. A week or so later, Mariposa Fodder was born.

My barley fodder growth system has been selling locally like gang-busters ever since. But then, orders and inquiries started coming in from across the country and around the world. Since the whole thing is inexpensive and easy to build, but too big and bulky to ship, I wrote up everything I know about the business and started selling a little business opportunity of my own. If you haven't given it a look, and you like the idea of building something really useful (and simple) and selling it locally, let me know and I'll get you fixed up.

But not everyone is interested in building and growing things. I understand that. So I continue to be on the lookout for other great ideas to share with you.

I think I've found a new one, and it should appeal to you if you picture yourself more of a white collar professional.

The business is Bio-Gene DNA Testing. They make tests that analyze the DNA from saliva and blood samples.

Dna

Now, if you're anything like me, you probably don't have any experience with DNA testing. I haven't fathered any children outside of the three my wife and I have, and I don't have any reason to doubt their paternity. But my situation is becoming less and less the norm.

Every day thousands of men and women across the US purchase DNA testing, either for themselves, for their children, or for their grandchildren. It is estimated that 1 in 5 people question their paternity, and that one out of every three men who test to determine if they are their child's biological father, find out that they aren't! Isn't that just sad? But unfortunately, it's the truth. The DNA testing industry is a two billion dollar industry, and is expected to be about 3.5 billion dollars next year!

Here's the problem they solve: let's say that someone questions their paternity, or someone else wonders if they really should be paying child support for a child they don't remember create, or maybe a grandmother thinks that one of her grandchildren doesn't really look like the rest. What are they going to do?

I asked this question to a number of people this week, and I got two answers. The first was that they'd go online and buy a test, just like they buy everything else, from a website like Amazon.

But this is funny: the first result on Amazon for DNA tests is a test for dogs.

The other answer I received was that they'd call their doctor and have their doctor do one.

So I decided to call my doctor's office. My primary care doctor is actually part of a hospital, and the hospital has a lab. I know this because I've had my cholesterol tested there. I figured it would be easy. So I turned on Caller ID blocking (don't want to start any rumors in my small town!) and called and asked if I could get a DNA paternity test. The doctor's office transferred me to the lab. When the lab technician came on the phone, I repeated my question, "Could I get a DNA paternity test, please?"

"We don't do those here, but I have a number for you to call. Just a second while I get it," the tech replied.

She came back on the line and said, "We used to have a flier here on the wall for DNA testing, but I'm sorry, we don't anymore. I'm sorry but I don't know who you should call."

That was interesting!

So I picked another local doctor's office at random from the phone book, blocked my Caller ID, and called.

I again requested paternity DNA testing and the receptionist asked me to hold for a second while she checked. After she came back on the line, she said, "No, I'm sorry we can't do that."

"Is there someplace else that I should call," I asked.

"No, I'm sorry, I don't know," she said.

Wow. So I called three more local doctors and at the first two, the answer was the same. We can't do it, and we don't know who you should call. But on the third, something changed!

"One second," the receptionist said. "We have a card in the file." I could hear her fumbling through papers.

"We don't do it here, but you can call 555-1DNA." Oops! I was so excited to finally have an answer that I didn't actually write down the phone number!

So, back to Bio-Gene DNA Testing. They provide DNA testing. And they are looking for people to help them expand. You don't need a science or medical background, just a desire to make a difference in people's lives and to become financially independent!

They sell DNA tests online and via the phone.

They'll train you, and up to two other other people, and teach you everything you need to know about DNA testing and more importantly how to promote it. The training takes about 12 months, and includes online education, in person training at your location, bi-weekly Skype calls, and quarterly visits from Bio-Gene personal.

You don't need an office. Just a telephone number, a computer and a car.

You'll need the car, not because you'll be doing the DNA tests — you're probably not licensed to draw blood in your state, anyway — but to get your name in front of people. There's no selling involved. And Bio-Gene will teach you exactly how to do it!

Now to the important part: the money. For every test someone buys, either online, or via the phone from your territory, you'll make money. If you pay attention to their training, and do what they recommend, you'll be generating a net income of $6,000 per month by the end of your first year. You don't even have to complete your all of your training first. You can start making money almost immediately.

So, what's this all cost? Bio-Gene DNA Testing will enter into a joint venture with you for a period of one year if you'll pay the training fee of $2,500. The joint venture guarantees that they are just as committed to your business as you are. At the end of the first year, you can buy out their share for just $10,000. There are no ongoing fees, or percentages or anything. It's not a franchise. They just want you to continue buying your tests from them.

There's also a guarantee. If, over the course of 12 months, you don't sell $2,500 worth of DNA tests, they'll refund 100% of the training fee.

After my experience on the phone today, this is practically a no brainer. Someone needs to get into my local doctor's offices and get a DNA testing phone number up on the wall, pronto!

If you'd like to know more, as I haven't told you everything I know, contact me, or contact Bio-Gene directly via their website.

‐ Dane

This Backup Thingy Actually Works

So, I'm not very good with backing up.

See, I live deep in the mountainous wilds of Eastern California, where the internet is slow and the days are hard.

And, there's a drought here, if you haven't heard. I don't have time for backing up.

And last month there was a fire. Not a house fire. But a forest fire. A big one. Came right for my house. Up the hill it came. Turned a little. And then rushed again straight at me.

So we grabbed all of the important stuff out of the safe, unplugged the backup hard drive, wrangled the pigs and the kids into the car, and drove away.

California-Wildfires

Thankfully, there were lots of firefighters. And firetrucks. And bulldozers. And airplanes.

And within a couple days the fire was out.

So we returned home.

And unpacked.

And put all the important papers away.

Put the kids and the pigs back where they belonged, mostly.

And I put the hard drive back on my desk.

A month ago.

The hard drive sat on my desk, wondering where its friend, Mr. USB plug was.

I wondered too, but knew he would turn up. Unless the kids or the pigs had run off with him.

And so the hard drive sat. And sat. And waited.

And then a new hard drive arrived in the mail from WD, a Western Digital company.

That jogged my mind, and I remembered something I'd completely forgotten since the fire. WD wanted me to review their WD My Cloud EX2. It's a private cloud in a box — basically a big, expandable hard drive thingy that you plug into your network and just forget about. That's my kind of device. And, they wanted to pay me, too. Awesome!

So I plugged it in and told my Mac to start using the new network drive it created for my Time Machine backups.

And I promptly forgot all about it.

See, I told you I'm not good with backups.

And then today, someone pinged me and said, "Hey Dane, remember that WD My Cloud EX2 we sent you to review? You never wrote anything. You've been too busy redesigning your website and changing the world and all that." Ok, so she didn't say that last part.

Fuming, I said I'd have something up by the end of the day.

I'll show them, I thought. I'll give that little black box with the blinkenlights a review they'll never forget. It'll be so harsh, it'll make 'em cry.

that-infernal-thing-actually-backed-everything-up

So I looked in my Time Machine.

Holy moly — I had a backup! A bunch of them, in fact. It actually worked. That infernal device actually worked!

That little black box in the closet, so silent that I'd forgotten all about it, actually backed up everything up! And not just once, but more than a dozen times.

In my book, that's really all you can ask for in a backup hard drive thingy.

I could read the manual and tell you all kinds of interesting facts and specs and technical mumbo-jumbo about the WD My Cloud EX2, but let's face, you're not going to read it either. And you don't care.

You just want something to back everything up.

Here's a link to more info on the WD My Cloud EX2, if you want to know how many horses it has under the hood. But, if you're like me, and not very good at backing up, and you're in the market for something to help, I think you could do a lot worse than the WD My Cloud EX2.

Mark my words, this product will be remembered for its name long after it's been surpassed technologically. But until that happens, I'm going to keep using it — until I forget to plug it back in after the next "act of God" threatens my kids and pigs.

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