What A Nice Thing to Say

After attending a Global Warming Conference last weekend, the blogosphere is filled with folks commenting on same. I have done so at The Truth About Everything.

Now someone is commenting on my comments, and such nice things:

"That said, Kirk's reportage is clear and thoughtful, even if he is not conscious of the contradictions. And his analysis is also on the money: the academics at the conference presented their findings in a way that left no scope whatever for arguing, say, the Theory of Evolution.

That's as it should be given the scientific evidence debunking Intelligent Design (an earlier target of the Skeptic Society), but Kirk does a nice job representing the fundamentalist Christian position. And he brings a degree of sincerity to the task that you might miss while watching Fox News or listening to the Competitive Enterprise Institute."

For the whole story and much more about the conference visit here

At Least One Business Writer Likes My Book!

In case you don't get the Houston Chronical, I thought you might like to check out what they thought of my new book. I promise. I didn't pay this guy to say this.

Complex topics, digested easily

By STEVE POWERS
For The Chronicle

IN recent years it has become startlingly clear that while many of the biggest companies are constantly paring payrolls, the number of small companies is rising significantly.

But this statistic hides a lot of painful setbacks. Unfortunately, statistics on businesses with 10 or fewer workers show that 65 percent of them fail within the first five years.

With that in mind, Randy Kirk has revised his 13-year-old book to more reflect how the business world has changed. In 1993, he wrote "When Friday Isn't Payday". With this new guide, he has revised and updated the book to better reflect new information, tax laws and the growing importance of electronic commerce.

Kirk seemingly covers every aspect of operating a small business. The 300-plus pages are packed with lots of charts, lists and anecdotes about establishing and running a small business.

The book is divided into five stages of small business development, from the beginning to the process of growing and on into the future. The stages are titled: Before You Begin, Opening the Doors, The First Three Years, Managing Yourself and

Others and Managing Your Assets.

Each of these sections has subtopics that cover crucial aspects of successfully running a small business.

In section two, a subsection offers a comprehensive look at preparing a business plan.

It's obvious that Kirk has done his homework and has experience with running a business.

This book could serve as a textbook for how to run a small business.

Motley Fool

Tom and David Gardner are co-founders of the Motley Fool, which since 1993 has grown from a personal finance Web site into a media company with a syndicated newspaper column, radio shows and books.

"The Motley Fool's Money After 40" is their latest foray. This book addresses the 75 million Americans between 40 and 65 who are contemplating how they'll fare during retirement.

The authors have divided the topic into three sections: Having Enough, Having More Than Enough and Having It All.

Having Enough addresses the subject of organizing finances in order to preserve what one already has and how to calculate what is needed.

Having More Than Enough goes deeper, tackling Social Security and touching on estate planning, caring for elderly parents and teaching a child to be financially independent.

In Having It All, the authors take the whole concept a step further, showing the reader how to live a healthy, productive life, one with hobbies, adventures and another career.

The authors cover many subjects but never dwell on any of them at mind-numbing length. They hit the highlights and quickly move on, making it easy to comprehend.

...

"Running a 21st Century Small Business"

By Randy W. Kirk Warner Business Books, $14.95.

Unabashed Promotional Page For Stuff I Do

You may love this blog. You may hate it. But it will not be dull. Why? Because it is going to be all about the things I am very passionate about. Things that I sell. Things that I write. Things that I want to change. Things that I want to stay the same that others are trying to change. Things I want to do someday. I I I I. Yep! There won't be any effort to keep the spotlight off of ME! If you are passionate about some of the same things I am, but you are weirded out by this unabashed promotion, then go visit my other blogs, where I try to be less . . . . well . . . out there.

If you own a small business or if you think you might like to one day, or if you know someone who fits one of those categories and you need a gift for them, check out my latest book "Running A 21st Century Small Business: The Owner's Guide to Starting and Growing Your Company." If you go to Amazon.com or Barnes and Nobel, you can read a dozen or so reviews on the book, many of them favorable (even the ones my Mom didn't write.)

Maybe your goals are a bit more specific. If you own a bicycle shop or think you might want to, etc., then you could pick up a copy of one or more of the series I wrote on that subject. Just go to Amazon.com and put my name in the search line. The most recent is "Principles of Bicycle Retailing III. Pay no attention to two of the three reviews as they seem to be from folks who are not altogether altogether. But the other review is really nice.

For a living, I, along with my partner of over 25 years, Terry Brown, sell bicycle water bottles. Primarily these are sold with the logos of major corporations on them like State Farm, Bank of America, Fedex, and many, many others. If you have a need for a promotional product, don't use T Shirts, pens, hats, or other dopey stuff. Use our water bottles. For lots of ideas on how to do that, go to our website.

Could it be that you love to ride your bicycle? Do you love to get flat tires? Of course not. Well, our company makes the most famous of all solutions to flat tire, Mr. Tuffy. It is a liner that fits between the tire and tube and stops 97% of all puncture flats. We have a very cool website for this that you really should go check out.

Our newest venture has to do with reading. Why should you wait until the third grade to see if your kids will be reading at the third grade level. How about if they were able to read at the third grade level by say....the first day of kindergarten. That would be pretty cool. My youngest son is now 10. His CAT score on reading comprehension was PSH (past High School.) Yes! He was reading at 3rd grade level by five years of age. If you have a 2-4 year-old, or know someone who does, check out our new Web based approach for teaching parents how to teach their kids to Read by Five.